Veronica’s Neighborhood

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's puppet: Senator John McCain

superpixel
Jun 20, 2009
8 comments

Look, the #1 thing Ayatollah Ali Khamenei wants is for the US, UK and Israel to come out and say "fight for freedom in Iran!" That would be absolutely proof of his baseless accusations (that this is all a plot by our governements -- as if we could muster such solidarity from this far away in some orchestrated attack). It would be validation of his cause: the destruction and resurrection (as a Muslim theocracy) of the West.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei wants us to take sides. Just as neo-cons in 1989 were pissed at the first Bush presidency's lack of "support" for Eastern European freedom fighters, the "new right" is all a-twitter about Obama's seeming lack of authority on this subject. Guess what? When your enemy wants you to do something, YOU DON'T DO IT. I guess McCain never read "The Art of War," but you'd think the POW of a war that pretty much sums up the failed policy of US intervention would, at some level, have a clue about these things.

Instead, he's content to be the Ayatollah's puppet, doing exactly what the Iranian extremists expect: the US rattles its sabre in favor of Western sympathizers. Playing into this hand would only embolden them, weaken the Ayatollah's adversaries, and ultimately piss off both sides, causing decades of mistrust and anger... but then, John's not thinking about all that.

No, McCain and his party would rather prove Obama wrong. It isn't about being right any more. It's about proving Obama wrong on everything. McCain would rather grandstand (something he's pretty good at, frankly) and groom himself for another presidential run. Hell, if he were president I'm sure we'd be sending bombers over there right this moment. To what end?

It's stupid to assume Obama doesn't support the opposition. John knows this isn't the case. He knows damn well we ALL support Moussavi and his band of freedom-loving compatriots. But John's total lack of tact and forethought are shown clearly by his political shenanigans. Unfortunately, this isn't a game. Long after he's gone we'll be dealing with this.

I wish John would stop and think before he opened his mouth.

Some advice to the President

superpixel
Mar 24, 2009
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Next time you wish to communicate complicated economic information, use PowerPoint. Our nation has become a bloated, bleary, cynical shadow of its former self. We are no longer the critical, self-motivated populace whose "can do" attitude got things done in a big way. Instead, we're easily distracted by shiny things and loud noises. Much like a cat on Ritalin, we respond best to loud noises and bright lights.

So as Ross Perot once did, use visual aids. Hell, use the Price is Right spokesmodels AND PowerPoint. Between the two you could tell us you're annexing the Sudetenland and all you'll hear from the blogosphere is "did you see that font? I love that font!" or "dude, she's hot." What you won't hear is an analytical noun, adjective or verb strung together by the pinheads at CNBC, CNN, Fox, ABC, etc... No, you'll just have the usual crapathon of talk radio, 2-second sound bites on Headline News and angry emails IN ALL CAPS from our very best.

Good luck communicating to the unwashed masses. Pearls before swine will guarantee some shiny poop in the end.

This blog has moved

Well, it's been a great couple of years on Vox, but it's time to move on. InsideTWiT is now new and improved and can be found at http://inside.twit.tv. And it won't be just me on it, but Tony, Colleen, and other TWiT staff will also chime in from time to time. Thanks for everything!

Dane
http://inside.twit.tv

This blog has moved

Well, it's been a great couple of years on Vox, but it's time to move on. InsideTWiT is now new and improved and can be found at http://inside.twit.tv. And it won't be just me on it, but Tony, Colleen, and other TWiT staff will also chime in from time to time. Thanks for everything!

Dane
http://inside.twit.tv

The Arrogance of Wall Street Knows No Boundaries. None.

superpixel
Feb 1, 2009
2 comments

If you recall the depravity of the worst Roman emperors, you might get close to the vacuous dreamworld those clueless boneheads on Wall St. live in. Seriously, this is a problem that is going to get WORSE before it gets better. Why? Here's a juicy quote from my paper this morning:

Jason Weisberg, vice president of the Wall Street brokerage Seaport Securities, said bank employees count on performance bonuses like salesmen count on commissions.
"What are you supposed to pay them?" Weisberg asked. "Or are you not supposed to pay them? And if you don't pay them, how do you expect that employee to stay employed at that company?"

Well, guess what Mr. Weisberg: I am not getting a bonus this year, nor am I getting a merit raise. Have my basic costs gone up? Yep, like everyone else. Have we cut corners? Yep, like (almost) everyone else. Does it suck? Yes. Will I find work elsewhere? Um, dickweed, you DO realize unemployment keep going UP, right? You're telling me people are going to leave a job when we're hitting the skids? Bullshit. Every component of this argument is bullshit, and a pitiful excuse at rationalizing the institutionalized greed that has enveloped Wall St. since the 80's.

Welcome to the social, douchebag. I feel bad for anyone who has to forgo a bonus, but you simply can't rely on them. They are, after all, called bonuses, not salaries for a reason. It's like always expecting to pass a class because there's extra credit... you may be able to, but it's hedging on failure.

