A certain economic issue, eResearch Conference, Many other activities.

[tcpip]

I have written a short piece on the proposed bail-out of the American banking, deriving from the words of actual economic critics of the plan, which are indeed many: Socialise the land and banks, don't bail-out the monopolists. Interestingly, at least some of this is likely to be put into effect. The British bank Bradford & Bingley has been bought out by their governments and even in the United States, where socialisation of banking is just a little too red for the poor dears to handle, and we may see some of the more sensible (albeit symptomatic) solutions by Nouriel Roubini and Paul Krugman introduced. From crankynick a lolz version of recent events (pictures with humour, articles with insight). Just as well the bailout bill was passed as martial law was threatened if it was not.

Spent most of this week at the eResearch2008 conference which had quite a substantial agenda. Gave a presentation on Thursday morning on the use of collaborative tools within Drupal. The conference itself was very well attended, although the venue was one of those souless functional modern buildings that had piped sacchrin jazz everywhere you went (even in the toilet), and had a loud jazz band playing during the conference dinner. You really want to know what I think of jazz?

Registration to the Australasian Society for Continental Philosophy Post/Human Condition completed; off to New Zealand in December! The ABC is screening on Catalyst a study of poker machines, gambling and social environments of which I did some of the audio-visual work.

My review of D&D 4th edition (from RPG Review) has been republished on rpg.net (which one person has described as "the best review they've read all year"). On a related note, have been taking my pbem HeroQuest group through an abbreviated version of the Orlanth is Dead scenario, which is thematically strong, but rather rough in its structure and content. Sunday was spent playing RuneQuest, specifically scenario 2 of Shadows on the Borderlands. It plays a lot better than it reads, mainly because the cavern complex actually is designed and feels like such.

Caught up with recumbenteer and L., picnicing in Edinburgh Gardens on Saturday with their young Mormon friend; was a little surprised (and amused) to discover they did not know of the somewhat notorious the Fundamentalist Church of LDS. In rodent news, Scoundrel has a very bad cold; he's old, doesn't eat much and has always been prone to illness. So he's being looked after a great deal.

seanr give me a brain-breaker of the week, which is really quite special: The case against Obama.

Comments

Still had this on my clipboard from other postings...

[ytterbius.livejournal.com]

http://www.charlierose.com/shows/2008/10/1/1/an-exclusive-conversation-with-warren-buffett

This is quite interesting, and Buffett hits on numerous Bailout / Economic Issues.

Re: Still had this on my clipboard from other postings...

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

I've found Buffett invariably quite sound on economic matters. He understands the importance of productivity and utility of goods and thus is not distracted by damaging speculation.

I also get a little annoyed when people keep bringing up the Community Reinvestment Act as if that was the cause of the current crisis. Yes, it did mean that banks were forced to give loans to low-income people (although with strict criteria).

But I'm waiting to see a single figure on how significant this quantity of loans actually was - I mean surely if it was that damaging the damage would have been obvious and evident a few years after the Carter period, rather than thirty years after?

I see too much "poor-bashing" on the right - of Australian and American politics. It's sickening that some individuals are now trying to put the blame of the liquidity crisis on the least fortunate.

[montensem.livejournal.com]

As a native Tennessean, I know some "patriotic drunk rednecks" myself. =o)

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Can you translate what that most eloquent man is saying at 1.49? Because I've tried several times and I just can't understand it. It needs subtitles.

[montensem.livejournal.com]

Wow. I don't think there is a subtitle for that--something about a "full moon ... made her mad ... Lebanon?"

"arrraaararrivrarockafullmoonamadermad...fuckers in lebanon...she got mad at me"

Maybe he's trying to say something.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

I'm ... astounded that you managed to get even that much.

It's quite a challenge!

[curufea.livejournal.com]

I think it should be compulsory in D&D 4th to yell out "Red Elf is about to die! Red Elf is about to die!" and similar.

But in general I stick to MAME for Gauntlet :)

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Hmmm... You know, it would be such a bad idea to re-release Gauntlet, give each character a new feat as they go down a level in the dungeon (and go up a level as a character) and instead of food have healing surges.

It would work I tell ya!

[damien-wise.livejournal.com]

The only arcade game they've ever made that was better than Gauntlet was Gauntlet II.
It sorta lost its charm when they went 3D and other stuff...
But Gauntlet II is a nicely balanced, fast-plying game with a beautiful keep-it-simple design. Best arcade game ever, IMHO. :->

You're saying the new D&D has flashes of that brilliance? I might have to try some...

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

I must have a look at it then... Never got around to playing Gauntlet II...

Yeah, D&D4th ed is crafty rather than crufty. It's damn quick to design encounters, characters and so forth. But the scope is real narrow. So... if you like some flashy combat (all the special maneuvers/powers) it can be fun. If you don't it'll won't be enjoyable.

[fryboy.livejournal.com]

I had my first D&D session yesterday - we got through about 3 encounters in Kobold Hall in somewhere between 2 or 3 hours :)

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

That's pretty quick for fourth ed.. Ahh, back in my youth tho' knocking off three sets of kobolds would be done in less than fifteen minutes. Mind you... you had between 1-8 hit points yourself and there was a very good chance the kobolds would do you in!

