So, Bush is retired and he has a ranch.
Q: Why hasn’t he gone riding yet?
A: He’s afraid his horse might throw a shoe.
Rimshot! You heard it here first. Not sure if I’m the first to think of it. For the record it’s 12:42 PM Pacific time, January 23 2009.
Yes, in case you haven’t been following along, I’m on the layoff bandwagon. This is a touchy subject for people, dare I say, most people. I guess that’s one of those things that makes me “different”, because I don’t get touchy about it. I mean, it’s not like you have a dozen bodies burried in your basement or something. You got layed off. Why the shame? Layoffs happen. Then, there’s the whole “I’m nervous about the interview” thing. OK, I’ll admit, I get a bit nervous about that. I’m normal in that regard. I have a way of dealing with it that works pretty well for me though. It works like this:
I go in thinking, “what’s the worst thing that can happen to me in this interview?”. Well, the worst thing that can happen in ANY interview is you don’t get the job. But wait, you already don’t have the job. The worst is over. What is there to worry about? The interview is nothing but upside. At the very least, you got out of the house, and you maybe even got some free coffee in the waiting room. Not too shabby. You got to meet some interesting people. You got to find out what it looks like inside the building with the green tinted windows. You got to see the view from the 28th floor. It beats the crap out of watching daytime TV or playing lotto.
It’s like lotto, with much better odds. In fact, most people will eventually win this game. Imagine that. You buy, say, the equivalent of 500 lotto tickets and you get a winner. A lump sum is not allowed, but the annuity payout is pretty sweet. You’ve won before, you know lots of people who win, and the odds say that you’ll eventually win. What’s not to like?
So that’s how I rationalize away interview nerves. It works for me. If it doesn’t work for you, just try something else. It can’t hurt to try. There’s nothing but upside. After all, you already don’t have a job.
Apparently skateboarders are draining pools at foreclosed properties. When I saw this article, I immediately drew a connection to the infamous “green pools” that are a breeding ground for West Nile virus in the Summer. I say, let the skaters have at it. As long as they agree to waive liability, they are providing a valuable public service draining the pools, and having a ball at the same time. You’ve got to love it when a problem like this solves itself. Of course, the mainstream will never agree with that approach, so these kids have to look over their shoulders all the time.
Woohoo! He’s going to invest in infrastructure. It will take a while for that to percolate into the economy. That means the recession might be longer; but in the end we’ll have something to show for it. If we just went for a quick fix, we’d party a little while longer and then it would only be worse. So far, I’m not having any “buyer’s remorse” over my vote for him.
Note, his plan is somewhat similar to what I described in my last post. I’m a bit disappointed that he didn’t mention rail. It’s an autocentric plan, it seems; but alas we are still an autocentric country.
That’s the last thing I have to say here for a while. Happy Thanksgiving.
Infrastructure.
Trains and alternative energy.
That’ll re-hire the GM workers, and reduce our dependance on oil.
We should have been doing it for years. It was obvious for years. The only way you couldn’t see it is if you were blind drunk after all those free meals from lobbyists.
How to stop housing prices from dropping, conserve energy, reduce the price of oil, clean the air, and spur innovation to re-stimulate the economy. All without spending a dime.
1. Immediately repeal residential zoning density limits within a quarter mile of light rail stations, and place a moratorium on all new car-dependant suburban development. The value of transportation accessible tracts would immediately increase. Those who still want to live in a tract home would see their home values increase, since their homes are now a rare commodity that isn’t being produced any more. Developer losses from new development in the suburbs would be offset by gains in urban construction. With reduced reliance on the automobile, fuel consumption would decrease and the air would clean up.
2. Reform the patent system. Compulsory licensing of all patents, with limited payouts to patent holders, based on a reasonable percentage of the revenue from products created, with a very short statute of limitations for filing claims against the infringers. In other words, make it illegal to hold a patent for the purpose of suppressing an invention. Innovators would now be able to move forward without fear of patent litigation. From their point of view, the patent system would become a relatively benign tax rather than the octopus that it is now.
Of course, I realize these are sweeping reforms expressed in simple language. The devil’s in the details, and any actions along these lines would be dramaticly more complicated. In particular, any zoning reforms would be difficult to do in a broad sweeping fashion. It might have to be done the same way that the 55 mph speed limit was enacted: withold Federal funds from local governments that don’t comply. Given that, it wouldn’t really be cost free; but since the Federal government is already handing out money any way, it might as well be handed out with some strings that will move us in a worthwhile direction.
Notice that I didn’t mention banks or car companies at all here. There are plenty of other things that are screwed up about the way our country is run, that have nothing to do with that stuff. Yes, of course we need to regulate the banks. Yes, we can’t just dump hundreds of thousands of auto workers onto the doll over night; but that’s beside the point. Oh, but if GM gets even one red cent, it should be on the condition that the CEO of GM personally delivers an EV-1 to every former leaseholder that wanted to buy one.
Spontaneous celebrations broke out all over the country when Obama won. This one happened 4 blocks from my base of operations, which I now rent out. As much as I like California, sometimes I do miss DC.
It occured to me a few days ago that “Obammer Slammer” would be a great name for a drink, in honor (or mockery, depending on how you look at it) of the President Elect. I have no idea what should go in it. Kahlua (for the Hawaiin connection) seemed like an obvious choice; but Wiki reveals that stuff is actually Mexican. I have no idea how I got the impression it comes from the islands. Connections for Kenya, Illinois, or Kansas seem a bit more diffficult.
Anyway, this kind of stuff is really not my bag. I virtually never go to bars unless “the group” is going, and that hasn’t been the case for a long time. So, somebody out there please come up with some ingredients that fit the name. Just make sure it doesn’t make you sick.
Recently, I was reminded of the fact that “electioneering”, e.g., advertising for a particular candidate is restricted near a polling place. Specificly, people were being reminded not to wear Obama buttons, and this got me thinking. In recent years, there has been emphasis on the “color” of the party–Red for Republican and Blue for Democrat, which seems rather backwards to me; but I didn’t make the decision.
I usually wear a red shirt on Tuesdays, but they would think I’m Republican, so that’s out.
I can’t wear blue, because they’ll think I’m electioneering for the Democrats.
I have a green shirt too; but there’s a Green Party. That could be misinterpreted.
Finally, I decided to wear black; but then they might think I’m stumping for Obama since he’s the first Black candidate for President.
White is out too; they’ll think I’m for McCain.
I ran out of shirt colors. The conclusion was inescapable. There’s only one thing to do in order to avoid problems: Vote naked.
John McCain doesn’t want you to read this blog, or any other blog that’s political. OK, that’s maybe a bit hyperbolic; but it’s not too far from the truth. McCain shared top billing on the campaign finance reform law, portions of which were struck down by the Supreme Court. Some portions of this law, IIRC, would have required bloggers to comply with regulations that would have made it impractical to simply log in to a site like this and type whatever you want. That struck at the very heart of free speech.
Then, there is the whole flag burning ammendment. A bigger waste of time, and a greater attack against speech has not been seen in years. Guess who has his name on it?
At some point, early in this election, I thought perhaps the phrase, “It’s the Constitutions, stupid” might work its way into the general fray. Alas, no. There have been other issues on people’s minds. Long before he was even nominated, however, these issues were foremost in my mind. The Constitution is the foundation of the United States. The president takes an oath to defend it! How anyone can take seriously a candidate who would attack it is beyond me. It could be argued that McCain is just falling in line with his party’s general lack of respect for the values that made America great.
So, this Tuesday, vote Obama. There. I said that. That’s free speech, Mr. McCain. Read it and weep.
