The Many Messages of McCain

Obama has released a memo outlining all of the themes used by the McCain campaign today. It's clear McCain's people are just throwing everything they have at the wall and hoping something sticks. It has been their only strategy for a while now.

I suppose when all of your policies are terrible and all you can do is spout tired talking points all you can do is throw as many smears at the media and hope for the best.

I do love this list though:

The Erratic John McCain and the Multiple Messages of His Campaign, 15 Days Out:

1) Joe the Plumber Needs More Publicity: ""McCAIN's MESSAGE 'today, tomorrow and every day forward,' per a senior aide: 'On background, we'll be talking about Joe.'" [Politco, 10/20/08]

2) Joe The Plumber is Getting Too Much Publicity: "Joe didn't ask for Senator Obama to come to his house. And, certainly, Joe didn't ask to be famous." [McCain Campaign Rally, 10/20/08]

3) Sounds like Socialism: "At this morning's rally, the first of three today in this toss-up state, [Palin] continued to call Barack Obama's tax plan socialist again couching it behind Joe the Plumber, "Barack Obama calls it spreading the wealth. Joe Biden calls higher taxes patriotic. Joe the Plumber said it sounded to him like socialism. And now is not the time to experiment with that." [FoxNews.com, 10/20/08]

4) ACORN is Threatening the Fabric of Democracy: The RNC has advised three different conference calls today on ACORN. [RNC Media Advisories]

5) A Foreign Policy Crisis Will Test A President: John McCain: "The next President won't have time to get used to the office. We face many challenges here at home, and many enemies abroad in this dangerous world. Just last night, Senator Biden guaranteed that if Senator Obama is elected, we will have an international crisis to test America's new President. We don't want a President who invites testing from the world at a time when our economy is in crisis and Americans are already fighting in two wars." [Excerpted Remarks for a McCain Campaign Rally, 10/20/08]

6) Blame the Press: Top McCain Aide Mark Salter: "There has been a different standard for Obama than there has been for any candidate running against Barack Obama. And maybe this should have set off more warning bells with me. I think much of the media has a thumb on the scale for Obama. I think the thumb has been there the entire time." [The Atlantic, 10/20/08]

7) Blame the Fundraising: Rick Davis: "There are reports that, just already disclosed, $3 or $4 million of Barack Obama's campaign funds just prior to the $150 million fundraising month were not appropriate. Now, I'd love to have that $4 million right now to put into Pennsylvania. It'd be a good thing for our campaign. I think it's a game-changer if I can slap all of that right on Philadelphia media market. It's an expensive place. And, yet, Barack Obama gets away with raising illegitimate money and spending it." [10/20/08]

8) Divided Government: John McCain: "He's measuring the drapes, and planning with Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid to raise taxes, increase spending, and concede defeat in Iraq." [McCain Campaign Rally, 10/20/08]

9) Obama's Baseball Loyalty: RNC Press Release: "After repeatedly saying he would root for the Phillies in the World Series, Barack Obama switched teams while campaigning in Tampa today." [10/20/08]

10) That Washed Up Old Terrorist: Rick Davis: "John McCain tried to point out how people should be informed about Barack Obama's background, including his relationships with domestic terrorists like William Ayers. People are going to form these judgments. It's great fodder for us to debate every day. I think it's fun." [MSNBC, 10/20/08]

Wow.... just wow.

I was one of the few hoping for a 'high road' campaign because of the head players, but I suppose when you use the Rove playbook this is what you end up with.

Head over to CQpolitics for the full article.

Right Winger Switches to Obama

I always love it when a well known republican decides to vote for the opposition. In this case we have Ken Adelman, a virtual life-long die-hard republican in the know.

JammieWearingFool has this to say:

I doubt a single vote will be swayed by this monumental announcement.

I must disagree with you there, Mr. Adelman's vote has been swayed. True conservatives should vote for Obama, unless they like the idea of another opportunist in the White house who is willing to sell themselves to the highest bidder like GWB.

Obama Suspends Campaign

Democratic presidential candidate Barrack Obama has suspended his campaign today to go and visit his sick grandmother who was just released from the hospital.

Check out the Dailykos for the story.

My best wishes go out to Obama and his grandmother.

