Author Archives: Jon Lowder

Life Without -ologists

3 Replies

My brain is tired today and that means it has been wandering more than normal, which is the inverse of what happens to my body when it is tired.  Anyway one of the thoughts that my brain tumbled to is this: the more -ologists in your life at any given time, the worse off you are.  For instance:

  • If you are seeing any medical -ologist you are probably feeling either physically or emotionally threatened. Who wants to start their day getting ready to see an oncologist, endocrinologist, cardiologist, psychologist, etc. ?
  • If you work with an -ologist of any stripe you’re most likely a miserable SOB.  Who wants to be surrounded by apologists (Democrats), numerologists (Republicans), sociologists (we’re all screwed and here’s why), pathologists (I see dead people), climatologists (the sky is falling!) or theologians (a form of -ologist, but with a holier-than-thou bent)?
  • Exception that proves the rule: Sexologist.

Thankfully my life is barren of -ologists right now and I’m knocking on wood as I write this in hopes of keeping it that way.

Why I Wouldn’t Run Even If I Could

Leave a reply

Not that anyone gives a damn, but if I were a big-name politician like Al Bore I wouldn’t run for anything for the next couple of years.  That’s the ultimate sucker bet: take leadership just when things are ready to come-a-crapper.

I thought that the Bush administration got a bum rap for not catching Osama’s boys before 9-11 (didn’t most of the lead-up happen during Clinton’s administration) and I think that the next administration is going to be left holding the bag for what’s developed under Bush.  Residual effects of Iraq and crappy economic policies are going to doom the next administration no matter which party it comes from.

But who am I?  I don’t know s— about s— so it doesn’t really matter what I think.  Unless of course there are tens of millions of American voters who think like me, which of course means the country has much bigger problems than picking a decent President.

My strategy?  Sit it out until ’12 and then play Roosevelt (Franklin or Teddy, take your pick).

Realtors Running Scared, Part Deux

Leave a reply

Last month I wrote a post called "Realtors Running Scared" and in it I basically said that I saw the need for realtors diminishing, at least from the seller’s standpoint.  Today the New York Times has an interesting article that features two new services that should cause more than a few realtors to change their underwear. From the article:

One site, Zillow.com,
which will be introduced today, will help consumers obtain more
accurate real estate sales information — to the consternation of some
real estate agents.

A smaller site, Redfin.com,
introduced an unusual new service last week that might be even more
disruptive to the real estate industry: the feature automates the
process of bidding on a house online.

Of the two I find Zillow more interesting and much more of an imminent threat to realtors.  As I said in my first post I think that realtors’ real value is in the matchmaking process (i.e. helping buyers find the right house).  I honestly think the only real value they have traditionally offered sellers is a place on the MLS, and with sites like Zillow the MLS is quickly going to lose market dominance if it hasn’t already.

On the other hand buying a house is a highly stressful and intimate affair.  I don’t see bidding for houses online as a today or tomorrow proposition so I’m not real big on Redfin’s prospects, at least as I understand what they’re trying to do.  I’ll say it again: realtors that want to thrive should focus on offering a high-touch service to buyers and move away from worrying about listings.  They should also be open to accepting lower commissions from sellers because in the very near future that will probably be their only option.  Heck they might even want to move away from the commission model to a service fee model, although I have no idea if that’s allowed under existing regulations.  It would be worth looking into though.

It Will Also Scare the Crap Out of the Enemy

Leave a reply

Army_stormtrooperbigThere’s a new piece of facial armor that’s been developed for US troops (click on the picture to see a larger version).  Put a little speaker on it and pipe out some Darth Vader breathing sounds and you could probably cause more than one insurgent, or perhaps a small child, to drop his own little load don’t you think?  Halloween costume anyone?

You can check it out at the manufacturer’s website: MTek Weapon Systems

Rubbing Elbows

Leave a reply

When I was in college (George Mason University, 89) I joined the Sigma Chi fraternity.  Actually I joined a local fraternity that was petitioning to join Sigma Chi, but that’s another story.

