"Misery Index" - Stagflation Tracker

Misery Index = Unemployment + Inflation

"The misery index was initiated by economist Arthur Okun, an adviser to President Lyndon Johnson in the 1960's. It is simply the unemployment rate added to the inflation rate. It is assumed that both a higher rate of unemployment and a worsening of inflation both create economic and social costs for a country. A combination of rising inflation and more people of out of work implies a deterioration in economic performance and a rise in the misery index. "

High: 21.98% (June 1980)
Low: 2.97% (July 1953)
Now: 9.18% (February 2008)

http://www.miseryindex.us/

"Google Bomb" an Enemy

A how-to on "Google Bombing."

http://howto.wired.com/wiki/%27Google_Bomb%27_an_Enemy

Are Our Brains Wired for Math?

Surely humans weren't meant to slave away for hours a day at calculus and algebra problems, right? Although without that, how would we have gotten to the moon?

"According to Stanislas Dehaene, humans have an inbuilt 'number sense' capable of some basic calculations and estimates. The problems start when we learn mathematics and have to perform procedures that are anything but instinctive."

Numbers Guy
by Jim Holt
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/03/03/080303fa_fact_holt

Map: What Does the Internet Look Like?

Using data from a two-week stretch in April 2005, the Cooperative Association for Internet Data Analysis (CAIDA) traced these packets' paths from hub to hub and country to country to capture a snapshot of the worldwide network topology. Almost like art...

http://discovermagazine.com/2006/oct/map-internet-servers/

Leap Year Explained

http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/daily-brief/2008/02/29/happy-leap-day-unless-youre-in-debt

What Makes Finnish Kids So Smart?

The Finns don't like to push their top students...I wonder if this lack of fostering potentially creates a genius deficit...

"High-school students here rarely get more than a half-hour of homework a night. They have no school uniforms, no honor societies, no valedictorians, no tardy bells and no classes for the gifted. There is little standardized testing, few parents agonize over college and kids don't start school until age 7. Yet by one international measure, Finnish teenagers are among the smartest in the world...The academic prowess of Finland's students has lured educators from more than 50 countries in recent years to learn the country's secret, including an official from the U.S. Department of Education. What they find is simple but not easy: well-trained teachers and responsible children."

What Makes Finnish Kids So Smart?
by Ellen Gamerman
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120425355065601997.html?mod=todays_us_weekend_journal

US Jail Facts

*With more than 2.3 million people in local jails and state and federal prisons, more than 1% of the US adult population is locked up.

*That rate is the highest in the world.

*More than 11% of US's African American men ages 20 t0 34 are behind bars.

US Locks Up Over 1% of Adults, Setting Record
by Gary Fields
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120422586205600479.html?mod=todays_us_marketplace

Victoria's Secret: Too Sexy?

The question for Victoria's Secret (and maybe every other company/person) is can its products/image be sexy but sophisticated? Obviously, young people don't really need to be sophisticated, but in general, as one ages (and presumably has more money) they tend to acquire sophistication...

Apparently, You Can be Too Sexy
by Amy Merrick
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120421181615799917.html?mod=todays_us_marketplace

Fact of the Day: US Dollar

"The dollar is involved in 86% of the $3.2 trillion in daily currency transactions around the world, often as a middle step in exchanges between two other currencies, according to the Bank for International Settlements. While that is down from 90% in 2001, no other currency comes close."

Dollar's Dive Deepens as Oil Soars
by Craig Karmin and Joanna Slater
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120423483765800801.html?mod=todays_us_page_one

Neuropsychopharmacology: Drinking

"The age-old belief goes that alcohol helps people drown their sorrows, but in truth the bottle only makes bad memories linger, a Japanese study said Friday. To forget something you dislike, it's best to overwrite the negative memory with a positive memory at an early stage and leave out drinking alcohol."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080229/hl_afp/healthjapansciencealcoholdrinkoffbeat

Matt Drudge: "World's Most Powerful Journalist"

Whether or not you consider him a journalist, it is hard to deny the power he has to spin the news cycle...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/02/28/wdrudge128.xml

London vs. New York: The Battle Continues

"London is losing its status as the world’s leading financial centre and being overtaken by New York, according to a global survey of finance professionals."

London's Edge over New York Eroded
by John Willman
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c16c119c-e646-11dc-8398-0000779fd2ac.html

Building a Public Library in the Age of Google

Architecture alone will not lead people to a library. I think that architecture in a modern public library needs to take into consideration a few key points. It needs to have room for a good selection and comfortable places to enjoy that selection, new technology (high-speed Internet a must), and some type of "non-library" attracting feature such as a Starbucks coffee.

http://www.slate.com/id/2184927/

Humanities Biggest Problems

Nick Bostrom's 17-minute talk at TED on humanity's biggest problems.

1. Death
2. Existenial risk (Threats to human survival or the long-term potential of our species)
3. Life isn't usually as wonderful as it could be

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/44

Secrets of Success: 8 Words, 3 Minutes

Short 3-minute TED video on success. These are the eight keys the video briefly explains:

1. Passion
2. Work
3. Good (get good at something)
4. Focus
5. Push (push yourself)
6. Serve (serve others something of value)
7. Ideas
8. Persist

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/70

Oil Endgame

Excellent 20-minute TED video on the Oil Endgame by energy guru Amory Lovins. The book can be read for free at http://www.oilendgame.com/.

"We can save half the oil by using it more efficiently...The US has more market power than OPEC, our [power] is on the demand side. The US is the Saudi Arabia of mega-barrels. We can use less oil faster than they can conveniently sell less oil."

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/51

SugarDaddy.com

I'd be interested to see how much someone could make from this site. If I owned a TV network, I would propose a SugarDaddy.com contest with five or ten women. They would each have to see how much money they could squeeze out of the guys on the website. I imagine that some could make six figures without too much leg work...

http://www.alternet.org/sex/77923/

How Good People Turn Evil

Philip Zimbardo still going strong...

