Reality-Based Engineering: 2008/07

Thursday, July 17, 2008

I Love Kanye West...

...especially when he scares white folk:

Labels: Katrina

Saturday, July 12, 2008

It's Been A McShitty Week

In general:

Mean Joe or Ray Nitschke?

Oh, and Mark Halperin is obviously a shill.

Labels: 2008 Elections, John McCain

Media Soundchamber

Driving home late from work today, I was able to listen to the 6PM Rachel Maddow Show on XM167...as some know, the first hour is now a feed from MSNBC's prez talk show, hosted by David Gregory. They talked at length about who had a better week, McCain or Obama. Somehow, McCain's shitty week was a bad thing for Obama, since he wasn't on the air every day hammering McCain on the economy. Gregory (I thought, I was driving) ended the segment by saying if he [obama] is then he's not 'bubbling up'.

Tired of the silliness, I turned to POTUS08 XM130 and listened to a live-on-tape Obama speech today about energy and the economy...specifically I heard this:

"So when he talks about the failure of politicians in Washington to do anything about our energy crisis, understand that Senator McCain has been a part of that failure. When he proposes policies that give $4 billion in tax breaks to oil companies but only pennies a day to Americans struggling with high gas prices, understand that that’s not part of the solution in Washington, that’s part of the problem in Washington. When he offers a plan that doesn’t make any real investment in alternative sources of energy, that represents a failure to think long-term about our nation’s future. That’s what we’ve had in this country for too many years, and that’s why we need change in November."

Yesterday was the Dr. Phil comment about Gramm's retardo statements. Uh, not hammering?

"Now Senator McCain is an honorable man, and we all deeply respect his service to our country. But when you look at our records and plans on the economic issues that matter most for women, it becomes very clear that he won't bring the change we need – while I will.
That starts with acknowledging the economic difficulties so many women are facing right now. Senator McCain, however, has said that we've made "great progress" on the economy. And Senator Phil Gramm, a top economic advisor to Senator McCain, just recently said that this is merely "a mental recession." Senator Gramm then deemed the United States – and I quote – "a nation of whiners." This comes after Senator McCain recently admitted that his energy proposals will have mainly "psychological" benefits.
Well, you know, America already has one Dr. Phil. When it comes to the economy, we don't need another.
Let's be clear, when people are struggling with the rising costs of everything from gas to groceries, when we've lost 438,000 jobs over the past six months, when typical families have seen their incomes fall nearly $1,000 since 2000, this economic downturn isn't in our heads. It isn't whining to ask for more than just psychological relief.
And I think it's time we had a President who doesn't deny our problems – or blame the American people for them – but takes responsibility and provides the leadership to solve them."

Amazingly, at the end of the show they even recognize that they live in an echo chamber and aren't listening to either candidate (about the 1:40-1:50 mark in this clip):

Of course, the past two days Obama's talked about women and the economy and then energy and the economy. One reason I dont have cable and listen to the chatterboxes. It's POTUS08 for me!

Labels: 2008 Elections, Barack Obama, John McCain, POTUS08

Thursday, July 10, 2008

NYT: McCain Health Care Plan Costs Us Consumers

Labels: 2008 Elections, health care, John McCain

Phil Gramm Is A Fuckhead

Will the MSM pickup on the fact that we're just a bunch of whiners?

UPDATE: Answer? Yes, a little. Maybe a little more.

Labels: 2008 Elections, Barack Obama, John McCain, Phil Gramm

Prophetic NYT Article About Dubya

Copied over from TBP, since there's no known link:

Pricing in a Bush Presidency?
New York Times, July 9th 2000
(insert link)

"Stocks sold off again today as the markets is pricing in the likely impact of a George W. Bush presidency.

Since Bush has emerged as the polling leader in March, stocks have been hit hard. The NASDAQ has fallen 37%, while the S&P500 and the Dow are both down 20%, placing equities squarely in bear market territory.

Various Wall Street strategists have expressed concern regarding how a new set of Bush monetary and overseas policies could impact equities.

