Morning Thoughts

Stephen Colbert, My Leading News Source

- Justin

I Finally Figured it Out!

I have been tearing my hair out trying to understand why Palin is so dumb. As CNN points out below, Saturday Night Live doesn't even need writers anymore, Palin provides everything for them...she's that bad. Well, it just hit me. I know who Palin's secret speech writer / Chief Educator is. Miss Teen South Carolina. What an insult to America's intelligence...





- Justin

America's Booming Economy

This isn't going to come as major news but I'll say it anyway: you, dear economy, are not doing very well. I think it's fair to say that a majority of Americans understand that the economy is a wreck. A complete mess. For those of you that still believe the above headline (I know readers, it's an absurd thought, but some do. Educated ones too.) is current news, please consult a dictionary and find the term Economy. It's under E. Perhaps this is the root of your confusion?

Imagine a company run by Phds who have been swimming in pools of gold, spend more every few months than some countries produce over an entire year, and have houses the size of private universities in six states. Now imagine their company in decline, their posh lifestyles in severe threat of being degraded to the point where they may have to sell a home, an inconceivable act. How sad it would be. 

Thankfully, said company has a friend, A giant bank that has been promoting the risky business practices that put this company in the unimaginable situation it's in. Their friend, the bank, has loads of extra cash provided by happy, hard working tax payers. So, swollen with extra money they can't decide what to do with, bank decides to give their failing friend hundreds of billions of dollars for a very cheap price. This will end their catastrophe and bring them back to previous levels of ineptitude (read:foolishness).

Thank God for bank. But just to make a good story better, we'll say that those taxpayer dollars didn't actually help much. Company continues to fail, and they say the only thing that can help is to become even more private, hidden from public view, and demand even more money than they had before.

This basically is our Federal Reserve as I understand it. Recently the three giants, Freddie Mae, Freddie Mac, Bear Stearns, have failed and are now joined by their friend, Lehman Brothers. If you're unsure how significant this is to not only the US, but the world economy, the fact that we are now going to be investigated by the International Monetary Fund should begin to shed some light on how bad things really are.

The United States is the world's biggest economy. Everything that happens here has an affect on everyone throughoutt the world. Countries have looked to us for financial support and advice, even modeled their economies after ours. And now Ben Bernanke, our Federal Reserve chief, is forced to be reviewed by the IMF, which is humiliating to the entire country.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Reserve, the biggest hedge funds, mortgage lenders,and investment banks are now going to have to hand over their financials (confidential until now) to the IMF analysts. The next president will not only inherit two wars, a terrible economy, but will also has to face the fact that America is no longer the model business for the world. Even worse, our economy is only going to get deeper in the red before rebuilding can even begin. Sounds fun. In an interview I saw yesterday, Alan Greenspan stated that this is the worst economy he has ever seen.

In 2010 the IMF should provide their report, that is, if anyone cares. Here are the statements from Obama and McCain after this weekend's recent financial meltdown.

Obama:

This morning we woke up to some very serious and troubling news from Wall Street.

The situation with Lehman Brothers and other financial institutions is the latest in a wave of crises that are generating enormous uncertainty about the future of our financial markets. This turmoil is a major threat to our economy and its ability to create good-paying jobs and help working Americans pay their bills, save for their future, and make their mortgage payments.

The challenges facing our financial system today are more evidence that too many folks in Washington and on Wall Street weren’t minding the store. Eight years of policies that have shredded consumer protections, loosened oversight and regulation, and encouraged outsized bonuses to CEOs while ignoring middle-class Americans have brought us to the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression.

I certainly don’t fault Senator McCain for these problems, but I do fault the economic philosophy he subscribes to. It’s a philosophy we’ve had for the last eight years – one that says we should give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else. It’s a philosophy that says even common-sense regulations are unnecessary and unwise, and one that says we should just stick our heads in the sand and ignore economic problems until they spiral into crises.

Well now, instead of prosperity trickling down, the pain has trickled up – from the struggles of hardworking Americans on Main Street to the largest firms of Wall Street.

This country can’t afford another four years of this failed philosophy. For years, I have consistently called for modernizing the rules of the road to suit a 21st century market – rules that would protect American investors and consumers. And I’ve called for policies that grow our economy and our middle-class together. That is the change I am calling for in this campaign, and that is the change I will bring as President,” said Senator Barack Obama.