"Situations can be sufficiently powerful to undercut empathy, altruism, morality and to get ordinary people, even good people, to be seduced into doing really bad things -- but only in that situation. "

http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/02/ted_zimbardo

Economics of Assassination

Another good excuse to selectively assassinate...

"Olken and Jones discovered that a country was more likely to see democratization follow­ing the assassination of an autocratic leader, but found no substantial effect following assassinations—or assassination attempts—on democratic leaders. They concluded that on average, successful assassinations of autocrats produce sustained moves toward democracy. The researchers also found that assassinations have no effect on the inauguration of wars, a result that suggests that World War I might have begun regardless of whether or not the attempt on the life of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914 had succeeded or failed.”

Graft Paper
by Michael Moynihan
http://www.american.com/archive/2008/january-february-magazine-contents/graft-paper

The Advantage of Closing a Few Doors

"Dan Ariely’s new book, Predictably Irrational, is an entertaining look at human foibles like the penchant for keeping too many options open."

The Advantage of Closing a Few Doors
by John Tierney
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/26/science/26tier.html?em&ex=1204261200&en=c56122843b1ec447&ei=5087%0A

Tasting Menu Diatribe

I'm glad that someone else feels the same way I do about tasting menus...

"I'm held hostage as the servers drop off a tiny cone filled with lamb tartare and topped with shaved black truffle; grilled octopus set on a bed of lentils with a fan of avocado; a slender bar of foie gras accessorized with cranberry tapenade...across the table my dining companion looks shell-shocked. It's not waterboarding, but let's be frank: Torture comes in many guises. This much is certain: I'm no fan of tasting menus. They tend to be too much food and require too much of a time commitment. They usually seem to take a good three hours per sitting; I'm a diner, not a treaty negotiator."

Just Too Much
by Tom Sietsema
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/26/AR2008022600749_Inform.html

"Middle Class Millionaires"

"Russ Alan Prince, president of Prince & Associates, a private wealth research firm and author of The Middle Class Millionaire and The Sky's The Limit, says that today, having a million dollars net worth doesn't mean you are really wealthy. He categorizes the middle-class millionaire as those with $1 million to $10 million, the rich with $10 million to $30 million, and the super rich with more than $30 million."

http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/104488/How-to-Live-Rich

Map: Social Networks by Continent

In French...

http://www.lemonde.fr/web/infog/0,47-0@2-651865,54-999097@51-999297,0.html

30 of the Most Creative Booshelf Designs

http://freshome.com/2008/02/25/30-of-the-most-creative-bookshelves-designs/

Bookshelf Igloo for Bed

I think I'd feel a bit claustrophobic...

http://www.boingboing.net/2008/02/24/bed-built-into-an-ig.html

Japan's Porn Laws Loosening?

"Penises protruding from leather stirrups. Testicles tied up in twine. Sometimes violent, sometimes serene, the homosexual erotic photography of Robert Mapplethorpe is anything but easy. But is it obscenity or art? On February 19th Japan's Supreme Court ruled that it is the latter, and that Takashi Asai of Uplink, the publisher, could legally sell a book of the artist's black-and-white portraits—mostly of flowers and stars, such as Arnold Schwarzenegger showing off in his swimming trunks in 1976. The decision may end up loosening stringent obscenity standards."

http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10727970

"G Spot" Update

"Researchers told New Scientist magazine they found an area of thicker tissue among the women reporting orgasms. But specialists warned there could be other reasons for this difference."

Female G Spot 'Can be Detected'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7254523.stm

Golf's Decline?

Possible reasons for golf's decline mentioned in the article:

*Lack of time (men won't spend the whole day away from their family anymore)

*Economics (too much supply not enough demand, holding down two jobs, stagnant real wages, disappearing pensions, corporate cutbacks in country club memberships)

*Strict etiquette rules (e.g., not being able to use a cell phone on the course)

*Aging population (the younger generation is not as active)

Any others? My theory is that young people do not think golf is a "sexy" sport and would rather play video games and surf the Internet. The new generation that is supposed to fill the retirees shoes is simply not going outdoors as much. Fishing may be another example of this.

"The disappearance of golfers over the past several years is part of a broader decline in outdoor activities — including tennis, swimming, hiking, biking and downhill skiing — according to a number of academic and recreation industry studies."

More Americans Are Giving Up Golf
by Paul Vitello
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/21/nyregion/21golf.html?em&ex=1203742800&en=53478f97ee77d7d2&ei=5087%0A

World's Most Expensive Tasting Menus

Number 10, Eigensinn Farm, is no joke...

"In 1993, top Toronto chef Michael Stadtlander bought 100 acres of Ontario wilderness and opened one of the most unusual restaurants in North America. Eigensinn Farm serves no more than 10 diners a night, does not have a liquor license (guests bring their own) and does virtually no marketing. Guests, who fly in from all over the world, are treated to a completely intimate experience and a hyperseasonal eight-course menu made primarily with organic ingredients grown by the chef."

1. L'Arpege (Paris): $466
2. Alaine Ducasse Plaza (Athene, Paris): $437
3. Guy Savoy (Paris): $402
4. Masa (NYC): $400
5. Pierre Gagnaire (Paris): $373
6. Joel Rubuchon At The Mansion, MGM Grand (Las Vegas): $360
7. Louis XV, Alain Ducasse (Monaco): $307
8. La Pergola (Rome): $267
9. Ithaa Undersea Restaurant, Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa, Rangali Island: $250
10. Eigensinn Farm (Singhampton, Candada): $250

http://www.forbes.com/2007/08/23/food-menu-tasting-forbeslife-cx_pl_0827food_slide_2.html

Staircase Bookshelves

Nasty...

