Sunday, June 1, 2008

Worldview Brainy Chick for June 2008

Worldview Loves the Brainy Chicks

The June 2008 Worldview Brainy Chick is . . .

Chrystia Freeland!

Chrystia is the US Managing Editor of The Financial Times. FYI, The Financial Times is the British rival to The Wall Street Journal. The FT is, strangely, printed daily on dark pink paper, making it easy to spot. Chrystia shows up regularly on American tv pundit talk shows such as The McLaughlin Group and Hardball. A Harvard grad and Rhodes Scholar, she really is the complete package.

She is the author of the Adam Smith recommended book, Sale of the Century: Russia's Wild Ride from Communism to Capitalism, which you can look at here. She is rare among the pundi in that she has true foresight which she shares in an intelligible and artfully accurate way. She is also very polite, maintaining her poise and composure while holding her own among the yellers and interrupters who infest our political discourse on tv. As listeners, this allows us to enjoy Chrystia's knowledge, logic, and insight on the issues of the day, which never fails to impress. This makes her very likable and watchable, and I believe this better standard of behavior is becoming more common among the younger generation of pundits.

Here is a great clip of her, back in November 2007, when the Republican contest seemed to be between Romney and Giuliani, correctly predicting that the main election issue would turn to the mortage crisis in 2008.

And here is a great clip of her holding her own in John McLaughlin's circus and standing up for accuracy in political discourse. BTW, she refer's to "you guys" can elect your President because she's Canadian.

So thanks, congrats, and plaudits to Chrystia! Keep up the good work!

Friday, May 30, 2008

Friday's Random Thoughts

Easily Confused Englishmen

Some English archaeologist named Dr. Parker Pearson has now concluded that Stonehenge is an ancient burial ground for old English VIP's some 2,500 years ago. What a load of nonsense. Everybody knows that Merlin magically transported Stonehenge from Mount Killaraus in Ireland in the mid 5th century. Duh. "Parker Pearson." Isn't that Spiderman's real name or something?


Movies!

Paramont's new Indiana Jones movie is a gigantic hit, which gave me pause. Am I the last person to know that Paramount bought Dreamworks? Also, it's a "tentpole season" movie. What is a tentpole season? Well, it means the action/adventure movies that are released in the summertime. And how old is that guy who plays Indiana Jones, anyway? Oh, and word is that the movie totally sucks, but will still make a ton of money. Just like Jurassic Park. I'll pass.

On the other hand, we rented a good Adam Sandler flick called Reign Over Me, with Don Cheadle and Jada Pinkett Smith (who looks fantastic), plus Liv Tyler. It's not a tentpole flick. Two thumbs up.


My wife and all of the neighborhood women are going to see Sex and the City. While I think the show was pretty funny, overall I found the Carry Bradshaw character to be kind of a pathetic loser. This perspective just makes my wife mad at me.

More Thoughts on Hillary and RFK

Hillary referred to RFK's murder on June 5, 1968 as an historical reference point for some nominating contests "going well into the summer." But looking at the calendar, I noticed that summer is from June 22nd to September 22nd. Something about a solstice and an equinox.



Summer's Almost Here!

Guess what color is "in" this season?

Inspiring Woman of the Week

This is bodybuilder Marjorie Newlin. Marjorie has been bodybuilding for 12 years. Since she was 70. Marjorie is 82 years old.

Least Inspiring Woman of the Week

White House Press Secretary and confirmed stupid blond Dana Perino. Dana, among other nonsensical responses to questions and shamelessly illogical rationalizations for insane White House policies, didn't know what the Cuban Missile Crisis was when asked about it by a reporter.

One!

Out and In
  • Bottled water is out. Tap water is in.
  • Unilateralism is out. Multilateralism is in.
  • Invading Iraq is out. Invading Venezuela is in.
  • John McCain is out. Ron Paul is in.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Greetings From Sunny Florida

It's Vacation Week! So, I've been out of the loop on the news until last night when I checked in. I was disappointed to see mostly the same old, same old going on. But I'll endeavor to blog on.


