I was sorry to hear that Dede Scozzafava of New York’s 23rd district dropped out of the race for the House of Representatives today. This race has received much national attention and was deemed as the race which might determine whether or not the Republican party of the future will be a more inclusive party or whether it [...]
Archive for October, 2009
Posted in Politics, Uncategorized on October 31, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Dissecting The Statistics
Posted in America, Politics, The Economy, tagged America, economy, Politics, recession, stimulus, stimulus spending, Unemployment on October 31, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Here’s an interesting analysis on the most recent Gross Domestic Product numbers, the job creation data released by the White House, and what it all may mean for the economy as it tries to work slowly out of the current recession. The key question is whether we are seeing any real economic growth, or just [...]
Hitler And The Holocaust
Posted in World, tagged Adolf Hitler, Holocaust, Nazi Germany, World, World War II on October 31, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
It is hard to imagine that, nearly 65 years after the end of World War II, there are many new secrets to learn about Nazi Germany and Adolf Hitler. Nevertheless, historians think they might learn something new from the memoirs of Fritz Darges, who died recently at age 96. Darges was Hitler’s last SS adjutant, [...]
Internet and Apollo
Posted in Blogging, Technology, tagged Apollo, computers, Internet, NASA, space exploration, Technology on October 30, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Today is being celebrated as the 40th birthday of the internet. Forty years ago today an intrepid team of researchers at UCLA succeeded in getting one of their computers to “talk” to a distant computer — which promptly crashed after the first two letters of a three-letter word were transmitted. Obviously, the internet has come [...]
When The Universe Was Very Young
Posted in Science, Technology, tagged Big Bang, Black Holes, Science, Technology on October 30, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Scientists have detected gamma rays that they attribute to a massive stellar explosion 13.1 billion years ago — “only” about 660 million years after the “Big Bang.” Their theory is that a huge star collapsed into a black hole and emitted gamma rays as a result. This news is fascinating on two levels. First, it [...]
An Even Smaller Mouse
Posted in America, Politics, The Economy, tagged America, economy, Politics, stimulus, stimulus bill, stimulus spending, Unemployment on October 29, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
I’ve previously posted on the tiny amount of job creation that has been attributed to the massive “stimulus bill.“ Now it turns out that even the 34,000 jobs that the government claimed were “saved or created” by stimulus spending is itself an inflated figure. An AP report states that the reported number of jobs “created [...]
“Bad Candy” And Guilty Feelings
Posted in Family, Food, Growing Up, tagged Akron, Candy, Family, Food, Growing Up, Halloween, Orlando Avenue, Popcorn balls, trick or treating on October 29, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
I admit it — I loved Halloween and trick or treating when I was a kid. When I was little, we lived in a great neighborhood for maximum candy collection — lots of small houses cheek by jowl in orderly, rectangular blocks. We then moved out to the suburbs in a neighborhood that was a [...]
A Tricky Indicator
Posted in Columbus, tagged Columbus, Halloween, jack 'o lanterns, New Albany, trick or treating on October 29, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The most recent consumer confidence survey was discouraging, but if spending for Halloween is any kind of indicator, people may be becoming more bullish. Tonight is Trick or Treat night in New Albany, and our neighborhood is festooned with fake spider webbing, scarecrows, styrofoam tombstones, hanging bats, skeletons emerging from the ground, and screaming skulls. [...]
Tribal Trivia
Posted in sports, tagged Cleveland Indians, sports, World Series on October 28, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Here’s a trivia question that may be a stumper in years to come: What team had back-to-back Cy Young Award winners that both started the first game of the World Series the next year? Answer: The Cleveland Indians, with 2007 Cy Young winner C.C. Sabathia starting game 1 for the New York Yankees and 2008 [...]
Hard To Believe
Posted in Uncategorized on October 28, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Hard to believe that Antoine Walker who played for the Celtics for 12 years and made $110 million has virtually blown through all of his money at the age of 33. That’s about $10 million a year ! Sounds like he was a generous guy to his family and friends, but they will all probably desert him now [...]
Sausage Making
Posted in Healthcare Reform, Politics, tagged Health Care Reform, Healthcare, Healthcare Reform, Politics, Sausages, Senator Harry Reid, United States House of Representatives, United States Senate on October 28, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Right now we are getting a glimpse into the reasons why the legislative process has been compared to watching sausage being made. In the Senate, five committees deliberated and produced bills, and then Senate leaders went behind closed doors and produced a proposed bill that includes an “opt-out” government plan that, so far as I [...]
Hoopin’ It Up
Posted in Columbus, Work, tagged Aaron Hibbs, Columbus, downtown, Gay Street, Hula hoop, Hula hoop record, Work on October 27, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
My office faces out onto Gay Street, which I think is one of the most interesting streets in downtown Columbus. It might be called a “mixed use” street and is home to our law firm, office buildings, two hotels, condos, and some older buildings across the street that have restaurants and bars on the ground [...]
Nowhere To Go But Up
Posted in sports, tagged Cleveland, Cleveland Indians, Columbus Clippers, Manny Acta on October 26, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The Indians have hired Manny Acta to be their new manager. Acta, the former manager of the Washington Nationals, is young (40) and one of his strengths is supposed to be relating to and developing young players. In his 2 1/2 years in Washington, Acta also compiled one of the worst managerial won-lost records in [...]
Shooting Stars
Posted in Columbus, weather, tagged Columbus, Morning Walks, New Albany, Shooting stars, stars, walks, weather on October 26, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Today was crisp and exceptionally clear for my 5 a.m. walk. On mornings like today, with the sun still well below the eastern horizon, the constellations stand out, cold and sparkling and distant, and you can almost count the individual stars. New Albany is located at the far northeast corner of Franklin County, and the [...]
Rich And Running
Posted in America, Politics, tagged America, elections, Mayor Bloomberg, Politics, President Obama, Public financing for election campaigns, Wealthy candidates on October 25, 2009 | 1 Comment »
New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg is on track to set a new record for spending his own money in pursuit of political office. He is projected to spend between $110 million and $140 million by election day. It is a lot of money to us working stiffs, but just a drop in the bucket [...]
