Bob Morris @ 21:59 Category: Election 2008;
Havana Note:
Now, in the heat of the final days of the election, it seems that the media are giving Senator McCain’s own connections to convicted domestic terrorists, in this case Cuban-American terrorists, some equal time.
Slate:
McCain’s campaign and advisers find themselves allied with and/or supporting militants who have committed acts that any reasonable observer would define as terrorism.
Bob Morris @ 17:12 Category: Credit crisis Tags: fictitious capital;
The “main nerve” of the American dream runs through this desert metropolis, Hunter S. Thompson concluded in his 1971 book, “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.”
Less than 2 percent of the $3 trillion to $4 trillion that circulates in the world’s markets daily is used for goods and services.
“The rest is trying to make money off money,” said Chopra, adjunct professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management in Evanston, Illinois. “Our financial structure which, of course, is an American system but is now global, is pure speculation. It’s gambling.”
The robber barons may have been ruthless. But they also built stuff, like the oil industry, steel mills, steamship companies, and railroad lines. When Commodore Vanderbilt died, he was considered a hero. One reason: after he finally got a monopoly in railroads he lowered prices so more people would use it. Yes, he lowered the price.
The country as a whole benefited from what the robber barons built. But only a tiny few benefited from the now-collapsing edifice of fictitious capital erected on Wall Street.
Bob Morris @ 15:15 Category: Unfiled Tags: electric vehicles, EVs;
Bob Morris @ 11:30 Category: Unfiled;
Leftclickblog has thoughtfully presented a series of video lectures on Marxism for those who now think Marx may have had a few serious clues after all.
The Marxist concept of “fictitious capital” suddenly has extraordinary relevance, doesn’t it?
Fictitious capital could be defined as a capitalisation on property ownership. Such ownership is real and legally enforced, as are the profits made from it. But the capital involved is fictitious; it is “money that is thrown into circulation as capital without any material basis in commodities or productive activity”. Fictitious capital could also be defined as “tradeable paper claims to wealth”, although tangible assets may themselves under certain conditions also be vastly inflated in price.
Bob Morris @ 07:15 Category: Election 2008;
Another Joe the Plumber was deluged with phone calls and emails after Obama and McCain repeatedly mentioned a Joe the Plumber last night during the debate. This one has been offered “hundreds of thousands” for his joetheplumber.com domain name.
Take the money and run, Joe!
Bob Morris @ 05:37 Category: Unfiled;
CSX, a major train company with 21,000 miles of tracks, is quietly and rapidly greening their entire operation. Tracks get lubed with a soy-baed substance now, not oil. Their engines are smarter and use much less fuel than standard diesels. They recycle oil and use it to heat their facilities. Lots more too.
Next time you sit at the intersection, watching the train go by, remember that it’s likely carrying the same as 280 trucks, and that each ton on there is getting 400+ miles per gallon.
An old-school industry is becoming cutting edge new, isn’t it?
Bob Morris @ 02:11 Category: Unfiled;
The snow will help chill the liquid that cools the buildings. This could prevent as much as 2,100 tons of carbon emissions per year as well as providing 30% of their cooling needs.
Bob Morris @ 00:11 Category: Election 2008 Tags: Obama;
This national poll of polls was done before tonight’s debate. Insta-polls galore show that Obama won decisively, so he will undoubtedly be getting yet another surge in his poll numbers.
Don’t be surprised if, after the next wave of polls come out between now and Sunday, the RNC starts putting money that was slated to go into the presidential race into close Senate and House races instead.
And don’t be surprised if Obama wins by a margin comparable to Reagan over Mondale, if not Nixon over McGovern and Johnson over Goldwater.
A 10 point win is considered a landslide. Obama is already close to that. Plus, the magic number of 60 Democrats in the Senate now seems within reach. This is a historic election, and marks the swinging on the political pendulum back to, if not the left, then certainly the center. Having a thoughtful centrist in the White House will be a welcome change indeed from the gibbering extremist lunacy of the past eight years.
So, for the next 19 days, let’s do everything we can to insure that Obama wins. Then we party. (And then we press for change.)
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