Musings on the Human Condition

The NYT finally speaks up against the financial blockade of WikiLeaks.

So much to read. So little time. My highlights from the NYT's list of 100. 1. Open: An Autobiography (ANDRE AGASSI) 2. The Myth of the Rational Market: A History of Risk, Reward, and Delusion on Wall Street (JUSTIN FOX) 3. The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon (DAVID GRANN) 4. Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City (GREG GRANDIN) 5. The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt (T J STILES) 6. Columbine (DAVE CULLEN) 7. The Case for God (KAREN ARMSTRONG)

Jake DeSantis's resignation letter published today in the NYT ( http://bit.ly/desantis ) is a case of blatant grandstanding. Perhaps unwittingly, the former AIG executive agrees that he has probably been overpaid over the years. An unexpected acknowledgement, albeit in the form of a major understatement. And yet, he isn't willing to pass up his massive bonus during a year that has been horrible not just for AIG but for the entire world! This is nothing but greed. There is no sacrifice involved in his resignation and the associated donation. He is already stinking rich and will probably get an excellent offer from somewhere, especially now that he is a celebrity of sorts. I don't doubt that there might have been government missteps (i.e. the WSJ article ). However, those don't absolve multimillionaires from the added responsibility to give something back from the huge rewards they raked in during the supposed good years. Extraordinary situations call for extraordinary me...

In a sense, I envy friends who live and work in the cities or towns where they grew up. (Although, they often remind me that it can get a bit tiring when you can't run a quick errand around town without running into someone you know!) For the rest of us, there's Facebook , which helps me reconnect with family and friends scattered all over the world. My favorite apps, which I recommend for any current affairs aficionado: Deadline (by AFP, with tens of new questions added daily) and The New York Times News Quiz (five questions refreshed daily). But more than any app, I think what makes Facebook click is the ability to post statuses, notes, photos, videos, links etc and have friends comment and share reactions on all of the above.