These wonderful men have their differences - dapper dandies, disco dandies, decadent dandies - but they all share one dandy trait: they take elements from the classic era of men's style, then fuck with those elements and add their own creative touches.
( Dandies of New York: I SALUTE YOU! )

Joe is at Graceland right now as I type this!!!! What did I do tonight? I did 5 loads of laundry and prepared a Live Journal entry.

In an answer to my recent posts of classic film stars I never really got into, these are the ones I LOVE TO DEATH!! These ones are on the top of the heap! I enjoy their films immensely! I think they are good actors and/or I think they are drop-dead gorgeous. Whatever the reason, they all give me the most pleasure and they have the highest marks in my books. Enjoy!


Clara Bow
She was the first old movie star I became OBSSESSED with and idolised to pieces! After I read her bio that was it! She and I had so many life similarites, especially with her father treating her like shit and the malicious gossip that was spread about her. Yet she acted like no other.

( Gorgeous! Talented! Late Night Appeal! )

I also dished out some big bucks and bought myself a book. This cost a whole one cent!


I can't wait to read it! I'm not quite done The Red Leather Diaries yet!!

I've been updating way too much. I just have all these good things I want to share, though :/

Originally published at Indulgences. You can comment here or there.

“Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.”

-Coco Chanel

Comics with problems #25: TREAT YOUR RIFLE LIKE A LADY - The Will Eisner M-16 U.S. Army Rifle Management Booklet. Officially knows as DA Pam 750-30. 32 pages on proper cleaning and assembly of the M16A1 rifle. Issued in comic book form, and with rifle, to every U.S. soldier stationed in Vietnam. Chapter titles include: HOW TO STRIP YOUR BABY - WHAT TO DO IN A JAM - CUES FROM GUYS WHO KNOW - SWEET 16 - ALL THE WAY WITH NEGLIGEE and DRAIN BEFORE SHOOTING. Also introduces "Maggie" a personified M-16 Magazine cartridge with arms, legs, and eyelashes. Full text of the entire booklet at http://www.ep.tc/problems/25

I should not overstate American weakness. Although we're in a rough patch we still control a disproportionate share of the world's economy. This map (via The Big Picture) shows the next four largest economies mapped as regions of the United States:



Frankly I think China belongs in the south.

Earlier The Big Picture also posted a map of US States expressed as nations with equivalent GDP.

If a defining story of the 20th century was the rise of the multi-national corporation, and it seemed power were insensibly shifting from the public to the private sphere, it now looks as if a defining story of the 21st century will be the reverse of this trend, and the rise of sovereign wealth.

Global Corporations by Market Value (bn):
state-owned corporations in bold

PetroChina	$546
ExxonMobile	$465
GE	$330
China Mobile	$308
Gazprom	$306
ICBC China	$289
Microsoft	$253
Petrobras	$236
Royal Dutch Shell	$221
Berkshire Hathaway	$216

According to the New York Times, state-owned Gazprom is gunning to pass ExxonMobile in market value before 2014, a feat already performed last year by the state-owned PetroChina. Meanwhile sovereign wealth funds - investment funds controlled by governments - have grown become some of the largest blocks of money in the world.

The nature of government-controlled wealth differs from country to country. While the Chinese government holds a majority share in several large enterprises, yet retains independent control of the country, in Russia the reverse has happened, and Gazprom seems to have grabbed a majority share of the government. The recent election of Gazprom chairman Dmitri Medvedev to the presidency of the Russian Federation hammers home how much influence the company, whose tax receipts accounts for %20 of the Russian federal budget, has attained.

Global Investment Funds by Assets (bn):
state-owned funds in bold

Abu Dhabi (s)	$1,300
Vanguard (m)	$1,155
American Funds (m)	$1,124
Fidelity (m)	$970
Japan Government Pension (p)	$866
Singapore (s)	$489
Norway (s)	$350
Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP (p)	$332
Saudi Arabia (s)	$300
Kuwait (s)	$250

(m) mutual fund, (p) pension, (s) sovereign wealth fund

Historical trends can be hard to read because there are so many overlapping vectors: culture, technology, belief, etc. One of those vectors is centralization. In the west, the fall of the Roman Empire was largely a story of decentralization; local commanders, the dux, became sovereigns in miniature. This process was not uniform across region or scale - in fact power often became more centralized on the small scale - but overall the power of the state was consumed by local leaders. The modern period tells the story of how the state reasserted control, culminating in the terrible Soviet and Nazi regimes of the 20th century. The great battles of the 20th century can be read in part as an attempt to balance the power of the state with the power of the individual.

Should we, as western liberals, be worried by a resurgence of state power? I think the answer is an equivocal yes. A private corporation or investment fund can be largely trusted to operate rationally in the pursuit of profit. While this may not always contribute to the greater good it is at least predictable, and nations that trade together are less likely to fight; outside of "small wars" like Iraq, peace is profitable. When the state controls the economy it is free to pursue interests other than profit, which can include belligerent behavior. I equivocate because I believe the state is a citizen's best protection against the power of the rich. Unfortunately the states that seem to be flexing their economic muscles are some of the least liberal governments in the world, and their citizens are unlikely to see any benefit from the shift in power.

( Betty is a big girl. She has a fourteen-inch shell. )

~W

( A lot of these... )
~W

Well, our little fledermaus was still loitering around the house yesterday morning, so we took him down to Woodford Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge, where he will be stabilized (he was exhausted and weak) and sent off to another facility that specializes in rehabilitating bats. The facility was very busy: all sorts of ducks, raccoons, and rabbits were showing up at their door.

After saying our fond farewells, we milled around to see the other tenants. Plenty of hawks, falcons, bald eagles, but I've always been taken by the Great Horned Owls--of which they have three fine, fat fellows at the refuge. They never look quite real.

Shalom Harlow by Stephane Sednaoui
Unpublished



( revolt )