LOL!
The classic New Yorker magazine cover has been reimagined by Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
I have a friend from Brazil and a niece who studied for a year in Equador. Can I be McCain's Undersecretary of State for Latin American Affairs?
Enjoy!
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Classic New Yorker cover tribute to Gov. Palin
LOL!
The classic New Yorker magazine cover has been reimagined by Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
I have a friend from Brazil and a niece who studied for a year in Equador. Can I be McCain's Undersecretary of State for Latin American Affairs?
Enjoy!
Ignore Ballmer. Listen to what Ballmer has to say!
Seems like CEO Steve Ballmer has had some time to think about how the financial markets crisis may affect Microsoft after all.
According to a report on CNBC.com Sept. 29, Ballmer said “no company is immune to these issues.” That’s in contrast to comments he made just last Thursday in Silicon Valley that tech still enjoys some “buoyancy” despite the financial crisis. Ballmer told about 550 people at a Churchill Club dinner I attended that “people in our business are feeling better than if they watched CNBC all day.” Apparently, then, what Ballmer’s really saying is: “Tech will be okay as long as people don’t watch CNBC all day, unless they see ME on CNBC. Then they should panic.”
What’s frustrating for me in the debate about the bailout is this notion of “Wall Street versus Main Street,” that if we bail out Wall Street we’re screwing Main Street. If there is no bailout for Wall Street, then there is no money to nourish Main Street. The global economy is so intertwined that one affects the other. Look at the fact that one of the tech stocks hit hardest on Monday’s 777-point Wall Street plunge was Apple, which took an 18 percent hit. Microsoft’s shares fell by 8.7 percent, prompting Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith to urge Congress to pass the bailout as "vitally important" to the economy.
That tells you that if AIG, Lehman Bros., Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and other companies in the mortgage and credit markets suffer, fewer consumers will be going into the Apple store on Main Street to buy iPods and Mac computers. That’s something to worry about and you don’t have to watch CNBC to see that.
According to a report on CNBC.com Sept. 29, Ballmer said “no company is immune to these issues.” That’s in contrast to comments he made just last Thursday in Silicon Valley that tech still enjoys some “buoyancy” despite the financial crisis. Ballmer told about 550 people at a Churchill Club dinner I attended that “people in our business are feeling better than if they watched CNBC all day.” Apparently, then, what Ballmer’s really saying is: “Tech will be okay as long as people don’t watch CNBC all day, unless they see ME on CNBC. Then they should panic.”
What’s frustrating for me in the debate about the bailout is this notion of “Wall Street versus Main Street,” that if we bail out Wall Street we’re screwing Main Street. If there is no bailout for Wall Street, then there is no money to nourish Main Street. The global economy is so intertwined that one affects the other. Look at the fact that one of the tech stocks hit hardest on Monday’s 777-point Wall Street plunge was Apple, which took an 18 percent hit. Microsoft’s shares fell by 8.7 percent, prompting Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith to urge Congress to pass the bailout as "vitally important" to the economy.
That tells you that if AIG, Lehman Bros., Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and other companies in the mortgage and credit markets suffer, fewer consumers will be going into the Apple store on Main Street to buy iPods and Mac computers. That’s something to worry about and you don’t have to watch CNBC to see that.
What I learned at Camp Obama
I’ve been having some really rewarding experiences this week working for the Obama campaign in Silicon Valley. I’ve had to stay out of politics throughout my career because, as a journalist, it would be a conflict of interest. But currently, I’m unemployed and any freelancing I do is on tech minutiae such as solar panel technology, network security or software development; subjects removed from public policy issues or politics.
And besides, this election is much too important for me to sit on the sidelines.
Sunday I spent the day at Camp Obama, a daylong boot camp for Obama volunteers. About 150 people gathered at the UFCW union hall in downtown San Jose. A similar sized group took the same training there the day before.
A most interesting exercise with the group was for volunteers to tell their own stories about their political awakening, their background, their life stories and why they decided to work to elect Sen. Barack Obama President of the United States. The purpose of the exercise was for us to bond together as volunteers and to inspire us to work for the campaign to elect a president who will restore the respect the United States has lost on the world stage during the last eight years.
The crowd broke up into groups of eight people, plus-or-minus, and each person told their stories, then selected one of their group to speak to the whole audience.
People, ranging in age from their teens to their 60s, told their stories. One was an Iraq vet who went over there supporting the war and came back opposing it. Another was a woman who emigrated to the U.S. from the repressive Burma in 1984 and is a practicing Muslim. A black man raised in poverty on the south side of Chicago earned two masters degrees. There were single mothers and people whose parents raised them to give back to their communities and to do what they can to make the world a better place.
