The WELL: pre.vue.59: I Read the News Today - Oh, Boy ...

#371: it's time for a colorful metaphor (jmcarlin) Thu 4 Sep 08 14:55

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 14:55:00 PDT

A great story. After listening to the audio, I'm not totally convinced it's accurate, but I admire the attempt. [Read entire topic]

#370: Cleave the general ear (ronks) Thu 4 Sep 08 10:09

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 10:09:00 PDT

The harp-like epigonion is not a very popular musical instrument these days; it has probably not been used much for, oh, 23 centuries. But it is making a slight comeback according to a story at <http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/03/music-from-the-past-bringing-back- the-epigonion/> or <http://tinyurl.com/57nv7l>. You can even listen to a 2-minute performance by following a link in the article. [Read entire topic]

#369: Cleave the general ear (ronks) Tue 27 May 08 10:17

Tue, 27 May 2008 10:17:00 PDT

"CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - A French parachutist's bid to set a world freefall record was in doubt on Tuesday after the balloon that was to carry him 40 km (25 miles) above the prairie of Western Canada left without him."

Oops. [Read entire topic]

#368: Cleave the general ear (ronks) Thu 15 May 08 10:13

Thu, 15 May 2008 10:13:00 PDT

From <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/15/business/15econ.html>:

"The figures released by the Labor Department showed that consumer prices ... grew by 0.1 percent when food and energy were excluded - about half what most economists forecast"

"But most American households do not have the luxury of excluding gasoline and food from their budgets."

Good point. [Read entire topic]

#367: Cleave the general ear (ronks) Wed 30 Apr 08 15:13

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 15:13:00 PDT

A remarkable college-sports story today at <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/30/sports/baseball/30vecsey.html>.

Senior Sara Tucholsky hit a home run out of the park with two players on base, but on rounding first she twisted her knee and couldn't move. For a member of her team to help her would disqualify her from proceeding; so two players from the *opposing* team picked her up and carried her around to touch all the bases and score against them. [Read entire topic]

#366: Cleave the general ear (ronks) Tue 5 Feb 08 12:17

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 12:17:00 PST

A couple of great quotes from an article in today's paper on the credit crunch at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/05/business/05spend.html

"In homes now saturated with debt, conspicuous consumption and creative financing have come to seem a sign of excess not unlike that of a suntan in an age of skin cancer."

and

"Credit counselors are now swamped by calls not just from people of modest means but from professionals earning six-figure incomes, their access to finance warping their distinction between necessity and desire." [Read entire topic]

#365: Cleave the general ear (ronks) Sun 3 Feb 08 11:21

Sun, 03 Feb 2008 11:21:00 PST

A headline from today's Los Angeles Times:

"Schools scramble to find questionable meat"

I don't recall that my high school had any problem finding the stuff; they served it every day. [Read entire topic]

#364: Cleave the general ear (ronks) Tue 22 Jan 08 08:49

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 08:49:00 PST

Quote Of The Day

Tamar Frankel, law professor at Boston University on the round robin of mortgage lending litigation involving borrowers, lenders, banks, brokers, and investors:

"What strikes me is that this is a tainted system from A to Z." [Read entire topic]

#363: Cleave the general ear (ronks) Thu 22 Nov 07 14:58

Thu, 22 Nov 2007 14:58:00 PST

For archaeologists, this is huge: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7104330.stm

"Italian archaeologists say they have found the long-lost underground grotto where ancient Romans believed a female wolf suckled the city's twin founders. The cave believed to be the Lupercal was found near the ruins of Emperor Augustus' palace on the Palatine hill." [Read entire topic]

#362: metric buttload of (cjp) Thu 15 Nov 07 10:52

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 10:52:00 PST

Now THAT is going to put a major kink in a lot of foreclosures. The article says that "Some $6.5 trillion of securitized mortgage debt was outstanding at the end of 2006"; I wonder how much of that will have to be just written off? And that Iowa study shows that "40 percent of the creditors foreclosing on borrowers did not show proof of ownership." Boy, the rules of the game have now been seriously shaken up. I can see a lot of investment firms and REITs imploding as a result. [Read entire topic]