Captain Digital

Random musings on politics, society, and pop culture from the Internet's marketing curmudgeon.

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Archives for 2008

Welcome to the Mother of all Mondays.

I got a bad feeling about this, Sundance. 

Today, the market is (finally) reacting to reality, that no amount of government funny money is gonna be able to cheat the hangman on this one. The idea that the government (who by relaxing regulations and subsequently forcing lenders to grant home loans to credit-unworthy borrowers) could fix this by pumping a few billion dollars (which the government didn’t have to begin with) into the system is patently absurd. So the market does what markets do (when allowed to work as they should) – they react to reality and adjust accordingly. For those that think that the descent from 10,000 is a tragedy unheard of in modern times – get a grip. This ain’t over yet. This is simply the end of the beginning. And the more the Feds monkey with things, the worse it’s gonna get, and the longer it will take for the market to recover. In point of fact, you can argue that a DOW of over 10,000 was an illusion, and the current number is much more reflective of reality. When everyone pretends that everyone else has money, it’s no big deal. The minute somebody has the gall to call in a chit, the whole house ‘o cards comes a-tumblin’ down. [Read more…] about Welcome to the Mother of all Mondays.

Cleaning House.

 

Shirt courtesy of VectorRight.com
Shirt courtesy of VectorRight.com

If you’re anything like I am, you’re pretty steamed at the way Congress has acted throughout this financial crisis. Here’s a couple of salient facts you might NOT know:

  • The sub-prime crisis is at the heart of the current financial crisis. 
  • The Clinton administration and the Democrat-controlled Congress were the ones that demanded that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loosen their qualifications requirements so that low-income people could qualify for a home loan. 
  • When the Republicans took over Congress, they did nothing to fix this problem. [Read more…] about Cleaning House.

An American Tune.


Just came back from watching An American Carol, and I’m very happy to report that I found it pretty funny, very entertaining, occasionally poignant, and incredibly refreshing. It’s not often that, as a conservative, I can go to see a film and not wince at the subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) liberal agenda that the studio and director choose to serve up. Way to many Hollywood films are made by Liberals, for Liberals – or even worse, made by a bunch of Hollywood types who use their films to stake their claim to “I can be more liberal than you can.”

This film is different. Waaaaaaaaaaaaay different. [Read more…] about An American Tune.

Famous versus Infamous.

It’s (finally) official. O. J. Simpson is a convicted felon. Thirteen years to the day from getting away with murder – literally – Simpson has been convicted on multiple counts of armed robbery, kidnapping, et cetera. 

Couldn’t have happened to a more deserving guy. 

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not a believer Star Chambers or judicial retribution for past sins left unpunished. However, I AM a big believer in Karma, in so far as you reap what you sew. Let me explain… [Read more…] about Famous versus Infamous.

Palin Rocks!

Well, the VP debate is over. Whew! I can breathe again. From where I sit, Palin came, she saw, and she conquered. Flat out, she rocked. Biden was able to avoid putting his foot in his mouth verbally, but he did set a record for smirking, and another for forced smiles. Advantage: Palin. 

If we were to use the mainstream media standard, Palin made no mistakes (they would have judged her survival on the basis her not making more than one or two gaffes), and therefore “survived.” So if you’re a conservative, you’re going to say “Palin Won.” If you are a liberal, you’ll probably say something like “Palin acquitted herself adequately [sniff], but Biden enunciated his positions, where Palin made a base appeal to middle America.” [Read more…] about Palin Rocks!

Get out your crystal balls…

…for it’s debate time. I’m looking forward to tonight with a sense of anticipatory dread. I’m hopeful Palin will exceed all expectations, and blow Biden out of the water. In order to do that, however, she will have to not only win, but win by such a convincing margin that nobody in the mainstream media will be able to pretend she didn’t. Here are the possible outcomes, in order of worst to best. I’m handicapping the debate, just so some of my liberal friends and I will be able to gloat about who’s right and who’s wrong, prediction-wise, aprés-debate… [Read more…] about Get out your crystal balls…

Just in case you had any delusions about a lack of media bias…

…ladies and gentlemen, I give you the moderator of Thursday night’s Vice Presidential debates: Gwen Ifill. 

You’re not familiar with Ms. Ifill? Neither was I. Evidently, neither was the Commission on Presidential Debates (a supposedly neutral organization), nor was the McCain camp. Ifill is a senior correspondent for the PBS show, The News Hour, with Jim Lehrer. (Any association with PBS woulda done it for me – PBS being far from neutral in it’s news shows. But I digress.) More importantly, on January 20, 2009, Ifill’s new book will be released. The title? The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama. If you harbor any illusions that her book is a critical look at the Democrat’s standard-bearer, take a look at this abstract from Amazon.com: [Read more…] about Just in case you had any delusions about a lack of media bias…

Heard…and overheard.

This conversation was recorded without the knowledge of the participants. This transcript came to us anonymously. We cannot reveal our source – as we have no idea who sent it. But they provided enough bona fides that we can vouch for it’s authenticity. The names have been changed to protect the identities of the speakers (but unless you live under a [30] Rock, you should be able to fill in the blanks without any problem). 

Mr. X: Have you seen the overnights?

Mr. Y: Yes…they’re pretty scary. 

Mr. X: I can’t believe McCain did this…we were all ready to go negative on anybody on his short list…where did SHE come from? Nobody had her on a short list…long list…ANY list. 

Mr. Y: I’m baffled. What do we do now?

Mr. X: You’re the President of the network…you tell me. It’s what I’m paying you for. 

Mr. Y: Uh…well…it will take us a few days…weeks maybe, to dig up enough dirt on her to get our claws in deep. [Read more…] about Heard…and overheard.

If “Pro” is the opposite of “Con”…what is opposite of “Progress”?

As I write this, the bailout bill went down to defeat. 

Good.

From where I sit, the bill was flawed from the get-go. To start with, the boneheads that screwed the markets up to begin with (Committee chairs Chris Dodd, Chuck Schumer, et all) claiming that they know what to do to fix this mess. That’s rather like giving a fox the keys to the hen house, and a fresh supply of chickens, immediately after he’s eaten the previous stock. Not a good idea. 

With taxpayers of all political persuasions screaming blue murder about this bill, I’m not surprised that it failed. While it’s amusing to see Congressmen running for cover like so many cockroaches in a kitchen during a 3AM snack binge, the results are, we have an institution that is dedicated to two propositions (getting reelected and maintining the status quo) forced to face the music with voters. [Read more…] about If “Pro” is the opposite of “Con”…what is opposite of “Progress”?

It’s up for debate.

I was never on the debate team in High School. Always thought I’d be pretty good at it – I love to challenge people with whom I disagree, and enjoy the give-and-take when someone can argue their positions with facts and logic (as opposed to rhetoric and emotion. 

I watched the debate last night with interest. The candidate on the side I’m pulling for (the conservative side, if there was ever any doubt) is not known for his inspiring speeches or magnetic personality. The guy on the left (Obama) is all about lofty rhetoric, but generally short on specifics, not to mention logic. Then of course, you have to factor in the pundits. “McCain needs to put Obama away to win this.” “Obama is in the lead, he just needs to not screw up…a draw is a win for him.” “Both candidates need to deal with specifics, so we can get past the slogans and see real plans.” Um, yeah. I made that last one up. Nobody in the media has been saying anything like that.

So, how did it go? I dunno. I think Obama started strong, but then got more and more rattled as the night went on. McCain did surprisingly well, but I don’t know if that was enough to move undecideds into his column. I think this election is gonna come down to the wire. I would like to make a few observations on last night’s performances: [Read more…] about It’s up for debate.