That has to have been one of the most uninspired presidential bids of all time. Seriously, I’ve never seen anyone say less in a more disinterested way before we were treated to the Thompson presidential charade. And I’ve never seen anyone look more miserable in their job before. Maybe Dick Cheney, but virtually none other. Hell, I’ve seen NYC taxi drivers put on a happier face!

Rolling Stone Magazine had a section entitled “Troubling Times” in their Yearbook 2007 edition that has some interesting commentary worth considering. A few highlights:

- At a gathering of Silicon Valley CEOs in May, Hillary Clinton gave a speech on the importance in today’s economy of training skilled workers. See a picture from the speech above and note the apparent need for more proofreaders.

- The U.S. military fired 59 Arabic linguists because they were gay; they were all native English speakers and had learned the language thanks to $7 million in training for a skill the military desperately needs; but, alas, they were gay, so see ya.

- The Bush administration lost the following items during 2007: the military interrogation tape of dirty bomber Jose Padilla; 190,000 assault rifles and pistols issued to Iraq’s security forces; 5,000,000 White House emails; and 150 dossiers of secret evidence used to detain enemy combatants at Guantanomo.

- How the Pentagon supported our troops during 2007: required that soldiers discharged early because of battlefield injuries repay their enlistment bonuses; sent the long-serving National Guard unit home after 729 days of combat in Iraq – one day shy of the 730 that the soldiers needed to qualify for education benefits; omitted 20,000 cases of brain trauma from the official tally of troops injured in Iraq; denied medical benefits to 22,000 veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress by discharging them for having enlisted with “pre-existing personality disorders”.

- With the Southeast undergoing its worst drought in years, Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue appeared at the state capitol on November 13th with a major announcement: “It’s time to appeal to him who can and will make a difference. God, we need you. We need rain.” In the weeks since the governor beseeched the Almighty, rainfall in the state has been 72% below normal.

- China announced that Tibetan Buddhists wishing to be reincarnated must first receive official permission. “The so-called reincarnated living Buddha without government approval is illegal”, declared Beijing.

- A former love slave of Osama bin Laden claimed that the terrorist leader was so enamored with Whitney Houston that he wanted to kill Bobby Brown and make Houston one of his wives.

- Thomas Katona, who has served as public treasurer of Alcona County (in Michigan) for thirteen years, discovered a new way to invest taxpayer dollars: by responding to an online request to help a desperate Nigerian transfer money out of Africa. Katona not only lost $72,000 of his own money but also threw in more than $1.2 million in county funds.

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After shifting allegiances between various Premiership teams over the years, mainly because my conviction level was dictated by access (first Manchester United because they were always on TV, then Arsenal because I attended a match at Highbury, then Chelsea because I attended a match at Stamford Bridge), I have yet another new team to support – Fulham Football Club, also known as The Cottagers and The Whites. My reasoning is a nationalistic one. With the signing of Eddie Johnson yesterday, the club now has five yanks on its roster: Carlos Bocanegra, Brian McBride, Clint Dempsey, Kasey Keller and Johnson. Of course, the heavy U.S. talent base may have something to do with the fact that the team is currently placed 19th out of 20 teams, but I’m optimistic that these yanks will shine in the end. Go Cottagers!

Today, on my way to Singapore from Hong Kong, I made my usual stop at the airport bookstore where it has become standard practice for me to purchase at least three books, most of which do more to weigh me down than hold my interest. Today, however, can be considered a success judging by the early returns. One of the books I bought was Larry Cunningham’s “The Essays of Warren Buffett”, which, surprisingly, is the first Buffett book that I have ever purchased. A friend turned me on to “Poor Charlie’s Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger”, which I thoroughly enjoyed, so I figured I’d give this a shot. I quite liked “Essays” and there were several quotes that I believe resonate given the current economic environment, where a credit-related meltdown is having massive repercussions on the global financial and economic landscape:

In his 1990 smackdown of junk bonds, Munger wrote:

“…mistakes have been the rule rather than the exception at many major banks. Most have resulted from a managerial failing that we described last year when discussing the ‘institutional imperative:’ the tendency of executives to mindlessly imitate the behavior of their peers, no matter how foolish it may be to do so. In their lending, many bankers played follow-the-leader with lemming-like zeal; now they are experiencing a lemming-like fate.”

