Saturday, May 7, 2011
The Higher Education Bubble
Captain Capitalism linked to this in his latest blog post: LINK - make sure to read the articles linked to this article as well, it is fascinating.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Usama bin Laden Dead
And justice is served! Huge round of applause to all of the U.S. military and intelligence personnel who were instrumental in making this happen. And despite my many disagreements with his policies, credit to President Obama for having had the guts to go ahead with this as there was likely a risk it could have gone very wrong for him. It will be interesting to see how this affects his chances for re-election in 2012.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Dressing Up Versus Dressing Down
So after quite a few years of being extremely anti-suit and fashion, I have actually become very interested in fashion over the past year or so. I have been learning some interesting things that I actually didn't know (for example a sport coat with trousers is not a suit, although similar). Anyways, I have been reading an interesting book lately called Style: The Thinking Man's Guide to Dress. In it, one of the things discussed at the start of the book is about the views of fashion held by rightwing and leftwing people.
Basically, many on the right, those who are very practical, hardworking, socially and fiscally conservative, etc...will disdain fashion and dressing up as they view it as meaning the person is suspect. America is supposed to be a land about creating, building, and producing. Art, fashion, and so forth, are luxuries. People who indulge in such things are thus suspect, viewed as not really being serious or practical. Also, a man for whom fashion is an interest can be viewed as somewhat effeminate, which the conservative right doesn't like.
On the other hand, you have the leftwing, who can also disdain dressing up as they view it as meaning one is part of the establishment, something they tend to disdain. It also denotes class, being a member of "the rich" or of thinking (as they see it) that you are better than others.
What made me question this though is that the conservative columnist George Will wrote a column some time ago lamenting that so many Americans do not "dress up." According to him, it is a sign of a pervasive psychological national immaturity. Here is a link to his article, along with another by writer Daniel Akst that also laments denim (jeans):
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/15/AR2009041502861.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123751483315591559.html
Will and Akst both denounce the dressing down of so many people in society and yearn for when we all dress to look good. Now the thing is, Will (and I am guessing Akst) are conservatives. In other words, they are supposed to be among the people for whom concern with dressing up is something to be looked down upon, meaning a person is not paying attention to what's important in life. They look down upon it as they see it as meaning a person is lazy, undisciplined, and general just not caring about much.
What I think it really shows is how both views can be taken to an extreme. Liking to wear nice clothes all of the time and be well-groomed and professional-looking, does not mean one is a panzy who has no practical skills and isn't a hard worker. Just the same, just because you like to wear jeans all the time doesn't mean you are lazy and aren't a hard worker either. A lot of the Silicon Valley entrepreneurs Will mentions in his column for example, got that way through hard work and brains.
That said, I do agree that some people who dress up all the time probably are preppy and some people who dress down all the time are lazy slobs, but one cannot draw wide-ranging conclusions based on a person's dress I think.
As an interesting side note, in America, we actually have two types of conservative. There's your blue-collar, socially conservative, NASCAR-watching, conservatives (many of whom are Democrats whom the Democratic party, due to its social liberalism, has had a hard time keeping in the party), while the others are your more elitist, country-club, Blue Blood-type conservatives. I would imagine that the former would be more the type who view dressing up as preppy and meaning one isn't practical or hardworking while the latter type would be the ones who view dressing down as meaning one is lazy and not a hardworker.
Basically, many on the right, those who are very practical, hardworking, socially and fiscally conservative, etc...will disdain fashion and dressing up as they view it as meaning the person is suspect. America is supposed to be a land about creating, building, and producing. Art, fashion, and so forth, are luxuries. People who indulge in such things are thus suspect, viewed as not really being serious or practical. Also, a man for whom fashion is an interest can be viewed as somewhat effeminate, which the conservative right doesn't like.
On the other hand, you have the leftwing, who can also disdain dressing up as they view it as meaning one is part of the establishment, something they tend to disdain. It also denotes class, being a member of "the rich" or of thinking (as they see it) that you are better than others.
