Oh, Canada!

Has anyone realized that the Canadian Dollar is almost nearly the same value as the US Dollar? Above is a 6 month chart.

The Canadian Dollar buys you about 96 cents, way up from when I last pondered this, when it was 70 cents.

The Wire shout out

Sudhir Venkatesh, the guy profiled in Freakonomics for spending time with street gangs in Chicago for grad student work, recently fielded questions from readers of the Freakonomics blog.

Q: Do you think the HBO series The Wire gives an accurate portrayal of gang life? It is clear from the show (if it is as real as it seems) that traditional policing strategies are very ineffective.

A: I am a huge fan of The Wire. I actually watched Season Two with a group of high ranking gang leaders/drug dealers in Chicago, who desperately wished that the series producers would make a separate show about Chicago! Everyone in the room agreed that the writers did well to show the nuances in the underground economy.

Remember, season two was with the white people. Of course, the gritty accuracy was not good enough to get an Emmy nomination...

East Village Scene

On CraigsList, via DealBreaker:

Anyway, you brushed by me as I approached the bar--you looked up at me and said "hi, how are you?" I said, "Oh, you know, pretty good, closed an industry-changing M&A deal today. It's likely to double my bonus." Your reaction was not what I expected. I know that inside, you were indeed impressed, but the look on your face didn't quite evince the same sentiment. This, of course, caused me to panic. I quickly retrieved the BlackBerry from its plastic hip holster and began to type furiously. Being engaged in an important email discussion with several important Industry Leaders and DealMakers, I had no time to engage in further human contact. But that's too bad--maybe you could have saved me from this soul-destroying life that I've become hopelessly lost in.

DealBreaker also quoted Ben's article, quoting Ken Langone, re: private equity. He said it was the most clicked article that day. Why? Maybe it has to do with the subtitle - "...Home Depot's co-founder says private equity is pretty simple, 'kind of like sex'"

Post-peak oil dentistry

Some lines of odd questioning, with odder, creepy answers can't go un-blogged, and they weren't thanks to How The World Works. But I'll steal his idea. This is from a blog devoted to the transition to a post-peak oil world. The (paraphrased) question:

How strong will the demand for dentists be in a post-peak oil world?

Dentist #1: Well, as I see it, we are in a society near the edges of collapse. I don’t actually think the governmental structures will be able to function in the long run, so spending five years on a dental course may not be in the individual’s best interest, unless a slow steady decline can be envisaged. It all depends on how bad things get.

There may well be a decrease in the availability of refined carbohydrates reducing rates of tooth decay, but conversely, food shortages will of course effect peoples immune systems and will likely increase the risk and rate of gum disease. Also as society trends downwards, people will look for ways to escape from an ever increasing sense of despair through distractions like alcohol and tobacco (a government that wants to cling to power will make sure these are available in my opinion).

I think this may become my first screenplay.

Seriously, I want to grow up to be half as good a blogger as Andrew Leonard.