Marty Manley on economics, politics, technology, and culture

Archive for December, 2008

iBrain

On two recent flights the person sitting next to me had an Apple iPhone. I asked them both "is your iPhone  taking over your brain?" Both times, my seatmate looked slightly embarrassed before confessing, "actually, yes". My iPhone has been taking over my brain — or at least the digital part of it. When I [...]

Dog Whistling

Politicians like dog metaphors. They reject an argument with "that dog won't hunt" and dismiss one  with "I got no dog in that fight". Enemies have canine ancestry (at least on their mother's side). When they create a crisis to deflect criticism, they "wag the dog" (after the DeNiro film about a President who goes [...]

The Obama Transition: Missing Three Pieces

Your weaknesses will slow you down, but your strengths can kill you. You know your weaknesses, and you tend to compensate. But your strengths cast  shadows — blind spots that create real vulnerability. Smart leaders know this. They build leadership teams that help check their blind spots. There is early evidence that Barrack Obama is [...]

Prop 8: The Musical: "It's an Obamanation".

Begging for redemption after a series of embarrassing movie performances, Jack Black is here resurrected as Jesus Christ in this vaudeville send-up of California’s Proposition Eight. He is joined by Neil Patrick Harris, Margaret Cho, John C. Reilly, Maya Rudolph and a lot of other people who I did not realize could sing. The play [...]