Guy Berger

One of the big problems worldwide is that is that water isn't priced appropriately - droughts would be a much less severe problem if it was. Guy

Just listened to Motian in Tokio for the first time. Great disc. Guy

Thanks Frank. The kind of stuff that makes me almost wish I lived in the Northeast. Then I remember it's an icy tundra. Guy

This is my favorite as well. Guy

I guarantee that whatever Toyota loses, GM will dwarf. One company is positioned for success once the global economy recovers, the other is pinning its hope on dollops of taxpayer money and a car which doesn't even exist. Guy And now..... TOKYO — The Toyota Motor Company, the world's largest automaker, said Friday that it expected its full-year operating loss to be three times bigger than its previous forecast, and also said it expected its first net loss since 1950. Toyota, which had not previously forecast a net loss, said it expected to lose 350 billion yen, or $3.9 billion, across its operations during the 2008 fiscal year, which ends in March. It widened its forecast for an operating loss on its main automotive business to 450 billion yen, or $5 billion. Full Story Here

Not my favorite record by Motian, and I think Brackeen is somewhat underutilized, but Izenzon is awesome here. Highly recommended for fans of arco bass playing. Guy

Sorry, I can't do it. I quit this show in the middle of the sixth season, my shark-jumping tolerance can take only so much. Guy

I'm indifferent to the disappearance of the print NYT, but it would be a real shame if the online version disappeared. I wonder if they've considered shifting their pricing model to one approximating a luxury good - their reader base is relatively affluent. Guy

The Financial Times had an article plugging this special in today's edition. Guy

I appreciated the knowledge and insight he frequently offered and didn't mind the affected writing style, but the guy was frequently a jerk needlessly. Why not just be nice to your fellow man (and woman)? Too bad. Guy

You're right on target there. I'd rather forget that character. The whole raison d'etre behind Lwaxana was that she was SUPPOSED to be just SO annoying...har, har. Yeah, I get it, but she wasn't annoying/funny but annoying/tiresome. And the weird part is that they kept bringing her back OVER and OVER... she even had 3 guest appearances on DS9. Did the character really have that much of a following? I recently rewatched an episode with both her and Alexander Rozhenko. It was a weak episode, but not quite the trainwreck one might expect given that combination. Guy

I was not a fan of the Lwaxana Troi character - annoying and unfunny. Guy

Yes, they are good choices, Handy is a very fine player, in my opinion, and the Columbia recordings in the Mosaic set are some of his best recordings. The reunion of the Monterey concert band is not as exciting as the original concert, but it is still worthwhile. The Monterey concert is one of my favorite live jazz recordings, and one that retains interest after many listenings. Seconded. I haven't heard the reunion but the Monterey concert, as well as the studio album that followed, are both more than worthwhile. Guy

There was another 0.000% treasury bill auction today. Furthermore, we hit another milestone as the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond, one day after blowing past 3.00%, fell below 2.75%. I remember a distant era of the past (October) when people expressed shock at the long bond yield falling below 4.00%. We are a very lucky country to be facing record low borrowing costs at a time of record high funding needs. Also, this was an amusing story that I don't think I've posted here:

http://postcards.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/200...-on-mattresses/

The experts also didn't expect that the world would enter its most severe economic downturn since the 1930s... Once the global economy recovers, energy prices will be high again. Guy

Shrug- not sure when the last time I read a daily newspaper hard copy. Guy

This list was more troubling to me than its predecessor. Looks like I will have to go back to amazon. Ding dong the CD is dead. Guy

I've only heard his string quartets, but my superficial assessment is "dull". I suppose that is the point though. Guy

Not "good riddance" more like "shrug". I haven't bought music in a brick and mortar location for at least 5 years. I don't give it much thought. Guy

Haven't read the article, but "revenues" would suggest cash flow rather than profits. In other words, if your logic is correct (and I am inclined to think it is), this means that 51% of profits preceded the current milestone. Guy

I recently listened to this album for the first time. Very enjoyable. I am a Lloyd fan, but the star of this album is Jason Moran who is just as great as you would imagine. Guy

In general I think the article contained a mishmash of good and bad points. To correct one common misconception - the stock market crash of 1929 was a key catalyst of the recession which evolved into the Great Depression, but it was not a cause in the fundamental sense. If it hadn't been for the Fed's foolish adherence to the gold standard and a series of catastrophic banking panics during 1930-33, it might have been simply a harsh but brief recession. Guy

While there was a conflict of interest which may on the margin have caused some assets to be rated better than they should have been, I think the problems with asset ratings were much, much more fundamental. They used assumptions that in retrospect were clearly absurd, but that plenty of knowledgeable people that should have known better never questioned at the time. Guy

Stock brokers and car salesmen are chump change compared to what the article describes, though cut from the same cloth. Good article though I think K Marx would say the CDO is just a symptom, not the disease. (The disease being a toxic combination of human nature, global imbalances and the principal/agent problem. Maybe throw general stupidity in there.) Guy