49ers Fire Coach Mike Nolan

What a terrible job being a head coach of an NFL team must be. Mike Nolan has been fired midway through his fourth season as coach of the San Fransisco 49ers.

There was plenty of drama around Nolan, and he was completely unable to turn the team around. Mike Singletary is expected to take over as head coach for the rest of the season.

Read the full AP story here.

Next on the block, Brad Childress!

Drudge Sucks

I often find myself checking the DrudgeReport, and I don't know why. I hate the damn site. It's ugly, boring, and biased to an extreme. Yet I find myself refreshing it in some effort to be the first person to know something that happens to pop up on his horrendous site.

He presents a politically biased site and tries to pass it off as news. All of his headlines are slanted to the right of the political spectrum, or use quotes taken so far out of context they could be twisted to mean anything.

One of his headlines at the top of his screen right now is a 'news report' about a joke John Kerry made about McCain wearing diapers. Off course he puts a picture of diapers up there and links to some crappy blog post about the joke.

You want a good news site? Stick with the winners like cnn, bbc, msnbc. They can be bad enough sometimes, but at least they don't suck as hard as Drudge does.

Veoh Layoffs, or Not?

Video sharing service Veoh might or might not be laying off up to 40% of its workforce. So far the rumors are being denied by the company, but with how hard it has been for the online video companies to develop a model that makes money, it wouldn't be surprising to see them having to make cuts.
Cnet has the story below:

There seems to be some disagreement over the financial health of Veoh.

The online video-sharing site allegedly laid off 40 percent of its 110-person workforce, according to tech gossip blog Valleywag, which on Monday credited "an online-video industry insider" with the tip.

However, a representative for the company told CNET News that the report was false.

"I have no idea where their sourcing is coming from," spokesperson Gaude Paez said Monday, adding that she was disappointed Valleywag didn't contact the company for comment. "Everyone who was employed here Friday was employed here today, and will be tomorrow."

Veoh had eliminated 15 to 18 jobs based in St. Petersburg, Russia, and was in the process of transferring the jobs to the U.S., Paez said. Paez also told NewTeeVee that a rumor posted to that site saying Veoh would be "$20 million in the hole" at the end of the year was untrue.

The company announced in June that it has received another round of funding, this time for $30 million, from such new backers as Intel and Adobe Systems. Previous investors include Goldman Sachs and former Disney CEO Michael Eisner. The investment brought the company's total money raised to $70 million, giving the video-sharing site a valuation of about $120 million.

However, Veoh, which competes with YouTube and Hulu, hasn't managed to break out of the pack of also-ran video sites.

Hulu is a great site, it's easy to use and actually has content I want to watch. The last time I used Veoh...... well I don't remember because I thought the service was lacking.

Michele Bachmann, a Campaign in Crisis?

By now I'm sure you've seen the clips of Michele Bachmann making a fool of herself on national television. Now today come reports that her challenger, El Tinklenberg, has been the beneficiary of a large cash windfall as a result of the flap. The Bachmann campaign released this memo:

Dear Friends:

We appear to be witnessing an October surprise here in MN-06 and Congresswoman Michele Bachmann needs your help now – before the reporting period ends on Wednesday, October 15th.

I know that the conventional wisdom has been that the Bachmann seat would be one of the safer Republican seats this year. And, for good reason: for months, things have looked extraordinarily good, particularly thanks to strong financial support from people like you.

In contrast, our opponent’s fundraising has been somewhat anemic. And, his inability to raise much on his own helped to ensure that outside money would find other more promising races to fund.

Apparently, he’s only been biding his time.

He released his 3rd Quarter report today and his fundraising has picked up phenomenally. In fact, in the five-week period between filing of the pre-primary report and the end of September, he raised $312,560. That’s double what he raised in the five-week pre-primary period.

In fact, it far exceeds anything he raised in any of the full quarters this cycle.

He’s already attracting outside money. Alliance for a Better Minnesota – a liberal front group – is running television ads smearing Michele Bachmann’s record. And, the NRCC is reportedly shifting money to cover Michele Bachmann’s race.

A Republican victory in Minnesota’s Sixth District is far from a done deal. In fact, this race has become the last line of defense for Republicans.

