| Cameron Newland

John Daly

The Foggy Monocle just posted an EPIC bio/roast of pro golfer John Daly.

The author notes that Daly’s Wikipedia entry is chock-full of even more hilarity. Here are a few choice pieces (from Wikipedia):

Daly claims to have lost $50-$60 million gambling over the past 15 years
He has admitted the only reason he does not lift weights is because the health club does not let him smoke there.

Some choice quotes:

“There are probably some things I could do to keep my flexibility up, but I’d rather smoke, drink Diet Cokes and eat.”
“Seems I used to do everything like I was on a mission. If it was alcohol, I wanted to drink till I couldn’t see straight. If it was golf, I wanted to beat everybody’s brains out. If it was driving, I can get there faster’n you can.”
“I believe nicotine plus caffeine equals protein.”
“Some folks say I don’t deserve such a beautiful wife. But hey, I earn money. Surely that is a reason!”

Friday, October 31st, 2008 Featured, Humor, Sports Comments

Novak: Dem’s won’t have filibuster-proof majority

Great news:

Robert Novak says Dems will fall short of a filibuster-proof supermajority in the Senate.

Did I mention you should vote for Obama for President, and Centrist-Republican candidates for Congress?

For instance, I’m voting for Dave Reichert (R-WA) for the house seat in my district, because he’s pretty independent-minded.

Having a Dem controlled White House and Congress would surely be a disaster.

Friday, October 31st, 2008 Politics Comments

What I’m Reading: Halloween Edition

Ritholz: we shouldn’t bail out people who are underwater in mortgages because real-estate prices need to fall further.

“The problem with this current rescue plan is that it is designed to “prevent the continued downward spiral of the housing market.” But that is EXACTLY what the housing market needs — overpriced homes that are not selling need to come down in price. We had a normal price increase from 1996-2001, and then a near vertical set of price gains from 2002-06. Any framework for systematically modifying loans that fails to comprehend that is doomed to failure.”

Jessica is 60′s supermodel Twiggy for Halloween:

BlackBerry Bold pricing in Canada drops from $399 to $299 to $199 (now $100 cheaper than American BlackBerry Bold on AT&T).

How long could you last chained to a bedpost with a Velociraptor? (Quiz)

JVC’s Sound Garden Concept Speakers:

Verizon neutered the BlackBerry Storm’s WiFi because it might motivate users not to pay big bucks for Verizon’s data plans. When will they learn that they’ll make more money in the long-term by giving consumers choice?

Conservative publication The Economist endorses Barack Obama:

My uncle Jeff told me about all the young men he knew in Seattle in the 90′s who earned $400,000+/year and were in debt, or spending more than they earned. It was hard to believe. Now there’s a good name for them: HENRYs (High-earners, not rich yet).

The USA goes all protectionist on Deutsche Telekom’s 30% stake in T-Mobile USA.

New BlackBerry Curve 8900 hands-on/review. Verdict: Best BlackBerry EVAR.

Friday, October 31st, 2008 What I'm Reading Comments

You know the economy is getting bad when…

…people are dousing themselves in gasoline and setting themselves alight:

Dear UW Students,

Many of you may have witnessed or heard about the tragic incident on Red Square today in which a former UW employee set fire to himself. Sadly he died later at Harborview Medical Center, our condolences go out to his family. We all recognize that it was a terrifying and painful thing for people to see. After witnessing a traumatic event you may experience a number of reactions; shock, fear, sadness, or heightened emotions. The University has a number of offices available to help you get through this time. To help you cope with your reactions we encourage you to remember the following:
DO
· Seek professional support if you feel like you need help processing what happened.
Don’t
· Numb your pain with depressive chemicals such as alcohol or other drugs.

If your distress is disrupting your life and your ability to carry on basic functions, seek help.

Sincerely yours,

Eric S. Godfrey
Vice Provost for Student Life

Former UW employee ignites self in Red Square

Thursday, October 30th, 2008 No F***ing Way, Seattle Comments

You know the economy is getting bad when…

“…gentlemen [...] are taking a more frugal approach to their wanton spending, opting for oysters on the half-shell direct from the docks, filling their own bathtubs with bootlegged gin, and heading to the market square for mutton sandwiches on the benches as opposed to the white linen dining to which [they are] accustomed.”

Via The Foggy Monocle.

Thursday, October 30th, 2008 Economics, Humor Comments

Diseases That Will Kill

If you weren’t already alarmed by our impending economic doom, here’s some chipper news on the health front!:

-Tuberculosis infections in Washington State are at a 30-year high.

-Public Health has no funding past 2009 (Good thinking, guys!), jeopardizing local prevention efforts by cutting outbreak response staff, killing off the satellite TB clinic that serves the homeless (TB-infested pirates, they are), and weakening the State’s ability to ensure that active TB patients complete treatment.

-Outbreaks will become more likely, and more difficult to respond to/control.

-Multi-drug resistant TB costs $250,000/person to cure.

-Run for the hills!

-81% of active TB patients are low-income, 80% are ethnic minorities, and 76% were foreign-born. Blacks (46 per 100,000), Asians (30 per 100,000) and Hispanics (17 per 100,000) continue to have disproportionately higher TB rates than whites (2.3 per 100,000).

-Super! If you’re white like me, you don’t have anything to worry about!*

*Save for the possibility our underfunded Public Health system misses a multi-drug resistant TB outbreak and we all consequently die.