What made me question this though is that the conservative columnist George Will wrote a column some time ago lamenting that so many Americans do not "dress up." According to him, it is a sign of a pervasive psychological national immaturity. Here is a link to his article, along with another by writer Daniel Akst that also laments denim (jeans):
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/15/AR2009041502861.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123751483315591559.html
Will and Akst both denounce the dressing down of so many people in society and yearn for when we all dress to look good. Now the thing is, Will (and I am guessing Akst) are conservatives. In other words, they are supposed to be among the people for whom concern with dressing up is something to be looked down upon, meaning a person is not paying attention to what's important in life. They look down upon it as they see it as meaning a person is lazy, undisciplined, and general just not caring about much.
What I think it really shows is how both views can be taken to an extreme. Liking to wear nice clothes all of the time and be well-groomed and professional-looking, does not mean one is a panzy who has no practical skills and isn't a hard worker. Just the same, just because you like to wear jeans all the time doesn't mean you are lazy and aren't a hard worker either. A lot of the Silicon Valley entrepreneurs Will mentions in his column for example, got that way through hard work and brains.
That said, I do agree that some people who dress up all the time probably are preppy and some people who dress down all the time are lazy slobs, but one cannot draw wide-ranging conclusions based on a person's dress I think.
As an interesting side note, in America, we actually have two types of conservative. There's your blue-collar, socially conservative, NASCAR-watching, conservatives (many of whom are Democrats whom the Democratic party, due to its social liberalism, has had a hard time keeping in the party), while the others are your more elitist, country-club, Blue Blood-type conservatives. I would imagine that the former would be more the type who view dressing up as preppy and meaning one isn't practical or hardworking while the latter type would be the ones who view dressing down as meaning one is lazy and not a hardworker.
China = Hindenburg
Well, according to this guy. Two points I find especially interesting about this article are how he points out that in China now there are inter-generational mortgages being offered, just like were occurring in Japan right before their bubble burst. Also his point that in order for China to develope a strong middle-class, this means wages and incomes will have to go up, which will undercut China's advantage of having cheap labor.
Chinese Art Bubble?
So as some may be aware, at the peak of Japan's real-estate bubble back in the late 1980s and very early 1990s, there was a massive art bubble in the country as well. Artp rices were being bid up to extremely high levels. So out of pure curiousity, I decided to Google "Chinese art bubble" and WHEW! did I get some results.
Here is one link, one of the first to come up: Chinese Art Bubble
However, rather than post a bunch of links, just Google it. What I do wonder then is if this is another sign of the Chinese economy being in a major bubble as well, just like Japan was. I would guess probably. It seems we have three big indicators here: China having some of the tallest skyscrapers in the world being built in it, vacant buildings/cities, and a major art bubble.
Here is one link, one of the first to come up: Chinese Art Bubble
However, rather than post a bunch of links, just Google it. What I do wonder then is if this is another sign of the Chinese economy being in a major bubble as well, just like Japan was. I would guess probably. It seems we have three big indicators here: China having some of the tallest skyscrapers in the world being built in it, vacant buildings/cities, and a major art bubble.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Business Ethics Question
Kortaggio posted up a very interesting business ethics question on his blog: LINK
How to Avoid Junk Food
So one thing I have noticed is a lot of people (maybe most people even?) have a very hard time not eating junk food. They wonder how can people who workout and keep fabulous bodies have the discipline to not eat sweets and so forth. Well myself, for some years now, I have always watched what I eat. I always keep junk food to a minimum. It is not a staple of my diet (say meats, vegetables, junk food, etc...), just a small side part. So I figured I'd write some on why I think I can avoid junk food.
One thing many people complain about when trying to stop eating junk food are the cravings. You workout and then you get hit with massive cravings for sweets (cookies, cakes, wafers, chocolates, etc...). These cravings can be extremely powerful and incredibly hard to resist. The thing is, you can actually get rid of them if you stay disciplined long enough. Roughly, what causes the cravings is your body's blood sugar level. Basically, whenever you consume something like cookies, cakes, candy bars, or what have you, well all of these are loaded with simple sugars. They are a simple carbohydrate that your body utilizes immediately and there's a LOT of them, so you overload your blood-sugar level.
In response, your body then works overtime to lower the blood sugar level, and ends up overdoing it, and thus lowers the blood-sugar level too much. Thus your body craves energy. What provides instant energy? Sweets! Thus begins a viscious cycle that is hard to end. For most people, this is just part of how they function. Rarely do they actually watch what they eat. If they decide to try giving up sweets, their body, any time it needs energy, will create cravings for sweets which can be maddening.
