Karmic if Will tag:,2009-03-29:/3 2009-04-23T04:42:25Z . . . random bits of media Movable Type Pro 4.21-en oh . . . . the artisticness tag:www.karmicifwill.net,2009://3.173 2009-04-23T02:19:37Z 2009-04-23T04:42:25Z What makes good art? Some combining of beauty and truth (?) Maybe some art emphasizes truth . . . while other art dwells more on beauty. Whatever . . . and we are not sure what this guy's art is... What makes good art?

Some combining of beauty and truth (?)

Maybe some art emphasizes truth . . . while other art dwells more on beauty.

Whatever . . . and we are not sure what this guy's art is all about. But Mr. Jonathan Mann's song strikes a chord with KIW's vast worldwide staff.

We think it's well worth 2 minutes and sixteen seconds . . .

]]> Banks Part 1 tag:www.karmicifwill.net,2009://3.169 2009-03-29T02:27:23Z 2009-03-29T17:47:47Z KIW's crack economists have been just a tad perplexed at the sudden financial meltdown that burst into the international zeitgeist during the Indian summer of 2008. Luckily we found this BBC2 series titled The City Uncovered with Evan Davis. Did... KIW's crack economists have been just a tad perplexed at the sudden financial meltdown that burst into the international zeitgeist during the Indian summer of 2008.

Luckily we found this BBC2 series titled The City Uncovered with Evan Davis.

Did you know that the same scientists who plot trajectories for rockets, sometimes use their skills to predict stock prices for investment banks?

It's a three part series. The first episode aired in Britain on 14 January, 2009 and is titled 'Banks and How to Break Them' This chapter explains exactly how a bank is supposed to work.

'Banks and How to Break Them'

Watch in a pop-up window

]]> Banks Part 2 tag:www.karmicifwill.net,2009://3.170 2009-03-29T02:27:22Z 2009-04-06T07:14:55Z This is the second part of the BBC2 series titled The City Uncovered with Evan Davis. This second episode aired in Britain on 21 January, 2009 and is titled 'Tricks with Risk' This chapter explains the financial culture's risk professionals:... This is the second part of the BBC2 series titled The City Uncovered with Evan Davis.

This second episode aired in Britain on 21 January, 2009 and is titled 'Tricks with Risk' This chapter explains the financial culture's risk professionals: the derivatives whizzkids and hedge fund managers.

After viewing this installment KIW's Economics Department now knows what a hedge fund is! We are unsettled that this . . . um . . . parasitic . . . behavior has ever been acceptable - much less encouraged.



Watch this episode in a pop-up window

]]> Banks Part 3 tag:www.karmicifwill.net,2009://3.172 2009-03-29T02:27:21Z 2009-03-29T17:47:25Z OF YOUR HTML PAGE -->This is the third part of the BBC2 series titled The City Uncovered with Evan Davis. This third episode aired in Britain on 28 January, 2009 and is titled 'When Markets Go Mad ' This... This is the third part of the BBC2 series titled The City Uncovered with Evan Davis.

This third episode aired in Britain on 28 January, 2009 and is titled 'When Markets Go Mad ' This final chapter looks at the roots of the current crisis. . .




'When Markets Go Mad'

Watch this episode in a pop-up window

]]> Mr. Virg Bernero tag:www.karmicifwill.net,2009://3.168 2009-02-20T00:13:34Z 2009-03-27T19:48:24Z Wow . . .is something changing in the USA? For decades, Wall Street and its ilk have been identified as the engine of the US economy. Identified as the folks who deserve riches and credit for the wonderful work they... Wow . . .is something changing in the USA?

For decades, Wall Street and its ilk have been identified as the engine of the US economy. Identified as the folks who deserve riches and credit for the wonderful work they do. Never mind that bankers and investors don't actually do any work. (Unless you consider gambling to be work - which KIW absolutely does.)

But is gambling and moneylending really the top echelon of work? Is it the work that we want to encourage? Is it the "work" that deserves to take 95% of the pie? Leaving 5% for all the other workers?

Yesterday, Fox News hosted Virg Bernero, the mayor of Lansing, Michigan. KIW likes the mayor's perspective.

Fox News; 18 February, 2009]]> chilling the music tag:www.karmicifwill.net,2009://3.167 2009-02-19T00:16:55Z 2009-03-14T18:39:20Z KIW's Music Department has now taken to worrying about our favorite source of music, San Francisco-based soma fm's Groove Salad - and all the other internet music streaming around the web. According to a recent press report, internet radio stations... Seattle PI 18 feb 2009 p C7 thumb.jpgKIW's Music Department has now taken to worrying about our favorite source of music, San Francisco-based soma fm's Groove Salad - and all the other internet music streaming around the web.

