Walking House

My brother is the MIT engineer mentioned in this short article in the New York Times this week. It profiles the house that moves that he worked to build last summer with a Danish art group, N55. How cool!

Maureen Dowd on Colin Powell on Barack Obama: Moved by a Crescent

I read this in a Maureen Dowd Op-Ed, Moved by a Crescent, this morning and it really moved me. Dowd writes about Colin Powell's decision to endorse Barack Obama. This passage explains a lot of what I've been feeling in this presidential race, and why I am not always proud of the people that live in this country with me, but proud of the people who stand up for racial, religious, and sexual prejudices:

"[Powell] told Tom Brokaw that he was troubled by what other Republicans, not McCain, had said: ' "Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim." Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim. He’s a Christian. He’s always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer’s no. That’s not America. Is something wrong with some 7-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president?'"

The Great Schlep

The Times had an article yesterday about Sarah Silverman's "The Great Schlep", which I had originally heard about from my uncle. Now, I'm not a huge Sarah Silverman fan, mostly because she is too crude for me (that's the lady in me :o ), but this was great. The article describes the great schlep as a "mix of sarcasm and sincerity," which is a really good description.

The project basically encourages young Jews to tell their grandparents in Florida that they will not come and visit them unless they will vote for Obama. It describes all of the ways to convince grandparents that Obama is a great candidate, namely:

• Obama hearts Israel and so do you!
• His love for the United States is similar to that of the Jewish immigrants, who loved America for giving them an opportunity to succeed if they worked hard enough.
• Obama opposes privitizing Social Security.
  

"The new Wall Street is Greenwich, Conn."

In "Dim Lights, Big City: For Young Financiers, Risk Hits Home" Alex Williams writes for the New York Times:

"Wall Street — and the fantasyland it helped create in New York — was likely to shrink even without a credit crisis.

'I hate to use the phrase ‘masters of the universe,’ but they’re not in investment banking anymore, they’re in hedge funds,' Mr. Wolfe said. And 'hedge funds don’t need glass office towers. They can run $15 billion with 25 people' in the leafy suburban sanctuaries where their directors live.

'The new Wall Street,' he said, 'is Greenwich, Conn.'

In a possible indication of night life to come, Mr. Gunderson and his girlfriend invited friends to their West Village apartment last week to 'party like it’s 1929.'"

The Mirrored Ceiling, and dwelling on Sarah Palin

I don't want to dwell too much about this Sarah Palin nomination thing, and by now, it is almost old news. But I found this great opinion article by Judith Warner in (where else) the New York Times: The Mirrored Ceiling.

Warner writes,
"But shouldn’t a woman who is prepared to be commander in chief be intimidating? Because of the intelligence, experience, talent and drive that got her there? If she isn’t, at least on some level, off-putting, if her presence inspires national commentary on breast-pumping and babysitting rather than health care reform and social security, then something is seriously wrong. If she doesn’t elicit at least some degree of awe, then something is missing."

Seriously, anyone in power should be awe-inspiring, sharp, and smart.

Links

Here are some links to what I have found interesting today:

Cake Wrecks- Mmm, chest hair post. Just what it sounds like. I love this blog.

New York Times- The King is Dead, by Roger Cohen. Opinion about college students getting over the i-banking/consulting thing after college. I am guilty, but agree with Cohen that young people should be thinking of things other than a quick buck. A Princeton grad is quoted as saying, "I mean, when I was a sophomore, if you could spell your name, you were guaranteed a job [at Merrill Lynch]." Wow. I mean, I know, but wow. These classmates of mine are helping run the largest companies.

Passive-Aggressive Notes Dot Com

I found this link in the NYTimes yesterday. For more hilarious notes, like the one above, Click HERE!

A Disgraceful Farm Bill: Editorial

Editorial

A Disgraceful Farm Bill

President Bush should veto a $307 billion farm bill that rewards rich farmers while doing nothing to help the world’s hungry.

I was going to blog about this yesterday when I read the article, but didn't. Unfortunately, that meant that the New York Times beat me to it. Those journalists are too fast!

I agree wholeheartedly with the editorial. Farm subsidies at this point in time are not appropriate for both the US economy and the world economy. Nancy Pelosi, whom I usually respect, does not get it, and seems to be pandering to the (all-too-powerful) farm lobbyists. The food stamp part of the bill is a great measure, however, and I'm all for conservation. But it is too bad even if Bush vetoes it, congress still may override.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/magazine/20wwln-lede-t.html?ex=13665168

I enjoyed this article, especially the middle part about ways and reasons to change habits to affect the environment. I know planting a garden is not an easy task, but I was thinking about growing some herbs at least, even without reading this article. And I think that making changes do affect the people around you.

And that's part of the reason I want to buy a Prius, since Brentan and I have to buy a car. And hopefully we do buy a car soon, it is exciting that we will be able to go more places. That's my weakness though, lots of (desire to) travel, and sometimes not needed consumer goods. (Oh, how do I love shopping!)

Oh my god, I love the New York Times.

Economic Scene

An iPod Has Global Value. Ask the (Many) Countries That Make It.

By HAL R. VARIAN

Published: June 28, 2007

If an iPod costs $299, who gets that money? You might be surprised.