WTF?!?
Basically this seals the deal for conservatives in a conservative district. But at what cost? Scozzafava was considered a moderate Republican and at a time when people generally think the Republican party is dominated by wingnuts, this could actually help Democrats in 2010.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Time: Why Main Street Hates Wall Street
The Managing Editor of Time Magazine, Rick Stengel was on Morning Joe this morning talking about the cover story of the latest issue of Time:
Roughly 2 1/2 minutes into the clip, he talks about how even though Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley declared themselves banks rather than investment houses so they could borrow money from the Fed, they still don't act as banks. These firms claims their success is tied to the success of Main Street but the discussion goes into some detail about the disconnect between the two.
The specific comment about how regular folks cannot open an account with these firms and the investments they make are not available to regular folks is very important. Often because of CNBC and other financial news outlets the general public seems to believe that everyone that works at these firms is a superstar undeservedly making millions of dollars. On the contrary, most people employed by these firms are "regular folks" that will never make enough money through their jobs to invest in the instruments these firms are selling to their clients. However, these firms will rely heavily on these employees working long unpaid overtime hours at nights and weekends should those investments go south for the high net worth client just to make the client whole with little concern for the work/life balance of the rank-and-file employees making $30,000, $40,000, or $50,000.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Roughly 2 1/2 minutes into the clip, he talks about how even though Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley declared themselves banks rather than investment houses so they could borrow money from the Fed, they still don't act as banks. These firms claims their success is tied to the success of Main Street but the discussion goes into some detail about the disconnect between the two.
The specific comment about how regular folks cannot open an account with these firms and the investments they make are not available to regular folks is very important. Often because of CNBC and other financial news outlets the general public seems to believe that everyone that works at these firms is a superstar undeservedly making millions of dollars. On the contrary, most people employed by these firms are "regular folks" that will never make enough money through their jobs to invest in the instruments these firms are selling to their clients. However, these firms will rely heavily on these employees working long unpaid overtime hours at nights and weekends should those investments go south for the high net worth client just to make the client whole with little concern for the work/life balance of the rank-and-file employees making $30,000, $40,000, or $50,000.
Will Restricting Immigration Protect the Environment?
Will Restricting Immigration Protect the Environment?
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Great post today by Amy Mehta on the Imagine 2050 website. I wholeheartedly agree that "blaming immigrants prevents wasteful Americans from taking ownership of their contribution to environmental pollution and degradation." It's easy to blame groups with no voting power because there is little or no retaliation from these groups.
Perhaps in a moment of life imitating art, this reminds me of "Much Apu About Nothing" episode of The Simpsons (Season 7, Episode 23) when the unreasonable bear tax (referred to by Lisa Simpson as "the smallest tax increase in history") had to be instituted because of illegal immigrants.
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Great post today by Amy Mehta on the Imagine 2050 website. I wholeheartedly agree that "blaming immigrants prevents wasteful Americans from taking ownership of their contribution to environmental pollution and degradation." It's easy to blame groups with no voting power because there is little or no retaliation from these groups.
Perhaps in a moment of life imitating art, this reminds me of "Much Apu About Nothing" episode of The Simpsons (Season 7, Episode 23) when the unreasonable bear tax (referred to by Lisa Simpson as "the smallest tax increase in history") had to be instituted because of illegal immigrants.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
My Solution from February to the BCS Mess
Okay, so I was thinking now that we have the first few BCS rankings of they season that I would write my two cents on how the NCAA can keep the BCS and have a playoff system. (Kind of like keeping the current health insurance system and adding the co-ops or exchanges to it.) Well, it turns out I wrote about this back in February and completely forgot about it. In fact, it was my second post on this blog.
Based on my the playoff matchups suggested in my post from February 4th and the BCS standings on October 25th, you would get the following matchups with the assumption that the highest ranked team in each conference will be the conference champ.
#1 Florida vs. #8 Georgia Tech (Orange Bowl)
#2 Texas vs. #7 Cincinnati (Sugar Bowl)
#3 Iowa vs. #6 Boise State (Fiesta Bowl)
#4 USC vs. #5 TCU (Rose Bowl)
If you're wondering where's Alabama, currently BCS #2, I'm using the higher ranked team from the SEC, which is Florida. If Alabama were to beat Florida, they would be #1. If TCU or Boise State were to drop out of the top 10 and no other mid-major team were to climb into the top ten, the spot would be Alabama's as an at-large team.
