So Palin loses the debate but wins the battle it seems. By failing to be the disaster she's been in recent weeks Sarah Palin managed to clear the bar of expectation that she's so lowered and ease the pressure from the Republican base
It was Biden's debate but Palin's triumph
26 percent of those surveyed said that Palin was more intelligent in the debate (57 percent who chose Biden).
51 percent of the debate watchers said that Biden did the best job in the debate, while 36 percent gave the nod to Palin.
However 84 percent of the debate watchers said she did better than expected.
Which is the way of things... they're going to win
Friday, October 03, 2008
Thursday, October 02, 2008
A little bit of politics
I'm sorry to do this (again) when I know that what you're all really waiting for is the inevitable Sarah Palin Sex Tape but I thought that I'd allow myself to be sucked into the pre-VP Debate fenzy and have my say on what's going on.
On one side we have the Divine Ms Sarah Palin. She may not know much but she's a woman, she's standing by a somewhat troubled family, she's closer to trailer trash than any Veep in history and she does a lot for McCain when it comes to a Conservative base suspicious that he's worked too closely with 'those' Democrats in the past. In favor of forcing women to give birth even if conception was the result of rape by a syphilitic near relative she's Goldly enough for most on the right (that IS what Jesus would do - right?)
Okay so she's seen her numbers drop every time she's been on TV (down 15 points on 'is qualified to run the country) but she might be just stupid enough for Americans who feel that intelligence is elitism and that winning an argument is the same as belittling the dim-witted.
In the opposition corner Joe Biden (Obama : Joe Biden - I know) known for waffling on, occasionally being very funny and his tendancy to be condesending in the face of stupidity. He needs to not do that tonight. This is a popularity contest and you don't make yourself popula by talking down to the woman with the handicapped kiddy. Not in America.
The thing in his favor is that his ability to get things wrong, make the wrong joke, get the wrong name and generally fuck things up comes across as endearing. It shows that he's not a 'cue cards' and 'talking points' kind of guy and makes him more human. Plus he has the safety net of being widely known as somebody who, underneath the gaffes, knows his shit.
So she can be aggressive. But he has to tread carefully. Don't mock her, be worried about her ignorance. Don't attack her, attack the fact that she's just not ready (yet). He can make a mistake or two and laugh them off, but she can't.
It's gonna be a good one
On one side we have the Divine Ms Sarah Palin. She may not know much but she's a woman, she's standing by a somewhat troubled family, she's closer to trailer trash than any Veep in history and she does a lot for McCain when it comes to a Conservative base suspicious that he's worked too closely with 'those' Democrats in the past. In favor of forcing women to give birth even if conception was the result of rape by a syphilitic near relative she's Goldly enough for most on the right (that IS what Jesus would do - right?)
Okay so she's seen her numbers drop every time she's been on TV (down 15 points on 'is qualified to run the country) but she might be just stupid enough for Americans who feel that intelligence is elitism and that winning an argument is the same as belittling the dim-witted.
In the opposition corner Joe Biden (Obama : Joe Biden - I know) known for waffling on, occasionally being very funny and his tendancy to be condesending in the face of stupidity. He needs to not do that tonight. This is a popularity contest and you don't make yourself popula by talking down to the woman with the handicapped kiddy. Not in America.
The thing in his favor is that his ability to get things wrong, make the wrong joke, get the wrong name and generally fuck things up comes across as endearing. It shows that he's not a 'cue cards' and 'talking points' kind of guy and makes him more human. Plus he has the safety net of being widely known as somebody who, underneath the gaffes, knows his shit.
So she can be aggressive. But he has to tread carefully. Don't mock her, be worried about her ignorance. Don't attack her, attack the fact that she's just not ready (yet). He can make a mistake or two and laugh them off, but she can't.
It's gonna be a good one
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
What is it that people don't understand?
I'm not entirely sure when America grew envious of its rich, but it seems that's what happened recently. The rich have gone from being icons of the America dream to 'fat cats' creaming off wealth and then expecting special treatment when things go wrong.
I think that it's just bad PR. The rich have always creamed off the top and then expected special treatment when things have gone wrong. It's just that they never did it publically.
So the nation these days is desperate to put a fence between the corporate greed of "Wall St" and the humble goodness of "Main Street". Wall Street made enormous profits, took big bonuses and then went bang. Good - fuck 'em. Bastards.
What we forget is that Main St. demanded that their pensions, their investments and the equity in their houses went up and up. They wanted more than they could afford and took shortcuts to get it. They wanted their chunk of Wall St.
