"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts."
Sorry for the lack of update last weekend...We got a new puppy (Tina) and then my sister had her baby (Ethan) so my free time was shifted from sifting through the news to visiting my nephew and playing with my lunatic dog. Then like usual I was trying to make up for lost time and I buried myself neck deep in reading and then was left with entirely too much information to send out. I spent most of the rest of the week plus my down time in the airport trying to take out more than I add. Big thanks to all of you who emailed me sweet things over the past couple of weeks as well. And keep the referrals coming, it is good for my ego when people I don't know ask to be on my mailing list. Enjoy:
Things that dont't suck:
Writing in the Rain, I always have a pen (that can write upside-down or in space) in my pocket, and usually a little notebook in my pocket...and within 5-7 business days I will have this one in my pocket...Designed for writing field notes in wet and humid conditions, this notebook uses a specially coated paper that repels water. Sweet.
Constantina Elise (Tina for short), named after the 2008 Olympic Marathon Gold Medalist Constantina Tomescu-Dita and Katie's niece Elise is a hungarian Vizsla, which are well known for being great hunting dogs...and for loving to run between 30-90 minutes a day. Our seven week old especially enjoys racing me up and down the stairs, wrestling a toy duck the size of her body, and passing out in odd places (like on my laptop while I am typing) once she exhausts all of her energy.
Cat CEO on Economic Advisory Board, Now that JO is Obama's right hand man I feel a lot better about Caterpillar...that and I dodged the ax during the round of layoffs that cascaded through the company this past couple of weeks. But back to Jim Owens' best week ever: he gets named to a very significant government board, flies on Air Force One, has an interview on 60 Minutes, and then moments after Barack leaves the building JO contradicts most of what he just said...
Americans Stimulating more than the economy, while most company annoucements these days are dripping with red ink, it was nice to hear that at least one industry was just heating up 4th quarter 2008 and is full on raging the month of January...I am talking condoms of course, up 6% this month alone!
Knowing exactly where everyone is...., Google's newest lab 'Latitude' has me very much on the fence. The geek in me thinks that it is awesome that you can have a buddy list and literally see where you friends are on Google Maps...exactly. They don't even need a smart phone, they just sign up and Google can use their signal to figure out where they are. Just like Enemy of the State. The Orwell in me is woried that Gene Hackman wont be around to save my ass if someone was trying to find me. Consider this (Progressive Commercial Voice)...if we are allowed to play with this kind of technology, what else is out there? This.
Having the Internet while you drive, If you have phone with an internet data plan then you are already paying at least $30 a month a connection...use it intelligently, with a USB Cable and the software from Mobishark, your phone is now your modem and if you have a laptop you are free to roam. (Most of this update was written on I-39). The second best thing about this, Verizon charges $30 a month for this same service--MobiShark charges $50 once for the download.
Things that do:
You know things are tough when someone steal Lance's bike...luckily for him though, 'It's not about the bike' but unluckily for whoever stole the one-of-a-kind-highly-recognizable bike, Lance Armstrong has a cult following...and he is a dick...and the people who really like him are usually fanatic dicks. In future news: Man who stole Armstrong's bike was found beaten badly and tied to a tree along the Tour of California course with rope hand-weaved from Livestrong Bracelets.
Great Depression 2.0, Just kidding...but seriously I spent most of my "research time" (a.k.a. the few precious hours that I get for my random walk through the internet every week) building my case that this economic hicup was more a psycological than financial affair. I don't just pull this stuff out of my hat, it has happened several times (1893, 1907 are most similiar)...usually like this:
1) Scandal - some kind of greed gone bad that undercuts public trustHours of reading and my theory was busted...no #3, that was until Tuesday. Thankyou Pennsylvania Representative Paul Kanjorski, as it turns out, back on September 18th, two days after ABC money market fund "broke the buck" there was a $550 Billion Dollar electronic run on the banks in less then two hours. It took immediate action by Bernacke and Paulsen to inject $105 Billion dollars from the Reserve back into the market to keep the world financial systems from literally melting down. Everyone did a very good job of keeping this one under their hats...CPAN even stopped reporting the cash supply indicators (M0, M1, M2) and nobody really batted an eye at this bizzarre behavior. I guess that is good though, because if it was let out all of us would be keeping what was left of our money buried in the backyard...probably right underneath our crops, behind our gates, and next to our guard tower...
2) Panic - triggered by the scandal (or stupidity) fueled my media
3) Bank Run - everyone wants their money and they want it now
4) Intervention - JP Morgan, Rockafeller, Congress...
5) Normalization - people put their money back in the bank and go back to buying lattes or shoeshines I guess
Illinois was clearly caught up in No Government Left Behind program, Our state is the benchmark for corruption, the governor was under federal investigation, the mob was involved, and so was the PRESIDENT....what the hell was Burris thinking when he lied to the impeachment panel?!? The trib just ran a sweet editorial 'State of Corruption' a pretty far from from Honest Abe (Happy 200th).
Until Next Time,
Chance Kelch
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