Composer Nico Muhly on New Yorker music critic Sasha Frere Jones:

It is sort of fascinating the way he somehow manages to make everything about him and yet says nothing; he once said about Grizzly Bear, ”the band’s sound suggests a group of eunuchs singing next to a music box on a sunken galleon.”

Muhly is the subject of a Rebecca Mead article in the New Yorker about his unique composing style.

Five underwater communications cables have been severed in the last week in the Mid East. Initial reports of a ship cutting the first line has been ruled out. Conspiracy theories have the CIA cutting the lines to cut of Iran from the internet. These cables are newer models that should not be wearing out. The only thing I can come up with is a possible geological event that is causing the disruptions.

I have a feeling that Nick Carr’s book The Big Switch will set off the largest debate about information technology this year. It is certainly an engaging book; Carr is an excellent writer. His vision for computer hardware utility documents an emerging trend within the information technology industry. I believe a trend that will increase for the foreseeable future.

Storage expert Robin Harris counters noting that networking is currently a bottleneck and that only Google is able to make cloud computing work. I think Mr. Harris is correct that networks are going to hinder this process. I, however, disagree concerning the Google magic that Yahoo and Microsoft are unable to reproduce. Google’s two competitors are unable to compete head to head, but there are other providers like Amazon Web Services, Sungard, EMC, and SAP already pushing into the services product space.

Cloud computing certainly seems like a marketing buzzword. Progression towards IT services will be slower and much more painful than suit clad sales consultants would have you believe, but organizations will trim non-core operations where they can. I have seen Fortune 500 organizations outsource their entire HR operations. IT will be that next step in corporate streamlining. The next 20 years will be stormy in the IT industry. The change will be dramatic.

Sen. Norm Coleman has come out against the perceived dangers of marijuana. A college friend, Norm Kent, has sent an open letter in response. Mr. Kent notes that he and Sen. Coleman seem to have survived their “youthful indiscretions” with marijuana.

I was expecting Sunflower Market to close after the last couple of times I was in there. The stores were quiet and there was not many people shopping. Business First has confirmed my suspicions today. All Sunflower Market stores will close in February.

I thought the concept had promise. The produce was a step above the usual grocery store fair and they were convenient. Unfortunately, there was not much more than that compelled me to go there more than a couple times a month. The concept may arise again. Maybe something more like Tesco’s Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market or the Fresh Market concept on Henderson Road. It is hard competing with giants like Whole Foods. Sunflower Market just could not do it.

James Hamilton of Econbrowser.com has his analysis of the Federal Reserve’s 75 basis point cut to the target federal funds rate. Hamilton’s final thought:

My bottom line? I believe the FOMC cast its vote today with those who declare that a recession has already begun.

Yes, there are signs of strength throughout the economy, but the people have spoken.

Radley Balko in reason unearthed the following phrase to describe Rudy Giuliani:

Jimmy Breslin has described Giuliani as “a short man in search of a balcony.” Imagine what the guy could do with the powers of the office of the presidency.

Giuliani would amount to a third term for the Bush policies. A terrifying thought to a civil libertarian like myself.

Almost the whole family came together to have dinner with Grandma. My Uncle John and Aunt Judy was in town to visit. My dad and Luella cooked up a feast. My brothers and I just had to enjoy it. Only Erica was not able to make it due to illness. She is feeling a little better now.

Here is a picture of the gang.

(l-r: Charlie, Aunt Judy, Uncle John, Grandma, Michael, me, Dad, and Luella)

Australian Peter Saunders has written a very compelling defense of capitalism. I have heard countless times that capitalism is a soul crushing endeavor that is of little benefit to society. Capitalism certainly does not have the glamour of Socialism or the cult of personality of Fascism. It is the system of modern civilization. It is the framework on how the world works.

Boring capitalism cannot hope to compete with all this moral certainty, self-righteous anger, and sheer bloody excitement. Where is the adrenalin in getting up every day, earning a living, raising a family, creating a home, and saving for the future? Where is the moral crusade in buying and selling, borrowing and lending, producing and consuming? The Encyclopædia Britannica describes ‘soul music’ as ‘characterised by intensity of feeling and earthiness.’ It is in this sense that capitalism is soulless, for although it fills people’s bellies, it struggles to engage their emotions.

Overlooked in this critique of Capitalism is the force for good it can be. It is the source of many of the advances that modern society enjoys such as mobile phones, televisions, computers, the expansion of the Internet and the lifesaving medical treatments we now enjoy. It has also been key in helping the poor the world over.

Capitalism has also made it possible for many more people to live on Earth and to survive for longer than ever before. In 1900, the average life expectancy in the ‘less developed countries’ was just thirty years. By 1960, this had risen to forty-six years. By 1998, it was sixty-five years. To put this extraordinary achievement into perspective, the average life expectancy in the poorest countries at the end of the twentieth century was fifteen years longer than the average life expectancy in the richest country in the world—Britain—at the start of that century.

This is not to say that capitalism is a unalloyed good. The development of the last century has come at a cost of environmental damage such as unclean air and water which has been remedied to some degree and others such as climate change which has yet to be addressed in any meaningful way. The change that it brings about with globalization, immigration, and technological change has stressed cultures throughout the world. With the bad news that creeps up related to capitalism, I also am glad to to be reminded of the positive changes that capitalism has brought to the world.

IKEA has set an opening date for it’s first Ohio store: March 12th. I won’t be there on opening day, but I will be making the trip soon.