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/at-europe/at-europe-london-closeup-the-amazing-staircase-042543

The 33 Things That Make Us Crazy

I agree with some but I probably would have created an entirely different list...Toward the top of my list I would have teeth and cars.

http://www.wired.com/culture/culturereviews/magazine/16-02/su_silverman

Japanese Pickup Schools

"Nanpa, or the act of picking up women, is one of the newer but more popular categories of cram schools in the country. There are at least half a dozen nanpa schools in the Tokyo area alone."

http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2008/02/pick_up_school

Political Sex in America

AEI's monthly political report highlighted an October 2007 suvey by Frank Luntz for Playboy Magazine. Following are two questions from the survey:

Regardless of whom you'd vote for or your political affiliation, who do you think is the sexiest president of the last 40 years? (Note that the sample is 18-64 year olds)

1. Bill Clinton: 59%
2. Ronald Reagan: 22%
3. George W. Bush: 7%
4. Jimmy Carter: 6%
5. Gerald Ford: 3%
6. Richard Nixon: 2%
7. George H.W. Bush: 2%

Generally speaking, which party do you think is better in bed or has a better sex life?

1. Independents: 46%
2. Democrats: 36%
3. Republicans: 18%

It is important to note (as I mentioned in a previous post) that Republicans report they have a more satsifying sex life (50%) compared to Democrats (49%). Since it is so close, I'd like to see another survey done...

Stealing Masterpeices? Not for an Economist.

Why would someone still a masterpeice from a museum? After all, as soon as it has been stolen and reported, it would be almost impossible to sell on the open market.

"So why don't thieves stick to jewelry heists or bank robberies? The most popular explanation is that they are commissioned by shadowy underworld figures to obtain art for their private delectation...But this idea of the evil genius as art connoisseur is 'a myth,' according to Ms. Flescher. Nobody has ever arrested a drug dealer or mafia kingpin and found his hideaway lined with A-list masterpieces from the world's museums...Perhaps art thievery persists for reasons that have less to do with personal prestige or monetary gain than with a vague sense of cultural longing."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120304717203570929.html?mod=todays_us_weekend_journal

Plagiarism in...Online Dating

The difference between plagiarizing in an academic setting and plagiarizing on online sites is that you can't really get in trouble for the latter. Copying merely shows a human's animal instinct to attract a mate by almost any means possible...

"Among the 125 million people in the U.S. who visit online dating and social-networking sites are a growing number of dullards who steal personal profiles, life philosophies, even signature poems."

The Cut-and-Paste Personality
by Jennifer Saranow
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120303234117369959.html?mod=todays_us_weekend_journal

World's Most Expensive Flat

Cost: 6000 British pounds/square foot!!

"Managed by brothers Christian and Nick's development company Candy & Candy, the project features 80 flats designed by architect Richard Rogers with communal spas, squash courts and a private wine-tasting facility. The most expensive penthouse apartments will feature bullet proof windows, purified air systems and 'panic rooms' and everyone on site will have access to an underground passage leading to the nearby Mandarin Oriental hotel."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=515566&in_page_id=1770

Wikileaks Update

Wikileaks has just been forced offline by court injunction but click on this site below to find mirror portals...

https://s.p10.hostingprod.com/@spyblog.org.uk/ssl/wikileak/2008/02/wikileaksorg_dns_problems_partly_censored_by_temporary_restraining_order.html

Trappist Beer Politics

"Monks have been brewing Westvleteren beer at this remote spot near the French border since 1839. Their brew, offered in strengths up to 10.2% alcohol by volume, is among the most highly prized in the world...And the monks are doing their best to resist getting bigger. They don't advertise and don't put labels on their bottles. They haven't increased production since 1946. They sell only from their front gate. You have to make an appointment and there's a limit: two, 24-bottle cases a month."

How Monks Got Into the Beer Business: A Brief History

Middle Ages: The church began to support beer production. Monks brewed beer as a healthier alternative to the impure water of the day, and because it was a good way to make money with only a few basic raw materials. By the year 1000, Europe had approximately 500 monastic breweries.

15th - 19th Centuries: Many abbeys gve up brewing due to secular competition. Hundreds of abbeys in France and present-day Belgium were destroyed during the French Revolution. Monks at St. Sixtus started brewing in 1839 to finance contruction of their new monastery.

Recent History: In the 20th century, the monasteries have suffered from war and a decline of religious vocations. The abbeys that remain, Trappist monasteries in particular, have continued brewing with growing success, amid the prosperity of recent decades.

Trappist Command:Thou Shalt Not BuyToo Much of Our Beer
by John Miller
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB119628388037006909-Fne_2Xj287TcEy9wgO_McwYpaoA_20081128.html?mod=rss_free

The World's "Worst" Dictators

Top 10 from Parade Magazine:

1. Kim Jong-Il - North Korea
2. Omar Al-Bashir - Sudan
3. Than Shew - Burma
4. King Abdullah - Saudi Arabia
5. Hu Jintao - China
6. Robert Mugabe - Zimbabwe
7. Sayyid Ali Khamenei - Iran
8. Pervez Musharraf - Pakistan
9. Islam Karimov - Uzbekistan
10. Isayas Afewerki - Eritrea

The World's 10 Worst Dictators
by David Wallechinsky (Parade Magazine, 2/17/08)

Housing Price Psychology

"A research team at Cornell University has found that people will pay more for a house if its listing price does not end in a bunch of zeros. In other words, the researchers say, you might make more money if you price your house at $425,425 rather than $426,000...The study concluded that because people are used to precise numbers for items that don't cost much and to round numbers for large amounts, consumers generally and home buyers specifically tend to perceive that a price is smaller if there are digits at the end instead of zeros."

Maybe Not a 000-Sum Game
by Sandra Fleishman
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/15/AR2008021501736.html

How Many Lobbyists

Most people usually hear the 30,000 figure that is often used to describe the number or voluntary registered lobbyists...

