tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70277485566707488142011-04-21T13:58:18.467-04:00What thoughts lie inside?dcmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17575633192606659050noreply@blogger.comBlogger361100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7027748556670748814.post-66768147658868690482008-12-08T20:35:00.003-05:002008-12-08T20:37:52.901-05:00

Through Hamlet, Shakespeare may be showing what he thinks makes a killer by illustrating the Prince of Denmark as a killer's antipathy. We know Hamlet is an educated man, he has gone to school for awhile His wiliness shows with his witty execution of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. He clearly thinks things out from beginning to end, logically. It's his logic that allows him to second guess killing

dcmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17575633192606659050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7027748556670748814.post-52965667615287511692008-12-06T13:00:00.003-05:002008-12-06T13:13:38.575-05:00

Last week I watched a fascinating documentary on Stanley Kubrick. Arthur C. Clarke was talking about Kubrick's 2001:A Space Odyssey. Something he said was thought-provoking that has really stuck with me, especially because I walk under the stars every night when I walk my dogs. Clarke said that behind every person was 30 ghosts. For every one human living there were 30 dead; this adds up to about

dcmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17575633192606659050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7027748556670748814.post-33785218735878059942008-12-06T12:42:00.002-05:002008-12-06T12:45:00.984-05:00

As I hear more and more about this economic crisis, the pundits and politicians' voice begin to merge and it becomes a sort of white noise. There isn't much sense to be made out of most the reports, so as a statistician I prefer to look at data and see what the real story is. Data sometimes lies, but to be frank it lies a lot less than politicians and businessmen scrambling to keep their jobs. I

dcmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17575633192606659050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7027748556670748814.post-19718352204060612252008-12-04T21:57:00.008-05:002008-12-06T13:19:52.811-05:00

It has been so long since I've done this. I fear I might be rusty. I just thought I would come back and reread some of my old blogs. I was writing about the economic crisis in March and the housing crisis last December. Well, here I am a year later, and a year wiser. My writing style might have changed, I've been reading a lot of William Shakespeare lately, so don't be surprised if that shows up.

dcmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17575633192606659050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7027748556670748814.post-45000866382084714722008-05-14T23:39:00.003-04:002008-05-14T23:44:26.012-04:00

So I see that John Edwards has finally hopped off the fence and picked a candidate. It seems like he was waiting for a winner to become apparent before making his endorsement. As I laid in bed, suffering through Edward's speech, my ears perked up when he mentioned poverty. The main reason he is supporting Barack Obama is because Obama plans to cut poverty in half within ten years. Those words

dcmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17575633192606659050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7027748556670748814.post-12291061258032331292008-05-14T00:18:00.006-04:002008-05-14T20:34:04.600-04:00

Since I've been sick these last couple days, sitting still in my bed, my mind has been busy at work while my body refuses. Being sick reminded me of a book I read about a year ago, called Red Queen: Evolution in Human Nature. It's about this constant race that humans have with bacteria and viruses. Our immune systems and viruses are constant adapting to do battle. A virus will evolve constantly

dcmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17575633192606659050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7027748556670748814.post-68098406498574879782008-05-11T17:44:00.008-04:002008-05-14T00:18:38.931-04:00

I know in this blog I've usually stuck to economics and politics. They usually dominate my reading, but I still read sports religiously as well. Growing up in Denver, I've always followed all Colorado sports as well as the national sports scene. As I grow older I look back at a lot of events with a different perspective. As analytical skills grow, you start to see things in sports that you didn't

dcmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17575633192606659050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7027748556670748814.post-15744748329489699732008-05-06T21:08:00.003-04:002008-05-06T21:12:33.735-04:00

I've been meaning to complain about something that I feel does little good: speedtraps. I don't drive very much, but I do take the bus home from work every day. Today traffic was especially horrendous, some may chalk it up to regular DC Metro area traffic, but I saw something else. Three or four police cruisers were pulling over vehicles for assorted offenses; they were writing the tickets as the

dcmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17575633192606659050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7027748556670748814.post-2012529679495493662008-04-24T20:30:00.006-04:002008-04-24T20:50:35.399-04:00

