December 2011
41 posts
The Dumbest Idea In The World: Maximizing... →
What to do? Given the numbers of the people and the amount of money involved, rescuing capitalism from these catastrophically bad habits won’t be easy. For most organizations, it will take a phase change. It means rethinking the very basis of a corporation and the way business is conducted, as well as the values of an entire society.
“We must shift the focus of companies back to the...
Chicago magazine | Gangs and Politicians in... →
Baskin isn’t a slick campaign strategist. He’s a former gang leader and, for several decades, a community activist who now operates a neighborhood center that aims to keep kids off the streets. Baskin has deep contacts inside the South Side’s complex network of politicians, community organizations, and street gangs. as he recalls, the inquiring candidates wanted to know: “Who do I need to be...
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2011-12-25) →
Common (19)
The Roots (18)
J. Cole (6)
Bridget Kelly (6)
Mobb Deep (5)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
NBA Preview, Part One: Breaking Down The Heat,... →
The best part about the endless summer of pickup hoops was the absence of Derrick Rose. While everyone else spent the lockout playing in All-Star games all over the country, I picture D-Rose joyless, shooting thousands of jumpers a day, still pissed off about the Heat series.
Agreed. This season could get really good.
» Louis CK’s Ritual Debasement Andy Logic →
In the face of a growing collectivist mob, leftists who would deign to earn a profit from their trade have a singular grave responsibility. In order to remain in the favor of the collectivists and avoid inciting their tyranny, one must be sure to genuflect before the altar of altruism and atone for one’s capitalist sins. Much like the clever pro athlete who voluntarily imposes a two-game...
“You can’t go on like you’re going to start really living one day, like all this...”
– Perry Moore, HERO (via kalthrace)
“But who can say what’s best? That’s why you need to grab whatever chance you...”
– Haruki Murakami (via roscoe-)
A Man, a Ball, a Hoop, a Bench (and an Alleged... →
Most people would get bored being Teller, spending hours upon hours, year after year, practicing and refining a single trick. But, if you are not Teller, the payoff is one beautiful 3 ½ -minute trick done with just a ball, a thread, a hoop, a bench and Teller.
This makes me want to go to Vegas just so I can see a Penn & Teller show. I may also have to check out their books.
Information Diet | Dear Internet: It's No Longer... →
The fact is, Congress isn’t the only group in this equation that needs to get a clue. The online activists, the free culture crowd, and the pro-open and free Internet crowd needs to get a clue too. See — it’s just as important for us to understand how Congress works as it is for the Congress to understand how the Internet works. In Washington, those who “educate” Congress the best usually end...
How to Disagree →
If we’re all going to be disagreeing more, we should be careful to do it well. What does it mean to disagree well? Most readers can tell the difference between mere name-calling and a carefully reasoned refutation, but I think it would help to put names on the intermediate stages. So here’s an attempt at a disagreement hierarchy:
I’m going to try a little harder to make sure I’m...
→ Dear Congress, It’s No Longer OK To Not Know How... →
This used to be funny, but now it’s really just terrifying. We’re dealing with legislation that will completely change the face of the internet and free speech for years to come. Yet here we are, still at the mercy of underachieving Congressional know-nothings that have more in common with the slacker students sitting in the back of math class than elected representatives. The fact that some of...
Joseph Stiglitz: “A Banking System is Supposed to... →
What we need to do instead is embark on a massive investment program—as we did, virtually by accident, 80 years ago—that will increase our productivity for years to come, and will also increase employment now. This public investment, and the resultant restoration in G.D.P., increases the returns to private investment. Public investments could be directed at improving the quality of life and...
Don't let the green grass fool you: The Roots are... →
When I listen to undun I hear a story that begins like the album with a flatline and rewinds through a life lived at the margins. It is both Redford’s story and the survivor’s story—the surreality of returning home from tour to find that almost everyone else, all your friends, are dead or imprisoned and almost no one cares unless you offer up a story that sounds pleasurable.
During the time...
