Chez MRhé

Literary Downturn

2010-03-01T22:32:00.005-05:00

A chat with The Deb this evening led me to discover that it's been nearly a year since my last book review on here. This floored me. I knew it had been some time, but...this is simply disgraceful. My book reviews were probably my favorite blog posts, and I received some nice feedback on a few of them.

And there was plenty of good material over the past year, my last couple illiterate months notwithstanding.

Ah, well. There are other things afoot!

Like helping engaged couples find the perfect wedding photographer, for example.

Square: Mobile payment device for the iPhone

2010-02-18T21:40:00.004-05:00

Why Twitter is great, reason #25

2010-02-17T13:19:00.004-05:00

Vote: Boston's Best Folk Venue

2010-02-16T11:52:00.002-05:00

(Hint: You should vote for Club Passim.)

Image by Thom C via Flickr

Miracle machine provides clean water in Haiti earthquake relief effort

2010-02-08T17:37:00.001-05:00

The Emergency Water Station, developed by Aqua Sciences, has provided thousands of gallons of water for earthquake victims in Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital, since it arrived in the country on . . . more

Subway Life Lessons: On the Red Line

2010-02-07T14:09:00.004-05:00

Random people tend to talk to me on the subway. I'm not sure what it is - Do I look friendly? Am I perceived to be a good audience for unsolicited commentary? A helpful resource? Do I just stand too close to the loonies while waiting for the T?

Last night was no exception, as an imposing, bald, goatee-sporting gent, thoroughly soused - looked like a biker (his words) - sought my help to attack the insurmountable problem of locating the proper train (the Braintree line, being one of two possible options) and befriended me for the trip home.

After at first fearing for my life, in 20 minutes conversing with this chap I learned:

Life is a f---ing game
Confidence is key in any situation - business, interviews, first date, etc.
Learn to play chess when everyone else is playing checkers (metaphorically speaking)
The market's a funny thing (both job and asset markets)
Life's all about making money (corollary: do what you love but if you make money doing it then you don't work a day in your life)
Get into political campaigning to make a lot of money
His buddies were all good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good people
Conversations with drunk people are really annoying when you're sober (my own conclusion)

To his credit he was friendly, made the long ride back interesting, and was responsible enough to call for a ride and not drive home drunk when he got to his station.

Demand Question Time: sign the petition for more open government

2010-02-04T22:21:00.004-05:00

Obama's Q&A session with the House GOP was a unique and curiously hopeful political event:

About 50 bloggers, pundits, and media members from across the political spectrum (including Nate Silver of fiverthirtyeight.com) have organized the Demand Question Time petition, in the interest of making this type of event a regular occurrence. If done properly this could be an excellent opportunity to make the Executive and Legislative branches more open and accessible, both to each other and - more importantly - to the People. Silver has a great post on how the details of Question Time might work.

If you support this idea, please consider signing the petition.

The Ghost of Fed Chairmen Past

2010-02-03T15:18:00.003-05:00

Via TBP:

When challenging the former Fed Chair about the Volcker Rule, Sen. Mike Johanns (R., Neb.) learned why Tall Paul is not a man to be trifled with.

The Senator accused Volcker and the White House of trying to add onto an already confusing proposal. Volcker’s response was utterly classic:

>

“I tell you sure as I am sitting here, that if banking institutions are protected by the taxpayer and they are given free reign to speculate, I may not live long enough to see the crisis, but my soul is going to come back and haunt you.”

Let 'em filibuster

2010-02-03T10:51:00.005-05:00

Listening to a segment on On Point about Congress, Partisanship, and Paralysis. One caller suggested that the Dems let the GOP put their money where their mouths are, so to speak, and actually follow through with old-school filibusters. Drag out the legislative process in a very visible way.

This is an intriguing idea, and not just for the theatrics of it all. Would this further rally public opposition to the Dems? Would this visible delay of progress, tied directly to individual senators, create resentment within independents for the stonewalling GOP?

What say ye?

The 111th Congress: maligned yet productive in 2009

2010-02-01T12:43:00.003-05:00

Norman Ornstein has a nice piece over at The Washington Post discussing Congress's accomplishments over this past year (yes, accomplishments). It's easy to discredit the quantity and quality of legislation passed in the current awful political climate. However, Ornstein notes:

The stimulus package
Expansion of health insurance for children
TARP funds oversight
FDA regulation of tobacco
Land conservation law
A credit card holder's "bill of rights"
Defense procurement reform
The relatively speedy House has passed even more bills, including cap-and-trade and financial regulatory reform.
Both chambers of Congress also passed significant health care reform bills.