This week's Economist.com KAL cartoon.As you might have heard, Hillary Clinton won Pennsylvania on Tuesday. I was hoping for her to lose so that this race could be over. So, that didn't happen. Instead she's still in the race, brandishing her unique brand of populism. Chris Matthews suggested that Obama be more of a "firebrand" and a "torch-bearer" speaking for the working man. It really made me

dcmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17575633192606659050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7027748556670748814.post-43388426361522465902008-04-10T14:51:00.004-04:002008-04-10T15:00:21.083-04:00

Anyone who has been following the news this week knows that the Olympic torch relay, which precedes the Olympic games is under way. You may also know that that relay has been fraught with interruptions, protests and lots of grand-standing. The subject of all this distress is China's treatment of Tibet, a small region that most Americans would have trouble finding on a map. It is true that China

dcmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17575633192606659050noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7027748556670748814.post-91272617546917282072008-04-06T18:16:00.006-04:002008-04-07T09:14:55.488-04:00

What was the greatest test of the American Revolution? Was it when the signers of the Declaration of Independence sealed their document and watched it sail toward England, knowing what they had started? Or was it when the Articles of Confederation were determined to be inadequate as a governing document, and a new Constitution was needed? Perhaps it was all those bloody battles during the

dcmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17575633192606659050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7027748556670748814.post-39205157907457925632008-03-29T18:16:00.007-04:002008-03-29T18:58:38.061-04:00

As many people may know, the Fed has changed its long-standing policy of being the lender of last resort only to regulated-commercial banks. This turn became apparent with the backed rescue of Bear Stearns two weeks ago. They have provided the credit market with liquidity and has done its job of making sure the credit markets don't completely collapse, along with any consumer confidence in the

dcmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17575633192606659050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7027748556670748814.post-4323366721058236492008-03-23T18:59:00.006-04:002008-04-19T15:28:04.307-04:00

As anyone reading this blog may realize, my eyes have turned on to this country's current economic crisis. I've been seeing a few news articles that suggest that this recent turmoil in the financial markets is dangerously similar to the crash that occurred in October 1929. When historians remember the Great Depression, they point at one moment as the turning point: Black Friday. Normally, the way

dcmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17575633192606659050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7027748556670748814.post-43872059195013168422008-03-22T17:16:00.007-04:002008-04-19T15:35:25.559-04:00

If anyone is unaware, let me be the first to let you know that this economy is, in fact, in a recession. Now that is not official, but last month private industry shed over 100,000 jobs. There should be little doubt at this point that our economy is shrinking. But, what does this mean? Besides the obvious fact that many Americans are now out of work, or looking for work, there is the predictable

dcmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17575633192606659050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7027748556670748814.post-49610018639676889312008-03-17T15:17:00.008-04:002008-04-19T15:41:26.412-04:00

I've written on the ideas of why Keynesian economics does not work in the past. Simply put, an unproductive government cannot be trusted to make better decisions with people's money than they themselves. The saddest thing is that voices like this are being drowned in a sea of populist economics.Since the time of FDR and the disastrous policies of the New Deal, governments have been trying to ease

dcmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17575633192606659050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7027748556670748814.post-31004620668296902882008-03-11T09:13:00.017-04:002008-04-19T15:50:30.779-04:00

For most who know much about our public school system, they should know not how good or bad it is, but rather how inconsistent it is. As a student in the Cherry Creek School district in Aurora, Colorado, I've seen how good a public school can be. It doesn't hurt that the school is in a very affluent area which pads tax revenues. This allows the school to hire better teachers, offer better books

dcmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17575633192606659050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7027748556670748814.post-88832252717816150892008-03-06T09:01:00.007-05:002008-04-19T21:04:32.237-04:00

I just don't get it. Especially after seeing Tuesday's primary results, I am even more confounded. This truly is the election that won't die! I asked in my last entry if Obama would strike while Clinton was ready to fall. The answer? An infallible no! It would appear as though Obama really is a lolligager who can't come up with the right formula to deliver a game-ending shot. Instead, it was

dcmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17575633192606659050noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7027748556670748814.post-12181708922380026742008-02-28T22:51:00.004-05:002008-03-29T18:43:05.452-04:00

