Sunday, August 31, 2008

Hurricanes Aren't People

News coverage of weather events is terrible; for the most part it's sensation and statement of the obvious.

"Brian, I'm standing here in the fury of Tropical Storm Britney, and it's windy and raining..."

Yeah, no kidding.

But to me, what's worse is the anthropomorphizing of storms. Right now, there are plenty of headlines like these (which are real):

Crude Oil, Gasoline Advance as Gustav Cuts Production, Refining
Gustav targets Louisiana: 'It looks like it's going to happen.'
New Orleans is abandoned as Hurricane Gustav takes aim
Is Gustav a Republican or a Democrat?

Ye gods. Hurricanes don't vote. They don't "take aim". They don't cut production. They're storms. They don't have personalities. They're events.

Is that a difficult concept for the media? Apparently.

Friday, August 29, 2008

President Obama, Utterly Harmless...

Let's see...in Obama's acceptance speech, he said he'd go through the federal budget "line by line".

How many lines are in the federal budget, anyway? Since the feds spend $2,800,000,000,000 a year, that's got to be one hell of a lot of lines!

I went to the the President's OMB website and downloaded some summary documents. The "Detailed budget estimates" appendix is over 1,280 pages. That's without getting into any specifics whatsoever.

The actual details must number in the tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of pages.

Well, that ought to keep Obama busy reading for at least four years. At least that way he can't do any harm.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

What to do with those empty seats in Beijing?

I've been wondering...what will China do with those brand-new stadiums (okay, stadia, for you Latin fans) once the Olympics are over?

Even now, they can't get people to fill the seats for the world's biggest sporting events--what's going to happen once the torch is snuffed?

Here are some ideas:

+ Holding areas for dissidents (may not be large enough).

+ Communist Party Athletic Events (the swimming "cube" can be used for auto da fe re-education trials).

+ Convert them into giant clothing sweatshops. One 8-year-old girl and sewing machine per seat.

+ Use the "Bird's Nest" to attract a really big bird to nest there.

In the interest of international goodwill, I'll try to think of some more. Stay tuned.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Who remembers...

Anyone remember this phrase?

"Do not fold, bend, spindle, or mutilate."

If so, you're probably over 40.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Is the Economy Really So Bad?

While I have my own serious concerns about the state of the economy, I do believe that the negativity is vastly (and melodramatically) overstated by the media. I saw some network news report the other night that made passing reference to “…with the economy now in recession…”

Well, it’s technically not, of course. But why let facts get in the way of a good story, especially one that will help the Democratic party?

As for the housing crisis…well, plenty of blame to go around there. A couple of years ago, I had the hobby of reading an online forum for mortgage brokers, and I simply could not believe how that business was being run; people I wouldn’t have lent a dollar were getting jumbo mortgages based on no documentation at all. There’s no way that was going to have a happy ending, and it’s a long way from over even now.

More work, less whining will get the economy moving better than any new tax-and-spend-and-spend government initiatives.

As for “windfall profit tax”, there’s another word for it–stealing. But that’s one of government’s specialties, isn’t it?

Scott

China vs. US in Gymnastics

The US team won silver, but they have nothing to feel bad about. They turned in an excellent performance.

As for the Chinese, they did well, but the only way some of those girls could be over 16 would be in dog years. I have food in my refrigerator that's older than some of those kids.

Scott