It can still be a strong win – but we need your help and we need it now! Please go online and make a secure online donation at www.michelebachmann.com or FedEx your contribution to:

Bachmann for Congress
6053 Hudson Road
Suite 360
Woodbury, MN 55125

The end of the Pre-General Reporting Period is Wednesday, October 15th. We need your help to make this a strong one and keep the 527s and DCCC from pouring millions into this race in a final push to turn it from Red to Blue.

Please do not hesitate to call me at 651-735-7512 if you have any questions. Thank you for your prompt reply.

Sincerely,
Zandra Wolcott
Finance Director
Bachmann for Congress

A HUGE amount of money has been pouring into this campaign this past week, and with the polling damn close it is impossible to tell what might happen in the traditionally republican 6th district.

Bachmann always seemed to be a guinea pig for the republican party. They trot her out to test a new line of attack and see if it sticks. But her most resent anti-American shtick might lead to the end of her political career .

Is Google Wrong to Take Sides?

Everyday when I drive to work I see a LOT of small businesses with political signs up on their property. Most are small eateries, and most seem to favor McCain, even though Obama's tax plan would actually let them keep more of their money then McCains.

But Google is different, why? Well it is a massive company, as far as market cap goes you will find fewer larger. Matt Asay over at Cnet says Google CEO Eric Schmidt should stay out of politics because his name is too tied to his brand.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt has officially thrown his weight behind Barack Obama in the US presidential race. I find it a bit unseemly and unfair to the employees at Google, even though many probably support Obama.

I felt the same about then eBay CEO Meg Whitman taking a public stand for John McCain, though at least she was on her way out of the eBay CEO chair at the time.

I agree to a point here. I once worked for a company that had its' chairman in the local news almost everyday with his support of George Bush during the last election, and I can tell you I got sick of hearing everyone talking about it.

It would be different if this were Schmidt espousing a particular political cause that has direct financial ramifications for Google, like net neutrality, but this is not the case, and it's unfair to his employees to tie up the Google brand in any political party, because a political party's platform includes all sorts of issues that have no place in the message of a technology company.

How can you assume that his support isn't for financial reasons? History has shown the economy generally does better under Democratic administrations, and if everyone is doing better then Google is doing better.

Far be it from me to say that Asay doesn't have a point, but I'm sure the CEO of one of the worlds biggest companies has his reasons for making his personal opinion known on this years presidential elections.

Full article here.

Thinking About Getting Into the Tech Sector? Think Again

With recent news about more layoffs at Yahoo inc, Cnet has created a nifty scorecard of job losses within the tech sector. Too bad everyone of those numbers is a possible destroyed life and family, but hey, the grid looks great! Of course the tech sector has always been a volatile one, so who knows, maybe people are just shuffling around.

See the full and updated graph at Cnet.

Company Date How many Further reading

.
Yahoo 10/21/2008? 1000+? Don't expect Yahoo gory layoff details yet

.
Wikia 10/20/2008 30% of 43 Wikia lays off 30 percent of staff

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Veoh 10/20/2008 40% of 94 Veoh lays off 40 percent of staff, still lacks reason for being (Valleywag)

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Zillow 10/17/2008 25% Zillow lays off 25 percent of staff

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Zivity 10/17/2008 33% Zivity lays off a third of staff

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SearchMe 10/17/2008 20% Search engine startup SearchMe cuts 20 percent

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Heavy 10/17/2008 14% Downturn Strikes Again: Heavy Lays Off 14%

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Jaxtr 10/17/2008 13 13 Employees Laid Off At VoIP Startup Jaxtr

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Pandora 10/16/2008 20 Pandora cuts 20 employees

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Hi5 10/16/2008 10-15% No Hi5's Today

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Sirius XM 10/16/2008 50 Sirius XM makes cuts to XM in D.C.

