Congress Sells You Out For Votes

Congress did not pass the bailout today. They will tell you all sorts of reasons why. Maybe to make a stand for "Main St." or maybe because they thought the plan doesn't do what it needs to do (most really have no clue). Or as one Republican whined, they didn't get the Republican votes because Nancy Pelosi claimed victory early, despite the conservative Republican opposition. But don't let these reasons fool you. The bill was shot down because the members of Congress have a big reelection coming up, and they'd rather sink the country than lose their jobs.

The bailout, while not perfect, was the effort of leading economists, business-people and legislative experts in banking. You'll notice, these experts didn't consult Main St. morons what they think when crafting the bill. That's because they don't have a clue. This bailout is needed as quickly as possible, to solve this liquidity crisis we have in our country, and the world. This effort will be coupled with major efforts by the Fed, such as the move that was made today. Without quick, bold moves, Main and Wall Streeters alike will be suffering from the failure. These monumental efforts will eventually pay off, but in the short term, we need to worry about fear!

The news is grim. financial markets around the world are in big trouble. The two largest banks to ever fail, Washington Mutual and Wachovia, have failed on successive business days here in the States, and 5 major banks were bailed out in Europe over the weekend. People are taking money out of their banks at explosive and irrational amounts (and is being blamed for the collapse of these banks). Even this week's Business Week cover speaks not of where to invest, but where to "stash your cash". Obviously, people are freaking out.

Congress, you need to knock off the showboating and get this bill passed. At this point, it doesn't matter what it even says, it just matters that it gets done. Give us some confidence back in our leadership. Show us that you know we are in trouble and have the strategic minds to move us ahead. Whatever you do, just knock off the freaking politics. Get off the TV and go back to the war rooms. Do it now.

Bank Bailout Vs. Sneakie Auto Bailout (didn't notice, did you?)

GM and Ford sure found a good time to ask for some money from the government. Guess they aren't as bad at business as I thought. First of all, Michigan and Ohio will probably decide the presidential election and both employ a ton of autoworkers. Secondly, the banking industry is asking for $700 Billion, what's so bad about a couple car companies getting $25 Billion dollars yesterday and barely making the news!?!?! Seems like chump-change, right? Might as well toss a few bucks to American giants like GM and Ford, it's only fair... pfft.

Here's the breakdown as I see it:

Why is it needed?
Bank Bailout: Deemed necessary by almost every economist and government official to prevent the greatest depression many of us have ever witnessed.
Auto Bailout: Needed to secure votes in Michigan and Ohio (come on, are you ever going to buy a Malibu?)

Who benefits?
Bank Bailout: Everyone on earth
Auto Bailout: People who work for American automakers (in the short term), politicians, GM and Ford stockholders

Are you for serious?
Bank Bailout: Yes, the government will buy up securities and hold them as long as they need to, or sell them back at a profit. The auction system will ensure competitive forces are at work. Taxdollars will be cool as cucumbers.
Auto Bailout: Sorry, but GM and Ford have proven they move too slow and don't make good business decisions. They also have to pay union workers $50/hour to flip switches on robots. How can they compete with the world like that? (it's rhetorical... )

Sorry, I hate to be the bearer of bad news like that. To make matters even worse, you can't short these companies right now because the government has gone full speed ahead into chicken-with-heads-off-mode.

At the same time. I really hope I'm wrong about this. I like having an American auto industry. I just want them to do a better job at it. Here's $25 Billion dollars... go do a better job!

Pussycat Dolls Beautify Selling Out - Hilarious

I was once naive enough to believe Sarah Palin came up with the Barracuda nickname simply because she has sharp teeth. Now I don't know anymore, maybe it was just a product placement for the Plymouth Barracuda. I don't blame her, do what you have to do when raising money on the campaign trail. But the "music" group Pussycat Dolls, an awful composition of strippers/teenage role models, has been outed for an artistic gaff that would have been the end of such a group 15 years ago. They tried to sell their lyrics out.

Ok, I know. No one cares about this anymore. As Rob Walker points out in his book "Buying In" (also thanks, Rob, for linking this story in your blog), Gen X cared about selling out, while Gen Y embraces it. Looking back, I certainly agree. Why not let corporate America finance my dreams? I mean, not like any real fans wouldn't see through the BS, right? Of course, ask me these questions 15 years ago and I'd think you were joking... or a Republican or something.

