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Monthly Archives: August 2013

Bezos Buys Post, Speculation Rampant

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When Amazon’s Jeff Bezos was announced as the future owner of the Washington Post, the world was curious.  After a little bit of time passed, the deacons of professional journalism did what they often decry – worked themselves into a tizzy of speculation.  Notable press critic Jay Rosen of NYU noted that Amazon booted Wikileaks off of its servers as soon as the government asked them to.  “That’s not answering the bell for freedom of information. That’s doing what the surveillance state requires, and relying on a legalism to justify it,” he wrote.

Others have been more alarmist.  The Post’s own Allan Sloan asked in an op-ed for more disclosure of Bezos’ personal politics:  “I’d at least like to hear from Bezos what his beliefs are and to have him reconcile the question of his being a libertarian who’s benefited immensely from taxpayers’ R&D money.”

What are Bezos’ plans and more importantly the philosophy that guided him to buy the Post?  We will find out.  But there may be much less to it than something to fear.

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Retail “Challenges”

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The news whacked Wall Street and set off a slide of 1.4%.  WalMart, the biggest retailer, reported slow growth and earnings below expectations for the second quarter.  “The retail environment remains challenging in the U.S. and our international markets, as customers are cautious in their spending,” according to Chief Financial Officer Charles Holley.  Should we be worried about it?

Probably not.  While a turnaround consumer spending would be the quickest and easiest way to goose the economy and put people back to work, it shouldn’t come at the expense of fundamentals such as repairing household finances.  A little caution now could make for a stronger economy in the long run – and that picture is continuing to look a bit brighter.

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The Junker Brotherhood

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This is mostly a repeat from 2007.  I still need a few glorious summer daze off here and there.

Like many good things in life, it happened both on purpose and by accident. I consider it a side effect of being a father, more than anything.

After years of car-free bliss, riding the bus where I had to, my (now ex) wife told me it was time to have a car. What with the baby on the way and all the running around like scared gophers that goes with it, something had to happen. Like many of her announcements, it came with a plan – did I mention we aren’t married anymore? This plan involved a friend with a 1985 Escort that had been parked for a while. The deal was this – $100 if I could get it running. In about a half an hour I did (ignition wires were shot, is all).
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Fundamentalism

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Another cycle of violence between angry mobs representing the majority religion flares up in another nation.  What could be truly “new” in this news?  This week it was in Sri Lanka, but there was a difference.  The mob were Buddhists and their victims were the Moslem minority at prayer in a mosque.  It seems to be a spillover from the much more violent confrontations in Myanmar where hundreds have been killed at the hands of “Radical Buddhists” who destroyed the homes of over 400 Moslem families.  Has the world gone completely mad?

The short answer is yes, the whole world is going mad.  But the apparent rise of violent Buddhist radicals and fundamentalists has to be seen in a larger context of the rise of fundamentalism generally.  There is a growing backlash against pluralism, tolerance, and globalism itself.  Groups everywhere are being pitted against each other in a desperate bid to preserve the old ways and forge a sense of social cohesiveness.  That includes the USofA – and indeed frames the recent legislative battles in Texas and North Carolina in a way that makes a twisted sense of the whole mess.  And it doesn’t seem likely to end soon.

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Peter Capaldi

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Is it possible that the darkest force for evil has taken over the true force for good?   Last Sunday it was announced live world-wide that the most important role in the universe would soon be played by Peter Capaldi.   Yes, I am talking about Doctor Who, the international sensation of a telly show that has become Britain’s biggest export since smug satisfaction.  But like the show, there may be something more sinister afoot …

Since the announcement, fans have clamored to learn more about the man.  It turns out he was a “super-fan” as a kid who annoyed the BBC staff so much they wished the Daleks would ex-term-inate! him.  The head of the fan club promised to “sort him out”.  But what did get through was a letter to the Radio Times praising a recent show and mourning the death of the first man to play the Master, Roger Delgado.   Young Capaldi was not just a fan of the show, he was also a fan of the Master?

Could it be that this appointment is nothing more than the culmination of a 40-year plot by the Master to take over the Doctor’s regeneration cycle through a cultivated minion?

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