*sigh* The Keep on the Borderlands. What a great module, if you invented half a page of background so the place made sense..

Say, does this mean you have a regular game on Sundays?

[fryboy.livejournal.com]

Heh, not quite. Maybe every 2nd sunday if we're lucky, and two out of the 5 players were last-minute invites because the two who wanted to play couldn't make it..

Plus I didn't really know how to do the whole RP setup/background thing so I read out a bit of the description of the town, told them they woke up in the Inn and the barkeep said if they're looking for work the blacksmith has some..they talked to him, he said he needs X and so they set off. Didn't really feel like a fleshed out campaign :)

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Ah well.. You know we have a location for regular Sunday gaming :)

Maybe we should meet up and we can do a walk-through of some ideas for setting and plot development?

[odubtaig.livejournal.com]

Probably worth noting with B&B that the government only bought out the heavily indebted mortgage and loans department while the still profitable savings/banking departments were sold to Santender. Socialising debt and privatising profit in action.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Indeed. Capitalism for the poor, socialism for the rich. This is state capitalism in all it's glory.

[must-sew-faster.livejournal.com]

It gets better; a large portion of McCain's plan to reform American health care involves deregulating the health insurance companies. Because, you know, it worked so well with banking. =P
I'm so takin' the 4 cents left in my 401K and runnin' for Mexico, before I'm no longer 'working class' and fall into the realm of 'unemployed and destitute' in America.

He's doing what?!

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Well that's both stupid and irresponsible. Of course, I imagine he hasn't checked the international comparisons of health care schemes. You'd think someone his age would actually treat health care seriously..

Re: He's doing what?!

[must-sew-faster.livejournal.com]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/06/opinion/06krugman.html?_r=1&em&oref=slogin

Re: He's doing what?!

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Once again Krugman is right on the ball. Not only does he understands that in certain situations bureaucracy is less (especially when used in universal application...

And in the process of comforting the comfortable while afflicting the afflicted, the McCain plan would also lead to a huge, expensive increase in bureaucracy: insurers selling individual health plans spend 29 percent of the premiums they receive on administration, largely because they employ so many people to screen applicants. This compares with costs of 12 percent for group plans and just 3 percent for Medicare.

... he also understands that social health care is a social investment.

Re: He's doing what?!

[must-sew-faster.livejournal.com]

I have repeatedly told people who say, "Why should I pay for health care for everyone?", "You already are."
Part of the reason that health care is so expensive is because hospitals pass along the costs of treating the uninsured.

The other big problem of having huge amounts of uninsured (usually the working poor who don't qualify for Medicaid)is that they clog up the ER system. ER health care is the most expensive kind. But the reason the working poor go to the ER is this:
Private doctors want paid up front if you don't have insurance. The average price for an uncomplicated trip to the doctor for someone without insurance is around 120 bucks (at least it was a few years ago in Cleveland).
If you are uninsured and you go to the ER, they won't bill you up front, and generally you will be seen. Eventually. When they get around to you.
In the evening, the ER at my hospital is full to the brim with cat bites, UTI's, sinus infections, sore throats and kids with ear aches. And these people wait and wait and wait, and when the heart attacks and strokes are stabilized, then they get seen.
The patients aren't happy. The doctors aren't happy. The staff is really really not happy. And a large number of bills go unpaid and uncollected. The amount of waste is incredible.
What's made the situation even worse? The county-funded 'charity health system' is so massively in debt that they've started turning away non-emergent patients from their ER, unless those patients cough up 100 bucks then and there.
Eventually smaller hospitals close and larger systems take over. And then people really suffer because they no longer have access to health care close to home.
The health care system needs a massive overhaul, to say the least.

[castleclear.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed your post. Thank you!

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

I enjoy writing it and I enjoy people reading it! Thank you!

YouTube Link to "Redneck Americans"

[castleclear.livejournal.com]

The "Case Against Obama" is scary because it's true. It looks to feature my distant cousins in Kentucky, removed by 100-200 years, people of less than average intelligence who watch Fox News and think it's news, not propaganda. The ones of whom Abraham Lincoln said, "...you can fool some of the people all of the time."

[jeshyr]

And once again you have taught me more about current global geopoliticoeconomics (yes, I made that up) in one LJ post that I've figured out about it on my own in ... well, lots longer.

Also, the LOLFeds journal was hilariously fun and surprisingly informative too. Thanks!

r

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

The author of LOLFEDS seems to be getting more annoyed with each entry :)

[jeshyr]

Or perhaps cranky?

Seriously, if I had to read enough of the news to be able to write all that stuff I'd be annoyed too! It boggles me that people can keep up with things like you can (and my uncle and father too, and, well, lots of people) and not get pulled under emotionally by all the crap and misery and stupidity and evil in the world. Watching ABC's nightly news about once every 6 months is enough to remind me that there's no way I can deal with it more frequently than that.

r