For people trying to give up junk food and get into shape, this can be incredibly torturous. However, if you stick to it, your body eventually will adjust and lose the cravings altogether. And I do mean literally LOSE them. As in, you can actually be hungry, and be in the presence of a box of fresh donuts and yet not have cravings for them whatsoever. Oh, you might desire them to some degree, but you will not need any massive amount of willpower to avoid eating them.
So how to go about losing the cravings? Well, for starters, you need to always make sure to maintain a balanced blood-sugar level. This starts with ending the sweets and making sure to eat meals with a decent quantity of complex carbohydrates. Complex carbohydrates take longer for your body to break down. As a result, they are slower-acting. They do not provide instant energy, but they also do not spike your blood-sugar level.
For example, if you finish a workout and now crave sweets, a candy bar or cookies will provide you with instant energy, whereas eating a plate of whole grain pasta will be slower-acting. You won't start to feel the energy for about twenty minutes or so. However, when you do, you will not crave the sweets the way you had. The thing is, when you get used to eating like this, keeping your blood sugar level balanced, it becomes easy to avoid sweets almost altogether because your body never craves them. It never craves them because:
1) Your blood sugar level is always balanced, and
2) If you get hungry, your body is no longer used to the sweets as it's source of energy. This takes a little while, but eventually your body gets used to having a balanced blood-sugar level and to getting energy from healthy foods, and thus when hungry, even very hungry, sweets are not an irresistable craving.
Another key thing to keep in mind is that junk food should never be a staple of your eating. It should always be something you consume after you are mostly full from healthy food. This way, it is far easier to consume it in small quantities. So if for example someone brings in a birthday cake, don't eat it if you are hungry. If you are hungry, it means your body needs food. This means that cake is the last thing you should be eating. Eat something healthy first, then eat the cake, and this way, you'll probably only want to eat a small piece of the cake. If you eat like this, consuming a whole candy bar at once may be near impossible because you are always too full. You'd feel like you are force-feeding yourself.
You can wake up in the morning, eat say eggs and hash browns with some sausage or bacon, which will fill you up, then at lunch you eat something healthy and filling, and thus you are pretty full so you probably will either not want the desert, or you will only want the desert in a small portion because the main course filled you. Same with dinner. You eat a healthy, filling dinner, and it fills you up, and gives you energy, and you either are too full for the chocolate cake, or you only want say a small piece of it because you are full from the main course.
Non-sweet junk foods such as cheeseburgers, McDonald's french fries (pretty much any fries cooked in fat), thick pizzas, etc...to avoid these, again, eat healthy. If you find yourself hungry and craving a pizza or burger when you know you shouldn't, eat something else that is healthy and filling. Eating such foods as cheeseburgers or pizza is fine if done occassionally, in moderation though. But try not to make it a staple of your diet. Try to keep them as treats, like junk food.
If you start eating in this fashion, you can end up with a big leg-up in terms of nutritional eating, because no longer will you be a slave to sweets. You may even get to a point where you can't understand how people can eat such large quantities of sweet food. Myself for example, I do not drink coffee. Too much sugar and I don't like it in general. Soda I rarely if ever drink. Very occasionally, I may drink one, but it is very rare. I also am not able to consume a whole candy bar at once.
One final point is that eating healthy can also help control your appetite better because your body gets lots of good nutrients. Too many people eat junk food all day long, and then complain about still being hungry and of having no energy. This is likely because the food has virtually no nutritional value. Thus they end up overweight from the fat and sugar content, but constantly hungry and lacking in energy due to the lack of nutrients in the stuff they eat. Eating healthy foods packed with nutrients will reduce your body's want for food while giving you lots more energy, along with filling you up so that you do not have cravings for junk food.
One thing many people complain about when trying to stop eating junk food are the cravings. You workout and then you get hit with massive cravings for sweets (cookies, cakes, wafers, chocolates, etc...). These cravings can be extremely powerful and incredibly hard to resist. The thing is, you can actually get rid of them if you stay disciplined long enough. Roughly, what causes the cravings is your body's blood sugar level. Basically, whenever you consume something like cookies, cakes, candy bars, or what have you, well all of these are loaded with simple sugars. They are a simple carbohydrate that your body utilizes immediately and there's a LOT of them, so you overload your blood-sugar level.
