A Liberated Mind

With the financial crisis, the never-ending sniping of the two parties, and the super-sized-never-ending presidential campaign all happening right now, it is good to see that Drudge has not lost his sense of humor…

And maybe I am reading way too much into this, but I do wonder what Mr. Drudge was trying to communicate when he stuck this picture up in the dead center of his website?

Hmm…

If nothing else, it made me laugh…And I appreciate that…

S

Well, Nancy, your bailout just got shut down in the House…Looks like enough of the American public decided it was time to rise up with fists and tell their elected officials they really weren’t too keen on giving away $700 billion that this country doesn’t actually have to the financial sector whose greed played a role in this in the first place…

And your little rant probably didn’t help the bi-partisan aspect of the vote either…Nice job…At least your good buddy running for president is telling the markets to stay calm – the question is, though, is he arrogant enough to think they will do what he says just because he said it?

I am confident now that this is all for the best, though…Seriously…From my previous posts, you know how on the fence I was…I did say I was for something, but I also confessed my grave concerns about who was ramming this thing down our throats…It looks like a lot of the country and their elected officials had the same concern…

And lastly, a good friend of mine has just come out and said the free market is dead…

No, Jake, the free market is very much alive and it is doing quite well…The proof is in the fact that it just reared its beautiful head in the midst of people thinking it were dead…And now that we know that, maybe our leaders will stop trying to give it CPR when all it needs to do is throw some dirt on it and walk it off…

We’ll see…Yep, we will see…

S

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5tZc8oH–o

Looks like this got taken down due to a copyright infringment with Warner Bros…

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT…

S

So this morning I talked to a couple of very smart and very impressive guys I know who work in the banking industry…They are both studs in their fields and both very well respected by those who work with them…And they are both fiscal conservatives…

I went to them because honestly, they both know things I don’t know and understand things I don’t understand…Basically, they make me look like the idiot I am when it comes to economics and finance…And I am okay with this…

Come to find out, they are both on board with a bailout for the current economic entities across the country that are struggling and failing with such frequency right now…Unfortunately it is a fact that much of our financial industry needs to be rescued from the problems it brought upon itself because so much of the industry is intertwined and all tied up together in this thing…

Interestingly enough, though, both of these guys mentioned the fact that these companies kind of deserve what has happened to them because of the horrible decisions that were made to lend money in not very smart ways…Heck, I am no genius and even I know it is not smart to loan money to someone when every single one of the indicators of lending say they should not be loaned money because of the overwhelming chance they will not be able to pay the loan back …That is just not real wise…

But that is what happened, and now we are in a crisis…How big of one can be debated, but both of the guys I talked to said it was pretty big…

So with that established, the next logical questions is what role should the governement take in bailing these companies out and taking on their bad debt?

The free market side of me says that these greedy companies got themselves into this mess and they can get themselves out…They made poor decisions and they should suffer the consequences…And as Joe Taxpayer, I shouldn’t have to flip the bill for their incompetence and for the greed that both the lenders and the borrowers showed…

And heck, I pay my mortgage on time every month and for this I get nothing while all of these other folks get their mortgages taken over by the government?  Seriously? 

Hence why the local legislative field staffers in Oklahoma are fielding calls almost 100 to 1 against this bailout plan… 

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After the improbable win last night by my new favorite team, the Oregon St. Beavers, over a much better (on paper anyway) USC Trojan squad, I am just a wee bit excited about the OU/Texas Christian game on Saturday night…Which, as I mentioned before, I get to attend…Very exciting indeed…

And because of the USC loss – remember, that is the team that OU fans love to hate – it is very possible that if OU wins big (I am going to make you wait for the prediction), then OU will go into next week as the #1 team in both the AP and the Coaches Poll…

However, I am very aware that it is very early into the season, and there will undeniably be lots more upsets as the college football season unfolds…But, it is still cool to be considered the best team in the nation right now…

And if OU takes care of business on Saturday night, they could very well see themselves in that spot come Sunday when the polls are released…

