Film of the Year No. 6

2683

film-of-the-year-no-6

6. In Bruges

In a nutshell: Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson play a pair of hit-men, sent to lie low in Bruges by their gangster boss, Ralph Fiennes, after a job goes horribly wrong. Gleeson enjoys the sightseeing, Farrell gets involved with a girl, the pair hang out with an unpleasant midget – and then Fiennes arrives in town, triggering the film’s climactic showdown.

Assuming you take your humour pitch-black, In Bruges is hilarious. It is also thoughtful, moving (on occasion) and (once things get going) exciting to boot. Some people won’t like it, and a few may even be offended. With a peculiar plot, no real hero, and lashings of foul language, In Bruges is clearly catering to a particular audience. But if – like Cinesmith – you like that sort of thing, you’re sure to enjoy In Bruges. It is without doubt the best black comedy of the year.

Watch the trailer here

A seasonal tale

2684

a-seasonal-tale

Every few years, sometimes seven, sometimes nine, the dark wind would blow through the forest causing all work to stop.  The people cursed the wind, but there was nothing they could do.  Then one day Greeno showed young Gordo a barrel in the cellar; it was full of golden dust.  The two boys decided they would face the fury of the dark wind when next it came, and hurl handfuls of the golden dust into its path.

Bravely the two boys stood their ground as the wind shrieked towards them.  They threw handfuls of dust in front of it, and watched as the evil wind snarled, withered, and dissipated into the forest.  People hailed the boys as heroes, but when the dark wind blew again a few years later, it was more powerful.  The boys again stood firm, and though it took more dust, once again the wind was dispersed.

The third time it came it took all their courage to withstand it as it raged against them.  Gordo asked Greeno why the dust was less effective, and was told that with so much of it now scattered through the forest, it had lost much of its value.  The boys managed to disperse the dark wind, though, and work continued in the forest.  Praises were heaped upon them, and Gordo even had "slayer of the dark wind" burned onto his belt.

When the wind came the next time, nothing could withstand it.  It was as if each victory over it had only added to its strength next time.  Greeno and Gordo shrugged helplessly as it laughed at the meagre handful of dust thrown at it, contemptuously tossing it aside.  The dark wind raged unchecked through the forest, stripping down leaves and trees, and all work stopped.  Greeno and Gordo were cast out amid lamentation, and the dark wind ruled.

Meanwhile, deeper into the forest, a young Austrian boy had an idea…

Blog Review 820

2686

blog-review-820

Netsmith is browsing and sluicing with the best of you today, as Netsmith hopes that you are. So nothing too serious to draw your attention to today.

Just a little appropriate piece of cynicism with which to view the political process.

The truth about the UK economy finally revealed.

Bravo and thrice Bravo! to some of our Australian friends.

No bravos for Chryselr, if this is the first sign of how they spend the bailout money.

The origin of the phrase "Yes, Virginia, there really is a Santa Claus".

An alternative reading of the way to celebrate the day.

And finally, Netsmith has it on good authority that today is all about a Jewish lad made good, so why not Jewish jokes (the ones by, not about, that is, the ones that are actually funny) for the day.

Merry Christmas from the ASI!

2631

merry-christmas-from-the-asi

On the first day of Christmas...

2614

on-the-first-day-of-christmas

My true love sent to me: a partridge in a pear tree. In the original song it seems that 'my true love' is God, that the partridge symbolizes Christ, and the pear tree represents the Cross. Well, maybe.

But in Britain, until last year, if you wanted to deal in game - not just partridges but pheasants, hares, grouse, moor game, woodcock, deer, or rabbits, you needed a licence from the local authority under section 18 of the 1831 Game Act (plus an excise licence from the Post Office under section 14 of the 1860 Game Licences Act). The 1831 legislation laid down strict rules on when game could be sold - an attempt to ensure that breeding cycles were not disrupted. In other words, the law has only just caught up with refrigeration.

The Media's Top 10 Economic Myths of 2008 (No.7)

Golodryga dismissed the idea out of hand. "A lot of people are worried about that, "she said. "The fact that Obama won was something that was really factored into the market, going back a few months ago. Remember the market is a forward looking indicator. Right now, we're just dealing with these really, really bleak numbers coming out regarding the economy. And there's also profit-taking as well."

Forbes.com was one of the only media outlets to analyze the situation differently. Steve Schaefer, Markets Reporter for Forbes was "Looking for the 'Obama Effect'" in his Nov. 5 article. According to his analysis, the market's dive was somewhat related to Obama.