I would add that Congress has done an effective, if inefficient, job of supporting unemployment programs with federal cash

Now, certainly people can take issue with the quality of this legislation, but the Congress has been active and impressive, especially given its ponderous nature in general and its functioning as the most partisan Congress ever. It's unfortunate that these accomplishments get lost in the hyperbolic discourse of political "debate" in this country, but it doesn't make the accomplishments any less impressive.

The Obama administration and the Dems have failed to sell their successes, both in the general and specific. This is a critical failure with regard to the public - both in its interest and their own.

Pollack on passing health care reform, cont'd

2010-01-25T21:56:00.004-05:00

Pollack follows up his open letter to congressional Democrats with this post:

If the House and Senate bills are abandoned, we may (eventually) win Medicaid expansions for people who need help, expanded tax credits for people who cannot afford coverage, and other measures to cover the uninsured. We may even see more stringent regulation of health underwriting and other toxic practices in the insurance industry.

We will not soon see serious delivery reforms or cost-control measures. Whether the issue is high-cost insurance plans, bundled payments, comparative effectiveness research, overpayments to medical device makers, drug companies, specialists, and Medicare Advantage plans, there will be very limited political will to match what is in the current bills.

We will not be able to get these things because we will fracture the political coalition required to enact these painful measures, because the operative lesson of last summer will be that death panel demagoguery trumps real policy argument, and because there are fewer policy levers and fewer political incentives to address these difficulties outside a comprehensive bill.

Last Friday, I and others pled with anxious House members to step up in passing comprehensive reform. Senators: Now I am pleading with you.

President Obama: Now is the time for you to step up, too. Some in your administration are starting to send good signals. Others remain unduly tentative. Fight for this thing as if your legacy is on the line--because it is. I believe you have about 48 hours to fix this up. [emphasis is mine]

In its entirety. Not sure I agree 100% here, but close enough. PTFB.

Breaking down the health care breakdown

2010-01-24T13:52:00.003-05:00

Although health care reform is not dead,* there is clear panic in the Democratic ranks, crowing in Republican circles, and annoyance at politics as usual from enlightened independents.

Over at The Hill, Jeffrey Young provides an excellent, concise breakdown of the 10 reasons why health care reform is a toxic political asset for the Democrats. He cites poor leadership (Obama), stonewalling (GOP), poor messaging (Dems), extrinsic factors (the economy, stupid), distasteful backroom deals (the so-called Cornhusker Kickback and Louisiana Purchase) and general Democratic soilage on timing, legislation, and politics.

*I would add a big, fat #11: political will (cojones). Growing a pair is the only way for the Dems to salvage HCR.

What year is this?

Smallifying Too Big to Fail

2010-01-22T22:17:00.006-05:00

Karl Denninger really likes what POTUS had to say yesterday about financial reform.

You should, too. If properly implemented, President Obama's proposal will go a long way towards mitigating the systemic risk that "too big to fail" financial institutions pose to our economy. No single institution should be TBTF. Shrink the morbidly obese oligarchs. There will still be plenty of profit to keep them all fat and giggly without relying on the taxpayer to fund high-risk speculative soilage the next time around.

Update: A nuanced look at financial reform from Jason Zweig over at the WSJ.

An Open Letter to Pelosi et al. from Pollack et al.

2010-01-22T21:28:00.003-05:00

Over at The Treatment, Harold Pollack posts an open letter to House Democratic leaders, signed by 47 health policy experts, entreating them to pass the Senate health care bill:*

The House of Representatives faces a stark choice. It can enact the Senate bill, and realize the century-old dream of health care reform. By doing so, it can achieve a historic milestone while freeing itself to address other national problems such as joblessness and mortgage foreclosure that affect millions of Americans. Differences between the House and Senate bill can be negotiated through the reconciliation process.

Alternatively, Congress can abandon this effort at this critical moment, leaving millions more Americans to become uninsured in the coming years as health care becomes ever less affordable. Abandoning health care reform—the signature political issue of this administration—would send a message that Democrats are incapable of governing and lead to massive losses in the 2010 election, possibly even in 2012. Such a retreat would also abandon the chance to achieve reforms that millions of Americans across the political spectrum desperately need in these difficult times. Now is the moment for calm and resolute leadership, pressing on toward the goal now within sight.

