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Entries from September 2008

Comprehensive Economic Overview of Global Health Care Systems in 13 Words

September 30th, 2008 · 2 Comments · Economics

a) Timely, complete care b) Very low cost c) Sustainable Pick two. United States: A + C France: A + B Canada: B + C Inspired by this post by Greg Mankiw.

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New York Faces Economic “Crisis,” So Why Are Hotel Rooms Still Obscenely Overpriced?

September 29th, 2008 · 1 Comment · Travel

I don’t get it. Wall Street is in the process of losing tens of thousands of incredibly high paying jobs: Wall Street salaries average $340,000, or more than five times those in the rest of the city’s economy. Each securities job creates two others, according to the state comptroller’s office, meaning the hurt will be […]

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Palin Nomination: Did You Say “Over?” — John Belushi Weighs in on Latest Polling

September 7th, 2008 · 8 Comments · Politics

Regarding the Palin nomination, Peggy Noonan, and the premature pontifications here and here: I guess the flip response could be “you wish.” Check out how the three post convention polls are tracking according to realclearpolitics. John Belushi channels his reaction from the great beyond: I guess two can succeed at the let’s nominate a “charismatic […]

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Obama Promises Renters Will No Longer Pay Property Taxes

September 3rd, 2008 · 1 Comment · Politics

At least that’s the first thing that came to my mind when I heard of what seems to be an illusory business-friendly tax cut. I’ve heard him say this many times, and it’s always sounded non-sensical to me. Obama says he will: …eliminate all capital gains taxes on small and start-up businesses to encourage innovation […]

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Google Browser EULA: All Your Content Are Belong to Us

September 3rd, 2008 · No Comments · Politics

Wow. The register reports that if you post to your blog using the Google browser, Google owns the content. Hey — that’s “evil”! This reminds me of my discussions with Steve Roth. He’s taken the position that the Republican congress-persons have an inherent evil streak, and recent convictions prove it. I say that absolute power […]

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Seattle Urbanites Slowly Catching On: Density Degrades Quality of Life

September 3rd, 2008 · No Comments · Crazy Urbanites

Joni Balter at the Times displays a small glimmer of recognition that the irrational desire to turn Seattle into Manhattan is degrading the quality of life there. Funny how eliminating parking spaces and building condos on every corner can leave a city feeling (as she puts it) “packed.” She cites one reason why I now […]

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Sarah Palin Wars: Google Provides Some Insights

September 2nd, 2008 · No Comments · Politics

Regarding the rather astonishing hypercritical response to nominating someone with executive experience for not-president, I wanted to see what Google was indexing. (As of 9-8-08) If you type the following into Google: “sarah palin” unqualified You’ll get 76,200 results. Now try: “sarah palin” unfairly attacked You’ll get 513,000 results.

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Search Requests for Palin Trump Biden: Does Google Data Imply Press “Bias?”

September 1st, 2008 · No Comments · Politics

A Google Trends search reveals that many more searches contained the search term “sarah palin” than on “joe biden” immediately post announce of VP status. Is this indicative of “popularity,” or just the curious trying to learn more about a relative unknown? What I find most intriguing is how the “demand” for information (the top […]

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