"James A. Thurber, a professor of government at American University and a lobbying expert, puts the number of lobbyists (including support staff) at about 261,000, twice as many as eight years ago."

Mickey Goes to Washington
by Jeffrey Birnbaum
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/02/15/ST2008021502455.html

We Can't Have It All

Check out the "We Can't Have It All" video on happiness...(I haven't seen the other yet...)

http://60minutes.yahoo.com/segment/140/happiness

Tokyo/London/NY Restaurant Count

If the numbers are indeed correct, it would take 219 years (assuming you tried one restaurant per day each day of the year) to eat at every restaurant in Tokyo. It would only take 41 years to get through Manhattan and about 11 years to eat your way through London...

"Central London's got a paltry 6,000, Manhattan 15,000 and Tokyo a mighty 80,000 - restaurants that is."

http://www.travelsouk.com/dest/japan/tokyo/sites/restaurant.htm

Best Cities for Restaurants

"If only in numbers, New York still has the muscle for bragging rights, with more than 23,000 restaurants..."

1. New York
2. Chicago
3. San Fransico
4. Los Angeles
5. New Orleans
6. Houston
7. Washington, DC
8. Atlanta
9. Boston
10. Las Vegas

http://travel.yahoo.com/p-interests-21967783;_ylc=X3oDMTFuanNwazVpBFNlYwNmcC10b2RheW1vZARTbGsDY2hlYXAtZmxpZ2h0cwRfUwMyNzE2MTQ5BF9zAzI3MTk0ODE-

What Your Car Says to the Opposite Sex

"If you are looking for love, you may want to steer clear of women driving sport-utility vehicles. Mike Michels, a Lexus/Toyota spokesman, says 66% of the RX 350 SUV buyers are female, and 78% are married. Their median age is 55 and they have a median income of $141,000. About 25% of female buyers have children under age 18, suggesting that many are empty-nesters."

What Your Car Says to the Opposite Sex
by Jacqueline Mitchell
http://www.forbes.com/2008/02/05/cars-sex-signals-forbeslife-lovebiz08-cx_jm_0205oppositesex.html?partner=yahoofp

Sex in the Islamic World

"The sexual frustration of many young Arabs has countless causes, most of them economic. Jobs are scarce and low-paying, and most young men are unable to afford and furnish their own apartments -- a prerequisite to being able to marry in most Arab countries."

http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,443678,00.html

Lying = Intelligence?

"Kids lie early, often, and for all sorts of reasons—to avoid punishment, to bond with friends, to gain a sense of control. But now there’s a singular theory for one way this habit develops: They are just copying their parents. .. Indeed, bright kids—those who do better on other academic indicators—are able to start lying at 2 or 3. 'Lying is related to intelligence,' explains Dr. Victoria Talwar, an assistant professor at Montreal’s McGill University and a leading expert on children’s lying behavior."

Learning to Lie
by Po Bronson
http://www.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=Learning+to+Lie&expire=&urlID=26437742&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnymag.com%2Fnews%2Ffeatures%2F43893%2F&partnerID=73272

Auctioning Your Education

Seems to me more like a pain in the a$$ than anything else...

"...Wharton takes it one step further, allowing students to sell their courses (for points) to other students. It's all done through a Web site. Buyers and sellers are anonymous, so buddies can't make deals. Wharton also uses a second-price auction in which the highest bidder wins, but he or she pays the amount of the second-highest bid. Economists like the second-price auction because they think it encourages more honest bidding. In other words, Wharton has what may be the most sophisticated, and most confusing, course-registration system ever devised."

Class Warfare: When Getting in is the Hardest Part
by Thomas Bartlett
http://chronicle.com/temp/email2.php?id=gmHjcGz4shtQVzdTk5vkQsdynknxX2gt

A Brief History of Human Sex

"It is nearly impossible to tell, however, whether people enjoyed sex more 50 years ago or 50,000 years ago..."

A Brief History of Human Sex
by Heather Whipps
http://www.livescience.com/health/060727_sex_history.html

Looks Matter Most to Beautiful People

"More attractive people placed more importance on physical attractiveness above other features in selecting their dates. Less attractive people placed more weight on other qualities, such as sense of humor."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20080214/sc_livescience/inromancelooksmattersmosttothebeautiful

The World's Most Romantic Restaurants

I wonder if there is a direct correlation between romantic settings and food. Does a romantic setting usually mean that the food is better because more care was taken to choose or set up a romantic place? Do people think the food tastes better if the atmosphere is amazing? Or, is the food actually worse at romantic places because they feel smug with their nice setup? I tend to think the latter. No one wants to go to a dirty/ugly place unless the food is damn good...

Here is a link to the Top 12 Romantic Restuarants according to Concierge.com:

http://www.concierge.com/ideas/romantic/tour/detail?id=1730

Does the Quality of Blog Comments Deteriorate?

An excellent discussion on the issue from Tyler Cowen...

http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2008/02/does-the-qualit.html

Lost-cost Analysis

"People in long-distance relationships may spend more money than local lovebirds. How is that possible? The answer, says Mr. Cowen, lies in the Alchian-Allen Theorem. Developed in 1964 by economists Armen Alchian and William R. Allen, the theorem states that adding a per unit charge to the price of two substitute goods increases the relative consumption of the higher price good."

Love-cost Analysis
by Dave McGinn
http://www.nationalpost.com/loveandsex/story.html?id=296085

Dogs vs. SUVs

Another reason to dump your pet/dog and buy an SUV...

"Which do you think takes a bigger toll on the environment, owning a dog, or owning an SUV? My bet would be on the dog. I'm thinking of all of the resources that go into dog food."