All that being said, these advertising geniuses have completely out done themselves here. The highlights:

- The Pussycat Dolls representative was offering a product placement for "Double Happiness Jeans", which, apparently is a jean manufacturer in the game Second Life
- The people who create Double Happiness Jeans basically work for about 90 cents an hour, most likely in virtual sweatshops somewhere in China
- The email offering this placement was accidentally sent to Jeff Crouse of the Anti-Advertising Agency - something so dumb it reaks of espionage

As you could probably guess, hilarity ensues.

Google Phone Gets it Right the First Time

The new Google Android powered G1 Phone was launched today, and it looks amazing. The slide-out, touch screen, coupled with a full keyboard is the design I've been waiting for. I hope this is where most phones are going, including the Apple iPhone, as I hate the touch-screen keyboard.

Other cool features include the GPS and internal compass, so I guess now you can use Google Street-view while walking down the street. There's bound to be some reason to do this, other than looking like and idiot, but not really sure. I've seen a bar scanner app that looks like a great way to check prices while shopping, something I like to do. The camera is 3.1 megapixels, which means web worthy photos on the go. Though rumors were to the contrary, it also appears to have Google Chat. Best of all, G-mail and G-calendar are pushed to your phone. Love how they got all this right on the first go.

I'm also happy to hear that Android is not getting contractually bonded with any one carrier, so we should be seeing other similar offers from numerous carriers. I'm locked into one of those horrible family plans, so I'd probably have to get divorced to switch networks.

The only thing that really seems to be missing is a good commercial, like those guys at Microsoft make... Hahah, just kidding. Almost had you, eh? Ok, that's not completely fair. If Microsoft had a product that was as good as this phone, they could pack their ads with examples of functionality, but they don't. So instead you get Seinfeld, doing his impression of what was funny in the '90s.

The first Google Phone pretty much knocks it out of the park on the first swing, so they wanted to focus on functionality. I'm guessing by the time of launch, the commercial will be closer to something you'd see from Apple, but you'll definitely still see all this awesome functionality. Or maybe nothing at all... Google has figured out that if you get the product right, an army of millions will advertise for you. Neat.

JV, Army of 1

Democrat Counter Proposal is Ridiculous

I really try not to sound partisan when I write these things. I'd rather sound more like the voice of reason. Quite often, there are views and proposals from both sides that I agree with, and I think most people would feel that way as well. So keep that in mind as I explain why the Democrats have lost their freaking minds.

Chris Dodd has issued the democrat counter proposal to Henry Paulson's $700 Billion dollar mortgage-backed asset buyout. And, regretably, it's completely insane.

Dodd's Share Requirement:

The Secretary may not purchase, or make any commitment to purchase, any troubled asset unless the Secretary receives contingent shares in the financial institution from which such assets are to be purchased equal in value to the purchase price of the assets to be purchased.

Why that's insane: Well, let's take a bank like WaMu, thought to be the most likely beneficiary of Paulson's plan. They are NOT an investment bank, but instead the country's largest thrift. They have $140 Billionish in deposits, 2,200 plus retail locations, and may have holdings of $200 Billion plus tied up in mortgages. Unfortunately, the combined worth of all of their stock is about $5.9 Billion, so how on earth are they going to meet this requirement? To make matters worse, as Dodd and his band of headline makers delay and iterate, the company has lost over a billion in value. Awesome guys!

Sounds like there are also some ideas like homeowner protection (another way of saying debt forgiveness on loans the government is buying and wants guarantees on?... uhhh... what?) and limits to executive compensation. Yes, because the best way to ensure a company gets better is to make sure only the lowly compensated executives will work there.

Sorry Dems, I know you have to make a stink about this thing, but this is a dissaster. You are ruining a pretty good thing here to make headlines, and you don't care what happens. Sign the bill, do it now, let's put this crap behind us.

Guest Blogging at Vinotrip

I have a buddy from college who I used to drink a whole bunch of Steel Reserve with, while watching lots of football and/or partying. One day he decided to grow up, got a job with a pretty cool wine company (Vinfolio), started drinking expensive wines, and even began writing about it.

Well, this week he finds himself out of reach of the internets (guess no AT&T), so he asked a couple other writers (drinkers) to fill the void. To this, I was happy to oblige.

