Saturday, March 5, 2011

The success of Warren Buffett

From the February issue of Vanity Fair:
Buffett and [Vice-Chairman] Munger have built a reputation for being the "buyer of first resort." In other words, when a certain type of owner wants to sell his business, he'll turn to Buffett first -- because Berkshire is widely seen as the most benevolent of owners for the right kind of business. "For the last 20 years Buffett has been like Steven Spielberg -- every good script comes across his desk," says an observer. . . .

"We think faster and operate faster than anyone," says Munger. "There is no one in the world better at buying something Monday morning that we heard about Saturday." Another Wall Streeter says about Buffett, "His true genius is, given the flow of deals and investments that cross his desk, he sifts through them very efficiently. I call this the uncluttered mind. And he has the guts to write big checks."

And after that Buffett leaves the business alone. It is free from the pressures of being a publicly traded company, and it is managed as the original management sees fit. This is the opposite of the private-equity approach, in which businesses are loaded with debt and profits are boosted via layoffs. "Love of money over love of business," says Buffett about private equity. Every two years, Buffett sends a memo to his top managers, whom he calls his "All-Stars." This summer, he wrote, "Talk to me about what is going on as little or as much as you wish. Each of you does a first-class job of running your operation with your own individual style and you don't need me to help." . . .

Blog description

Just added it tonight. The reference to "reality" comports with this (from Wikipedia here):
Reality-based community is an informal term in the United States. In the fall of 2004, the phrase "proud member of the reality-based community" was first used to suggest the commentator's opinions are based more on observation than on faith, assumption, or ideology. The term has been defined as people who "believe that solutions emerge from judicious study of discernible reality." Some commentators have gone as far as to suggest that there is an overarching conflict in society between the reality-based community and the "faith-based community" as a whole. It can be seen as an example of political framing.
The source of the term is a quotation in an October 17, 2004, The New York Times Magazine article by writer Ron Suskind, quoting an unnamed aide to George W. Bush (later attributed to Karl Rove[1]):
The aide said that guys like me were "in what we call the reality-based community," which he defined as people who "believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality." ... "That's not the way the world really works anymore," he continued. "We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality—judiciously, as you will—we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors…and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do."[2]
[Emphasis added.] The first time I read that, I could hardly believe my eyes. The hubris of it all. Karl Rove, I think, is a perfect exemplar, along with Glenn Beck, of the problem of a little education being a dangerous thing.  "A small amount of knowledge can mislead people into thinking that they are more expert than they really are." (See here.) Both Rove and Beck are college drop-outs; education was too liberal for them.  (George Bush, always the rebel, was basically just dumb enough to be bamboozled by Rove.)

Of course, Glenn Beck now has his own bullshit "university."

Changing the subject:  Technically, I was born in Coral Gables and now live in North Miami, which is its own municipality. But for the most part I grew up right in the heart of the City of Miami. I also work there.

Friday, March 4, 2011

TGIF!

Vacation from the gym is almost over. I'll start back next week. (Didn't go tonight.)

I think I'll also go down to Magnum next Friday, after the gym. Will bus it there and taxi back.

Haven't been on the bar scene in a few years, not since the local watering hole closed down. I used to stop in there regularly. Won't get back into that habit, however. I do miss the music and the company, though.

I enjoyed Magnum on New Year's Eve. It was busy and the music was great. Not into the piano bar, however. (It's a good one if you like piano bars.) (Too faggy for me, everybody sitting around singing "New York, New York.") They had regular house music outside. I mostly sat in the little "Shack" bar. There's also a covered outdoor seating area, with couches and a large-screen TV.

Miami New Times "Housewives of Miami" blog

Here. Cute (with a few minor errors).
"We might be getting a little ahead of ourselves, but it looks like this season of Real Housewives of Miami is actually getting good. Yes, the first episode was boring, but the second really stepped it up. Are we the only ones who feel this way? . . ."

Gay-Themed Films Heat Up SXSW

From The Advocate here. SXSW (South by Southwest) is a gay film festival in Austin, TX, taking place March 11-20. Watch trailer for one of the entries below.

George Will, conservative columnist, on the Republicans

“[S]ensible Americans … must … be detecting vibrations of weirdness emanating from people associated with the party. … The most recent vibrator is Mike Huckabee, [who referred in a radio interview to President Obama] ‘having grown up in Kenya’ [actually grew up in Jakarta and Honolulu] .… A spokesman for Huckabee dutifully lied, saying his employer ‘simply misspoke’ .… Let us not mince words. There are at most five plausible Republican presidents on the horizon -- Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, former Utah Gov. and departing ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty. So the Republican winnowing process is far advanced. But the nominee may emerge much diminished by involvement in a process cluttered with careless, delusional, egomaniacal, spotlight-chasing candidates to whom the sensible American majority would never entrust a lemonade stand, much less nuclear weapons.”

From Politico here.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Omar Sharif Jr., Hottie Oscar Trophy Presenter, Discusses Gay Rights


(Actor Omar Sharif's grandson.) From Towle Road here.

His grandfather told him: “I gave you my looks and I gave you my name. That’s all I can give you in this profession. After that, you’re entirely on your own.” (From Advocate interview - follow link above.)
[Click to enlarge]
The grandfather with Barbra Streisand
The grandfather