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Adbrite 10/16/2008 40% 'Layoffs are not a statement about performance'

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Appcelerator 10/15/2008 6 Tough times, tough decisions

.
Tesla Motors 10/15/2008 Detroit office Automaker Lays Off Detroit Office With Blog Post

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SkyRider 10/15/2008 All P2P startup SkyRider has shut down

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Jive Software 10/14/2008 33% Jive Software Lays Off 1/3 Of Staff

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Redfin 10/14/2008 20% Redfin blames economy in layoffs

.
Seesmic 10/10/2008 7 Tough times. Tough decisions

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Lulu 10/9/2008 24 Lulu cuts jobs as revenues slow

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eBay 10/6/2008 1000 eBay buys Bill Me Later, lays off 1,000


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Gawker Media 10/3/2008 14% Gawker Media to lay off 14 percent of editorial st

McCain wears Pampers? Depends

Former presidential candidate John Kerry recently made a joke about current presidential candidate John McCain wearing diapers. I'm sure this will fire up the blogs on the right, but let's be honest, it's an old joke, and a tired one.

Political Punch has the details:

At a business summit on energy, Politickerma.com reports, a prominent supporter of Sen. Barack Obama, D-Mass., made a crack about Sen. John McCain's age.

"These are the exciting last two week moments of the presidential campaign," said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., today in Cambridge, Mass. "So it's a very special time. I can't wait for it to be over. I am so tired of the press' silly questions that they ask along the way. And cable television which reduces everything to stupidity - the lowest common denominator of conflict."

"I don't know if any of you know what it's like. I do, obviously," Kerry told the crowd. "I've been asked all of those brilliant questions that were repeated this year...Barack got asked the famous boxers or briefs question. I was tempted to say commando...

"Then they asked McCain and McCain said, ‘Depends,'" Kerry said.

An old joke for an old candidate?

White Powder Being Sent to Chase Branches

Three branches had threatening letters sent to them, some containing white power. It would be almost impossible for them to create a list of possible suspects due to the current financial crises. It could be a disgruntled former employee, or a disgruntled customer. The powder has yet to be identified, although this can definatly be qualified as a terrorist act.

Reuters has the latest:

At least five branches of Chase (JPM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) bank in Colorado and Oklahoma received threatening letters on Monday, some containing an unidentified white powder.

A spokeswoman for Chase said the letters were delivered to three branches in the Denver area and locations in Oklahoma City and Norman, Oklahoma.

Some of the envelopes contained the white powder, Chase spokeswoman Mary Jane Rogers said, and one employee was treated for a rash as a precaution, but it was not clear if the skin irritation was caused by the powder or had already been there.

She identified the Colorado branches as being in Lakewood and Arvada.

Fire Marshal Kevin Ferry of the Cunningham Fire Protection District near Denver said the powder in one package was found to be harmless, though the substance had yet to be identified.

That branch was inside a supermarket in the Denver suburb of Centennial. The supermarket was evacuated as a precaution.

Several bank employees who had close contact with the package were sent to a local hospital for evaluation, he said.

A police department spokesman in nearby Lakewood, Steve Davis, said a white substance found on a parcel there appeared not to be dangerous and resembled talcum powder.

JPMorgan Chase & Co last week surpassed Citigroup Inc to became the largest U.S. bank, and has aggressively acquired other assets as the financial system has weakened, including the banking assets of Washington Mutual Inc.

Rogers said Chase would not release the total number of banks affected until they were sure all the letters had been found.

"We immediately called the FBI and Postal Inspection Service to handle the matter and ensure the safety of our customers and employees," Rogers said.

She did not know the contents of the letters or if they contained return addresses.

More to come soon I'm sure. The powder probably wont be identified for a few more days. By bet is it isn't anthrax, but better to be safe than sorry.

Oprah Winfrey Moving on to Ambassador?

Having never watched the Oprah Winfrey show even once, I would have no idea of how she might function in an official capacity. I can just imagine world leaders being dragged out onto the stage to talk about their feelings before an American audience. She does command a lot of respect, and I even recall some talk of her running for president not too long ago.

Oprah is already wealthy, and I'm sure her business empire could function without her day-to-day involvement. The question is would Obama be willing to draw the kind of fire he would get if he were to make such an appointment?

More from The TV Zone below:

"Of COURSE I'll take the job, Barack...whatever you say..."

Let's let this roll around on our tongues - "Oprah Winfrey, Ambassador to the Court of St. James..."

I do like the sound of it. (Don't you?)

Can you get some sort of honorary knighthood or ladyhood if you take this gig? "Lady Oprah?" or "Dame Winfrey..."

