Greed isn't good. (or: The Ayn Rand/Mike Boolmberg non-exclusivity)

So says Collin Ferguson about Bernie Madaoff (see below) debacle, but specifically about the lacking in goodness of greed--despite the claims of Michael Douglas (see above).

In a rare defense of capitalism (of course, I recently gave a equally rare applause to capitalism), late night or otherwise, Ferguson reminded everyone that its guiding principle need not be greed, rather, "the money goes here, goes there," not to be hoarded up by a few. And though at first naive sounding, he's actually right.

In reality, that's exactly what usually happens. That's why trickle-down doesn't work as a stimulus--the rich are the only people that can afford to hoard monies received via tax breaks and not spend it in the economy. Middle and working class folks don't have the same luxury, they must spend.

I barely remember the banking meltdown of the late eighties; Wall St. mishigos and a housing bubble, then as now, was mostly to blame if not totally responsible for the mess. It was probably the first time I thought of a bank other than simply a place to keep money, ostensibly, safe. What I learned is that they weren't completely safe, actually.

I do remember the FDIC, and the little plastic plaques that were stuck up on the cold marble or bullet proof glass--depending on the neighborhood--that stated how individual savings accounts would be covered up to $100, 000. It seemed like a lot of money, at the time, and still does.

Of course, recently, the limit of protection has been increased to $250,000--for the rest of the year, anyway. So, if you have greater than $100, 000 and less than $250, 000, you'd better hope your bank fails by December 31st.

Well done, competitive markets, well done.

Possibly under the influence of the economics class I'm in, or maybe I'm just starting to feel bad for capitalism, I was thinking how cool my new phone is.

After generations of iterations of phones (really, it's only been about ten years since cell's have taken over--crazy, right?), the fruit of all the R&D by all the different cell phone makers has come to, well, fruition.

We are now at the beginning of a new epoch. In it, everyone, where industrialized, can be connected at all times (towers permitting) to each other and to all the information available, from now on, forever. Indeed, touchscreen phones will be an important part of this process.

Anyway, to the rare applause for capitalism:

It's thanks to all these corporations, trying to get even just a piece if not big ol' chunk of the market for probably the most widespread technology on the planet, that constant innovation and resultant extreme variations in phone technology. Finally, whittled down are all the ideas and designs that didn't work, at least as well, and what was left was the iPhone.

Even non-touchscreen phones, like mine, have gotten pretty cool and, more importantly, user friendly in both hard and soft-ware. Now we essentially carry around internet-connected PC's in our pockets and bags.

So, thanks capitalism.

Only what's good for the cell phone isn't always good for other things, like utilities and health care. For those two and a few others, I'd like to say, no thanks.

(Thanks to Mikila and her sister, the latter of which got banged up along with the poor iPhone above--luckily not nearly as bad. I hate to say it, but it doesn't look good for the phone.)

The Apocolypse in Recession (or: Cleavage for Al Qaeda)

Paris Hilton gets bumped to the Late Late Show, no longer of the just-Late Show, where she had been relegated to after briefly putting-out as prime-time queen.

Nobody's laughing or really listening. And instead of simply asking her to prattle on about here lame existence, the usual legitimization, Colin Ferguson (I'm starting to like him) cuts her off and makes fun of the aging rapidly (Christ, she's only 21 but looks like 40) vapidness in front of him; half-pissed just for having to share a stage with her.

...And who doesn't like cleavage? he posited.
Yeah, who doesn't like cleavage? she agreed.
--Al Qaeda doesn't like cleavage, he contested.
(laugh)
That's who!
(laugh)
They're trying to take our cleavage away!
(laugh)
And that's no good.
Uh-uh! she concurs.