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November 30, 2005
Oops...
Nice job, MoveOn.
Posted by John Bambenek at 4:01 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Ever have one of those tests...
Where you look at a question you know the answer to but still draw a complete blank?
Yeah, that was my final just now in one of my theology courses...
Posted by John Bambenek at 2:47 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 29, 2005
Job Opportunity - Should I apply?
Just saw this... maybe I should apply :) (Inside joke... I sued University parking in federal court a few years ago).
--
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Associate Director of Parking
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) seeks an experienced professional for the position of Associate Director of Parking. As the flagship public institution in the State of Illinois, the University serves over 35,000 students, and offers degrees in a wide variety of fields. The Facilities & Services Parking Department is committed to customer service and excellence in meeting the parking needs of the faculty, staff, students, and visitors of the UIUC campus. With a total daily campus population of nearly 50,000, efficient parking and mass transit services are crucial elements in sustaining campus growth and meeting the goals of the University. In order to manage the needs of various user groups, the department maintains approximately 15,000 parking spaces in five parking structures and 123 surface parking lots, and works closely with the cities of Champaign and Urbana to meet University District parking needs.
The Position
The Associate Director holds the senior parking position at UIUC. The Parking Department provides a well-planned and orderly system of parking that is fair, convenient, and cost effective to all utilizing it. The department maintains safe, well-designed facilities and oversees land acquisition pursuant to long-term parking strategies. The Associate Director coordinates efforts to identify, design, and construct new facilities, including the long-range financial planning for parking structures. Through technology and education, Parking Services employs business and communication systems to address and improve customer service. The position oversees 30 civil service employees and manages a $10M budget. The Associate Director manages three primary operational programs: Enforcement: oversight of parking rules and regulations, motorist assistance, and coordination of conference and special event parking; Construction and Maintenance: monitor construction and repair of parking str!
uctures, install and maintain parking meters and signage, collect meter revenue and fine box citations, audit meters, and install/remove special bagged meters; Customer Service: sell and monitor department permits and products, answer inquiries from customers, monitor T2 parking database, collect citation payments, maintain waitlist spaces, hear citation appeals, and monitor payroll deduction program.
Qualifications
The successful candidate will have a bachelor's degree with progressively responsible experience, including supervision, in parking and/or transportation services (preference given to candidates having a professional degree/certification in planning, engineering or facilities management); excellent oral/written communication and presentation skills; strong experience in customer service with a broad array of constituents; experience in program assessment and strategic planning; ability to manage change while working in a collaborative environment; expertise in conflict management and negotiation skills; demonstrated ability to manage and supervise multiple projects concurrently; an understanding of the parking industry, including current trends; proven ability to work with civil service and union employees; demonstrated effectiveness managing an auxiliary enterprise; experience developing and managing budgets; strong technology skills; adaptability and flexibility; and the a!
bility to lead, motivate, and supervise staff.
Application and Nomination
To ensure full consideration, applications must be received by December 16, 2005. A resume with accompanying cover letter, or a nomination of an individual for this position, may be submitted by e-mail attachment to apply@spelmanandjohnson.com. If you are unable to submit materials electronically, please call Peter Rosenberg at 413-529-2895. This is a full-time, academic professional appointment with a proposed starting date of February 16, 2006 or negotiable. Salary is competitive and includes a comprehensive benefit package.
The Spelman & Johnson Group
UIUC - Associate Director of Parking (C) Peter W. Rosenberg, Search Associate
Visit the UIUC Parking Services website at www.parking.uiuc.edu The University of Illinois is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
Posted by John Bambenek at 9:20 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 28, 2005
Why Does the ACLU Hate the Troops?
Many have heard the ongoing debate on military recruiters in schools and the counter-recruitment efforts of the Left. Some schools are going so far as to sue the federal government on the grounds that their free speech is adversely affected by being compelled to allow military recruiters on campus in exchange for federal money. Get that? Schools (government actors) say their free speech is prevented because of conditions in accepting federal money don’t allow them to deny free speech to military recruiters (government actors). War is peace and all that. You know the drill.
Enter the ACLU. An organization that is solely devoted to the protection of the bill of rights is in the role of advocating the removal of military recruiters from schools and campuses. Much like their war on abstinence education, this isn't an issue having to do with rights. You are free to listen to a recruiter, to ignore a recruiter, and to have protests about recruiters in schools. But the presence of a recruiter in no way, shape, or form impedes anyone's rights.
The ACLU and others are not fighting military recruiting because it is a Bill of Rights issue. Nothing in the Bill of Rights implies that one has an absolute right to never be presented with ideas you disagree with, or, in this case, someone else being presented ideas you disagree with. They are fighting military recruiters because they insist only THEIR policies and ideas be presented. They fight Christmas because Christianity is unacceptable in the public sphere. They fight abstinence education because that ideas is unacceptable. Likewise they fight military recruiters because people signing up to serve is unacceptable. This is not the advocacy and welcoming of free speech, this is the enforcement through judicial fiat of social conformity.
