Say Hello to Ed the Dairyman

We all know about Joe the plumber, the now famous kinda plumber who was mentioned more than almost anything during the 3rd presidential debate. Now we have a new nobody the media can circle the wagons around. Apparently Sarah Palin noticed a sign in a crowd being held by someone that identified them as Ed the Dairyman.

There is no way Ed will garner anywhere near the media circus that Joe managed, but you can bet there will be at least a few mentions around the blogosphere poking fun.

Joe the Plumber, meet Ed the Dairyman.

Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin spoke to a crowd of about 10,000 supporters Sunday in a Roswell airplane hangar, not only making a reference to Joe the Plumber, but alluding several times to "Ed the Dairyman" after seeing someone in the crowd holding a sign identifying himself that way.

The rally was the standard fare for any politician. One of the highlights though is this:

"Friends, now is no time to experiment with socialism," she told the cheering crowd.

Coming from the VP candidate of the party that gave us the Bailout, which lets be frank, is socialism. Last time I checked, when the government takes ownership stakes in a company it sure is hell isn't capitalism.

Full article over at RealClearPolitics.

Coffee Conundrum

A shortage of coffee as worldwide demand strips supply? Looks to be true. Consumption of coffee is rising far quicker than the growing can make it.

The world coffee market will swing to a deficit of as much as 10 million bags next year from a surplus this year as demand growth outstrips production, said a growers group in Colombia, the third-biggest producer.

Global coffee output will exceed demand by 6-7 million bags this year as Brazil, the world's largest producer, is in the more productive phase of a two-year cycle, said Juan Lucas Restrepo, commercial manager at the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia. Lower Brazilian output as demand grows 2 percent will cause the shortfall next year, he added. A bag weighs 60 kilograms (132 pounds).

A drop in supply and a rise in demand only leads to one end, rapid price increases. There is also time to blame the supply problem on the credit crises.

`The credit crunch limits the availability to exporters and cooperatives of working capital,'' Restrepo said. ``We might see problems in coffee supply if it persists.''

I can only image what a supply problem might due to productivity as people have trouble getting their favorite caffeine kick. Of course there is always a silver lining, maybe the tea producers and the soda producers will see increases in demand as people shift their method for caffeine consumption.

The full story is at Bloomberg.

Prayer For Discrimination

The LA Times is reporting that a group of young church goers are holding a prayer vigil in support of the controversial proposition 8. The group holding this vigil are hoping their prayers will be answered and have discrimination enshrined in the California's constitution.

Among the more shocking parts of the story are that these young people have no regular jobs, other than to pray.

But what distinguishes Huff and many of the young people she prays with at Skyline Church here is that after the election, they will not return to normal life.

Praying and fasting are their job.

They have forsaken traditional lives to live in communal homes -- supported by donations --and pray. All day, every day.

This year, the focus of their prayers is ending gay marriage.

There are other religious groups opposed to the passage of proposition 8.

The prayer and fasting have discomfited some religious leaders who oppose Proposition 8.

"I am a person of prayer," said the Rev. Susan Russell, a lesbian and an Episcopal priest at All Saints Church in Pasadena. But she said she does not believe prayer is "a weapon to be used to influence the political process." That, she said, "takes us down a slippery slope from democracy to theocracy."

With a large amount of funding coming in from Utah to help the passage of the proposition, the plight of the gay community cannot be ignored. Even if the vote fails this November you can rest assured it will be back on the ballot as often as the religious right can get a vote for it.

See the full story here.

Yahoo Layoffs

So the once powerful master of search is going into cost-cutting mode due to pressure on its share price. Estimates look to be around 3000 from various departments within the company. You should expect to see a crappy search engine become more crappy over the long-term as these cost-cuts are most likely designed for a short-term boost in company stock. The ultimate goal of course is so a few of the larger owners can sell at a net gain and run off with the cash.

Cnet sees it like this:

Yahoo is expected to announce cost-cutting moves this week as part of cost-cutting moves, including another round of layoffs, according to a report Sunday in the Wall Street Journal.