While complaining about the tech bubble in 2000, Buffett wrote:

“By shamelessly merchandising birdless bushes, promoters have in recent years moved billions of dollars from the pockets of the public to their own purses (and to those of their friends and associates). The fact is that a bubble market has allowed the creation of bubble companies, entities designed more with an eye to making money off investors rather than for them…the ‘business model’…has been the old-fashioned chain letter, for which many fee-hungry bankers acted as eager postmen. But a pin lies in wait for every bubble. And when the two eventually meet, a new wave of investors learns some very old lessons: First, many in Wall Street – a community in which quality control is not prized – will sell investors anything they will buy; and second, speculation is most dangerous when it looks easiest.”

1. Your impression of a place changes dramatically with the weather. HK is much more pleasant when it isn’t so hot and humid.

2. There are bathroom attendants everywhere here. Even in the tiniest little ones that basically have just one urinal and one stall. And they are all surprisingly nice. There’s nothing like having someone thank you for using their restroom.

3. By the way, if you ask for a restroom here, you’ll often be greeted with a blank stare. They are toilets.

4. The whole issue with people walking aimlessly without regard to their neighbor that bugs me so much in Japan is alive and well in HK as well. I’m starting to think this is an Asian thing.

5. Food price inflation is making its presence felt. Rumor has it that you can’t buy fresh beef anywhere in HK.

6. The newly-renovated Mandarin Oriental is a mighty fine hotel. The rooms are great and the location is even better. The Captain’s Bar in the lobby is a great spot for a happy hour beer, where you can sit back with a cold Carlsberg served in one of those old school tin mugs.

Thanks in part to eight years of what some are calling the “anti-science presidency”, there is a growing body of evidence suggesting that we are losing our grip as the world leader in scientific innovation. A recent NY Times article highlighted a new report by the National Science Board that confirms such fears.

My favorite part of the article:

Although [evolution and the Big Bang] are organizing principles underlying modern biology and physics, many Americans do not accept them. “These differences probably indicate that many Americans hold religious beliefs that cause them to be skeptical of established scientific ideas,” the report said, “even when they have some basic familiarity with those ideas.”

My man Christopher Hitchens unleashed his poisonous pen on Hillary Clinton’s presidential ambitions with his Slate article this week. Good read. He was backed up by one of his Slate colleagues here as well. I don’t mean to pile on, but it’s tough to argue with their rationale!

…and we should spend ourselves even further into debt by building a big wall along the border.

From MSNBC:

Huckabee’s closing argument to voters here [Michigan] this evening featured a few new stories and two prolonged sections on illegal immigration and Christian values.

These two topics usually feature prominently in Huckabee’s stump speech, but last night he got specific, promising to build a border fence within 18 months if elected and elaborating on his belief that the constitution needs to be amended.

“[Some of my opponents] do not want to change the Constitution, but I believe it’s a lot easier to change the constitution than it would be to change the word of the living God, and that’s what we need to do is to amend the Constitution so it’s in God’s standards rather than try to change God’s standards,” Huckabee said, referring to the need for a constitutional human life amendment and an amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman.

Huckabee often refers to the need to amend the constitution on these grounds, but he has never so specifically called for the Constitution to be brought within “God’s standards,” which are themselves debated amongst religious scholars. As a closing statement he asked the room of nearly 500 supporters to “pray and then work hard, and in that order,” to help him secure a victory in Tuesday’s GOP primary.