You can't be all you can be if you're dead, reads one sign. This is the side that the ACLU is on, the side that is against the troops. The side that says America is not worth dying for. The side that says people are stupid to serve. The side that says an 18 year old is too young and ignorant to join the military but a 14 year old is old enough to make intelligent choices about getting an abortion. The side that is trying to disarm us in the hopes that our weakness there is strength. The side that insists on due process rights for unlawful combatants not entitled to them by law, but routinely undermines due process rights of soldiers awaiting trial for their abuse of prisoners.
Our pre-9/11 response was weakness. Did that help? Osama was quite clear and is quite clear; he thinks he can win because we are weak. Our Asia allies worry that we can't win a war against China. The ACLU is on the fronts making sure we can't.
Posted by John Bambenek at 5:34 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
The Problem with Republicans...
... is Republicans.
Liberals and liberalism won't work... but all too often Republicans are willing to play the stooge for big government, and occasionally get rich on it.
At least he saved an expensive trial by pleading guilty.
Posted by John Bambenek at 5:06 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Tagged
So, I got tagged...
I confess I enjoy the misery of 2005 Cubs fans...
I confess that I see nothing wrong with drinking alone while studying theology...
I confess to wasting too much time either blogging or playing games... or both at the same time...
I confess to spending too much time reading on politics even though it makes you dumb...
I confess that that I'm too lazy to tag anyone else with this...
Posted by John Bambenek at 2:58 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
The Economy - By the Numbers
Holiday Sales up 22% From Last Year
Which is it? Both can't be true at the same time. Either sales are up or sales are down. Looking at the articles and all the associated articles, it appears that sales are up (20+%) across the entire market. The negative numbers are specific sectors or sub-sections (enclosed malls). It appears that the negative articles are written such as to indicate that the market and economy are doing much worse than they really are. This isn't the first time.
There is a significant amount of "talking down" of the economy. You can see this in the housing bubble theories, companies not doing enough, and the dire predictions of a weak holiday season (since proven untrue).
Unemployment is at 5.0%, despite two hurricanes. This is roughly half the rate of unemployment throughout most of Europe. Current income is up, GDP is growing (3.8%), and the stock market is up. Despite this, pundits insist that doom and gloom is coming even though economic indicators will continue to show increases.
Let's be honest a moment, it isn't the Republicans campaigning on a bad economy, it's the Democrats. It's in their campaigns that the economy is in the tank and everyone is suffering despite the complete lack of any evidence to support it. Income is up. Home ownership is up. Unemployment is down. Home values are up. Almost every traditional indicator shows that the economy is growing, yet the perception is fostered that we are heading towards the Great Depression.
This trend in reporting shows two things. Democrats are beyond using facts to scaremonger voters about the economy. Instead of coming up with a platform to better America, they spend their time telling America how bad things are. Facts be damned. Second, it shows that the press, once again, is in the tank with the Democrats agenda and is carrying the water for them. The story is a roaring economy, but they search and scour for some shred of evidence to talk it down. Objective reporting or campaigning? I think the answer is clear.
Posted by John Bambenek at 12:24 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
November 22, 2005
Media Bias Revealed
Real Teen just grabbed off the US News Wire a marketing firm who not only confirmed the X was intentional but that when callers called in, they were told by the CNN newsdesk to "tell Cheney to stop lying". One such call was recorded.
Here is what came across on the newswire.
Sure, news agencies have free speech, but at least they should be honest that they are promoting an agenda and not "objective reporters of news" anymore. The organization is here and has submitted releases in the past, though not of this nature. I have some skepticism of this being the real deal or just someone playing a prank and sticking it to Team Hollywood Inc. at the same time. If they have the tape, they should post it.
But if this is true, I think we can safely skip past all the mindless debates about CNN being objective.
Posted by John Bambenek at 6:00 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
No Agenda - Democrats Have to Make Stuff Up
Democrats have no message, this has been known for years. Sure, you know what they are against but that's not how you move a country forward, you need to have something you are FOR. They've been focusing on messengers and not on the message. Cindy Sheehan, Joe Wilson, Rep. Murtha. They trot out their credentials and then say their positions cannot be criticized because of who they are. Disagreeing with Rep. Murtha is a vicious smear and labels him unpatriotic.
It isn't because Murtha is against the war that he's unpatriotic. He's unpatriotic because instead of using his free speech and engaging in a debate, he tried to stifle debate by preemptively labeling all criticism as out-of-bounds. This is why they don't win elections. Because they try to shut up the rest of America because their messengers are beyond this think we like to call debate. Call it rule by the elite.
