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Created
Sat, 18/01/2025 - 02:11
The point of the discussion, of course, has to do with where Koopmans thinks we should look for “autonomous behaviour relations”. He appeals to experience but in a somewhat oblique manner. He refers to the Harvard barometer “to show that relationships between economic variables … not traced to underlying behaviour equations are unreliable as instruments […]
Created
Sat, 18/01/2025 - 01:05
Michael Salib and Mesha Ghazaleh The Bank’s monetary policy objectives are some of the most significant objectives bestowed by Parliament on any UK public authority. They are to maintain price stability and, subject to that, support the Government’s economic policy, including its objectives for growth and employment. In our paper we offer a historical and … Continue reading The Bank of England’s statutory monetary policy objectives: a historical and legal account
Created
Sat, 18/01/2025 - 01:00
Dems won’t win the 21st century with 20th-century politics Tons of respect for Democrats in Congress who have served honorably and bring years of deep experience in legislative arcana to their jobs, and a passion for improving American’s lives. I still want the Democrats’ gerontocracy to go home. You’re living in the past. Make room for younger leaders with 21st-century political and media skills. Former RNC chair Michael Steele says it better than I could. * Michael Steele: They think we’re playing the 1980s, Ronald Reagan and Tip O’Neill kinda kumbaya moment. ‘Yeah, we skirmish here and there, but in the end we’re gonna have a little toast with some bourbon or some good whiskey and call it even.’ No, that’s not what this is…. I very much respect Hakeem Jeffries, very much excited about his leadership, but you do not hand over the gavel and say we’re putting down our swords and picking up our bipartisan plowshares? They’re gonna shove those plowshares up your behind! The GOP has spent a generation plotting for this moment, Steele continues, trying to upend the structures put in place to try to govern.
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Sat, 18/01/2025 - 00:00

Finally, and not a moment too soon, our government will look, smell, and act like the real America. Not an Ivy League college campus, not a melting pot of immigrants striving to achieve the American dream, but instead an endlessly replenishing stream of shout-talking men outraged that people with disabilities or families with children who are offered extra assistance actually take it, along with a steady diet of morning beers, explosive rage, and ketchup.

It’s far past time for those who “govern” to demonstrate the same lack of awareness as everyone pretending not to know what boarding group they’re in. And why did we win January 6 if not for the right to berate underpaid service workers who aren’t allowed to unionize and also so we can have both pizza and tequila shots for breakfast? Why was 9/11 an inside job if not for our hard-won ability to wear pajama bottoms and inflatable neck pillows in public and constantly have to relearn through the application of loud buzzing sounds and shame that jewelry is made of metal? And what was the whole point of all those genocides if not to have unlimited access to themed socks and overpriced regional T-shirts?

Created
Fri, 17/01/2025 - 22:36

General Electric, once one of the most important companies in America started firing the bottom 10% of performers every yearwhen Jack Welch took over. Seems smart, right? Strangely, however, GE was driven into the ground by Welch. It made a lot of money, for a while, but it was burning down the house and now it’s a has been company. The routine firing wasn’t the only reason, but it was part of it.

Lately I’m seeing companies like Meta and Microsoft saying they’re doing large lay-offs of the lowest performers. Seems smart, eh?

Problem is that most performance reviews have nothing to do with performance. They ask other people to rate you, often the so-called 360 degree rating, but sometimes it’s just your boss. Problem is, people suck at rating.

Created
Fri, 17/01/2025 - 12:30
We’ve lost a true auteur. This tribute by Kyle Mclaughlin is one of the best I’ve ever read: Forty-two years ago, for reasons beyond my comprehension, David Lynch plucked me out of obscurity to star in his first and last big budget movie. He clearly saw something in me that even I didn’t recognize. I owe my entire career, and life really, to his vision.What I saw in him was an enigmatic and intuitive man with a creative ocean bursting forth inside of him. He was in touch with something the rest of us wish we could get to. Our friendship blossomed on Blue Velvet and then Twin Peaks and I always found him to be the most authentically alive person I’d ever met. David was in tune with the universe and his own imagination on a level that seemed to be the best version of human. He was not interested in answers because he understood that questions are the drive that make us who we are. They are our breath. While the world has lost a remarkable artist, l’ve lost a dear friend who imagined a future for me and allowed me to travel in worlds I could never have conceived on my own.
Created
Fri, 17/01/2025 - 12:00

Team, tonight we play the biggest game of our lives. I know you have heard our opposing coach’s comments—“We’re doing everything we can to honor our creator.” I also know you saw last week when their star quarterback took a knee and grabbed the sideline reporter’s microphone so the world could hear his prayer:

Our father, who art in heaven
I throw this ball for you
Please grant me touchdowns
And deliver me from interceptions
All glory to you, God
And to State, the greatest team in your creation
Amen.

Now, you’re probably thinking, “This ain’t good, Coach. They’re convinced they have the Almighty on their side. If that’s true, what chance do we have? How are we going to beat both State and the God of Western Christianity?”

Well, men, I recently completed my audit of PHIL 332: Nietzsche & The Death of Practical Meaning, and I’m tired of mincing words.

Their God is dead.

Time of death: tonight.

Place of death: Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.

Created
Fri, 17/01/2025 - 12:00
OutsideThe circus gatheringMoved silently along the rain-swept boulevard.The procession moved on the shouting is overThe fabulous freaks are leaving town. They are driven by a strange desireUnseen by the human eye.The carnival is over -from “The Carnival is Over” by Dead Can Dance I did a piece in 2015 about my 10 favorite midnight movies. One of my picks was David Lynch’s Eraserhead, of which I wrote: If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my fifty-odd years on the planet, it’s that when it comes to the films of David Lynch, there is no middle ground. You either love ‘em, or you hate ‘em. You buy a ticket to a Lynch film, my friend, you’d best be willing to take the ride-and he will take you for a ride. And do you want to know the really weird thing about his films? They get funnier with each viewing. Yes, “funny”, as in “ha-ha” . I think the secret to his enigmatic approach to telling a story is that Lynch is in reality having the time of his life being impenetrably enigmatic-he’s sitting back and chuckling at all the futile attempts to dissect and make “sense” of his narratives.