I was listening to Keith Olbermann on my daily walk home, and listened as Olbermann described the last Clinton-Obama debate. He used the term "political jujitsu"(I'm not kidding). He used phrases such as striking your opponent when they least expect it and letting your opponent strike you and use that momentum to gain control. As I didn't see the debate I saw in my head Obama and Clinton not

dcmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17575633192606659050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7027748556670748814.post-45996106203775755102008-02-28T09:41:00.003-05:002008-02-28T09:49:43.554-05:00

What kind of terrorist is this?A terrifying terrorist! Are you terrified?How about now?BOO! No, it's not John McCain...It's Achmed, The Dead Terrorist. With all these terrorists running around our Senate, who knows, perhaps he'll run for President too!

dcmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17575633192606659050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7027748556670748814.post-30497421416741147662008-02-25T13:08:00.007-05:002008-03-23T14:42:50.587-04:00

I just read an article that says that 45 percent of economists believe that we are headed for a recession, the other 55 don't believe that we will have a recession, more of a "relatively muted" downturn. I suppose most people would read this and wipe that sweat from their brow and say phew! that was close. I remain my ever-cynical self though. The worst part about this report is to know whether

dcmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17575633192606659050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7027748556670748814.post-1737851626958415002008-02-23T18:31:00.004-05:002008-03-23T14:43:25.686-04:00

Recently, there was a book review in The Economist about nerds and why they are important. It brought up some good points about "nerds" and "jocks." One point was that it was essential that the ones people call "nerds" know that as time goes by, things do get easier. As a nerd myself, this would have been nice information to have as I suffered the slings and arrows of childhood ridicule. I do

dcmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17575633192606659050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7027748556670748814.post-83593171800264034692008-02-21T09:27:00.006-05:002008-03-23T14:44:03.414-04:00

Last night, I saw Jon Stewart on Larry King Live. He said something that seems to resonate through this primary season and probably through November when we annoint the new president. He was dwelling on what was so wrong with the Bush administration and the way it governed. I will have to paraphrase, so please pardon me if there are any errors.Stewart had said that both George Bush and Dick

dcmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17575633192606659050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7027748556670748814.post-54347260753809388542008-02-20T12:32:00.004-05:002008-03-23T14:44:36.920-04:00

As I watch these Democratic primaries, much like a housewife watches her soaps, the drama continues. Unfortunately, it looks like this drama is beginning to end. I read in Reuters that now Sen. Clinton is "ridiculing" Obama as all talk and no substance. She's posted attack ads, accused him of plagiarism and now she says he has no substance. This led me to think about the ideas of paradigms and

dcmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17575633192606659050noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7027748556670748814.post-23560911072368744812008-02-10T21:50:00.001-05:002008-02-25T13:18:20.038-05:00

So, I hear that Hillary Clinton has had a hierarchical shake-up in her campaign. Apparently, according to CNN, the campaign has been sending mixed messages to different states, they don't know who's in charge. Sounds pretty bad. After seeing that report, something dawned on me that might tell me how this election might fare.This most recent news, coupled along with news that Sen. Clinton had to

dcmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17575633192606659050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7027748556670748814.post-5551856902973399152008-01-31T22:18:00.001-05:002008-02-23T18:43:22.351-05:00

The internet is successful precisely because it is a capitalist venture, it is a wise investment. From the internet we learn the greatest achievements of the free market. Just look at your internet; just visualize how often you've seen a sleek, dynamic, friendly...government website? Not very often if you're anything like me, you've been frustrated (to say the least) by a whole array of

dcmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17575633192606659050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7027748556670748814.post-53177494900807924212008-01-29T08:17:00.002-05:002008-02-23T18:55:26.692-05:00

I know this is passing something on second-hand, since I saw a piece of this article of the Freakonomics blog(best blog ever). But, I had to pass it on to whomever reads this blog in case you missed it. This is the best, and most simple explanation of governmental unintended consequences I've seen. If you can understand this, you can understand much of what happens in the interaction between the

dcmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17575633192606659050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7027748556670748814.post-60700827653039426802008-01-28T08:08:00.000-05:002008-01-28T14:41:23.310-05:00

It seems for years the Democrats have been impotent in the face of the Republican movement. Since Bill Clinton left office in January 2001, it seems like the Democratic party has lost its identity, momentum and general reputation in the United States. Every time I would see a fight along party lines, for example immigration, the Democrats couldn't muster the alliances needed to pass legislation

dcmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17575633192606659050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7027748556670748814.post-24190992864746396082008-01-24T09:28:00.000-05:002008-01-24T09:32:07.286-05:00

