Got some grumbly feedback on the blog this weekend regarding the large number of video posts. They don't appear to be super popular, at least not in high numbers.
I do understand and do wish to cater to my beloved readers so, from me to you...
I see I'm still great at dealing with criticism!
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
Peter Schiff is Not Making Me Feel Happy
Thanks to Andrew Sullivan's blog, we can see what Peter Schiff is telling us now. It appears that it will soon be time to trade our dollars for gold. Gold? What is this, a Heinlein novel? The guy's been dead-on until now though.
The Sarcastic Weasel plans to weather this financial storm by converting his dollar assets into baby furniture... and clothings... and toys... and diapers (though those tend to lose their value very rapidly if used)...
The Sarcastic Weasel plans to weather this financial storm by converting his dollar assets into baby furniture... and clothings... and toys... and diapers (though those tend to lose their value very rapidly if used)...
Friday, November 21, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
More WW Inspired Madness
At the risk of another I-told-you-so from Ish (regarding the high value of Will Wilkinson's blog), I'm posting this, because it really must be shared far and wide. So share it on your blog too, and give credit where credit is due.
In The Know: Should The Government Stop Dumping Money Into A Giant Hole?
In The Know: Should The Government Stop Dumping Money Into A Giant Hole?
Friday, November 14, 2008
It Will be a Girl (Plus Poll Results)
Thanks to unholy technology, I am pleased to announce that we have peeked through the great veil and have seen that the Forthcoming Weasel Offspring will contain two X chromosomes.
Now, many movies, video games, and comic books may seem to imply (by exclusion) that all evil geniuses are boys. I hope that, in a surprisingly short period of time, we will be able to prove that misconception wrong. So, please do look for her threat of doomsday device detonation in the very near future.
Speaking of hijacked democracy, the manual recount of the Name the Forthcoming Weasel Offspring poll results are in and I am pleased to announce that, in the digital domain, she will henceforth be referred to as the Weasel Meme. Taking the manual recount results into account, Weasel Meme received the highest number of votes (563,553) beating the second place finisher, Harbringer of Insomnia (10 votes) soundly. Special congratulations to sprezzatura for suggesting the winning entry. Your cogent writing and keen insight, I'm sure, will be a welcome addition to this blog for years to come.
Weasel Meme waves hello!
Now, many movies, video games, and comic books may seem to imply (by exclusion) that all evil geniuses are boys. I hope that, in a surprisingly short period of time, we will be able to prove that misconception wrong. So, please do look for her threat of doomsday device detonation in the very near future.
Speaking of hijacked democracy, the manual recount of the Name the Forthcoming Weasel Offspring poll results are in and I am pleased to announce that, in the digital domain, she will henceforth be referred to as the Weasel Meme. Taking the manual recount results into account, Weasel Meme received the highest number of votes (563,553) beating the second place finisher, Harbringer of Insomnia (10 votes) soundly. Special congratulations to sprezzatura for suggesting the winning entry. Your cogent writing and keen insight, I'm sure, will be a welcome addition to this blog for years to come.
Weasel Meme waves hello!
Hindsight v. Foresight
This post is for those who have been following the financial sector's current idiocy in some amount of detail.
I saw this video originally on Andrew Sullivan's Blog:
Once in a while it's important to look back and see who's powers of prognostication seem to be genuine and who's powers are mere fantasy.
The Sarcastic Weasel has known for quite some time that real-estate was way overvalued and that speculation, ARMs, and other sub-prime nonsense was going to bite us in the ass eventually (Interest only loans? Are you f***ing sh***ing me?) I was not aware until recently of the practice of credit default swapping nor how these things were knitted together to supposedly "hedge risk" (hint: when you think you've got something for nothing, it might be time for some skepticism). So I had no idea just how badly this would turn out... but apparently Peter Schiff did, and was willing to take a great deal of abuse to tell us.
Listen, if you want to understand where the economy is going... long-term-ish... you only need to pay attention to one fundamental thing: production. Look at who is making money. Usually, it's many different sectors (not now, but it will be again). Make a mental list of which sectors seem to be the most dominant. If the top of you list is populated by people who are producers, that is they make things you can use (commodities, consumer goods, equipment, music, art, I.P., etc.), or provide services that are genuinely necessary (engineering, medicine, transportation, 1 out of every 10 lawyers), you are living in a healthy economy. If the top of your list is populated by transactional parisites (financial services, politicians, distribution specialists not engaged in transportation, the other 9 out of 10 lawyers), you are living on borrowed financial time. Expect corrections. There will be a lot of very smart people working very hard to prevent that crash, but fundamentals is fundamentals; a crash is coming. Our economy is a (mostly) peacful means to exchange and distribute resources... too many transactional players and not enough genuine resources = trouble brewing.
Good news is, Wall street is run by MBAs who, best as I can tell, can be defined by emotion, denial, wishful thinking, fear, and (most of all) herd mentality. When things are widely acknowledged to be good, they rush in to buy. When there's fear, they panic. Why is this good? Because, eventually, despite their best efforts, the market will eventually correct itself... if I had did a chunk of money to invest, I'd be looking for (long-term) bargains... not just quite yet... but soon. Short-term, there's a fair amount of pain left to endure.