McCain

“The crisis in our financial markets has taken an enormous toll on our economy and the American people — first the decline of our housing markets followed by the collapse of Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and now Lehman Brothers. I am glad to see that the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department have said no to using taxpayer money to bailout Lehman Brothers, a position I have spoken about throughout this campaign. We are carefully monitoring the financial markets, including the duress at Lehman Brothers that is the latest reminder of ineffective regulation and management. Efforts must also be focused on ensuring that the deposits of hardworking Americans are protected.

“It is essential for us to make sure that the U.S. remains the pre-eminent financial market of the world. This will be a highest priority of my Administration. In order to do this, major reform must be made in Washington and on Wall Street. We cannot tolerate a system that handicaps our markets and our banks and places at risk the savings of hard-working Americans and investors. The McCain-Palin Administration will replace the outdated and ineffective patchwork quilt of regulatory oversight in Washington and bring transparency and accountability to Wall Street. We will rebuild confidence in our markets and restore our leadership in the financial world.”

- Justin

Ian McEwan Interview

The first time I encountered McEwan was on the floor of a local bookstore. Saturday had been left behind by someone, leaving it to me to pick up. My original intention was to set it on the table for reshelving (I'm weird about order), but I'm not sure what I was thinking. After I picked it up and read the first couple of chapters, I immediately wondered what that person who left it was thinking. I bought the book and finished it that weekend, the first time I had really ever just sat down and powered through fiction.

The entire story follows a surgeon, Henry, through a February Saturday in 2003 (a book review is for another time). What McEwan did for me with Saturday was display my own ignorance of the importance of literature in the modern, post 9/11 world through the book's hero, Henry Perowne. Though I still have a couple more McEwan books to read, he is on my shortlist for favorite authors.

Here is a discussion with Charlie Rose about McEwan's book, Saturday. After reading the book, it's interesting to hear him talking about global issues, the Iraq war and political matters.

- Justin

Funny Political Cartoons

I love cartoons. I found all of these here

 

 

 

 

 

- Justin

Sarah Palin Gives us Her Best

Do you ever see something unfortunate happen to a complete stranger and actually feel the blood of humiliation fill your cheeks? Well, Stasha and I just finished watching Charlie Gibson’s first interview with Palin, and I'm both humiliated and concerned, perhaps even scared.

I'm concerned that Charlie Gibson, who for the most part is known as a media mogul providing unbiased and thorough journalism on world events, was the first to interview Palin. In my opinion, Gibson is the guy that covers hurricanes exceptionally well, famine with compassion, and gang violence with understanding and courage. But now, poor Charlie Gibson has been burdened with the unfortunate duty of introducing Sarah Palin to America, and even more unfortunate, the world.

If this were for anything else, I don’t know, an interview for the new president of Disneyworld Alaska, Charlie would be my man, and Palin would make the kids smile. The regrettable truth is, tonight America witnessed (the abridged version) the most humiliating act of journalism coupled with one of the most ill-bred public figures I have seen in recent memory.

I am also concerned that ABC decided to edit the interview and spread it out over multiple broadcasts, obviously for viewership and ratings. I urge Americans to keep their TVs off. Palin is a mental health risk.

To be fair, Charlie Gibson probably should not have been our introduction to Palin. I have an eerie feeling he didn’t write many of those questions, and it’s too bad he was put in the position of trying to play the tough media monster to expose Palin for who she really is. The editing done by ABC only gives us brief glimpses of what went on, presumably to keep the tension up as the normally Softie Gibson goes through his list of questions. The positive of the night, she was interviews by Charlie Gibson and not a real monster with real questions.

 

Knowing that, Palin’s answers deeply worry me. While Charlie tried to act tough, the questions he asked were exceptionally basic, fundamental questions that I would expect to easily be answered by any potential White House candidate. But then again, maybe my job description of a US President or Vice-President is vastly different than what the job actually entails?

