Posts Tagged “Barack Obama”
- While much of the nation basks in the afterglow of Barack Obama’s election as president, the economy continues to dominate the news with a report today that the nation’s unemployment rate jumped to a 14-year high of 6.5 percent in October as another 240,000 jobs were lost. If you’ve ever been on a 10-meter diving platform with a bunch of people nudging you to jump, you know exactly how Obama feels…
 And that wasn’t the only lousy economic news of the day either–FordW announced that it lost $129 million in the third quarter, and says it will cut another 2,260 white collar positions in North America. If I were them, I’d be working like crazy to design a car that costs $500 and runs on coffee grounds…- President-elect Obama is looking to the nation’s economic experts for help as he convenes a meeting with 17 members of his transistion economic advisory board Friday. Among those participating is super-investor Warren BuffetW–who may be called on to draw on his petty cash fund to buy the banking industry outright…
- Polling experts say that the outcome of the presidential election proves there was no white bias, suggested by the so-called "Bradley EffectW". As far as they could tell, the only possible white bias was the one against Joe the Plubmer, Joe Six-Pack, and Hockey Mom…
- Former New York governor Eliot SpitzerW learned that Federal prosecutors won’t be bringing charges against him for his role in the breakup of a prostitution ring that put an end to Spitzer’s rising-star political career. The possibility of criminal action against Spitzer has been hanging over his head ever since the story broke out–just as I imagine a large meat cleaver has been hanging over other parts of him as well…
 A fall snowstorm that has dropped almost 4 feet of white powder in the Black Hills of South Dakota and was swept up by winds gusting to 50 mph has created unthinkable travel conditions, and has stranded unknown numbers of motorists along Interstate 90 and elsewhere while visibility continues to be nonexistent. The upside to all of this–Mount RushmoreW collectibles are, like, 80% off…
Tags: Barack Obama, economy, Eliot Spitzer, Ford, Warren Buffet
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- The Associated PressW reports that Barack ObamaW is leading in Ohio, Nevada, Colorado and Virginia–all states won by President Bush in 2004–and would assure him of victory if the trend continues. The John McCainW campaign continues to stress that victory is within reach–although they don’t really say by whom…
 Another day, another see-saw ride on Wall Street, as bargain-hunters helped the market to a near-900 point jump Tuesday which was met with gains in most Asian markets as well. This is just like the BOGO at Macy'sW, except that you’re buying a sweater that you don’t actually know if it will ever fit…- The Federal ReserveW is expected to cut a key interest rate a half-point to 1 percent–a near historic low that is seen as necessary to try and keep the nation from falling further into recession. Meanwhile my credit card company is trying to explain to me how, "to serve you better", they’re boosting my interest rate to 43%–a month…
- Reports from inside North KoreaW say that leader Kim Jong Il has suffered "a serious problem" with his health–a charge government officials continue to deny. They know the truth–it’s nothing more than the "serious problem" with his personality he’s had all his life…
- After just the second suspension of play in nearly 80 years of World SeriesW games Monday, the Philadelphia Phillies and Tampa Bay Rays will try to finish Game 5 tonight–likely facing windchills around the mid-20 mark. I guess that means we won’t see the end of those adorable ear-flap caps–which I love, since it makes this collection of spoiled-brat multi-millionaires look just like the geeks they made fun of in high school…
 A new university study has found that cold sufferers–carrying a virus that can live as long as two days outside the body–are most likely to spread their germs on refrigerator handles and TV remotes. Obviously, this is the couch potato’s worst nightmare…
Tags: Barack Obama, Federal Reserve, health care, John McCain, Kim Jong Il, North Korea, Wall Street, World Series
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 A highlight of John McCain and Barack Obama’s Wednesday debate was McCain invoking a recent exchange between Obama and "Joe the plumber", the Ohio man who told Obama he wanted to buy the plumbing business where he was employed but worried he couldn’t because Obama would raise his taxes. McCain later said "Joe" was the real debate winner–and then learned Joe wasn’t a licensed plumber, owed back taxes and was mostly speculating about the business idea, which made Joe about as popular to McCain as Charles Keating…- Wall Street continues to careen in every direction, with Monday’s record gain of 936 followed by another drastic drop of 733 Wecnesday, then a true rollercoaster ride Thursday that saw the market down about 500 points before finishing up 401, with Friday’s trading starting off 250, but improving to about even at press time. Experts still say leaving your investments where they are is the best advice in the long run–unless of course you were actually hoping to spend any of it in the next 20 or 30 years…
- While the economy may be down, Social Security is going up–a 5.8% increase for next year will be the largest benefit bump in a quarter century. After reading the preceding story, seniors are probably grateful there’s something that’s actually appreciating in their portfolio…
- In a report out Friday, the GAO says that two US labratories–handling some of the world’s deadliest germs–lack some basic security features like adequate cameras, detection alarms and visible armed guards at public entrances. This is a little unsettling to me–there’s better security than this at my grocery store’s express lanes…
- Reformers in Iran are hopeful that former president Mohammad Khatami might challenge Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the June presidential elections, with a former vice-president saying that Khatami can’t avoid it, adding, "It is a historic situation. He has to run even if he doesn’t want it personally." This may be one of those times when having a religious leader as a head of state actually improves the government…
  The Philadelphia Phillies–the first team in professional sports to to lose 10,000 games–will head to the World Series for the first time in 15 years after beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 Wednesday, while the Boston Red Sox won their 8th elimination game in a row Thursday night with one of the greatest postseason comebacks in history as they overcame a late-game 7-0 Tampa Bay lead to defeat the Rays 8-7. One team propelled to their sport’s pinnacle after a lifetime of disappointment, and still another historic franchise that continues to disprove its one-time ninety-year curse–and people wonder why it’s called America’s Pastime….