My story? I was raised in an Irish-Catholic family of nine children, “Just like the Kennedys,” I told my breakout group. JFK was the first person I realized was President of the United States. My dad took us to watch a motorcade during a visit JFK made to our hometown of Milwaukee. I remember it even though my memory is just of a black limo speeding past us as we stood at the curb. I was eight when he died.
At the dinner table, my dad said, “All poor people are Democrats,” and even though we were fed, clothed, healthy and had a roof over our heads, we considered ourselves poor. But we were probably middle class. Still, I’ve always considered myself a Democrat.
California is a blue state in which it’s a pretty safe bet that Sen. Obama will win the popular vote and the state’s electoral votes, so the Obama campaign in California is focusing on nearby tossup states, particularly Nevada and New Mexico. I will be among 10,000 Californians traveling to Nevada over the next few weeks to canvas neighborhoods, register people to vote and help make sure they cast their votes on Nov. 4th. I’ll be driving to Reno this weekend with several dozen other volunteers from the Bay Area to work. I and other volunteers did phone banking Sunday afternoon to voters in New Mexico. We worked from computer-generated lists of registered voters --- Democrats, Republicans and Independents – and found encouraging support for Obama among those voters we reached.
Monday, I helped register voters at Santa Clara University. Students either hadn’t yet registered or had registered in their hometowns but wanted to register here. It was great to see their interest and excitement in the first presidential election in which they’d be able to vote.
This morning I checked the Gallup Poll and Obama has an 8-point lead over Sen. John McCain, which is encouraging. But we are taking no chances. I’d ask those of you living here in California to consider that just because Obama is leading here doesn’t mean there’s nothing for you to do for the campaign. You can travel to nearby battleground states, such as Nevada, or volunteer to call voters in other tossup states such as Indiana, New Mexico, West Virginia or Wisconsin. The Obama organization is well run and they make volunteering easy. You can run your own phone bank from your own home.
Please visit the national Obama for America campaign site for starters. You can also visit related Web sites such as the California site, Silicon Valley for Obama or the San Francisco site.
BTW, as I was leaving the lot where I parked my car to attend the event, I told the parking attendant I'd been at the Obama event. She told me, "We need something to change." When I handed back the slip I'd signed for the parking, I included a "Yes We Can" button for her.
Best wishes to you all.
And besides, this election is much too important for me to sit on the sidelines.
Sunday I spent the day at Camp Obama, a daylong boot camp for Obama volunteers. About 150 people gathered at the UFCW union hall in downtown San Jose. A similar sized group took the same training there the day before.
A most interesting exercise with the group was for volunteers to tell their own stories about their political awakening, their background, their life stories and why they decided to work to elect Sen. Barack Obama President of the United States. The purpose of the exercise was for us to bond together as volunteers and to inspire us to work for the campaign to elect a president who will restore the respect the United States has lost on the world stage during the last eight years.
The crowd broke up into groups of eight people, plus-or-minus, and each person told their stories, then selected one of their group to speak to the whole audience.
People, ranging in age from their teens to their 60s, told their stories. One was an Iraq vet who went over there supporting the war and came back opposing it. Another was a woman who emigrated to the U.S. from the repressive Burma in 1984 and is a practicing Muslim. A black man raised in poverty on the south side of Chicago earned two masters degrees. There were single mothers and people whose parents raised them to give back to their communities and to do what they can to make the world a better place.
My story? I was raised in an Irish-Catholic family of nine children, “Just like the Kennedys,” I told my breakout group. JFK was the first person I realized was President of the United States. My dad took us to watch a motorcade during a visit JFK made to our hometown of Milwaukee. I remember it even though my memory is just of a black limo speeding past us as we stood at the curb. I was eight when he died.
At the dinner table, my dad said, “All poor people are Democrats,” and even though we were fed, clothed, healthy and had a roof over our heads, we considered ourselves poor. But we were probably middle class. Still, I’ve always considered myself a Democrat.
California is a blue state in which it’s a pretty safe bet that Sen. Obama will win the popular vote and the state’s electoral votes, so the Obama campaign in California is focusing on nearby tossup states, particularly Nevada and New Mexico. I will be among 10,000 Californians traveling to Nevada over the next few weeks to canvas neighborhoods, register people to vote and help make sure they cast their votes on Nov. 4th. I’ll be driving to Reno this weekend with several dozen other volunteers from the Bay Area to work. I and other volunteers did phone banking Sunday afternoon to voters in New Mexico. We worked from computer-generated lists of registered voters --- Democrats, Republicans and Independents – and found encouraging support for Obama among those voters we reached.