PTFB.

*The best option for the Dems right now, as I argue in this post on Scott Brown's election and health care reform.

What does Brown's victory in MA mean for health care reform?

2010-01-21T17:51:00.001-05:00

The reaction from the left to Scott Brown's victory in the Massachusetts special election has been nothing short of pathetic. Immediate retreat by several legislators as well as President Barack Obama . . . more

Interview with David Simon of The Wire

2010-01-15T17:10:00.005-05:00

Long interview over at Vice Magazine with David Simon, creator of The Wire:

Yes. Newspapers have less and less ambition and are demanding less and less of themselves as arbiters of what is actually important, of what our problems are and how we’re addressing them. The Wire was trying to say, at the end, “Look, if anything in the first four seasons struck a nerve with you, don’t think for a moment that anyone’s going to address themselves to it—least of all the watchdogs of society—because their teeth have been taken out.” They’ve done it to themselves. We had to say that last because ultimately we were saying: “This is the America you built and if you think the first alarm is ever going to go off in any sense, guess again.”

Well worth it.

Hat tip to Signal vs. Noise.

Horrific: Haiti earthquake photos (Boston.com)

2010-01-13T12:18:00.003-05:00

Boston.com has an incredible gallery up of photos of the destruction of the 7.0 earthquake in Haiti including several of the international rescue teams responding to the crisis.

Fire at Phi Delt

2010-01-11T14:33:00.005-05:00

Thankfully (indeed, shockingly) nobody was hurt. But it'll be a while before tunes are again heard coming from 5 Webster Ave:

Phi Delta Alpha fraternity suffered significant fire and water damage early Sunday morning when a fire in the physical plant’s attic caused the building’s fire suppression system to initiate, flooding much of the building. Several campus organizations have mobilized support efforts for the members of the fraternity, whose possessions were mostly damaged or lost in the incident.

The Hanover Fire Department received the first alarm at 5:27 a.m., Hanover Fire Department Captain Mike Gilbert said in an interview with The Dartmouth. All fraternity members living in the building were immediately evacuated, and no one suffered any injuries, according to Roland Adams, Dartmouth’s director of media relations.

Read the rest of The Dartmouth's article about the Phi Delt fire.

What's the ROI of putting your pants on in the morning?

2010-01-04T17:58:00.003-05:00

Just like the ROI of social media marketing, it's too high not to do it, as Brian Halligan of HubSpot implies in one of the 10 items on his 2010 Marketing Wish List.

What's on your marketing wish list for the new year?

Michael Rheavume does not live here

2009-12-29T15:08:00.002-05:00

Companies, take note: if I am a current subscriber, and you wish for me to renew my subscription, spelling my name correctly in your renewal letter is a good place to start.

Gather Weekly: Super Earth, Hellenic hijinks, fix-it bills and more

2009-12-19T13:36:00.006-05:00

This week's Gather articles (12/12-12/19):

Finance

Politics

Social Media

Unemployment

Science

Astronomers discover water-rich Earth-like planet GJ 1214b

Humor

Holiday humor: SNL's "Schweddy Balls" sketch (video)

Health Care Reform

Finish line in sight: Reid announces final Senate health care bill

Holiday humor: SNL's "Schweddy Balls" sketch (video)

2009-12-18T16:55:00.000-05:00

This time of year causes many to think of friends, family, and holiday traditions. One of my favorite holiday traditions is rewatching the infamous Schweddy Balls skit from Saturday Night Live. This is . . . more

The Crisis of Credit Visualized

2009-12-14T19:38:00.001-05:00

Very well done animation on the credit crisis:

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

via Planet Money

Has Obama sold out to Wall Street? Matt Taibbi thinks so

2009-12-13T14:00:00.002-05:00

Reading this article will make you furious. In a recent article for Rolling Stone , titled "Obama's Big Sellout," Matt Taibbi eviscerates the Obama White House, saying that President Obama has . . . more

Back-asswards: Biggifying Too Big to Fail

2009-12-13T12:48:00.005-05:00

What do we do in response to a financial crisis due in no small part to the systemic risk posed by institutions that by their very size prove essential to a functioning financial system? Gorge them on taxpayer funds so they get even bigger, while smaller banks without the benefit of implicit government guarantee are allowed to fail (as all insolvent businesses should):

From TARP Oversight Report via TBP.