“Brilliant” must be applied to this article in the Atlantic on Lady Gaga. We would even go so far as to state that it will be the definitive pronouncement on her nihilistic talent. There was a time that talent alone would also make for aural pleasure. This is Blondie’s catchiest >>
Groovy Woman? Do Tell.
America can be a very insular place. For example, as we sit and type away it escapes us that Australia has a female Prime Minister. We are men enough to admit that we know nothing about her nor were we even aware that this had happened.
Peanut Butter. Fueling Mediocrity.
Every year my son’s elementary school awards a student of the month prize - every child will win once during the year. The theory is to recognize the good and unique of every student.
The question is whether this is good for the students. Should we reward everyone regardless of actually excelling and performing? I know the argument is that it helps build self esteem, and particularly among elementary students in an era of bullying, but is it possible that it contributes to a spirit of “mediocrity as acceptable,” since everyone equally wins?
Particularly in a society that is increasingly fragmented into the wealthy and the poor, and that struggles to take care of the bottom end of the spectrum, what is the benefit of rewarding everyone when we are young regardless of performance?
Is this the sort of peanut butter approach to childhood performance that causes out of sort reactions from teenagers in an attempt to otherwise stand out?
Financial Burlesque
One of the little joys of opening a new Facebook page is making new “friends.” Like most everything else in the new world, these relationships are more imagined than real. Even when impassioned they are, at best, arguments between avatars.
Grovyman would like to thank the numerous burlesque artists that have accepted our “friendship.” These lovely women are experts at the art of the tease. They allude to forbbiden pleasures without assenting to the act.
The best burlesque artists, in fact, need only to suggest the presence of a tit for their audience. A real twit throws away his money on strippers. It would seem, therefore, that burlesque would appeal to most investment bankers on Wall Street, given their obsession with illusions. These individuals prefer to lay money down on the “underlying assets” behind the tits and ass. While only they (i.e. Goldman Sachs) determine what those assets might be, they are, supposedly, a very beautiful thing.
Which brings us to the pimping exercise called modern finance. When people talk about “modern finance” what they really mean is the carnal lust for cash. Because real assets rarely exist anymore, the sure way to acquire more cash is to create representations thereof. The Wall Street synthetic CDO (collateralized debt obligation) is a beautiful example of the genre’.
How tempting these tools must have been for “sophisticated” investors looking for ever bigger wins. Like anyone who plays fantasy football knows, the illusion of having a Michael Vick (sadly) on your team is intoxicating. Much like a fantasy football pool, a synthetic CDO allows “sophisticated” financial investors play out their bets based on a “represented value” of an asset pool.
There’s nothing real in a synthetic financial instrument. Yet is is precisely due to the obscene profits these “financial plays” delivered that these “synthetic CDOs” are still not banned. They still hold too much promise, we assume, for the quick buck in a tight race or bad financial year end. That is why the biggest Pimps (Goldman, Morgan, UBS) don’t even have to pay off the enforcers to keep pushing them on the rest of America.
This is financial prostitution. Pure and simple.
I prefer the more gentle illusions of burlesque.
Now if our “friends” could just lure William Ackmann, John Paulson and Henry Kravis as fans we might all avoid getting hosed.
We’ve given up on Congressman Frank.
Does Hell Have a Health Plan?
Shareholder value.
There are few more beautiful words in the English language. While their lapidary quality emanates from an economic tradition of creating wealth that governments, Goldman Sachs, George Soros and other fellow travelers often exploit, such mischief pales in comparison to the sins committed in the name of for-profit “Health Maintenance Organizations,” or HMOs.
No other class in the American Plutocracy has done more to vitiate the meaning of “shareholder value” as they create it by reducing both quantity and quality of their product while increasing its cost.
And heck, they don’t even manufacture the “product” they sell. Instead they pervert what is produced by others for their own profit. In almost any other industry, would be considered a shrewd approach to creating shareholder value except for the fact that their “product” is a person’s health, which makes you wonder whether we are talking about economics or ethics. Which is my way of saying that only God holds the answer to this question, or that at the very least, it is both a logical and teleological question.
And if God is good, then HMOs are bad.
Even if God is something else altogether, they are still questionable.
Even to Mammon.
After having spent half a lifetime following her with varying degrees of success, I would say that she has been deeply disappointed by the actions of a few wealthy HMOs. It’s not the chandeliers that the mid-upper level executives of United Health Care have their illegal help light with candles that disappoints her. It’s not even the fact that the spouses of such executives spend more energy on getting the street name changed for their faux French mansions to reflect their new social status for which they are excoriated in the very society columns they really need to crack.
She is perturbed primarily because she realizes that it’s not that useful to have all that cash tied up in a static industry like insurance. And as much as it pains her to admit it, she would rather see an Executive who is a member of the tribe, like say, Steven Jobs, take over the whole sordid mess.