According to a recent press report, internet radio stations will soon be paying $1.50 per 1,000 listeners, every time those stations play a song over the world wide web. By 2009 the payment will rise to $2.50 per 1,000 listeners.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer; 18 February, 2009; p C7; 'Accord reached on royalty rates for internet radio-station music - Deal reduces charges by about 16 percent.
Seattle PI 18 Feb 2009 p C7.pdf

]]> Outlier tag:www.karmicifwill.net,2009://3.166 2009-02-17T04:44:19Z 2009-02-17T15:35:13Z In statistics, an outlier is an factor that is significantly distant from the rest of the data. Some people can seem that way. And it's those outlier folks who are often the ones the rest us find the most fascinating.... In statistics, an outlier is an factor that is significantly distant from the rest of the data.

Some people can seem that way.

And it's those outlier folks who are often the ones the rest us find the most fascinating.

One of KIW's vast worldwide staff couldn't sleep and . . . lucky for us . . . ran into a Mr. Malcolm Gladwell holding forth on one of those obscure late-night channels.

Mr. Gladwell has got some great thoughts, and he really seems to be having a blast just thinking them.

We heartily recommend him . . .

(watch this in a pop-up window)

The Seattle Channel; American Podium: Malcolm Gladwell "Outliers"; 16 February, 2009

]]> second acts . . . tag:www.karmicifwill.net,2009://3.165 2009-02-14T07:12:59Z 2009-04-23T02:49:30Z KIW's film critics all found The Wrestler mesmerizing, moving . . . even haunting. It's Mickey Rourke laying his soul bare. We didn't know we liked the guy. But it's the idea of redemption that truly grabs us. The earnest... KIW's film critics all found The Wrestler mesmerizing, moving . . . even haunting. It's Mickey Rourke laying his soul bare.

We didn't know we liked the guy. But it's the idea of redemption that truly grabs us. The earnest seizing of life's second chances.

Mr. Rourke seems to know a thing or two about that . . .


The Charlie Rose Show; 12 February, 2009

]]> Merle Vasanti Gyan tag:www.karmicifwill.net,2009://3.113 2009-01-21T23:25:14Z 2009-01-26T04:17:26Z KIW has never had a bigger booster . . . nor has the vast worldwide staff ever been keener than we are (and always will be) on Toronto-and-Trinidad's effervescently beautiful Merle Vasanti Gyan. Merle stands out in a crowd. She... the digital phenomenonKIW has never had a bigger booster . . . nor has the vast worldwide staff ever been keener than we are (and always will be) on Toronto-and-Trinidad's effervescently beautiful Merle Vasanti Gyan.

Merle stands out in a crowd. She sparkles and shines with her own special luminance.

In 2006, the hosts of a Toronto television show plucked Merle out of the studio audience and gave her a few minutes of her own airtime.

It's so fun to watch :)

In this part, Merle is pulled out of the studio audience in a local Toronto television show . . . all because of her infectious laugh . . .
(Watch this episode (1) in a separate pop-up window by clicking here)






A week or so later, this episode ran - documenting her "makeover" . . .
(Watch this episode (2) in a separate pop-up window by clicking here)



Some things never die.

Seattle Times; 25 December 2007; p. B4
(From each and every staff member here at KIW ... Thanks Merlie!)

]]> 2396 words . . . tag:www.karmicifwill.net,2009://3.164 2009-01-21T00:06:24Z 2009-01-22T00:32:36Z KIW's rhetoricians . . .as well as our musicians, engineers, scientists, athletes and . . . well . . . let's just say the entire staff, feel very good today. It's been a long time since we liked the sound... KIW's rhetoricians . . .as well as our musicians, engineers, scientists, athletes and . . . well . . . let's just say the entire staff, feel very good today.

It's been a long time since we liked the sound of the world, but we do indeed like the sound of the world today . . .

. . . [T]he time has come to set aside childish things [ . . . ] to choose our better history [. . .] Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

US President Barack Obama, 20 January, 2009, Washington, DC


Text of President Obama's Inaugural speech; 20 January 2009 (pdf)

]]> a sad tale . . . tag:www.karmicifwill.net,2009://3.162 2009-01-17T23:54:53Z 2009-01-22T06:07:19Z As the Republican party's President prepares to leave the White House in a few days, KIW is reminded that it's been a long eight years. Kieth Olbermann lays it out for us . . . Countdown, MSNBC; 16 January,... As the Republican party's President prepares to leave the White House in a few days, KIW is reminded that it's been a long eight years.

Kieth Olbermann lays it out for us . . .

Countdown, MSNBC; 16 January, 2009

And speaking of Mr. Olbermann . . . some of the more, well . . . profane members of the vast worldwide staff find the following quote worthy of a chuckle . . .

"Because I can't say, 'Shut the fuck up,' that's why, frankly."

MSNBC Journalist Keith Olbermann responding to the following question from his boss at MSNBC: "Why do you have to tell the President of the United States to 'Shut the hell up'?"

