Apparently we should be feeling sorry for the financial gurus that had to take government money because their banks would collapse otherwise and thus might be limited to making 500k a year.
Boo-fucking-Hoo.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
Overnight Music
You can stop complaining now Lefty.
Abbie Gardner and Anthony da Costa - Everything Is Free (Gillian Welch cover)
Abbie Gardner and Anthony da Costa - Everything Is Free (Gillian Welch cover)
A-Rod is a cheater
Quotes have already leaked, but it looks like he will admit to Peter Gammons tonight that he took steroids from 2001-03. I'm not sure why there is as much gnashing of teeth over this as there is. Is this really all that surprising to anybody?
To be honest, I don't really blame A-Rod all that much. I don't buy his excuse that he felt a pressure to perform after signing his big contract, although I am sure he did. I just don't buy that as his reason. The real reason is because baseball, at that time, wasn't punishing anybody for testing positive. In other words, baseball gave players a green light to cheat.
Suppose the NFL decided that while being offsides was still against the rules, they were no longer going to penalize teams for being offsides. Any team that didn't place their linebackers in the opposing team's backfield pre-snap would be idiots. Or better yet, suppose it was illegal to tape defensive signals and the New England Patriots went on to win a couple of Super Bowls while doing so....
To be honest, I don't really blame A-Rod all that much. I don't buy his excuse that he felt a pressure to perform after signing his big contract, although I am sure he did. I just don't buy that as his reason. The real reason is because baseball, at that time, wasn't punishing anybody for testing positive. In other words, baseball gave players a green light to cheat.
Suppose the NFL decided that while being offsides was still against the rules, they were no longer going to penalize teams for being offsides. Any team that didn't place their linebackers in the opposing team's backfield pre-snap would be idiots. Or better yet, suppose it was illegal to tape defensive signals and the New England Patriots went on to win a couple of Super Bowls while doing so....
I Am Smarter Than Michael Steele
Michael Steele has a very odd definition of what a job is. Steele is still on his kick about how the government has never created a single job. Tomorrow I start taunting the mailman with shouts of 'Get a job you lazy bum'.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Reporting For Ratings
Something that I think often gets lost in the shuffle of media criticism is that the purpose of the media has evolved. Due in large part to the rise of the 24 hour news channel, the media has gone from the information business to the entertainment business. Getting the best reporting is secondary to getting the best ratings. Joe Scarborough is probably the best example of this. Take a look at some of his predictions from 2006.
On Obama
On Hillary Clinton
On Al Gore
Now, I will give Joe a bit of a pass considering that it was 2006 but even leading up to the early primaries Joe was saying pretty much the same stuff about the Obama/Clinton face-off. And he was dead wrong in 2006 and he was dead wrong in 2008....and he is rewarded with a three hour show on MSNBC. Joe isn't a lone in being consistently wrong, but rewarded for being so. How many talking heads called the primary over after Iowa and before New Hampshire? Think any of them are out of work? Remember all the trouble Obama was going to have winning Ohio and Pennsylvania because Clinton won them and he didn't? Remember how they were huge wins for Clinton, nevermind she only gained somewhere around 9 delegates over Obama and would need about 40 more wins from states the size of Ohio and Texas to catch up.
Solid, factual information has taken a backseat to ratings. Hell, in many cases it isn't even in the car, but hitchiking somewhere along the information highway. This is the biggest problem within the media, the shows and pundits that are most watched aren't staffed by the best reporters, but by those who bring in the most viewers, listeners and readers.
Take a look at the current stimulus debate. We are facing a crisis of historical porportions that could get much much worse. We aren't discussing that on the teevees though. You don't see many economists talking about what the lack of credit in the economy means and why it is important for us not to rely on a bubble based economy (think housing and technology). Instead, the reporting is 95 percent about how to get bipartisan support for the stimulus package. It is almost as if the lack of bipartisanship in politics is what caused our economic troubles and only bipartisanship can save us. Republicans Vs. Democrats is second only to CNN's consistent 'Where the White Woman At' stories in the ratings games. Talking about the actually workings of the economy, is something most of us would avoid like the plague.
An uninformed public is a bad one and when the media is made up of ratings grabbers instead of news gatherers we are worse off. The sad thing is that there really isn't much you can do about it, at least not that I can see.
