Iftar

My department sponsored a trip to the Hilton for Iftar. It was nice, however, there was no Veal Feet Soup.

Inappropriate baby gifts

If you can't teach your toddler how to handle the pole, how will they every make money as a stripper? You'll find the inappropriate gifts here.

Personally, I love the stuffed STD's. Nothing is more comforting than explaining Herpes as the sun shining.

RIP Patrick Swayze

When I think of Patrick Swayze I think of Dirty Dancing or Roadhouse.  Roadhouse must have played in the chapter room 200 times while I was at Coe.  I have to admit this is not how I remember him:

I’ve never seen To Wong Fu.  I’ll have to put it on a list… right after High School Musical 3.  I’m sure both movies will still be available when I’m in retirement.

The day the economy (almost) died

September 15, 2008, is the date Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy. The financial markets sitting on the edge of a cliff had just been pushed over the side.

In the next two weeks markets would tumble, credit would freeze up, McCain would suspend his campaign, TARP would be voted down and then approved days later...

As a political-economy geek there is no period of time in decades to match the last two weeks of September 2008.

Unfortunately, I don't think most Americans realize how close we came to the abyss. Had TARP not passed and the Fed decided to go places it had never dreamed of going, we'd have unemployment today in the upper teens.

Once again, I thank God that Bush's one excellent decision was picking an expert on the Great Depression to be the Chair of the Federal Reserve. This guy acknowledged that the Federal Reserve had largely created the Great Depression and before he became chair he promised an old friend, "Never again."

So say we all.

Quote of the day - "Wait till her fat ass is sitting at this desk"

The quote is from President Bush referring to Hillary Clinton. It's part of this must read piece from one of Bush's former speech writers. One of my favorite parts discusses how to sell the TARP bill a year ago. They humorously called it the "I can't believe it is not capitalism" plan and the "Marx plan."

Another interesting tidbit: While the conservatives at the White House were beside themselves with joy about the choice of Sarah Palin, President Bush was not impressed. He said, "What is she, the governor of Guam?" He went on to explain that there was no way she or her family were ready for the national stage.

In the post election I read that Obama had had the same reaction. While his team was in near panic of McCain's choice of Palin, Obama told them that it took him months to get used to the national spotlight.

While I try to provide links for most of my posts it usually the equivelant of adding a citation to a paper; I don't expect many to click on them. This article will take 10 - 15 minutes to read and it is worth it.

Jealous of Iowans

Weather in the 70's to low 80's. Sunny. Dewpoint of 53.

This is the perfect weather. Clear air, no humidity, and comfortable temperatures.

I'd say I hate you all but I know in the coming month my weather gets much better... and, well, yours does not.

Obama does something stupid

I felt the need to give a little shout out to my Republican readers. Obama's tire tarriffs have to be the single most stupid act affecting economics for this administration. If you want to read the economic analysis of why it is stupid read Brad Delong here.

Happiness is...

...discovering that one of my favorite shows in the US - In Treatment - is playing here.

Storm damage

A storm blew through that had lots of lightning, thunder and wind. It destroyed trees all over the city.
Trees here are watered constantly which gives them no reason to grow long roots. A major intersection had to be partially closed off because of standing water and trucks were brought in to siphon the water out.

It was wonderful to hear the thunder and feel the rain. It's just such a rare event here...

Aaron Saylor for City Council

One of the Aaron's who comments on the blog has announced a run for one of the "at large" positions on the Cedar Rapids City Council.

Cedar Rapids has been stuck in neutral since the devastating floods of '08. Too many older politicians have been paralyzed in their thinking. Unable to make decisions they have turned to expensive outside consultants.

If I had my way the new City Council would be composed of young professionals who plan to make Cedar Rapids home for the next several decades. They have the energy and the incentive to get it right. They would not be tied to old ways of thinking and the "Oh, we can't do that" attitude that has gripped too many of the current leaders.

You can see more information about Aaron's campaign at: http://saylorforcedarrapids.org

He's formally announcing his candidacy outside City Hall North (3851 River Ridge Dr. NE) at noon today.

Obama's best friends...

... are his enemies.

Republicans will not come back to power until somebody stands up to their crazies. It won't happen by 2012, but it could by 2016.