I have recently moved from San Francisco to DC, and am a big fan of wine as well. Luckily, though I didn't know it at the time, I was moving myself to an area with wine options almost comparable to San Francisco... Well, maybe the locally grown stuff isn't so great, but the restaurants are. I've visited many of the bars and restaurants in Bethesda, with much happiness. You'll find my impressions of some of the more well known ones in my guest appearance crossover, now with chromium covers!

Google Finance Board Fights The Man, Saves WaMu

Many WaMu shareholders, and members of the Google Finance boards, are rallying together to take a stand, and to give short sellers a big middle finger. You can read this effort materialize here, and probably learn a thing or two.

It is widely believed that short selling has artificially driven the stock price down for many financial services firms recently, including WaMu, AIG, Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers, and so on. Short selling has gotten such a bad rep, that regulations have been modified to try an ease market manipulation.

An explanation, in the simplest terms I can manage:
WaMu stockholders are taking their shares off the market by placing "Good Until Canceled" sell orders on the shares they own, at prices considered to be unattainable. With these orders place, the shares are not eligible to be shorted.

The How To: (taken from this guy):

1) put in a sell order
2) make it a limit order, not market order
3) set the price at $7.50 +
4) set expiration as GTC (Good Til Canceled), and leave the expiration
date blank.

The idea is that if enough people do this, short selling will be limited, and share price will increase. Of course, it's also just nice to be part of the effort, which I am. Go WaMu!!

UPDATE:
There are now over 400 posts on the original Google Finance thread, and over 1,000,000 shares protected from shorting. Hooray!! As you may have noticed, shares did pretty well today too. WaMu stock was up almost 50%!

To further promote the silliness, I've made some T-shirts and buttons. Enjoy :-)

US Taxpayers Sponsor Manchester United

Attention US taxpayers - you just bought yourselves a fabulous ad placement on 2008 English Premier League and Champions League Champions, Manchester United. (They play what's known here as "soccer", a sport we aren't good at, so we don't play).

So, non-American Football haters, here's what you are now a part of:

• This team may be the most valuable sports franchise on earth
• The best player on earth (today), Cristiano Ronaldo, plays for Manchester United
• Don't like metrosexuals?... No problem, tough guy Wayne Rooney plays for them too!

And guess what, now is a great time to get into your new team. Man U plays Rival and EPL league-leading Chelsea this weekend in London. If you have cable, you'll probably get the game. It should be a good one... and certainly great product placement for your recent investment in AIG.

Have No Fear, FDIC and SIPC are Here!

A friend asked me today for advice on finding a safe bank to invest "with," to which I said "do you mean 'in'?"... "No, with." Apparently he was worried that a broker going down would gobble up his stock (guessing the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy news was a catalyst for such a question). A legitimate concern, but not one I thought many would have. Later in the day, I was looking at Google Trends, and "FDIC Insurance Limits" was in the top 10 for search items. Times may be tough, but they aren't that bad. Here's some comforting news:

First of all, as most people know, the FDIC insures your deposits up to $100,000 dollars in each bank you have deposits in. That means your checking, savings, CDs, etc., are covered, up to $100,000 per bank. So, if you have more than that in checking those types of accounts, put it in different banks (and put me in your entourage).

Furthermore, your bank, broker, or whatever, is not allowed to touch any of your investments when they are in trouble. In other words, as Lehman goes down, they can't just sell off investor's securities to stay afloat a little bit longer. They simply end up transferring them to an account at another broker that hasn't gone down the tubes yet.

And, even if your broker decides to get all criminal on your ass and sells your stocks off for crack, don't worry, you are still covered. As long as you are with any real broker, they will be covered by SIPC, and you'll be covered up to $500,000. Since this is so hot right now, there's a website devoted to answering all your questions about this found here.

Also, banks like WaMu (aka Washington Mutual), Wachovia, Sovereign may be all over the news on the verge of bankruptcy, but unless you are a stockholder, this shouldn't worry you at all (nor benefit you either). WaMu is huge, and their assets will undoubtedly be sold off for a steal to JP Morgan. Your accounts will all be fine and you won't even notice the transition... So leave your money in the bank!!... And yes, you still have to pay your damn mortgage, you bastard!!

I Too, am a Licensed Doctor, For Pretend

If you are like me, this retro Old Spice "Doogie" Howser ad cracks you up... and it also makes you enter into a Barry Bonds, steroid raging, jealousy fit. I mean, damn, "why can't I be an officially licensed doctor... for pretend?" Luckily, Old Spice has listened, telepathically, to our thoughts, and has given us a beautiful gift. Proudly I can declare, "I'm now an officially licensed doctor for pretend, and so can you!"