*so I don't get an email from friends, Clinton's pick-ups from Ohio and Texas are just rough guess. I seem to remember it was either 9 or 7. Both those numbers could be wrong and probably are.
On Obama
Barack Hussein Obama is more Johnny Bravo than John Kennedy. The vest fits and the fans scream while DC’s star-maker machinery shifts into overdrive. Like Peter Brady’s Bravo, Obama’s shot at the top will be short lived. But since BHO is young enough, dynamic enough and (just) black enough to whip official Washington into a frenzy, expect this stupid story to stick around for a while.
On Hillary Clinton
Time and again throughout the next few years, Bill Clinton will make the difference on fundraising, networking and strategy. And 2007 will show that any politico who dares to cross Team Clinton risks being crushed into dust.
On Al Gore
Gore will feel growing pressure to save the party from Hillary Clinton. If his biggest contributors from 2000 line up, he will run. But let’s just hope he curbs his appetite by 2008, for the sake of his image and our arms.
Now, I will give Joe a bit of a pass considering that it was 2006 but even leading up to the early primaries Joe was saying pretty much the same stuff about the Obama/Clinton face-off. And he was dead wrong in 2006 and he was dead wrong in 2008....and he is rewarded with a three hour show on MSNBC. Joe isn't a lone in being consistently wrong, but rewarded for being so. How many talking heads called the primary over after Iowa and before New Hampshire? Think any of them are out of work? Remember all the trouble Obama was going to have winning Ohio and Pennsylvania because Clinton won them and he didn't? Remember how they were huge wins for Clinton, nevermind she only gained somewhere around 9 delegates over Obama and would need about 40 more wins from states the size of Ohio and Texas to catch up.
Solid, factual information has taken a backseat to ratings. Hell, in many cases it isn't even in the car, but hitchiking somewhere along the information highway. This is the biggest problem within the media, the shows and pundits that are most watched aren't staffed by the best reporters, but by those who bring in the most viewers, listeners and readers.
Take a look at the current stimulus debate. We are facing a crisis of historical porportions that could get much much worse. We aren't discussing that on the teevees though. You don't see many economists talking about what the lack of credit in the economy means and why it is important for us not to rely on a bubble based economy (think housing and technology). Instead, the reporting is 95 percent about how to get bipartisan support for the stimulus package. It is almost as if the lack of bipartisanship in politics is what caused our economic troubles and only bipartisanship can save us. Republicans Vs. Democrats is second only to CNN's consistent 'Where the White Woman At' stories in the ratings games. Talking about the actually workings of the economy, is something most of us would avoid like the plague.
An uninformed public is a bad one and when the media is made up of ratings grabbers instead of news gatherers we are worse off. The sad thing is that there really isn't much you can do about it, at least not that I can see.
*so I don't get an email from friends, Clinton's pick-ups from Ohio and Texas are just rough guess. I seem to remember it was either 9 or 7. Both those numbers could be wrong and probably are.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Stop The Stupid
Why is it that the Republican party is taken seriously when Joe The Plumber is making trips there to advise staffers. I'm only being half snarky. I would really like an answer to that. I would love to know which congressmen sent their staffers to have lunch with Joe so he could give them pearls of wisdom. Of course this is the same party that gets advice from a strung out overweight radio host so it shouldn't be too surprising that they would seek out advice from Joe.
To me this is the clear difference between the two parties. One seeks the advice of professionals and the other seeks out radio hosts and fake plumbers. And the media treat both sets of ideas as equal. Yeah bipartisanship where bad ideas have to be included to make everybody feel all warm and fuzzy.
Bipartisanship on the stimulus bill isn't going to happen. What is going to happen is that we are going to get a bill watered down in an attempt to garner GOP support. The bill will certainly get watered down, and already has been, but the GOP support isn't going to be there.
And why is the Obama administration playing so soft with this thing. Why haven't the activated their massive mailing list from the campaign. Why aren' t they trotting out Democrat after Democrat hammering the constant lies and bullshit spread by the GOP and repeated by the chattering nitwits (talking about you Morning Joe) on my teevee. I have seen Republican representatives saying that infrastructure spending doesn't create jobs and the host not say a word back. Here is a hint talking heads...there is no such thing as the infrastructure fairy....those dudes in the orange vests at construction sites aren't working for free. I thought we saw a whole lot of stupid during the campaign, but jesus.
