Yet More Random Thoughts For Friday

What's up the the Pregnant Man? If he has female reproductive organs, isn't he a woman? I want more details, but I'm kind of afraid to ask. And I definitely don't want to see any photos.

You know, derivatives and swaps really aren't that complicated. They're just new. And they're not even that new. The problems should not be this big. Can't anyone model this?

Anyone who relies on the "genius of the market" is an idiot.

Hillary seems to be getting tired. Plus, I know everyone tells lies, but she tells bad ones. A lot.

Old Chris Rock example of a bad lie, "That's your baby."

The Rape T-Shirts just seem in bad taste to me.

Time shares really are the way to go on vacation if you have kids.

My wife thinks if I mention someone more that once here that I'm "infatuated." So, just to clear the air, I am not infatuated with David Shuster. But, I did notice that he was wearing a black and white pinstripe suit yesterday on Hardball, which, with his nearly black hair and pale complexion, gave a kind of retro black & white look to the whole news segment. Since existentially we know that nothing is a mistake, I can only assume that this b&w theme is meant to convey a subliminal pro-Obama image to viewers.

David Gregory's new show on the Presidential Election, coming out just when everything has gotten realllly boooooring, is OK, but follows the same old format as a dozen other shows. It's not going to turn into another "Nightline." But it's not bad. At least it's better than The McLaughlin Group.

Milton Friedman's philosophy is inherently evil, and should be discarded. Yeah, that's right. I said it.

People's homes should be considered more than a financial asset, and should be treated differently under the law. Why have we forgotten this?

If America is basically just a big, free market, then how does patriotism fit in?

I'm looking forward to seeing Tom Glavine pitch for the Braves again this season. Tom's a 42 year old lefty, who has made the transition from young fastballer to crafty old curveballer. He spent the last 4 years with the Mets, but he's back home now. He's also a native Bay Stater, like yours truly.

The economy seems to be getting better around here. I hope it spreads.

Interesting perspective from an old lady cashier at the Mercedes dealership. She's been there for many years. She says that election years are always slow for Mercedes sales. Grass roots insight! This would make a lot of sense especially for this year. Since we have no incumbent running for re-election, both parties are running on a theme that things are all screwed up and only they can fix them. Well, the base message being that things are all screwed up is bound to influence consumer confidence. Downward. And since we have a consumer driven economy, this has an impact. A negative impact, to be specific. Let's call this the "Old Lady Cashier Effect."

No more news from the Swingers in our neighborhood. Maybe I should start to work out.

So, who won the NCAA Tournament? Is it over yet?

Apparently the LPGA has finally figured out that if they market their hot, straight women, then men will watch them too. Duh. Pretty girls, golf, laying on my couch with a beer. Sounds like a perfect Sunday afternoon plan. I may have to delete The McLaughlin Group from my tivo schedule to make room in my tv schedule.

Speaking of The McLaughlin Group, what happened to Tony Blankley? He's disappeared. Did they figure out he was a Moonie and kick him off? Or did he and Eleanor finally just have a big slapfight and she won? The new blond conservative woman whose name I can't remember is really good. Plus she doesn't interrupt.

Lake Lanier is up 5 feet, but is still 15 feet below normal pool level. So Atlanta should make it through the weekend.

That's all for now.

Random Rumors for a Good Friday Night

Still no word on what the bunny has to do with Easter.

And are Easter eggs supposed to be bunny eggs?

Obama has a perception problem that he is not patriotic. Some serious pandering will be required to correct this.

New conspiracy theory making the rounds - Pro Bush factions within the FBI pushed the Spitzer investigation because of Spitzer public statements blaming the MBS fiasco on the Bush administration's malfeasance. It is a political prosecution.

Nothing will change in Iraq. Ever.

Those PKK Kurds that Turkey keeps trying to kill really are bad guys. We can still like the Kurds in general, though. The Kurds like us, but so do the Turks. But they hate each other. So, where we stand on making northern Iraq a free Kurdistan is tricky. (They share a border.)

If the price of gold keeps falling, that's a good sign. It means you can buy stock again.

Goldman Sachs credit rating downgraded? Say it ain't so. I thought they had avoided the whole suprime mess. What happened?

If oil does go to $200 a barrel, we'll open ANWR and invade Venezuela. Don't forget Panama. Only the Venezuelans really will welcome us, as long as we don't stay too long. Venezuela's upper and middle classes view Chavez as the new Castro, and are leaving the country as fast as they can.

Treasury will form some sort of new RTC and take some of the pressure off the Fed. The resulting fire sale will beget new fortunes and avoid a Japan style long term stagnation.

BP will get kicked out of Russia and it's interests bought out by Gazprom.

David Shuster will cheer up, lose weight, and get his own tv show on MSNBC by Labor Day. He's way more interesting than Tucker Carlson or Dan Abrams. Or even John McLaughlin and George Stephanopoulas for that matter. But maybe not Tom Laughlin. (Implied trivia question - no fair using Google.)

In most of the world, Easter is called "Great Day" or "Great Night." Easter is an ancient German goddess of dawn. The irony is that it was those crazy German Goths who destroyed the city of Rome after it turned Christian. And now we name the most important Christian holiday after a German pagan goddess.

When is Easter? Beats me. I have studied it and still cannot explain how to calculate which Sunday Easter will fall on. Any explanations will be appreciated.

And Snake Nation is engaged. To a man.