The website is oldspicetvmd.com, and it's worth 5 minutes of your time (as long as you are at work). First, you'll get to see a sweet video about being a doctor for pretend. Then there's a quiz, to ensure you are indeed MD4P worthy, then you get one of those sweet badges you see above.

It's a pretty fun, well-executed site, and a great job of engaging more of their target demographic, i.e., me. Maybe I'll go buy some body wash now, whatever that is. 

Gates and Seinfeld Return for 4.5 Minutes of Crap

Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates are back again, with Episode 2 of their reality TV mockumentaristic advertising adventures. This time the unlikely pair... actually, I'm not sure why I said unlikely pair, it's almost like I'm in MSFTs PR department or something... it's a pretty likely pair considering all the money being spent on this... $10 Million for Jerry Seinfeld, $300 Million overall budget... Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld were the kings of the 90s, and now both must feel a bit past their time. They still must feel they have a little something left, something maybe these commercials will show us? This could be the feel-good comeback story of the year, or, maybe just a payday.

Anyways, Jerry and Bill invade a suburban home, where the husband Doug, from Flight of the Conchords, and his commercial-land family host these billionaires and give them a taste of The Simple Life... oops... normal life I mean, not trying to get sued for this... Here, the family has bought them expensive "restaurant style" mustard, to make them feel at home... HA - Priceless!! Also, there's a conniving daughter and a grandma who says funny stuff. Man, this keeps getting better and better.

At the end, we see they've dropped the "delicious" tag line that we saw in the first ad, so apparently the edible computers were BS. That's fine with me as I'm on South Beach anyways. This time we are left with a similar image of both Jerry and Bill walking away as Jerry asks if they are already working on some other crazy crap that doesn't really exist, and if so, do the robot... which Bill Gates does... the robot. For serious. That was funny.

Then we are left to ponder the on text tags at the end, "Perpetually Connecting".... "PC".

$300 Million bucks. I don't know, I don't really feel any more connected to PCs, or Vista for that matter. Oh well, I got to see Bill Gates do the robot. Joke's on him.

McCain Lipstick Ad Down, Loreal Deal in Question

If you are like me, seeing headlines about a John McCain Lipstick Ad was certainly a topic of interest. I mean, Lipstick was getting enough press with Sarah Palin calling comparisons to herself a bulldog with lipstick (Governor, I served with Bulldogs. I knew Bulldogs. Bulldogs are friends of mine.... ). Then Barack Obama applied an older lipstick cliche yesterday with is comment that "You can put lipstick on a pig. It's still a pig." - Yes, but a sexy pig. I guess McCain wanted to give his views on lipstick, by commissioning the ad that should be linked here, but those greedy bastards at You Tube took it down! Outrageous media bias!

So you may be thinking that this ad was yanked because McCain decided to pull his Loreal endorsement. That would be more fun. Or maybe you follow the news, and thought that maybe the ad was pulled because Obama basically called the Republicans out for a "phony and foolish... made-up controversey." Being accused of "lies and phony outrage" or "swift-boat politics" might have left the McCain campaign a bit embarrassed about the angle they had taken, so they decided to go another direction?... Hrmm, no, don't think that was it either (come on, which have political campaigns ever moved away from phony outrage?)

Based on this nice caption from You Tube
I'm thinking it might have a little bit more to do with the McCain Campaign brazenly stealing an unintended endorsement by Katie Couric. At the end of the ad, Couric notes that "one of the great lessons of that campaign is the continued and accepted role of sexism in American life."

So far CBS is investigating the issue, but has commented to TVNewser that "CBS News does not endorse any candidate in the presidential race. Any use of CBS personnel in political advertising that suggests the contrary is misleading."

So, I'm guessing you won't hear any more talk about lipstick for a little while from either campaign. It really got out of hand pretty fast. Here's to hope that both sides will makeup, and get back to the issues.

New Apple iPod Nano Uses Icons in Menus!

After the last three generations of the Apple iPod Nano, it was hard to imagine what they were going to do for an encore. I mean, the first generation iPod Nano was small, the second gen Nano was shiny, and the third Nano had video... how can you beat that?! Well, according to Gizmodo, the geniuses at Apple have added icons to the Nano menus. Goodbye $200, it was nice knowing you!