If Apple-like peeps ran the health care industry we’d soon be seeing iPads in waiting rooms instead of the geriatric garbage that no one seems to read. And we may just have spouses with good taste in modernism that actually increase the architectural diversity of the suburbs. And, and, we may be able to do away with retail monstrosities like Brighton Collectibles and St. John Knit stores because people with money will actually demand the same inventiveness when they spend their surplus cash.
Which, if the laws of Austrian economics apply, everyone will soon have more of.
In fact, on that note, it leads me to question who or what these particular HMO executives worship.
They are far too status conscious to follow a Richard Dawkin or Christopher Hitchens. And they may find the faith of their fathers and mothers a bit too quaint. Which makes me question why anyone would actually take the trouble to have their illegal servants light candles in a chandelier? In a garage no less.
I fear this strange rite is actually a form of séance.
With a force that really scares me.
Which is why I call on a higher power to fix things.
Before everything goes to hell.
Politics Across The Pond
Fascinating article in the October 25, 2010 New Yorker about David Cameron’s “Big Society,” his plan to devolve centralized governmental power (massive spending cuts) and return ownership to local communities. Cameron’s plan includes public-service reform (cutting red tape), community empowerment (transferring authority to the local level), and social action (voluntarism and philanthropy).This is interesting in light of the broader European discussion about austerity measures to help address debt.
Over here in the states, public discussion focuses on the Tea Party with its vitriol around “getting back to the constitution;” spoken by potential leaders who fail to cite the specific amendments that support their claims. Our hope is that we begin to think like the Europeans, and begin to engage in these higher level discussions around austerity, what that means, and what it will take to fully reengineer our own economy. (e.d. Is Cameron touching the NHS? The rest sounds lovely.)
Boneheaded to Richard
Richard Cohen – Boehner’s health delusion. Read this article to see and understand why we DO need to pay attention to politics and continue to care about the direction that the “new right wing” is taking us.
The future speaker of the house believes – despite all evidence to the contrary – that the US health care system is the “best in the world.” Maybe it is in the financial white elite system that he participates in, but for the rest of society, there are so many gaps.
Vote for the horse
I hear they talk about politics on this blog. They use big words designed to impress. That’s all horse crap. Take the word “apathy.” What kind of sissy-pants word is that? We thought this was a guide for real men and hearty moms, so what was that little white panty mime picture doing below my comercial? (I had ‘em remove it. ) This is politics, dammit. And the jump cut work, particulalry on my equestrian partner in this commerical, is beyond exquisite.
Rush to See This Ring Cycle
If you haven’t had the opportunity to see the Metropolitan Opera at a movie theater in High Definition – I highly recommend it. The Met does 8 plus operas yearly that are simulcast to movie theaters around the country in high definition. It is as if you are sitting a dozen rows back at the Met, watching the best opera singers in the world perform. Incredible. Go to fandango.com or the Metropolitan Opera website to find operas.
Last night, I saw the opening of this year’s Met in HD – Das Rheingold, the first of the Wagner ring cycle. It was an incredible experience. The opera was highlighted by a “machine,” a set of planks that move up and down almost 270 degrees during the show, and that help create powerful effects and scenes that flow with the waves in the music. There was an amazing cast, voices, and the rhinemaidens – oh the rhinemaidens – were to die for (thus the tragedy of Alberich’s decision to “give up love”). Lighter highlights include James Levines’ hair (see it to believe it), bryn terfel’s six-pack abs costume, and a general eurotrash aura with the projected videos.
A related note – since it was Wagner, you were forced to ignore the frightening 19th century Anti-Semitic portrayals of Jews as ugly, money grubbing dwarves who live underground and whose only power is to curse the gods before they enter Valhalla.
On to Die Walkure in the spring. Don’t miss it. Get to a movie theater and experience opera anew.
Sharper Than a Ginsu
Shonen Knife remains the best of the Japanese neo-punkers. If you know anything of the Land of the Setting Sun (which we hope shall rise again after they kill all the bankers and their zaibatsu) you must relish groups like these.
With guitars awailing, Shonen Knife sliced and diced up vapid Japanese pop and replaced it with something more visceral. Instead of airy fare like “UFO” from groups like Pink Lady, Shonen focused on thrashing out covers of Carpenters songs. Seminal bands like Sonic Youth cited Shonen as influences and/or vice versa. And simply no “bijin band” member back then would have sported a t-shirt by Motorhead. Seems almost lyrical. Bite me.
Sushi Bar
Going to a sushi bar!
Sushi, sushi, sushi bar!
Going to a sushi bar!
Sushi, sushi, sushi bar!
Going to a sushi bar!
Sushi, sushi, sushi bar!
Going to a sushi bar!
I wanna go to a sushi bar.
I wanna go with you
