keynes vs. hayek

this is one of the geekiest yet most educational things i've seen in a really long time. i think it does a really great job of laying out the main aspects of the competing economic theories of j.m. keynes and f.a. hayek.

it's a rap battle:



this was a collaboration between a cable tv producer and russ roberts, who does the excellent econtalk podcast.
  • mikejohnsontx
    Couldn't have said it better myself
    by mikejohnsontx at 01/26/10 6:11AM
  • meditationis
    That is cool.

    So if I break it down,
    it's save versus spend,
    driving free or a guiding G.
    And the man at the top
    ain't got a real clue;
    where it's coming from
    is an econ school.
    by meditationis at 01/26/10 6:21AM
  • madtomkidd
    I heard the story about this on my way home yesterday. I'm glad you reminded me to check it out. That was pretty impressive AND educational! I knew about Keynes, but didn't realize Hayek's perspective - at least not with his name associated.
    by madtomkidd at 01/26/10 10:09AM
  • wanderlust
    Fantastic! Love it!
    by wanderlust at 01/26/10 1:44PM
  • cmvermont
    if it's good enough for ke$ha, it's good enough for me

    LOL
    by cmvermont at 01/26/10 6:30PM
  • matthew_and_brooke
    Off topic link of the day... http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/27/german-home-schooling-family-asylum
    by matthew_and_brooke at 01/28/10 5:18PM

the saddest and the aww-est thing you'll see today

  • lilsis
    Awwwwwww!!! That is so sad!!! :( And cute! I had a tabby kitty just like that when I was a teen!
    by lilsis at 01/22/10 10:26AM
  • dixiedawn
    awwwww!! poor kitty!!!
    by dixiedawn at 01/22/10 11:21AM
  • rissaj
    oh my word, thats adorable...and aww and sad.
    by rissaj at 01/22/10 11:38AM
  • mother_hen
    true!
    by mother_hen at 01/22/10 12:20PM
  • mikejohnsontx
    That'll teach him no can haz mai cheezburger!
    by mikejohnsontx at 01/22/10 1:45PM
  • packetstorm5150
    cheezburger sneak: FAIL
    by packetstorm5150 at 01/22/10 2:11PM
  • madtomkidd
    Cute, but, living on a farm, I can't fathom trying to justify the expense!
    by madtomkidd at 01/22/10 2:33PM
  • tu_madre
    what did you do to it?!? (:
    by tu_madre at 01/23/10 11:44AM
  • fullofgrace
    awwwwww!
    by fullofgrace at 01/23/10 7:42PM
  • iammountainfolk
    a cousin of mine had a little pomeranian puppy with a cast like that. It was longer then his other feet, so he hobbled really funny. Then they noticed one day that his cast fell off ... his foot was still in it. That was a terribly sad and funny day, all at once.

    I feel a little bad laughing about it still.
    by iammountainfolk at 01/23/10 10:21PM
  • chooselove
    !!!
    by chooselove at 01/24/10 3:48PM

unplanned

well, as much as i detest pithy little quotes that you find on greeting cards, the quote "life is what happens when you're busy making plans" always remains stuck in my mind. i think it speaks to the human desire to plan our future, to grasp onto something solid in the unknown. unfortunately, no matter how many plans we make, there are often completely unpredictable and unlikely events that end up shaping our future in such a way that we must change our plans.

over christmas, such an event happened to my family. my parents and sister came to visit my wife and me here in germany for a week and a half. our plan was to celebrate christmas, to travel around germany and visit a few other cities, etc. while my parents were on their way here, i received a phone call from my cousin who told me my aunt (my mom's sister) had been hit by a drunk driver and was in serious condition in the hospital. after a tense day waiting for my parents to arrive, my mom contacted her family and after much discussion, decided to stay here until their planned departure date as my aunt was recovering.

despite the obvious shock to my mother, we were able to relax anyway and celebrate christmas as we had more or less planned, only slightly muted due to the concern for my aunt.

at about 7am the next morning as everyone still slept, i was awakened by a phone call from another cousin who told me in a very grim tone that my mother needed to call my uncle. i knew then that something had gone wrong. i woke up my mom, dialed my uncle, and handed her the phone. for as long as i live, i will never forget seeing my mom drop the phone, simply collapse onto the bed, and let out a wail that i pray i never have to hear again. my aunt had quickly and unexpectedly died from complications from the collision. mom was very close to her sister, and to lose her so unexpectedly was, as you can imagine, a great shock.

