We bring you the TBB Best of Web links: expose the higher education scam, watch in horror all the arms sales through history, argue for support of the capitalism pie, get into details of the Malaysian mega fraud and obscene levels of greed and corruption, a great site with death resources and a hilarious obituary! You all enjoy the weekend and see you Monday…maybe.
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Every Sunday I pick the best reads that blew my mind in the previous week. It can be…anything! I like to be eclectic and despise salesy/clickbait/sameold content you read…everywhere else!
As always, click on the headline to be taken to the original source. Sometimes I insert my incendiary comments on article excerpts between [brackets].
The Creeping Capitalist Takeover of Higher Education
This article will educate you and it will stun you.
Just a few years ago, universities had a chance to make a quality education affordable for everyone. Here’s the little known and absolutely infuriating history of what they did instead.
online learning…This is because many colleges don’t actually run online programs themselves. They outsource much of the work to an obscure species of for-profit company that has figured out how to gouge students in new and creative ways. These companies are called online program managers, or OPMs, an acronym that could come right out of “Office Space.” They have goofy, forgettable names like 2U, HotChalk and iDesign. As the founder of 2U puts it, “The more invisible we are, the better.”…The schools often omit any mention of these companies on their course pages, but OPMs typically take a 60 percent cut of tuition, sometimes more. [60%! I can see it now, The Points Guy Inc teaching debt management courses online soon LOL!]
We go through a fascinating history of how it all started. From Princeton Review to Kaplan to the legislative/lobbying efforts to the current clusterphuck about to happen again with the current administration’s disdain for “regulations”. And then you wonder why scandals bribing to get kids into prestigious colleges happen…YIKES!
I had to take a bath after I was done reading this.
Don’t get angry. Get even by clicking on my links instead! 🙂
Arms Sales: USA vs. Russia (1950-2017)
Maybe it is the angry TBB Best of Web edition today…
Press Play and watch this and cry…
Must click!
Growing The Pie
I really enjoy reading the memos from Howard Marks. Because I really like his style of writing a lot! Always so thoughtful, engaging and keeping things simple and easy to understand for everyone. No technical terms to confuse readers for the most part. And always educational of course.
Some people here have accused me of being a socialist which is ridiculous. But first, don’t get too distracted about labels. The ones screaming Socialist to Bernie Sanders also scream to get Washington to keep their hands off Social Security and Medicare. LOL!
For the record, I am in full agreement with Howard here!
Capitalism doesn’t know about or care about fairness in the sense of equal sharing. What it considers fair is the proposition that people who have greater ability or work harder should be able to earn more. That potential, it says, provides incentives for hard work and rewards those who achieve, ultimately resulting in a better life for almost everyone. The story of China – just like that of America – shows that it works.
On Alexadria Ocasio-Cortez and the recent decision by Amazon to change its decision to move its HQ to New York…
She entirely misses the point. There was no $3 billion sitting in a city bank account, waiting to be spent on either subsidies for Amazon or enhanced services for New Yorkers. The $3 billion going to Amazon wouldn’t have represented a diversion of resources from other potential uses. It consisted entirely of contingent future payments: the part that would be kicked back to Amazon from the taxes it would pay, the balance of which could be used to support infrastructure or services. No Amazon, no $3 billion paid out (and no $24 billion of net taxes received by the city and state). Ocasio-Cortez either (a) completely misunderstood the deal she was criticizing or (b) overlooked the facts in favor of rhetoric calculated to play on resentment and scare up votes. Which explanation would you consider preferable?
The rhetoric of the far left plays on resentments and differences, and it’s easily swallowed. But the policies are more likely to equalize the sharing of misery than to expand blessings, however unequal.
About 50 years ago, an older friend described for me what he felt made America great:
When the worker in Britain sees the boss drive out of the factory in his Rolls Royce, he says, “I’d like to put a bomb under that car.” But when the worker in the U.S. sees the boss drive out of the factory in his Cadillac, he says, “Someday I’ll own a car like that.”
Today, too few Americans feel they might own that Cadillac. Taken to the logical extreme, that has the potential to bring the American miracle to an end. Thus, business should do all it can to arrest the trend toward stagnant and unequal incomes . . . not just to be fair or generous, but to assure perpetuation of the system that got us here.
Capitalism is the most dependable route to prosperity. And it has to be responsible capitalism. The solution can’t lie in turning away the Amazons of the world, imposing extra taxes on Cadillacs or otherwise shrinking the pie.
I could not resist…
The Perfect Irony That ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ Film Was Also a Real-Life Scam
You read this and you really get angry with all the assholes involved…
How Leo got caught up in a money-laundering scheme that screwed the Malaysian people out of billions
The movie was great by the way! And I can’t wait for the new movie to be made. It will be really weird though…
Again, in a cosmic irony, DiCaprio desperately wanted to make a movie that deeply examined the sort of greed that rots the soul and ruins our natural world, yet this highly intelligent, sensitive actor never recognized this same greed when he partnered with it in reality. He somehow missed it when Low gave him a Basquiat painting worth $9.2 million and a Picasso worth $3.2 million. He also missed it when, in that same summer of 2013, two producers of the original Dumb and Dumber were excluded from the sequel and countersued Red Granite, the production company that was making both that movie and The Wolf of Wall Street. The veteran producers alleged in their lawsuit, later amended, that they’d been informed of a vast criminal conspiracy underwriting the company:
“Red Granite is funded with monies that include proceeds from offenses against a foreign nation that involve bribery of public officials, or misappropriation, theft or embezzlement of public funds by a public official. Plaintiffs are informed and believe that public officials in Asia and the Middle East have taken bribes and/or misappropriated, stolen or embezzled funds, and that those ill-gotten funds have then been invested in Red Granite.”