Now, I pay pretty close attention to politics, even when I'm not posting. I have heard nothing, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, that indicates Bush would be so incredibly stupid as to pardon Libby after Woodward has so generously blown Fitzgerald's case to shreds. If Libby lied he SHOULD go to jail and I've heard no conservative say otherwise. See, we still consider perjury a serious crime.
But here comes the e-mail from the Dems that says a pardon is imminent. Based on what? Well there have no sources and nothing in the public sphere suggests ANY conservative or Republican has suggested a thing. Why? Because it would be STUPID. Slipping in 11th hour pardons on the way out the door is one thing, to do it in the middle of the term would not go unnoticed and would have huge political reprecussions. It would take a complete fool to think otherwise.
The Democrats are making this up to make the administration look worse, which makes me believe things aren't quite so bad. Why lie when the truth is on your side? There is no pardon coming, especially after the fiasco with Woodward and the fact we have *2* reporters who have been lying the whole time about the matter. The Democrats, in trying to overcome Fitmas, is trying to claim there is some big scandal brewing here to scare up their base.
That's because it is all they have left. Fear.
Here's the email
===
Dear Friend,
Don't Pardon this Turkey
You know the drill -- every Thanksgiving the president pardons a turkey. But this year George Bush may try to use the holiday season to slip in another pardon -- of his friend and former senior aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, who was indicted for perjury, obstruction of justice and making false statements.
Conservatives around Washington are buzzing with rumors that George Bush will regain control of his lame-duck presidency by ending the investigation into manipulated intelligence on Iraq and the subsequent cover-up with a pardon for anyone involved.
Despite pressure from Democratic lawmakers, Bush refuses to pledge that he will not pardon Libby or anyone else implicated in this breach of national security. A pardon for anyone on this deadly serious matter would be yet more evidence that Republican leaders value political party over country.
It's up to you to show that the American people are watching -- don't let George Bush pardon this turkey over the Thanksgiving holiday:
www.democrats.org/nopardon
From the cover-up of manipulated intelligence on Iraq to Tom DeLay's money-for-influence machine to Bill Frist's questionable stock deals, this administration and Republicans in Congress have always considered themselves above the law.
Forward this message to your friends and family -- the more people who sign the No Pardons petition, the more the White House will know that Americans are watching.
If we can make a strong showing before holiday weekend, George Bush will have to think twice before pardoning this turkey. Add your name now:
www.democrats.org/nopardon
On behalf of Governor Dean and everyone else here at the DNC, let me wish you a Happy Thanksgiving.
Enjoy your holiday -- but don't forget to spread the word that we need to keep an eye on this lame duck.
Thank you,
Tom McMahon
Executive Director
Democratic National Committee
P.S. -- More than 100,000 Americans responded to Republican attacks on decorated veteran and Democratic Congressman Jack Murtha by sending him a note of thanks for his courageous stand. You can still tell Jack Murtha not to back down by visiting:
www.democrats.org/shameonthem
P.P.S. -- Here is the letter Senate Democrats sent to George Bush asking him to pledge not to pardon Libby -- so far he has refused:
November 8, 2005
The Honorable George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
The indictment of I. Lewis Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's Chief of Staff, marks the first time in 131 years that a senior White House official has been charged with a crime while still serving in the White House. The charges, while not yet proven, are extraordinarily serious and deeply disturbing.
Although it is too early to judge Mr. Libby guilty or innocent of these particular charges, it is not too early for you to reassure the American people that you understand the enormous gravity of the allegations. To this end, we urge you to pledge that if Mr. Libby or anyone else is found guilty of a crime in connection with Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation, you will not exercise your authority to issue a Presidential pardon.
It is crucial that you make clear in advance that, if convicted, Mr. Libby will not be able to rely on his close relationship with you or Vice President Cheney to obtain the kind of extraordinarily special treatment unavailable to ordinary Americans. In addition you should do nothing to undermine Mr. Fitzgerald's investigation or diminish accountability in your White House. A pardon in these circumstances would signal that this White House considers itself above the law.
We also urge you to state publicly whether anyone in the White House including White House counsel Harriet Miers or Vice President Cheney has already discussed the possibility of a pardon with Mr. Libby. Particularly given that the American people are still in the dark about what precisely transpired in the White House with respect to the CIA leak, it would be highly inappropriate if there were such discussions going on behind the scenes.
Swift public action on your part will make clear that you take seriously perjury and obstruction of justice at the highest levels of our government and that you meant what you said about bringing honor and dignity to the White House. We eagerly await your response and hope that you will announce your intentions promptly.