Anyway I made some great friends in Sigma Chi and I’ve been really tickled as I’ve watched one of our guys make it in Hollywood.  Archie Kao has had a recurring role in the original CSI and he was also a Power Ranger, which my kids found very cool at the time.  Before becoming an actor Archie was the student body president at GMU and he’s always been a great guy.

Tonight I just discovered that another one of our guys is making a go of it in Hollywood.  Bill Carter (now known as Will Carter) is just getting started but he’s in a flick with Gwyneth Paltrow, Annette Bening and Alec Baldwin so he must be doing okay.  The last time I saw Bill he was working as the press secretary in US Senator John Warner’s (R-VA) office so to say that he’s made a career switch would be a slight understatement.  No matter the career I’ll always think of Bill as a true southern gentleman and I hope he has great success.

BTW, some other actors who were Sigs in college (just not mine) include Woody Harrelson and Tom Selleck.

There’s Accountability and then There’s Accountability

1 Reply

In an act that would scare the pants off of any doctor the Freedom of Information minister in Scotland ruled that the mortality rates of the patients of the almost 1,000 surgeons in the country could be made publicly available.  In other words each of the surgeons’ success rates are now public knowledge. (Read about it here).

The head healthcare dude for the country said that he didn’t understand why the data was made available "because it did not provide details of individual patient cases."  Well, I’d argue that it would then be in the best interest of the doctors to make sure that the details were made available so that the public could have some context, but it is definitely in the public’s best interest to have this data available.

Now before you jump all over me here I think this is a two way street.  If we’re going to hold doctors accountable (which I argue for) then we need to also protect them from frivolous lawsuits, and I actually think that this kind of "sunshine" on doctor data will help doctors.  After all if we can say that 90% of patients that have a certain procedure die (100% die without it) then we can’t hold the surgeon responsible if it goes wrong.  On the other hand if 99% survive a procedure and a doctor manages to lose 10% of his patients then that’s another issue.

Of course I don’t see this becoming an issue in the US.  The medical establishment will fight "sunshine" laws until their last breath and lawyers will never go for anything that would put a crimp in their market.

It’s the Comments

2 Replies

Ever since I started blogging I’ve been asked the same two questions over and over:

  1. What makes a blog different from a regular website?
  2. Why do you blog?

I’ve often struggled to answer both questions, but over time I came to realize that one overarching feature of blogs attracts me: the comments.

I read other peoples’ blogs because they’re interesting and because I want to see how people react via comments. (A quick aside: I’ve found that I rarely continue to read blogs that have the comments turned off).  A great case study is Ed Cone’s blog post about the furor in the Muslim world over some offensive comics.  I found the 23 comments (when I read it) more interesting than the post itself.  To use a real world analogy I’d find having dinner with Ed and the commenters and listening to their debate over the issue far more interesting than going to speech given by Ed (no offense to Ed, I just don’t much enjoy speeches).

One of the main reasons I continue to write my blog is that I truly enjoy the comments I get.  I really don’t care if someone agrees or disagrees, but I do care that I’m having a form of interaction.  It helps me avoid intellectual petrification because there are a lot of smart people out there and when they provide me with alternate theories, ideas and arguments they give me the gift of context and a larger worldview.

So I guess you could say that the one word answer to both questions is: dialog.

And the Food Wasn’t Bad

3 Replies

Last week I had lunch with a local moderate conservative blogger who referred to me as a moderate liberal, which is pretty much accurate.  He didn’t name me on his blog to protect my identity so I’ll do the same.  I very much enjoyed the conversation and although we originally planned to eat at Outback we ended up eating at NASCAR Cafe.  Honestly the food was pretty good which means I was pretty surprised.

Speaking of NASCAR and things you ingest did you know that NASCAR big-wig Richard Childress has his own winery?  Living in NW North Carolina does have its interesting moments.