My Cowboys lost to the NY Giants today in the NFL playoffs. While I am sorely disappointed with the outcome, I’m not necessarily shocked by it. Look, the Giants aren’t that bad of a team, and considering that the Cowboys already beat them twice this year, one needs to take into account how hard it is to beat the same team three times in a row. The degree of difficulty of beating any team in the NFL three straight times in the course of a season is higher than most would probably guess. That said, I still expected the Cowboys to win and am now relegated to cheering for the Packers against the Giants (of course I have to cheer against the team that beat my team; plus, I’ve been to Lambeau a few times and can’t help but root for Favre).

A few thoughts on the game:

1) We got no pressure on Eli and they were all over Romo, particularly during the second half. IMO, that made all the difference in the end.
2) Our secondary sucks. I already knew that, but that fact was driven home today. Roy Williams is a good player and all, but he totally sucks in the passing game. Great run supporter, terrible defender of the pass.
3) Penalties killed us. 11 for 84 yards compared to 3 for 25 yards for the Giants. Some calls were lame, as always, but the culprit here has got to be coaching.
4) Speaking of coaching, Wade Phillips is now 0-4 in the playoffs. Jerry Jones says he’ll be back as head coach next year. Will be interesting to see if that changes when the Dolphins come calling for Jason Garrett.
5) Patrick Crayton sucks. He had three drops in the game, two of which were key. He’s done this consistently throughout the season. You are a professional athlete paid to catch balls. When the QB puts the ball in your breadbasket, you catch it. It’s your job.
6) This loss wasn’t Tony Romo’s fault and anyone pointing to the weekend in Cabo with Jessica Simpson as the reason for his mediocre play has probably never played sports before. I thought he looked fine save for the occasional brain fart, which I’ve grown accustomed to over the past two years. He certainly appears incapable of getting rid of the ball when under pressure (I yelled repeatedly for him to throw it away throughout the game), which is frustrating but which also allows him to make plays that most people can’t, so it’s a tradeoff, I guess.
7) Gotta love a week that treats us to tears from both T.O. and Hillary Clinton.

I used to love Paul Krugman. Back in college, when I was convinced that I would become a professional economist someday, I read his books religiously. However, since then he has become a regular contributor to the NY Times and has, in my opinion, leaned way too liberal in his ideology. Many of his columns just rub me the wrong way, including this one where he basically argues against free trade while at the same time proclaiming that he’s not a protectionist and, of course, avoids any recommendation for solutions to his claim that free trade in its current form (i.e. importing low cost manufactured goods from countries whose average wages are a small percentage of ours) is not good for the average American. Such annoyance aside, I have found his writing on the current state of healthcare in America to be enlightening. In a recent blog entry, Krugman alluded to a study conducted by the Commonwealth Fund which compared international rates of “amenable mortality” — that is, deaths from certain causes before age 75 that are potentially preventable with timely and effective health care. In the study , which included nineteen developed nations, the U.S. ranked dead last, just behind Portugal. While I’m not necessarily a proponent of universal healthcare, those countries that embrace the concept seem to be doing just fine.

Please read about these lunatics and their leader, Joseph Kony. See what happens when a psycho gets religion.

A friend forwarded the below to me today. Not sure where it came from, but I totally agree with the sentiment. I truly believe that America has gone soft, so it’s nice to put things into perspective with a list like this.

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930′s, 40′s, 50′s, 60′s and 70′s!!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn’t get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.

As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank Kool-aid made with sugar, but we weren’t overweight because,

WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day.And we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo’s, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD’s, no surround-sound or CD’s, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or chat rooms…….

WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not poke out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend’s house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn’t had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

I love how fired up people have gotten about Bill Kristol getting his own column at the NY Times. Sure, the guy’s an unabashed cheerleader of the neoconservative agenda, which has certainly done its part to make the world a more dangerous place; however, what’s wrong with the liberal NY Times allowing some airtime for the “other” side?

As an ideological independent, and as a loyal reader of the IHT, which publishes the NYT OpEds, I’m actually looking forward to hearing what Mr. Kristol has to say, which places me squarely in the campe of Jack Shafer over at Slate. I’m sure I won’t agree with a lot of what he has to say, but I’ll certainly hear him out, and I definitely won’t go screaming into the hills like some uber-sensitive liberals have shamefully decided to do. Besides, they need someone to help offset that beacon of liberalism that is Paul Krugman, and I think Kristol might just be the man for the job.

