Personal

November 1st, 2008 by alephnaught

Tank Girl 2

Title: Tank Girl 2 Author: Alan Martin (Author), Jamie Hewlett (Illustrator) Paperback: 128 pages Publisher: Titan Books (March 1, 2003) ISBN-10: 184023492X ISBN-13: 978-1840234923 This wasn’t as good as the original Tank Girl comic; too complex, too many attempts to do too many things on one page.  But, there were high points, especially the “Summer […]

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October 19th, 2008 by alephnaught

Some data to support the concentration of wealth

I’ve been writing about the concentration of wealth in the United States here and here for example; now the New York Times has provided a series of graphs on the US economy since Harry Truman’s Presidency that shows this trend: So why would we continue a tax policy that places more and more of the […]

October 18th, 2008 by alephnaught

Bernini and Illuminated Manuscripts at the Getty

The Bernini show at the Getty Museum was due to finish in just over a week, so we decided to go see art on a hilltop. The Getty Museum is a huge complex just off the 405 heading south from us.  You pay $10 for parking; that’s it, there’s no entrance fee.  There’s a tram […]

October 17th, 2008 by alephnaught

Redistribute wealth? That’s what taxes do

I saw part of the last debate between Senators McCain and Obama.  I’ve read a number of articles and seen news stories on TV about “Joe the Plumber.”  And everyone is concerned about “redistributing the wealth” as if its some socialist (or, if this was the 50’s, communist) plot. Taxes by their nature redistribute wealth, […]

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October 11th, 2008 by alephnaught

Culver City Art Galleries and Santa Monica (again)

Aviva and I wanted to see a show up at Billy Shire Fine Arts, so we went to Culver City and visited a few galleries.  There were two shows worth seeing. The first is Billy Shire Fine Arts – he’s got two shows in his gallery right now, one by Miriam Wosk and the other […]

October 5th, 2008 by alephnaught

The Los Angeles River

We looked at a house that’s on the Los Angeles River.  One might think that would be idyllic, but its not – the Los Angeles River is almost not a river at all; the Army Corps of Engineers has threatened to take if off the list of rivers because a body of water must be […]

October 4th, 2008 by alephnaught

Hollyhock House and the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery

We decided to go out to Wacko Bookstore, and after spending an hour and unknown quantities of money, we picked Hollyhock House in Barnsdall Park. The views from the park are amazing – the hill is pretty tall and provides striking views of the Hollywood sign, the Planetarium, and downtown Los Angeles. The famous Hollywood […]

October 1st, 2008 by alephnaught

Low expectations, and she could be your next president

Not since Dan Quayle took the stage in 1988 have debate expectations for a major party candidate been as low as they will be on Thursday for Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska. (link to article) I would think this was funny if it didn’t affect me.  Sarah Palin could be our next vice president, meaning […]

October 1st, 2008 by alephnaught

Trust, liquidity, and the Great Depression too!

There’s a good article in today’s New York Times comparing some of the circumstances surrounding the Great Depression with what’s going on today, Lesson From a Crisis: When Trust Vanishes, Worry. The article talks about the lack of response to the early warning signs of the Great Depression and especially about the public’s view that […]

September 28th, 2008 by alephnaught

There may be value in sleeping on it after all

I’ve been fighting back against making snap decisions at the office.  I’ve been thinking about this for a while, and I’ve found that I rarely had to make a fast decision, that gathering a little information and, most importantly, sleeping on it, or taking time out where I’m not directly thinking about the problem, aid […]