Ok, there's also a bigger screen and the thing can be turned sideways to watch in wide screen format. I suppose that's actually cool, but at some point people have to stop buying these things. A guaranteed release every year has also guaranteed obselence, which would be ok, but they really aren't offering much of an upgade to the product.

At the same time, Microsoft's Zune is looking like a better product. It not only has song transferrability, but now also offers WiFi downloads, FM radio, and buy from FM. Now that's real innovation. Not to mention, the thing looks downright sexy. Unfortunately for Microsoft, they don't really get marketing like Apple does, and the entire blogosphere hates them.

Oh crap... it's 9:30. I need to go wait in line. The Hokie Orange awaits!

Jet Blue Launches eBay Advertising Campaign, For Free

Jet Blue has found a new way to sell you airfare, this time on eBay. As reported this evening by the AP, there will be "300 [Jet Blue] round trip flights and six vacation packages this week on eBay." Of course, (most) people aren't stupid enough to pay more for Jet Blue flights on eBay than they would on the Jet Blue website, so odds are, Jet Blue has an alternate agenda... Hrmm, what could it be?... FREE MARKETING - BRILLIANT!!

As a 10-year selling veteran of eBay and former employee, I recognize the environment to be a pretty perfect marketplace. You can find pretty much anything you want to buy pretty easily through their search features, and can sell anything that has a market (other than crack and body parts). Sellers can almost always expect to sell their goods as long as they are priced reasonably and buyers are guaranteed to pay nothing more than true value, as determined by the market.

But Jet Blue doesn't really need a way to sell another 300 tickets. Just coming up with the idea to sell tickets on eBay and getting it agreed to by the bureaucracy in a company of this size would cost more than any profit they'll ever see, if any. What they will get to enjoy is some virtually free marketing.

First of all, they'll have a story featured on a couple pretty popular news sites (btw, can we make "newsites" a word please?) about how they are selling tickets on eBay. Here are one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, and ten examples of this, just in case you don't believe me. This kind of press coverage is great, but it gets better. The press release also notes "the auctions will likely produce final bids between 85 percent and 90 percent of the flight or package's total value." So they are publishing a sale for Jet Blue. Worst case for Jet Blue, some people get some decent deals on 300 flights (so they lose, what, $10,000?) and get a whole ton of press and maybe reach a new audience.

Of course, eBay isn't getting totally taken advantage here. They win too. eBay is suffering from being able to bring in new users, or keep old ones, cause there are just too many scammers out there and buyers don't trust the system and the sellers. Well, Jet Blue is a great big company that will bring some bargain shoppers to eBay (remember, flight consumers are very price sensitive, so the sale announced in all those examples above, is going to bring them in). And if Jet Blue trusts eBay, why shouldn't you?... right?

Honestly, I think this is a pretty impressive, innovative move by Jet Blue. I know other companies and industries have made similar moves before, but this one just seems new. So, Jet Blue, congratulations, and here's slightly more coverage for you.

Some New Shirts - Now with "Political Satire"!!

So I decided to make a couple new shirts*, which you can see off to the right there if you are on my site, or to the left here, if you are a lazy RSS reading bastard (editor's note: I am a lazy RSS reading bastard).

This time I decided to add a little political spin to it. If you didn't know, that's Sarah Palin from her beauty pageant days. She had big hair, but it was the 80's, so we can't really hold that over her. The fact that she was a contestant in a beauty pageant, however, I'm guessing rubs a lot of people the wrong way.

There's also stuff like buttons and coffee mugs, which you can give to all your republican friends who won't get the joke... or maybe they will and won't care cause it looks cool. As an added bonus, if I see you wearing one of these bad boys in a bar, I'll buy you a beer.

Also, the pic was made using the Warholizer. It is probably the best free internet tool in the entire universe.

*Disclaimer: Not edible

Networks, MLB, Stars all Stand Up To Cancer Tonight

There's so much going on in the world. The economy is battered, hurricanes are coming and Palin, McCain and Obama are taking up a lot of airtime on TV. Well, tonight at 8pm, coverage will be diverted away from these issues by ABC, CBS and NBC. For a full hour of uninterrupted coverage, we'll be refocused on on a fight that touches us all, a fight to finally bring an end to Cancer.

Stand Up To Cancer is an organization dedicated to allocating our best resources, money and brains, to finally unlocking the mysteries of cancer, and ending a war that has gone on far too long (a war on cancer was declared by Richard Nixon in 1971). Stand Up To Cancer's goal is to "benefit the most patients by accelerating the course of cancer research through raising philanthropic dollars and developing unique mechanisms to utilize these funds."