if there was any comfort in the situation, it was that my dad, my sister, my wife, and i were all there with mom when she found out. we collapsed on her in what was perhaps our first family hugpile and i think it might have been much worse if we had all been spread out halfway across the world, as is normally the case.

so that pretty much ruined the holiday cheer on that day. we had planned to visit my grandparents-in-law for a meal, but they were unbelievably kind and packed up their home-cooked meal and brought it over and we were able to try to enjoy their company despite the shock.

after the initial shock, my mom was able to deal with the situation very well, and we spent the following week more or less as we had planned - subdued, of course. and now to the unplanned part - i had certainly not planned to go back to america anytime soon, but i decided i really needed to go back for the funeral - thankfully i was able to find a ticket not too much more expensive than normal.

so anyway i flew back with my parents and stayed a week in america. the funeral was very nice - i don't know if it's exactly the right word, but i definitely "enjoyed" the time - the _entire_ family was there, and there were a few cousins there that i hadn't seen in 10+ years and i was able to spend alot of time talking to alot of people. the surviving members of the family all retold some of their favorite memories of my aunt, and my mom gave a speech that could have won a competition. i can't remember the last time i've heard my mom speak in public like that, but she should do it more often. i was really impressed!

i was also able to see a few old friends (ethan, ingrid, elizabeth, kevin, nate c.) and had a thoroughly engaging intellectual discussion/debate with a few people with opposing viewpoints.

after returning to houston, i spent a really wonderful week with my parents. i also spent some time with my favorite photographer and my favorite banker. they should combine forces and make a coffee table book of banks. after a week, it was time to go. if i hadn't been missing my wife so much by that point, i could have easily stayed longer.

so despite the very sad occasion for my unplanned return, i have to say i really did enjoy it.

and that is more or less the crux of my personal planning strategy: make plans, but when (not if!) things change, roll with it and always be willing to adapt and enjoy/appreciate the new situation that presents itself. it's done me well so far, and it certainly has been a huge weight off my shoulders to realize that we can't really control the future anyway, and so should stop worrying so much about it.
  • marla
    I won't ever forget that wail, either.

    Great description of the holidays, though. Love you!
    by marla at 01/11/10 6:59AM
  • butterfly
    Sorry to hear about your loss. I'm glad that you were able to make the best of a difficult situation. It is very true that we never really know what will happen.
    by butterfly at 01/11/10 7:13AM
  • megan
    you speak it, bro. i'm so sorry for your loss but i'm glad you were able to find good things amidst the trauma.
    by megan at 01/11/10 8:16AM
  • alegna
    It was good to see you and visit for a bit! Wish it had been under better circumstances, but I am so glad you were able to be there for your mom.
    by alegna at 01/11/10 8:53AM
  • madtomkidd
    I heard bits of your story from Marla, but this certainly paints a more complete picture. It's wonderful that you all were able to be together and such a great blessing that - even so far from "home" - your mom was able to find comfort in both immediate and extended family!
    by madtomkidd at 01/11/10 9:36AM
  • cmvermont
    good story! glad you enjoyed your time here. as dwight d. eisenhower said, “i have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.”
    by cmvermont at 01/11/10 9:05PM
  • meagan
    My grandma was a friend of your aunt's. I'm so sorry. I tend to think things like this never happen to Christians until they do.
    by meagan at 01/12/10 8:50AM
  • spike427
    i am so sorry for your loss, but glad you were able to be together as a family! glad you all had safe travels.
    by spike427 at 01/12/10 11:17AM
  • cellophane
    well said. and I'm sorry to hear about your aunt. your mom is an amazing person, and I'm glad you and Marla were able to be with her through that tough time.
    by cellophane at 01/12/10 12:24PM
  • alex
    Just reading this post made me tear up a bit. SO good seeing you brother!
    by alex at 01/12/10 5:05PM
  • slave_of_jesus_jdb
    Thanks for the wisdom. I'll pray especially for your mother.
    by slave_of_jesus_jdb at 01/14/10 2:41PM
  • laughing_eyes
    we will miss your aunt as well.
    by laughing_eyes at 01/22/10 8:40AM

user-maat-re setep-en-re

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shatter'd visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamp'd on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away


