Political Nepotism

Glenn Greenwald has a great post today about nepotism in politics. It's a little ridiculous. As I've asked before with regard to George W. Bush and his dad: Are you telling me that out of 300+ million people in the USA, the son of a former president was the only one who could lead us again?

The point is, obviously, that it's all about political connections. Networking, if you will, between family members who have leverage. But, as Mr. Greenwald points out, it doesn't need to be that way:

But the fact that it is now so commonplace -- almost presumptively expected -- for political power to be passed along to close family members is quite anti-democratic.

Nepotistic succession in the political class - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com

Mumbai Attackers Made Sophisticated Use of Technology

Mumbai Attackers Made Sophisticated Use of Technology

They carried BlackBerrys, CDs holding high-resolution satellite images like those used for Google Earth maps, and multiple cellphones with switchable SIM cards that would be hard to track. They spoke by satellite telephone. And as television channels broadcast live coverage of the young men carrying out the terrorist attack, TV sets were turned on in the hotel rooms occupied by the gunmen, eyewitnesses recalled.

How He's Doing

Jim Cramer is followed and adored by many. Mad Money is one of the most popular shows on CNBC and all of the business networks. He pulls in tons of cash giving speeches and telling viewers when to buy and when to sell.

So, how's his record in predicting stock market activity?

Below average.

Jim Cramer's predictions sometimes swing dramatically from optimistic to pessimistic, and back again, over short periods.

(h/t: Ezra Klein)

The Life of Books

This Is Where We Live from 4th Estate on Vimeo.

(h/t: Andrew Sullivan)

Memorykeepers

What would it be like to be able to remember every detail of your life...and could recall it on command? Would it be a blessing or a curse?

A woman in California can. Here's how she answers those questions:

The Science of Memory: An Infinite Loop in the Brain

Price can rattle off, without hesitation, what she saw and heard on almost any given date. She remembers many early childhood experiences and most of the days between the ages of 9 and 15. After that, there are virtually no gaps in her memory. "Starting on Feb. 5, 1980, I remember everything. That was a Tuesday."

The Big Lie

Since this financial crisis has begun, we have been told over and over again that it was caused by "subprime mortgages" and homeowners (primarily poor and minorities) who bought houses that they could not afford. When the bottom dropped out, these were the people to blame.

Well, guess what? It's the one Big Lie that's being pushed out there to cover the asses of the executives of the financial institutions, credit rating agencies and poor government regulators. The real story is more complicated, but can be described this way: Companies were making huge profits over questionable deals, but ignored the flashing warning signs of a bubble that was eventually going to burst.

Anyone who says that we could not have seen this coming either doesn't understand what happened or is flat-out lying.

You be the judge...take a look at this PBS video which provides the most lucid and simple breakdown of exactly what occurred:

Crisis and Credibility

The Panic of 2008

There is a Silver Lining, Fareed Zakaria:

Some of us—especially those under 60—have always wondered what it would be like to live through the kind of epochal event one reads about in books. Well, this is it. We're now living history, suffering one of the greatest financial panics of all time. It compares with the big ones—1907, 1929—and we cannot yet know its full consequences for the financial system, the economy or society as a whole.

If what is happening right now doesn't scare you, it should.

An Early Voting Story

Taking all the politics out of it, if you want to know why I think this election is so important, here's one reason:

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Here's an early voting story from a medical student in Evansville, Ind.:

"I squeaked in just before the 7pm deadline to find two very frustrated poll workers and a line of a couple dozen people, due to problems with the computerized voting system not accepting people's driver's licenses. It was taking about 7-10 minutes per person just to get the computer to accept them as valid and to print out their ballot, causing very long delays.

For me the most moving moment came when the family in front of me, comprising probably 4 generations of voters (including an 18 year old girl voting for her first time and a 90-something hunched-over grandmother), got their turn to vote. When the old woman left the voting booth she made it about halfway to the door before collapsing in a nearby chair, where she began weeping uncontrollably. When we rushed over to help we realized that she wasn't in trouble at all but she had not truly believed, until she left the booth, that she would ever live long enough to cast a vote for an African-American for president.

There were about 20 people in front of me but remarkably not a single person left the room without voting over the 2 hours it took to get through the line."
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It's not about race for me: I obviously would support him even if he was an old white man and had the same views. But this is why I want it to happen even more than any other election I've ever been a part of. It's history and something positive after quite a long time of negativity and hate.

Thomas

A Chicago Morning