Respectfully,
Sen. Harry Reid, Democratic Leader
Sen. Dick Durbin, Assistant Democratic Leader
Sen. Debbie Stabenow, Democratic Conference Secretary
Sen. Chuck Schumer, Chairman of Campaign Committee
Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee, www.democrats.org. This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.
Contributions or gifts to the Democratic National Committee are not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes.
Click here to unsubscribe from this mailing list.
DNC, 430 S. Capitol St. SE, Washington DC 20003
Posted by John Bambenek at 5:44 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
November 21, 2005
Photoanalysis - X Marks the Spot
I'm liveblogging as I do this... thanks to Political Teen and Right on the Right for letting me know and getting me hi-res video.
Here's Drudge's Story and Malkin's Coverage.
So far the biggest problems are the color of the ticker, Cheney's suit, and the text are very close to the same, which makes it very hard to pull out the text. The X appears to be exactly centered on the screen, however. Possible it is some automated message, whatever the text says will show that for sure... still working on that frame by frame.
12:00 AM CST
The X is definitely centered, but the text most certainly is not. That implies (but doesn't gaurantee) human interaction, at least for the text. An automated message that takes the effort to center the X would most likely center the text... the most obvious text that comes out is the word "black" at the end.
12:10 AM CST
Right now I'm working on enhancing and enlarging the video. For whatever reason the pictures I get out aren't as good, so I'm working with video editing to try to see if I can get something.
12:15 AM CST
Over the "Wrong" on the second line of the tag line is a character that is below the rest... but only one character... either non-english, a 2nd line with a very out of place character, or something not of the a-z alphabet.
12:28 AM CST
Here's first image, will clean this up more to pull out letters and remove noise.
12:33 AM CST
The letter hanging down is a g, the word is "begins" and it just uses a typeface that has g hanging low.
1:07 AM CST
So This guy beat me to it.
"Transition begins after 5 frames of black". Just an automated message then.
9:56 AM
A quick explanation for people curious how this worked. Essentially you grab two frames, switch one to negative and overlay them. The same pixels should cancel and reveal what has changed. I was working on getting this when The Dan Report posted the finished solution.
Posted by John Bambenek at 11:50 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
November 18, 2005
Column Posted: "Menial Concerns"
You can read my latest column, this time on the Chief Illiniwek controversy, here.
One minor correction, somewhere in the process of editing, the third paragraph talks of the US Department of Civil Rights. What I intended to refer to was the Campus Dialogue on the Chief, but that part of the editing I wasn't involved with and they thought I refered to a US Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights investigation (not US Department of Civil Rights).
Sorry for the confusion.
Posted by John Bambenek at 8:11 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 12, 2005
Column Posted: The Democrat's Plantation
You can read it here.
Posted by John Bambenek at 7:40 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
November 9, 2005
Carnival of the Vanities #164
Here it is, the 164th edition of the Carnival of the Vanities, a collection of user-submitted blog posts from around the web. First submitted is first posted with the posts I think are best at the top. Some are repeat submissions from the Carnival of the Capitalists on Monday. Go figure. Misc. Comments interspersed in italics because I can. Enjoy!.
Editor's Choices
Want to be in the Deck-O-Bloggers? They're Taking nominations.
The MaryHunter at TMH's Bacon Bits presents A Little Partisanship Never Hurt, Right?
Ferdinand T. Cat at Conservative Cat presents Paris Burning for All the Wrong Reasons
Barak at IRIS presents IRIS Exposes 2 Anti-Israel New York Times Falsehoods. This post was picked up directly by Powerline and many others, and indirectly by Andrew Sullivan.
Nick Queen presents Who is Fiddling While Paris Burns? Another Look at France and the Parisian Riots
Nov 3rd.
FMF at Free Money Finance presents Investing Made Easy. A simple guide to investing for the beginner.
Steve Pavlina at Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog presents Million Dollar Experiment
David Porter at Pacesetter Mortgage Blog presents Will Home Equity Prevent the Retirement Dreams of Baby Boomers?
Demosthenes presents Why isn't Joe Wilson Being Proesecuted for Lying to Congress? In light of the recent indictment of Scooter Libby, the
pregnant pause concerning Joe Wilson is becoming unbearable: when will Joe Wilson be proscecuted for lying to Congress? The Senate Intelligence Committee found - on a bipartisan basis - the Joe Wilson's assertions to them were false. Why the double standard about prosecutions? How about Libby could just claim whistleblower protections for exposing the unethical deal of his wife getting him a junket?
J. Fielek at Quibbles-n-Bits presents The Last Bus . 514 Words, G-Rated, an homage to a great person.
Nov. 4th
Sammler at The Stone City presents Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. The empty space between political and scientific prognostication.
CALL at The Clog Almanac presents Hey Mr. Bush Pilot. "Nose down, level the wings, accelerate." Edgy advice on how to recover from a stall, whether you're a pilot or the president, or both.
