Scientists finally resolved the TSA scanner objections. Now if only they could figure out how to prevent delayed flights around the holidays, we'd really be getting somewhere.
But would you look at how pretty the flight patterns are. The New York Times' Revkin shares one of his favorite animations, which tracks our airborne movements.
Other Cool Stuff
The History Channel attempts to translate Top Gear into American. But can it be done? As the article points out: The genius of the enterprise, however, lies in the byplay and interaction of the hosts, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May. They are smart, talented middle-age men obsessed with mutual ego destruction, adolescent antics and cars. And they pursue those obsessions so amusingly that, because of the BBC’s worldwide distribution, a generous budget and hundreds of clips on YouTube, a large chunk of the world’s population loves them. Let's face it. No matter how hard you try, you just can't replace Jeremy Clarkson's ridiculousness. Like that time he drove a Rolls Royce into a swimming pool. Or raced a rock climber up a mountain.
Or how about that time they raced a Bugatti Veyron against a fighter jet? Or chased an SUV with a pack of foxhounds? (Part 1 and Part 2.)
Weigh in: What's your favo(u)rite Top Gear moment?
Looking for a job? Goldman Sachs offers some crucial interview tips.
And the game everyone was playing over the holiday? Fix the US budget deficit! It's fun for the whole family!
What would you cut? What would you save?
This is probably the best NYTimes graphic since their '09 Thanksgiving food search graphic. Which of those recipes did you Google this year?But back to the deficit.....Ezra Klein says the numbers add up, but not the votes. And the Washington Post points out five myths about cutting the deficit.
Consensus finally begins to form around deficit fixes. And Greg Mankiw writes why the Simpson-Bowles plan works.
In other economic news:
The Fed projects elevated joblessness through the 2012 elections. Let's see what the Tea Party thinks of that. But don't make the Fed itself a political football.....Tim Geithner warns the GOP not to politicize the Fed.
Sad news of the week: Velma Hart, the woman who confessed her financial fears directly to Obama in a town hall meeting lost her job. And the business community says Obama's economic outreach is not enough.
Meanwhile, Meredith Whitney found a new job, starting her own rating agency. Wonder what she'll give the US government to begin with. And good luck to all those companies out there vying for a AAA rating. Think she'll be pretty stingy with those.
On the global scene.... ... it was all about Ireland.
First they didn't want a bailout. Then they applied for one. Which was probably a good thing, since even Mohamed El-Erian thinks they're screwed. “What you advise your sister in Ireland now is that you’d say take your money out of an Irish bank and put it in another bank headquartered elsewhere,” El-Erian said. “That’s what happened in Argentina and in emerging economies. People worry about their savings."
Some other great quotes about Ireland: from politicians, officials, and commentators:1. Spain is not Greece - Elena Salgado, Spanish Finance
Minister, ~February, 2010.
2. Portugal is not Greece - The Economist, 22nd April, 2010.
3. Greece is not Ireland - George Papaconstantinou, Greek
Finance Minister, 8th November 2010.
4. Spain is neither Ireland nor Portugal - Elena Salgado,
Spanish Finance Minister, 16th November, 2010.
5. Neither Spain nor Portugal is Ireland - Angel Gurria,
secretary-general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development (OECD), 18th November, 2010.
But Spain will be the biggie!!!
Back in the US....
The Republican dark horse still has no name. Unless you count Chris Christie?
And Al Gore finally conceded that corn ethanol was not a good policy. Thank you for coming around, Mr. Gore.
Other people changing their stripes? The pope himself! Finally the Vatican shows signs of softening its hardline stance on condoms.
And if you were really off the grid this past week,
I can't wrap this post up without mentioning KOREA.
The North shelled the South, killing and injuring several people and sparking an international uproar.
Perhaps they'll finally sit down at a table and negotiate an effective peace accord. Or perhaps they'll stay like the ANGRY BIRDS, who distract the rest of the world day in and day out and never seem to be able to make peace.What's on tap this week?
More WikiLeaks. The New York Times has the war logs. The Guardian has the US Embassy cables. Wikipedia's co-founder, Larry Sanger, considers WikiLeaks an enemy not just of the American government, but also of the American people. Perhaps military and diplomatic secrets should remain secret after all?
Other things to look forward to:
December arrives, Chanukah begins, and back in DC the Republicans will meet with Obama.