Just to give you a taste for what Kristol will bring to the NYT, here’s a quote from his first column, which went to press today:

Who, inquiring minds want to know, is going to spare us a first Obama term? After all, for all his ability and charm, Barack Obama is still a liberal Democrat. Some of us would much prefer a non-liberal and non-Democratic administration. We don’t want to increase the scope of the nanny state, we don’t want to undo the good done by the appointments of John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court, and we really don’t want to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory in Iraq.

Say hello to the future of Notre Dame football. Yesterday was the annual U.S. Army High School All-American Football Game, which featured 14 ND recruits. These two gentlemen pictured above are QB Dayne Crist (#10), ranked by most recruiting services at #1-3 nationally at his position (ESPN has him #2), and Michael Floyd, a top-10 WR recruit from Minneapolis. These two hooked up for a 56-yard TD during the game and were said to have developed great chemistry during the week of practice. Floyd went on to catch 4 passes for 118 yards and 2 TDs and was the second-best player on the field (behind game MVP Terrell Pryor) according to recruiting analyst Tom Lemming. Also, over in another all-star game, top-10 WR recruit Deion Walker ended his recruitment by committing to the Irish over Florida, USC, Florida State, LSU and Penn State. That helped soften the blow of losing beast of a nose tackle Omar Hunter, who decommitted earlier in the week and is rumored to be heading to Florida. Thus far, the Irish have secured 22 commitments and its class is ranked #1 by several recruiting services. Signing day is February 6th and a lot can happen between now and then, but it certainly looks like things are looking up in South Bend. If this class sticks, and maybe even gets a little bit stronger, this will go down as the best recruiting class the Irish have put together since the late 1980s. Combine this class with the solid classes that Weis put together the two year prior and it would appear that BCS glory isn’t too far off!

The incomparable Christopher Hitchens wrote a piercing and heartfelt piece in Vanity Fair last month about a young American soldier who was killed in Iraq. The young man was a fan of Hitchens’ and even cited some of his writing as prompting him to enlist. The piece is a very touching recounting of the soldier’s life and how his family is coping with their loss. It’s a fantastic piece of writing. The tone is perfect and Hitchens’ tortured sentiment is conveyed brilliantly. While he usually uses his pen for spewing venom at his ideological adversaries, this work illustrated his ability to in fact use his phenomenal gift with words to honor a fallen hero in a soothing voice.

Is it possible that Morgan Spurlock (of Supersize Me fame) managed to do what the U.S. military has failed to do for years, which is find Osama bin Laden? His new film, Where in the World is Osama bin Laden?, debuts later this month at Sundance, and it’s being hyped as the real deal. Someone who worked on the film is quoted as saying that they’ve definitely got “the holy grail”. Can you imagine how embarrassing a development an indie filmmaker tracking down Osama would be for the Bush administration? Color me skeptical, but it’s fun to imagine the possibility!

Of all the things we outsource to India today, it appears that it is now possible to actually outsource childbirth. Just send an egg, some sperm and $20,000 or so and you can have a baby carried to term in the comfy confines of a specially-designed delivery clinic.

Follow this link for a fun collection of odd news stories from 2007. My favorite was the Russian woman who lit her ex-husband’s penis on fire as he watched television while sipping vodka in the nude.

And finally, Harper’s magazine had a nice and succinct yearly review.

Also, some highlights from this month’s Harper’s Index:

- 25% of the U.S. population has lived only under presidents named Bush and Clinton; if Hillary Clinton wins in November, and is reelected four years later, that percentage would increase to 33%.
- 55% of U.S. women dye their hair.
- 41% of people worldwide lack access to a toilet or an outhouse.
- 33% of U.S. men fail to wash their hands after using the restroom.
- 33% of FBI office computers have access to the Internet.