Archive: january 30, 2008

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political system: fail

Wednesday,  01/30/08  08:29 AM

Watching the primary results, I am struck once again by how screwed up our political process has become.  Consider this; California is the most important state in the United States.  We have the most people, some of the biggest cities, some of the most important and innovative industries.  We are often the source of new trends in any field, from business to entertainment to education to politics.  Yet, California is not involved in choosing our next President.  Already we can see it will be Obama vs McCain, and California has had virtually no influence on this.  In the fall, the election will be over before California's votes are counted.  The candidates will ignore California all summer, knowing this.  How screwed up is that?

Not to mention, our governor, who would likely be a serious contender for the nomination in either party, is not even eligible to run.  How screwed up is that?

What should be done?  First, all the primaries should take place at the same time.  Second, the electoral college is an anachronism that should be eliminated; the President should be chosen by direct voting.  That would fix everything.  Well, maybe not everything but it would help.  Oh, and immigrants who have been U.S. citizens and residents for twenty years should be able to run for President.

 

Wednesday,  01/30/08  10:42 PM

So Giuliani has dropped out, and endorsed McCain.  And now Arnold is about to do the same.  That should do it for McCain, I think; Romney can hang in there, but he's ultimately toast.  Probably Giuliani will be McCain's VP.  I would say that ticket could beat Hillary and just about anyone, but they'll have a tough time against Obama; it will be interested to see how it plays out.  With both of their respective nominations seemingly wrapped up, the candidates will move away from their party's fringes toward the middle.  Four years ago I thought maybe it would be Arnold against Obama :)  Too bad it isn't...

Cycling News conducted an interview with Jonathan Vaughters, the leader of the Slipstream cycling team.  They'll be the team I'm rooting for in '08, (along with Rabobank, of course).  Astana, not so much, although they do have Levi Leipheimer. 

BusinessWeek reports on eBay's profitable Pal.  "The business purchased by eBay in 2002 handled almost $50 billion in payments during the year, up more than 30% from the prior year. Along the way, PayPal generated $1.9 billion in processing fees for eBay, giving company executives plenty to crow about on their conference call with analysts."  $50B in payments per year.  Wow.  That's about all I can say. 

Jason Kottke liveblogs the Mythbusters episode about the plane on the conveyor belt.  Warning, BIG spoiler if you click the link.  I must confess that I had this right all along.  For the benefit of those who haven't yet watched the episode, I'll refrain from explaining why I knew.  Until tomorrow.  [ John Gruber guessed wrong :) ] 

Dell to close its U.S. stores.  My reaction is the same as when I heard Palm was closing its storesWhat stores

 
 

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