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Showing posts from June, 2012

NYC: Empire State of Mind

After visiting NYC ... feeling inspired. I'm also confused as to why so many Bahamians elect to travel to Florida when a flight to NYC costs almost the same and offers infinitely more to do. Florida, in the immortal words of Bill Maher , is 'America's Dick' . While I don't fully agree with that sentiment, a comedian is entitled to his bombast and Florida, at times, can have a plastic feel, while NY is all brick and mortar and dreams.
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Migration and Naturalization

One thing that is clear, advanced, confident economies take in a lot of people to fuel their advanced economies. Look at this chart from The Economist . Cultures, communities and political parties that lack confidence in the real abilities of their constituent members tend to be anti-migrant. They're usually heavy on ideology and short on pragmatic strategies for policy formation and problem solving as well.
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Blizzard: StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty won multiple awards in 2010 , when it was first released. The original game focused on the Terran campaign. The first expansion pack, which focuses on the Zerg , is called  Heart of the Swarm  and is an add on to this real the strategy game mega hit. It will be followed by the Protoss themed, Legacy of the Void . Blizzard , the maker of the game, has consistently made only award winning games. They work on their games for years before releasing them, putting in more hours than a movie shoot in many cases. Their most recent release, Diablo III is likewise an award winning game. Enjoy the videos. If you're looking for something to keep your mind sharp, this is essentially chess at light speed . More info  here .
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El Secreto de Sus Ojos (2009)

El Secreto de Sus Ojos , English title, The Secret in Their Eyes is an excellent film . Don't believe me? It scored 8.2 on IMDb and  92% on RT . It also won Best Foreign Language Film at the 82nd Academy Awards in 2010 . It is a Spanish and Argentinian production and is a well crafted crime drama with greater lessons to offer on life, love, passion and duty. As with all great foreign language films, the liberating lack of a formulaic narrative is what creates the magic, that old magic of the movies. Hollywood often seems to have forgotten how to make movies like this, which is what makes global film great. More reviews here .
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The Economist: Better-life index

The Economist really gives you ways, through statistics and numbers, to form a clearer understanding of how the world actually is, rather than how it appears or what we think of it or what we opine from my perspective, from your perspective or from the average Joe's perspective. These are objective slices . They're not complete, but if you aggregate enough of these slices of information, you start to see a clearer picture in your understanding. One built less on people's opinions and perceptions and more on hard facts and statistics. Anyway, this chart is exceptional and The Economist referenced Bobby Kennedy in publishing it. On GDP , Bobby Kennedy famously said, "it measures everything...except that which makes life worthwhile." I couldn't agree more. Click on the link , it takes you to their page and the original post.
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From Press-on Crown Nails to Queen-Themed Yogurt, All the Diamond Jubilee Crap You Could Ever (or Never) Want | Blogs | Vanity Fair

From Press-on Crown Nails to Queen-Themed Yogurt, All the Diamond Jubilee Crap You Could Ever (or Never) Want | Blogs | Vanity Fair There really isn't enough Jubilee junk in the world! It amazes me that people still care about the Royals, almost embarrassing actually, but from a fiscal stand point, the Royal Family bring in tourism dollars and merchandising funds galore, so it has become hard to argue against them.
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Bahamian Jubilee time: The PLP and Dame Marguerite Pindling

While many Bahamians were aiming their televisions, radios and internet feeds towards the Queen's Jubilee ceremonies in the United Kingdom , Bahamian PLPs were having a little Jubilee party of their own at Government House . It was a sad day for democracy , transparency and accountability in the Bahamas . Unbelievably, the new Bahamian government, under the leadership of the PLP , has decided to appoint Dame Marguerite 'the champagne lady' Pindling to the position of Deputy Governor General . Dame Marguerite Pindling is the widow of former corrupt Prime Minister , Lynden Oscar Pindling , who brought in the drug lords, like Carlos Lehder , and funneled millions of illicit funds to his own private accounts. He also stole from the people and  treasury of the Bahamas  throughout the Bahamian drug era of the late 70s, 80s and early 90s. His time in power was referred to as the 'Pingdom'. Her reward for her loyal  service to the country? To be appointed Dep...
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Joseph Stiglitz on Economics

Joseph Stiglitz's recent article in Vanity Fair is an excellent analysis of the western world's  current economic problems. Stiglitz is a professor of economics at Columbia University and a Nobel prize winner . The article asserts a central tenet of modern economic theory that strikes me as elementary . That tenet is that a strong economy is based upon the spending of a robust middle class . That, historically, is what drives consumption . In America, the owners of businesses are short sighted to simply cut taxes to their own class, because their own class benefits most from a flush middle class . What they gain in the short term, they lose in the medium to long term. In addition, they condemn their businesses and the overall economy to more frequent and unnecessary boom and bust cycles in the process. The American economy is undermining its own engine of growth, consumption , in the hapless pursuit of immediate riches for the wealthiest Americans, who need the m...
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