January 2009
22 posts
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7 Nephew Army
Just got it’s seventh member: my second niece. Despite the presence of two girls (and a future that likely contains more kiddies), I’m keeping the title. Sounds more powerful that way. Sent From My iPodPhone
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Terrible Political Calculus
A lot of people seem to be saying that the Republican goose-egg on the Stimulus vote yesterday was a reflection of their plan to replay the 1993 Stimulus fight in an attempt to sully Obama for the mid-term elections. I think as Dave Weigel points out, the circumstances are quite different: One of the goals of the unanimous Republican “no” vote on the stimulus package Wednesday was producing news...
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Economic Malaise
It’s hard to be hopeful when you are bearish. It’s frustrating to be bearish when other people aren’t. It’s hard not to be bearish when looking at every relevant indicator. It’s hard to be hopeful when you have to be bearish. You have to be bearish when no indicators are bullish. It’s dumb to be bullish because people are “too bearish.” It’s...
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WatchThe Curious Case of Forrest Gump.
mgp mentioned to me when he saw “…Benjamin Button” that it felt eerily similar to Forrest Gump. The writer (Eric Roth…noted Bernie Madoff victim) was the same on both pictures.
Having already seen Forrest Gump once this year (hungover Sunday on TNT), I think I’ll pass on CCoBB.
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Bubonic Plague?
Really? If this is true, it strikes me as truly bizarre: At least 40 al-Qaeda fanatics died horribly after being struck down with the disease that devastated Europe in the Middle Ages. The killer bug, also known as the plague, swept through insurgents training at a forest camp in Algeria, North Africa. It came to light when security forces found a body by a roadside.
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Gran Torino
I quite liked it. It’s a tough movie to market, I think. I expected not stop drama with a good dose of action. Instead, I was treated to a reasonably heartfelt drama, with a lot of laughs (some really really clever writing and delivery) and one or two “thrill” sequences. Clint Eastwood was great. He was so gristled, I had to go home and check to see if they aged him up or if...
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Water Landing
We were discussing at work yesterday if there had ever been a “successful” water landing in modern aviation. I had heard from a number of places that it had never happened over the Atlantic or Pacific, but had never considered river landings. The site of a US Air, Airbus A320 in the Hudson yesterday made me a little uneasy (I’m not a very good flier, but that’s a...
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Inauguration Perspective
Gabrielle Carteris turned 48 last week. Forty-eight! Barack Obama doesn’t turn 48 until August. An original cast member of Beverly Hills 90210 is older than our President.
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Put Your Money Where Your Pen Is
A letter to the editor of The Economist: Sir, In your most recent leader (“After the recession, the deluge”, January 10th), you state, “[Obama’s] stimulus plans may include cherished giveaways such as tax credits for low paid workers, expanded unemployment insurance benefits and investments in alternative energy.” I’m curious, exactly, what makes these...
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Fun Facts
A look back at the peculiarities of the 2008 baseball season. One of my favorites:The Diamondbacks became the first team in history to take a 6-foot-10 pitcher (Randy Johnson) out of a game and replace him with a TALLER pitcher (6-foot-11 Jon Rauch).The rest.
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Good Day for grill, Great Day for mgp
Counting of absentee ballots takes Franken to a 200+ vote lead. Pitt sails passed G-Town. Early edge in tremendously difficult Big East.
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Uconn
Having grown up in a state without a pro NBA team, I always considered Uconn to be my pro team. They’ve had a number of very successful NCAA teams over the years and produced a few top notch pro players. That being the case, I think sitting here watching Caron and Ray-Ray going at each other makes this particular NBA game (which is a blowout) more fun. That and I’m one row off the...
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Scal
Wish I could have recorded Scalabrine’s reaction to a blocking foul called on Pierce. I don’t think it could have been any more over the top and awkward. Kind of reminded me of any time my friend Brad got a foul called on him during all four years of high school. Sorry MacDougall. Sent From My iPodPhone
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