Theophilus London ft. A$AP Rocky – Big Spender

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This track will appear on the upcoming album Rose Island.

April 15th, 2012 Music   

Big Pun – Off Wit His Head

Big Pun’s Off Wit His Head from his 2000 album Yeeeah Baby is perhaps one of the most underrated songs of the last 20 years. Its production, though favoring synthesized instruments and voices to authentic live recordings, is peerless. I’d compare it to Puff Daddy’s classic “Victory (feat. Notorious B.I.G.)”. Off Wit His Head is prototypical thug rap layered over classical instruments (including a strong harpsichord, synthesized violin, and synthesized cello), but what sets it apart are its melodic vocal hooks that seem as if they’d be right at home in a classical operetta. Meanwhile, a computer-synthesized chorus adds a sense of grandeur and gravitas, which is precisely the kind of element that is necessary to balance out the whimsically amateurish synth instruments. The track is peppered with lyrics that show Big Pun to be an unapologetic hedonist:

“…I don’t give a fuck! Til I die, I’mma live it up…”

Other passages show that Pun knows his death is near, but illustrate his desire to stubbornly go down swinging:

“…I ain’t ready to die, bury me alive…”

The classically-themed beat, operatic vocals and frighteningly prescient lyrics were indeed a deadly combination: Big Pun died on February 7th, 2000, just two months before the album was released.

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April 3rd, 2012 Music   

Niia – Mad World

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March 26th, 2012 Featured   

Kid Cudi – Dose of Dopeness

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March 1st, 2012 Music   

Dow Above 13,000 – Sign of a vibrant economy?

For the first time since May 2008, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has closed above 13,000, an important psychological and technical level.

What does this event say about the economy, if anything?

Simpletons might be inclined to identify the breaking of 13,000 as a sign that the US economy and the world’s economy are returning to vibrancy. Such an explanation is overly simplistic, ignoring the complexity and the myriad variables that lead markets to behave the way they do.

US stocks are being driven higher for two reasons:

1) Fear of exposure to European sovereign debt

and

2) Fear of exposure to European banks

Both of these drivers have led investors to seek safety in US Treasuries, which has driven down Treasury yields, causing many treasury investors to seek potentially higher returns in stocks due to the low returns offered by Treasuries. As a result, I believe it’s safe to say that the recent breaking of 13,000 is not caused by bullish sentiment on stocks, but rather is simply a consequence of insanely low-yielding debt, which has made stocks look like a bargain in comparison.

Investors are faced with heightened global uncertainty due to fears of low growth in the Eurozone and the United States, slowing growth in China, high energy prices, and the threat of inflation. The obvious play in this environment would be to buy gold, TIPS, and Treasuries and wait out the storm until it’s safe to wade back into the equity markets. However, there is little opportunity to make gains using said strategy because our relatively efficient markets have priced gold at stratospherically-high levels and have done the same to TIPS and Treasuries, some of which are currently sporting negative yields (including the 5, 7, and 10-year TIPS).

So what might an intelligent investor do to best position their portfolio with regard to risk and return?

1) Buy leveraged real estate funds, REITs, apartment home operators, and senior living operators

With the cost of financing going through the floor, healthy demand for apartments and rental housing, and low prices for single-family homes due to the poor health of the US housing market, real estate is cheap. Cheap asset prices and dirt cheap financing? Sign me up.

2) Buy energy services firms

Energy prices are high and will likely remain high, barring a global recession. Oil production in the Bakken shale and other areas in the heartland of North America is increasing quickly due to recent advances in horizontal drilling and fracking. Increased production will drive higher revenue and margins for energy services firms.

3) Go bargain hunting in Europe

European equities are cheap, and by spending some time prospecting through them, you might just discover some hidden gems.

