God bless America, and God bless all the victims and their families

I was at Syracuse University, in the dining hall, on my way to my first class, getting a bagel. I caught the story on the tv in the dining hall, and just sat down. I stayed there for a couple hours, then went back to my dorm and sat in the common room, where a bunch of us were sitting watching Peter Jennings. We didn't leave all day or all night. There were a couple of people running around on their cells trying to check on family who either worked in the towers or lived nearby. One of my friends had an uncle who worked at Morgan Stanley, in the south tower. His uncle got out safe, as did nearly all his coworkers, because they evacuated and went home as soon as the first plane hit.

My thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims, and also the families of the brave men and women of Flight 93 who saved so many lives with their heroic actions.

And a message to any terrorists seeking to bring down America: America is an idea more than a country. As divided as we may be on issues, if you attack us, we will respond with overwhelming force and hunt you down. And if you're willing to use torture and cruel and unusual punishment on our soldiers and citizens, then it's fair game to use on you. Be warned!

Per CNN: Judge warned Palin in 2005 to back off brother-in-law's job

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/10/palin.investigation/index.html

This is ridiculous. First of all, the judge told the whole family, not just Palin. Second of all, this guy TASERED HER NEPHEW!!!! He made death threats against her sister and her father. Why the hell was this even up for debate?!!!

But here's the big kicker - Palin wasn't even governor or mayor when the judge said this!! This has nothing to do with the ethics investigation, which is investigating whether the governor used undue influence to try to get her brother-in-law fired, and whether she fired the Public Safety Commissioner for not firing her brother-in-law or whether she fired him for other reasons.

This is kind of irresponsible of CNN, who has leaned more and more towards the left in their reporting. This is different from their election and primary coverage, which was great. CNN is being much more subtle about it than MSNBC, but there is a tilt to the left and Obama, and a greater interest on their part to focus on McCain and his negatives. When was the last time any news organization talked about Rezko, Ayers, and Wright?

My opinion on Palin as a VP pick

Frankly, I wasn't that wild about this pick. I think there are better choices out there, and this felt like McCain pandering to the right and trying to find someone who can compete with Obama on the celebrity aspect. It feels like she was picked more for symbolic reasons than because she's who McCain thinks is the best to take over the presidency if, God forbid, something happens. McCain has made some dumb arguments in favor of her, mainly that she has military experience because she commanded the Alaskan National Guard. Please!!

However, I think Palin has as much if not more experience than Obama does. She's been in the governor's office for 20 months, and Obama spent about 2 years in the Senate before he started running for President and that became his job. She ratted out 2 big wigs in the Republican party in Alaska for ethics violations, which is more than Obama has done to take on his own party. She raised taxes on oil companies and then turned around and gave part of the excess money back to Alaskans. She sold the corporate jet that the previous administration bought, because it was excessive. Every time Obama attacks Palin's lack of experience, it also highlights his, and the difference is that she's not running on the top of the ticket. What's more, her record follows more closely with McCain's than Biden's does with Obama. Obama is campaigning on a message of change and not-business-as-usual-in-Washington, and his VP pick has been part of the Washington establishment for over 3 decades.

I'm not wild about some of her more right-wing views, such as abortion, stem cell, sex education and the like, but i'm not entirely sure those will translate into how she governs. Time will only tell on that. I think there were better choices out there, but I don't presume to speak for what's best for John McCain, only he knows that.

Obama says "pig with lipstick still a pig" in reference to Palin

here's a link to the article:

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/09/09/obama-attacks-gop-tickets-mantra-of-change/

I'm not going to speak for what Obama actually meant, I know I think he was being mean and sexist. What gets me more is that Obama has the gall to say that his comment was misinterpreted and taken out of context. He essentially called his opponent a pig! How do you misinterpret that?!!

What's more, he actually had the gall to say the media was blowing it out of proportion! so he gets pissed when the media goes on an story of him calling his opponent a pig, but its okay when the media calls his opponent's daughter names (which i won't repeat here) because she had consenual relations with her fiance and is pregnant with their baby?

