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

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

MemeStreams: It's just like having real friends!

Howard Bloom should be proud.

Read A Book!

The reality is that, despite fears that our children are "pumped full of chemicals" everything is made of chemicals, down to the proteins, hormones and genetic materials in our cells.

And although some fret about the "cocktails" of chemicals we are exposed to, a potent brew of complex chemicals is present in a humble cup of tea — which contains healthy polyphenols, for example.

This is even better than the last story about politicians winning the mid term election, because it's not supposed to be a joke!

Telegraph | News | 'The reality is that everything is made of chemicals'

My neighbours are stealing my wireless internet access. I could encrypt it or alternately I could have fun.

Upside-Down-Ternet

This is more exploitative than meditative, but it is about the speed limit -- specifically, the 55 mph posted limit on the I-285 loop around metropolitan Atlanta, GA.

If the authorities were inclined, the students who executed this "meditation" could probably have been tried for conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism, or some such thing.

Fortunately for the students, the police were too busy ticketing the drivers going 75 mph in the other direction.

That, and worrying about all the foreigners at the ports. (Pay no attention to the abundantly obvious fact that the containers are foreign, too, and most of them are not being inspected by anyone, regardless of citizenship.)

A Meditation On the Speed Limit

Damn.

Whoopsi Gras 9/7/05