David Porter at Pacesetter Mortgage Blog presents How to handle a complaint with a Mortgage Lender or Mortgage Broker
Jon P at Dodgeblogium presents Time to Lighten Up
Mike at L&N Line presents TV So Far. "This is my blogmate Chris' review of TV this season. Some people might enjoy his reviews of all the shows. I hope so. Also see all of our movie reviews, if you'd like."
Doug Mataconis at Below The Beltway presents Let's Treat It Like A War . Much has been written about the report in yesterday's Washington Post about the CIA holding captured members of Al Qaeda in "secret prisons" in various Asian and Eastern European countries. Though nobody knows for sure what goes on at these prisons, the implications are clear; Al Qaeda captives are being subjected to various forms of psychological torture in an effort to extract information. This is one of the things that intelligence officers do during wartime, so it should be no surprise at all that it is happening now.
Barry Welford at The Other Bloke's Blog presents Before-Internet and After-Internet - the millennium changes. Many things have changed tumultuously with the Internet, not least marketing. One sign is that Google may be the fourth biggest US media company in advertising revenues next year ahead of NBC Universal and Time Warner. It's tough for CEOs to stay on top of all this.
Ironman at Political Calculations presents Coming Soon to a Gym Near You. Ironman at Political Calculations looks at some truly space-age exercise equipment that might find a place in your local gym.
Jane Dough at Boston Gal's Open Wallet presents Wow - I guess I struck a cord with that last post... as a follow-up to her post on how much do I need for retirement.
Nov. 5th
Dan Melson at Searchlight Crusade presents Tax Treatment of Annuity Withdrawals
Nov. 6th
Jack Cluth at The People's Republic of Seabrook presents And the knucKKKle-dragging troglodytes shall always be among us. When is denying a group it's liberty and dignity acceptable? Texas' Proposition 2 is not the answer.
Elisa Camahort at The Browster Blog presents The Search Conundrum: Information Glut or Insular, Limited Perspective New search tools aim to address informaiton overload, but most do so by limiting your sources. Not the ideal approach.
Don Surber at Don Surber presents A Country Not Worth Defending . I point out the problem with military recruiting is they are not allowed to recruit all youths, just us rural Southern hicks. Ask not what you can do for your country but what your country can do for you.
Suzi Chen at Special Fried Rice presents Telemarketing. Telemarketing from the other side of the phone - what a bad job will do to your soul.
Interested-Participant presents Wild Pussies Squeeze Statehouse Rats. For well over a century, Ohio's elected lawmakers have lived in uncompromised harmony with buck-toothed, omnivorous, and disease-carrying rats. And this isn't true outside Ohio? :)
David St Lawrence at Ripples: post-corporate adventures presents Cool Hunting in C'ville. "Cool" is the wonderfully outrageous activity of using technology for purposes the designers never intended. It arouses our interest so strongly that we emulate it or tell others about it, and thereby start a trend.
Kevin Baker at The Smallest Minority presents Tough History Coming. His take on Peggy Noonan's dystopic op-ed, "A Separate Peace" from last week.
Nov. 7th
Oddybobo at Bobo Blogger presents Flashback of childhood memories.
Marge at DubiousProfundity.com presents Creation
Elie at Elie's Expositions presents Anguished Composure. Part 4 of my series about the loss of his son Aaron.
Wayne Hurlbert at Blog Business World presents Off Topic Searches: Low Return Visitors.
Buckley F. Williams at The Nose On Your Face presents Bird Flu Nails France: Chickens, Cartoon Characters Hardest Hit
Bussorah Merchant at Wicked Thoughts presents Deeper Thoughts. Wicked Thoughts has some deeper thoughts on the Demon Wal-Mart.
John Ray at Dissecting Leftism presents Racial Preference As An Extension Of Kin Preference. John Ray has a brief discussion of a recent academic paper showing racial preference to be related to kin preference.
Ferdinand T. Cat at Conservative Cat presents France Losing Control, Newsweek Stuck on Stupid
Nov. 8th
Big Picture Guy at Big Picture, Small Office presents We Sail in Paper Boats. It’s budget time in the Small Office. There’s a lot of sandbagging going on, but apparently little conviction and no commitment. At least not if you read the body language of Winken, Blinken and Nod.
Elisson at Blog d'Elisson presents Coinage (A Nerdic Rant). A post in which Elisson gripes about the mostly dismal state of our nation's Circulating Coinage.
Adam at Sophistpundit presents Take them out, YOU KNOW THE REASON DAMMIT. Debate with one anti-war commentor; Dr. Zen, one-time host of a controversial installment of COTV. Remember what they say about arguing on the Internet?
