tadhg.com

These are some of the best YouTube clips I’ve ever seen… I’m not sure what it is that makes them quite so captivating.
(more…)

In May 2005 David Foster Wallace gave a commencement speech at Kenyon College. Go read it.

It was with shock and sadness this morning that I read of the death of David Foster Wallace. He was forty-six, and apparently hanged himself.
(more…)

I’m not sure I agree that more suffering is what’s needed—people often learn the wrong lessons from suffering just as they do from good times—but otherwise I think IOZ nails it.

The Interior Department Knows How To Party

I often think that it might be better to take George Carlin’s approach to life, and to view it as a big carnival/freakshow put on for the entertainment of those who can look at it that way. Generally, I take things a little too seriously to do that, but then things like this come up: “Oil brokers sex scandal may affect drilling debate”.
(more…)

Race and gender are both deeply significant in this election, but the narratives covered by the media don’t deal with what’s really going on. I certainly don’t believe that Barack Obama’s election would mean that America has taken much of a step towards eliminating racism in reality—it means something, and is potent symbolically, but the true effects of this country’s endemic prejudice would remain, and might face even fewer challenges given the symbolism. (The “we have a black president so there’s obviously no race problem” attitude would be prevalent, I suspect.) Similarly, I doubt very much that Palin’s ascension to the Vice Presidency, or even the Presidency itself, would truly challenge the dominant gender roles in this culture. As precedent I cite Margaret Thatcher, who as far as I can tell did almost exactly nothing positive in that regard for the UK. In any case, Arthur Silber once again delivers, dissecting the current operation of both race and gender.

Roger Federer defeated Andy Murray in straight sets in today’s delayed final, 6-2 7-5 6-2, and took less than two hours to do it. The same Federer that many commentators dismissed as a contender for the title… despite his having not lost there in years. Yes, he had a bad early hardcourt season, but the only person you could really think would beat him at it would be Nadal, and even Nadal would have had tremendous difficulty doing so in New York. I don’t see why so many pundits were eager to state that he was in rapid decline, and now he’s made them look pretty bad.
(more…)

Government Takes Over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

So the US Government has taken over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, pillars of the mortgage industry in the US… they were originally state entities, went private but with government support, and are now state-controlld again.
(more…)

Most American readers, and those who follow the US political blogs, will probably have seen this already, but it’s worth putting up here for anyone who missed it. An absolute classic:

(more…)

I don’t agree with a lot of the criticisms of Sarah Palin, particularly those focused on her gender, the fact that she has a family, the fact that her daughter is pregnant, or the fact that she “lacks foreign policy experience” (that last one is basically code for “is a committed raving imperialist”). Of course, I can’t stand her policies at all,and her religiosity is disturbing.
(more…)