We’ve had a bit of snow here
Bob Morris @ Dec 13th 2007 19:33 - Category: Unfiled ;
Today’s snow piled up on a circular table on the patio, with a foot long ruler peeking out.
Archive for December 13th, 2007
Clinton campaign tries sliming, hits self
Bob Morris @ Dec 13th 2007 13:16 - Category: Election 2008 ;
Let’s see, a little while back the Clinton campaign attacked Obama because he wrote in kindergarten that he wanted to be president. Yesterday they said they’d attack him because he said he took drugs as a youth (like who didn’t?) saying that Republicans would use this to hurt him. While of course, they tried to do precisely that same thing. They’re also saying he ran a slush fund. Right.
They backtracked from the kindergarten slime attempt by saying, aw shucks, we were just kidding. Today, one of their campaign pit bulls apologized for the drug smear after it became apparent that this slimebag move was blowing up in their faces.
What a sleazy bunch of rabid attack weasels. Hillary’s coronation plans appear to be going seriously awry. Good. If she’s this nasty now, imagine what she’d be like in the White House. Another Dubya, that’s what. Yuck.
Connecticut slipping in job creation
Bob Morris @ Dec 13th 2007 11:11 - Category: Unfiled Tags: Connecticut;
The State of Connecticut has the highest per capita income of any state, yet is falling behind in job creation, education - and has the second-worst income disparity in the country.
“This is no longer a social-only discussion, this is now an economic competitiveness discussion,” said Thomas Phillips, president of Capital Workforce Partners in Hartford. “Our region is going to lose 15 percent of its work force through demographic change. And what are businesses going to do? Those that can move elsewhere will.”
There’s also steep property taxes, expensive electricity, and the soaring cost of heating oil, problems that could easily persuade businesses to leave. Not to mention a Three Stooges legislature who spend most their time stumbling over each other, pausing only to pocket bribes or request that someone be beaten up (you probably think I’m exaggerating here, don’t you?)
Given that Greenwich CT is the hedge fund capital of the country and that many hedge funds are cratering - a process that will continue and worsen - this indicates that shortfalls in state and local revenues will almost certainly be coming. And I’m sure Larry, Moe, and Curly in the state government will be totally gobsmacked and unprepared when it happens too.
Europe gets it about energy, US continues snooze
Bob Morris @ Dec 13th 2007 07:10 - Category: Renewable energy ;
Germany mandates all homes will have renewable energy by 2009, specifically for hot water heating. New homes must have at least 14% renewable energy while existing homes will be retrofitted to at least 10%. Most of this is expected to be done by solar.
Ireland bans incandescent light bulbs by 2009, this in response to lobbying by Greenpeace.
Why isn’t the US doing things like this? Congress continues sleepwalking on energy issues while Europe moves forward. And no, renewable energy is not anti-growth.
From Asymptotic Life
The Bali Communique, shepherded by Britain’s Prince Charles, was signed by over 150 leaders of various global businesses. They include GE, Johnson & Johnson, Kodak, Nokia, Shanghai Electric, and VW, among others– and call for a strong global commitment to address the challenge of global climate change.
The communique also said, “The shift to a low-carbon economy will create significant business opportunities. New markets for low carbon technologies and products, worth billions of dollars, will be created if the world acts on the scale required.”
So much for the idea that CO2 reduction is anti-business.
Yet the US government and both parties in Congress have done little here except to float ideas for voluntary carbon trading (yeah, like that’ll help much) or, even worse, pretend that coal can somehow be made clean. Their ignorance seems almost willful, a deliberate attempt to avoid the issues.
Adam Curry is on the TSA Look Out List
Bob Morris @ Dec 13th 2007 00:23 - Category: Unfiled Tags: Adam Curry, Look Out list;
And he’s not happy about it. The past four times he’s flown to the States from his home in England, he gotten pulled out of the Customs line and interrogated for a few hours because he’s on something mysterious called the “Look Out List,” and there’s no easy way to get off it.
Did I mention he’s a US citizen? Yes, he was born in D.C. and grew up in New Jersey.
Curry, who was one of the first VJ’s on MTV is now a successful businessman and one of the inventors and popularizers of podcasting. He talks about these bizarre TSA problems in his recent Daily Source Code #699 podcast. His politics are centrist-right and he says, hey, I defend the US during my life living abroad and I employ 100 people. But “this is such an embarrassing country” because of pointless, Orwellian security procedures like this.
His solution is to get Ron Paul elected. While the Paul candidacy has huge traction among techies and he certainly makes some valid points, I think many of his supporters will have second thoughts after it becomes apparent just how far to the right Paul actually is. But on personal freedom issues like this, Paul is excellent, and Curry says “Vote for Ron Paul before I get sent to Gitmo!”
(The photo is Adam Curry photoshopped as the podfather, circa 2005 or so, as podcasting was just getting popular.)
Steve Earle tickets!
Bob Morris @ Dec 13th 2007 00:06 - Category: Unfiled ;
I just got tickets for Sue and I to see Steve Earle, our favorite left-wing redneck musician, at the Calvin Theater in Northampton MA on Feb. 28. SteveEarle.com had presale tickets and ours are somewhere in the first eight rows. Yes!
There are five colleges near the Calvin, so they get a steady stream of quality acts. We saw Billy Bragg there recently, and will see Los Lobos in March. An excellent venue.