Dogs and the Environment
by Arnold Kling
http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2008/02/dogs_and_the_en.html

Video: Cars that Avoid Collisions

The end or car accidents as we know it? Probably not going to happen for a long time, but good to see some progress...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qK-Bdix7Hho

Why We Kiss

"If pheromones do play a role in human courtship and procreation, then kissing would be an extremely effective way to pass them from one person to another. The behavior may have evolved because it helps humans find a suitable mate—making love, or at least attraction, quite literally blind...The reason a kiss carries such weight, Gallup theorizes, is that it conveys subconscious information about the genetic compatibility of a prospective mate. His hypothesis is consistent with the idea that kissing evolved as a courtship strategy because it helps us rate potential partners."

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=affairs-of-the-lips-why-we-kiss&print=true

MySpace for Millionaires

A few reasons why online millionaire/billionaire networking sites are not so successful...

*Wealthy people are often intensely private
*They are pressed for time and overloaded with existing social commitments
*Sites are opening their doors to wider and wider audiences so they become less exclusive

One example of these "exclusive" sites is aSmallWorld.net:
http://www.asmallworld.net/login.php

MySpace for Millionaires
by Robert Frank
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119637905445308659.html

Obama Japan

Obama's Japan connection...

"Obama, Japan, is rooting for candidate Obama, hoping that if he becomes the US president he will put this ancient fishing town of 32,000 people firmly on the tourist map and, just maybe, choose it for an international summit...Lest cynics find the city's efforts naive, it was Obama himself who first drew attention to the connection. Obama, speaking to Japan's TBS network in December 2006, said that when he flew once to Tokyo, an officer stamping his passport told him of the town."

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hqiXAtSohQcj2DY6bWLtnHX7UoxQ

French Women: Sex (Not Food) Is the Answer

Is sex the reason why French women are "healthier" than many other populations?

"Older Frenchwomen seem open not just to non-marital sex but also to the extramarital variety. Overall self-reported levels of infidelity are practically identical in France and the United States. But because the taboo on cheating is weaker in France, what would be guilty flings in the United States can blossom into long love affairs over here."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/08/AR2008020801607_pf.html

America's Most Miserable Cities

This is according to Forbes. Ranks are based on the 150 largest metro areas...Factors taken into consideration include: unemployment, personal tax rates, commute times, weather, crime, and "toxic waste dump in your backyward."

"Misery is defined as a state of great unhappiness and emotional distress. The economic indicator most often used to measure misery is the Misery Index. The index, created by economist Arthur Okun, adds the unemployment rate to the inflation rate. It has been in the narrow 7-to-9 range for most of the past decade, but was over 20 during the late 1970s."

1. Detroit, Michigan
2. Stockton, California
3. Flint, Michigan
4. New York, New York
5. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
6. Chicago, Illinois
7. Los Angeles, California
8. Modestro, California
9. Charlotte, North Carolina
10. Providence, Rhode Island

http://promo.realestate.yahoo.com/americas-most-miserable-cities.html

China - The Hidden Inflation

Vietnam could be the next China. But who will be after Vietnam? North Korea perhaps?

"A confluence of events - the weakening dollar, soaring domestic inflation, new labor laws, the end of some government export subsidies, the increasing cost of raw materials, more stringent product safety regulations, and bad weather - means cost of goods produced in Chinese factories is rising fast."

Rising Costs in China Seep Into US Market
by Ariana Eujung Cha
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/08/AR2008020803604.html

The End of Helium

Most people think that commodities like gold, silver and oil can run out, but rarely does one think of helium...

"The technology explosion is sucking up helium supplies at dizzying rates. US helium demand is up more than 80% in the past two decades...supplies in the world's largest helium reserve near Amerillo, Texas, are expected to run out in eight years..."

As Demand Balloons, Helium Is in Short Supply
by Ana Campoy
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119682793344314212.html

Graph: How Americans Spend Their Money

http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2008/02/10/opinion/10op.graphic.ready.html

View of Humanity

Sex and violence, that pretty much sums up human history...

http://www.prosebeforehos.com/word-of-the-day/02/11/humanity/

Spotting a Lobbyist

In Washington you will never see a business card with the word lobbyist on it. Why is that? Is it the negative image that has surfaced about lobbying? I doubt it, because you would never see the word "lobbyist" before the Abramoff lobbying scandal. I think it is a bit more nuanced than being merely a "dirty word" as some describe. I think it is more business related as a lobbyist does not want to give a business card to a Member of Congress or staffer thinking that the sole purpose of the visit is to influence their decision(s).

How to Spot a Lobbyist's Title

-"Affairs" derivatives: congressional affairs, legislative affairs, federal affairs, or government affairs

-"Associate," as in "government relations associate"

-"Vice President" or "director," such as "senior vice president for public policy" or "director, congressional relations"

-Partner in charge," for a law/Old West twist

In Washington, 'Lobbyist' by Any Other Name
by Aofie McCarthy
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0208/8344.html

The Smartest Cities in America

From Forbes...

1. Boulder, CO
2. Bethesda, MD
3. Ithaca, NY
4. Ann Arbor, MI
5. Corvallis, OR
6. Ames, IA
7. Lawrence, KS
8. Cambridge, MA
9. San Francisco, CA
10. Iowa City, IA
.
.
13. Washington, DC

http://promo.realestate.yahoo.com/the-smartest-cities-in-america.html

Sadness Encourages Extravagance?

"If you're sad and shopping, watch your wallet: A new study shows people's spending judgment goes out the window when they're down, especially if they're a bit self-absorbed. Study participants who watched a sadness-inducing video clip offered to pay nearly four times as much money to buy a water bottle than a group that watched an emotionally neutral clip."

Sadness May Encourage More Extravagance
by Mark Jewell
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080208/ap_on_bi_ge/sadness_spending

Tsukiji to Cut Off Tourists

The new rules are supposed to go in effect in April 2008. I'm not quite sure the meaning of "voluntarily refrain from coming," but it is probably a hands-off, polite way to say please only come if absolutely necessary. As in "we won't kick you out if you come but we may give you a hard time about certain things." Under the new rules, visitors will be required to submit an application in advance of their visit.

