Things Smackie Thinks You Need to Know...

[vansmack]

Just thought I'd remind you...
 
 

Originally posted by vansmack:
  2. Where do you expect Barry Bonds to be in 2008?
 
 One executive said he'll be "in jail."
 
 I was not that GM, but if I were a GM, in jail would have been my response.

[Celeste]

Originally posted by vansmack:
  I swear, if you don't read anything else I post, at least read all of this one (and I'm posting it all!).  I have been preaching this for years and somebody finally got around to saying it!
 
 November 14, 2007
 Op-Ed Columnist
 Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda
 By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN...

I hate the fact that I'm reading your "blog" you've started here on the board, smackie...BUT I have to admit, this was a fascinating article and one I'll save.
 
 Why do you suppose we don't go the route Friedman proposes? Do the politicians not understand the economics...or is it the back-room dealing with wealthy Arab oil-producing countries that stands in the way?

[vansmack]

Originally posted by Celeste:
 Why do you suppose we don't go the route Friedman proposes?  

The reasons are mostly political - and by that I mean political suicide.  
 
 A simple mention of an increase in the gas tax will cost you an election - even in hippie liberal places like San Francisco.  Part of it comes down to a lack of understanding of the tax process as well - even if one were to call it revenue nuetral to the US coffers, and an increase in the amount of take home pay (as the Harvard economist proposes), the simple mail fliers and commercials would ruin any chance of that person being elected.  The un-informed electorate would hear nothing but an increase in taxes.
 
 Couple that with most US folks not having a solid grasp of foreign policy, save for wars (especially surounding OPEC and petrolstates), and it's too much for the most voting Americans.  I hate to think this, but I would love to see a poll on whether most Americans playing word association with Islamic countries today would say "oil" or "terrorist" first when it comes to OPEC countries.  Seven years ago it would be oil, no doubt, but today I'm not so sure.

[godsshoeshine]

do you have a link for that article?

[ggw]

Originally posted by god's shoeshine:
  do you have a link for that article?

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/opinion/14friedman.html

[vansmack]

I don't remember who it was that posted that brilliant Maher interview with Kasparov, but this is what he was referring to.  As a former OSCE Election monitor in CEE/NIS, this is particualry disturbing given Putin's history and reluctance to step down as President.  I wonder if the US or the UN will now not recognize the elections, as they are want to do when this situation happens is other "dictatorships"?
 
 Press release
 ODIHR unable to observe Russian Duma elections
 
 WARSAW, 16 November 2007 - The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) has informed the Russian authorities that the Office will be unable to act upon their invitation to observe the 2 December elections to the Russian State Duma.
 
 In a letter to the Russian Central Election Commission, ODIHR Director Ambassador Christian Strohal regretted this conclusion, but said that due to delays and restrictions, ODIHR would be unable to deliver its mandate.
 
 In spite of the delayed receipt of an invitation from the Russian authorities to observe and unprecedented restrictions introduced in the invitation, the ODIHR set out to deliver its mandate conscientiously and in good faith by attempting to deploy an observation mission within the many constraints placed upon the institution.
 
 The ODIHR requested to deploy 20 experts on 7 November and 50 further observers on 15 November. Despite repeated attempts to attain entry visa into the Russian Federation for ODIHR experts and observers, entry visas have continuously been denied.
 
 The ODIHR therefore concludes that the authorities of the Russian Federation remain unwilling to receive ODIHR observers in a timely and co-operative manner and co-operate fully with them. It is with regret that the ODIHR recognizes that it will be unable to deliver its mandate under these circumstances.

[HoyaSaxa03]

Originally posted by vansmack:
  I swear, if you don't read anything else I post, at least read all of this one (and I'm posting it all!).  I have been preaching this for years and somebody finally got around to saying it!
 
 November 14, 2007
 Op-Ed Columnist
 Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda
 By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
 

hasn't he written a million columns saying this same thing over the last few years?

[vansmack]

Originally posted by Hoya Paranoia:
  hasn't he written a million columns saying this same thing over the last few years?

Not nearly as bluntly or as directly as he did this week.
 
 Yes he has written about going green.  Yes he has written about sticking the next generation with the war debt.  Yes he has written about the gas tax. And yes he has written about the petrodollars and their effect on Iran, Suadia Arabia, Russia and Venezuela.  
 
 But I have never seen someone so directly take on the US Lawmakers and frame such an argument for a gas tax while directly disussing it's effect on US foreign policy, Detroit's lack of innovation and an argument for making it revenue neutral in terms that both liberals and conservatives could actually support in one Op-Ed.

[HoyaSaxa03]

http://www.apolloalliance.org/apollo_in_the_news/archived_news_articles/2005/03_27_05_nytimes.cfm

[vansmack]

Turning down a handjob from a gay guy is like not looking at a rainbow.

[vansmack]

Trade: Angels Get Garland For Cabrera
 
 The Angels added Jon Garland to their rotation Monday, but at a steep price. The White Sox acquired Gold Glove shortstop Orlando Cabrera in exchange for the right-hander.
 
 ---------
 
 Another deal must be in the works because otherwise this makes little sense from Anaheim's standpoint.

[vansmack]

At $400, I think Amazon is crazy to think this is going to be the next big thing.  At least they were smart to include free EVDO (Sprint), but why not include wi-fi too?
 
 November 19, 2007
 Amazon Launches Wireless Book Reader "Kindle"
 By REUTERS
 Filed at 1:14 p.m. ET
 
 NEW YORK (Reuters) - Amazon.com, the world's largest Web retailer, said on Monday it will begin selling an electronic book reader with wireless access, the latest attempt to build consumer interest in portable reading devices.
 
 Although the market for e-books is limited, and competing devices have yet to catch on, one analyst said Amazon's book reader could eventually evolve into one that is able to capture all of the company's many offerings.
 
 The battery-operated Amazon Kindle will sell for $399 and let users download books, newspapers and blogs over a wireless connection. It can carry about 200 books downloaded from Amazon.com at about $10 each for new releases.
 
 Letter from Jeff Bezos

[beetsnotbeats]

Yeah, $400 is DOA. Lotsa new laptops barely cost that nowadays.

[beetsnotbeats]

Originally posted by Celeste:
  Why do you suppose we don't go the route Friedman proposes? Do the politicians not understand the economics...or is it the back-room dealing with wealthy Arab oil-producing countries that stands in the way?

Glenn Greenwald shows how Friedman is really a giant asshole.

[vansmack]

Originally posted by beetsnotbeats:
  Glenn Greenwald shows how Friedman is really a giant asshole.

Needless to say I just about threw up when I read that article on Sunday and vehemently disagreed with it.  What's wrong with putting foreign policy back in the hands of the person it's supposed to be in - The Secretary of State - with guidance from the President?  To even suggest that a VP (no matter who it is) has that much say in foreign policy is absurd, and you need only point to this administration to see its faults.
 
 However, Greenwald's first paragraph is useless towards the rest of his article and is simply congering up and old piece with a huge dose of hindsight.  It's absurd to say that Friedman had more to do with the Iraq war than George Tenet and the rest of the folks peddling the false intelligence.  That's who Friedman relied on and that's who the 296 Representatives and 77 Senators relied on.  To think otherwise is an attempt to simply make a name for yourself.  
 
 Friedman has said for a while now that he was wrong (as do about 100 liberal congressmen) based on falsified intelligence, but more importantly he was pointing out that the Bush strategy upon going into Iraq was wrong from the beginning.  I don't think very many people had the feeling that Friedman did on how this particular invasion was doomed from the start.  It was much easier to say the war is a bad idea than it was to point out the flaws of the particular invasion.