Gary Rivlin’s new book Broke U.S.A. does a rather thorough job of chronicling the rise of the subprime lending industry in this country. The positive attributes of his tome include excellent detail and insight into how subprime lending operates in
In 1988, young Karen Toshima was gunned down by crossfire between rival gangs in the affluent area of Westwood Village, CA. In the subsequent weeks, L.A.P.D. flooded the district, known for its proximity to UCLA and as a hotspot for
No, Gary Rivlin, the Payday Lenders and Other Fringe Lenders Are Not To Blame I’m puzzled by Gary Rivlin. Here’s a guy who spent two years profiling the subprime consumer loan industry for a forthcoming book and who, unlike most
My last column offered hypotheses on why America feels that the entertainment industry is having a negative effect on the way things are going in the country these days. I theorized that many Americans feel that the entertainment industry does
The City of Los Angeles – you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. Slowly, ever since the departure of Mayor Richard Riordan in 2001, the parade of inept mayors and spineless city councils have dragged
Doofus Major Richard Eskow proved himself to be the simple child again today, in yet another bumbling screed over at the Huffington Post. Readers of this column know that his previous essay was filled with illogical pronouncements and an interpretation
There’s nothing I love more than a sanctimonious fool and non-believer who preaches the literal Gospel not only to other non-believers, but also to those who follow Jesus Christ. It is especially enjoyable when this same Prophet-Jester also fumbles Aristotle
On April 18, the Pew Research Center released the results of a recurring survey centered around people’s trust in government. In order to assess the results of several institutions, Pew asks the following question: “Is [insert item] having a positive
Who exactly is Rachel Maddow anyway? How did she get a show on MSNBC? A quick glance at her bio shows, let’s see, no journalistic credentials whatsoever. This comes as no surprise. And yet, considering that she has a Stanford
I’ve been pondering the concept of evil as depicted in film as of late, as the topic has come to mind while viewing several films: Elephant, United 93, 9/11 (the documentary), Schindler’s List, Life is Beautiful, Jonestown: Life & Death
Success in Hollywood is, for the most part, random. Now, there are certain projects that even a Bedouin nomad knows will be a monster hit. Lord of The Rings is one. It also happened to be executed with near perfection.
Duff Wilson of the New York Times should be ashamed of himself. His March 30 article, “Risks Seen in Cholesterol Drug Use in Healthy People,” is a shameless piece of hysteria masquerading as journalism. It’s yet another case of an
John Malone and Greg Maffei must put the brakes on selling Overture Studios. They don’t need to sell it. They need to restructure it. It’s too valuable an asset to let go, especially when combined with Liberty Media’s other properties.
Let’s review my postulations about Hollywood from my other articles and see if my proposed fixes can work. 1) Movies operate in a statistical environment of extreme uncertainty 2) Uncertainty creates fear 3) Fear creates a desire to control 4) Desire to control
After being the target of false accusations last week, the Freedom Alliance did the proper thing: they published all the details that any skeptic would want to see regarding the charity. This is what one would expect from any person,
This article addresses those people everyone loves to make sport of: the agents. Agents have a difficult job, believe it or not. They represent a multitude of clients. Very often, they represent several clients that would each be right for
There are also methods of fixing the problems that currently exist with the scripted network television industry. The current process is enormously wasteful of both money and productivity. Writers spend months pitching ideas to executives, who in turn pitch them
It’s a sad state of affairs when a “non-profit” activist group can get a grant from the federal government to launch a campaign to put commercial fisherman – who actually do hard work for a living – on the unemployment
In Parts 1 – 4 of this series, I’ve presented various reasons why I believe the current Hollywood business models are flawed. But what good am I screaming out what everyone already knows if I can’t offer any solutions? So
Last week, in Parts 1 – 3 of this series, I examined some of the inherent flaws in the Hollywood manufacturing system. This article will suggest how those flaws permeate the system so completely, that innovation is stifled, leading the
Hollywood has created a needlessly expensive bureaucracy that results in sub-optimal risk management. Each layer of bureaucracy behaves in ways so as to insulate itself from criticism from the level above it. My sixth postulation springs from this concept. 6)
Here’s the diagnosis regarding Hollywood’s present malady: 1) Movies operate in a statistical environment of extreme uncertainty 2) Uncertainty creates fear 3) Fear creates a desire to control 4) Desire to control has resulted in a multi-layered, needlessly expensive studio
[Ed. Note: This is the first part of an 8 part series that will run each weekday morning through next Friday.] In an interview with CNBC’s David Faber last November, legendary media titan John Malone said this of the network
Isn’t it interesting how every time a state government is in fiscal trouble that the first thing they decide to do is to raise taxes on the sale of tobacco? Somehow, legislators have it in their heads that the only
For a blog generally concerned with overzealous government regulation, readers might be surprised to find an article applauding the FDA. However, the regulatory agency has remained an ally of the American people by fulfilling its mandate – carefully evaluating every