"The Tsukiji Fish Market, one of Tokyo's most popular and well-known tourist draws, has adopted rules urging visitors to voluntarily 'refrain from coming,' because of sanitation concerns and the disruptions they pose to auctions."

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20080207a2.html

End of the World Scenarios

I'm not into doomsday predictions or anything like that, but it is nice to look at a few possible scenarios of the end of the world from time to time...

http://www.botw.org/articles/endworld.html

Unique Bookcase

This is how to really be in touch with your books...

http://techfo.info/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/cave-bookcase.jpg

World's Most Expensive Universities

Looks like $40,000/year is the cost ceiling these days. But as soon as one college/university breaks that, $50,000 likely will be the new mark... In fact, Vermon's Landmark College ($41,275/year), which caters to students with learning disabilities, was purposely left out of the rankings...Let the race begin.

1. George Washington University (GWU) - $38,240/year
2. Kenyon College - $38,140/year
3. Bucknell University - $38,134/year
4. Vassar College - $38,115/year
5. Sarah Lawrence College - $38,090/year


"This may surprise you: The world’s most expensive universities are not haute institutions in the Swiss Alps or on the balmy shores of the Persian Gulf. Nor are they the Ivy League citadels of America’s elite like Harvard or Princeton, or ancient halls of learning like Cambridge or Oxford in the United Kingdom. No, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education, the most expensive four-year university in the U.S. (and most likely the world) is Washington, D.C.’s George Washington University, with a price tag of $39,240 in 2007-2008."

http://www.forbes.com/2008/01/21/education-university-globalization-biz-cx_bw_lh_0121colleges.html

Lanugage Tree: Indo-European Languages

Language tree of Indo-European Languages:

http://jonathan.beaton.name/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/indoeuropean-language-family-tree.jpg

Men vs. Women: The Better Investor Is...?

"As investors, men and women clearly both have flaws. But arguably, it's a bigger problem for women. After all, women typically earn a smaller salary and have a longer life expectancy. That means they have to fund a lengthier retirement with less income -- and yet they're also crimping their returns by shying away from stocks."

He Invests, She Invests: Who Gets the Better Returns
by Jonathan Clements
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120225351057845627.html?mod=todays_us_personal_journal

Rat Meat: The New Chicken?

"According to the Chinese calendar, the Year of the Rat begins tomorrow. But here it may have started sooner: Unexpected changes in Vietnam's food chain and diet have sparked a rodent-eating bonanza...Rats have been a delicacy in Vietnam's rural areas for centuries, with recipes dating back 150 years. For a long time, however, this country's big city folk were generally less enthusiastic, often associating the animals more with garbage-digging vermin than mouth-watering entrees. But in 2004, flare-ups of bird flu claimed scores of lives here and prompted many diners to search for alternative sources of protein."

For Vietnamese, The Year of The Rat Starts With Lunch
by James Hookway
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120222488938344263.html?mod=todays_us_page_one

USINPAC: The New AIPAC?

"With growing numbers, clout and self-confidence, the Indian American community is turning its admiration for the Israel lobbyy and its respect for high-achieving Jewish Americans into a powerful new force of its own. Following consciously in AIPAC's footsteps, the India lobby is getting results in Washington - and having a profound impact on US policy..."

Forget the Israel Lobby. The Hill's Next Big Player is Made in India
by Mira Kamdar
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/28/AR2007092801350.html

Net Oil Importers vs. Exporters

See who is benefiting and who is being destroyed by rising oil prices...

Top Net Oil Exporters (2006; In millions of barrels per day)

1. Saudi Arabia: 8.7
2. Russia: 6.6
3. Norway: 2.5
4. Iran: 2.5
5. U.A.E.: 2.5
6. Venezuela: 2.2
7. Kuwait: 2.2
8. Nigeria: 2.1
9. Algeria: 1.8
10. Mexico: 1.7
11. Libya: 1.5
12. Iraq: 1.4
13. Angola: 1.4
14. Kazakhstan: 1.1
15. Canada: 1.1

Net Oil Importers (2006; In millions of barrels per day)

1. US: 12.2
2. Japan: 5.1
3. China: 3.4
4. Germany: 2.5
5. South Korea: 2.2
6. France: 1.9
7. India: 1.7
8. Italy: 1.6
9. Spain: 1.6
10. Taiwan: 0.9
11. Netherlands: 0.9
12. Singapore: 0.8
13. Thailand: 0.6
14. Turkey: 0.6
15. Belgium: 0.5

Ahmadinejad: All Bark no Bite?

"Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the President of Iran, has gained attention in the West because of his defiance of the United Nations and his outrageous statements. However, he actually has little power. 'He does not control Iran's nuclear program, its military, or its foreign policy.' says Mohamad Bazzi, a visiting fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). 'If Iran's parliament passes a bill, it still does not become law, because the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and the 12-member Guardian Council of religious leaders can veto anything the elected government does.'"

-From Parade Magazine (unknown date)

The Science Behind Double-Dipping

"Prof. Nancy Zeller of American University in Washington, DC tested whether double-dipping is bad. The professor and her students dipped, double-dipped, then triple-dipped chips into salsa, guacamole, soft cheese and a spinach-cream spread.

"Suprisingly, after one hour, the salsa and guacamole had virtually no bacteria. The two other dips, which contained dairy, had some bacteria - but not as much as Professor Zeller, a microbiologist, had expected. 'Commercial dips have a fair number of preservatives,' she notes. 'In this case, that may have been a good thin.'"

-From Parade Magazine (unknown date)

More Females or Males on Planet Earth?

Q: Are there more males or females on the planet?

