Daily Archives: 08/24/2008

(Community Matters) Good gosh, in only 48 hours, our world has changed. Literally thousands of people have moved in since I was last outside. I just drove to Torchy Tacos and can’t believe how many students are on the streets, in the stores, all along the Drag.

(Community Matters)

Our friend Robert Torian is in Alpine – the twit, didn’t even invite us! 🙂

(Community Matters) There’s a reality to this statement (working harder & falling further behind) for too many Americans. In today’s lead NYT editorial, it’s cited as what voters want acknowledged to believe a candidate understands the economic threat.

A slippery yet real slope – one I’m not qualified to diagnose, much less treat, though I have my thoughts. The adoption of new technologies and globalization have cost workers wages and jobs – most experts believe technology has cost twice as many jobs as globalization. Yet, I can’t argue against either. There are cases of unfairness in all markets, including international. With few and specific exceptions for even fewer industries, we’d be sacrificing long term financial health for very short lived benefits if we obstructed technology adoption or the realities of a global market.

The competition for highly-skilled workers, especially those bringing intellectual capital to their employers isn’t the problem market. I’m assuming here workers and their families are experiencing real increases in wages and wealth.

Industries subject to further automation (i.e., adoption of new technology) and outsourcing as well as the service industries, these are our Achilles heel. The problem is supply and demand. I’m not sure maximizing profits (i.e, as a result of lower wages as well as lower prices, greater revs) is always in our national interests, nor even in the long term interests of US stockholders. America has been an extraordinary economic power in part because of our rich middle class. And, as the Harvard/Cambridge study showed, even our national political stability rests (at least in part) on the belief that one’s children have a fair shot at the American dream.

This overly simplistic review suggests the need for more wage bargaining power. I’m not yet prepared to sign on as an advocate, but it’s the start of my thoughts on this topic. I’d love others’ perspectives.

(Community Matters) His column in today’s NYT here. Some excerpts:

What Obama also should have learned by now is that the press is not his friend. Of course, he gets more ink and airtime than McCain; he’s sexier news. But as George Mason University’s Center for Media and Public Affairs documented in its study of six weeks of TV news coverage 28% was positive, 72% negative. (For McCain, the split was 43/57)

Asked in last week’s NYT/CBS News poll if each candidate shares their values, registered voters gave Obama and McCain an identical 63%. Asked if each candidate “cares about the needs and problems of people like yourself,” Obama beat McCain by 37 to 23 percent. Is the candidate “someone you can relate to”? Obama 55%, McCain: 41%.

Most Americans, unlike the press, are not obsessed by race. (Those whites who are obsessed by race will not vote for Obama no matter what he or anyone else has to say about it.)

Pacifistic politics is an oxymoron, and Obama is constitutionally incapable of coming off angrier than McCain.

Is a man who is just discovering the Internet qualified to lead a restoration of America’s economic and educational infrastructure? Is the leader of a virtually all-white political party America’s best salesman and moral avatar in the age of globalization?

(Community Matters) Good to have John Thornton back blogging on Insomniactive after his and Julie’s Montana visit to hang with Alexa & Blaine. Though, I’m wondering who’s the doom & gloom founder – Garvey?

(Community Matters) Thanks Don Boyd

(Community Matters) I’m sorry, but trusting a Texas politician when he promises to place his $200mm in a blind-trust – then we learn he never did – to avoid conflicts of interest as the most powerful legislator in our state, just doesn’t cut it. Shame on Dewhurst.

(Community Matters) hmm, I do not like Steven’s Twitter posting, ” A bout of summer flu proves more thoroughly restorative than most vacations we’ve taken” here but knowing his perspective I understand what he means. We mostly sequestered ourselves this weekend, outside of the few hours he was on a Habitat build site. Steven’s a terrific nurse, and we even watched Recount together; know what? Lieberman was a judas back then too.

I was completely whipped yesterday, good gosh, 102-ish fever zaps every ounce of energy these days. When I was younger, I wasn’t so susceptible to fever, routinely running 103 with colds/flus. I’m feeling much better this am. Woke up in the middle of the night realizing my fever had broken and feeling refreshed this am, admittedly I haven’t gotten up. A triple, non-fat latte, 1/3 decaf with extra foam sounds awfully good.

(Community Matters) Received a CNN alert on the vice presidential selection at 10:55 last night, a note from my cousin at 2:28am and the text from the campaign at 2:40am. Didn’t receive the longer note/email from Obama until 10:01 this morning.

And, the response to Barack’s decision to invite Sen Biden as his vice presidential running mate seems overwhelmingly positive. I nearly emailed Texas Hillary Clinton chair, Garry Mauro, to ask how he felt, though didn’t want to appear gloating or unsympathetic. I know Garry had been pulling for Hillary as VP. I’ll see and talk with him about this in Denver.

Biden is a hell of a man, extraordinary credentials in foreign policy, crime & judicial system. Love that he’s always taken the train home to Delaware and speaks his mind.