So, if you are free at 8, settle back and watch one the big 3's coverage of this event. Katie Couric, Brian Williams, and Charles Gibson will be hosting together, so it doesn't matter which one you turn on. You'll get to see a whole lot of celebrities, and probably learn a thing or two as well.

Here's the promo:

Redskins Radio Website is @ Mesmerizing @

If you occasionally like to feel like it's 1969 and you are a hippie enjoying some crazy flashback full of trippy contrasting colors, vivid imagery and nonsensical patterns, then the Redskins Radio website is just the place for you! If you ever suffered from seizures, you might want to skip this one*.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure the office is full of football dudes who don't give a lick about websites, unless they are managing their fantasy football league. The site probably isn't considered a profit center, more likely just something they have because they think they have to.... makes sense.

But guys, you can do better. You are Redskins Radio. Bring in some kids from UMD or George Mason or something and have them give you the works -- for free! You know how much people love the Redskins? Enough to work for free! If that sounds a little risky (kids like to put viruses in code so pictures of their butts show up on your site down the road), then bring in a short-time professional consultant and get that thing up to speed.

"Wah, wah, too expensive, wah!"... Bologna!... Just the ad revenues alone from having people click some of that crap, as opposed to seizing up in their cubicles, will pay for the work. Heck, maybe if things go well, you could even hire an actual employee to do this crap, like real companies do.

*By the way, rumor has it that if you look at this website while listening to Colin Cowherd, he won't sound like such a raging dick.

Bill Gates Stars in $300 Million Dollar Blockbuster

The NFL season finally kicked off yesterday, meaning we can all stop pretending to like baseball again, thank god. This also means that large companies finally have a guaranteed way to reach a whole bunch of 18-49 year old men. Microsoft decided to use this awesome resource to blow us all away with this masterpiece of comedic genius:



Here are my reactions:

• WTF was that?
• How on earth could this "Delicious" campaign ever live up to the $300 million they are spending on it?... I mean, they aren't really going to have edible computers, right? Scratch'n'sniff, maybe, but I have my doubts.
• "Is that the Conquistador?" - ok, that was chuckle worthy. Also, Bill Gates comedic timing and facial expressions were pretty decent, considering.

These ads had pretty high expectations, and so far they've left us fairly confused, and buying more Macs. Maybe next time they should spend $300 million dollars making Vista not suck, then they won't need to impress us with ads.

(For what will undoubtedly be an amusing rant about the actual outcome of the game and the Redskins punting on 4 and 1 a million times, there will be a post about that here when the blogger stops crying long enough to type)

Wal-Mart is Green, and Makes Others Green Too

Gizmodo posted an article today about a new green laptop packaging idea from HP and Walmart. It's pretty sweet - The laptops will arrive at Walmart in the bag packaged 3-4 to a case, with no other packing material like icky foam and baggies and crap. They can then be plopped right onto a Walmart shelf, where they will be gobbled up by anyone who actually has $800 bucks and shops at Walmart. Why green you say? cause they lowered packing material 97%! (!!!)

Of course, Gizmodo and their readers gave most the credit to HP. After all, it is incredibly fashionable to hate Walmart. After all, they told their people not to vote for Obama - that's like telling NRA members not to vote for McCain (you see, Obama hearts people who make minimum wage, while McCain hearts Palin, who hearts shooting shit). 

Ironically, the truth was told in the San Francisco Gate (you see, San Francisco doesn't have any Walmarts, nor do they have any Republicans). This packaging concept, the one that reduces packaging materials by 97%, was inspired by a Walmat contest. 

That's right, Walmart hosted a design contest to see which supplier could reduce packaging the most, and they'd put them on the shelf. This adds to the list of other Walmart lead Green innovations like deodorant not in boxes (silly, wasn't it), concentrated laundry detergent (no more 5 gallon jugs to lug around) and milk containers that take up less air in a truck, saving millions of gallons of oil a day... (source: writer's estimate). 

When it comes to paying employees what they are worth, sure Walmart sucks. But don't blame them for everything. They are using their power to help the environment. No matter how you feel about Walmart, you can't hate them for that.