A: People often assume that, despite the fact that males slightly outnumber females at birth, females must outnumber males in the total population because male life expenctancy is shorter. Yet this is not the case. Males slightly outnumber females overall: There are 1.01 males for every female in the world.

November 24, 2007, Parade Magazine

America's Future: Misconceptions

Why is there such a gap between all the usual pessimism about America’s future and the actual trends? Michael Lind looks for an answer...

1. The first myth, which is mainly a conservative one, is that racial and ethnic rivalries are tearing America apart.

2. The second myth, which is mainly a liberal one, is that America will soon be overwhelmed by religious fundamentalists.

3. The third myth, an economic one beloved of centrists, is that the retirement of the baby boomers will bankrupt the country because of runaway social security entitlement costs.

America Still Works
by Michael Lind
http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/article_details.php?id=10022

Rethinking War

"We should remember that long before the WMD controversy, the triggers for American wars have usually been odd affairs, characterized by poor intelligence gathering and inept diplomacy...At the geostrategic level, American diplomats have had to make devil's bargains far more morally suspect than going into Iraq...In many of our wars this country has committed strategic mistakes far greater in number and toll than anything seen in Iraq....By the same token, for every purported blunder in Iraq, there is at least an understandable reason why errors occurred in the context of human imperfection, emotion, and fear."

http://www.claremont.org/publications/crb/id.1500/article_detail.asp

Amazon's Top Reviewer: 45 Books/Week

"Harriet Klausner, No. 1 since the inception of the ranking system in 2000, has averaged 45 book reviews per week over the last five years—a pace that seems hard to credit, even from a professed speed-reader."

Who is Grady Harp?
by Garth Risk Hallberg
http://www.slate.com/id/2182002/pagenum/all/

Math + Religion = Trouble

A good question is brought up. What is it with God and mathematics? Perhaps some religious people are drawn into math so they can prove with numbers the existence of God?

"The New York Times reported recently that mathematicians believe in God at a rate 2 1/2 times that of biologists, quoting a survey of the National Academy of Sciences. Admittedly, that's not saying much: Only 14.6 per cent of mathematicians embraced the God hypothesis, versus 5.5 per cent of biologists... As for the problem of good and evil, he defers to fellow atheist, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Weinberg: 'With or without religion, good people will do good, and evil people will do evil. But for good people to do evil, that takes religion.'"

Math + Relgion = Trouble
by Ron Csillag
http://www.thestar.com/News/article/297564

Most Expensive Item in the World by Weight/Volume

Simple laws of supply and demand...

Want to know what the most expensive item in the world is by weight and volume? It's not a diamond or other rare gem. Wikipedia pegs it as the so-called Treskilling Yellow stamp from Sweden -- probably the only one of its kind. It's actually a piece of paper. It has a current value of more than $2 million (or $87 billion per kilogram, according to the site).

The World of Rare Stamps: Treskilling Yellow is Most Valuable
by Amey Stone
http://www.luxist.com/2008/02/04/the-world-of-rare-stamps-treskilling-yellow-is-most-valuable/

Questions of the Day

Some of these are self-explanatory and/or absurd, but a few good questions are raised...

Some I liked:

*Whose idea was it to put an "S" in the word "lisp"?

*Why is it that people say they "slept like a baby" when babies wake up every two hours?

*How is it that we put man on the moon before we figured out it would be a good idea to put wheels on luggage? (Not sure if this is fact or not...)

http://thoughtnuggets.blogspot.com/

Predictably Irrational

Ah, the power of free...

When we set the price of a Lindt truffle at 15 cents and a Kiss at one cent, we were not surprised to find that our customers acted with a good deal of rationality: they compared the price and quality of the Kiss with the price and quality of the the truffle, and then made their choice: About 73 percent of them chose the truffle and 27 percent chose a Kiss.

Now we decided to see how FREE! might change the situation. So we offered the Lindt truffle for 14 cents and the Kisses free...

But what a difference FREE! made. The humble Hershey's Kiss became a big favorite. Some 69 percent of our customers (up from 27 percent before) chose the FREE! Kiss, giving up the opportunity to get the Lindt truffle for a very good price.


http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2008/02/predictably-irr.html

1/3+ Watch Super Bowl Just for Ads

Super Bowl Advertising Facts:

*Companies paid $90,000 per second for ads during the Super Bowl.

*140 million Americans - almost half the country - tune into the game at some point.

*Traffic to advertiser's websites rise by 50% the day after the game.

*Over a third of us watch the game just for the ads.

http://consumerist.com/352039/superbowl-ads-are-designed-to-fuel-mindless-buying

How Big is the Web?

A January 2008 Netcraft survey estimates that there were 155,583,825 sites on the Internet. That number sounds low. That means that about half of the US population has one Internet page. I wonder if that the number includes global Internet sites and blogs.

http://www.therawfeed.com/2008/02/how-big-is-web-155583825-sites-report.html

Quote of the Day

One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly important.

-Bertrand Russell

Carnaval: Scheduling Disaster

"Mr. Araujo is leading a radical campaign to have Carnaval begin on the first Sunday in March every year. The idea has the backing of Brazil's hotel association, and most travel agencies here seem to like it, too. The thinking is that an early Carnaval means vacationers will not have had enough time to regain their financial footing after Christmas and New Year's...The two-year-old fixed-date movement is up against more than 1,000 years of tradition. In Europe sometime during the Dark Ages, the feast day became linked to the Catholic calendar. In places that maintain the Catholic traditions, including New Orleans where Carnaval is known as Mardi Gras, the celebration immediately precedes Ash Wednesday."

Facts:

*The festival in Brazil gets under way 50 days before Easter Sunday, a movable date based on the lunar calendar, this year March 23. That's the earliest Easter has been since 1913.

*The drive in Brazil for a fixed date is the result of Carnaval's transformation in recent decades from an unruly street party into a big-time commercial spectacle.