Dateline Orlando - Boy is it hot! And tacky. I think that really the town that we are in is called Kissimmee, but it's part of the whole Orlando area. And here we have travelled to take the kids on the rides at Universal Studios, and then to the Kennedy Space Center. So far we are very happy with the resort we are staying at, as well as Universal. For my money, Universal is an easier and more pleasant day than Disneyworld, which I've been to several dozen times. So, a thumbs up for Universal!

Orlando seems like a sad and horribly fake, plastic replica of life, but once we are settled into our little corner of it, we have a good time. Our little corner this week is a timeshare resort called Summer Bay, which is quite pleasant. The timeshare crowd tends to be an ethnically diverse group, aged from young families to seniors. What they (we?) have in common is that they are middle-middle class and well fed. Very well fed. I'm feeling downright thin down at the pool, which is nice for me.

Our gals at poolside.

Slow News Week

Apparently the big news this week was made by that little fella who used to do President W's press briefings. Not the tall, obnoxious guy from Fox who got cancer. The one before him. Scott McLellan, the George Costanza of the Bush administration, and he is now a #1 Best Selling Author! Well, hooray for him! I mainly remember McLellan for his embarrassingly sycophantic "goodbye" press conference, where he practically wagged his tail for W's approval, after having just been fired. McLellan also had a unique talent for looking like a little fat bald man, when in fact he was not bald. Apparently, now that he's been out of Darth W's circle of influence for a while, he's realized just how cheaply he sold his chubby little soul, and is trying to make amends with this confessional book. Too late! You're doomed, my fat little mouthpiece.

Scott's little book


McLellan's fall from Grace is significant in that it illustrates a very serious problem that is rampant among our government servants. A fundamental misunderstanding of loyalty. Mr. McLellan still does not understand that he did not work for Mr. Bush. Rather, he worked for the American people. His duty was not to Mr. Bush, but to the United States of America. He still, to this day, misstates that his duty during his six year tenure as White House Press Secretary was to "advocate the President's position." That is exactly wrong. His duty was to be a truthful intermediary between the President and the American people. That mindset is similar to the type of misconception of duty that we hung German and Japanese soldiers for after World War II. So, despite this late and somewhat lame effort at redemption, Mr. McLellan is morally guilty guilty guilty. What spiritual penalty he might pay, I am not qualified to say.


Separated at Birth?


Unemployable warmonger attorney Paul Wolfowitz

English Prime Minister Gordon Brown


The Neverending Story

Imagine my surprise and disappointment to find that Hillary Clinton is still running for President. Especially surprising, the press appears to be still covering the story, although with a decidedly funereal air. Is anyone really still interested? Frankly, Ron Paul is far more interesting at this point.


So what's keeping this stale, old, tired story alive? A bunch of "super" delegates who haven't announced their votes yet. Keep in mind that even though these folks are really super, they are still supposed to represent Democrats, possibly even you. So, if any of them are from your state or congressional district, or somehow are connected to you, call them up and tell them to get off of their seats and announce their vote. This primary election campaign has been going on for a year. If they can't make a decision by now, then they can't handle the responsibility that's been given to them. For a list of uncommitted super-delegates, you can click here: http://www.politico.com/superdelegates/ .

One interesting tidbit is that the hot brunette who is always at Hillary's side, Huma Abedin, is reportedly dating Congressman Anthony Weiner of New York. That's nice.





And the Libertarians have nominated Georgia's Bob Barr as it's Presidential Nominee. He should actually provide some interesting tidbits before this is over. As a funny sidenote, Democrat and former US Senator Mike Gravel switched to the Libertarians at the last minute to try to grab the nomination. He failed. Probably because he is reportedly older than John McCain, though written birth certificates were not used in those days so nobody can be certain.


Libertarian Candidate Bob Barr
That's it for today.