I really think that the Obama administration has totally misplayed this. There needs to be some sort of punishment for the childish acts from the GOP. The way the administration has played their cards there simply isn't. Were I in the brain trust at Obama HQ, Obama would be on the air tomorrow. The American public and the media need to be reminded that this is kind of a big deal. I have seen estimates that the economy is expected to lose somewhere over 1 trillion dollars a year over the next two years. This isn't some mini-recession that we can work out of if only a couple more people buy new teevees or if people do a dinner and a date more often. California is thinking about paying people with fucking IOUs! Obama, or at least somebody, needs to remind the American public and the media that we tried tax cuts as on singular economic policy and look where it got us.
To me this is the clear difference between the two parties. One seeks the advice of professionals and the other seeks out radio hosts and fake plumbers. And the media treat both sets of ideas as equal. Yeah bipartisanship where bad ideas have to be included to make everybody feel all warm and fuzzy.
Bipartisanship on the stimulus bill isn't going to happen. What is going to happen is that we are going to get a bill watered down in an attempt to garner GOP support. The bill will certainly get watered down, and already has been, but the GOP support isn't going to be there.
And why is the Obama administration playing so soft with this thing. Why haven't the activated their massive mailing list from the campaign. Why aren' t they trotting out Democrat after Democrat hammering the constant lies and bullshit spread by the GOP and repeated by the chattering nitwits (talking about you Morning Joe) on my teevee. I have seen Republican representatives saying that infrastructure spending doesn't create jobs and the host not say a word back. Here is a hint talking heads...there is no such thing as the infrastructure fairy....those dudes in the orange vests at construction sites aren't working for free. I thought we saw a whole lot of stupid during the campaign, but jesus.
I really think that the Obama administration has totally misplayed this. There needs to be some sort of punishment for the childish acts from the GOP. The way the administration has played their cards there simply isn't. Were I in the brain trust at Obama HQ, Obama would be on the air tomorrow. The American public and the media need to be reminded that this is kind of a big deal. I have seen estimates that the economy is expected to lose somewhere over 1 trillion dollars a year over the next two years. This isn't some mini-recession that we can work out of if only a couple more people buy new teevees or if people do a dinner and a date more often. California is thinking about paying people with fucking IOUs! Obama, or at least somebody, needs to remind the American public and the media that we tried tax cuts as on singular economic policy and look where it got us.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
For My Few Readers
As some might have noticed, my posting as slacked a bit of late. For my few dedicated readers, I am sorry to say that this will probably continue for a bit.
1. The whole stimulus fight is driving me insane. I can't take any more talk about how Obama needs to bring in Republicans. Before he met with the House Republicans, their leadership was urging members to vote no. Now, before the Senate has even started debate on the bill Republican Senators are threatening filibuster. The media loves it because they get to talk about how important bipartisanship is and ignore how important crafting a decent bill. The final straw for me was newly elected RNC Steele claiming that 'not in the history of mankind has the government ever created a job.' (or something scarey stupid like that). I guess roads, bridges, tunnels, etc. all build themselves and the material used for such things are made by people who don't collect a paycheck. Oh and never mind NASA or any other government agency.
2. I'm really busy. I'm doing some NFL draft work this week and more importantly got asked for some work for an anthology that is being put together (no promises on publication though, just asked to take a look).
So for the reasons above, posting is going to probably be uber-light. I'm sure I will stop in from time to time, but you guys are on your own for awhile.
1. The whole stimulus fight is driving me insane. I can't take any more talk about how Obama needs to bring in Republicans. Before he met with the House Republicans, their leadership was urging members to vote no. Now, before the Senate has even started debate on the bill Republican Senators are threatening filibuster. The media loves it because they get to talk about how important bipartisanship is and ignore how important crafting a decent bill. The final straw for me was newly elected RNC Steele claiming that 'not in the history of mankind has the government ever created a job.' (or something scarey stupid like that). I guess roads, bridges, tunnels, etc. all build themselves and the material used for such things are made by people who don't collect a paycheck. Oh and never mind NASA or any other government agency.
2. I'm really busy. I'm doing some NFL draft work this week and more importantly got asked for some work for an anthology that is being put together (no promises on publication though, just asked to take a look).
So for the reasons above, posting is going to probably be uber-light. I'm sure I will stop in from time to time, but you guys are on your own for awhile.
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