I'm back!

ok, i've been kinda lazy and haven't been posting, keeping everyone up to date on my opinions and thoughts. I apologize, and i'm gonna try to be a little better on this. Look for the posts to be more recent and numerous.

Red Sox Players Stand Up!

Kudos to Red Sox players for standing up for the coaches.

For those who don't know what happened, the Red Sox are due to travel to Japan for their opening day game against the Oakland Raiders. In the agreement with MLB officials, the players and coaches were to be paid a $40,000 stipend for the travel expenses and other expenses. Terry Francona, the Red Sox manager, found out a couple of days ago that the coaches would NOT be receiving these stipends as promised. When the Red Sox players found out this morning, they met and voted to not take the field today against Toronto or board the plane tonight for Japan unless the coaches received the stipend. A deal was worked out and they took the field an hour after the scheduled start time.

Some people will argue that the players are just whining, that they already make millions of dollars and they're crying over $40k. This is true, the players do often make a great deal of money. The coaches, however, DO NOT. For some of the coaches, the $40,000 amounts to 40% of their salary for the year. This is a big deal. If your company required you to travel for business, they give you a travel expense. This is the coaches travel expense.

The players did the right thing in sticking up for their coaches, and they should be applauded.

Economic Limbo

This whole economic crisis has caused a lot of ordinary people to believe we are in a recession. Personally, I don't believe we are in a recession, but that has less to do with the strength of the economy than something else. All the talk of the hurt in the market, and the focus on the fed rate and the dow jones are actually helping to prolong and exacerbate the crisis. The most worrisome problem in this crisis is not the credit crunch or inflation, but the fallout from the subprime mess. Because these loans got packaged, bundled, and spread around, the risk is spread all over. With this comes the caveat that NO ONE KNOWS HOW MUCH MONEY THEY CURRENTLY HAVE!!! Every week we hear of some major bank announcing write-downs of billions of dollars. However, they are basing this on the current assumed value of the securities, rather than projected values. Since no one wants to buy these securities, the bank is stuck with it. Now, if, after this crisis, we learn these securities weren't a terribly bad deal, there value would rise, prompting a possible inflationary rise.

The main thing here is that, if you don't know how much money is in your checking account, you can't pay your bills or buy groceries. This is kind of what is happening to the banks. No one will lend them money because the bank can't tell the lender what collateral they can put forward.

Actions speak louder than words

For someone who is seeking the highest office in the country, who is trying to be the post-racial black candidate, Obama has not done a good job of showing that he can talk truth to power, especially when it comes to close, personal friends. If he, or Hillary for that matter (this is not just an Obama-bash), feel so strongly about universal health care, why don't they introduce a bill in the Senate? We all know it won't go anywhere, but the act itself would be a sign they are serious about the issue.

Obama's Debacle

Obama has created a world of trouble for himself with this whole issue regarding his former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Personally, I think the pastor's comments and accusations are disgusting and horribly bigoted. For all the talk from Obama about post-racialism and moving beyond race and color in our government, he is closely associated and friendly with someone who is fomenting the racial divide in this country. He hasn't rejected Rev. Wright, nor has he explained why he continued to go to the church after listening to these "sermons". While he did say that he did not agree with the comments and found them disgusting himself, Obama did not (as far as is known by the media) talk to Wright and tell him how disturbing these "sermons" were to him.

Beginning of the beginning

I find the need to put my two cents into any conversation, regarding pretty much anything. This will be the place I do that. Topics will range far and wide, but mainly focus on a few key areas: politics, economy, world news, and sports. This is a Boston sports place - Yankees fans may leave now if you do not wish to be offended, which you probably will be.

I have no problem with discourse and debate, but back it up with some facts. Don't just spout political ideology, it's annoying and unwanted. Bring facts, it makes you sound less idiotic.

Nate