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March 27, 2005
More picking on GWB
This is too funny. I have to share. From Joi Ito.
President Bush explaining his Social Security plan - Tampa, Florida - Feb. 4, 2005
Woman in audience: I don't really understand. How is it the new [Social Security] plan is going to fix that problem?
President Bush: Because the -- all which is on the table begins to address the big cost drivers. For example, how benefits are calculated, for example, is on the table. Whether or not benefits rise based upon wage increases or price increases. There's a series of parts of the formula that are being considered. And when you couple that, those different cost drivers, affecting those -- changing those with personal accounts, the idea is to get what has been promised more likely to be -- or closer delivered to what has been promised. Does that make any sense to you? It's kind of muddled. Look, there's a series of things that cause the -- like, for example, benefits are calculated based upon the increase of wages, as opposed to the increase of prices. Some have suggested that we calculate -- the benefits will rise based upon inflation, as opposed to wage increases. There is a reform that would help solve the red if that were put into effect. In other words, how fast benefits grow, how fast the promised benefits grow, if those -- if that growth is affected, it will help on the red.
Posted by sam at 11:37 AM
The walking octopus
You have to see the video of the walking octopuses. From Jeff Nolan.
Posted by sam at 11:15 AM
March 26, 2005
Terry Schiavo
What should the Terry Schiavo protestors do?
Posted by sam at 02:22 PM
March 19, 2005
Santa Cruz High basketball wins the state championship!
Division 3 state champs!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Congratulations Pistol Pete! Chris saw the game at Arco Arena so I heard the last 1:30 over his cell. Yay!!!!! This is so amazing. I'm really happy for coach Pistol. What a way to end a 30-year career. Thanks Chris!
Posted by sam at 08:15 PM
March 18, 2005
Things that are more enjoyable than looking for a job
I apologize, I'm sick and tired. Hence the poor attitude.
Things I find more enjoyable than job searching...
- Hitting my head on the wall, because it feels so good when you stop
- Eating lead paint chips
- Statistics homework
- Cleaning the house (this one is debatable)
Posted by sam at 05:15 PM
March 17, 2005
Wolfowitz to run World Bank
Way back when Carly was a candidate for the job I said to myself, "Self, who could possibly be a worse candidate to run the World Bank?"
Thank you GWB, for proving me wrong with Wolfowitz. I heard on NPR this morning that he grew up in Ithaca. That's a surprise. That might explain a few things about Wolfowitz.
Posted by sam at 09:30 AM
"A man of good experience"
I will never cease to be amazed at Dubya's inarticulateness.
Posted by sam at 09:26 AM
March 16, 2005
Sam's 2005 hoops bracket
Disclaimer: I have not followed college basketball in the slightest this year, and do not know Texas Tech from Niagara. That said, here's my bracket for the year. Chris - can you take Paypal? I'm too lazy to mail it in.
Posted by sam at 03:55 PM
March 14, 2005
The sad state of journalism today
Study Shows U.S. Election Coverage Harder on Bush (thanks Penni):
U.S. media coverage of last year's election was three times more likely to be negative toward President Bush than Democratic challenger John Kerry, according to a study released Monday.
But here's the interesting part:
Despite the growing importance of the Web, the report said investment was not keeping pace and some 62 percent of Internet professionals reported cutbacks in the newsroom in the last three years, even more than the 37 percent of print, radio and TV journalists who cited cutbacks in their newsrooms.Reminds me that I heard Laurie Garrett on Democracy Now this morning discussing her resignation from Newsday. She resigned with a "scathing" memo to colleagues critisizing her employer for allegiance to market returns over journalism.
"For all that the number of outlets has grown, the number of people engaged in collecting original information has not," the report said, noting that much of the investment was directed at repackaging and presenting information rather than gathering news.
”Honesty and tenacity (and for that matter, the working class) seem to have taken backseats to the sort of 'snappy news', sensationalism, scandal-for-the-sake of scandal crap that sells. This is not a uniquely Tribune or even newspaper industry problem: this is true from the Atlanta mixing rooms of CNN to Sulzberger's offices in Times Square. Profits: that's what it's all about now. But you just can't realize annual profit returns of more than 30 percent by methodically laying out the truth in a dignified, accessible manner. And it's damned tough to find that truth every day with a mere skeleton crew of reporters and editors."
Posted by sam at 01:55 PM
March 09, 2005
Short on Clear Channel Communications (CCU)
My second tingleff.com exclusive stock pick is a short. Clear Channel Communications (NYSE:CCU) "is a diversified media company with three primary business segments: radio broadcasting, outdoor advertising and live entertainment." 41% of total revenue comes from radio broadcasting, 24% from outdoor advertising and 30% from live entertainment.
This choice was partly motivated by a Business Week article on the company (sub req'd). You know you're in trouble when even Business Week sees the threats.
This is why I'm a long-term short on Clear Channel:
- Consolidation in the radio industry has naturally led to increased homogeneity and decreased creativity. This is a classic recipe for unhappy customers.
- Competitive threat from three disruptive technologies: internet radio, satellite radio and podcasting (peer-to-peer). At least one of the two satellite radio companies will survive, internet radio has already made it and podcasting is rapidly growing.
- Decreasing tolerance by advertisers for mass-market broadcast media. Advertisers now have millions of choices and most would prefer mediums that are highly targeted and measurable. Radio (and outdoor advertising) of the type produced by Clear Channel is neither.
- Personally, the only radio I listen to is NPR. Everything else is filled with ads and is 80% bad music.
