I know I am the only person in the world who cares about this but, just like this year, February 3 fell on a Friday in 1933.

Huey Long closed the banks on Saturday, February 4, 1933.

Our bank will be open for half a day tomorrow too.

I think that Democrats and Republicans play the Prisoner’s Dilemma differently.

I also think that neither plays correctly. I believe that most people believe that a tit for tat strategy is best for playing Prisoner’s Dilemma.

In any event, I want to flesh out my thoughts over the next couple of weeks.

I think that today is the longest day of the year because the difference between the length of the time the sun is up is bigger between today and yesterday than for any other day of the year.

I realize that the day is measured from sundown to sundown which is not quite the same thing as the increase in daylight.

In any event, completely worthless trivia for the day before the music died.

Using daughters from your first wife to convince everyone that your second wife is lying about your third wife.

I am trying to survive without being able to watch the Daily Show live.

I have a bunch of old MASH DVDs. I just watched the pilot episode.

I never knew that the original Father Mulcahy was played by George Morgan.

Of course good defenses win more Super Bowls than good offenses.

Think of it this way, I have an overly simplified football team.

You can sign the best quarterback or the best linebacker. Somehow you are sure each one will help win the exact same amount. Which should you sign?

In a completely free market, it wouldn't make any difference. In the NFL, you should sign the linebacker.

Why?

If you have a better quarterback then you will have more passing yards. Your receivers will look better than they actually are. Better looking wide receivers get paid more. The defense will protect more against the pass meaning your running game will do better. The running backs will get paid more. Overall, the offense will get paid more.

If you sign the better linebacker then other defensive players will look better. Now, honestly, do you really know that the left tackle or the nickel back is better on the Jets than the Giants??? Yes, the other players on defense will look better and need to be paid more. But the extra pay will be far less than you would have to pay the offense if you signed the great quarterback.

I have a video unit that needs a TV tuner. I had been using the cable box.

Now, I don't think I can even receive over the air TV.

I wonder how hard it will be to survive without any TV.

Carry Interest is one of the most disgusting parts of the current tax code.

Rarely are there such obvious examples of big tax breaks that serve ZERO public interest.

Of course, few things were as bad as the QTE law that Senator Grassley got changed which cost me my job at Sumitomo. Carry interest might cost the Treasury more money but is far less disgusting that the QTE rules.

Rush does not have an easy job.

First he hated Romney because he was a Democrat and not conservative.

Then, when Romney was assured of the nomination, he backed Romney and attacked Gingrich as the candidate of Occupy Wall Street.

I haven't listened to him recently but Rush might have to spin on a dime again if Gingrich wins big.

BTW, as of now, both Nate Silver and Intrade have Gingrich in the lead in South Carolina.

George Romney was born in Mexico to American parents.

It appears there was no concern at all that he was eligible to become President.

I know Obama doesn't deserve to be President because his mother was under 18 when she flew to Kenya from Hawaii to give birth.

But, I thought there was a question as to whether someone born outside the US could be President.

I guess George Romney shows that it doesn't matter where you are born as long as you are a citizen on day 1.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-11/buffett-challenges-republicans-...

Warren Buffett said he will match the contributions of Congressional Republicans.

http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/01/america-but-better.html

I would be shocked if the vote tallies were 99.9% accurate.

Assuming that they are, then the odds of Santorum winning is about 5%.
If they are about 99.8% accurate, then the odds jump to about 20%.
99.7% accurate then the odds are about 36%.

I assume nobody will recount the votes because the votes are meaningless anyway. The delegates that go to the next round of caucuses is the thing that people now care about.

I think he is one of the best and interesting thinkers around.

He started writing for the Atlantic. Not a very good post, IMO but I am glad he will write more often

http://www.theatlantic.com/robert-wright/

You need (especially urban planning majors) to click on the link and see the pictures.

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/01/picture-of-the-day-s...

The real war on Christmas

I am amazed at how much I agree with David Frum on so many things.

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/12/24/david-frum-on-the-real-ch...

"We hear a lot about “the war on Christmas.” But the true seasonal struggle is the war within Christmas, a single holiday shared by two deeply antagonistic religions.

Religion 1 is the religion of Jesus Christ, the figure whose birth the holiday commemorates. This religion emphasizes universal grace and forgiveness.

Religion 2 is the religion of Santa Claus, the holiday’s most visible representative. Santa upholds a much sterner creed: “You better watch out / You better not cry / Better not pout / I’m telling you why / Santa Claus is coming to town / He’s making a list / And checking it twice / Gonna find out who’s naughty and nice …”"

How do you end a quote, such as the preceeding 3 paragraphs, that end in a quote????

http://www.newdeal20.org/2011/12/22/the-10-worst-economic-ideas-of-2011-...

This guy used to work with Neil Cavuto at the Nightly Business Report.

It might be sour grapes because I was never that rich and I am far from that rich now.

But it is funny listening to rich people who earn their money in New York City to complain about taxes.

Jamie Dimon could do what Rush Limbaugh did. He could move to Florida to avoid a ton of taxes. Why doesn't he do that? Because he gets to keep more money and is better off working in New York. Why doesn't Rush move to the Bahamas and pay far less tax? Because he gets to keep more money and is better off working in Florida.

There are virtually ZERO people who base hiring decisions on how much tax they have to pay. A businessman hires an employee when the businessman thinks he will be better off with the employee than without the employee.

If you will make me $300,000 a year and you will cost me $75,000 a year then I will hire you. It won't make any difference if my tax rate is 10% or if it is 50%. The tax rate only determines how much I have left.

Of course, I am sure this entire post and the way I feel is colored by the fact that I resent all the rich people in the 1%. So I must be wrong.

http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2011/12/kill-the-penny.html

And the nickel TOO.

I think it is a good thing for the workers of American Airlines that the management decided to declare bankruptcy.

Sure the workers are going to be hurt. They probably are going to be hurt a lot.

If the workers gave back enough money to avoid bankruptcy then they would basically be the only ones giving up anything. The stockholders would not be wiped out. The creditors would be paid in full. Management would suffer a little because they would get smaller bonuses.

I worked in aircraft leasing for a while. I was there when Delta and Northwest declared bankruptcy. I was there when the workers at American caved rather than force the airline into bankruptcy.

I made the same argument then that I am making now. Why should the creditors get paid 100 cents on the dollar when the company is in huge trouble? Why can’t the union say we will give back 80% of what the company needs to survive if the creditors give back the other 20%? The answer I continually heard is that the creditors won’t give anything up unless they have to. That was exactly my point. Force the creditors to give back something. It is a game of chicken.

What is worth more?

Founding Apple, creating the Mac, NeXT, iPad, iPod, iTunes, and the iPhone amoung other achievements

or

Investing in Pixar?

It isn't even close. All the work he did for Apple got him about $2 Billion while being an almost passive investor in Pixar made Jobs $4.4 Billion.

He made twice as much being an Angel investor than he did for all the things that we remember him for.

Is America a great country or what?

http://www.staples.com/sbd/cre/products/111106/merch14942/index.html?sto...

$199 at Staples for a 16gb Playbook

If you choose an answer to this question at random, what is the chance you will be correct?

I didn't find the link but I just heard, on All Things Considered, a Catholic Priest basically say that the Pope is to the left of Obama when it comes to caring for the poor and middle class.

Mike Huckabee tried to be a Christian and a Republican in 2008 and he decided he wanted to be a Republican.

Governor Perry said you didn't have a heart if you wanted to screw the kids of illegal immigrants. He has backtracked a lot too.

You will never retire if you keep bailing out your deadbeat son.

Luke 15: 11-32