"Wall Street tanked Wednesday, as investors fixated on weak economic indicators and pulled the prior session's gains off the table. The market was also beginning to visualize what a Barack Obama presidency will mean for business, after the Illinois senator won Tuesday's election," Schaefer wrote.

But Schaefer cautioned against reading "too much into Wednesday's trading." Schaefer's story admitted that certain types of businesses might be "at risk" under Obama, including tobacco, "Big Oil," brokers, pharmaceuticals and others.

2659

the-medias-top-10-economic-myths-of-2008-no7

7. Barack Obama sends stocks soaring, but not sinking.

Media myth: Journalists gave the new president-elect credit for an Election Day stock market rally, but when markets collapsed Obama got a pass.

Originally published by the Business & Media Institute

As stocks rose on Election Day 2008, the media were more than happy to credit investors' excitement over Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama's chance of winning. But when stocks tanked in the days following Obama's election, concern over Obama's economic policies was the last possible culprit.

The Dow fell four trading days out of five following the election, and by the close Nov. 11 was still down more than 600 points from its Nov. 3 close. Stocks were also trading lower on Nov. 12 "after Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced changes to the government's bailout plan," according to BusinessWeek.com. The Dow had shed over 3 percent by 11:35 a.m. according to the article.

Yet, one global news agency [which one?] trumpeted the biggest Election Day rally "in history" as an "Obama effect," while many others declared that investors were simply "relieved" to see the end of the campaign.

But then the markets went into what CNBC's Melissa Lee termed a "tailspin." Nov. 5 and 6 losses became the worst two-day decline since the 1987 crash, but the three networks placed no amount of blame on Obama.

Out of 23 stories on ABC, NBC and CBS only one asked about the "notion" that the election outcome could influence the stock market negatively.

Chris Cuomo was the only network reporter to ask about a potential Obama connection to the drop. On Nov. 7 "Good Morning America" he asked ABC News correspondent Bianna Golodryga "What do you make of the notion that the drop in the stock market is a function of the election?" [Click 'read more' to continue]

Blog Review 819

2685

blog-review-819

To cheer us in this festive season, good reasons for tax havens part one and good reasons for tax havens part two. Enough to warm the cockles of any capitalist's heart.

In praise of entrepreneurs and the development they bring. After all, someone has to make the experiments to see what works.

Economics can tell us many things....like why separating twins in school is a bad idea.

Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings...bio-ethanol is a really stupid idea. Pudding proof that the average politician has less understanding than an intelligent 13 year old.

On the intelligence of politicians: certain fridges display more (although, to be truthful, Netsmith has met the fridge in question and would agree, it is a special one).

Being a great entrepreneur really is not the same as being a great investor.

And finally, Tony Blair's long term plan revealed.

Christmas is cancelled

2609

christmas-is-cancelled

As Santa Claus sets off to drop presents down the chimneys of innumerable households on Monday night, let's hope that he has got the right paperwork.

Claus, of course, is just an alias. He's really Saint Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, on the southern cost of Turkey. The EU (foolishly) isn't admitting Turkey to the Union, so Claus needs a visa and a work permit to run his Christmas delivery service in the UK.

His elves, of course, would be bound by the child labour regulations. And Claus would need the right documentation to prove it. In some counties (as a Cambridge newsagent discovered to his cost) children must have a work permit issued by the council and signed by the child's employer, headteacher and parents; they can't start until 7am and must be over 13. Working at midnight on 24 December would be right out.

Claus would have to be vetted by the Criminal Records Bureau in order to work with young people. Since that can take up to three months, he's way too late for this year anyway. The education authorities might wonder why the elves aren't in school. And if the elves are paid, then they need to be registered under Pay as You Earn, and Claus would have to sign them on to the new Personal Accounts pension scheme and make sure that the right amount of National Insurance was paid, so he'd need a good accountant.

Because he drops presents (and himself) down chimneys, he is covered by the Working at Heights regulations. He would need training on how to use a ladder, or would have to hire a cherry-picker (with professionally qualified operator) or erect scaffolding. This might require road closures for health and safety reasons.

