Modest As Cake

Friday, February 27, 2009

Starbucks Wisdom: Commitment

Grande Caramel Macchiato quote from Anne Morriss:

The irony of commitment is that it's deeply liberating -- in work, in play, in love. The act frees you from the tyranny of your internal critic, from the fear that likes to dress itself up and parade around as rational hesitation. To commit is to remove your head as the barrier to your life.

http://decisiontolead.com/

And here's her blog!

Sunday, February 22, 2009

O Canada!

http://www.johnwmacdonald.com/blog/2009/02/obama-what-does-this-day-mean-to-you.html

Thanks to Humanyms for this link.

Americans, please listen to these Canadians answering questions about what Obama's visit to Ottawa means to them.

Happy, thoughtful, intelligent -- even the 9/11 conspiracy guy isn't hoarse and wild-eyed.

When in doubt, channel your inner Canadian!

Monday, February 16, 2009

*Sigh. Spirograph without all the work!


http://www.subblue.com/projects/guilloche


I'm sorry: Guilloché patterns.

The Marvel Universe is a Perfect Place


The Obama Spider-Man comic accomplishes what Justice Roberts could not:

The perfect oath of office!

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Don't Break Hearts!

http://vimeo.com/3089746


"Fidelity": Don't Divorce... from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Thank you, Washington Post's Laura Stanton! The Stimulus Explained




http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2009/02/01/GR2009020100154.html

Edward Tufte would be proud!

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Bush's Legacy: No Dollar Left Behind

Monday, February 09, 2009

What? Representative Kanjorski said what?

http://www.boingboing.net/2009/02/09/rep-kanjorski-550-bi.html

What?

The Capital Markets Subcommittee Chair, Rep. Paul Kanjorski of Pennsylvania, tells C-Span how the world economy almost collapsed in a matter of hours.

At 2 minutes, 20 seconds into this C-Span video clip, Kanjorski reports on a "tremendous draw-down of money market accounts in the United States, to the tune of $550 billion dollars." According to Kanjorski, this electronic transfer occured over the period of an hour or two.
Kanjorski: "The Treasury opened its window to help. They pumped a hundred and five billion dollars into the system and quickly realized that they could not stem the tide. We were having an electronic run on the banks. They decided to close the operation, close down the money accounts, and announce a guarantee of $250,000 per account so there wouldn't be further panic and there. And that's what actually happened. If they had not done that their estimation was that by two o'clock that afternoon, five-and-a-half trillion dollars would have been drawn out of the money market system of the United States, would have collapsed the entire economy of the United States, and within 24 hours the world economy would have collapsed."

"It would have been the end of our political system and our economic systems as we know it."

Saturday, February 07, 2009

Chris Anderson of TED spoke of Keynes today

http://www.gutenberg.ca/ebooks/keynes-slump/keynes-slump-00-h.html

The 1930 "great slump":

The world has been slow to realize that we are living this year in the shadow of one of the greatest economic catastrophes of modern history. But now that the man in the street has become aware of what is happening, he, not knowing the why and wherefore, is as full to-day of what may prove excessive fears as, previously, when the trouble was first coming on, he was lacking in what would have been a reasonable anxiety. He begins to doubt the future. Is he now awakening from a pleasant dream to face the darkness of facts? Or dropping off into a nightmare which will pass away?

He need not be doubtful. The other was not a dream. This is a nightmare, which will pass away with the morning. For the resources of nature and men's devices are just as fertile and productive as they were. The rate of our progress towards solving the material problems of life is not less rapid. We are as capable as before of affording for everyone a high standard of life—high, I mean, compared with, say, twenty years ago—and will soon learn to afford a standard higher still. We were not previously deceived. But to-day we have involved ourselves in a colossal muddle, having blundered in the control of a delicate machine, the working of which we do not understand. The result is that our possibilities of wealth may run to waste for a time—perhaps for a long time.

At this moment the slump is probably a little overdone for psychological reasons. A modest upward reaction, therefore, may be due at any time. But there cannot be a real recovery, in my judgment, until the ideas of lenders and the ideas of productive borrowers are brought together again; partly by lenders becoming ready to lend on easier terms and over a wider geographical field, partly by borrowers recovering their good spirits and so becoming readier to borrow.

Go, RSW! Thanks for starting so many great conversations.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dg1Mj4Kyag

"We are made by our failures. We are made by what goes wrong...We are better when we are vulnerable enough to say what didn't work."

The Republican Sliver of the Pie


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/06/job-loss-chart-what-36-mi_n_164828.html

There's a time for political theater, and there's a time for leadership. Guess what time it is.

Thursday, February 05, 2009

New York City decline: Cities don't lure the middle class... They create it.

http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/market-movers/2009/02/05/new-york-city-datapoint-of-the-day?tid=true

The money quote is:

"There simply aren't middle-class job opportunities in New York any more: Of the 10 occupations that are expected to have the largest number of annual job openings in the city through 2014, only two offer median wages greater than $28,000 a year."

Dear Mr. President, from all the ladies (single and otherwise):

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/feb/03/barack-obama-feminism-women


The time is now!
You have our support for the liberal, feminist agenda.