Photos for Writers

Photos by Chema Madoz, from this website.

Picture

This was way too cute not to publish!

From this website.

Awesome Website

I could do this for hours!

Drag your mouse across the screen. After you do that, left click!

http://www.jacksonpollock.org/

Zoom Zoom

An electric car that can burn rubber with the best gas guzzler's out there? Zoom Zoom baby!

Market Deja Vu and Accountability

This was posted on the Banking Law Prof Blog today:

It's the dot com bubble, it's the '80s s&l crisis, it's what happens when people don't follow prudent lending and investment principles.

What we're seeing now in the subprime market is the result of poor credit underwriting standards. Bankers know better. Regulators know better. Even borrowers know better (if they can decipher the fine print). But when the economy is good and there are more dollars chasing loans than there are prime loans to be made, it's "Let the good times roll!"

From the lenders' perspective: After all, these subprime loans yield a higher interest rate in a banking world experiencing ever narrower interest-rate margins (the difference between the interest rate lenders pay for deposits and other funding sources and the interest rate they receive on loans). In a low-interest rate environment, many borrowers can and do make the monthly payments. Lenders are looking for new markets -- and here's a big one.

From the borrowers' perspective: The American dream is owning your own home. And it looks so easy when lenders are aggressively seeking out borrowers with "less than perfect credit". Many borrowers have gambled that rising home prices and low interest rates will continue. Few really take to heart what will happen if the loan reprices in two to three years.

From the regulators' perspective: Providing "guidance" should suffice. No one likes a heavy-handed regulator -- and there is competition for charters and Congressional oversight to consider. There's no immediate problem to address. The free market will sort this out. Should there be isolated issues, informal non-public measures avoid creating a generalized atmosphere of panic and possible adverse business consequences for a given lender or for all lenders -- and may avoid the extreme case: "runs" on a financial institution.

I strongly agree with most of what Professor Graham says. The only thing I would comment on is the tone of the note on the regulators' perspective. It sounds like she would be in favor of a more "heavy-handed" approach. While I can understand in this environment that more regulation might seem good...I really disagree. I place the burden on the bankers and the borrowers. They are intelligent people. Bottom line is that, if you can't afford a monthly payment, don't borrow money. If you can't afford for someone to default on a high interest loan, don't lend them the money. People are ultimately responsible for their own actions. They need to recognize the affects on society as a whole...that is what being a responsible citizen is all about. But people do not need to be regulated into stupidity. Learn from your mistakes and move on.

My thoughts on Math

Saw this hilarious picture today on another blog. I just HAD TO post it!!

A thing, itself

From "Orinary People", by Roberto Rivera y Carlo:

This begs an obvious question: What's wrong with being ordinary? A lot, if you live in a culture like ours that has turned "ordinary" into an epithet, a synonym for "mediocre." Then, the fear of being (or appearing) "ordinary" exceeds the fear of possible humiliation or any other repercussions of inappropriate disclosure. [...]

Turning "ordinary" into an epithet requires forgetting (or denying) that "ordinary" is the stuff that real life is made of. "Ordinary" comes from the Latin ordinarius meaning "customary, regular, usual, orderly." How we handle the ordinary — and not how many people know who we are — is the standard against which we should measure our lives. It, and not some fleeting (or even not-so-fleeting) attention, is what gives our lives significance. (For the Christian, it's what Jesus meant when He said, "He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much.") [...]

I have a better idea: We should strive to experience what G.K. Chesterton called "the ecstasy of being ordinary." While Chesterton admired extraordinary men like St. Francis of Assisi, he also gave the "social scruples and conventional conditions that are normal and even noble in ordinary men" that hold "decent societies together" their due. In fact, it was because he appreciated "ordinary men" that he could make sense of the extraordinary ones.

Likewise, "Chesterton could be made happy by the sudden yellowness of a dandelion." He took "fierce pleasure in things being themselves," whether it was the "wetness of water," "fieriness of fire" or the "steeliness of steel." As David Fagerberg of Notre Dame wrote, for Chesterton, "on every encounter, at every turn, with every person, there is cause for happiness.... We have been given a world crammed with a million means to beatitude."

In other words, our "ordinariness" contains everything that is necessary to be content. That's part of St. Paul meant when he wrote "I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content." He could see those "millions means of beatitude" and understood that on some days you inadvertently turn the world upside-down and on other days you make tents. Ultimately, what matters is to live admirably, not be admired.

Maxed Out

From the Banking Law Prof Blog -
Here's a documentary you need to see: "Maxed Out" - a look at America's consumer debt crisis. Check out the Washington Post review.

The Book on Amazon with description.

The Trailer on the Main Website.

PERSONAL NOTE: I receive absolutely NO profits from this. I just think it is a good thing for people to read about and understand...so that eventually, perhaps we can do something about it.

Engagement Pics