Todays Thoughts

1) Hurricanes...Galveston is apparently asking for $2.2 billion to clean up after hurricane Ike. I'm all for the government coming to the aid of those in need, but it seems as though each year brings more and more big storms. At what point does it become pointless? Do we enter a continuous loop of rebuilding and evacuating? Will people simply move away from the region if things continue like this for another decade? How often can the cable news stations use the phrase "storm of the century" before you start to believe in global climate change?

2) The Electorate...It's hard for me to grasp why this election is so close, but I felt the same way about the 2004 election, and we see how that turned out. Is it a simple matter of the declining size of the blue-collar middle class, based on our rapidly disappearing manufacturing sector?

3) Morality...Today's On Point had a discussion of the book Moral Clarity that I encourage you to listen to regardless of your political views. It brought to the surface a sense of outrage that lives inside me, and probably a lot of progressives, and stems from the right's claim to sole possession of issues related to morality. Maureen Dowd and Aaron Sorkin express a similar outrage in an imagined discussion between Obama and Jed Bartlet:

BARTLET That was a hell of a convention.

OBAMA Thank you, I was proud of it.

BARTLET I meant the Republicans. The Us versus Them-a-thon. As a Democrat I was surprised to learn that I don’t like small towns, God, people with jobs or America.

I have some very concrete ideas about right and wrong, and I surely love my country. I am more than willing to believe that 99% of Americans feel the same way about themselves, and though our specific ideas of right and wrong may vary, we're probably not that far apart, so ... what the fuck?

How I Feel About That

It's the Economy, Stupid

The New York Times quotes Henry Paulson as saying that despite recent events, Americans can “remain confident in the soundness and the resilience of our financial system.”

On the one hand, I think that he's factually correct in the long run: our financial system isn't likely to completely fail us, and there will be better days ahead.

On the other hand, he's trying to manage consumer confidence, and it strikes me as a hard sell to tell the average American that despite the declining value of his or her home, stock portfolio and retirement savings, declining real income, and increasing unemployment, they should be confident and go spend those greenbacks, since that's the cure to the problem.

Lil' Sis

Is now, without a doubt, all growed up.

Why, Microsoft? Why?

While flipping through a new set of MSDN DVDs that arrived in the mail today, I came across one labeled Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Foundation Server Workgroup. Having absolutely no idea what any of those words meant when used in conjunction with one another, I looked up the product. Here's what Microsoft has to say:

Microsoft Visual Studio Team System 2008 is an integrated Application Life-cycle Management (ALM) solution comprising tools, processes, and guidance to help everyone on the team improve their skills and work more effectively together.

Wow, sounds nice, doesn't it? I want to improve my skills, and there's nothing wrong with working more effectively together. However, on a practical level, I STILL HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHAT THIS PRODUCT IS OR DOES.

What's In a Name - Part III

Jason and I were discussing one of my favorite books last weekend, and this article in the Times reminded me of it:

“My wife thinks I’m nuts,” said Jason Captain, 32, of Fort Worth who left the Navy last November, walking away from $75,000-a-year lieutenant’s pay for flying military brass in and out of Guantánamo Bay.

If only he'd waited until his next promotion to retire from the service! I bet I'm the first person to ever make that joke.

The Omnivore's News

I'm in the middle of The Omnivore's Dilemma. I know I'm a little behind in my reading, but I'm trying to catch up, so here we are. One of the things I find particularly interesting is how the material I read in the book one night tends to show up in the news the next day. Here are two pieces from the Times that I came across in the last few days.

As Prices Rise, Farmers Spurn Conservation
Grains Gone Wild

Here's another good one: Bring on the Right Biofuels