Sometime this year, taxpayers will receive an Economic Stimulus Payment. This is a very exciting new program that I will explain using the Q and A format:
Q. What is an Economic Stimulus Payment?
A. It is money that the federal government will send to taxpayers.
Q. Where will the government get this money?
A. From taxpayers.
Q. So the government is giving me back my own money?
A. No, they are borrowing it from China. Your children are expected to repay the Chinese.
Q. What is the purpose of this payment?
A. The plan is that you will use the money to purchase a high-definition TV set, thus stimulating the economy.
Q. But isn’t that stimulating the economy of China ?
A. Shut up.
Stimulus Package Explained Q&A | The Big Picture.
Internet Anagram Server : Anagram Hall of Fame.
Stumbled onto this web site looking for a code name for a new software project I’m working on. Some of my favorites:
Elvis = Lives
Postmaster = Stamp Store
The eyes = They see
The Morse Code = Here Come Dots
The Meaning of Life = The fine game of nil
Slot Machines = Cash Lost in’em
Mr. Mojo risin’ = Jim Morrison
Snooze Alarms = Alas! No More Z’s
Salman Rushdie = Read, Shun Islam
and the winner is…
President Clinton of the USA = he finds interns to copulate
America’s 25 Strongest Housing Markets - Forbes.com.
It’s a similar story in Tulsa, Okla., where housing prices look like they will dip 1% this year after steady recent appreciation. With the price of crude falling, that’s no surprise in this city built on oil. What’s more surprising is how little values rose over the last decade; the average house in Tulsa changes hands for around $131,000, according to Trulia.com, compared to $100,000 in 2004.
Metro Area: Tulsa, Okla.
Population: 932,500
Bottom expected: late 2009
Forecast price change to bottom: -1.1%
Read through the following paragraph and count the number of occurrences of the letter F you find and leave your answer by clicking on the Comments link (no Googling allowed). Check it twice if you like, there is no trick to it.
FINISHED FILES ARE THE RE-
SULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIF-
IC STUDY COMBINED WITH
THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS.
I have to wonder where this trend will stop. If you are hijacking supertankers, it can’t be that much of a leap to complete the distribution chain and make some real money. Somewhere in Somalia a band of pirates is passing a bong and designing logos for their chain of gas stations. I can see it now: You get a free eye patch with every tank, and the price is always AAAARG!
Scott Adams Blog: Pirates 11/18/2008.
Malcolm Gladwell’s new book comes out on Tuesday and it looks just as promising as Blink and Tipping Point. Gladwell put together a brief FAQ on the book here.
gladwell.com: Outliers!
A bit pricey at $722 shipped, but a clever minimalistic design. I especially like how accessories like external hard drives are hidden underneath the table top.
OneLessDesk™ by Heckler Design
If you were following any of the Tuesday evening election coverage, you might have been wondering why Oklahoma was the first state west of the Mississippi to pop up on the map:
Oklahoma was the only place in the whole country where every single county voted for John McCain, making it the reddest of the red states.
Apparently voter patterns haven’t changed much in Oklahoma since the 1915 U.S. Supreme Court case Guinn vs. United States made our state constitution’s “grandfather clause” unconstitutional.
via Tulsa World
Hilarious parody letter circulating around trading desks today in light of the testimony by Treasury Secretary Paulson and Fed Reserve Chairman Bernanke.
via BigPicture
SUBJECT: REQUEST FOR URGENT BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP
DEAR AMERICAN:
I NEED TO ASK YOU TO SUPPORT AN URGENT SECRET BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP WITH A TRANSFER OF FUNDS OF GREAT MAGNITUDE.
I AM MINISTRY OF THE TREASURY OF THE REPUBLIC OF AMERICA. MY COUNTRY HAS HAD CRISIS THAT HAS CAUSED THE NEED FOR LARGE TRANSFER OF FUNDS OF 800 BILLION DOLLARS US. IF YOU WOULD ASSIST ME IN THIS TRANSFER, IT WOULD BE MOST PROFITABLE TO YOU.
I AM WORKING WITH MR. PHIL GRAM, LOBBYIST FOR UBS, WHO WILL BE MY REPLACEMENT AS MINISTRY OF THE TREASURY IN JANUARY. AS A SENATOR, YOU MAY KNOW HIM AS THE LEADER OF THE AMERICAN BANKING DEREGULATION MOVEMENT IN THE 1990S. THIS TRANSACTIN IS 100% SAFE.
THIS IS A MATTER OF GREAT URGENCY. WE NEED A BLANK CHECK. WE NEED THE FUNDS AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. WE CANNOT DIRECTLY TRANSFER THESE FUNDS IN THE NAMES OF OUR CLOSE FRIENDS BECAUSE WE ARE CONSTANTLY UNDER SURVEILLANCE. MY FAMILY LAWYER ADVISED ME THAT I SHOULD LOOK FOR A RELIABLE AND TRUSTWORTHY PERSON WHO WILL ACT AS A NEXT OF KIN SO THE FUNDS CAN BE TRANSFERRED.
PLEASE REPLY WITH ALL OF YOUR BANK ACCOUNT, IRA AND COLLEGE FUND ACCOUNT NUMBERS AND THOSE OF YOUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN TO WALLSTREETBAILOUT@TREASURY.GOV SO THAT WE MAY TRANSFER YOUR COMMISSION FOR THIS TRANSACTION. AFTER I RECEIVE THAT INFORMATION, I WILL RESPOND WITH DETAILED INFORMATION ABOUT SAFEGUARDS THAT WILL BE USED TO PROTECT THE FUNDS.
YOURS FAITHFULLY MINISTER OF TREASURY PAULSON
Official Google Blog: A fresh take on the browser.
So why are we launching Google Chrome? Because we believe we can add value for users and, at the same time, help drive innovation on the web.
In neo-marketing parlance, that’s code for ‘if we can both dominate search AND the user experience, we’ll own the Internet’. I think they’re taking cues from Apple.
