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With your feet in the air, and your head on the ground . . .

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{Tuesday, October 12, 2004}

 
I can feel it, coming in the air tonight . . .



posted by Miles 1:56 AM

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{Monday, October 11, 2004}

 
This movie has "Oscar" written all the 'F' over it:

http://www.teamamericamovie.com/

Okay, I haven't seen it yet so I can't say for sure that it will have an Oscar-quality plot, or that it will change the world with its subtle but powerful political statement. But I'm fairly confident that it will be, as Jim would say, the Citizen Kane of sardonic, apropos marionette action movies.

And that's enough to have me very excited.

The site is all in Flash, so I can't provide direct links, but I recommend the "clips" section . . . the commentary by Matt & Trey and the "Behind The Scenes" bits are pretty cool.

posted by Miles 11:28 AM

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{Friday, October 08, 2004}

 
I'm telling ya', you've got to read Jessi Klein:

Flammable pandas

Posted: 10:08 p.m. ET

This is beautiful. Bush just said that the administration before him endangered the environment by not making sure the forests were properly "harvested" in order to protect them from wildfires.

That's just beautiful. I have to say that's very comforting -- I've always considered the wetlands to be a real fire hazard. You know what else is very flammable? Panda bears. They're bone dry. We got at least two or three of those suckers at our national zoos. It's sad, but we should probably kill them for the sake of the greater good.

posted by Miles 11:39 PM

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{Wednesday, October 06, 2004}

 
Jessi Klein's comedic debate blogs on cnn are a high-point of the whole election season, for me.


posted by Miles 9:15 PM
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On a slighly more sober note . . .

If I were a small business owner, I think it stands to reason that I would create jobs (hire new employees) if and only if I believed that by doing so, and expanding my business, I could make more money in the long term. I wouldn't create new jobs out of the goodness of my heart, just because I had extra cash lying around. And if I didn't have extra cash lying around, but saw an opportunity to expand and wanted to hire more employees, I would take out a loan, or take on a partner; I would find a way to raise the necessary capital. I might be able to take advantage of a slightly more marginal opportunity if I had capital on hand instead of needing to take out a loan, since I wouldn't have to pay interest in the former case . . . but I think even this is wiped out if you consider opportunity costs: as long as I can make about as much in interest, dividends, or appreciation on my extra capital as I'd have to pay in interest on a loan, it's a total wash.

Doesn't this completely kick the stool out from under the conservative, supply-side argument that tax cuts for wealthy people / business owners are the best tool for spurring job creation and economic growth?

I think that really this requires a somewhat more nuanced analysis, taking into account the affects of incorporation, corporate tax rates, and the capital gains rate, since the immediate economic impact of improved small-business profits for the owner of an incorporated business isn't reflected in his income, but in the value of his assets (I think). I certainly don't have the expertise to analyze the situation at this level, but I'd be interested to read about it.

posted by Miles 10:54 AM
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M: "Oh no. It is Fuck!"
F: "It is Fuck?"
M: "It is Fuck!"
F: "Ah, you are right. It is Fuck."

...

A: "You guys aren't watching this, right?"
F: "Only halfway sort-of. You can switch it."
M: "Yah. It is Fuck."
F: "It is Fuck!"
M: "It is Fuck!"

posted by Miles 1:44 AM

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{Tuesday, October 05, 2004}

 
This is an awesome, funny, wholesome piece of Minnesotan sports-writing: Espn Page 2, "Truth, Justice, and the Twins".

Really, read it even if you're not a baseball type.

Meanwhile . . . this Johan Santana fellow is really something, eh?

Neuron let us know today that our paper is all set, and they're targeting October 28th for the publication date. Awesome! That was fast. They've also invited us to submit a candidate cover image - how cool! So now I get to put on my graphic designer hat & try to cook something up.

Also, I led my first class "section" tonight. I was a little nervous at the start, and there are some ways I can improve, but overall I think it went pretty well. Francis reminded me tonight of his suggestion that I eschew staid instruction and just go with an approach of overwhelming my students with my enthusiasm for the subject matter. It's a good plan. Maybe I'll try it on Thursday.

posted by Miles 11:54 PM

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{Friday, October 01, 2004}

 
Alright! I have internet access from home again! Jim took his wireless router with him when he moved out, and I'll tell ya', it's been a rough week around here.

Wow, have I been neglecting this blog.

Yeah.

So, how 'bout that debate last night?

I was disgruntled and disappointed with Kerry throughout - I kept feeling like he was missing opportunities, like when Lehrer asked him how Bush had misled the country, and he failed to mention the administration's persistent innuendo concerning links between Saddam's regime and Al Qaeda, or on the topic of N. Korea, when he didn't bring up the administration's suppression of N. Korea's admissions regarding nuclear weapons until after the bill to authorize the use of force in Iraq had been voted on. HUGE deceptions, but Kerry stuck to the weak line about "he promised to plan carefully, but didn't", etc.

Weak. But I knew, going in, that I wouldn't be able to judge who was "winning" very well. I'm aware of how disconnected I am from the "moderate" masses, and I'm okay with it. I think Bush pretty much always acts like an ass, but most of the time some 50% of the people in this country seem to like him - so when I thought he came off like an idiot in the debate, that failed to convince me that he was losing the public's affections.

But all appearances are, in the hearts and minds of those who are sufficiently apathetic that they haven't made up their minds yet . . . Kerry kicked Bush's butt! Alright! That's really pretty exciting.

Okay, it's about time for the 7:30 Booty-Call Express to leave the station, en route to Albany. Peace.

posted by Miles 7:24 PM

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