Nick Schweitzer at The World According to Nick presents The Sands of Time
Mensa Barbie at Mensa Barbie Welcomes You presents Preservation Theory . Perfect etchings demonstrate a carbon theory. (Nature's ability to secure survival.) Also, catch a Panoramic view of Evolution Lake and the Sipapu Natural bridge (in this post.)
Matt Johnston at Going to the Mat presents Myths and Misconceptions About H.R. 1606 . A bill to make political blogging less regulated dies in the House, but it not nearly as bad as the boogeymen of the reform community would have you think. Say that after you get subpoenaed by the FEC. ;)
Tom Bowler at Libertarian Leanings presents What exactly hath Fitzgerald wrought?. As an unintended consequence of the Fitzgerald's indictment of Scooter Libby, the press may find itself on trial. Will we finally find out Novak's source?
Funk Soul Bruhva at Western Resistance presents Why There Is No Islam Without The Hadiths
Charlie Quidnunc at Rip & Read Blogger Podcast presents Rip & Read #153. Get the blogosphere in your ear with Charlie Quidnunc at the Rip & Read Blogger podcast. This week he covers: #1 Smearing Wilson, #2 The Leaking Culture
Watcher at Watcher of Weasels presents Frog Flambée. Something is a little sour about taking too many shots at France over this (and I'm by no means a France fan). Sure, it took them about 2 weeks to impose a curfew but it isn't like this kind of thing can't happen (and hasn't happened) here.
It Should Be Noted presents Your Move, France.
There we go, that's the carnival. Next week it's at The Examining Room. (insert doctor joke here).
Posted by John Bambenek at 12:16 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
November 7, 2005
Carnival of the Capitalists - 11/7/05
Welcome to this week's Carnival of the Capitalists. This edition has NOT been brought to you by Insight Broadband who's crappy cable modem was off and on all night last night. That being said, sorry for being late. Here it is...
Economics
Owen at The Sharpener presents Brand value - for whom? on the efficiency case for taxing brands and corporate advertising.
Big Picture Guy at Big Picture, Small Office presents We Sail in Paper Boats. He take you sailing through the budgeting process in the Small Office, a painful, drawn-out exercise that always begins with everyone trying to play it safe.
Michael Cale of Financial Methods presents I-Bonds Yield Higher Than Treasuries. With a current yield of more than 6.5%, inflation-protected US Savings Bonds (I-Bonds) have a higher yield than Money Markets, CDs, and US Treasuries. The rate is adjustable, so it may not last. But with short term rates returning to normal and a Fed that is diligent on inflation, cash is no longer trash.
2¢ Worth presents Climbing an Elongating Tail. The Long Tail, The Big Moo, Million Dollar Home Page and Viral marketing rolled together. Examining the progress of the Million Dollar Homepage as a Long Tail business with viral marketing pushing it up the Tail. A quote from the Big Moo triggered off this observation piece.
Steven Towns of The Japan Stock Blog presents Further Discussion on Jesper Koll's "Japan is Back, For Real This Time".
LC of Latent Capital presents Too Much Entrepreneurship. Imagine that entrepreneurship is just another class of investment, so too much enthusiasm for it can bring down its returns.
Mick Weinstein of The Consumer Electronics Stock Blog presents Dell Warns On 3Q05 - Reactions and Implications (DELL).
David Jackson of The Internet Stock Blog presents Priceline Discusses Its European Travel Business (PLCN 3Q05 Conf Call Quotes).
Mark of SportsBiz presents Olympic Sponsorship: What's It Worth?. Discussion of the value of the becoming an official Olympic sponsor and whether "halo" marketing really has the desired effect of increasing sales.
Harvey Multani of Fiscal Times presents Despair on the role despair plays in investing.
Barry Welford at The Other Bloke's Blog presents Before-Internet and After-Internet - the millennium changes
Michael H. of Chocolate and Gold Coins presents Entrepreneurs Needed. Sometimes a market waits a generation for an entrepreneur to create a new product. Pumpkin carving kits weren't there in my childhood but they could have been.
Ferdinand T. Cat at Conservative Cat presents The Curse of Inventory Profits
Tom McMahon at Tom McMahon presents Baby Bells
David Porter at Pacesetter Mortgage Blog presents Will Home Equity Prevent the Retirement Dreams of Baby Boomers?
Henry Stern, LUTCF at InsureBlog presents On the Case... Steve Case casts his eyes on healthcare solutions.
Abnormal Returns presents Emerging markets hoopla. Emerging market equities have performed well in 2005 and have received a fair amount of good press. One common reason given for this outperformance is their higher economic growth in the emerging markets. However, academic research has shown that higher economic growth does not necessarily lead to higher equity returns.