Stuff White People Like #114: Republican Conventions

Ok, you probably know by now that Sarah Palin freaking killed it last night. No doubt about it, Palin's a very legitimate pick for Vica President. But if you didn't actually watch her speech, you might have missed something that the media isn't talking about. There are almost no dark-skinned people attending the convention.

It was eerie. Scary. I can't feel good about a polical party that appeals to one race over another, whether it's intentional or not. It's not healthy, and it makes us look bad as a nation, albeit, not as bad as Spain.

Oh, the other thing you might have missed if you go to bed before 11pm, John McCain looked physically unhealthy. I hope he was just jet-lagged or something, but if he looks like that again tonight, there's going to be a buzz. 

And lastly, if you don't know what my title is referring to, give Stuff White People Like a visit. It's piss-your-pants funny. 

McCain Welcomes Levi Johnston to The GOP Family

As shown in this picture currently on the front page of The New York Times, proud father to be, Levi Johnston, is in St. Paul for the Republican National Convention, and he's being embraced, quite literally by John McCain and the Republican Party.

I've got to admit, seeing this makes me at least a little proud of the Republicans and what I had believed to be party-line rhetoric. No way did I think McCain was really ok with the situation. I certainly didn't think the Parin parents were really "even prouder to become grandparents." More than anything, I thought Levi Johnston would have made it to Mexico by now. If pictures tell me anything, it was that I was "wrong, wrong, wrong," or at least they are putting on one hell of a show...

Speaking of shows, I never thought that the Republican Convention was going to be this exciting, but tonight they'll be blowing Olympic ratings out of the water. Wednesday night is reserved for date night with my bride in my household, but I think tonight we'll be staying in. Who needs to go out when the best entertainment money can't buy is right in my living room. 

Give Bristol Palin Privacy, by Doing Stories About Her Personal Life?

Only a few days after the Bristol Palin pregnancy story has broken, and I'm already getting sick of the media coverage. I don't mind hearing the media report on the vetting process McCain went through, I don't mind hearing that Sarah Palin may have too much on her plate (I think that is very relevant), and it's ok with me if they ask Sarah Palin what she thinks about abstinence only education -- duh! What I'm sick of, is the media saying that Bristol Palin deserves privacy, while at the same time giving me a personal recollection of her life and feelings.

The best example of this so far is in todays Washington Post article by Courtland Milloy, titled The Candidate's Daughter Could Use Our Sympathy and a Lot More Privacy. No, seriously, that's what it's called. Sure sound like Courtland is on her side, but lets see. 

The article starts off with some critique about the look in the photo above, that maybe Bristol is kind of spacing out, "Or maybe the expression on her face is really a thousand-yard stare, a sign of shock because she's pregnant and she knows that it's just a matter of time before a cruel world finds out." Whoa, Courtland, that's some pretty deep psychological subjectivitity on the emotions of this poor girl. Maybe I'm just being overly cynical - oh wait, a couple paragraphs later he notes that Bristol "no doubt ... can hardly imagine joy in her near future during these trying times." - WHAT?! - She's going to be a new mom married to the love of her life. Isn't this a bit presumptive?

Courtland then goes on to discuss an upcoming wedding, which he quotes as calling a "shotgun wedding" - not a term he made up, of course, but one from the evil blogosphere. He references photos from Bristol's "growing stomach". He even manages to bring her boyfriend into the picture, and discusses the guy's MySpace page. Nothing personal of course, he is advocating privacy after all!

There are, however, right ways to do this. In a piece on CNN labeled as Commentary: Keep politics out of Bristol Palin issue,  Roland Martin sounds like he is going to give us around the same story. However, Roland only briefly touches on Bristol and how she is pregnant, but instead of going on about Bristol's life, he talks about the issues. How other abstinence-only advocates are responding, and how both sides of the aisle should do a better job of meeting halfway to reduce pre-marital sex and unprotected sex. Another approach has been taken by the New York Times, who decided this was an issue so they are talking all about Bristol, Sarah, McCain, etc., but at least they aren't telling me to respect their privacy. 

Look, I get it. Journalists must do their jobs. That's what we demand. I'm sure Courtland is a good person who means well. Just don't tell me to respect a persons privacy in a 2 page article that is all about the persons personal life. In these two months leading into an election, I expect to be overwhelmed with spin from both sides. It makes it even harder to have to deal with hypocracy and missguided urgencies coming from the media as well. 

Google Chrome: Don't Just Settle for Porn Mode!

