Final Debate Roundtable: We Opened A Google Doc And Started Talking To Each Other

October 23rd, 2012 by John Surico, Raj Sidhu, Ava Kiai, Whitney Meer, Kyle Zinn, and Brett Chamberlin

As a consequence, most of the time we have no idea who was speaking.

Ari: Is it just me or is this debate kinda bleh.
Obama’s tie knot is too tight

Game of Battleship should have actually been this debate

Battleship drinking game. They each take a shot whenever they strike the other’s base.
This is boring, right? Since when does “presidential”= boring?
John: Romney has brought up the economy three times and counting this debate.
Because thats what people actually care about – foreign policy isnt exactly a proverbial panty dropper

Also, Romney’s strong point is the economy, NOT foreign policy. (And economy wins votes – come on, guys, have you READ Karl Marx?!) true Read more…


We Got Bored Of Recapping The Debate And Decided To Explain “What It All Means”

October 17th, 2012 by Ari Lipsitz, John Surico, Brett Chamberlin, Ava Kiai, Kyle Zinn, and Raj Sidhu

Brett Chamberlin

You don’t need me to tell you that Obama brought his A game tonight. Chances are your Twitter and Facebook feeds were exploding with reactions to Tuesday’s highly-energized and contentious second presidential debate, not to mention the inevitable (and completely meaningless) meme fallout.

The candidate’s zingers and gaffes will dominate the news cycle for the rest of the week, so there’s little I can add to the conversation about what they said.

Instead, let’s talk about what they didn’t say — and given that the final debate will discuss foreign policy, these are topics which likely won’t be addressed at all.

There was no discussion of America’s militaristic and escalating war on drugs. More than 850,000 Americans are arrested every year for marijuana charges, a drug which the last three presidents have admitted to using. Currently, 45,000 Americans are incarcerated for non-violent marijuana charges — that’s nearly one in eight prisoners. Meanwhile, America maintains the largest prison population in the world, many of which are for completely nonviolent crimes — but no discussion of addressing that travesty in the “land of the free.” Read more…


A QE3 Cheat Sheet From A Sternie

September 18th, 2012 by Kyle Zinn

You may have heard last week Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke announced a third round of quantitative easing—better known as QE3. Unfortunately, you might have no idea what QE3 stands for, or that it even exists. For seasoned financial veterans, there are a lot of great articles with detailed analysis. But for the tl;dr-ers, here’s a cheat sheet that will allow you to talk intelligibly (although briefly) about, you know, the economy and jobs and stuff.

Starting from the beginning: the housing bubble and the subsequent proliferation of mortgage backed securities (MBS) popped in late 2007, sending banks under, creating a credit crisis and mass unemployment. By late 2008 the economy was in the proverbial pooper. We imagine this isn’t new news for you. Read more…


Class of 2016: Three Things You Should Know (But Might Not) To Avoid Unemployment

September 13th, 2012 by Kyle Zinn

So you’ve been here for three weeks, and we hope that it has been three weeks of reckless abandon and collegiate debauchery. Unfortunately, all good things must come to end — or at least take a brief pause to consider reality. Lingering at the back of your minds (or maybe the front) is the hope that four years from now, you will graduate with a job that will make your shiny, expensive degree seem worthwhile. However, as you might expect, the process towards employment doesn’t begin the second semester of your senior year. But fret not, we’re here to help.

We trust that if you’ve made it this far, you’re probably smart enough to be bored by the obvious tips. Wasserman is your friend, not an acquaintance; good grades are better than bad grades; and work experience is a plus — yes, we get that you get it. But we hope you can take some advice from upperclassmen who’d like to see you avoid some key mistakes. Read more…


Here Are Videos Of Rhinos In Helicopters To Distract You From Finals

May 8th, 2012 by Kyle Zinn

How do you move a rhinoceros that weighs more than your car? According to the World Wildlife Foundation, the gold standard in rhino transportation is as follows:

  1. Tranquilize the rhinoceros
  2. Strap bungie cords to the rhino’s ankles
  3. Chain cords to a helicopter
  4. Do this.

Last year the WWF moved nineteen Black Rhinos, a critically endangered species devastated by poaching, to expand their range of presence in Africa. While the airlifts seem precarious, project director Jacques Flamand says the ”new procedure is gentler on the darted rhino, because it shortens the time it has to be kept asleep with drugs, the respiration is not as compromised as it can be in a net, and it avoids the need for travel in a crate over terrible tracks.”