Mastiff at Critical Mastiff presents Comparative Advantage in a Changing World. To maintain our economic preeminence in the face of rising competitors, we need to change our regulatory environment and education methods to cultivate small businesses and creativity.
Josh Cohen at Multiple Mentality presents The Future of Media: Not now, but soon!. A series of three posts that combines market forces and technological changes into a look at the future of media, including news and on-demand television. Part 2 and Part 3.
Advice
Never work alone presents Caught in the middle of wanting everything on setting goals and resolving the conflict between getting every customer and keeping every customer.
JLP of AllThingsFinancial presents Start Planning Your Taxes Now saying that Now is the time to start planning your taxes for next year. JLP's post will help get you started.
George of Fast Pitch Financials presents 30 Days to Becoming a Better Investor - Day 5 (Economic Mental Models). It is important to develop a good set of mental models for evaluating various business scenarios. George at Fat Pitch Financials points to some excellent resources to help you develop your basic knowledge of economics.
Wayne Hurlbert of Blog Business World presents
Articles: Trading Your Way To The Top.
Joe Kristan of Roth & Company Tax Updates presents IME to Harvest the Fall Tax Deductions. By mid-November, most taxpayers can have a pretty good idea what their income will be, and we still have six weeks or so to do something about it. Where to start? Think AMT and charity.
Adrian Savage of Slow Leadership presents Dealing with Distractions. Since instantaneous contact is now expected, so are instant answers. Not only do people interrupt you on a whim, they want an answer or an opinion on the spot. This may be the new norm for the media, who have people available to "analyze" an event or a speech before the echoes have died away, but does it make sense for leaders who take their job seriously?
Deputyheadmistress at The Common Room presents Selling Books: Getting to the Post Office
Jim Logan of JSLogan presents Another Business Lesson From One Of My Kids - Daddy's Little Girl On Training Customers. Things you do out of the norm often become expected. When you stop giving, you encounter the danger of ending something that wasn’t supposed to be a norm in the first place. Your generosity became your trap.
Ankesh Kothari of Marketing eYe presents How to Spark Sales in a Slump. The story of a person who sold 47 unsold boxer puppies during a market slump for big bux (and how you can use his ideas to increase your sales).
Jack Yoest presents Doing Business in a Values Vacuum
David Porter at Pacesetter Mortgage Blog presents How to handle a complaint with a Mortgage Lender or Mortgage Broker
David Danies of Business & Technology Reinvention presents Value Creation Principles. 10 simple value creation principles to help companies grow.
Les Jones presents Google AdSense Click Fraud and how to prevent it.
Skip Angel of Random Thoughts from a CTO presents Do you have passion for what you do?. Do you or your co-workers seem lifeless, and only go to work to pick up a paycheck? If so, chances are that you have lost (or perhaps never found) your passion. This post explores what passion is and what you need to do to find it (again).
Michael Pollock of Small Business Branding presents Are Passion and Profit Mutually Exclusive?. The are two schools of thought when it comes to the idea of monetizing your blog. One says that blogs are about passion rather than profit. The other school says blogs represent a premier business model that marries the two. Be careful which philosophy you adopt for yourself.
Jeff Cornwall of The Entrepreneurial Mind presents To Partner, or Not to Partner?. Entrepreneurs often approach the issue of entering into a business partnership much too casually. This post explores the "Why?", "What?", "How?", and "Who?" issues for building a new venture team.
Jane Dough of Boston Gal's Open Wallet asks "I need HOW MUCH for retirement?" It may not be as bad as her crystal ball is telling her...
FMF at Free Money Finance presents Tough Financial Choices, Part 1: Investing versus Paying Off Debt. Start of a series that compares and contrasts two competing financial choices.
Lucy MacDonald at R.E.A.L. Marketing presents Niche Marketing: The Little Black Dress Example.
Triple Pundit presents Going Green in Business Without Scaring Off the Customer. One of the problems with "green marketing" is that, ironically, appearing "too green" can scare away a sizable segment of the market. Beauty Engineered Forever is a brand of safe, effective
cleaning products that manages to send a pro-environmental message without being heavy handed, or looking like a bunch of hippies.
Rosanna at The Virtual Assistant Connection presents Building Your Professional Network
The Consumer
Mike Pechar of Interested Participant pesents recalled Consumer Products. Without any fanfare, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recently announced a record number of product recalls for the fiscal year 2005. In protecting the public from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from consumer products that cost the nation more than $700 billion annually, the CPSC recalled 397 products in 2005.
Dan Melson at Searchlight Crusade presents The Ultimate Consumer Horror Story
Barry Ritholtz of The Big Picture presents
DRM Crippled CD: A bizarre tale in 4 parts.