Louis CK: Live at the Beacon Theater →
I probably sound kind of crazy right now. It’s been a really fun and intense few days. This video was paid for by people who bought tickets, and then bought by people who wanted to see that same show. I got to do exactly the show I wanted, and exactly the show you wanted.
I also got an education. And everything i learned are things i was happy to learn.
Really glad this is working out...
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2011-12-11) →
Tha Dogg Pound (1)
Ludacris (1)
The Roots (1)
Little Brother (1)
J. Cole (1)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
Stuff →
I’m not claiming this is because I’ve achieved some kind of zenlike detachment from material things. I’m talking about something more mundane. A historical change has taken place, and I’ve now realized it. Stuff used to be valuable, and now it’s not.
In industrialized countries the same thing happened with food in the middle of the twentieth century. As food got cheaper (or we got richer;...
Women Should Do Startups →
I think it’s harmful for such a visible publication like TechCrunch to suggest we shouldn’t encourage women to join the startup world.
I think we should all be telling women to do more startups.
Totally agree. I think the real problem is that the definition of startup is so limited that many types of people want no part of it.
“Records are set by the people who said fuck your limits and found their own.”
– Seven degrees of slip - Sheldon Hearn
Black and Female - The Marriage Question -... →
Without warrant, black women have been the main focus of the “marriage crisis.” Marriage as the norm in the United States has been on the decline for decades; married couples now make up less than half of American households.
So why all of the negative attention on black women?
It is part of a persistent historical and present-day attack on black people in America, with black men made...
Two Mitt Romneys - Wealthy Man, Thrifty Habits -... →
It was a stark sign of the tug of war, still evident in Mr. Romney’s life, between an instinctive, at times comical frugality, and an embrace of the lavish lifestyle that accompanied his swelling Wall Street fortune.
It’s weird, because this article is written like Romney’s frugality is a bad thing. I don’t even see any inherent conflict between that and him trying to make...
Ian Thomsen: Nixed Paul trade shows trouble with... →
By disabling the trade, however, what are the prospects for the Hornets now? Demps and the Hornets were making the best of a bad situation and hoping to remain competitive following their proposed trade of Paul, much as the Nuggets competed successfully after their trade of Anthony. Now, instead, they face the possibility of playing out this season with a star that is certain to leave at the...
Heaven Is a Place Called Elizabeth Warren -... →
The key is not just emotional investment in election-year saviors but also an engagement with policy. A commitment to organized expressions of political desire — like those that have been harnessed so effectively in recent years on the right — have been absent for far too long in Democratic politics. Now, with labor protests, campaigns to block voter suppression and personhood measures and the...
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2011-12-4) →
The Roots (33)
Erykah Badu (6)
Michael Jackson (2)
Floetry (2)
Eric Roberson (2)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
“All nationalists have the power of not seeing resemblances between similar sets...”
– George Orwell, Notes on Nationalism (via @GoneAllSwirly)
Stars act like stars 'cause they are - TrueHoop... →
In every industry on the planet, from plastics to apps, the key employees will always have plenty of people willing to employ them, and those best employees will sometimes hop from one employer to another.
To deny that normal freedom — called free agency in sports, but regular life in every other industry — is bizarre and un-American.
Exactly.
The Bomb Buried In Obamacare Explodes... →
Whether you are a believer in the benefits of single-payer health coverage or an opponent, mark this day down on your calendar because this is the day seismic shifts in our health care system finally get under way.
Interesting. I wonder whether the rules will really have this intended effect though.
Where is the love in R&B music? - CNN.com →
Listening to black music today is depressing. Songs on today’s urban radio playlists are drained of romance, tenderness and seduction. And it’s not just about the rise of hardcore hip-hop or rappers who denigrate women.
Black people gave the world Motown, Barry White and “Let’s Get It On.” But we don’t make love songs anymore.
I thought the basic premise...
“That’s ok, I know how to build a business. You’ve gotta get the...”
– Dwight Shrute
“When you grow up you tend to get told the world is the way it is and...”
– Steve Jobs