As for the game…Yeah, this one is going to get ugly…The reason I say this is because 3 years ago when OU was a top 10 team coming into the season, TCU came into Norman and just simply outplayed and outmanned and out-coached OU and beat them 17-10…It was only the second loss at home in the Stoops era, and they have not lost at home since then…

Well, this week that game 3 years ago has been all the talk both in the locker room and in the media…And I know that TCU is 24th in the country and that they are very good on both sides of the ball (though they cannot throw it to save their lives evidently and this could further cause the TCU offense a lot of problems), but still…I have never seen OU this fired up about a home non-conference game since I have been following this club…

Let’s just say that they are kind of fired up…

Look for Bradford and the boys to maybe be a little bottled up early but turn it on late…And look for a Sooner defense that swarms and attacks from all angles all night…

And look for a score of about this: OU 49/TCU 17…

A statement will be made by the Sooners on Saturday, and I will be there to see it…That is so sweet…

S

I had planned on writing this massive essay on the pros and cons of the socialistic bailout which is in the process of happening in Washington, but then I got fired up on the way to work listening to talk radio…

So instead, today, Thursday, September 25th of 2008, I am going to make an early call on the election…

I know, I know – there is still another full month and change before we go to the polls, and much could (and probably will) happen between now and then…Heck, we still have not had even one debate yet…

But still…

The optimist in me hopes that someone on the other side is going to stumble and fall by doing or saying something so outrageous and utterly appalling that it cannot be ignored…However, even if they do (or have repeatedly already), the pessimist in me still does not think that will be enough…

Frankly, I believe the deck is far too stacked against McCain/Palin…The main crux of my argument below is that with the power and influence of the national media, there are far too many hurdles to overcome on a daily basis…

Throw in an overwhelming desire of a lot of Americans for “change” and the fact that a lot of folks simply do not understand what is at stake or how either candidate stands on some of the important issues and you have a recipe for disaster for the Republican ticket…

This whole thing feels sort of like a class president election from high school - on one side you have the cool and popular jock who promises to have 2 hour lunches, an open campus, and the ability to wear hats to class…

On the other side you have the socially awkward kid who is in the ROTC and band who already knows what college he is going to and whose platform is to represent the students however he best can because he knows that the class president really has no authority at all when it comes to if kids can wear hats to class…

The truth is that the socially awkward kid has no chance at all to win the election simply because he is not the cool kid promising stuff he cannot deliver and he doesn’t walk around passing out brownies with his name on them to drum up support…Instead he makes buttons for other students to wear…Unfortunately no one wants to wear them because he made them and they have his uncool name on them…

And I would venture to say that most kids even think he would be the better class president because of his experience and respect from the faculty of the school, but again, he is not promising 2 hour lunches…

The point is that no matter what McCain or Obama does (or even Palin or Biden) over the next 30+ days, this thing is pretty much over…

I’ve got some examples after the break…

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It has come to my attention by a loyal reader that not throwing a post up after saying I am going to throw a post up is contrite and shows a lack of commitment…My apologies to you specifically, George…

Thus, here are a few thoughts I am working on for larger, more detailed posts that I haven’t had enough time to flesh out and get serious with…

First about the bailout: I don’t like it, but it is necessary…It is not really the government’s job to save the financial sector of this country, but it could get a lot worse if they don’t do something…Of course it could get worse if they do something, and yes, that should be a fear of ours…Free markets are just that – free…In this incredible system entities succeed and entities fail…That is part of it…But what if there is a potential of the whole thing failing?  Should someone step in at that point?  If so, who should step in?  And how do we know when that point comes?  Stay tuned I guess…

Secondly, I love how McCain has handled this crisis today, and I am a little frustrated about the media coverage on how he has handled it…Obama on the other hand has been given a free pass, and that is not cool at all…Yet it is expected…But a good thing is that he is kind of boxed in now with how he handles the campaign now that McCain has stated he will go back to D.C. to help…Of course Harry Reid said he didn’t want McCain to come back which means Barack is not coming back…And this is a good thing for McCain…Great strategic move by him today…He is on offense again, and that is always where you want to be as a candidate…

