“These goals are admittedly ambitious, yet they will not be difficult to align or advance as long as we keep in mind this One Big Idea: most of the problems our food system faces today are because of its reliance on fossil fuels, and to the extent that our policies wring the oil out of the system and replace it with the energy of the sun, those policies will simultaneously improve the state of our health, our environment and our security.”
2. “Those With a Sense of History May Find It’s Time to Invest”
“The four most dangerous words for investors are: This time is different.”
3. “States’ Film Production Incentives Cause Jitters”
“One of the most shocking bills has come due in Louisiana, where residents are financing a hefty share of Brad Pitt’s next movie — $27,117,737, to be exact, which the producers will receive by cashing or selling off valuable tax credits.”
4. “Finance Students Keep Their Job Hopes Alive”
“In a June poll by the Rockefeller Foundation, people ages 18 to 29 were more pessimistic about the economy than any other age group, with half saying that America was a better place in the 1990s and would continue to decline. But they did not apply this pessimism to themselves; they were most likely to say that if they work hard and play by the rules, they will be able to achieve the American Dream.”
5. “An Ebbets Field Confession From That ‘Brennan’ Kid”
“‘I’ve discovered, that there is no statute of limitations on conscience. To ease mine, the enclosed $100 check, payable to the Los Angeles Dodgers, should wipe the slate clean. It includes a reasonable amount to cover six decades of accrued interest. I hope it’s enough to atone for the $6 larceny that took place over 60 years ago.’”
6. “Throwing Incaution to the Wind, Stone Paints Bush”
“The surprise about W. is that its left-wing creator made a movie that is not so much operatic or hysterical as utterly plausible.”
7. “Talk About Underground Movement”
“Backed by a boombox, they maintain a commentary, flirting (‘Ladies, if your man can’t do that, leave him. Leave him now!’), cracking wise (‘Ladies, you can smile; it won’t mess up your hair’) and egging one another on during solos — anything to keep the energy up. They winningly encourage contributions. (‘The best nation is donation. The best city is generosity.’) It isn’t a hard sell; riders, initially jaded or wary of being within striking distance, grow wide eyed with delight. Pocket change, 5’s, 10’s and even 20’s fly into the performers’ baseball caps and duffel bags. ‘Christmastime is the paid-est time ever,’ Mr. Steele said. Tourists give generously; a Japanese man once handed Dante Steele a $100 bill.”
8. “In Debates, the Furniture Is the Message”
“The ambiance might have helped Mr. Kennedy as much as his tan: he was billing himself as the candidate of the future.”
9. “A Storm Unforeseen, Always About to Pass”
“Here’s what some leading politicians, economists and business leaders had to say in the months before and after the crash. Sound familiar?”
10. “The Rise of the Machines”
“Here’s a frightening party trick that I learned from the futurist Ray Kurzweil. Read this excerpt and then I’ll tell you who wrote it:
But we are suggesting neither that the human race would voluntarily turn power over to the machines nor that the machines would willfully seize power. What we do suggest is that the human race might easily permit itself to drift into a position of such dependence on the machines that it would have no practical choice but to accept all of the machines’ decisions. … Eventually a stage may be reached at which the decisions necessary to keep the system running will be so complex that human beings will be incapable of making them intelligently. At that stage the machines will be in effective control. People won’t be able to just turn the machines off, because they will be so dependent on them that turning them off would amount to suicide.
“Brace yourself. It comes from the Unabomber’s manifesto.”
11. “Out of Panic, Self-Reliance”
“I am a scholar of literature and religion, and would advise whoever becomes president to turn to Ralph Waldo Emerson, whose influential vision of America was deeply informed by the crisis of 1837.”
12. “Overfeeding on Information”
“For many, the hunger for information is reminiscent of those harried, harrowing months after Sept. 11, 2001. But seven years ago, there was no iPhone, no Twitter, no YouTube. There was no Google Reader to endlessly feed people updates on their favorite Web sites. Social networking sites, blogs and TiVo were in their infancy.”