30-year tuberculosis high in King County reflects ongoing health threat

Thursday, October 30th, 2008 Health, Humor, Seattle Comments

Adam Smith on Taxing the Rich

“The necessaries of life [are] the great expense of the poor. . . . The luxuries and vanities of life [are] the principal expense of the rich, and a magnificent house embellishes and sets off to the best advantage all the other luxuries and vanities which they possess. . . . It is not very unreasonable that the rich should contribute to the public expense, not only in proportion to their revenue, but something more than in that proportion.”

Via The Big Picture.

Thursday, October 30th, 2008 Economics, Featured, Politics, Quotes Comments

What I’m Reading: Thursday

MasterCard Mobile Introduces Quick, Secure Set-up for MasterCard PayPass on Mobile Phones

Why didn’t this come out in the US 3 years ago?! It’s 2008 here!

HP considering netbook / wireless broadband bundles in USA

Looks like that $349 netbook you were eyeing might be free/$100 if you get a wireless data contract!

Softbank introduces Sharp Aquos Fulltouch slider with quasi-XGA resolution:

Japan-only for now. : (

GMail Chat now allows you to SMS your friends. This will go over well.

I didn’t watch it.

OpenOffice.Org (the free Office suite) is now in the cloud

Poll finds 23% of Texans think Obama is Muslim. Did we ever think Texans were intelligent? Just checking.

Barack Obama’s propaganda special, if you missed it being broadcast on every channel last night:

Thursday, October 30th, 2008 What I'm Reading Comments

Turncoat

Me: DUDE.
(avid FOXNews watcher) John Grenowski* is now officially voting ‘BAMA!
Mr. Smith: NO WAY
Me: AND he watches more soccer than you, the ****ing Brit!
Mr. Smith: LETS GO POST ON HIS FACE BOOK WALL
OMG
WE’RE GOING TO DESTROY HIS WALL!
GO GO GO
Me: no, don’t make fun of him
he needs to feel secure in his brand new, warm, socialist-liberal turncoat
Mr. Smith: oh ok
damn.
that is awesome tho
Me: haha i know
All it took was me telling him ‘Bama would lower his taxes, support nuclear energy, and drill for oil EVERYWHERE
even in his backyard.
Mr. Smith: HEYA!!!
NU-CLAIR
lol has he told his parents?
he might as well tell them hes gay too, cause they’ll disown him either way
Me: …I don’t think he’s told them
Sent at 10:31 AM on Thursday

Thursday, October 30th, 2008 Humor, Politics Comments

Furniture Repo

You know the economy is getting bad when…

Konstantin (09:30AM): Anyways, at 5:30 I had to go repo a bunch of Italian furniture from a Russian oligarch’s son, with an Israeli commando for backup. I was hysterical! Three jews in a room negotiating…

Thursday, October 30th, 2008 Business, Economics, Featured, Humor Comments

Who is who? (Scientists edition)

The first time around, I actually only guessed 3 correctly (some of my other guesses were on there, but in different places than I’d guessed them to be).

The two purple silhouettes on the left are Young Investigators of the Future (you!).

Answers (select with mouse or hit CTRL-A/APPLE-A to reveal):

From right to left: Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin, Marie Curie, Santiago Ramón y Cajal, Leonardo da Vinci, Ada Byron, Isaac Newton, Galileo Galilei, Antoine Lavoisier, Archimedes, Alfred Nobel, Louis Pasteur.

Via Microsiervos.

Thursday, October 30th, 2008 Europe Comments

Which team would you hire?

This funny little piece of Democrat propaganda is making its rounds to email boxes everywhere (I especially love the dig on Cindy McCain’s prescription-drug addiction!):

What if John McCain were a former president of the Harvard Law Review?
What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his graduating class?

What if McCain were still married to the first woman he said ‘I do’ to?
What if Obama were the candidate who left his first wife after she no longer measured up to his standards?

What if Cindy McCain graduated from Harvard?
What if Michelle Obama were a wife who not only became addicted to pain killers, but acquired them illegally through her charitable organization?

What if McCain were a charismatic, eloquent speaker?
What if Obama were a member of the Keating-5?

You’re the boss in charge of hiring…the following resumés/C.V.s come to your desk:

Obama:
Columbia University – B.A. Political Science with a Specialization in International Relations.
Harvard – Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude

Biden:
University of Delaware – B.A. in History and B.A. in Political Science.
Syracuse University College of Law – Juris Doctor (J.D.)

VS.

McCain:
United States Naval Academy – Class rank: 894 of 899

Palin:
Hawaii Pacific University – 1 semester
North Idaho College – 2 semesters – general study
University of Idaho – 2 semesters – journalism
Matanuska-Susitna College – 1 semester
University of Idaho – 3 semesters – B.A. in Journalism

Now, which team would you hire?

Thursday, October 30th, 2008 Humor, Politics Comments

Bar Stool Economics

Thanks, Jason.

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that’s what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve.
“Since you are all such good customers”, he said, “I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20″. Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men – the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his “fair share?”
They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.
“I only got a dollar out of the $20,” declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, “but he got $10!”
“Yeah, that’s right,” exclaimed the fifth man. “I only saved a dollar, too. It’s unfair that he got ten times more than I!”
“That’s true!!” shouted the seventh man. “Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!”
“Wait a minute,” yelled the first four men in unison. “We didn’t get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!”
The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics, University of Georgia

This is of course a light hearted way to poke fun at “the system”, but still yet an interesting look at the North American tax system. It also observes how we can sometimes get caught up in our own worlds such that we lose sight of the forest through the trees.