Third, John and Cindy McCain were on “The View” a couple of weeks ago, and it got kind of chippy…This has all been discussed elsewhere…What I am concerned with, however, is when Barbara Walters questioned John about when the Viet Cong offered to release him early because of his father, and he refused…I believe Barbara said something about how she and a friend had been talking about this and couldn’t see the VC really making this offer to McCain…It seemed to me that she was questioning the whole situation…McCain answered her question well, but my wife and I were outraged when we saw it…My question is where is the conservative media on this?  Did I just mis-hear Barbara’s question?  I will have to investigate and get back on this later…

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Evidently rule #1 for blogging is to stay consistent – blog each day or maybe even more than once a day from what I have been told…That is all well and good in theory…

Except when work and life gets in the way…

Thus my apologies for my busyness over the past few days and my lack of thoughts…

I do take solace in the fact, however, that maybe a grand total of 3 people read these blog postings…And if one of you three is offended by my lack of blogging, I am quite sure you have my cell number and can just call me so that we can talk about it…

So let’s take stock of what I paid attention to this weekend: my beloved Sooners had a bye week, the Ryder Cup was won by the USA and was a hoot to watch, bailouts became all the rage in Washington (you guys can bail me out if you want – I have a mortgage), and both candidates drew large crowds for which to speak to and really didn’t say much either way – or maybe I just didn’t pay enough attention…

Oh, and Newsweek found out that the Obama’s have one car…Which is remarkable really…Maybe they can borrow one of the McCain’s cars if they need it…

I find all of this sort of petty really…None of the cars listed seemed too outrageous or flashy; it wasn’t like there were Bentleys on the list…

And even if it were, who cares?  The McCains are loaded and good for them…More power to them if they want to own a fleet of cars…

Anyway, I promise that starting tomorrow all will be made right in my blogging world…And trust me, you’ll want to pay attention because I am cooking up something good and tasty…

Until then…

S

Well, it looks as if time has flown by again today, and in order to follow the rules, I must hurriedly throw a post up near the end of my day…It is a shame, really, with all of the thoroughly entertaining and nasty stuff going on out there…

But since today is Wednesday that means it is “Music Wednesday”, and the band I would like to feature today is named Hem… 

An eclectic mix of melancholy melodies and introspective lyrics, Hem is made up of at least 8 musicians (although there are only 4 members in their pictures – hmmmm…) who play instruments ranging from the acoustic guitar to the violin to the harmonica and dobra (although I don’t know exactly what that is)…

Their signature, at least in my eyes, is the sound of the lead vocalist’s haunting and yet soothing voice…Her name is Sally Ellyson, and she dramatically guides this good ship with a gentle authority against the backdrop of the beautiful music which serves as the foundation of this lovely group…

Although I’m probably a bit late to this party, I first heard Hem on those Liberty Mutual commercials where people are all helping other people not get hit by busses and stuff…

That prompted me to go out and buy their first album “Rabbit Songs”, and it has since become a staple in my family’s playlist…

Plus, according to their Wikipedia page, this is how Sally joined the band:

“In 1999, songwriter Dan Messé and producer Gary Maurer teamed up and decided to produce a record. A mutual friend, Steve Curtis, quickly hopped on the bandwagon. None of them knew any potential singing talents for the band, so they placed an advertisement in The Village Voice. Overwhelmed by an onslaught of bizarre and unlistenable demo tapes, the three friends soon abandoned their quest.

However, months later, a woman by the name of Sally Ellyson called Messé in response to the ad, cautioning that she wasn’t really a “singer”. A skeptical Messé asked Ellyson for a demo tape and was greatly surprised when he heard the very spare recording, which featured Ellyson’s accapella renditions of several old-time lullabies that she had recorded for the infant son of a long-time friend. Messé was impressed – and Hem had finally found itself a singer. Ellyson was soon whisked into New York recording studio, Stratosphere sound, to record vocals on tracks that would later become the album Rabbit Songs.”

Yeah, and that’s a pretty cool story, too…

So check them out, enjoy their peaceful sound (on days like this, it is really helpful), and pass the word about them…Hem is well worth your time…

S