The fact that Claus uses reindeer to draw his sleigh would of course bring him under animal welfare regulations. The sleigh itself must qualify as an aircraft, and as such has to be licensed by and have a certificate of airworthiness from the Civil Aviation Authority. If the presents that Claus drops off have their origin outside he EU – Lapland, say – then VAT and customs forms have to be filled out, and some tariff duties may be payable.No toys with parts small enough for a child to choke on would be permitted, which is why you don't see Kinder Surprise any more. If Claus claims that his purposes are purely charitable, he would have to register with the Charities Commission.

Of course, like other successful and innovative businesspeople, he might decide not to bother coming to Britain at all.

The Media's Top 10 Economic Myths of 2008 (No.8)

Network reporters should have been reading The Wall Street Journal, which had been sounding alarms about the corruption and financial danger of the lenders' practices for more than six years. The Journal has run at least 29 editorials or op-eds exposing the two businesses for political connections, preferential regulation, and Enron-like "cooking" of the books.

"The Washington political class has nurtured and subsidized these financial beasts for decades in return for their campaign cash and lobbying support," said one Journal editorial on July 12. That editorial also pointed out the lack of reporting on the issue saying, "Maybe the press corps will even start reporting how this vast confidence game could happen."

The Journal wasn't alone. The Washington Post said on July 14, "Though the implosion of investor confidence in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac last week was sudden, the worries driving it have been the subject of countless warnings over many years."

That Post article explained that the two entities had too much debt and not enough capital, operating "with financial cushions that were too thin to support their far-reaching financial risks." This was something former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told lawmakers in 2004, according to the Post. Greenspan argued for "preventive action" "sooner rather than later."

After Fannie and Freddie failed some in the media blamed free markets, but both Investor's Business Daily and The Journal explained that it was socialism that created the problem: "We haven't suddenly become socialists. What taxpayers need to understand is that Fannie and Freddie already practice socialism, albeit of the dishonest kind. Their profit is privatized but their risk is socialized," said a July 12 Journal editorial.

2658

the-medias-top-10-economic-myths-of-2008-no8

8. Fannie's failure

Media myth: When it came to the demise of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the network news never saw the trouble coming.

Originally published by the Business & Media Institute

Print journalists had been warning of trouble at government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac since 2002. But in 2008 ABC, CBS and NBC were clueless when it came to the extreme risk the duo presented to taxpayers.

The NBC "Today" show hinted at problems with the two government-sponsored companies on July 14 when Andrea Mitchell reported Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) reaction to a bailout:

"John McCain also says the survival of the mortgage giants is essential, despite some of their past practices," said Mitchell. Viewers were left to wonder what those "past practices" could have been. Here are a few hints: billions of dollars in accounting scandals, stock prices that have plummeted, connections to prominent politicians and a high-risk portfolio.

CNBC's Erin Burnett shed almost no light on the situation in a "Today" segment the same morning.

When co-host Matt Lauer asked, "How did they get themselves in this situation?" Burnett explained that Fannie and Freddie guarantee mortgages for other lenders so that if the loan goes unpaid, they take the loss instead of the original lender. But she neglected to mention the enterprises' government mandate to increase home ownership and the implied taxpayer guarantee that enabled the two public companies to dominate the market.

The media also underreported accounting scandals at Fannie Mae. In 2004, earnings restatements at Fannie Mae were $11 billion. That was 19 times bigger than Enron's, yet Enron is the scandal everyone remembers. [Click 'read more' to continue]

Film of the Year No. 7

2672

film-of-the-year-no-7

7. No Country for Old Men

This film from Joel and Ethan Coen, the brothers behind cult classics like Fargo and The Big Lebowski, is probably their best yet. Based on the book by Cormac McCarthy, No Country for Old Men is a modern-day western that's every bit as terse and dark as that genre's greatest hits, and yet still manages to exude the wit and humour that the Coens are famous for.

The story is a simple one. Llewellyn Moss is out hunting in the desert when he comes across a macabre scene: abandoned cars, dead bodies, and a briefcase full of money – the hallmarks of a drug deal gone horribly wrong. Taking the cash and going on the run, Moss is relentlessly pursued by a seemingly unstoppable assassin (Javier Bardem, in an Academy Award-winning role), with the county's laconic sheriff (Tommy Lee Jones) following a few steps further behind.

No Country for Old Men is a suspenseful and truly exhilarating film, let down only by a rather flat finale. While it may be true to the spirit of the source material, it doesn't really work on film. That's a shame: if No Country for Old Men had gone out with a bang rather than a whimper, it could have been my film of the year. That said, it still won Best Picture at the Oscars. Watch the trailer here.