 

Let’s face the facts here, any person selected as a Vice-President must without a doubt be qualified to be the President of this small business we call The United States (as Charlie did mention). I haven’t been on the White House job site lately, but I think it’s safe to say the job description of these two positions contains phrases like:

 

• having the ability to reshape international and domestic policies that have been formed with some of the most unimaginably strong mortar,

• give a new lease on life to our continually deteriorating economy with a balance sheet drenched in red ink (is that debit or credit?),

• put some meaningful pressure on Al Qaeda while making sure the local (that's us) citizens are safe,

• keep two wars going in the right direction (whatever that means),

• reduce foreign energy dependence and make meaningful strides to curb environmental problems,

• rebuild lost trust and friendships with our past allies, then build new friends and allies,

• fix immigration, healthcare, and education problems.

So I don’t know how accurate those really are, but the only way any of the above actions can be achieved is with a solid network of support from not only the citizens of the US, but worldwide nongovernmental organizations, educators, scientists, business leaders, and economic advisors. Oh, and combat leaders.

 

The job of the Vice-President (we won’t even talk about the big boss) is one of the most unusual jobs anyone can take. You don’t only work for the citizens of the United States, you and your boss are looked to for guidance in solving world issues that have a dramatic impact on billions of people throughout the globe. I’m not sure if any of this was covered in her Journalism major at Idaho, but I’ll look into it.

 

The pressures will be unimaginable to a normal human being, and Charlie was able to pressure Palin to a near boiling point (did you see the rash forming too?) in a simple, elementary interview. Yes it was edited, broken up into multiple nights to guarantee ratings and viewership, but she still answered questions in an absolute appalling, brainless manner. It's too bad she couldn't just get the script beforehand like usual. That would have made it much easier, and she could have told us about some bridge she stopped.

 

Throughout history, the world has seen our country help millions of people escape death, win wars, promote freedom, and develop into the most powerful nation on the planet. We were leaders, respected and feared at the same time. The last eight years have destroyed most of the things that other countries yearn to accomplish.

 

Palin’s ignorance at the most basic level proved how out of her league she is. Tonight she convinced me of the unimaginable, that she is less prepared and perhaps less cognitively equipped than George W Bush.

 

I’m not going to analyze every question, because I think the media will do that for me. In accordance to yesterday’s post, I’m sure the right-wing fanatics will just blame her arrogance on Gibson’s poor interviewing, but as Stasha pointed out to me, you can’t speak well on issues when you’re ill equipped. If Charlie did a poor job, and intelligent respondent would have been able to put him in his place. I hope the world will not have to witness when she meets the truly gritty media and seasoned debaters. I’m optimistic those videos will remain Wasilla.

 

- Justin

Obama Vs. McCain: Just the Facts Please

Let's get this out of the way early for those of you that don't know. I'm an Obama supporter, and so far I plan on voting for the Democratic ticket in November. I say so far because the election is still roughly two months away, allowing ample time for either McCain to persuade me he will take the US in the right direction, or for Obama to show me he will lead us down the wrong path. Although, a change is not likely to happen unless McCain dramatically changes his policies or somehow proves his fluency in economics through some sort of boot camp course. But more importantly, he would have to substitute his vice presidential candidate for someone I believe to be more qualified.

Now that we've cleared that up, it's time to get to the meat of this post. This upcoming election is historical for many reasons, most of which should be clear to anyone reading this regardless of your source for news. The unknown bit of history is that this is the first election in which I have actively investigated the policies of all candidates involved, starting with the primaries and to be carried through Election Day and beyond. My wish is that I'm not the only one, but the sad reality is that I have met very few people (voters) who actively research the policies and candidates beyond what they see on the campaign commercials and mainstream media. The reasons are endless, but for the most part I believe people fall somewhere within these few categories: a) they don't have time, b) they don't have the resources (internet, books, etc..) c) they simply rely on newscasters, political pundits, their local paper, d) they really have no idea, they just take their spouse/friend's word for it.

Any of the above are valid reasons for superficial research (I guess), but the real problem I have is that they promote an inefficient voting process for the millions of politically informed voters who have worked to develop intelligent, informed decisions. For every informed Republican vote(r), there will be an ill-informed Democratic vote(r) to render both votes obsolete, and vice versa.

For example, conservative media may portray candidate X as a vindictive and evil political figure, out of touch with voters or reality. Basically, the goal is to frame information about X in a deceptive manner, knowing full well that most people watching will eat up and pass on any conservative information served to them. Thus the political soap opera begins.

