Through today, GMAC has received government bailout funds totaling $12.5 billion. The company is asking the Obama administration for $5.6 billion more. One might say that in a true democracy, GMAC would need to ask permission from each taxpayer whose funds would go towards shoring up the company’s balance sheet, a move that would make ...

Click here to read complete article.

Hope for the economy: 3rd quarter earnings rise, but will the recovery last? Good economic news, an item in short supply for the past year, rebounded with better than expected earnings reports from a variety of companies. For the first time in a year, the Dow cracked the 10,000 mark. Google’s earnings rise Google beat expectations with a ...

Click here to read complete article.

Introduction to tamarind Tamarind image from Flickr. There are plenty of reasons to watch competitive cooking shows: the characters, the drama, recipe ideas and generally learning about food and cooking. I learned something new this week from "The Next Iron Chef" -- the very existence of tamarind. I had never heard of tamarind before Sunday's new episode of ...

Click here to read complete article.

In the book Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz, he talks about how there are two types of people, maximizers and satisficers (think satisfy + suffice). I will simply quote the excellent summary from the book’s Wikipedia page: A maximizer is like a perfectionist, someone who needs to be assured that their every purchase ...

Click here to read complete article.

Depending on how you get your news, the topic of network neutrality can seem boring, or confusing, or both. Possibly you haven’t yet heard about it, or you’ve already formed an opinion. The reports I see are too often complicated, lacking reasoned arguments and full of hyperbolic guesses as to what the future might hold. ...

Click here to read complete article.