"My biggest concern is that the promised Bush tax cuts will be in extremely expensive. That would create huge deficits and be extremely inflationary" said Peter Leslie, a trader on the CBOT floor." Governor Bush has promised to reduce captial gains and dividend taxes, and lower the marginal rates on the nation's biggest earners. He has not explained how these tax cuts will be funded.

Maverick Capital fund manager Henry Carlyle is more concerned with government spending than Tax cuts. The Dallas resident stated "I have followed Governor Bush in Texas, and fiscal discipline is not his strong suit." Cabot expects a big increase in federal spending and budget deficits that will have ramifications for both inflation and an interest rates.

Vanguard chief John Bogle is more concerned with a lax regulatory environment: "A return to the sort of crony capitalism that we've seen in the past would wreak havoc with investor confidence. We need a strong SEC to make sure companies are transparent, and report their accounting fully and fairly. We should not throw the individual investor to a wild and woolly free market that is totally lacking in supervision." The Vanguard chief has long been a proponent of a strong regulatory environment for the protection of individual investors. "I do not see that sort of regime under a President Bush."

Robert Rubin, the Treasury Secretary under Presdient Clinton who retired last year to join the Board of Citigroup, focused on the Federal Reserve. "The next president needs to make sure that the Federal Reserve fulfills its obligations as bank supervisor. I am concerned that Governor Bush, as President, would move away from strict regulation of markets for ideological reasons." Rubin, a Democrat, warned of negative repercussions for the housing and financial sectors. "[Since joining Citigroup], I have been looking into the issue of derivatives. This is another area that requires close scrutiny from both the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve. I see Bush lacking expertise in this crucial area."

Goldman Sachs chief investment strategist Robert Hormat, was even blunter in his assessment of a Bush Presidency: "I am looking for a market crash as a reaction to the election of George W. Bush. Investors should brace themselves for losses of 50% or more -- and even worse in the Tech sector -- should he be elected."

Legendary legendary oil trader T. Boone Pickens is more optimistic. "We should expect several military conflicts in the Middle East under President Bush, and while this may not be great for the economy it will be terrific for my energy holdings." If Bush gets elected, Pickens plans on opening a new oil based hedge fund, and is forecasting 100% increase in the price of oil to $40. "I'm an Oil, George is an Oil man, and his VP Dick Cheney is an Oil man. I expect energy returns to significantly outperform equity markets over the next eight years" he said."

Here's another blast from the past about how Oil&Gas spent a lot on getting W elected. Apparently, it's good for profits, dont you think? Not even a million dollars invested in W, and ExxonMobil does HOW many billions in profits PER MONTH??

Labels: 2000 Elections, Cheney, dubya, economy, energy policy, NY Times, The Big Picture

Thursday, July 03, 2008

Two Disparate Ideas of Patriotism

Both Obama and McCain have been talking all week about patriotism & other things that are related. I saw this in the headline box on Yahoo this afternoon, thought nothing of it for a second, and then looked at it again:

The two quotes from the candidates on patriotism could not be more starkly different, and seems to me reveal a lot about both candidates...when I see McCain's comment, I hear the following:

"Patriotism is a rediculously exclusive club that only a few Americans could ever possibly obtain since you have to put country above family, God, love, and any -ism that you can think of. Of course, I'm in that club since I was a POW."

What I hear from Obama's quote:

"Patriotism is inherantly inclusive of any American who believes in the American dream and its thread of commonality through all of us. In short, if you live the American experience and you do your part, no matter how large or small that part is allowed to be, you're a patriot."

It's little wonder that McCain so jealously wraps himself in his POW experience and ties it to everything - he thinks he's one of a handful - maybe only hundreds in the USA - of Patriots. I prefer Obama's vision more - so few of us could ever possibly be PUT into McCain's position that we might as well forget attainment of that lofty goal.

Just a thought. Happy 4th!

Labels: 2008 Elections, Barack Obama, John McCain