Andy Borowitz:

Now, here’s something that honks me off: neighbors who call the fire department when you’re in the middle of a controlled burn. Those sirens start wailing and, before you know it, there goes my quiet time. I guess the world is divided into two kinds of people: those who understand quiet time and those who don’t. By the way, you know who really makes the most of their quiet time? Cheetahs. I saw a documentary on them one time and they are awesome.

Paul Graham:

I was in Africa last year and saw a lot of animals in the wild that I'd only seen in zoos before. It was remarkable how different they seemed. Particularly lions. Lions in the wild seem about ten times more alive. They're like different animals.

Nathan Myhrvold:

Anybody who has seen a documentary "knows" that lions hunt cooperatively to bring down prey. Unfortunately, nobody seems to have told the lions this.

Lizzy Stewart:

Have You Seen This Cat?

Because it is awesome.

Mark Bittman:

Living a good life requires a kind of balance, a bit of quiet. There are questions about the limits of the brain and the body, and there are parallels here to the environmental movement.

Who would say you don’t need time to think, to reflect, to be successful and productive?

Let go:

Laminated cards were made up announcing “quiet time” and attached to cubicles. But within a few weeks the workers found the system too restrictive, and the cards seemed like something from grade school.

The cards came down, and some employees started to use e-mail messages, though judiciously and with more awareness of their habits.

My Quiet Time

Barry Ritholtz:

Years ago, the expression was “Never pick a fight with people who buy ink by the barrel” (meaning newspapers).  The modern, updated version is “Never pick a fight with people who have acerbic, award winning comedy writers, a broad TV reach, and a strong internet presence ...”

From last year's best-of:

If you find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics suck.

You are more likely to become a better athlete by watching ESPN than you are likely to become a better investor by watching CNBC.

CNBC is about helping companies to present and manage their public image. CNBC endeavors to instill in viewers the sense that they are well-informed, but this is mostly just a tactic designed to keep them tuned in. The 'viewers' are really just eyeballs for advertising -- the paid placements, of course, but also the 'coverage', which is only another form of advertising.

Television programming that actually made you a more effective investor would probably look a lot like graduate school. If that's what you want, there are places to get it, and you don't even have to sit through the ads.

From the archive, P.J. O'Rourke:

I wonder, when was the last time a talk show changed a mind?

Nouriel Roubini, in a recent interview with Maria Bartiromo:

When the best minds of the country are all going to Wall Street, there is a distortion in the allocation of human capital to some activities that become excessive and eventually inefficient.

Daily Show vs CNBC | The Big Picture

Apropos of Ito En:

Recently:

The recent popularity of green tea has resulted in a number of strange iced green tea beverages hitting the market here.

You got anything that doesn’t have green tea in it?

Here's the set-up: one stick figure says to another, “Make me a sandwich,” only to be told, “No.” Thinking quickly, stick figure No. 1 says, “Sudo make me a sandwich,” and the once-recalcitrant stick figure No. 2 must comply.

XKCD makes NYT.

This Is Funny Only if You Know Unix

Three short videos from the Daily Show and the Colbert Report on the economic crisis.

The Big Picture | Comedy Central on The Economy

It's McCain!

Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early

“Maybe this isn’t the right heartless monolithic corporation for you.”

MemeStreams: It's just like having real friends!

Today is the fourth day of ownership of my pen, and I have to say I'm starting to treat it like an old friend.

Decius wrote:

I highly recommend you read the first two reviews at least. Who knew a simple bic pen could open a gateway to hell!

This brought back memories of the good old days of RRE, when Phil Agre used to write about cheap pens.

RE: Bic Crystal ballpoint pen

Heh. :)

Webcomic: Virus aquarium