Palin and Couric Interview - The Gift That Keeps Giving

Simply amazing. Of course this questioning got spun into somehow looking down on Alaskans. More victimhood for poor Sarah.

Palin Refuses to Name Papers, Mags She Reads - FoxNews - 30 Sep 08 (YouTube Clip)

"During the latest installment of her multi-part interview with Palin, Katie Couric tried three times to ask the Alaska Governor to name a newspaper or magazine she read to learn about the latest goings on around the globe and Palin refused all three times.

'All of them, any of them that have been in front of me all these years,' Palin says.

Feeding the growing perception that she lacks the knowledge, curiosity or readiness to be vice president, Palin inexplicably dodged the simple question about her reading habits three times. No names, not even a shout out for the Anchorage Daily News or the Juneau Empire."

And more bad reviews.

Sarah Palin - Attractive, Earnest - And Clearly Out of Her League - Scotsman - 01 Oct 08

"Pressed by presenter Katie Couric on her foreign policy credentials, Ms Palin explained that Alaska's 'next-door neighbours are foreign countries' and that when Russian planes invaded US airspace, they came to Alaska. That prompted calls from conservative commentators for her to stand aside for a more experienced candidate.

Ms Palin is 'attractive, earnest, confident … (and] clearly out of her league,' wrote Kathleen Parker in the National Review. Others, such as foreign affairs analyst Fareed Zakaria, see her as 'dangerously ignorant and unprepared'. Perhaps her biggest slip came at the weekend when she told a voter in Philadelphia she would support sending US troops uninvited into Pakistan.

''If that's what we have to do stop terrorists coming any further in, absolutely, we should,' she said in an exchange caught on TV cameras. Two days previously, in the first presidential debate, Mr McCain mocked Democratic candidate Barack Obama for saying the same thing.

Mr McCain dismissed the episode as 'gotcha journalism' against Ms Palin, but as Ms Couric pointed out, Ms Palin was not speaking to a reporter but to a voter with every right to ask pertinent questions."

Palin and Couric Interview - The Gift That Keeps Giving

Simply amazing. Of course this questioning got spun into somehow looking down on Alaskans. More victimhood for poor Sarah.

Palin Refuses to Name Papers, Mags She Reads - FoxNews - 30 Sep 08 (YouTube Clip)

"During the latest installment of her multi-part interview with Palin, Katie Couric tried three times to ask the Alaska Governor to name a newspaper or magazine she read to learn about the latest goings on around the globe and Palin refused all three times.

'All of them, any of them that have been in front of me all these years,' Palin says.

Feeding the growing perception that she lacks the knowledge, curiosity or readiness to be vice president, Palin inexplicably dodged the simple question about her reading habits three times. No names, not even a shout out for the Anchorage Daily News or the Juneau Empire."

And more bad reviews.

Sarah Palin - Attractive, Earnest - And Clearly Out of Her League - Scotsman - 01 Oct 08

"Pressed by presenter Katie Couric on her foreign policy credentials, Ms Palin explained that Alaska's 'next-door neighbours are foreign countries' and that when Russian planes invaded US airspace, they came to Alaska. That prompted calls from conservative commentators for her to stand aside for a more experienced candidate.

Ms Palin is 'attractive, earnest, confident … (and] clearly out of her league,' wrote Kathleen Parker in the National Review. Others, such as foreign affairs analyst Fareed Zakaria, see her as 'dangerously ignorant and unprepared'. Perhaps her biggest slip came at the weekend when she told a voter in Philadelphia she would support sending US troops uninvited into Pakistan.

''If that's what we have to do stop terrorists coming any further in, absolutely, we should,' she said in an exchange caught on TV cameras. Two days previously, in the first presidential debate, Mr McCain mocked Democratic candidate Barack Obama for saying the same thing.

Mr McCain dismissed the episode as 'gotcha journalism' against Ms Palin, but as Ms Couric pointed out, Ms Palin was not speaking to a reporter but to a voter with every right to ask pertinent questions."

Buffett Does Batteries

Homeboy does good again. Sokol shows he has a clue on this technology front.

Buffett Buys Stake in Chinese Battery Manufacturer - NY Times - 29 Sep 08

"David Sokol, the chairman of MidAmerican, said at the news conference with Mr. Wang that Berkshire Hathaway wanted to address climate change and considered electric cars as a way to do so. “This is a technology that can really be a game changer if we’re serious about reducing” emissions of carbon dioxide, the main gas associated with manmade global warming, Mr. Sokol said.

MidAmerican, a collection of electric utilities in the Midwest and West, sees plug-in electric cars as the best approach because the United States already has the infrastructure to supply electricity for recharging almost anywhere, Mr. Sokol said. By contrast, plans for hydrogen-fueled vehicles would require the installation of many hydrogen-fueling centers.

MidAmerican also sees promise in BYD’s battery technologies for storing wind energy and solar energy, Mr. Sokol said. Difficulties in storing energy for when the wind is not blowing or the sun is not shining have limited the deployment of these renewable energy technologies.

Buffett Does Batteries

Homeboy does good again. Sokol shows he has a clue on this technology front.

Buffett Buys Stake in Chinese Battery Manufacturer - NY Times - 29 Sep 08

"David Sokol, the chairman of MidAmerican, said at the news conference with Mr. Wang that Berkshire Hathaway wanted to address climate change and considered electric cars as a way to do so. “This is a technology that can really be a game changer if we’re serious about reducing” emissions of carbon dioxide, the main gas associated with manmade global warming, Mr. Sokol said.