- percy bysshe shelley
  • fullofgrace
    Obamandias
    by fullofgrace at 12/01/09 2:03PM
  • trx
    The reference seems a bit oblique to me - that king of kings tried to control his OWN country, not make incursions into some other country. I also don't think that Mr. Obama is any Rameses in any substantial sense....
    by trx at 12/04/09 4:58PM
  • kennon
    well, i wasn't really making a point about president obama per se, but more about the hubris of empire.
    by kennon at 12/05/09 4:01PM
  • fullofgrace
    yeah...and i was just enjoying playing musical letters....
    by fullofgrace at 12/09/09 5:31PM
  • tryphena
    Thanks, Kennon! You are simply amazing.
    by tryphena at 12/23/09 7:43AM
  • beavermom
    Merry Christmas, Kennon! Thanks for Pleo-it is truly a gift!
    by beavermom at 12/23/09 6:34PM
  • fullofgrace

    happy
    holidays!
    by fullofgrace at 12/24/09 12:51AM
  • spike427
    ok. apparently i have totally lost my mind because i cannot for the life of me figure out how to add someone to my friend list!!! help! where is that?? i don't see it anywhere. i can add someone to my watch list but not friend list!
    by spike427 at 01/04/10 7:48PM
  • markroberts
    great to meet you yesterday. thought I'd drop you a note about that whole trial for gold thing... many thanks.
    by markroberts at 01/04/10 11:26PM

mmm, breakfast tacos

breakfast tacos
inspired by a youtube video, i've had a major hankering the last few days for some breakfast tacos. today is a holiday where we live, and so with the wife at home for the day, shops closed, and no tortillas available, i decided to make some myself, including homeade tortillas for the first time.

i followed the instructions from the video pretty faithfully and boy did they turn out really great. it's definitely more work than just opening a package, but it's honestly not that hard, and if you are cursed like me to have to live far, far away from any sort of authentic mexican cuisine, i'd highly recommend trying it yourself.

by the way, that guy from the video (robert rodriguez, a movie director who grew up in san antonio, tx) should totally do a cooking show. he has a really personable style and really makes it fun. he has another video where he shows how to make cochinita pibil, a dish that my parents swear by.

anyway, my tortillas turned out quite well - although i must say that rodriguez makes the kneading and rolling out look really easy, it was hard for me to roll them out into much of a circle shape, but they cooked fine and tasted perfect anyway. i wish i had had some sour cream as they were a bit dry, but you honestly don't even need cheese and sausage to make great breakfast tacos.
  • chooselove
    maybe i'll have to try that sometime. next time it's a holiday and all the stores are closed here....wait...the grocery store is 24/7. maybe i'll just try that sometime anyway...
    by chooselove at 11/18/09 12:19PM
  • tu_madre
    robert rodriguez makes fun movies (:
    by tu_madre at 11/18/09 12:45PM
  • alegna
    yum, looks delicious! I've been making my own tortillas recently, too! I am looking for a recipe that is less dry as well.
    by alegna at 11/18/09 1:08PM
  • ben
    I can direct you to some fantastic breakfast tacos if you're ever in Denver.
    by ben at 11/18/09 2:29PM
  • ben
    After watching that video, though, I'm making those tacos at home tomorrow. I think that it will be necessary to supplement that recipe with lots of cheddar cheese, though.
    by ben at 11/18/09 2:36PM
  • fullofgrace
    "just a warning...if you learn how to make this...you will crave it every day for the rest of your life..."

    lol
    by fullofgrace at 11/18/09 3:40PM
  • kennon
    please tell me how they turn out! take some pictures too.
    by kennon at 11/19/09 3:32AM
  • marla
    Corn tortillas are fun to make, too. Just reeeeeally hard to get flat enough.
    by marla at 11/19/09 10:29AM
  • spike427
    that looks yum! homemade tortillas are a workout! what did you use for the fat?
    by spike427 at 11/21/09 11:35AM
  • rose
    tortilla explosions! my latest thang has been to buy corn tortillas ($0.79 a bag) from Whole Foods, brush with oil, bake, & salt to simulate the pricey (and delicious) blue/yellow corn chips from brands like Garden of Good Eatin'...they come pretty close. then, as you did, i had the inspiration that I should just try to make corn tortillas/chips on my own...so that's the next project (among many).
    by rose at 11/23/09 3:30PM
  • kennon
    i just used real butter. were a tad dry, but still tasty.
    by kennon at 11/24/09 1:02PM