you see what I did there? How about that for channelling the zeitgeist? And how about THAT for spelling?
So all of the US auto makers announced huge losses today. Chrysler (who also own Jeep and Dodge) are shit out of time and it looks bad for them as GM (is there a worse name for a 21st century company than 'General Motors'?) pulled out of merger / acquisition talks and announced that it's fast running out of money - 2009 being the date that they see it going bang.
Ford looked better, but not much. And of course all of the gloom around these companies makes selling a car even harder - would you buy a GM if you thought that they'd be going out of business in the next year?
I wonder whether the outgoing President is reflecting on any of this.
If they'd told him 8 years ago that the result of his presidency was going to be 1.2m jobs lost in 2008, a $10trillion dollar deficit, two wars, a collapsed banking system, the nationalization of the money markets, the death of the US auto industry, the sanctioning of torture, wiretapping of citizens, public flouting of the Geneva convention, the worst 'terror attack' ever committed on US soil (unless you're a native American of course) and politically the loss of the Senate, House and WhteHouse -- would he have stood?
Maybe it's not too late to ask him.
Mr President?
Friday, November 07, 2008
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Dangerously tired
When Jude isn't around I quite often forget to go to bed. Or rather I forget when to go to bed and remember when it's so late into the night that any attempt at sleep would be pretty pathetic.
As a result I'm dangerously tired. I've dropped the dog food. I've almost hit a women crossing the street (okay jogging in all black, at night, across a stop sign) - I saw her late; missed the brake pedal and responded with the girliest of gasps.
What else? Well I was dreadful in a meeting, went blank on several occasions, managed to misuse the limited vocabulary I could muster and forgot the name of a close colleague.
Time I think for some zerious Zees
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Barack Obama's Speech last night
Was good....
Sure it was a tad "Bob the Builder" (Can we fix it? Yes we can)
But it was gracious and eloquent, it attempted to reach out, it promised humility and it talked (as ever) about the audacity of hope and America's ability to overcome the obstacles that threaten to derail the idea of the country. He talked about his election not being the change we seek - but permission to pursue that promise.
He's good. But having heard the boos at his name when McCain tried to put a band-aid on the wounds caused by his savage attacks over the last six months means that he has his work cut out.
I for one sat tense as he spoke -- waiting for the sound of the gun that for some reason I was almost certain would be aimed in his direction. Was I alone?
My fave bit of the speech can be found here
Sure it was a tad "Bob the Builder" (Can we fix it? Yes we can)
But it was gracious and eloquent, it attempted to reach out, it promised humility and it talked (as ever) about the audacity of hope and America's ability to overcome the obstacles that threaten to derail the idea of the country. He talked about his election not being the change we seek - but permission to pursue that promise.
He's good. But having heard the boos at his name when McCain tried to put a band-aid on the wounds caused by his savage attacks over the last six months means that he has his work cut out.
I for one sat tense as he spoke -- waiting for the sound of the gun that for some reason I was almost certain would be aimed in his direction. Was I alone?
My fave bit of the speech can be found here
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
A good thing?
Why do people view uncertainty in other people's lives as 'a good thing'
This month I have scans that will tell me if I'll live or die in 2009.
To whit people say "It must really help you value life"
We have Jude interviewing for jobs everywhere in the world
To whit people say "Oh I envy your flexibility and sense of adventure"
We have a house that may be sold from under us
To whit people say "It's the perfect time to get something great cheap"
When did the very very possibility of being homeless, stateless, jobless and dead become cause for celebration?
That said - it is pretty cool
This month I have scans that will tell me if I'll live or die in 2009.
To whit people say "It must really help you value life"
We have Jude interviewing for jobs everywhere in the world
To whit people say "Oh I envy your flexibility and sense of adventure"
We have a house that may be sold from under us
To whit people say "It's the perfect time to get something great cheap"
When did the very very possibility of being homeless, stateless, jobless and dead become cause for celebration?
That said - it is pretty cool
Monday, November 03, 2008
One more day
So the longest, most expensive and quite frankly most bizarre election in US history is finally drawing to an end. People are pulling stats the way that they used to pull entrails from chickens - 'proving' everything from the 'fact' that rain favors the Republicans to the more obvious 'the old white guy always wins'
Looking back we had the strangest line up of Republicans standing. Crazy old guys, cross dressing mayors, actors and 3 that didn't think that evolution really held. The Mormon was supposed to win, holding out until all of the others imploded. It was an okay plan - but he proved just too hateful and lost his nerve before he lost all of his money. Probably wise... expecting people to come around to you as the least mad of a bonkers bunch is a good plan only if you're not too detestable to ever contemplate.
In the end it went to the guy least like George Bush. McCain came back from the dead and Zombie like stumbled into a campaign against Obama that mirrored the failed campaign of Hillary Clinton.