Weekend remainders - the bad behavior edition

No matter how much a two year old bothers a waiter, it is simply not appropriate to write "thankyyoulittellfucker."

Think winning the lottery would be great? Read what happened to these ten lottery winners.

I skipped this story this week because I thought I was a little too hard on the Republicans. Another gay bashing married (with two kids) Republican is caught with family values down. He didn't realize his committee microphone was on and brags about banging a lobbyist with cool details: "She goes, 'I know you like spanking me." I said, "Yeah, that's cause you're such a bad girl." This guy received a 100% rating from conservative pro-family organizations. Fortunately, he resigned quickly, although now he claims the story was completely made up.

A marine game of "Do you trust me" went very wrong. A pointed gun accidentally went off and a corporal in Iraq is dead.

And finally... I'll close with a case of good behavior leading to a bad outcome... a devout Catholic is trapped in an elevator. After he gets out he goes to pray for thanks. He grasps a stone pillar and apparently in his excitement he unlodges the 860 pound altar the pillar is holding up and it crushes him.

That had to be one interesting conversation at the pearly gates.

Birthdays

Happy Birthday, Eric! Eight years ago I called Eric and said, "Nobody will have trouble remembering your birthday from now on."

And speaking of birthdays...

(Picture from the QCOnline.)

My friend Sam made the news in the Quad Cities because his first daughter was born on 04/04/04 and his second daughter was born on 09/09/09.

The larger point

The Joe Wilson sideshow is a distraction from the larger truth from Wednesdays speech: Obama rallied the base and swung over many independents.

Many of us who supported Obama in the caucuses wondered what happened to the fiery passionate liberal we had come to love. President Obama seemed to want "post-partisanship" and a cool, reserved image more than fighting for his campaign promises.

I'm sure conservatives swelled with pride when they heard Bush outline his reasons for going to war with Iraq. I felt the same pride as Obama explained the need for healthcare reform.

And the great thing about healthcare reform is that it is far cheaper than Iraq and won't hurt our reputation abroad.

*****

I will try to make this my final post on healthcare for a while. I have more important things to tend to... like...

...remembering how to cook

Last spring and summer I made a series of unremarkable meals. Not bad, but certainly not great. This week I've proved that I can still cook. What you see above is corn on top of pork chop gravy on top of bacon-cheddar mashed potatoes with pieces of pork chop mixed in.

I'm pretty sure I regained most of the food poisoning weight loss in one meal.

Romney the socialist

Andrew Sullivan makes a great point in a post titled, "Obamacare vs. Romneycare." Romneycare is the popular health insurance reform passed in Massachusetts and signed by then Governor Romney.

"... The weirdest thing about the Republicans right now is the their most viable candidate next time backed almost exactly the healthcare reform Obama is proposing. If Obama is a socialist, why isn’t Romney?"

Now that Obama's included an individual mandate (requiring people to buy insurance) his plan is virtually identical to the one Romney signed into law.

It looks like we'll have to pick between our socialists in the 2012 election.

Healthcare reform in a flow chart

Hey, it worked for Ross Perot... Click on the following chart to see how healthcare reform would affect you.

Children & Congress

Apparently I wasn't the only one who thought Obama speaking to children was a warmup for his congressional speech.

At least the children behaved better.

Using hair to conduct electricity

I follow anything I can about Nepal... and hope to return later this year. This is a great story: Instead of using expensive silicon for solar energy why not use inexpensive hair? Apparently hair is a great conductor and has the potential to provide electricity for the very poor nation.

It's too bad I have so little I could contribute...

A win for Iowa, a loss for ag caps

Harkin (surprisingly) is replacing Kennedy as chair of the Health and Labor. Combined with his position on Appropriations, Harkin is now one of the most powerful senators.

He's giving up the chair of the Ag committee and with it go any hopes of reducing the ridiculous government subsidies for super-large farmers. Harkin and Grassley have been working in bipartisan fashion to limit government subsidies to a mere $250,000. With Vilsack as Secretary of Agriculture there was a chance it could have passed this spring.

Nah, the powers of the southerners is too great in congress. It's their cotton farmers pulling in hundreds of thousands of dollars each and every year. With the new chair being Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas there's no chance there will be reform in this area anymore.

******

What will be Harkin's input on healthcare? He's a big proponent of preventative healthcare. So look for incentives in that direction.