Low Pass

iPhone photo:  Phil Compton

Stuff we hadn't started worrying about yet

You may imagine tax law professor’s life as the very picture of tedium: days filled with analyzing arcane regulations and number crunching.

Exactly.

And for the most part, this may be true.

Thank you.

But every once in a while a tax scholar is called on to tackle some of the world’s most harrowing problems, such as the impending zombie apocalypse.

WHAT?

(H/T Chocolate Chip Mint.)

Pending disaster in London

At that games thing. Oh no, we are not going to get sued for mentioning The Word (it sounds like "olympics").

Should the bad weather continue, even the beach volleyball players will be allowed to change out of their bikinis — one of the things that many spectators appear to like best about them — and into “long pants and/or tops,” officials said.

"London Journal," New York Times

Drain

Drain, a photo by Ted Compton on Flickr.

Mostly what I'm doing here is nothing

It's cooler today than it was yesterday but it's still in the high eighties and more to the point, it's damp. So it feels hot and lazy, just like me. It's forecast to get a little cooler as the week wears on and it's fine at night but what's the rush? I'm just going to sit here for now.

A very excellent addition to our work avoidance list

What if?

Yeah ha ha I'm on Candid Camera, right?

A free app is the new coolest thing for DIY skin cancer diagnosis. As long as you're willing to take 23 nude photos of yourself.

Read about it here.

(If you kiddies don't remember Candid Camera just go ahead and get the app.)

1941

LIFE magazine covers a hex Hitler party.

Maybe we need another war after all

Just for something to do.

Three Pillows

iPhone abstract: Phil Compton

U.S. Steel's company town

Founded in 1906 by the US Steel Corporation, Gary's heyday was in the post-war boom of the 1950s when almost 200,000 people lived and worked in the bustling city, 25 miles from Chicago.

As the American manufacturing sector contracted, Gary's population fell by over 50 percent and no one now uses the once bustling train stations, churches and auditoriums that are now decaying as they are left to the elements.

The decay has been captured by photographer David Tribby in stunning photos.

Summer vacation with the 1%

I've had a string of disappointments in the book selecting field recently, but this makes up for it all: A nicely rendered version of The Great Gatsby, and very reasonably priced from audible.com.

Escape for a a while.

Well, not so boring now

Working at the Treasury frankly sounds kind of boring, which may explain why a number of employees allegedly spiced up their lives with golf, prostitutes and drunken altercations at football games.

Huffpo

Which football games?

(Bonus points: I typed Huffpo there and my autocorrect turned it into Buffoon.)

Not exactly in a nutshell, but still

President Obama's Disingenuous Attack On Outsourcing

His populist critique of free trade and outsourcing is a cynical pander. Just look at the economic leaders with whom he surrounds himself.

From The Atlantic, here.

Also…

He started playing this game during the Democratic primary in 2007, insisting that if elected president he would renegotiate NAFTA. To no one's surprise, he wasn't in office a month before he reneged on that promise. He was pretending to be someone who believed the populist critique of free trade agreements, but like the academic and business elites with whom he staffs his administration, Obama buys into the conventional case for free trade and never wanted to renegotiate NAFTA. He still doesn't, no matter how many times he complains that "Romney's firms shipped jobs to Mexico." In the long run, capital and labor mobility either benefit us or make us no worse off, insofar as global competition cannot be escaped. I tire of Obama pretending his position is different, and feel especially sorry for the voters he's misleading.

This is, I know, idle curiosity…

But if this Tim Giethner guy saw four guys wearing ski masks and carrying shotguns rushing into the bank across the street, would he email the bank the list of recommendations on how to improve their security procedures, or call the cops?

I'm thinking cops.

On the other hand, when it's the banks wearing the ski masks…

Spinach saves the day, or lunch at least

I like spinach. So sue me. I like the way it tastes and it's easy to cook, which makes it especially attractive in hot weather like we've been having. I made some for supper last night.

Now, the secret to making spinach for supper is to always make just a little bit extra you can save for lunch the next day. Because if you have a little leftover spinach for lunch, you can eat anything else you want. The spinach makes it all okay.

Please pass the potato chips.