lazy blogger

These link posts are the easiest blog entries to produce. Then again, posts consisting entirely of quotations from books are also easy to produce. Perhaps if I continue this trend, I will start twittering, facebook status-ing and then I will need to take this seminar in order to re-writer’s block myself. (I compile these links and comments over time, so some may be a bit outdated):

2008 marked the demise of Wall Street and the humbling of the proud. Mr. Madoff’s ponzi investment scheme further reminds us that we need better monkeys. Meanwhile, rich folk who have lost lots of money may need better matchmakers.

Not that any of this short-term profit-driven excess should surprise us, since we’ve turned a blind eye to corporate abuses for years. In particular, wage theft has been in the rise as the economy tightens. We don’t just need a federal bailout, but an ethical bailout as well.

Until the 111th new Congress passes ethical bailout legislation, let’s read dystopic novels about how the world will end. Some suspect this is already happening:

• Argentina is experiencing a chronic moneda (coin) shortage. (oh no!)
• Though some experts fear stagflation (oh no the seventies!), inflation on a standard basket of Christmas goods (based on the 12 days of Christmas) has gone up by 8.1 percent this past year (oh no! inflation!)
• Colleges need to reconsider tuition rates and how much parents are subsidizing their children’s extracurricular activities (oh no! Penn's only all-freshman all-Californian all-opera-style a capella group won't get its annual funding from the university!)
• Publishers continue to advance large amounts of money to the likes of Sarah Palin (oh no!)
• Some are beginning to declare the end of the hipster (oh no! no more irony!)

While some things in this world may change dramatically, other things stay the same. It makes me sad when a man with as much power and influence as Blago could still be hungering for more. But there is hope for those who find themselves hitting rock bottom after climbing high on the ladder of power and influence. Maybe Blago will do something useful with his life after all of this-- maybe he will land a book deal like Joe the Plumber or a Slate column like Eliot Spitzer. America is the land of opportunity!

I’ve only talked about economics and politics and endtimes so far. Looking for something more light hearted? This website chronicles ugly prom dresses. It’s bound to keep you entertained for hours, or atleast a few minutes. If you’re looking for something unexpectedly beautiful, check out these toilet paper wedding dresses. And this knitter suggests some accessible classical music that you can listen to while you endlessly surf the web...