The truth is that most people prefer to read or accept only the information that supports their initial opinions about Candidate X or policies XYZ. Conservatives read media entirely biased to right-wing agendas, relying on the information given to them by their conservative candidates, newspapers, pundits, friends, etc... The unfortunate side effect of this is that pure facts and information will make no difference in how they vote or view a Candidate's policies or beliefs. Any information obtained by them is reformulated in their mind to accommodate more closely their conservative values. This of course works exactly the same for liberals, using conservative as an example is just that, an example.

Returning to the current election, I am becoming more and more frustrated as I meet or tune into more and more people and their beliefs/views of current issues. An example is when a conservative friend of mine asked me what I thought about nuclear energy. I couldn’t honestly answer the question because I had yet to form and educated opinion. I didn't know enough about the technology, economics, or benefits to debate either side, so instead listened to what he had to say.

"I don't know much about it" were his exact first words to me, thereafter he continued "but I think it's a great option for America's energy future." And here is where I stopped listening. To admit you don't know anything about the topic but are able to form a positive (or negative) opinion defines ignorance. I ran into a similar Democrat here in Queen Anne that was educating her four friends and me on wind power based on the fact that it costs nothing.

I learned a long time ago, argue with and idiot, and you become an idiot. It is a waste of time for both parties. Lucky for Wind Power, the conservative at the table was not an idiot and the conversation ended. And that's what has frustrated me about this election; the pure ignorance of seemingly intelligent people becomes crystal clear. Their superficial understanding (read: absurd) of current events combined with their impassioned opinions truly annoy me. Whatever the reason for ignorance, I see a direct correlation between intelligence and a willingness to investigate shocking ideas.

The point of all this is what's below. I have pasted the links for people to go and form better decisions for their voting/debates. Whether you use them or not is up to you. All I ask is that people make an effort and compare both sides of things. I heard someone the other day tell a friend he wasn't voting for Obama anymore because he just found out he's Muslim. Wow. I also heard that the economy is doing really well right now... I think those two facts came from the same media.

Here is a shortlist to start your research. I'm not saying any of these places are 100% neutral, but I think they are a great place to start your branching out process.  I obviously welcome more recommendations.

• The Economist
• Politicaft
• Barack Obama's Website
• John McCain's Website
• National Public Radio
• C-Span
• The Financial Times
• International Herald Tribune
• RGE Monitor
• Foreign Affairs
• Econ Papers

Well, I got that out of my system. Upcoming I will write about an interesting essay I read by psychologist Jonathan Haidt on why people vote Republican. He also runs a website, yourmorals.org, where you can test your own morality and find out how moral you really are - a fascinating topic of its own.

- Justin

From Queen Anne to Mercer Island

Since sometime around mid May, I've been fortunate to call Queen Anne my home. Being fascinated by all things historical, I immediately fell in love with the stately Queen Anne style of architecture of the late 1800's. During the brief walk from our front door to the top of the hill, your allowed to escape the materialistic, cookie-cutter atmosphere that surrounds the neighborhood and imagine what life was life in Seattle 100 years ago. Though I'm not sure how, Queen Anne residents seem to have successfully kept that egotistic fashion many Seattleites wear at bay.

Many of us in Queen Anne commute by bike, bus or foot, though the Hill seems to also be an enthusiast driver's retreat! What you'll find around here are passionate Volvo owners navigating current models ooutfitted with proper factory roof racks (which differentiates their owners from the amateur likes of the rear hitch rack type) and broken in models driven by proud members of the prestigious Volvo High Mileage Club.

There are also the BMW drivers. The true BMW drivers. These lucky cars are the ones you see parked under shedding trees alongside a cobblestoned curb, undisguised, with an obvious history of driving hard in every situation Mother Nature has thrown at it. The Ultimate Driving Machines reside in Queen Anne, while the more cowardly owned seek safety from the elements in the more predictable, manicured outskirts of the hill. Poor souls. Oh, and that Maserati in front of Ladro, that belongs to the mom in the Northface, not that weird guy in the 3-piece.

While the views of Elliot Bay are nice, and the site of Seattle at night can still be moving, it's the people of Queen Anne that truly make this a wonderful place to live. Outside every coffee house the sidewalk seating will be full of intelligent debates, students reading a tattered paperback, and dogs being pampered with cookies and kids. For the most part, everyone just loves life and is attracted to the Hill because they can escape the chaos and vanity down below. Seattle, while a great city, fades away and becomes the shadow of Queen Anne. Family, neighbors, and friends are what's important here. Not salary, self promotion, or snobbery.