Since they can’t get back the stolen millions used to bankroll DiCaprio’s dreams, part of accomplishing justice in this case means the U.S. government now owns the rights and royalties of The Wolf of Wall Street. As far as justice goes, it’s extremely poetic: a film about guys who believed they were above the law until they got caught by the feds was made by guys who believed they were above the law until they, too, got caught by the feds.
Art imitating life imitating art.
The greed and corruption levels involved here are unbelievable! Wait, let me do this better: “It will shock you! With video!”.
Resources for dealing with death
I added the Modern Loss website to my Feedly RSS feeds account. What great content for all things dealing with this part of life. See what I just did? 🙂
I suggest you bookmark and refer to it when you need it. As we all get older we run into this more often, sad!
I usually like to stop at five links but someway somehow I insert a bonus sixth one.
To stick with the angry/sad theme of today, why not share with you an obituary next!
Tim Schrandt of Ridgeway, Iowa 1055 – 2019
WTF TBB, seriously? An obituary next? Wasn’t it enough to get us all angry and depressed with all the links above?
Come down angry reader! I am sharing this one to make you laugh! It’s one of the most hilarious obituaries you will read!
Just a few excerpts, read the whole thing and LOL!
Tim Schrandt (Lynyrd) made his last inappropriate comment on March 29, 2019. If you are wondering if you may have ever met him, you didn’t – because you WOULD remember. For those of you that did meet him, we apologize, as we’re sure he probably offended you.
Tim led a good life and had a peaceful death – but the transition was a bitch. [If this is not considered an EPIC line, I don’t know what else will qualify!]
And I leave you with this…
TBB
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Titanium!
“Ocasio-Cortez either (a) completely misunderstood the deal she was criticizing or (b) overlooked the facts in favor of rhetoric calculated to play on resentment and scare up votes.”
He forgot (c) she is a complete financial illiterate and moron. As a newyorrican (she’s certainly not a real Puerto Rican) former bartender, she couldn’t even pull off a decent coquito.
I agree that AOC doesn’t seem financially literate, however, the Amazon deal was idiotic. Going on a roadshow asking for the best bid from any region (big data to be sold) when in everybody knew that only DC and NYC were in play is disingenuous. And why the fcuk should taxpayers fund stadiums and expanding businesses so that billionaires can get richer (Amazon has barely paid any corporate taxes)?? Apple and Google set up operations in NYC without creating a gigantic media spectacle and screwing the tax payers. Maybe they can see the value of accessing a well educated population in an area with reasonable infrastructure. You pay for that.
As for Howard Mark, SS and Medicare are not socialist system, they are insurances (sure the ones with means pay more). I expect the insurance to be there when the house burns down. And yes, SS may not be run well. I prefer the communist, durable systems in Sweden and Chile (and proposed by W Bush).
As for China being capitalistic, absolutely NOT. The economy is run by the central government. Sure there’s a privat sector well aligned with gov policies. Why do you think China’s economy is growning faster again? Because of government stimulus programs initiated in Q4 2019. Here’s an intro to China’s economy for podcast lovers https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/odd-lots/id1056200096?mt=2&i=1000428608353
How much did Amazon pay in federal corporate taxes in 2017?
Amazon has made it clear to Seattle that it can move. Tax us and we be gone. It looks very far down the game tree.
Home owners near Crystal City smile.
Good morning!
From the failing NY Times “No, Your Instagram ‘Influence’ Is Not as Good as Cash, Club Owner Says”
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/03/world/philippines-hotel-influencers-social-media.html#click=https://t.co/gtJdaAjzRe
Ran a 5k race with my wife this morning that ends in the University of Michigan Big House.
Obliterated my personal record time with 23.09 woohoo! I may post a picture tomorrow if I remember. My number was 690 so I took a pic hiding the 0 LOL.
I can’t wait for Rams and Mileage Update to go off again about politics here 🙂
Agreed the way Amazon went about it was extremely shitty and arrogant.
So….to turn down so many well paying jobs and the economic effect it would have does not make sense. And AOC’s arguments were of course idiotic. At the same time…you know, Ann Arbor’s city politics have been very pro growth/development in the past several years amid a building boom and we now can’t find parking downtown and sometimes have long traffic jams and…we hate it too! #fwiw
Thanks to the reader who got a CSP card here, you are the second one this month! And I believe the 3rd CSP sold in my blog…TPG probably sells 3 every 15 minutes, sad lol. Every time this happens…it only serves to lead me to understand the reason why bloggers love this card sooooo much $$$.
I think DML’s point “Amazon has made it clear to Seattle that it can move. Tax us and we be gone. It looks very far down the game tree” is right on.
I should have a contest when AA takes down its own award charts and go full mode revenue based burning like the other two (and Southwest and JetBlue)…It is not a matter of if but when.
I may have some thoughts on this on Wednesday…maybe do it in a “voices in my head’ style, just type…
I hope some bloggers have some skills so they can pivot/reinvent/diversity away from the “look at me in my First Class flat bed drinking champagne and eating caviar on my way to over the water bungalow/sleek hotel suite for free and you can do it too only by clicking on my travel rewards credit cards” business plan mode to…something else. Good luck!
Since no one else has commented on it: I loved/hated the arms sales video. Really amazing to watch, and interesting to see different countries fall in or out of the stream (e.g. Iran). Other countries I’m a little curious or ignorant about, like why India only got from Russia. A good Sunday post!