Ever since I got the software that allows me to manipulate maps and create Cartograms, I’ve been a bit out of control with it. It’s just pretty neat stuff, at least to me. The upper left picture is Georgia, with all of its 159 Counties. The upper right is a Cartogram, the picture has been […]
Bush’s Final Fiasco By Harold Meyerson … Herbert Hoover, we should recall, had a program for dealing with the Depression. It consisted of lending to banks but opposing fiscal stimulus or direct aid to individuals. Which is why Hank Paulson’s frenzied endeavors to prop up the banking sector and Bush’s dogged resistance to assisting anybody […]
Well Georgia is still Georgia. CNN is calling the Senatorial runoff for Saxby Chambliss: During our thirty years in Atlanta, we got used to the idea that Georgia was politically three places: Atlanta; the "black belt;" and everywhere else [which is a lot of space]. So this result is not unexpected, at least not by […]
“I don’t know of anyone predicting a recession.” [Tony Fratto, 1/8/2008] “We don’t believe we’re going to have a recession though.” [Vice President Dick Cheney, 1/30/08] “I think the experts will tell you we’re not in a recession.” [President Bush, 2/10/08] “The answer is, I don’t think we are in a recession right now.” [Council […]
In the 11th Century, there was a period [Interregnum 1250–1273] when there was no Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Prior to that, tolls for use of the Rhine River collected by the clergy or nobles were authorized by the Emperor. In the absence of an Emperor, feudal lords began to collect tolls on their […]
In the story of the blind men and the elephant, each blind man describes the beast based only on the part he can feel. The moral of the story is something like: "Don’t make decisions based on just the part of the problem you can see. Look at all the parts before acting." A version […]
At the end of the 19th century, there were places called Bucket Shops that looked like the Stock Exchange, with Stock boards or ticker tape machines, but the were really Casinos. You could bet on the performance of a Stock, or an Index – almost anything. While nothing of real value was traded, lots of […]