Today’s lunchtime brings you a selection of links and chum. The links are some interesting posts I made over the weekend that might have been gotten lost in the friendslist sea:
- My review of Vanities: A New Musical at the Pasadena Playhouse
- My thoughts on the economic bailout plan
- My review of iTunes 8
As for the chum…
- From the “Choose Your Advisors Well” Department: The New York Times is reporting that Senator John McCain’s campaign manager was paid more than $30,000 a month for five years as president of an advocacy group set up by the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to defend them against stricter regulations, current and former officials say.
- From the “But Consider The Side Effects” Department: When folks talk about the economic crisis, the focus seems to be on the “greedy executives”, the “dishonest loan brokers”, and the “homeowners who stupidly got homes beyond their means”. But there is lots of fallout: from the neighbors having to deal with falling property values that is not their fault, to the eyesores and health hazards created by abandoned properties (which the banks don’t maintain), and the costs to the cities to clean up the properties. The NY Times has a nice article on the city eyesore cleanup squads.
- From the “And They Say the Nuts are in SoCal” Department: The Los Angeles Times has an interesting article on the craziness that is grocery shopping at Berkeley Bowl.