The he picked Sarah Pallin. A woman with no record (and therefore no real ties to Bush) and with a vagina. Turns out she WAS a vagina (or something similar, I'll not use the word here, though I don't know why)
Cynical yes. Brilliant - well no. Her numbers broke faster than her water and much of the campaign was spent trying to hide her from the media while exposing her to the far right wing that McCain needed.
Obama ran a quieter campaign. He was measured. He never raised his voice. He looked calm. He gave one great speech that took race off the table in terms of campaigning and then went about looking as Emperor like as possible... from the Caesar tilt of the head to the ramrod straight stance... it was all about looking and sounding like a statesman.
So who'll win? The press has it as an Obama landslide. The Obama people are worried that this will mean a lower turn out amongst their voters... people assuming victory and thus heading to the grovery store rather than the polling booth.
McCain thinks that the polls are wrong - and he has the advantage of recent legislation on his side. Many poor mexican and black voters will be turned away from the electronic booths owned and run by Republican Party contributers. But it will need to be close to be stolen.
Either way it doesn't matter too much to the individual. The economy is in the toilet. The stock market has gone mad. It's too late to save the auto industry. We're mired in two wars. The Patriot Act is still in force. Katrina victims have spent too long visiting the dead and returning to their prefab homes. The US is still the country with the one site the publically flaunts the Geneva convention and several more secret black camps where the worst torture happens. There are still more people who hate the US today than there were a decade ago. The deficit is still at record levels. And cynicism is still at an all time high.
What Obama offers is hope. Perhaps we can change things after all. Change the way the world views us - and the way we view the world. Hope that a different path can lead to a different result. Hope that this could be a pivotal point. As I heard recently "The country doesn't need another Clinton, it needs another Lincoln"
Obama may not be up to that. But there's a chance. And that's what we need. Let's see if tomorrow brings it.
Looking back we had the strangest line up of Republicans standing. Crazy old guys, cross dressing mayors, actors and 3 that didn't think that evolution really held. The Mormon was supposed to win, holding out until all of the others imploded. It was an okay plan - but he proved just too hateful and lost his nerve before he lost all of his money. Probably wise... expecting people to come around to you as the least mad of a bonkers bunch is a good plan only if you're not too detestable to ever contemplate.
In the end it went to the guy least like George Bush. McCain came back from the dead and Zombie like stumbled into a campaign against Obama that mirrored the failed campaign of Hillary Clinton.
The he picked Sarah Pallin. A woman with no record (and therefore no real ties to Bush) and with a vagina. Turns out she WAS a vagina (or something similar, I'll not use the word here, though I don't know why)
Cynical yes. Brilliant - well no. Her numbers broke faster than her water and much of the campaign was spent trying to hide her from the media while exposing her to the far right wing that McCain needed.
Obama ran a quieter campaign. He was measured. He never raised his voice. He looked calm. He gave one great speech that took race off the table in terms of campaigning and then went about looking as Emperor like as possible... from the Caesar tilt of the head to the ramrod straight stance... it was all about looking and sounding like a statesman.
So who'll win? The press has it as an Obama landslide. The Obama people are worried that this will mean a lower turn out amongst their voters... people assuming victory and thus heading to the grovery store rather than the polling booth.
McCain thinks that the polls are wrong - and he has the advantage of recent legislation on his side. Many poor mexican and black voters will be turned away from the electronic booths owned and run by Republican Party contributers. But it will need to be close to be stolen.
Either way it doesn't matter too much to the individual. The economy is in the toilet. The stock market has gone mad. It's too late to save the auto industry. We're mired in two wars. The Patriot Act is still in force. Katrina victims have spent too long visiting the dead and returning to their prefab homes. The US is still the country with the one site the publically flaunts the Geneva convention and several more secret black camps where the worst torture happens. There are still more people who hate the US today than there were a decade ago. The deficit is still at record levels. And cynicism is still at an all time high.
What Obama offers is hope. Perhaps we can change things after all. Change the way the world views us - and the way we view the world. Hope that a different path can lead to a different result. Hope that this could be a pivotal point. As I heard recently "The country doesn't need another Clinton, it needs another Lincoln"
Obama may not be up to that. But there's a chance. And that's what we need. Let's see if tomorrow brings it.
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Flying visit
So Jude's mom flew in, shopped some and flew out --- on her way to Mexico for a vacation.
Much fun.
The clocks went forward - throwing my body clock into a 'where the hell am I and why is everyone else awake?' panic
Not much fun.
Lewis Hamilton is world champion (hurrah) - earning the points that he needed at the very last corner and giving hope to McCain and a lesson to us all in the process.
Sarah Palin got prank called... that was fun
Posing as French President Sarkozy the prankster tells Palin thatone of his favorite pastimes is hunting.
"I just love killing those animals. Mmm, mmm, take away life, that is so fun," the fake Sarkozy says.
He proposes they go hunting together by helicopter, something he says he has never done.
"Well, I think we could have a lot of fun together while we're getting work done," Palin counters. "We can kill two birds with one stone that way."
Holy Schmoly
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