Monday, I helped register voters at Santa Clara University. Students either hadn’t yet registered or had registered in their hometowns but wanted to register here. It was great to see their interest and excitement in the first presidential election in which they’d be able to vote.
This morning I checked the Gallup Poll and Obama has an 8-point lead over Sen. John McCain, which is encouraging. But we are taking no chances. I’d ask those of you living here in California to consider that just because Obama is leading here doesn’t mean there’s nothing for you to do for the campaign. You can travel to nearby battleground states, such as Nevada, or volunteer to call voters in other tossup states such as Indiana, New Mexico, West Virginia or Wisconsin. The Obama organization is well run and they make volunteering easy. You can run your own phone bank from your own home.
Please visit the national Obama for America campaign site for starters. You can also visit related Web sites such as the California site, Silicon Valley for Obama or the San Francisco site.
BTW, as I was leaving the lot where I parked my car to attend the event, I told the parking attendant I'd been at the Obama event. She told me, "We need something to change." When I handed back the slip I'd signed for the parking, I included a "Yes We Can" button for her.
Best wishes to you all.
Friday, September 26, 2008
China gains majority stake in US in debt-for-equity swap
A headline we may see if this Wall Street bailout doesn't work!
Ballmer: Stop worrying and turn off CNBC
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer agrees it’s hard to tell how the Wall Street crisis will play out, but his comments Thursday indicate he thinks tech may be insulated from it.
Ballmer was the guest speaker at a Churchill Club dinner that drew 550 people to the Hyatt Regency in Santa Clara.
While members of the Congress, White House and U.S. Treasury Department were pulling their hair out trying to craft a bailout bill to prevent credit markets from collapsing, Ballmer said people he’s close to in the tech industry still see a certain “buoyancy.”
“For now, people in our business are feeling better than if they watched CNBC all day,” he told Ann Winblad, a partner in Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, who interviewed him onstage at the event.
While he admitted that the tech industry is not immune to the changes and challenges in the global economy, the latest crisis on Wall Street hasn’t impacted software companies yet. To be sure, Microsoft had a rosy June quarter, its most recent, with an 18 percent increase in revenue to $15.8 billion, versus the year ago quarter, a 42 percent increase in operating revenue to $5.7 billion and a 48 percent increase in earnings per share to $0.46. Still, that was almost three months ago, when even people like Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson were telling us everything was under control. It’s hard to believe even a company like Microsoft can be insulated from some adverse effect. If credit markets collapse because no bailout plan is produced or the one created fails, companies will have difficulty borrowing money for operating or capital budgets to be spent on new computer software.
Surprisingly, little was said at the Churchill Club forum about Microsoft’s failed bid to acquire Yahoo earlier this year. Microsoft sought the $31 a share deal to better position itself against search engine leader Google. Yahoo and Microsoft are distant second and third place finishers, respectively.
Ballmer took a few questions from the audience, including one from an obviously irate PC user: “When are you going to fix Windows Vista so it works?” the man asked from the back of the ballroom. Vista has been notoriously buggy since its debut in 2007 and many critics say Vista is proof that operating systems are getting too big and unwieldy for their own good.
“I’ll fix your PC myself so it works,” Ballmer cracked, then argued that Microsoft has 5,000 people continuing to work on improving Vista and said that while people might be having problems with Vista, overall, every new Windows operating systems is better than the preceding one.
Ballmer was the guest speaker at a Churchill Club dinner that drew 550 people to the Hyatt Regency in Santa Clara.
While members of the Congress, White House and U.S. Treasury Department were pulling their hair out trying to craft a bailout bill to prevent credit markets from collapsing, Ballmer said people he’s close to in the tech industry still see a certain “buoyancy.”
“For now, people in our business are feeling better than if they watched CNBC all day,” he told Ann Winblad, a partner in Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, who interviewed him onstage at the event.
While he admitted that the tech industry is not immune to the changes and challenges in the global economy, the latest crisis on Wall Street hasn’t impacted software companies yet. To be sure, Microsoft had a rosy June quarter, its most recent, with an 18 percent increase in revenue to $15.8 billion, versus the year ago quarter, a 42 percent increase in operating revenue to $5.7 billion and a 48 percent increase in earnings per share to $0.46. Still, that was almost three months ago, when even people like Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson were telling us everything was under control. It’s hard to believe even a company like Microsoft can be insulated from some adverse effect. If credit markets collapse because no bailout plan is produced or the one created fails, companies will have difficulty borrowing money for operating or capital budgets to be spent on new computer software.
