One Size Doesn’t Fit All While energy sources like sunlight and wind are free and naturally replenished, converting them into large quantities of electricity requires vast amounts of natural resources ” most notably, land. –Robert Bryce, “The Gas is Greener“; The New York Times (6/7/2011) My Midwesterner’s reaction to Bryce’s piece? “So, what’s the problem?”...Read More
Stretching the Social Contract “You can judge a society by how they treat their weakest members.” –Gandhi, Hubert Humphrey and many others I propose a corollary to the above — namely, you can judge a society by the pursuits of its smartest and most talented. When society’s elite apply themselves towards making society better, fairer,...Read More
The Fannie and Freddie Sideshow What do you call two companies that have cumulatively lost tens of billions, are now wards of the state, and continue to receive multi-billion dollar government subsidies? If their names are “Fannie” and “Freddie,” the answer is: the world’s two biggest red herrings. Or, if you prefer, a sideshow to...Read More
Jumbo Mortgages for 4.75% The Federal Reserve anticipates that very low interest rates will be needed for an extended period. –Fed Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke Mortgage interest rates have been so low for so long (2 years? 5 years?) that it’s no longer perceived as “new news” — but actually, it is. Namely, jumbo mortgages (over...Read More
Proposed 29th Amendment Rocks are not people. Frogs are not people. Cars are not people. Asteroids are not people. It should hardly be necessary to state something so patently obvious, but here goes one more: Corporations are not people. Cititzens United Aftermath Ahh, but according to the U.S. Supreme Court, corporations are people — or...Read More
Who Accredits the Accreditors? That’s the question I have this morning after enduring one of the more mindless online continuing ed courses I’ve been subjected to (yeah, I picked it — based on a totally misrepresentative course description). Practically every other paragraph, the course interrupted the presentation with inane “review” quizzes with questions like the one...Read More
