Thursday, June 19, 2008
The Iraqi Oil Ministry is negotiating a series of no-bid contracts with a collection of Western oil companies. This would be the first major commercial oil development to take place since the US invaded Iraq in 2003. More than 40 companies from a variety of countries including Russia and China submitted proposals, and it is unusual for oil companies to get no-bid contracts (Only one country, however, has more than 100,000 troops in Iraq). There is a lot going on here and many ways you could look at this. You could argue that this supports the idea that the US went to war in Iraq for oil (an idea that has a lot of credence in that Arab world). You could also argue that this is a very favorable turn of events because the sooner oil production can start the sooner Iraq will have money to begin investing in infrastructure. You could also argue that no-bid contracts in general are a bad idea. However, you really don’t have to argue anything since no one will be talking about this at your office. Unless you work at Shell.
In the face of skyrocketing oil prices, Americans are driving less. Specifically, drivers have cut back by 30 billion miles over the last 6 months. This is the largest decrease since the fuel crisis in the late 70s. It’s weird to see market forces at work.
Senator Obama has opted out of Public Financing. We had mentioned he was considering it before, but now he has actually pulled the trigger. If he had gone with public financing, he would have been limited to spending $84.1 million for the general election campaign. Contrast that with the fact that he raised $95 million in February and March alone. See our previous coverage of the issue for the proper way to discuss this at the office.
A runoff election in Zimbabwe is planned for June 27th, and prominent international and African groups are escalating their rhetoric against President Mugabe. Since losing the initial election (but not by enough to prevent a runoff), President Mugabe has launched a terror campaign against the opposition party that has included beatings, murders, threats of civil war should he lose and multiple imprisonments of the opposition leader. “Every sign” that it “will never be free nor fair” indeed.
Because I didn’t post the news yesterday, some people might have missed that the Celtics won the NBA championship. Just an FYI that Boston rules.
Monday, June 16, 2008
The biggest story of the weekend was the death of Tim Russert, veteran Washington political reporter and moderator of Meet The Press. Today the last passionate obits are trickling out and people are beginning to speculate on who the next host of Meet the Press might be.
The Midwest continues to be slammed by storms and massive flooding. The New York Times leads with the problems these storms are posing farmers and the threat to crops in the region. Yes, Iowa City is evacuated and the Times covers crops.
Electricity prices are set to increase by up to 30% over the next few months, a move that will undoubtedly cause much hardship to already-squeezed lower and middle income families. Cue inappropriate pun by a major media outlet: “Here’s a shocker: Electricity bills are heading up. Way up.” Thanks USA Today!
Here is your Barack Obama casual-scene porn of the day. Enjoy!
Yesterday was a great day for sports as Tiger Woods made a huge comeback to force a Monday playoff at the US Open and the Celtics made a huge comeback but couldn’t close against the Lakers, bringing the finals to 3-2.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
It is a Father’s Day week in review! We came back from a too-long vacation and roared into the beginning of the week, but then we slacked off and really failed to close. That, my friends, is what she said.
- We got a new generation of the iphone. Can world peace be far behind?
- Jeff did his first style post!
- We leveled with you, TV this summer is going to be brutal.
- There is a new Sigur Ros album! I don’t like them as much as Jeff does but I thought it was funny he referenced the shorts from Monday.
- Going into tonight’s game it looks like the Celtics have things pretty well wrapped up. I am a complete bandwagoneer, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t appreciated some great basketball.
Don’t forget to call you Dad and Granddad and have a great rest of your weekend.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
The US has decided to humor the Iraqi government by “negotiating” with them to determine the future of the US military in Iraq. Those negotiations are quickly dissolving into acrimony with the Iraqi government condemning the US’s demands. The US is trying to make sure that their military has a large number of bases all over the country and that the military can operate with little or no oversight from the Iraqi government. The Iraqis want us to get the hell out. My initial thought on this is that it is the case of Iraqi politicians trying to drum up popularity at home by denouncing the big bad United States. Also, that the US military is going to do whatever it wants no matter what the Iraqis say.
The Republican Party is gearing up for big losses in November in both the House and the Senate (and possibly the Presidency). Talk with your Republican coworkers about how the party can refocus, find its roots and plan an eventual return to power. If you are Democrat, just smile and sip your coffee.
The Clinton’s have a literal enemies list that has expanded significantly during this election. While kind of creepy, this can actually be a fun topic of conversation at work! Chat over the water cooler about who would be on your enemies list. So far I have student loan debt, the guy who bumped into me on the subway this morning, and Ryan Reynolds.
I am quick to criticize New York Times Columnists (mostly because of my crippling jealousy) so I should be quick to praise them too. Both David Brooks and Tom Friedman had great columns yesterday and today. Brook’s is about debt and Friedman’s is about the fact that he has been to Egypt (and about Barack Obama).
The Celtics lost game 3, bringing the series to 2-1. Though neither team really covered themselves with glory last night.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
9:00 pm – NBA Finals : “Game 3: Celtics at Lakers” (ABC)
The big question tonight is if the Celtics can win on the road. They arrive in Hollywood with a 2-0 lead and with Paul Pierce still wearing a totally unnecessarily knee brace. Watch for the Lakers to pull the same stunt when in the third quarter a rabid fan charges the court to stab Kobe Bryant in the chest repeatedly. Bryant will be pronounced dead at the scene, only to return at the beginning of the fourth and score 27 unanswered points.
8:00 pm – Coupling (BBC America)
What? We are recommending a BBC show you have never heard of. Why yes Josh is writing the TV post tonight, why do you ask? Coupling is basically a funnier and sexier version of Friends. If you are looking for a light sitcom to enjoy over the summer, you could do a lot worse. If it sounds familiar, there was an American version that launched in 2003, but it tanked and was quickly canceled. If you like the Office, you might want to give this a shot.
9:00 pm – Futurama (Comedy Central)
Listen, Jeff warned you yesterday, summer is here so there just isn’t that much on and we are going to be recommending some syndicated shows. But if you don’t like basketball (or are just creeped out by Larry Bird’s shoulders) this is a classic episode of Futurama. It’s the one where Fry goes back to college, Bender joins a frat and a bowler hat makes a monkey super-intelligent.
LATE NIGHT
Letterman has Mark Wahlberg, Leno has Justin Timberlake and Conan has Jeff Corwin. Colbert has Alan Rabinowitz, an expert on tigers, and Stewart has Ralph Reed, the head of the Christian Coalition. $10 says that Colbert is grills his guest on the dangers of tigers harder than Stewart grills his on the dangers of religion in politics.