The exact number of layoffs is unknown, but job cuts are expected to come from all departments in the 14,300-employee company, according to the report. Yahoo, which announces its third-quarter earnings on Tuesday, has reportedly asked managers to identify areas where the company can achieve operating budget reductions of 15 percent. In February, Yahoo laid off an estimated 1,100 employees in a bid to cut costs and trim operations that weren't performing as well as others.

Rumors of layoffs at Yahoo have been circulating for weeks, with Alley Insider's Henry Blodget calling for the elimination of 3,000 jobs at the company.

However, Yahoo's stock has been under tremendous pressure lately, closing at $12.90 on Friday. Just a week before that, the Internet giant's stock traded as low as $11.37, its lowest price since March 2003. Yahoo, as a result, also now has a market cap of $17.88 billion. Last May, Microsoft walked away from its buyout offer of $47.5 billion to snap up all of Yahoo, only later to return with a partial buyout offer of $9 billion to acquire just the company's search assets.

Yahoo's stock price got a goose on Thursday after Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer noted Yahoo's declining stock price in saying that a takeover of the Internet search pioneer still made sense, putting even more pressure on Yahoo executives.

Although Yahoo's shares continue to give up ground, the company's stock performance during recent trading sessions has largely mirrored the broader markets. Indeed, many tech companies have resorted to layoffs recently to stem their financial losses.

More about this will come to light soon. Of course any improvement in share price might sour a Microsoft takeover, which could send the stock into a tailspin.

Debate of the Debate?

Talk politics takes a look at the most recent presidential debate. With just about everyone agreeing that the debates were damn boring, Talk Politics has some interesting suggestions:

Calls for reform have in turn translated into abundant suggestions for how to make the trio of Presidential debates – and political debates in general — more transparent, hard-hitting, inclusive, representative, and technologically connected. They include, but are not limited to:

1. Increasing utilization of the roundtable format as employed in the final debate
2. Polygraphing
3. Dismantling the Commission on Debates entirely and overhauling the process

I watched all three of the presidential debates, and I can say that they were very boring. Nothing was covered other than talking points.

Might I suggest that any time a candidate says something that is a lie they get shocked? Then everyone will know when they lie.

Puppy Power

A feel good story coming out of Iraq about an adopted puppy and an American soldier. From Fox News:

The Iraqi puppy adopted by an American soldier but initially blocked by the military from traveling to the United States is finally en route to his new home.

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals International says Ratchet was picked up in Baghdad on Sunday and was placed on a charter flight.

It's the third time the SPCA's Operation Baghdad Pups has tried to collect Ratchet on behalf of Army Spc. Gwen Beberg of Minneapolis.

The case gained international attention after Beberg complained she couldn't take the puppy home. U.S. military rules bar troops on duty from having pets or taking them back to the United States.

The military has said the dog is free to leave but troops can't be responsible for his transportation.

Congratulations to Sgt. Gwen Beberg, I hope she makes it back safe with her best friend.

Colin Powell Endorses Obama

One of the most respected figures in America has waded into the current presidential campaign by endorsing the Democratic parties nominee for President. From CNN:

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell announced Sunday that he will be voting for Sen. Barack Obama, citing the Democrat's "ability to inspire" and the "inclusive nature of his campaign."
...
During the campaign, Powell has met with both candidates and said he has a lot of respect for McCain. He said Sunday that he thinks both candidates are qualified to be president.

It's hard to say if this will change the race in any significant way this late in the game. Being the cynic that I am I doubt this will change the race in any way. It makes headlines but I would think most people already have an idea of who they are voting for this late in the game.

Sarah Palin on SNL

It looks like NBC is pulling down this skit anywhere it it posted, so I have provided a link below so you can watch it on from the source.

Palin SNL video



This is the role Tina Fey was born for. Alec Baldwin is the highlight of this skit though, of course he has always been one of the best guest stars for SNL.