The business community is more than what can be asked for. If you can't find what your looking for in one shop, just ask the owner (who is most likely the one operating the cash register) where you can find it, and they'll send you on your way to another shop around the corner. Everything works in symmetry. The mentality is cooperation rather than competition. The Trader Joe's is always packed, and the shelves containing the healthy stuff (i.e. bread, eggs, fruit, dairy) are usually scarce, but you can always find what you need. The lattes from Fiore always have perfect flowers, but the press pots from Peet's are always perfect. And if you're looking for the most deliciously sweet snicker-doodle cookies in the region, I say try Noah's. Get there early because they run out by 9:00.

As much as I love Queen Anne, the time has come to let it go. Most of the residents I met during the past three months have been living here for a very long time. If I were to raise a family tomorrow, Queen Anne would be a wonderful place to start. Stasha, Emma and I are moving in October to a new place we'll call home, Mercer Island. Though it's a ludicrous thought to expect our new city to match up to Queen Anne, We're excited for another small town atmosphere stuck inside of a massive metropolis. Situated directly between Bellevue and Seattle, I can't think of a better location in the area. We'll still see the water, enjoy a local farmer's market, and as Stasha pointed out, be near a Noah's Bagels! As much fun as it will be to have our own place, I have a feeling we'll be making frequent visits back to Queen Anne for coffee and a break.

- Justin

New Beginnings

I'm working on updating my blog. I was considering moving to another service, a free one, but decided to stay with Typepad. While some of the older links may no longer work, the posts should remain on the site.

I originally had a lot of ideas for the site, but most of those have been scrapped along with my recent business failure. The weak economy took a lethal jab on my startup, so now I can join the ranks of 1,000's of other failed (and failing) ventures around the US. I guess those economists were right to say that this is the worst time to start a business, especially ones that rely on the success of other businesses! Well, lesson learned economy. Off to my next adventure.

I anticipate having the page fully updated this week, just keep checking back.

- Justin

McCain's Buddy

So now we've learned that Sarah Palin is McCain's choice for nominee, which, I have to say, is good for me and my Democrat friends. Following the theme of last night's post, McCain is doing a fine job showing how out of touch he and his party really is. Maybe Bush has rubbed off on him too much? Can intelligence and judgment be passed through osmosis? I'm just giong to touch on the highlights and let you fill in the rest.

First, McCain and the Republicans have really had one general argument for why Obama isn't fit to run our country - Inexperience. Fair enough. Naturally the most strategic thing he could do is pick a VP who has been governor of Alaska (what's the population there? 800? Couple thousand? Some businesses are bigger...). Luckily, to make up for her lack of experience leading such an enormous group of people, she has also been the mayor of Wasilla. Huh. Wasilla. Lucky for Americans, Sarah was able to successfully reduce property taxes during her two year tenure there. Phew!!

I don't know how important this is, but Sarah is also going through a minor scandal. Apparently her brother-in-law, a state trooper, is going through an ugly custody (are any of them pretty) battle with Sarah's sister.  Sarah took the initiative, as any good American would do, and using her political power had Trooper brother-in-law fired. Because she is undoubtedly tremendously busy running Alaska, she had one of her cronies handle the dirty work. (Note: Sarah does admit this, though she had no knowledge of it...)

Now I'm not big on stats and I don't get my facts from books, because as I learned from President Bush, that's not necessary. I think they are silly. According to the fact bible, Wikipedia, Alaska has about 683,000 people living there. Wasila has a respectable 8,500 or so. These numbers are pretty impressive, Illinois (the business Obama runs) only has around 13 million citizens. I just did the math (but I'm not very good at it, so do your own to double check) and that means for every 1 person Palin manages, Obama has to deal with 27. I guess Palin gives more one-on-one attention, I never did like large classrooms.

I guess I was wrong, Palin is supremely more qualified to be in the white house. I wonder how she stacks up against Biden? I'm going to go look up irony now on my Wikipedia.

- Justin

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For Finding Facts:

Sarah Palin

Alaska

Wasila

Illinois

Irony