Once again, I'm letting my imagination run away from me, or just maybe Financial Times columnist columnist Gideon Rachman is. He's citing "well-placed sources" that suggest Oprah might get the nod for the most prestigious ambassadorship of them all.

I'm serious.

HE'S serious.

THIS is serious.

I think it could happen. Maybe it could happen. Who knows...?

Reason: Oprah has talked for so long about abandoning the show that one of these days it'll actually happen. What would it take for her to leave? The Court of St. James?

Here's what Joshua Keating is saying in his "FT" blog:

"Rachman acknowledges the idea sounds ridiculous, but there is a tradition of major campaign donors being rewarded with ambassadorships. I have to say, though, this would probably be a worse career move for Oprah than for Obama. If the world's most-powerful celebrity really wants to get involved in international diplomacy, there are probably more effective and enjoyable ways she can go about it on her own."

That's true! Just look what happened in South Africa, and that principal!

On second thought, don't look at what happened with the principal.

Oprah has been trekking the "international diplomacy" route for so long that maybe even SHE'S getting a little bored of the whole thing.

How nice to visit the Queen every so often, or maybe drop in at 10 Downing Street?

The more I think upon this idea, the more I'm intrigued...

Veeeeery intrigued.

I won't comment on the likely hood of such a move by a possible Obama administration, but as the article says, it is interesting.

Encyclopedia Genetica, Your Genes For All To See

You are being asked to have your genes pulled down to your ankles, and have some scientists poke around, sound like fun? Combined with as much personal information as possible, this new project, being led by George Church, hopes to use the Internet to unravel the mystery of our genetic code.

You won't see me volunteering for this project anytime soon, I'm no conspiracy theorist, but I would rather keep that information private until new laws have a chance to catch up with this new information.

U.S. News has the following:

Facebook has nothing on George Church when it comes to sharing sensitive personal details. This Harvard Medical School genetics professor happily posts his family medical history and ailments (narcolepsy, motion sickness) on the Web—and he's telling the world just what's in his DNA. As one of the first 10 people to publish their genomes online, Church hopes to make the point that sharing genes on the Internet can advance science further than the current system, in which DNA databases are protected from public scrutiny and individuals aren't identified.

"In the same way that you have amateur astronomers who help track celestial events, we hope to inspire a whole generation of 'amateur geneticists' to mine DNA sequences," Church says. His Personal Genome Project is recruiting 10,000 volunteers who would be willing to tell all for science, and signed up 10 scientists, who presumably know enough to understand the potential risks of doing so, to be the first guinea pigs. Their genetic data was to be released October 20.

The notion is that linking genetic data and extensive personal information—traits such as height, weight, ethnic background, or a fondness for cheeseburgers—will make it easier to advance research on the genetic basis of diseases such as cancer and heart disease, which have so far eluded discovery. To protect privacy, most genetic databases that researchers mine to unearth keys to our individual idiosyncrasies have been stripped of that kind of personal data, or phenotype, and family histories. Another very 21st-century notion is that making the information open to all increases the odds of collaboration and speeds discovery—a scientific Wikipedia.

But genetic oversharing could be dangerous, Church admits. Participants could find it harder to get health insurance or might suffer discrimination if their genes show they're likely to get a serious disease. "Some of them know they're going to get hurt, like astronauts and mountain climbers," Church says. "But if enough of them see a benefit to themselves, their families, and society, then it will keep growing."

Even Church says you might have a harder time getting insurance if you participate! I hope the government gets off its' hands quickly and addresses the ticking time-bomb before we all find ourselves paying far higher premiums due to a "potential" for a disease you don't yet suffer from.

Albumsaurus?

We live in the digital age, which has come with some ups and downs. One of the biggest problems facing today is the old style of delivering entertainment and the new style of digital delivery. Albums take up space, decay with time, and can be easily broken. Our new digit versions of media take up virtually no space, and some innovative companies have set it up so you never have to worry about misplacing your purchased song/movie/whatever.

More and more artists seem to be coming around to the realities of the digital revolution. Stephan Jenkins of Third Eye blind was interviewed about it over at Cnet:

Stephan Jenkins, lead singer of alternative band Third Eye Blind, is the latest person to agree that the album format is better off dead.