Surprisingly, little was said at the Churchill Club forum about Microsoft’s failed bid to acquire Yahoo earlier this year. Microsoft sought the $31 a share deal to better position itself against search engine leader Google. Yahoo and Microsoft are distant second and third place finishers, respectively.
Ballmer took a few questions from the audience, including one from an obviously irate PC user: “When are you going to fix Windows Vista so it works?” the man asked from the back of the ballroom. Vista has been notoriously buggy since its debut in 2007 and many critics say Vista is proof that operating systems are getting too big and unwieldy for their own good.
“I’ll fix your PC myself so it works,” Ballmer cracked, then argued that Microsoft has 5,000 people continuing to work on improving Vista and said that while people might be having problems with Vista, overall, every new Windows operating systems is better than the preceding one.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Cadmium: The Dark Side of Thin Film
While looking for fulltime employment, I'm making do writing freelance. Here's a post I wrote for the GigaOM-related blog Earth2Tech about the presence of cadmium in solar panels.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Does anybody see a troubling pattern here?
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/17/palin.investigation/index.html
Rove ignores committee's subpoena, refuses to testify
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/07/10/rove.subpoena/index.html
More proof that McCain-Palin will be more of the same from Bush-Cheney.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Spare us the phony belated Hillary sympathy
What a bunch of crap from the McCain-Palin campaign in the form of VP candidate Gov. Sarah Palin's suggestion to ABC's Charles Gibson that Sen. Barack Obama may come to regret not choosing Sen. Hillary Clinton as his running mate. No doubt other GOP surrogates will be repeating that talking point, transparently designed to sow doubt in voter's minds about the Obama-Biden ticket. If Obama had picked Clinton, the GOP would have continued to mercilessly attack her with what I like to call the Hate Hillary Inc. machine. They would be encouraging the media to do stories on supposed dissent within the Obama-Clinton ranks (and sadly, many would take the bait) and would be beating up on Hillary and Bill Clinton just as they have since 1992. Do you think we're going to buy this sympathy and respect for Hillary's "determination and grit" from the same campaign whose nominee, Sen. John McCain, laughed when a supporter asked him "How do we beat the bitch?"
Oh, and stop saying that Palin has foreign policy experience because Alaska is close to Russia (or as Tina Fey so brilliantly put it on SNL, "I can see Russia from my house!") That's like saying I'm experienced because I had a Stoly martini once.
Read this story about how vindictive Palin was as mayor of Wasilla and as Governor of Alaska, firing political adversaries and using personal e-mail for official business so it couldn't be subpoenaed in any possible investigation. I'm not opposed to Palin because I'm sexist; I voted for Hillary Clinton in the California primary. I'm opposed to Palin's candidacy because she is by every measure, unqualified for the VP or, if it comes to that, president.
Oh, and stop saying that Palin has foreign policy experience because Alaska is close to Russia (or as Tina Fey so brilliantly put it on SNL, "I can see Russia from my house!") That's like saying I'm experienced because I had a Stoly martini once.
Read this story about how vindictive Palin was as mayor of Wasilla and as Governor of Alaska, firing political adversaries and using personal e-mail for official business so it couldn't be subpoenaed in any possible investigation. I'm not opposed to Palin because I'm sexist; I voted for Hillary Clinton in the California primary. I'm opposed to Palin's candidacy because she is by every measure, unqualified for the VP or, if it comes to that, president.
Time to dust this blog off and fire it up
I started this blog almost a year ago but after a few postings, its importance drifted away. I started Mullico Musings to talk about technology, my career field of journalism, and politics, with maybe a little pop culture mixed in. I think it's time for me to resume blogging here. I have another (relatively) more active blog about my extended family, McCorryFamilyUSA
I started Mullico Musings to talk about technology, my field of journalism, and politics, maybe a little pop culture. It's time for more of that, especially with what I think is at stake in the upcoming presidential election.
But first, on technology, I'm currently freelancing while looking for fulltime employment. I just had a story of mine posted on SearchFinancialSecurity.com about a security breach at Citibank's ATM network. Hope you find it interesting. It was interesting for me to report it.
I started Mullico Musings to talk about technology, my field of journalism, and politics, maybe a little pop culture. It's time for more of that, especially with what I think is at stake in the upcoming presidential election.
But first, on technology, I'm currently freelancing while looking for fulltime employment. I just had a story of mine posted on SearchFinancialSecurity.com about a security breach at Citibank's ATM network. Hope you find it interesting. It was interesting for me to report it.
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