Tags: Barack Obama, debate, GAO, Iran, John McCain, Major League Baseball, Social Security, Wall Street
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- The federal government’s quarter-trillion-dollar bank buy-in plan is being embraced by the industry as a means to get them back to the business of lending again, but many experts believe it won’t provide a quick fix to the nation’s economic problems. In my experience, depending on a bank to really help me with my problems is like hiring a shark to host a pool party…
- Wednesday’s final presidential debate between John McCain and Barack Obama may very well be McCain’s last chance to shake up a race that many polls suggest has been wrapped up by Obama. McCain’s people have suggested he may again try to connect Obama to Bill Ayers, the one-time anti-war radical who is now a professor and neighbor of Obama’s–I don’t know about you, that gets me right off worrying about the economy…
 Engineers at NASA say they know how repair the Hubble Space Telescope, and will begin a complicated remote-control fix Wednesday that will require them to wake up parts on the telescope that have been dormant for 18 years. Are we sure they’re qualified–after all, they probably have parts dormant for much longer than that…- A federal appeals court has ordered that Ohio’s election officials must establish a system to verify the eligibility of newly registered voters and make that information available to all of the state’s election boards, a victory for the state’s Republicans challenging the administration of registration policies by the Democratic secretary of state. So, the GOP is convinced the other side is trying to register ineligible pro-Obama votes, and the Dems are convinced the other side is trying to stop eligible pro-Obama voters from registering–at least they agree on something…
- Thanks to a break in Santa Ana winds, firefighters in Southern California have been able to better control 3 dangerous forest fires that have each moved closer to Los Angeles’ northwestern suburbs. The longer they can keep those arid breezes from fanning the flames, the better off they are–then again, it’s LaLa Land, and the Santa Anas are the least of their hot air problems…
 The upstart Tampa Bay Rays, who until now had never won more than 70 games a season, have pushed the mighty Boston Red Sox into an uncomfortable corner with a 13-4 rout of the defending World Series champs Tuesday–their second-straight lopsided win and the team’s third consecutive victory. The Sox have been here before, and they’ve roared back–but that was with "Manny being Manny", who’s now doing that pretty well for someone else…
Tags: Barack Obama, California, debate, Election Day, financial bailout, forest fires, Hubble Telescope, John McCain, Major League Baseball, NASA
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- Fall Out Boy has decided to postpone release of its new CD so it won’t coincide with Election Day, as the band explains in a website posting: "Six months ago, we thought it would be fun to release our album on election day but this is not the election to be cute. This is the most important election of our time…we felt as though rather than making a commentary, we were only riding the wave of the election. This seemed less and like what we intended to do and more of a gimmick"…
- Britney Spears has reportedly struck a deal with event producer AEG–but the details of when and where are still unclear. She hinted recently that she’d like to do a world tour, and her new album Circus will be out December 2–so the tour is either planned for early next year, or she’s going to a lot of trouble to establish a play date…
  Justin Timberlake and steady squeeze Jessica Biel attended an Obama rally in Las Vegas, where he told the crowd that he wasn’t there "as some dude who writes goofy songs", but rather, "Me and Jess, we’re here as Americans. We’re here as humans because this something we had to do." JT later sang Vote In A Box–an off-shoot of the wildly popular Saturday Night Live sketch song you may remember, only this version was more political and less scatological…- Tina Fey says she is done impersonating Sarah Palin after Election Day–especially if John McCain wins the election, telling TV Guide, "We’re gonna take it week by week. If she wins, I’m done. I can’t do that for four years. And by ‘I’m done,’ I mean I’m leaving Earth." Does that mean that Palin would take over on 30 Rock?
- A new autobiography by Brady Bunch star Maureen McCormick called Here’s The Story: Surviving Marcia Brady And Finding My True Voice is a frank discussion of her drug abuse as well as her romance with co-star Barry Williams. Can you imagine Alice catching Marcia and Greg making out–that would be a totally creepy threesome…
  Gossip says The Emmy Awards people are considering a new category for best reality show judge, which would certainly include Idol’s Simon Cowell–but what about David Hasselhoff from America’s Got Talent? As long as the category was Least Possible Negative Judge Ever In The History Of Judging…-
Tags: Barack Obama, Brady Bunch, Britney Spears, Election Day, Emmy, Fall Out Boy, John McCain, Justin Timberlake, Sarah Palin, Simon Cowell, Tina Fey, TV Guide
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