Oh wait, we've been hedging on failure for years. By sinking our money into useless crap like American Girl paraphernalia, juicy fattening burgers, and people buying a new iPod every year, we have handed our future wealth to China and the rest of the world, while saving none of it for ourselves. Further, we've set an impossible expectation for our kids, who think they can keep living like this.

And when the "conservative" voices are know-nothings like Limbaugh and Coulter, who are more interested in their own popularity and wealth versus the well-being of humanity and country... well, you see that we have tripled our troubles. For now we have no brain trust to call upon. No leaders to lead. No thought, no soul, no money. All we have is a military, stretched like hell, fighting shadows across the planet.

This is why I get really frustrated with my "free market" radical friends. Of course I want as small a government as possible. Of course I want everyone to live as free as possible. Unfortunately, true free market economics are a laboratory fantasy: take them out of the test tube and inject them in a real, live host and see the mutations begin. People are full of avarice. They are greedy. They are foolish. And to say they are narrow-minded, with no long-term memory or sense of context is like saying the sky is blue. Unfortunately, for the free market to really work, we either need a 50% reduction in global population, or everyone has to start living like the Dalai Lama -- tomorrow.

The worst part is there's no cure. We're going to get economically sick for a long, long time. Ultimately we'll be lucky to settle on a European-style economy of frugality and responsibility. I fear we will descend into chaos, for we have bred the skills we need out of our populace for a couple of generations. If I were a betting man, I'd invest my money in home security. It's batten down the hatches time.

Oh, and string up the greedy pigs on Wall St. I'm hungry for bacon.

Scoble takes on Leo

InsideTWiT
Jan 13, 2009
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TWiT 176 full studio

InsideTWiT
Jan 4, 2009
4 comments

Today we had eight people in studio, a new record. Including Robert Scoble, second from left.

Leo on Geek Entertainment TV

Are you smarter than a financial analyst?

superpixel
Nov 24, 2008
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Well, you're probably NICER... Peter Schiff should get an award for telling us the hard truth: we are spending money we borrowed and we did it too much over the past 10-20 years.

It's easy to poke fun in hindsight, but the behavior of these other guys is atrocious. Can you believe the attitude of these people? Instead of refuting his points they make little noises and call Peter names.

Peter's points:

1. We are spending too much. Our economy is based more on consumption than production.

2. We are borrowing too much. Our population isn't saving any money, because Wall St. keeps saying the good times will keep booming.

3. The subprime housing market is bigger than we realize. I love how Ben Stein supposes (with no evidence) that the sub-p market is "tiny"... well, I guess that depends on your definition of "tiny," doesn't it?

One final note: most of these clips are from FOX News. If you're getting your financial advice from them, you probably deserve to sleep in your Armada for the next decade.

Peter Schiff Was Right 2006 - 2007 (2nd Edition)

You know, America, maybe YOU are the problem

superpixel
Nov 17, 2008
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Listening to NPR this morning I hear a lot of debate about a Detroit bailout (loans, whatever). Some things I hear that scare me:

- "Auto companies didn't hedge against high gas prices, opting to push high-profit SUV's"... Yeah, well, they wouldn't have SOLD that many SUV's if the American buyer wasn't obsessed with bigger, badder, moremoremore. The prevailing wisdom among many buyers wasn't that an SUV would help them drive through the wilderness, but that a bigass car would be more likely to guarantee their survival. That sort of selfishness is what drove our country into a ditch to begin with. Mere "survival" will now be the game.

- "Bankruptcy will tarnish the company" and yet... one of the correspondents points out that he has flown on airlines that went bankrupt. We've probably all bought something from a company undergoing Chapter 11 at some point. Sure, retailers are usually screwed (like Sharper Image) but larger companies like the big 3? They'll be fine.

- "The big 3 have never been trendsetters" and that's because they merely follow the whims of the dumbass Americans who think a CAR is an INVESTMENT. Sorry, it isn't. And if you think it is, then you are probably in a lot more debt than you can handle. A car (almost) never goes up in value. It's like saying a hammer or a refrigerator is an investment. They are, of course, a sort of investment, but they are not a place to put money that will grow. You've got better odds at the racetrack. The Big 3 aren't trendsetters because they don't have to be...

Besides, I remember when Lee Iacocca when to congress and secured a huge round of money for Chrysler. Guess what? He turned around the company, introducing new products and a new spirit of quality and concern for the customer. Oh, and while he might have increased executive pay, in a recent interview he was shocked at how largesse those payouts have become. Like the world's biggest dick contest, the undeserved compensations of a few rich white dudes (who are merely securing the ability of their heirs to live in NYC and act like morons for generations to come without contributing anything but consumerism to our nation) is another nail in the coffin.

Huzzah!