Gov’t to pull a Buffett?
I also think the Fed may have to consider direct investments via preferred shares in banks; kind of like a mega-Warren Buffett, and/or allow financial institutions outside the normal banking system, like commercial lenders, to borrow directly from the Fed via the discount window, with appropriate collateral and with an oversight that those borrowings do indeed get lent out.
The Weekend of Causing Scenes, Part 2
The ultimate Saul of Tarsus moment*: confessing to a room full of Obama supporters that you once supported John McCain. A sheep among wolves? Au contraire: these are progressives. Therefore, the response is rather this: a feigned intellectual curiosity seeking to cover up utter shock, disbelief and audacity.
My co-campaigner Chris managed to emote this quite well: note the seemingly focused, attentive gaze which all but masks the glimmer of terror further into the eyes.
*And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple.
The Weekend of Causing Scenes, Part 1
My friend Tony clued me into an interesting phenomenon: “Improv Everywhere” – whose tagline is, “we cause scenes.” Full deets at the site but for here, it’s enough to know that the experience involved:
1) downloading an Mp3 but NOT listening in advance
2) procuring a balloon, an umbrella & wearing a green, yellow, red or blue t-shirt
3) syncing your watch/clock/timekeeping device of choice PRECISELY to their website
4) arriving at Dolores Park, SF locked & loaded at 2pm PST
I tackled items #1 & #4 on my own, and was helped by Tony on #2…but utterly failed at #3.
The result?
A tapestry of Monty Python-esque hilarity that tapped into the creative, free-spirited playful inner-child….undeniably the best way to spend a sunny fall day in the park 1/2 block from my front door.
Alas, the issue with respect to #3 did, however, lead to a slightly out-of-sync experience which itself was fairly revealing. It made me realize that some people actually live this way 24X7. Just a little bit off the mainstream clock. Which leads to all kinds of interesting behaviors and perceptions. Very enlightening. I’m not naming names.

Participants ready themselves to enter into the climactic, Monty Python-esque “EPIC BATTLE” as promised by the omnipresent “Steve.”
Mp3 Experiment San Francisco from ImprovEverywhere on Vimeo.