I saw this video originally on Andrew Sullivan's Blog:
Once in a while it's important to look back and see who's powers of prognostication seem to be genuine and who's powers are mere fantasy.
The Sarcastic Weasel has known for quite some time that real-estate was way overvalued and that speculation, ARMs, and other sub-prime nonsense was going to bite us in the ass eventually (Interest only loans? Are you f***ing sh***ing me?) I was not aware until recently of the practice of credit default swapping nor how these things were knitted together to supposedly "hedge risk" (hint: when you think you've got something for nothing, it might be time for some skepticism). So I had no idea just how badly this would turn out... but apparently Peter Schiff did, and was willing to take a great deal of abuse to tell us.
Listen, if you want to understand where the economy is going... long-term-ish... you only need to pay attention to one fundamental thing: production. Look at who is making money. Usually, it's many different sectors (not now, but it will be again). Make a mental list of which sectors seem to be the most dominant. If the top of you list is populated by people who are producers, that is they make things you can use (commodities, consumer goods, equipment, music, art, I.P., etc.), or provide services that are genuinely necessary (engineering, medicine, transportation, 1 out of every 10 lawyers), you are living in a healthy economy. If the top of your list is populated by transactional parisites (financial services, politicians, distribution specialists not engaged in transportation, the other 9 out of 10 lawyers), you are living on borrowed financial time. Expect corrections. There will be a lot of very smart people working very hard to prevent that crash, but fundamentals is fundamentals; a crash is coming. Our economy is a (mostly) peacful means to exchange and distribute resources... too many transactional players and not enough genuine resources = trouble brewing.
Good news is, Wall street is run by MBAs who, best as I can tell, can be defined by emotion, denial, wishful thinking, fear, and (most of all) herd mentality. When things are widely acknowledged to be good, they rush in to buy. When there's fear, they panic. Why is this good? Because, eventually, despite their best efforts, the market will eventually correct itself... if I had did a chunk of money to invest, I'd be looking for (long-term) bargains... not just quite yet... but soon. Short-term, there's a fair amount of pain left to endure.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Offspring Naming Poll Results... Pending Recount!
The Sarcastic Weasel, as you all well know, is COMMITTED to making elections as free and as fair as humanly possible. Therefore, with regards to the recently closed "Name the Forthcoming Sarcastic Weasel Offspring" poll, please remember that we cannot trust the apparent (and obviously skewed!) preliminary results that have been tabulated by biased, mean, and unreliable computers!
A manual recount will most certainly be required before I can certify the results.
Please be assured that my manual recounting techniques will conform to my highest standard of ethics and integrity. Voter intent will be deciphered in a non-partisan and wholly transparent manner. Votes from IP addresses that are more likely to vote for my favorite result will NOT be given ANY kind of preference (except, of course, in clarifying, after the fact, any votes that were obviously made by confused senior citizens who did not understand the complicated ballot... or voters who were clearly underrepresented due to their reliance on antiquated ISP technologies... or other votes that just don't seem right because obviously most Americans agree with me and meant to vote for my favorite... yeah, that should about cover it).
In the end, I promise you that we will have a result that everyone (who matters) can feel proud about, and does justice to American style democracy.
Stay tuned...
A manual recount will most certainly be required before I can certify the results.
Please be assured that my manual recounting techniques will conform to my highest standard of ethics and integrity. Voter intent will be deciphered in a non-partisan and wholly transparent manner. Votes from IP addresses that are more likely to vote for my favorite result will NOT be given ANY kind of preference (except, of course, in clarifying, after the fact, any votes that were obviously made by confused senior citizens who did not understand the complicated ballot... or voters who were clearly underrepresented due to their reliance on antiquated ISP technologies... or other votes that just don't seem right because obviously most Americans agree with me and meant to vote for my favorite... yeah, that should about cover it).
In the end, I promise you that we will have a result that everyone (who matters) can feel proud about, and does justice to American style democracy.
Stay tuned...
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Will Wilkinson on Obama's Victory
Will essentially hits the nail on the head here.
http://www.willwilkinson.net/flybottle/2008/11/05/one-night-of-romance/
I'm really mixed about this election. My own inherent distaste for identity politics and political tribalism (his term, I tend to think of it as the less condensed idea of politics as spectator sport: emotional, zero-sum, and irrational) threatens to be overpowered by the pure unadulterated joy that this result has created in some quarters. It is genuinely moving even as I distrust the abstract rightness of being moved by such events.
It is both wondrous and terrible.
http://www.willwilkinson.net/flybottle/2008/11/05/one-night-of-romance/
I'm really mixed about this election. My own inherent distaste for identity politics and political tribalism (his term, I tend to think of it as the less condensed idea of politics as spectator sport: emotional, zero-sum, and irrational) threatens to be overpowered by the pure unadulterated joy that this result has created in some quarters. It is genuinely moving even as I distrust the abstract rightness of being moved by such events.
It is both wondrous and terrible.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Vote Today
On this sacred day for democracy, do not forget to do your highest duty for your country... for indeed mankind and VOTE... in my Name the Forthcoming Sarcastic Weasel Offspring poll.
Clear your cookies if you want to vote again. I'll allow your vote no matter how fictional your name is.
Clear your cookies if you want to vote again. I'll allow your vote no matter how fictional your name is.
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