Monday, July 20, 2009

The Health Care Post

President Obama introduced another linchpin of his health care plan today, formalizing an agreement with the Planet Endor to provide a cadre of trained Ewok medical professionals to handle the expected surge in primary care demand.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

It's a Dessert Topping and a Floor Wax!

From the AP, that paragon of "accountability journalism":
Kirk, though, has been slow to make a decision, saying several times that an announcement is eminent but failing to make a concrete statement.
Well, of course it takes longer... it has to be both eminent and concrete!

Friday, July 03, 2009

Happy Independence Day

We are a great nation, with a healthy distrust of government.
And we don't hire particularly stellar people for the job.
It's what we do with that surplus of law degrees.
So I'm not surprised that 536 politicians + umpteen thousands of state and local politicians can't -- just can't -- make tough decisions.

We will march onward. Remember, "Situation Hopeless... But Not Serious"...

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

The New Chrysler

Do I understand this correctly? The two-bit lawyer believes that the most successful outcome is the combination of the UAW's passion for quality with the sustained excellence of Italian Management?
  
I mean, wow.
I'm just... wow.
Wow.

Friday, June 05, 2009

Please Support the 2009 JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes

On Sunday, June 7, 2009, our family will be walking in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) Walk to Cure Diabetes at the National Conference Center in Lansdowne,VA. Most of you know that our 9-year-old son, Sean, was diagnosed with Type 1 (juvenile) diabetes in October 2001 when he was just 21 months old. Besides closely monitoring his diet and exercise, we must test Sean’s blood sugar levels with finger pricks about ten times a day and throughout the night, and administer insulin every few hours at least. This has been true every day of the last 7.5 years. Unfortunately, there is no magic formula for managing diabetes, since too many variables ALL have an impact on blood sugar at the same time. We've had a long, tough road, and we would love to spare others from this path by finding a cure. Children with Type 1 diabetes are insulin-dependent for life: they will not outgrow Type 1 diabetes and cannot take pills to treat this disease, so therefore the regimen described above must continue day in and day out until a cure is found. In Type 1 diabetes, the pancreas simply stops producing insulin altogether... the diabetes is NOT caused by poor food or exercise choices.
Our family would love your help and support in finding a cure for this disease. We have established a Walk Team called Team Sean, and our goal is to walk together with our friends in support of this cause and to raise at least $2,000. We know we can reach these goals, and would appreciate your help.

Make a tax-deductible contribution in support of Team Sean via cash, check or credit card. Any amount is welcome and appreciated.... $10 - $20 increments really add up! 85% of your donation to JDRF goes directly to diabetes research and education. This is one of the highest percentages for any research-dedicated charity!
If you wish to make an online donation or see Team Sean's progress, please visit Sean's personal JDRF web page at http://walk.jdrf.org/walker.cfm?id=87355919

$50 Billion investment, 80 jobs in Mass.

I feel great to have spent so much to get GM back on its feet, only to have the first real benefit to its reorganization get overrun by Barney Frank.
Perhaps he needs the extra cash to contribute to his friend Angelo Mozilo's Legal Defense Fund.


Proof that there's extra money floating around in America

Someone continues to spend it in the hope that Will Farrell will do something entertaining.
I mean, c'mon. If you've paid a dollar to see him, in theatre or DVD, you're part of the problem. 

I would apologize for the brusque and preemptory nature of this announcement, but I caught a glimpse of this "Land of the Lost" thing. 
Wow. Just... wow.

Monday, March 02, 2009

Dow closes below 6800

When they yearned to erase the nightmare of the Bush years, and return to the halcyon days of Clinton, was this what they meant?

Sunday, February 15, 2009

So Microsoft is going Retail

Let's think about the overall retail experience for a minute. Apple Store employees will spend a half hour with you, discussing the relative merits of a $1499 Macbook Pro vs. an $1199 Macbook. Microsoft salesmen will spend 14 hours with you trying to explain the difference between Vista Ultimate Home Media Center and Vista Business Pro Ulitmate Experience, defending the decision to offer no clean upgrade path from XP to Windows7 Not-Quite-Ultimate-But-Really-Leading-Edge so that they can sell you the $320 package vs. the $249 package.

I finally understand the 'genius' thing.

Sunday, February 01, 2009

The Myth of Bipartisanship

It is pointless to whine about bipartisanship, as the Washington Post documents here. You will get exactly as much bipartisanship as you have votes. And right now, the one side has the votes.
There is a key, critical point to be made here, but bipartisanship is the wrong word for it.
If this crisis is as bad as the 535 idiot savants in congress would have us believe, then they (we) need to maintain laser-like focus on those things that will set us up best for the future. It's too much to expect these lawyers to treat the situation with the seriousness it deserves. That's not how they roll.
This isn't about the split between tax cuts, pure infrastructure spending, and the other stuff that adds up to $820Billion with a B. The majority gets to make that kind of call. Republicans who vote 'Nay' because there aren't enough tax cuts, or the social spending component is too high, are missing the persuasive argument. You can't win this egregious-spending-line-item by egregious-spending-line-item; you'll whittle the bill down to an $819Billion with a B spending orgy, and look intransigent in the process.
So the countervailing strategy is to ask "do these people even understand what they're voting on"? How do we know that $820B is the answer, rather than $355B? The same GS-15 economists are toiling away in the depths of the Treasury Dept. today that were there last fall. At a high level, does the package make sense? Can you get a sense of the size of the thing? Congress has failed to give me -- and I think most people -- much confidence in that regard.
So, it's up to Mr. Obama. If his idea of bipartisan is leeching a few votes, getting to some magic number of '75', then he'll get exactly what he deserves. If, on the other hand, he doesn't treat this as a political game, and uses his high ground to take out the worst of the fluff, he could be sitting very nicely after the vote.
An adult in charge -- that's the change we need.

Saturday, January 31, 2009

This is our Moment

I guess it's a lot easier to dismiss bourgeois concerns about tax rates when you don't bother to pay them.
Wow... just wow.