'One Angry Man - Is Keith Olbermann changing TV news?'; by Peter J. Boyer; The New Yorker; June 23, 2008

]]> common sense ... tag:www.karmicifwill.net,2009://3.161 2009-01-14T23:05:36Z 2009-01-14T23:28:20Z "The U.S. must make clear that we will not support either side when it uses violence beyond its borders. We must demand that humanitarian aid as well as press and U.N. observers be permitted to enter Gaza without delay --... thumbBWSeattle PI 14 Jan 2009 p A15.jpg
"The U.S. must make clear that we will not support either side when it uses violence beyond its borders.
We must demand that humanitarian aid as well as press and U.N. observers be permitted to enter Gaza without delay -- and that hostilities cease so that lifesaving commodities can be distributed.
If Israel will not comply, as when it attacked a U.N. relief convoy Thursday, the U.S. should break the siege of Gaza itself to supply food and medical supplies, just as we would for Israel in similar circumstances.
The special U.S.-Israeli relationship puts us in a unique position to take that temporary step, while assuring our Israeli friends that no rockets enter Gaza along with aid."

Craig Corrie Father of Rachel Corrie an an Officer of the Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice

Seattle Post-Intelligencer; 14 January, 2009; P A15; 'U.S. strategy for Mideast peace misguided'
PDF

]]> seal 1991 tag:www.karmicifwill.net,2009://3.160 2009-01-14T00:30:33Z 2009-01-14T09:41:06Z Back in the mid-1990s one member of KIW's music department remembers being asked what music he was currently listening to. He replied, "Mozart and Seal." Somehow the two still seem to go together. Enjoy this studio concert that Seal put... Back in the mid-1990s one member of KIW's music department remembers being asked what music he was currently listening to. He replied, "Mozart and Seal."

Somehow the two still seem to go together.

Enjoy this studio concert that Seal put out on videotape during the 1990s ...




Watch the concert in a pop-up window, here

Seal in Wikipedia

]]> classic Joni Mitchell tag:www.karmicifwill.net,2009://3.159 2009-01-14T00:19:35Z 2009-01-14T01:54:32Z Sometime during the early 1970s Joni Mitchell gave this concert for a BBC television audience. It's Joni in all of her talented hippie chick glory (KIW's favorite of her many brilliant incarnations) . . . OF YOUR HTML PAGE -->... Sometime during the early 1970s Joni Mitchell gave this concert for a BBC television audience. It's Joni in all of her talented hippie chick glory (KIW's favorite of her many brilliant incarnations) . . .





Watch her concert in a pop-up window, here

]]> fear and loathing at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue tag:www.karmicifwill.net,2009://3.158 2009-01-13T05:45:20Z 2009-01-20T04:39:12Z With just days left in his Presidential term, George W. Bush faced the press in the White House this morning. The result was a bizzare spectacle. That of a mediocre man, who - eight years prior - had been catapulted... With just days left in his Presidential term, George W. Bush faced the press in the White House this morning.

The result was a bizzare spectacle. That of a mediocre man, who - eight years prior - had been catapulted into an office completely above his abilities, by a political party concerned only with taking power via any means available.

Radicals at the core of the Republican party used his bumpkin appeal, his family name and his genuinely simple-minded view of the world, to successfully manipulate a large and apparently clueless portion of the American electorate. Bush himself probably didn't realize what an empty suit he was viewed as, when he was given the office of the Presidency eight years ago. It may have dawned on him recently.

But the man speaking to the press today still - stubbornly and against the weight of reality - refuses to consciously fathom the profound depth of his incompetence.

Yet there seems an unconscious realization - unable to remain hidden, even from this simple mind - that he has failed at everything.

One senses pain . . . and shame . . . under the surface of this 62-year-old man's childish mannerisms.

One senses that in his heart-of-hearts he knows that his negligence likely allowed the attacks of 9/11/2001 to be carried out, rather than contained. One knows that he knows that he took a noble nation to war based upon propaganda that even he must now realize was absurd. Even the dumbest fool now understands that hundreds of thousands of people - innocent people - were killed and maimed and hurt, on a misguided and seemingly cavalier whim.

We see in our President a genuinely fearful person. Afraid - still - of cave-dwelling boogie men who "want to attack the homeland." He is so terrorized by this truth, that one wonders if he only discovered it after 9/11/2001. . . because it was there for any reasonably aware person to know long before that day. Any person qualified to be President should have known.

But that is the ultimate point . . . so evident in every day of his Presidency. This man is not of the caliber required in a President. Let's hope that even the simple-minded among us now know that. Let's hope that even the simple-minded among us are just a little smarter after these long eight years . . .

George W. Bush, on behalf of this great nation . . . Ciao baby!
It can't come soon enough.

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