Monday, June 9, 2008
Home, sweet home. We left to spend two weeks either seeing family (Jeff) or working like crazy then drinking/crying myself to sleep every night (Josh). It is not like we missed much. Nope, nothing much at all. However, we are back and better than ever.
One thing that hasn’t changed much since we left is the economy. On Friday, the release of high unemployment numbers and a surge in oil prices sent the stock market plummeting.
Because of the surge in oil prices, gas prices nationwide hit an average of $4/gallon on Sunday. Today’s must-read is from the New York Times, who profiles the people most screwed by increased gas prices: the rural poor. How to talk about this is pretty simple. Do you drive to work? Then commiserate with your coworkers about how terrible the gas prices are. Do you take the subway/bus? Then commiserate with your coworkers about how terrible public transportation is.
Luckily, while we were gone, we didn’t miss anyone bothering to institute the rule of law or anything. The Pentagon had been urging interrogators to destroy all handwritten notes in case they were called to testify on detainee torture.
And finally, because we live in a modern gilded age, Apple will be announcing a new generation of the iphone today. The new phone is rumored to have a much faster Internet connection, new business-focused applications and an improved display. There are also rumors of a reduced price, but I still won’t be able to afford one.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Today is one of those days where there is no major story driving the news, so we have about four or five stories fronting all the different papers. This means there will be nothing you need to know about, but a bunch of things it couldn’t hurt to just be aware of.
Ben Bernanke, Chairmen of the Federal Reserve, said yesterday that he would be ready to cut interest rates again if need be. His argument is that he is more focused on fighting a recession then he is on fighting inflation. It seems to me that the Federal Reserve is taking short term steps that benefit Wall Street investors even if milk ends up costing $36/gallon, but I am not an economist. Oh wait, this guy is and he thinks so too.
The President’s plan for a virtual fence across the Mexican-American border has been scaled back and delayed because of technical problems. The virtual fence was a series of cameras and towers that would help notify border patrol agents when people were attempting to cross the border. The project will now take years longer and cost billions more to complete. Thank God, missile defense is so 1980s, finally we have a new boondoggle for a new millennium.
Senators, Bloomberg, and Turkey after the jump.
Keep reading
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Senator Clinton and Senator Obama met in Ohio last night for what will likely be the final debate of the Democratic primary. This was the most confrontational of the debates and the candidates sparred over a variety of issues, including health care, foreign policy, and NAFTA. Senator Clinton needed to knock Senator Obama off his stride, and while she dominated the debate it doesn’t appear that she made anything stick. If the debate comes up at work and you are unsure who the person you are talking to is supporting, it is always safe to criticize the moderators, who were their usual bizarre selves. Some examples of the moderators drinking problems where convoluted hypotheticals on Iraq and a question about rejecting the endorsement of Louis Farrakhan. Thank GOD I know where they stand on that. You can check out a full debate transcript, but I have no idea why you would want to.
McCain, Google, and the GOP after the jump
Keep reading
Friday, February 15, 2008
It’s still technically morning right? Unfortunately, things are a little busy as 2.0somethings headquarters, so the morning news is running late and will be abbreviated. I am proud to present the premiere of our newest feature (cop-out), the four word morning news!
Monday, February 4, 2008
Your morning news is late today because of last night‘s game. While 2.0somethings is strongly pro-Patriots, we can appreciate that it was actually nice to have a Super Bowl that was an exciting game, and we are honored that… OH who the hell am I kidding. WE LOST TO THE GIANTS. THE GIANTS. How in God’s name did Manning make that pass. HOW. WTF. Brady was sacked 4 times. WHERE WAS OUR OFFENSIVE LINE. Ok, it is out of our system. Mostly.
Man, how about those ads.
All the papers are focused on tomorrow’s Super Tuesday primary. It is the largest primary election event in history. National polls have Senator Barack Obama in a dead heat with Senator. Hillary Clinton. Those same polls show Senator John McCain with a large lead in the Republican race. When the topic comes up at lunch today, sound authoritative by saying that national polls don’t matter because it is not a national election, you need to look at the polling numbers state-by-state. If you do that, it looks like Senator Clinton will pull off some wins tomorrow.
California, with its ungodly (241) number of primary delegates, is one of the biggest prizes in tomorrow’s primary. All of the candidates were there yesterday. The biggest news was that California’s first lady, Maria Shriver, made a surprise endorsement of Senator Obama. Shriver’s husband, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, endorsed Republican Senator John McCain a while ago. Shriver is also a member of the Kennedy family, which gives the endorsement more resonence.
New polls are showing that concern over the economy is at its highest mark in the past decade with most people thinking we are already in a recession. The economy is now considered the number one issue in the Presidential campaign. Don’t let this dissuade you from buying cool stuff we talk about. The poll doesn’t break it down by age, but 18-29 year-olds did represent about 20% of the respondents.
Google finally weighed in on Microsoft’s bid to take control of Yahoo. Google basically said that they fear for the free flow of ideas on the internet. More realistically, Google is organizing its lobbyists and working through back channels to make the deal as unpleasant as possible for Microsoft.