February 28th, 2012 Business, Economics, Europe, Finance   

On Planning and Controlling Human Birth

Catholic Bishops would like women to be unable to plan or time the birth of their own children, but it appears Catholic Bishops haven’t really given the subject much thought. Had they done so, I believe they might have a different opinion about the effects of birth control on a society. Here’s what Ludwig von Mises had to say on the subject:

Those fighting birth control want to eliminate a device indispensable for the preservation of peaceful human cooperation and the social division of labor. Where the average standard of living is impaired by the excessive increase in population figures. irreconcilable conflicts of interests arise. Each individual is again a rival of all other individuals in the struggle for survival. The annihilation of rivals is the only means of increasing one’s own well-being. The philosophers and theologians who assert that birthcontrol is contrary to the laws of God and Nature refuse to see things as they really are. Nature straitens the material means required for the improvement of human well-being and survival. As natural conditions are, man has only the choice between the pitiless war of each against each or social cooperation. But social cooperation is impossible if people give rein to the natural impulse of proliferation. In restricting procreation man adjusts himself to the natural conditions of his existence. The rationalization of the sexual passions is an indispensable condition of civilization and societal bonds. Its abandonment would in the long run not increase but decrease the numbers of those surviving, and would render life for everyone as poor and miserable as it was many thousands of years ago for our ancestors.

-Ludwig von Mises, Human Action, pg. 673.

So much for humans breeding like wild animals, we humans have moved past that. Or have we?

Via Reason.

February 13th, 2012 Philosophy   

Le 21ème – New York’s Best Street Fashion Site

Do you read The Sartorialist or occasionally take peeks at lookbook? Meet the new Sheriff in town: a photoblog called Le 21ème Arrondissement.

It all started in Seattle in 2008, when photographer and fashionphile Adam Sinding began taking photos of the fashionable denizens of his adopted hometown and posted them on his now-famed photoblog. Years later, in 2011, Sinding moved to New York City, enabling him to capture and curate an elite fashion scene that was on an entirely different level than that of the very provincial Seattle.

Adam’s work has been featured by Elle Magazine, mega-influential blog Refinery 29, Mary Claire, ELLE Japan, and New York Magazine. Just last week, The W New York Times Square hotel and Elle Magazine hosted an event to kick-off fashion week called Scene On The Street, a photo exhibit curated by Elle Fashion Editor Sydney Wasserman which featured street fashion photos from Le 21ème Arrondissement.

Here is a taste of what you’ll find on Le 21ème, as well as some photos from the event:

The Scene On The Street photo exhibit is viewable at the W New York Times Square’s Living Room until February 29th.

Visit Le21ème

Follow Le21ème on Twitter

Subscribe to Le21ème via RSS

February 9th, 2012 Fashion, Gotham, Out and About, Photography, Seattle, The Web   

Capital Cities ft. Tupac Shakur – Breathe (Pink Floyd cover)

Amazing.

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February 6th, 2012 Music   

Viceroy – Going Back To Cali (Jet Life Remix)

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Loving the steel drums.

February 2nd, 2012 Music   

DJ Fergie Ferg – Lotus Flower Theory

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Mashup featuring Wale x Miguel x Washed Out x RAC x Birdy + John Lennon.

January 28th, 2012 Music   

Illegal Immigration and Partisan Politics

Ann Coulter believes that the two issues that matter most in this presidential election cycle are are 1) repealing Obamacare, and 2) halting illegal immigration. It made me wonder.

Republicans have good reason to oppose Obamacare, but illegal immigration? Not to diminish its importance as an issue, but really? Illegal immigration is more important than foreign policy and our pursuit of obscenely expensive foreign wars? More important than our economy and the job market? More important than our tax system? More important than domestic business regulation or international trade?

I don’t see how illegal immigration, which largely benefits the United States due to its influx of cheap labor, could even land itself in the top five issues facing our nation.

So why does Ann Coulter, the wicked witch of shock-conservative talking heads, think it’s so important?

Then it hit me.

Republican leaders want to counter illegal immigration in order to prevent latinos from voting for Democrats.

Latinos make up 9% of the US voting population, and collectively are growing at a much faster rate than the US population as a whole. They’re a coveted voting demographic who tend to favor Democrats by a wide margin: 65% of latino voters are registered Democrats, while only 22% are registered Republicans. There are two reasons for the demographic’s growth. The first is the group’s unusually high fertility rate. The second is that illegal immigrants crossing from Mexico into the US tend to rear children here, and their children become US citizens upon their birth.

Considering that 45% of US population growth after 2030 is projected to come from latino births and that latino voters strongly favor Democratic candidates, the Republican party is in a bit of a bind. If this trend continues, Democrats could be in a position to consolidate control of the house and the senate for a long time; perhaps as long as they did in the 20th century (from 1933 to 1995). For Republicans, then, restricting illegal immigration is not a fight about the party’s values. The party’s position is not a result of a careful assessment of policy options. Rather, restricting illegal immigration is a fight for the continued existence of the Republican Party, period.

