| Workers of the world unite... |
[25 Dec 2008|01:38am] |
And become hedge fund managers.
"The widening and deepening of international financial markets, the result not least of derivatives trading, has created a system that provides virtually instantaneous information about global developments, which then are factored into credit evaluations and funding decisions."
Apparently Marxists have greater faith in the Market than the most ardent capitalists...
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[04 Dec 2008|12:54am] |
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Who needs sleep when MGM shows gems like this in the middle of the night...
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| It's like Superman defeated Lex Luthor IRL or something... |
[06 Nov 2008|09:50pm] |
So the US managed to elect a president who is evidently quite good at delivering speeches, and people are behaving as if he will use his superpowers to magically fix all the problems. I suppose if the US government continues with the current path to nationalise its major companies after the transition, we can all praise the effort knowing that it'd be done for good rather than for evil.
Perhaps the new administration can extend practice of broadcasting 30-minute infomercials that worked so well in the election campaign into a new comprehensive state re-edukation policy.
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| The difference between a liberal and a fascist is? |
[25 Sep 2008|11:12pm] |
Conversation between me and unnamed politics lecturer about his advocacy for online voting:
My objections:
Online voting can open up many avenues for election fraud that cannot be solved by just encryption.
His response: Technology can solve that, biometric data etc.
Me: Still doesn't stop people setting up a private polling booth and giving joe random apathetic voter some booze money for 5 minutes rental of his eyeball and fingerprint. With official pooling booths at least the ammount of public scrutiny can place a check on that. BTW did you say you want to link up election voting to people biometric data stored in government records?
Incidentally, my suggestion that if 80% voter turnout is too low the government can always provide financial incentive to voting is met by the response that voting should be made compulsory.
It is good thing then that the politics department is in decline...
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| CNBC is like Comedy Central tonight... |
[09 Sep 2008|12:48am] |
Comments regarding the US government takeover of Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac:
"Someone should tell Paulson [US Treasury Secretary] that he's no longer in Goldman Sachs and should stop acquiring assets, first Bear Stern, now the two GSE's, throw in a few automakers and he's got a pretty diversified portfolio."
"The government should seize a few oil companies, that'll pay for further bailouts."
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| Superhero fantasy and philosophising about moralty don't mix... |
[26 Jul 2008|01:27am] |
Went and saw The Dark Knight, and compared to some of the people I watched it with I'm far less impressed by it. For an action movie with an origin in comic books, adding commentary about contemporary geopolitics introduces a level of realism that just feels contrived (and doing so rather badly - "company having 8% annual growth is bound to be going something illegal", that sure offers a simple explanation of the crime rate in Gotham City: the economy is seriously going down the drain).
And no the Joker is not some sort moral sounding board of a character as the movie tried to portray him - planning bank robberies, killing people on a whim and rigging hospitals and ships and explosives != providing a sound case against trying to control things, except in well comic book level moral framework. Crazy is just crazy.
Also, if you are the type of resourceful superhero who can bug the cellphone of millions of people, surely you can perhaps communicate to your police commissioner friend directing the swat teams with some kind of technomagical device as opposed to going through an entire building beating up all the swat teams to prevent harm to innocent people behind clown masks? But then Batman has a butler sidekick who burns down entire forests to catch a robber, so of course it's "tragic" that the portrayed much closer to reality Gotham City doesn't want that kind of moral absolutist vigilante around. Mr. perfect law enforcer can, after dealing with the evil murderers and rapists and bank robbers, slowly move his way down to building code violations and people claiming more than their "fair share" of tax-deductable expenses. Then we would have peace on earth, the ideal society, dictatorship of the proletariats and all that jazz, hallelujah praise the lord!
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