Let me know what you think.
Based on my the playoff matchups suggested in my post from February 4th and the BCS standings on October 25th, you would get the following matchups with the assumption that the highest ranked team in each conference will be the conference champ.
#1 Florida vs. #8 Georgia Tech (Orange Bowl)
#2 Texas vs. #7 Cincinnati (Sugar Bowl)
#3 Iowa vs. #6 Boise State (Fiesta Bowl)
#4 USC vs. #5 TCU (Rose Bowl)
If you're wondering where's Alabama, currently BCS #2, I'm using the higher ranked team from the SEC, which is Florida. If Alabama were to beat Florida, they would be #1. If TCU or Boise State were to drop out of the top 10 and no other mid-major team were to climb into the top ten, the spot would be Alabama's as an at-large team.
Let me know what you think.
Thomas Frank: Obama Is Right About Fox News - WSJ.com
Thomas Frank's most recent column in the Wall Street Journal has this accurately written blurb:
"To point out that this network is different, that it is intensely politicized, that it inhabits an alternate reality defined by an imaginary conflict between noble heartland patriots and devious liberals—to be aware of these things is not the act of a scheming dictatorial personality. It is the obvious conclusion drawn by anybody with eyes and ears."
"To point out that this network is different, that it is intensely politicized, that it inhabits an alternate reality defined by an imaginary conflict between noble heartland patriots and devious liberals—to be aware of these things is not the act of a scheming dictatorial personality. It is the obvious conclusion drawn by anybody with eyes and ears."
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Thomas Frank: From John Birchers to Birthers - WSJ.com
I missed this last week. An interesting column by Thomas Frank in last week's Wall Street Journal about a prescient piece written four and a half decades ago.
Fox News and Shepard Smith Earlier Today
I saw something earlier today on Fox News that actually surprised me. At the top of the 3:00PM hour, anchor Shepard Smith was reporting stories about the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial races. When he went to the reporter covering the Chris Christie campaign, the reporter had actually managed to get Chris Christie on the air for a brief interview. After completing the interview, Smith asked the reporter when Gov. Corzine would be interviewed. When the reporter replied that they were still waiting to hear back from the Corzine campaign, Smith said he had no idea the interview was to take place, apologized to the television audience that it happened, and said that if he had control of the situation, it would not have taken place at all.
I'm not sure if video of that segment is stored or saved on YouTube somewhere, but is it possible that by criticizing Fox News (appropriately so, in most cases) any responsible journalists on the network are actually losing their credibility? I've subscribed to the Alan Colmes podcast for months now and although he is put in an awkward situation as a liberal working for Fox News, he often cites Shepard Smith by name when defending the news programming on Fox News and distinguishing it from the opinion programming.
Updated: the video was posted on YouTube:
I'm not sure if video of that segment is stored or saved on YouTube somewhere, but is it possible that by criticizing Fox News (appropriately so, in most cases) any responsible journalists on the network are actually losing their credibility? I've subscribed to the Alan Colmes podcast for months now and although he is put in an awkward situation as a liberal working for Fox News, he often cites Shepard Smith by name when defending the news programming on Fox News and distinguishing it from the opinion programming.
Updated: the video was posted on YouTube:
Should the NBA age restriction be eliminated?
Interesting op-ed in today's New York Times. It makes some sense, especially if more players like Brandon Jennings of the Milwaukee Bucks opt to play professionally in Europe instead of the NCAA. Of course, when I read about high school players jumping straight to the NBA, I always remember the name Korleone Young.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Is Fox News Un-American?
An article from last week's Newsweek. (Apologies for the mobile link; I originally posted this from my BlackBerry.)
The O'Garbage Factor
http://mobile.newsweek.com/detail.jsp?key=80113&rc=camp2008&p=0&all=1
The O'Garbage Factor
http://mobile.newsweek.com/detail.jsp?key=80113&rc=camp2008&p=0&all=1
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