So we blame the dealer and forget the addict. And now we're looking to jail the dealer and leave the addict to go cold turkey. Which will be ugly. Sure there's a thirst for revenge, a determination to punish somebody here. But unless America takes its share of responsibility we're doomed to another cycle of greed and entitlement inflated boom followed by bile spewing bust.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Crash - ahhh arrrrgggghhhhh
So it seems that the world is finally melting. Yesterday the House Republicans brought down Bush's "Buy it now, this is a limited offer" bail-out bill partly because he'd sold them the "Don't read the fine print, just sign here" shit before (Patriot Act anyone?) and they didn't want to be going into the election knowing that they'd just put their names to another piece of Bush legislation.
Then there's the fact that some of them genuinely do believe in the free market. Which means letting the market sort out the problems that it gets itself into even if it means "Wall St impacting on Main St"
It's bad news for the world at large - as credit supplies tighten and people start living withing their means (fancy that) but hey it's worse news for John McCain. Having "suspended" his campaign to "sort this out", then having posed in front of cameras thumbs aloft before going on to berate Obama's "I can't control the house" stance on the issue he then sees the bill he claims to have solf through fail at the hands of 66% of his own party. Ooops.
Lesson #1 "Never claim responsibility for anything that isn't already a success"
It was ten days ago that McCain was saying that the fundamentals of the economy are strong. Three days ago that he was saying that he'd flown in and helped broker a deal, and it was hours before a trillion dollars was taken off the stock exchange that he was saying that he, not Obama, was responsible for all of this. Ouch. Silly.
I'm just hoping that this dead cat has one last bounce - I may need a job soon.
Then there's the fact that some of them genuinely do believe in the free market. Which means letting the market sort out the problems that it gets itself into even if it means "Wall St impacting on Main St"
It's bad news for the world at large - as credit supplies tighten and people start living withing their means (fancy that) but hey it's worse news for John McCain. Having "suspended" his campaign to "sort this out", then having posed in front of cameras thumbs aloft before going on to berate Obama's "I can't control the house" stance on the issue he then sees the bill he claims to have solf through fail at the hands of 66% of his own party. Ooops.
Lesson #1 "Never claim responsibility for anything that isn't already a success"
It was ten days ago that McCain was saying that the fundamentals of the economy are strong. Three days ago that he was saying that he'd flown in and helped broker a deal, and it was hours before a trillion dollars was taken off the stock exchange that he was saying that he, not Obama, was responsible for all of this. Ouch. Silly.
I'm just hoping that this dead cat has one last bounce - I may need a job soon.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Me and my peeps
So today I've decided to post one of my more Gilbert and George (minus the scat) pictures. No real reason other than I kinda like the people in the background of this one. My day has been spenyt catching up on the things that needed catching up with... reminders, bits and pieces, things in need of a polish. No new thinking but enough elbow grease to make what we've done feel as though it's still shiny and new (which it is, I think)Was also looking at some of the Extinction Timelines that you can find using the excellent internet application known as Google.
If the 80s saw the extinction of the Berlin Wall, 8 track, disco, Space Invaders, communism, UK exchange controls and the Soviet Union and the 90s saw CFCs, Betamax, Barings, Chernobyl, Manual typewriters, green computer screens, Kurt Cobain and Yugoslavia go up - what else do we have in store.
Well so far the noughties have seen the end of princess Diana, Enron, 11 European currencies, milkmen, polaroid cameras, sunday lunch, Concorde and the planet Pluto.
Coming up seems to be 'mending things', post offices, Russian democracy, retirement, DVDs. Fax machines, getting lost, FM radio, analogue TV, copywright, spelling, glaciars, keys, petrol engines, coins, WWII survivors and of course Death.
Cool lists all... we should do one.
What do you think will become extinct in the next 40 years; when and why?
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Naked Uganda Project - still pencilled in
I've been hitting the gym pretty hard recently and while I'm not in the shape that I'd like to be in (yet) I've added and subtracted inches in all the right places and have started to look pretty good in a T-shirt. If you cut my head off pics you wouldn't say "Who's that hottie?" but when you add my head to a pic people say "What - that old coot?"
So Project Uganda is shaping up as my most sustained fitness program ever. The pencil though is just down to travel schedules. Jude just send out job packages. They could result in interviews in December and January... and as the interviews are 3 day affairs a video conference from Uganda (via 28k internet) isn't really an option.
I still have Entebbe hotlisted on Kayak - and we're still keen on the thought... it's just the thought of having to leave early for Hong Kong is more heartbreaking than postponing the trip. Anyway here's the first pic I took with the new lights that jude bought me for my birthday. Not a great pic - but the first.
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