While we understand that the conservation of a delicate ecosystem, threatened by aggressive human exploitation, fueled by a global underground economy is probably the real story here, we’re stuck on the whole flying rhino thing. It’s pretty wild.

So wild, in fact, that instead of studying for finals and writing papers you should watch videos, read articles, and see more pictures of it, because that’s what we’re doing.

(Image via)


Walk All Over The 1%; Warren Buffett Running Shoes

May 2nd, 2012 by Kyle Zinn

Let Warren Buffet put a little skip in your step and hopefully support your arches too. In anticipation of Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholders meeting this weekend, Brooks Sports, a Hathaway holding, has unveiled running shoes with the world’s most famous investor printed on the sole. For a mere $110, shareholders can get their hands on a pair while supplies last.

Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett’s conglomerate, has increasingly used its annual meeting as an opportunity to showcase the various products of the different holdings. The event in Omaha, Nebraska draws tens of thousands of investors—in addition to providing shareholders information on the company’s health and guidance on its future performance, it has included videos of Buffett dunking over LeBron James and skits from the cast of The Office. The event has been called the “Woodstock for capitalists.” Read more…


Feds Investigating Goldman Sachs In Yet Another Scandal

April 27th, 2012 by Kyle Zinn

Rumors are floating that Federal prosecutors will investigate Goldman Sachs investment banker Matthew Korenberg, in relation to the ongoing investigation of the Raj Rajaratnam scandal. Korenberg is suspected of leaking information of a healthcare takeover to former hedge fund manager. Rajaratnam’s insider trading scheme involved trading activity in at least 12 separate companies, netted him millions and was the largest in hedge fund history.

Goldman Sachs has no comment on the investigation.

While its no secret that Wall Street bankers work a lot, the PR Department at Goldman Sachs might have had the biggest workload this year. While this investigation might not have a material effect on Goldman by itself, it is merely the latest in a string of accusations of illegal or unethical activities by Wall Street’s most prestigious firm. Here’s a roundup: Read more…


Wal-Mart Bribery Scandal In Mexico Uncovered

April 25th, 2012 by Kyle Zinn

Everyday Low Prices don’t stop at the Rio Grande. This weekend, the New York Times published an extensive investigative report on an bribery scandal inside Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart de Mexico has long been a darling among everyone’s favorite mega-corporation’s foreign subsidiaries for its high growth and outstanding profits. Currently, one in every five Wal-Mart stores is located in Mexico, and with 209,000 employees, the retailer is the largest private employer in the country.

It seems, however, that its road to dominance was paved with systematic bribery that reached as high as the executive level.

Read more…


Cooler Than A Million: Facebook Buys Instagram

April 10th, 2012 by Kyle Zinn

Facebook announced Monday that it would be acquiring the photo-sharing app Instagram for $1 billion in cash and stock — not too shabby for a company with 13 employees and no source of revenue. The deal, which is slated to officially close later this quarter, is a large departure from its previous acquisitions. Facebook is shelling out ten times more than it has ever done before for an app with over 30 million users. The move marks Facebook’s increasing emphasis on photo-sharing as a strategy to maintain users moving forward.

Mobile photographers need not panic—you will still be able to snap faux artistic filtered pics post-acquisition. So says Facebook’s press release: “We plan on keeping features like the ability to post to other social networks, the ability to not share your Instagrams on Facebook if you want, and the ability to have followers and follow people separately from your friends on Facebook.” But if you still don’t trust Zuckerberg, you can back up your pictures here. Read more…


The Knicks: Linjury, Bulged Discs, And The Playoffs

April 6th, 2012 by Kyle Zinn

You might have heard of the New York Knicks this year, which is strange because the Knicks are usually terrible. Even in this year, with all the Linsanity and related attention surrounding the team, they have only managed to break even on their record so far. Much of the coverage of the team these days speculates on their potency in the playoffs and their ability to perform with the weakened lineup: Point guard Jeremy Lin and forward Amar’e Stoudemire are currently out with injuries. Rarely is it mentioned that they are barely holding on to the 8th and final seed in the playoffs with the Milwaukee Bucks just a game-and-a-half behind.

But fans are eternally optimistic despite all signs, present and historic, that suggest our eventual disappointment. So let’s see what would have to happen for the Knicks to be successful in the postseason (or at least make it there). Read more…


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