*The proceedings were first televised in a small way in 1960. Later, work was completed on the 70,000-seat Sambadrome, spurring a drive for ever larger and more elaborate floats to wow viewers.

*The rising costs of putting on the show invited still more commercialism. Nowadays, universities here even offer degrees in Carnaval management. In 2005, Rio unveiled the $50 million Samba City, a new home for the top 12 samba schools -- social organizations that build the floats and then parade with as many as 6,000 dancers and drummers in a competition to be chosen champion.


Carnaval Arrives Early This Year, Too Soon for Brazil
by Antonio Regalado
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120190039101336249.html?mod=todays_us_page_one

On Cachaça

"Brazil has been awash in cachaça for centuries, but until about 10 years ago it exported very little. In the past decade, cachaça has finally cultivated an international following thanks to the popularity of Caipirinhas (or 'Caipis,' as they are known in Berlin, where the craze is most crazed)."

The Cocktail of Carnival
by Eric Felton
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120190755620436659.html?mod=todays_us_weekend_journal

The World's Hottest Chili

"The bhut jolokia chili pepper fires up the imagination, as well as the taste buds. The thumb-sized chilies are so potent they could be used in pepper spray, says the director of India's Defense Research Lab, R.B. Srivastava. 'I've been told the U.S. and Israel have considered it for antiriot material,' he says."

Facts:

*It is 200 times hotter than a jalapeño

*The bhut jolokia pepper, which is farmed in the northeast part of India, was plucked from obscurity last year when the Guinness Book of World Records declared it the world's hottest.

*The standard measure for "hottest" is the Scoville Heat Unit, or SHU, named after Wilbur Lincoln Scoville, a chemist who in 1912 developed a method of assessing the heat given off by capsaicin, the active ingredient in chili peppers. Jalapeño peppers measure about 5,000 SHUs. The bhut jolokia tops a million.

The World's Hottest Chili
by Stan Sesser
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120191360681137059.html?mod=todays_us_weekend_journal

15 T-Shirts You'd Hate to See on Your Daughter's Boyfriend

Which one would you most hate to see on your daughter's man?

http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=6787843222874900083

Advertisements: Radio vs. TV

I assume the answer is only based on US statistics...

Q: Which has more advertising: radio or television?

A: TV averages about 15 minutes an hour vs. 10 minutes for radio. Ads may seem longer on radio because you have no visual stimulation for distraction.

(Source: 2/2/08, Parade Magazine)

Map: US Population and Education

Percentage of population with less than 9 years of education (not sure if this includes people who have not had the chance to go through 9 years of education, such as, a 5-year-old):

http://www.brainspout.com/blog/images/map_edu.gif

$.33 Plastic Bag Tax Causes 94% Drop in Use

"In 2002, Ireland passed a tax on plastic bags; customers who want them must now pay 33 cents per bag at the register. There was an advertising awareness campaign. And then something happened that was bigger than the sum of these parts. Within weeks, plastic bag use dropped 94 percent.

"In January almost 42 billion plastic bags were used worldwide, according to reusablebags.com; the figure increases by more than half a million bags every minute. A vast majority are not reused, ending up as waste — in landfills or as litter. Because plastic bags are light and compressible, they constitute only 2 percent of landfill, but since most are not biodegradable, they will remain there."

Motivated by Tax, Irish Spurn Plastic Bag
by Elisabeth Rosenthal
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/02/world/europe/02bags.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin

World's Weirdest Book: Codex Seraphinianus?

"The Codex is a lavishly produced book that purports to be an encyclopedia for an imaginary world in a parallel universe, with copious comments in an incomprehensible language. It is written in a florid script, entirely invented and completely illegible, and illustrated with watercolor paintings."

http://www.archimedes-lab.org/Serafi/C_serafini.html

Capitalism Causes Hot Russian Women?

An arguement on communist vs. non-communist beauty and historical beauty...

All the Pretty Communists
by Matthew Yglesias
http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/01/all_the_pretty_communists.php

Influentials and the "Tipping Point"

Has the Tipping Point been tipped?

"In modern marketing, this idea--that a tiny cadre of connected people triggers trends--is enormously seductive. It is the very premise of viral and word-of-mouth campaigns: Reach those rare, all-powerful folks, and you'll reach everyone else through them, basically for free. Loosely, this is referred to as the Influentials theory...Yet, if you believe [Duncan] Watts, all that money and effort is being wasted. Because according to him, Influentials have no such effect. Indeed, they have no special role in trends at all...He has written computer models of rumor spreading and found that your average slob is just as likely as a well-connected person to start a huge new trend."

Is the Tippoing Point Toast
by Clive Thompson
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/122/is-the-tipping-point-toast.html

Top 10 Restaurants in Asia

"Asia's food scene has finally grown up and gone global."

Top 10 Restaurants in Asia (in no particular order):

*Kahala, Osaka
*Song Yuan Shi, Taiwan
*Da Dong, Beijing
*Piao Xiang, Chendu
*Kikunoi, Kyoto
*Or Tor Gor, Bangkok
*Line of No Control, New Delhi
*Hoi Tin Garden, Hong Kong
*Kyubei, Tokyo
*Bo Innovation, Hong Kong

Top 10 Restaurants in Asia
by John Krich
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120103451918607529.html (need WSJ subscription)

Health Beat: Why Scratching Brings Relief

This is from a new dermatological study...

"Scratching reduced activity in the anterior cingulate cortex and the posterior cingulate cortex -- areas linked with pain aversion and memory. And the more intensely a person was scratched, the less activity they found in these areas of the brain. 'It's possible that scratching may suppress the emotional components of itch and bring about relief,' Yosipovitch said."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080131/sc_nm/itch_scratch_dc

Hiding Secrets - PGP

Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) is a form of encryption software used by intelligence agencies in the US and around the world that is widely available online...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Good_Privacy