Steven Silvers of Scatterbox presents Wal-Mart uses political campaign tactics to win consumers. Or not.. Concerned that increasingly well-organized critics are ruining its chances with middle-income shoppers, Wal-Mart has created a “rapid response public relations” war room lead by Ronald Regan spinmiester Michael Dever and staffed by political campaign veterans from both parties. But consumers aren’t voters. And the typically aggressive, discredit-the-opposition political strategies being used by Wal-Mart’s new PR war room may in fact be contrary to what is still a consumer marketing agenda.
Ironman of Political Calculations presents Boarding Ahead of the Rest. Ironman at Political Calculations spotlights an entrepreneur who has found a market in helping Southwest Airlines' passengers score the carrier's coveted 'A' boarding passes.
Yvonne DiVita of Lip-sticking presents Jane Wears Herself Out. Jane talks about being a girl...and how the customer is always right still works.
Politics
Warren Meyer of Coyote Blog presents Politicians and Prioritization. If managers at corporations prioritized spending like politicians, they would be fired.
Mike Landfair of Mover Mike presents What is the Gulf Opportunity Zone Act, H.R. 4155?. "The Family Research Council (FRC) is opposed to tax breaks to the gaming industry to help them get back on their feet after the damage of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita."
Brandon Berg of Catallarchy presents At Least Take off Your Nobel Prize When You Say That. Brandon Berg of Catallarchy asks Joseph Stiglitz to at least take off his Nobel Prize when criticizing the strawman of "perfect market economist".
James Hamilton of Econbrowser presents Oil Company Profits. Why aren't the big oil companies reinvesting their huge profits?
Steve Conover of The Skeptical Optimist presents Fill in the blank: "Tax cuts for the ______.". Like Pavlov's dog, we've been successfully trained by our politicians how to fill in that blank. But we have chosen the wrong word for completing that phrase.
Ogre at Ogre's Politics and Views presents Byron Dorgan: A Translation. An exposure of one who truly hates capitalism.
Warren Meyer of Coyote Blog presents Libertarians Adrift. Republicans officially cast aside the libertarian wing of the party. Post includes a refresher on why its impossible for the government to be "positive but not overbearing", as David Brooks describes the new Republican goal.
Misc.
David Foster of Photon Courier presents A *Real* Cowboy Capitalist. Can childhood experiences on a cattle ranch contribute to the development of a successful CEO?
Douglas Sorocco of Rething(IP) presents Blackballed - You Are the Brand. Do your people get you blackballed? Our people are our "brand" - I know what branding message I want to be sending, and it isn't what we saw on that flight. Are your employees/associates/team members getting you blackballed?
Adrian Savage of The Coyote Within presents To Dream... The Impossible Dream. It’s entirely possible to hold on to two sets of values simultaneously that cancel each other out. That’s why people can dream and still find it acceptable to take no action.
Clyde Smith of ProHipHop presents The Source Continues its Downward Spiral. Clyde Smith puts recent news of lawsuits against the hip hop magazine The Source in the context of an ongoing series of disasters at this major music publication.
cehwiedel at Kicking Over My Traces presents Last Quarter Website Review
Elisa Camahort at Worker Bees Blog presents High-risk Corporate Blogging-gettng a message out that your customers may not want to hear. A company considers banding together with its competitors to blog truth to power. Could it work? Or would they all go down in flames together?
neelakantan of interim thoughts... presents Is your plate heaped?. A short post on the visual effect of plenty used while serving customers.
Mark A. Rayner at The Skwib presents The Gruntwerx Paradigm. Corporate censorship goes public and Gunter goes postal.
Steve Pavlina at Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog presents Million Dollar Experiment
Phil Hunt at The Sharpener presents Kiva: where microcredit meets P2P on suggesting improvements to the world’s first peer-to-peer, distributed microloan website.
That's it. Next week will be at The Entreprenurial Mind
Posted by John Bambenek at 11:16 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
November 6, 2005
Carnival of the Capitalists - Coming Soon
Expect it posted later tonight, I have some studying to do for a final tomorrow, but will take a break studying to get this up. Maybe 9pm ish central.
Posted by John Bambenek at 2:10 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 5, 2005
Column Posted: Fatherless in America
You can read it here.
Posted by John Bambenek at 7:37 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
November 1, 2005
Trent Lott Questions Whether Rove Should Stay?
The headline from Drudge reads:
FLASH: Lott Questions Whether Rove Should Stay At White House...Trent Lott became the first Republican Senator to question whether Karl Rove should stay at the White House as Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy, interview on MSNBC 'HARDBALL'... Developing...
I'm sure some will make more of this than it's worth, but it pays to remember one little thing...
Remember that Trent Lott did get pushed out of his leadership position over his allegedly "insensitive" comments and had no one who had his back despite the fact that there was no merit to the outrage...
Could this be payback?
Posted by John Bambenek at 5:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