I just read a fascinating article on identity theft http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jan/15/data.security, that suggests that government protect its citizens' identity much like they protect nuclear waste. I personally believe that is a fine idea, but I also believe that it is an idea that may not be implemented realistically. The reason I say this is because if there is one thing you

dcmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17575633192606659050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7027748556670748814.post-75141559993552549232008-01-12T15:51:00.000-05:002008-01-29T09:11:02.644-05:00

I've only worked in Washington DC for a little over six months, and already I've seen three labor disputes in the area. To be honest, there wasn't much difference between the three disputes. From Commerce Bank to Boston Properties to the Washington Post, all the complainants had the same gripe: their wages were "unfair." The one dispute that offered the most information was

dcmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17575633192606659050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7027748556670748814.post-18181592607880266232008-01-06T22:02:00.000-05:002008-01-06T22:16:22.792-05:00

After what can be called a rather vanilla Iowa caucus, at least on the Democrats' side, we now hear that the proverbial gloves are coming off. Most may chalk this up to politics as usual, but for those who know how the Iowa caucus worked, and how the New Hampshire primaries will differ can see why the mud-slinging should begin in earnest for the Democrats.In the Democratic primaries in Iowa, a

dcmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17575633192606659050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7027748556670748814.post-50199934353213135102008-01-05T17:05:00.001-05:002008-01-23T09:07:32.176-05:00

In intro economics, many students (myself included) learned about Keynesian economics (named for John Maynard Keynes). That is, National Income (GDP) is made up three distinct contributaries: Consumption, Investment and Government spending. During times of feast, the government is to raise taxes and cut spending; during times of famine, the government is to spend its revenue, raised from taxes

dcmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17575633192606659050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7027748556670748814.post-88104299189463410142007-12-30T17:02:00.000-05:002008-01-05T19:57:34.479-05:00

According to NCAA research at ncaa.org there is a 1.8% chance that a Senior college football player will be drafted into the NFL. With those odds, you could fill a 50,000 seat capacity arena with excited senior players and only 900 of those men would make it into the NFL. That's about 1 in 50. That's a long shot. The good news is that a senior high school football player has a better chance of

dcmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17575633192606659050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7027748556670748814.post-678669231430398202007-12-29T15:10:00.000-05:002007-12-30T14:08:52.673-05:00

The assassination of Benazir Bhutto no doubt sent shock waves through the world as pictures of her bloody demise spread from newspaper to newspaper, channel to channel, eye to eye. This setback has given we Americans little hope for a country many people cannot point out on a map. But, the truly frightening aspect of this world event, is the knowledge that if Pakistan's current Musharraf regime

dcmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17575633192606659050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7027748556670748814.post-68123498943815987902007-12-23T22:08:00.000-05:002007-12-23T22:41:37.520-05:00

Since my wife has the unfortunate burden of not only working the night shift, but also working on Christmas we decided to open our gifts early. So I got Guitar Hero for Xmas, and I've been playing this game non-stop all weekend. It's no wonder this Guitar Hero has become such a trend in gaming. I never realized until I played it. For those who might read this who have no idea what Guitar Hero is,

dcmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17575633192606659050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7027748556670748814.post-82663195014500467192007-12-22T16:21:00.001-05:002008-02-23T19:03:10.649-05:00

I've read quite a bit about the recent credit crunch, and it usually leads me to contemplate the state of the US economy (I hear much of the same is happening in Western Europe, but I can only really account for what I see and know). I've studied the most on what is happening (on a macro scale) in the US housing market. Every time I see that the Federal Reserve lowers its discount rate to stave

dcmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17575633192606659050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7027748556670748814.post-34619871918030320332007-12-20T23:35:00.000-05:002007-12-21T00:05:17.537-05:00

I think I should start this off by introducing to you the way I think, how I see things and how I used to see things. After graduating from college this last spring, I felt like I was illuminated. I was able to learn about Austrian Economics and it seemed like the world was turned on its head. I didn't realize then, but I used to be very ignorant in my analysis of everyday scenarios, I would

dcmarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17575633192606659050noreply@blogger.com0