December 2008
10 posts
95 Old School Games You Can Play Online →
(via MetaFilter)
“Just as “Smallville” focused on Clark Kent in the years before he...”
– CW’s ‘Graysons’ takes flier on Robin - Entertainment News, TV News, Media - Variety
“KMOV (Channel 4) [the St. Louis CBS affiliate] says its television signal will...”
– 12/21/2008 - St. Louis television station and Charter at impasse - STLtoday.com
NPR Announces Cuts To Staff, Programs : NPR →
NPR’s “Day to Day” and “News and Notes,” both based out of NPR West in Culver City, have been cancelled and their staffs, including hosts Farai Chideya and Madeleine Brand, are being let go. Another twelve journalists not associated with those shows will also lose their jobs. Both shows will run through March 20th.
So crescent fresh! | MetaFilter →
So crescent fresh!
“Can you suggest some replacements for standard, everyday household items that...”
– Upgrade Me! | Ask Metafilter
“The gun lobby has long intimidated politicians with its war chest and its...”
– Editorial - The Gun Lobby’s Loss - NYTimes.com
Wii's Future In Motion - Forbes.com →
There are so many things wrong with this article (the Wii is $250, not $260; the razor-razor blade model involves selling the razor at a loss, which the article makes clear that Nintendo doesn’t do) that I’m not sure if I believe anything from it, but the fact that Nintendo only makes $6 from every Wii sold is rather fantastic. I had assumed it was more, but I guess when you think...
Bailout
According to the WSJ “Ford is in a somewhat better position than GM and Chrysler because it mortgaged nearly every asset it had in 2006 — including its blue, oval-shaped logo — and now has a heftier cash cushion than its rivals.” The fact that Ford could pull that off in 2006 and now none of the companies can get any kind of loans tells you how bad our credit markets have...
“President Bush, meeting with President Arroyo of the Philippines: “I reminded...”
– Top Ten Funniest Political Quotes Of 2008
November 2008
20 posts
Minnesota Challenged Ballots →
A great overview — with pictures of the ballots! — of the challenge facing election judges in Minnesota involved in the Al Franken/Norm Coleman recount.
Do you think the government will continue to announce additional massive bailout programs every time they announce bad economic news to keep propping up the stock market?
Overheard at Breadco.
A: I can't believe those three GMs showed up in Washington looking for a handout.
A: And they showed up in those jets. How much do those things cost? Twenty billion? Couldn't they just sell those?
B: I don't think they cost that much.
A: Then couldn't they just cut the big shots' salaries? The head of SLU...
B: WashU.
A: Right, the head of WashU is taking a 5% pay cut. Couldn't those car guys do the same thing rather than asking for a handout?
I spent the afternoon cataloging all the books I own. But since then I’ve found a box with more books.
Time to start listing a some things on amazon.
Jim is awesome
Jim: Gandolf was in Schindler's List?
David: No.
Jim: Liam Wilson?
David: ...
Jim: Liam Nelson?
“On the other hand, Garrett, a wiry chain-smoker who ran for re-election with the...”
– Lexington News - Kentucky News | Lexington Herald-Leader
“When the Tutes finish a song, they throw back their heads in convulsive glee no...”
– Sleater-Kinney’s guitarist tries out Wii Music. - By Carrie Brownstein - Slate Magazine
Election Night (Popcorn Included) - NYTimes.com →
What to watch for on Tuesday night.
Ballot Measures: Summary
This is the final article in a series of articles on Missouri ballot measures.
Here’s a quick summary of my take on all ten ballot measures:
Propostion A: Yes Propostion B: Yes Propostion C: Yes Constitutional Amendment 1: No Constitutional Amendment 4: Yes St. Louis County Proposition C: No St. Louis County Proposition 1: Yes St. Louis County Proposition I: Yes St. Louis County...
Ballot Measures: St. Louis County Proposition H
This is the tenth in a series of articles on Missouri ballot measures.
Prop H authorizes a 1.85% sales tax on large out-of-state purchases made by businesses. I’m not inclined to give a free pass to business, and the list of improvements that the county is hoping to make with this tax — including better communication between the police and fire departments — are all things that...
Ballot Measures: St. Louis County Proposition M
This is the ninth in a series of articles on Missouri ballot measures.
Proposition M authorizes a half-cent sales tax to fund MetroLink operations and expansion. I am in infrequent MetroLink user, and this is an inopportune time for Metro to come requesting more money given the poor economy and the bungling of the last MetroLink expansion. However, Metro is reporting sever financial shortages...
Ballot Measures: St. Louis County Proposition I
This is the eighth in a series of articles on Missouri ballot measures.
Prop I will authorize the county to issues bonds for improvements to county buildings. It would also fund improvement to the county crime lab, and other facilities. The main change will be a new family courts building in Clayton. As the new bonds will be issued as others expire, there should be no new taxes required to pay...
Ballot Measures: St. Louis County Proposition 1
This is the seventh in a series of articles on Missouri ballot measures.