MidAmerican, a collection of electric utilities in the Midwest and West, sees plug-in electric cars as the best approach because the United States already has the infrastructure to supply electricity for recharging almost anywhere, Mr. Sokol said. By contrast, plans for hydrogen-fueled vehicles would require the installation of many hydrogen-fueling centers.

MidAmerican also sees promise in BYD’s battery technologies for storing wind energy and solar energy, Mr. Sokol said. Difficulties in storing energy for when the wind is not blowing or the sun is not shining have limited the deployment of these renewable energy technologies.

Last Omega Man Legend

Did a double feature yesterday with the Vincent Price low budget original, Last Man on Earth (1964), via Archive.org and then the Omega Man (1971) with Charlton Heston. That one was recently picked up at the latest 4 for $20 sale run at Blockbuster. Will be heading over to Redbox to view Will Smith's recent effort, I Am Legend (2007), today now that I'm properly prepared.

That's a lot of cinema mileage for one little story - Richard Matheson's, I Am Legend. I somewhat painfully enjoyed the now (even then?) corny 70s lingo in the Omega Man, man. The Price effort was enjoyable in a sometimes silly and sometimes creepy way. The ending had a lot to be desired, imo.

Last Omega Man Legend

Did a double feature yesterday with the Vincent Price low budget original, Last Man on Earth (1964), via Archive.org and then the Omega Man (1971) with Charlton Heston. That one was recently picked up at the latest 4 for $20 sale run at Blockbuster. Will be heading over to Redbox to view Will Smith's recent effort, I Am Legend (2007), today now that I'm properly prepared.

That's a lot of cinema mileage for one little story - Richard Matheson's, I Am Legend. I somewhat painfully enjoyed the now (even then?) corny 70s lingo in the Omega Man, man. The Price effort was enjoyable in a sometimes silly and sometimes creepy way. The ending had a lot to be desired, imo.

Something to Consider on the Bailout Bill

I know lots of folks are against the bailout bill but there's a lot to consider beyond if the bad guys get a break. The first couple of paragraphs of a longer and nuanced piece along with the punchline here. My own opinion: First you put out the fire, then you consider buying the sprinkler system.

Lesson From a Crisis: When Trust Vanishes, Worry by David Leonhardt - NY Times - 30 Sep 08

"In 1929, Meyer Mishkin owned a shop in New York that sold silk shirts to workingmen. When the stock market crashed that October, he turned to his son, then a student at City College, and offered a version of this sentiment: It serves those rich scoundrels right.

A year later, as Wall Street’s problems were starting to spill into the broader economy, Mr. Mishkin’s store went out of business. He no longer had enough customers. His son had to go to work to support the family, and Mr. Mishkin never held a steady job again.

Frederic Mishkin — Meyer’s grandson and, until he stepped down a month ago, an ally of Ben Bernanke’s on the Federal Reserve Board — told me this story the other day, and its moral is obvious enough. Many people in Washington fear that the country is starting to spiral into a terrible downturn. And to their horror, they see the public, and many members of Congress, turning into modern-day Meyer Mishkins, more interested in punishing Wall Street than saving the economy."

"But in the end, this really isn’t about Wall Street. It’s about reducing the risk that something really bad happens. It’s about limiting the damage from the past decade’s financial excesses. Unfortunately, there is no way to accomplish that without also extending a helping hand to Wall Street. That is where our credit markets are, and we need them to start working again."

Something to Consider on the Bailout Bill

I know lots of folks are against the bailout bill but there's a lot to consider beyond if the bad guys get a break. The first couple of paragraphs of a longer and nuanced piece along with the punchline here. My own opinion: First you put out the fire, then you consider buying the sprinkler system.

Lesson From a Crisis: When Trust Vanishes, Worry by David Leonhardt - NY Times - 30 Sep 08

"In 1929, Meyer Mishkin owned a shop in New York that sold silk shirts to workingmen. When the stock market crashed that October, he turned to his son, then a student at City College, and offered a version of this sentiment: It serves those rich scoundrels right.

A year later, as Wall Street’s problems were starting to spill into the broader economy, Mr. Mishkin’s store went out of business. He no longer had enough customers. His son had to go to work to support the family, and Mr. Mishkin never held a steady job again.

Frederic Mishkin — Meyer’s grandson and, until he stepped down a month ago, an ally of Ben Bernanke’s on the Federal Reserve Board — told me this story the other day, and its moral is obvious enough. Many people in Washington fear that the country is starting to spiral into a terrible downturn. And to their horror, they see the public, and many members of Congress, turning into modern-day Meyer Mishkins, more interested in punishing Wall Street than saving the economy."

"But in the end, this really isn’t about Wall Street. It’s about reducing the risk that something really bad happens. It’s about limiting the damage from the past decade’s financial excesses. Unfortunately, there is no way to accomplish that without also extending a helping hand to Wall Street. That is where our credit markets are, and we need them to start working again."

Discover Magazine Does Energy Storage

Nifty detailed article on vanadium flow batteries with cool graphics.

The Element That Could Change the World - Alternative Energy - Discover Magazine - 29 Sep 08

"Making green energy work may depend on three unlikely heroes: an Australian engineer, a battery, and the element vanadium."

Discover Magazine Does Energy Storage

Nifty detailed article on vanadium flow batteries with cool graphics.

The Element That Could Change the World - Alternative Energy - Discover Magazine - 29 Sep 08

"Making green energy work may depend on three unlikely heroes: an Australian engineer, a battery, and the element vanadium."