At a ttm P/E of 24.54 (compare with 20.5 for the S&P 500), I don't think this risk is adequately priced into the stock.
Update: The Big Picture agrees that radio sucks.
Posted by sam at 10:04 PM
March 08, 2005
Harvard Business School rejects "hackers"
There was news recently that Harvard had rejected b-school applicants said to have "hacked" into the application system. Turns out that all they had done is play around with URLs to find out their admission status several weeks early.
That is, by editing a URL like http://sam.tingleff.com/photos/berlin060803/ to http://sam.tingleff.com/cms/photos/ you could discover if you had been accepted into HBS a few weeks early.
This is hardly an offense you could call "hacking" and definitely not an ethical lapse justifying rejection. I feel for the applicants denied just because of this. If I had the option I probably would have done the same thing and not given it a second-thought.
Posted by sam at 06:38 PM
March 07, 2005
Newsflash: sex doesn't sell
in the wider population advertisers are finding that sex no longer sells the way it used to.
Commercial and academic research supports the thesis. Only 6% of consumers surveyed by the CIM said they were positively influenced by sexual images in advertising. D_Code, a study of young consumers by HeadlightVision, another bit of WPP, concluded that they found sexually explicit advertising boring and repellent.
Posted by sam at 07:09 PM
Santa Cruz High wins Central Coast Section boys basketball
For all Cards: Santa Cruz boys basketball wins its first section crown (thanks Chris).
The Santa Cruz High boys basketball team played a first half of defense Friday night as if the Cardinals had past players that failed to win a section title on the court with them helping out.Wish I could have been there.
The Cardinals made history with their first-ever Central Coast Section championship, beating Burlingame 56-42 in the Division III title game before an overflow crowd of over 2,100 at Foothill College.
Posted by sam at 05:08 PM
Benefits of diversity in social organizations
From the NYT, Close Doesn't Always Count in Winning Games: "Social scientists say that decentralized groups (like the Yankees) are more resilient than tighter-knit ones (like the Red Sox)."
But social scientists who have studied group performance under pressure say that often it is decentralized groups (like the Yankees) that prove more resilient than strongly connected ones (like the Red Sox); they are better able to weather outside criticism and internal quarrels.
Evidence from personality profiles and from studies of military, corporate and space flight crews suggests that looser ties between group members can be a strength, if the team includes individuals who can generate collective emotion when needed. And the Yankees have several of them.
...
On a tightly knit team, by contrast, a falling out between key members can divide a squad, forcing people to take sides, psychologists say. "The idea is that any sort of problem is likely to ripple more strongly and quickly through a close group than one with weak ties," said Dr. Mark Granovetter, a professor of sociology at Stanford.
Posted by sam at 11:24 AM
March 02, 2005
Greenspan vs. Bush
NYT: Greenspan Warns Congress That Deficits Are 'Unsustainable'
"When you begin to do the arithmetic of what the rising debt level implied by the deficits tells you, and you add interest costs to that ever-rising debt, at ever-higher interest rates, the system becomes fiscally destabilizing," Mr. Greenspan said.This is an interesting battle - the predominantly Republican free-market-based business world vs. Bush's faith-based ideology. My money is on Greenspan because that's where the GOP gets it's funding, i.e., big money listens to Greenspan far more than to Bush.
Posted by sam at 07:04 PM
Pistol's last stand
Pistol’s last stand: After 30 years, Newell seeks new challenge (thanks Chris)
My high school basketball coach is retiring. I must be getting old - I never imagined this would happen. Wonder who will take his place...
Posted by sam at 06:53 PM
More on the biggest tax cheat in U.S. history
Man of Many Names Now Called No. 1 Tax Cheat:
Walter Anderson, the telephone entrepreneur accused of being the biggest tax cheat in American history, started playing with his name when he was 12 years old.
Acquiring aliases became a habit that the government now says is central to how he evaded taxes on at least $450 million in income.
His first alias, his mother told the government, involved unofficially shortening his given name, Walter Anderson Crump. The government says he has used at least seven other aliases to hide his income.
I know I've used at least three variations of my name already. Just four more and I'll be on par with this guy! I hope my mom wouldn't sell me out so easily though.
Posted by sam at 12:06 PM
So much for separation of church and state
Bush Pushes Faith-Based Initiative
Bush, who often talks about how his Methodist faith helped him stop drinking, referred to his own experience when he sought to dismiss critics who contend his plan could promote discrimination.
"If you're the Methodist church and you sponsor an alcohol treatment center, they can't say only Methodists, only Methodists who drink too much can come to our program," Bush said. "All drunks are welcome, is what the sign ought to say."
Bush says the charities are effective because of the shared values and religious identity of their volunteers and employees. Critics take issue with his insistence that taxpayer-funded groups have the right to hire and fire based on religion.
Posted by sam at 08:38 AM
March 01, 2005
I need to outsource my homework
I have my hand in too many other interesting projects - no time left for homework.
Posted by sam at 08:13 PM
I.R.S. Accuses Man of Hiding $450 Million
NYT: I.R.S. Accuses Man of Hiding $450 Million. How do you hide $450 million??
Posted by sam at 07:37 PM
Happy National Peanut Butter Lovers Day (again)
I seem to have the # 2 spot on google for National Peanut Butter Lovers Day, so I'll just announce that today (March 1) is the big day. Here's my recipe for PBJ & C. Enjoy!
Posted by sam at 08:38 AM