Prop 1, if passed, will create a 0.25% sales tax to fund children’s issue in St. Louis County. Runaway children’s shelters, suicide prevention programs, alcohol and drug prevention programs, and many other issues could be funded by this program. The money raised by the tax stays in St. Louis county. I’m...
Ballot Measures: St. Louis County Proposition C
This is the sixth in a series of articles on Missouri ballot measures.
Not to be confused with the state-wide proposition C (the renewable energy proposition for which I recommend voting yes), this proposition asks the voters whether a commission should be established to revise the St. Louis county charter. The county charter is the governing document of the county — much like the...
Ballot Measures: Constitutional Amendment 4
This is the fifth in a series of articles on Missouri ballot measures.
Amendment 4 will correct some issues surrounding a $200m bond issue for clean water that the voters approved in 1998. This is essentially a housekeeping measure, and I’ll be voting YES on amendment 4.
Ballot Measures: Constitutional Amendment 1
This is the fourth in a series of articles on Missouri ballot measures.
Constitutional Amendment 1 proposes making English the language of all government meetings in Missouri. I don’t care to spend much time on this, but my take it that this amendment is at best pointless and at worst xenophobic. I’ll be voting NO on amendment 1.
Ballot Measures: Propostion C
This is the third in a series of articles on Missouri ballot measures.
Prop C will mandate that 2% of electricty sold in MO in 2011 be generated from renewable sources and will ratchet up to 15% by 2021. A study on the costs of the measure show peak cost at 68 cents per hoursehold per month, with the average cost of the first ten years of the plan at 31 cents per hoursehold per month. According...
Ballot Measures: Propostion B
This is the second in a series of articles on Missouri ballot measures.
Proposition B is designed to help increase the number of in-home caregivers for the elderly and create a single, state-wide baraining unit for those caregivers. Most elderly would prefer to remain in their homes and in-home care is half the price of nursing homes or other facilities, so this is mostly a win/win proposal. ...
October 2008
30 posts
“But it remains to be seen whether the cast reshuffling will achieve Wolf’s...”
– Can `Law & Order’ outlive `Gunsmoke’?
St. Louis County Ballot Questions →
Post-Dispatch election endorsement round up →
Is anyone else bothered by the fact that one of the key tenets of the government’s plan to respond to the financial crisis involves merging failing firms into larger firms? It has seemed to me that one of the problems of this crisis is that all these firms that we’ve been bailing out have been too big to fail. Even Lehman Brothers, a company which Paulson thought wasn’t too big...
Ballot Measures: Propostion A
This is the first in a series of articles on Missouri ballot measures.
Prop A would eliminate Missouri’s $500 stop-loss rule and limit the number of casinos in Missouri at 13 (those that currently exist or are under construction). It would also raise the the current tax on casino winnings from 20% to 21%. It is believed that this proposition would send more than $100m/year to Missouri...
New York Times Endorsements Through the Ages →
Not sure if this says more about the ‘Times’ or more about the GOP candidates, but the ‘Times’ has very consistently supported the Democrats since 1960.
I’ve now seen a couple of ads run by the “Corn Refiners Association” bragging about the benefits of high fructose corn syrup. It’s a bit creepy.
Further Thinking on Last Night's Debate
The more I think about last night’s debate, the more I think that this was a redux of Sarah Palin’s debate performance. McCain started strong because he stuck to his talking points. As the debate progressed, he had to deviate further from his scripted lines and became incoherent as he flitted from one idea to another without every really connecting his thoughts. It was like he was...
NPR
I toured the NPR studios in Washington today and saw Steve Inskeep record the promo for tomorrow’s “Morning Edition.” Apparently, Oliver Stone will be on to discuss “W.”
One thing that continues to bother me about the debate last night is why Bob Schieffer would ask a question — in light of the downturn, what would you cut from your list of proposed policies — that has been asked at all the previous debates. As moderator youmogjt think it an interesting question, but given the nonanswers from the previous debates, it seems like you have an obligation...
Liveblogging is a lot of work...
…so don’t expect much from me tonight.
9:33…I guess I’d call the first thirty minutes for McCain. He was clearly better prepared than for any of the previous debates. But as the debate progressed, he seemed to get more and more erratic, leaving Obama the clear winner of the last hour. Overall, BHO looked cool and collected while JSM3 couldn’t talk in detail about...
Fact
“CNN Election Center and coverage of the presidential debate will continue in a moment.”
Another dumb CNN fact.
“The report finds that Gov. Sarah Palin “abused her power” in...”
– Talking Points Memo | Trooper-Gate: Palin Abused Power
“Palin filibusters. She repeats words, filling space with deadwood. Cut the...”
– Palin Problem by Kathleen Parker on National Review Online
“John McCain has changed. He said, famously, apropos the Republican debacle...”
– Christopher Buckley
Rumsfeldian
When Brokaw asked his “What don’t you know and how will you learn it” question last night, I had a momentary flashback to Donaled Rumsfeld’s known knowns, known unknowns, and unknown unknowns. Brokaw wanted to know about the known unknowns, but its always the unknown unknowns that will get you.