In response, your body then works overtime to lower the blood sugar level, and ends up overdoing it, and thus lowers the blood-sugar level too much. Thus your body craves energy. What provides instant energy? Sweets! Thus begins a viscious cycle that is hard to end. For most people, this is just part of how they function. Rarely do they actually watch what they eat. If they decide to try giving up sweets, their body, any time it needs energy, will create cravings for sweets which can be maddening.
For people trying to give up junk food and get into shape, this can be incredibly torturous. However, if you stick to it, your body eventually will adjust and lose the cravings altogether. And I do mean literally LOSE them. As in, you can actually be hungry, and be in the presence of a box of fresh donuts and yet not have cravings for them whatsoever. Oh, you might desire them to some degree, but you will not need any massive amount of willpower to avoid eating them.
So how to go about losing the cravings? Well, for starters, you need to always make sure to maintain a balanced blood-sugar level. This starts with ending the sweets and making sure to eat meals with a decent quantity of complex carbohydrates. Complex carbohydrates take longer for your body to break down. As a result, they are slower-acting. They do not provide instant energy, but they also do not spike your blood-sugar level.
For example, if you finish a workout and now crave sweets, a candy bar or cookies will provide you with instant energy, whereas eating a plate of whole grain pasta will be slower-acting. You won't start to feel the energy for about twenty minutes or so. However, when you do, you will not crave the sweets the way you had. The thing is, when you get used to eating like this, keeping your blood sugar level balanced, it becomes easy to avoid sweets almost altogether because your body never craves them. It never craves them because:
1) Your blood sugar level is always balanced, and
2) If you get hungry, your body is no longer used to the sweets as it's source of energy. This takes a little while, but eventually your body gets used to having a balanced blood-sugar level and to getting energy from healthy foods, and thus when hungry, even very hungry, sweets are not an irresistable craving.
Another key thing to keep in mind is that junk food should never be a staple of your eating. It should always be something you consume after you are mostly full from healthy food. This way, it is far easier to consume it in small quantities. So if for example someone brings in a birthday cake, don't eat it if you are hungry. If you are hungry, it means your body needs food. This means that cake is the last thing you should be eating. Eat something healthy first, then eat the cake, and this way, you'll probably only want to eat a small piece of the cake. If you eat like this, consuming a whole candy bar at once may be near impossible because you are always too full. You'd feel like you are force-feeding yourself.
You can wake up in the morning, eat say eggs and hash browns with some sausage or bacon, which will fill you up, then at lunch you eat something healthy and filling, and thus you are pretty full so you probably will either not want the desert, or you will only want the desert in a small portion because the main course filled you. Same with dinner. You eat a healthy, filling dinner, and it fills you up, and gives you energy, and you either are too full for the chocolate cake, or you only want say a small piece of it because you are full from the main course.
Non-sweet junk foods such as cheeseburgers, McDonald's french fries (pretty much any fries cooked in fat), thick pizzas, etc...to avoid these, again, eat healthy. If you find yourself hungry and craving a pizza or burger when you know you shouldn't, eat something else that is healthy and filling. Eating such foods as cheeseburgers or pizza is fine if done occassionally, in moderation though. But try not to make it a staple of your diet. Try to keep them as treats, like junk food.
If you start eating in this fashion, you can end up with a big leg-up in terms of nutritional eating, because no longer will you be a slave to sweets. You may even get to a point where you can't understand how people can eat such large quantities of sweet food. Myself for example, I do not drink coffee. Too much sugar and I don't like it in general. Soda I rarely if ever drink. Very occasionally, I may drink one, but it is very rare. I also am not able to consume a whole candy bar at once.
One final point is that eating healthy can also help control your appetite better because your body gets lots of good nutrients. Too many people eat junk food all day long, and then complain about still being hungry and of having no energy. This is likely because the food has virtually no nutritional value. Thus they end up overweight from the fat and sugar content, but constantly hungry and lacking in energy due to the lack of nutrients in the stuff they eat. Eating healthy foods packed with nutrients will reduce your body's want for food while giving you lots more energy, along with filling you up so that you do not have cravings for junk food.
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