I’ve long wondered what is hiding in that big brick building on Ave A between 6th and 7th. An amazing old Hollywood Theater! Photographer Kevin Shea Adams got to explore. Here’s the theater back in the day, via EV Grieve. It shut its doors in 1959.  View high resolution

I’ve long wondered what is hiding in that big brick building on Ave A between 6th and 7th.

An amazing old Hollywood Theater! Photographer Kevin Shea Adams got to explore.

Here’s the theater back in the day, via EV Grieve. It shut its doors in 1959.
 

“
The story is a scandal, and the book should be the bible of Occupy Wall Street. But they seem as incapable of seeing government as part of the problem as Republicans seem of seeing business as part of the problem.

Peggy Noonan, in her recent article The Divider vs. The Thinker, referring to NYT’s Gretchen Morgenson’s “Reckless Endangerment,” an account of the key players in the financial crisis. 

Best article I read all weekend. Not because I support Paul Ryan in any way. But rather I find the description of Fannie/Freddie pretty spot on. 

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47 percent of us trust the IRS compared with 36 percent ten years ago. The U.S. Postal Service—a whopping 83 percent of us like them. 61 percent like NASA. 67 percent like the Centers for Disease Control. And when you ask Americans what they want to cut, they want to protect their Medicare, they want to protect the military, they want to protect Social Security, they don’t want to cut spending on education and highways. A marketing consultant might reasonably conclude it’s the federal brand we hate, not the product.
Donovan Hohn, senior editor at Harper’s, in A Superbowl Spot for Uncle Sam. Harper’s tasked a group of ad creatives (Perry Fair of Grey Group, Mark Fitzloff of Wieden+Kennedy, Thomas Frank of Harper’s, Marc Sobier at Goodby Silverstein & Partners, and Con Williamson at Saatchi & Saatchi) to develop a superbowl ad for the federal government. This is the forum of discussion and it is super interesting if you can get your hands on it.

Idea: A Gym Membership that Charges You for Not Exercising

genius.

Found: Lost Pictures of New York Blizzard

Concentration of Power

According to recent financial data from the 3rd quarter of 2010, six banks represent 64% of GDP. These are JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley. In 2006, before the financial crisis, that number was 55%. And fifteen years ago, it was 17%.

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The point, though, is that anyone who claims that transferring some income from the most fortunate members of society to the least is a vile injustice is closing his eyes to the obvious reality of how the world works.
Paul Krugman, Economics and Morality.
I always enjoy reading the comments on Krugman’s blog. 

Why Is The US Taxpayer Subsidizing Facebook – And The Next Bubble?

Goldman Sachs is investing $450 million of its own money in Facebook, at a valuation that implies the social networking company is now worth $50 billion.  Goldman is also apparently launching a fund that will bring its own high net worth clients in as investors for Facebook.

On the face of it, this might just seem like the financial sector doing what it is supposed to – channeling funds into productive enterprise.  The SEC is apparently looking at the way private investors will be involved, but there are some more deeply unsettling factors at work here.

Remember that Goldman Sachs is now a bank holding company – a status it received in September 2008, at the height of the financial crisis, in order to avoid collapse (for the details, see Andrew Ross Sorkin’s blow-by-blow account in Too Big To Fail.)  This means that it has essentially unfettered access to the Federal Reserve’s discount window, i.e., it can borrow against all kinds of assets in its portfolio, effective ensuring it has government-provided liquidity at any time.

Any financial institution with such access to such government support is likely to take on excessive risk – this is the heart of what is commonly referred to as the problem of “moral hazard.”  If you are fully insured against adverse events, you will be less careful.

(Source: azspot)

(Reblogged from azspot)

a traditional kind of gal

A friend of mine is hosting a New Years party themed around New Years traditions. She’s from Atlanta, so her tradition is to eat black eyed peas and collared greens, symbolizing good luck and good fortune in the new year. As usual, I was curious and researched up on other New Years traditions. Also as usual, I am inspired (crazy?) and am going to try to enact all of them tonight. Here’s the plan!

I shall make and eat lasagna: In Italy, this would bring me good luck.

I shall break the China on which I ate said lasagna: In Denmark, this would bring me more friends.

I shall wear white: In Brazil, this would bring me good luck. 

I shall wear yellow underwear: In some South American countries, this would also bring me good luck and, ooo, perhaps love.

I shall eat 12 grapes at midnight: In Spain, this would ensure 12 months of good luck.

I shall write down every bad thing that happened this year on a piece of paper, fold it up, and then burn it at some point in the evening: In Mexico, this would remove negative energy from the new year.

I shall write down all the things I hope will occur this year on a piece of paper, fold it up, and then burn it at some point in the evening: In Venezuela, this would make all of my wishes come true.

I shall eat plenty of collared greens on New Years day: Per Southern tradition, the more collared greens I eat, the more money I will make in the new year. 

I shall write the name of 12 men on 12 pieces of paper, put them under my pillow, and choose one in the morning: In Lithuania, whatever name I pick is the name of the man I will marry. (I’m not actually going to do this one, but it’s pretty entertaining.. it’s MASH, NYE style.)

I shall jump seven waves: In Brazil, this would make my wishes come true. (Do piles of snow count?)

2011 y’all. Let’s do this.

austerity

is Merriam Webster’s word of the year for 2010. People are making a big deal out of it for some reason. 

These are the past words of the year since 2003 when the site started tracking them. 

2009: admonish
2008: bailout
2007: woot
2006: truthiness
2005: integrity
2004: blog
2003: democracy

And perhaps more interesting are the top words that were created this year. Business Insider lists them out..

  1. refudiate
  2. porno-scanner
  3. shellacking
  4. robo-signer
  5. vuvuzela