“Only one candidate is right on the two most important issues” - Ann Coulter

December 29th, 2011 Politics, Responsible Population   

Kimbra – Settle Down

She’s like an acapella-ish and slightly-more-soulful American version of Adele.

Thanks for finding this, Lis!

December 8th, 2011 Music   

Slow Dance – Risk It All

Slow Dance is the best thing to come out of Seattle since Mad Rad. I’d categorize it as electrosynth-infused hip-hop that’s danceable, and quite reminiscent of Swedish electro-hopper Adam Tensta. Check out Slow Dance’s new album below, and stop by their album release party if you’re in Seattle this Friday (it’s at Nectar).

November 22nd, 2011 Music, Must. Have., Seattle   

Are I-1183 Opponents Engaging In Astroturfing?

In Washington State, there is an important initiative being put to a public vote that will determine if Washington will maintain its backwards and competition-stifling liquor sales monopoly. It’s called I-1183, and it’s being backed by Republicans (including the Attorney General, Rob McKenna), business leaders (including most notably Costco), libertarians, independents, and the state’s largest newspaper, The Seattle Times. Its detractors primarily fall into two groups: rural social conservatives and national liquor distributors. Big money has been spent on both sides, with most of the money in support of 1183 coming from Costco, and most (if not all) of the money in opposition of 1183 coming from national liquor distributors.

Why do big liquor distributors oppose 1183? Because under the current system, the Washington State Liquor Control Board is the sole buyer of liquor available for sale in the state, which locks in oversized profit margins for the big liquor distributors. If 1183 were to pass, liquor retailers could bargain with liquor distributors for the best prices and could choose not to carry certain brands (or liquor from certain distributors) that carry an excessive markup.

The Costco-financed ‘Yes on 1183′ campaign has been met with tens of thousands of vocal supporters, whereas their opposition seems to have either significantly-less supporters, or supporters who are much less vocal than those in the ‘Yes’ camp.

For an objective comparison, here are the numbers from each sides’ respective Facebook fanpages:

Yes on 1183‘s Facebook Page*:

• 35,147 ‘likes’/fans
• Six fanpages (one official page, five unauthorized/duplicate fanpages each with less than 80 ‘likes’)
• Timeline posts with up to 377 ‘likes’
• Timeline posts with up to 77 comments
• Polls with 1000+ responses

No on 1183‘s Facebook Page*:

In summary, 1183 supporters are absolutely trouncing their opponents–on the web, at least.

The ‘Yes’ camp has more than 18 times as many ‘likes’/fans as the ‘No’ camp, 6.5 times more ‘likes’ on its timeline updates/posts, more than 7 times as many peak comments on its timeline posts, and is using polls to great effect.

All this data begs the question…does ‘No on 1183′ have lots of real supporters, or is their campaign using its large budget to falsely create the appearance of grassroots support (also known as astroturfing)? The data on Facebook points to the latter, but we cannot rely on just one far-from-ideal dataset to answer our question. Doing so would be a failure of scientific and statistical rigor because Facebook is likely not representative of the state’s voting population.

There is another problem that complicates the route to finding an answer: public choice theory. The theory illuminates a common problem in democratic politics: minority special interest groups who stand to gain from changes oftentimes make themselves more vocal than those of indifferent majorities with little to lose. This could explain the gap in visible support of 1183–perhaps voters are evenly split on the issue, but the supporters of 1183 just happen to be much more vocal than its opponents.

So, which side is doing the astroturfing?

Neither side of the 1183 issue is totally innocent of astroturfing, but it is ‘No on 1183′ that is certainly guiltier.

Costco’s support for 1183 is largely self-serving, and it just so happens that their call for change has been met with quite a bit of support from individuals and politicians of all types (Democrats excluded). Big liquor distributors are likewise self-serving in their opposition to 1183, but because they’ve found themselves on the wrong side of a wedge issue that has widespread support, they’ve had to resort to a determined campaign of misinformation in an effort to confuse voters about what would happen if 1183 were to pass, and they’ve attempted to create the illusion that all firefighters, first-responders, and law enforcement professionals in the state are on their side, which isn’t true, either.

November 7th, 2011 Politics, Seattle   

Jay-Z & Adele – Won’t Go/Wishing (Urban Noize Remix)

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October 24th, 2011 Music