Jenkins, whose band is known for such hits as "Semi-Charmed Life," "Jumper" and "How's it Going to Be," gave the keynote address at the SanFran MusicTech Summit on Monday.

"I don't think it's necessary or useful," Jenkins told several hundred conference attendees. "The album is an arbitrary concept. It's not something that has to exist."

It's important to note that Jenkins wasn't speaking at all about the controversy triggered by remarks made last week by AC/DC. The Australian rockers slammed iTunes in several interviews and suggested that selling individual songs was bad for artists, music, and fans.

I disagreed and wrote the album was, at least in its CD stage, anticonsumer. The album boosted individual transactions and forced consumers to pay a premium for songs they didn't want. A lot of people, mostly music industry insiders and AC/DC fans, e-mailed me to dispute this. They argued that bands couldn't know which songs were hits in advance and it was preposterous to suggest that.

Well if I'm misinformed, so was Kurt Cobain and so is Jenkins. In his speech, he mentioned that he disliked "album filler." This is a term used to describe the practice of loading albums with so-so quality in order to meet the required number of songs for an album. "Everything I do, I mean it," Jenkins said.

Jenkins made another point when said he believes it's better for creative purposes to release individual songs online and then bundle them later if you want.

"Here's what's really attractive to me," Jenkins told the crowd, "we live in the excitement of that song. Let's go record it. And then we upload it and it's for sale for $1 the next day."

Jenkins is putting his money where his mouth is. He said Third Eye Blind plans to release three songs on November 18.

Its great that Jenkins mentions the album filler garbage. The number one turnoff is being forced to purchase an entire album of crap songs when all you are after is a couple good tracks that the band actually spent some time on.

I would love to see bands start releasing songs as they finish them, rather then having to wait for an entire album to be released one every other year or so.

Global Credit Warming?

With all the extra dollars being pumped into the atmosphere, it looks like enough heat is being trapped to bring about the end of the credit ice age. All it took was a large number of governments to guarantee a bunch of loans and viola!
Would you loan out your money if you knew there was no chance of it going bad? Of course, especially if the rate was good enough, which most are historically right now.

From Reuters

Underpinning the new-found relief, lending rates between banks -- at the center of fears about the industry freezing up -- fell significantly. This suggested authorities' efforts to revive the financial system with cash injections were finally starting to work.

With banks starting to lend to each other, and them finding the water isn't as cold as they thought, large corporate lending will quickly follow.

Energy stocks were on fire today, but I would guess those gains will be parred before the end of the week as investors realize the plunge in the energy commodities will hinder the bottom line of a lot of the companies that saw their share prices rise today.

The president of OPEC, Chakib Khelil, said on Monday that non-OPEC producers like Russia, Norway and Mexico should contribute production cuts to help stabilize sagging prices.

This has happened before, I'm sure there will be a decision to cut production, but I doubt real production will go down that much. However, look for the commodities markets to look for any excuse to drive the price of oil and gas back up as the hedge funds jump back in smelling a quick buck.

Tarantino and Brad Pitt

Another Tarantino movie is on the way, starring Brad Pitt as a Jewish-American soldier fighting the Nazis in World War II. I am not the biggest Tarantino or Pitt fan, but I respect both of them for their achievements. I am, however, a huge war movie fan. I'm looking forward to seeing this one in theaters.

People has the following:

In Brad Pitt’s upcoming World War II movie, he plays a vengeance-seeking Nazi hunter – and he looks the part.

The first portrait of Pitt’s character, Lt. Aldo Raine, in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds (yes, the misspelling is intentional), was released Monday. Clad in tough-looking fighter gear, Pitt portrays the leader of the "Basterds," a group of Jewish-American soldiers who scalp and brutally kill Nazis.

Pitt’s character is described on Tarantino.info as not "your Warner Brothers 1950's WW2 hero … this is a hillbilly straight from the mountains of Tennessee."

Pitt, Angelina Jolie and their six children recently moved to a Berlin villa while he works on the controversial film.

I'm tired of the controversial phrase being thrown around so much these days. You can apply that label to ANY movie because someone will find it offensive or out of bounds.

Look for a few crazy sadistic scenes to give it that Tarantino edge, and some very powerful emotional scenes to showcase Brad Pitt.