Obama leaves Russia
Death penalty for rioters in China
blah blah blah
Google announces operating system based on browser.
Okay? Cool!
Last night, millions of Americans put down aside their personal feelings and sat down in front of their televisions for a farewell from the man who, right or wrong, we’ve been living under since the end of 2000.
Wherever you go from here, Gil Grissom, happy trails.
Oh, and Bush resigned or something, but we forgot to tape it.
In other news, a US Airways jetliner with 155 people aboard lost power in both engines after colliding with a flock of geese. The pilot ditched in the icy Hudson River and all on board were rescued by ferries and emergency boats. Is it OK to laugh about air travel again? We like to think so.
Can’t make it to the inauguration next week? Attend one that is not quite as historic but a hundred times more adorable by going to Legoland!
President-elect Obama once again brought up Social Security and Medicare, pledging to shape a new “bargain” with the American people. It will be just like the old Social Security and Medicare, but this one will come with the rust-proofing at no added charge.
This post is a little flippant– here is some Krugman.
News out of the Gaza strip remains grim. International aid groups are ratcheting up their criticism of Israel, claiming that Palestinian civilians are being completely neglected and that aid workers are being hurt and killed. The United Nations has suspended activities in Gaza and launched an official investigation into the Israel military after a UN driver was killed while in a UN-marked aid truck; the Red Cross has released a harsh statement condemning Israel for what it calls failures of international humanitarian law. While criticism mounts, the current US administration continues to back Israel somewhat unconditionally, ugh. It is tough to take a stand on this issue at the office, but it is likely that no one will bring it up.
Economic news at home is similarly grim. Major retailers, including discount stores like Wal-Mart, reported declining sales figures for December and warned that the next few months will be even worse. Additionally, the final employment report for 2008 has been released and it shows that the US lost a total of 2.6 million jobs in 2008, which is apparently the most in a single year since WWII ended in 1945. Job loss accelerated as the year went on meaning that it is likely to continue well into 2009 and also that various stimulus schemes used by the Bush administration didn’t really work. The Obama economic team is overhauling his proposed stimulus package after the initial plan met with some criticism from congressional leaders. How to talk about this at the office? There isn’t much to say besides that it sucks and hopefully no one is getting laid off.
The Florida Gators beat Oklahoma 24-14 to win the BCS national championship. I guess that means the Gators are the best team in college football? I dunno, that whole thing is so fucked up. Here is hoping that President-elect Obama will fix it. There is probably a pretty killer party in Gainesville right now, so if you can make it head on over.
Palm, a company that was once the king of handhelds but has lagged seriously since the creation of smartphones, has rocketed back into relevance with the introduction of the Palm Pre at this year’s CES. While iphone killers seem to pop up (and fail) with increasing regularity, this one looks great. Gadget writers I respect are lining up to sing its praises. The phone features multitouch, is on a 3G network, runs on a linux platform and integratse mobile facebook and gmail apps into the software of the phone itself. For example, if a friend calls their facebook photo pops up. Unfortunately, it is currently exclusive to Sprint… grrrrr…
President-elect Obama said yesterday that overhauling Medicare and Social Security will be a key part of his administration’s plans to reduce the Federal deficit. This makes sense on paper, since those are two of the governments biggest programs and both quite odl and inefficient, but it also seems a tailor-made way to grind Obama’s agenda to a halt. My guess is that this announcement (besides being good policy) is part of his continued efforts to get Republican buy-in for his stimulus package *titter.*
It is looking increasingly likely that Roland Burris, Senate appointee of crooked Governor Rod Blagojevich, is going to be seated as a Senator. Man THAT is weird.
Israel came under rocket fire (3 rockets, but work with me) from Lebanon this morning. This could mean that Israel’s “war” in Gaza is opening into a two-front action. Since Israel invaded Gaza they have had their eye on Lebanon expecting just such a move from Hezbollah, but no one has claimed responsibility for the rocket attacks. Anyone keeping score at home will remember that Israel invaded Lebanon in 2006 and it didn’t go very well. Those looking for more insight into the conflict (and if there is one thing I love, it is more insight) should read this Op-Ed from a professor of Arab studies at Columbia. It is absurdly one-sided and his conclusion paragraph is complete crap but when almost all of what you see on TV being is very pro-Israel, it is worth reading contrary opinions. There is also a better Op-Ed on this topic from former President Jimmy Carter, who knows a thing or two about the Israel-Palestine peace process.
I am really beginning to believe that these Somali pirates are some kind of secret UN plot to make me feel better. I get all depressed because of the economy or the fact that maybe people think I hate Israel (I don’t) and then a news stories pops up about the pirates and I feel better. I mean, I know they are just poor people driven to desperate straights by their failing government, blah blah blah. But come on — PIRATES!!! There is a new US task force being assembled to try to protect merchant shipping in the waters of the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean and you can bet your ass that Uncle Sam is leading the way this time. I know I read somewhere that China was in charge of some UN anti-pirate navel force, but apparently not anymore? Either way, PIRATES!!!
The Israeli invasion of Gaza continues unabated, and the debate continues to rage internationally about civilian casualties. Yesterday. Israeli forces shelled a UN-run school filled with civilians, killing 40. It seems likely that the Israeli soldiers were returning fire at a few Hamas gunman who fired mortars from the school, but the incident underscores the fact that Israel is doing next to nothing to minimize civilian casualties.
Tom Friedman proves, yet again, that he writes for the New York Times and I don’t with a great column that put the Gaza conflict in the context of the greater Middle East. Raise a point from the article over lunch or in case your boss mentions the conflict to you and you will sound smart. Don’t feel bad about ripping off Times columnists, I do it all the time.
Senate Democrats, ever the masters of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, are raising a stink over President-elect Obama’s choice of former Clinton Chief-of-staff Leon E. Panetta for CIA director . Obviously, the Obama team goofed by not consulting with the Senate Intelligence Committee, but it seems to me that there is no real basis for criticism of his pick. As Matt Yglesias twittered a few minutes ago, “The case for putting a CIA veteran in charge of the CIA would be more compelling were the CIA’s record not so unimpressive.” If this goes beyond a few nasty media quotes and the dems really try to derail the appointment, that would be stupid.
January means the Consumer Electronics show and Macworld. Despite the recession, many of the gadgets on display at CES are just as cool as previous years. While Apple announced some interesting new innovations (a new macbook pro and DRM-free music), CEO Steve Jobs had to bow out of the convention for health reasons. Applewaters and fanboys are trying to decide if the keynote was boring because there were no really mindblowing innovations or products or just because of Job’s absence. Also, this has raised the question that if Jobs even leaves the company or takes a less prominant role, will Apple be able to continue its market and media domination?
Blah blah blah