So I just downloaded Google Chrome, Google's new internet browser. I figured that everything else in my life is managed by Google, so why should my internet browsing be any different. These are my first impressions of Google Chrome - note, I am a normal person and not a coder.

So, no joke, it's faster -- MUCH FASTER. I don't know how, but it is. Pages are loading quite a bit quicker than both Internet Explorer and Firefox. So far this applies to every site I've visited, and is also true even for things like embedded video. Hopefully this isn't just a fluke or me being a fanboy.

Also, apparently it is pretty stable. In my 15 minutes of use, it hasn't blown up yet. So, there you go. When one tab freaks out, the other ones will live - much better than losing 10 tabs of work, which happens to me often (though Firefox is generally pretty good at recovery). I don't really like that Quicktime is the default movie player, but I'm guessing there's a way to fix that if I decide to worry about it. Additionally, the UI is pretty neat - upon launching the browser you get a menu of screen-captures from your favorite sites on the opening tab. Pretty.

And finally, there is Porn Mode, monikered as "Incognito" by Google. , i.e., browsing without saving your searches or history. You also lose all cookies when you close this window, so you've definitely washed your hands. To turn on this mode, you can "Open New Incognito Window" from the primary toolbar, making the experience pretty seamless.  

In short, Google Chrome is a winner. It's fast, it's free, and will certainly be a catalyst for more innovation from Mozilla and Microsoft - Who doesn't love that!? The install is fast and you are up and running in no time. My hope is that there are some pretty incredible ties between this browser and the G-phone I've been waiting for, then I will have become completely assimilated - I love big brother. 

Sarah Palin Pick is Still a Home Run!... Riiight.

At first, though reluctantly, I thought Sarah Palin was a pretty good political pick by John McCain. I believe it is very obvious that she was picked to steal Hilary supporters. It saddens me that after listening to plenty of interviews and comments on blogs/various news stories, there would have been some migration. Though Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton are exact polar opposites politically, there are some people out there that would vote for McCain simply to be part of the pop-culture phenomenon of putting a woman into the position of VP. At the same time, she would certainly not lose any conservatives... Oops.

If you have not yet heard, Sarah Polin's 17 year old daughter, Bristol, is 5 months pregnant. That news was released around noon today, you know, right when hurricane Gustav was at its worst. Good time to try and sneak some news out. Of course, this is a personal matter, so no one from the Obama camp is really saying anything. Obama even threatened firings of anyone on his campaign who partakes in any smearings.

The only positioned opinions I'm really even hearing today are from the ridiculous right-wing spinsters on talk radio! All day long all I've heard is how Sarah Palin is doing the right thing as a Christian by not allowing for an abortion. I also hear that Bristol is marrying the father before the due date and starting their family, good for them. But please, PLEASE, stop with the BS.

Let me get this out of the way - I don't have anything negative to say about Bristol. She's human and dealing with, what I'm guessing she would label as a mistake, in a very honorable way. But generally speaking, I think these questions will and must be raised, probably in at least one debate, maybe in all the debates:

• "Question for the Governor from Alaska: Who is responsible when a teenager, (under 18) has an unwanted pregnancy?"
• "Do you feel that teens taught only abstinence will be more likely to have unwanted pregnancies?"
• "Do you think 17 year olds are mature enough to choose their partner in marriage?"

Those are the ones that are fair game. These probably aren't:

• How in the world does Palin have any room left on her plate to be VP? She has 5 kids, and her youngest is a 4 month-old with down's syndrome, that will obviously be requiring even more familiar love and care. All due respect, I assure you, but how can she do all that and potentially be the President of the United States? (VPs do sometimes have to take on these duties)
• What the heck was John McCain thinking? I know he's the Maverick or whatever, but could he have possibly thought this would be ok with the conservative base? Aren't they going to be a little disappointed in this new role model?... Is he really this bad of a decision maker... or...
• Did McCain really know that Palin's daughter was pregnant? If he knew, bad decision maker. If he didn't, that means Palin lied, which is even worse. I'm curious if the "he knew and it's a non-issue" is just the best attempt to keep this from being an absolute disaster.

Really, I don't see how McCain can overcome this. Sarah Palin was a risky pick. She's unknown. She's inexperienced. Her youth and gender were so blatant it has been taken an intelligence insulting by many on the left... And now, no matter how many guns she has, as anti-gay marriage as she is, and being as "pro-life as any candidate can be," Sarah Palin has still found a way to scare off some conservatives, even if they won't admit it.