"I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ" --Gandhi
"To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public." -Theodore Roosevelt
"A little revolution, now and then, is a good thing." -Thomas Jefferson-
"In my lifetime, we've gone from Eisenhower to George W. Bush. We've gone from John F. Kennedy to Al Gore. If this is evolution, I believe that in 12 years, we'll be voting for plants." -Lewis Black-
"When you're born in the world you're given a ticket to the freakshow; when you're born in America you're given a front-row seat. And some of us in the front row have notebooks and pencils." -George Carlin
CNNMoney.com Market Report - Oct. 9, 2008
Topic: Business
4:03 pm EDT, Oct 9, 2008
Stocks slumped fast and hard on Thursday afternoon - with the Dow falling below 9,000 - as reports that Treasury's may buy stakes in banks failed to reassure investors amid the ongoing credit crisis.
That gave GM a market capitalization of $4.3 billion - chump change for this industrial behemoth - while Ford stood only slightly better at $6.6 billion.
The stock selloff effectively puts these companies on death watch and it is easy to see why.
This would be part of why no one is willing to float anymore loans to them and they had to get a $25 billion bailout last month.
Just as I seriously began to question my own health, I read about a study recently conducted by Hiscox, a British-based luxury-car insurer. Experts found that 100% of female participants showed a "significant increase in testosterone secretion" while listening to a Maserati engine revving - in fact, measurably more so than for any other sports-car sound.
I have no idea why such a thing would happen or what it would mean, but it's damn interesting.
ABC News: After Bailout, AIG Execs Head to California Resort
Topic: Business
6:40 pm EDT, Oct 7, 2008
Less than a week after the federal government committed $85 billion to bail out AIG, executives of the giant AIG insurance company headed for a week-long retreat at a luxury resort and spa, the St. Regis Resort in Monarch Beach, California, Congressional investigators revealed today.
And people wonder why we're pissed off about the bailouts.
Man shot three times by racist gunman - for wearing Barack Obama T-shirt | Mail Online
Topic: Miscellaneous
4:05 pm EDT, Oct 7, 2008
The man then launched into a tirade of racist slurs, shouting 'I f***ing hate n*****s' and urging 36-year-old Mr Egwuatu to leave the shop with him.
The man then left the shop but when Mr Egwuatu re-emerged, the attacker was waiting for him in broad daylight with a threatening-looking dog and holding a gun behind his back.
I wasn't aware that particular term was in wide use in England. I also think the Secret Service is probably doing back flips trying to figure out how to handle security when Senator Obama wins, am concerned about what level of politicization the current administration has managed to inject into that organization. This has turned a corner into very scary stuff.
And so inept at it: other campaigns have decided that their only shot is going negative, but usually they don't announce it, as several McCain aides have in recent days--there's no way we can win on the economy, so we're going to go sludge-diving.
But since we are dealing with manure here, I'll put the rest of this post below the fold.
It is appropriate that the prime vessel for this assault is Sarah Palin, whose very presence on a national ticket is an insult to your intelligence. She now has "credibility," we are told, because she managed to read talking points off notecards in the debate last week with unwitting enthusiasm.
I don't often find myself nodding my head at something Joe Klein has said, but this one? In the word of Chris Matthews... HA!
Boss Is Not Amused After Columnist’s Humor Brings a Retort From Fox News - NYTimes.com
Topic: Media
8:14 pm EDT, Oct 6, 2008
“My problem is that I have to write with a certain kind of reader in mind, and that person is always going to be my vision of an intelligent Canadian,” Ms. Mallick said. “I don’t write for Fox viewers.”
In his report, Mr. Carlin said that after the column had been mentioned in at least three Fox News broadcasts, his office and Ms. Mallick had “received an alarming number of truly vicious and vituperative messages.”
Gee, who would have figured a bunch of Fox viewers would be "truly vicious and vituperative"? Oh, everyone?
Note to Roger Ailes and Rupert Murdoch: Ernst Rohm called, he wants his propaganda department back.
Stocks tanked Monday, with the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq falling to nearly five-year lows as credit markets seized up and European governments' rush to prop up failing financial firms underscored the global reach of the credit crunch.
Chicken Little: The sky is falling! The sky is falling! Goosey Loosey: Sure Chicken Little, we've heard this story be*WHACK!* What the hell was that? Chicken Little: That, was the sky. Maybe next time you'll wonder if there really is something going on.
Commander in Afghanistan Wants More Troops - washingtonpost.com
Topic: Current Events
7:12 pm EDT, Oct 3, 2008
The new top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said yesterday that more American troops are urgently required to combat a worsening insurgency, but he stated emphatically that no Iraq-style "surge" of forces will end the conflict there.
"Afghanistan is not Iraq," said Gen. David D. McKiernan, who led ground forces during the 2003 Iraq invasion and took over four months ago as head of the NATO-led coalition in Afghanistan.
Since someone thought Palin was right on this one, here it is. McClellan was the general Lincoln sacked in the Civil War, not the current commander in Afghanistan, and what he said is exactly the opposite of what the Governor said was what to do there.
For those scoring the VP debate, this subject is Biden 1, Palin 0.
