Odds and Ends - 1 October 2007

Is the GOP suicide intentional? Whoever wins in '08 is going to have a hell of a mess to clean up. One of the things that scared me about Sicko is how we're still cleaning up Nixon's mess. How long is it going to take to undo all of W's fuckups? UPDATE- More GOP defectors- businessmen

Amtrak quietly chugs along for 5 straight years of record ridership. Amtrak is almost completely forgotten about by most people. It's not fast, but it's large and luxurious. The food is FANTASTIC. Great steaks for a pretty good price. The biscuits and gravy are the best in the country (trust me). If they could just work out the business end of their capital-intensive business, they might reach profitability soon.

The 5 Companies that control everything you read, watch, and hear. If I won the presidency, the first thing I'd do is start 5 anti-trust cases. If any presidential candidates are reading this and it sounds appealing, DO NOT SAY A WORD ABOUT IT UNTIL YOU WIN! Coming out in favor of breaking up Big Media would be worse than publicly admitting you're in favor of drug legalization, higher gas taxes, and were caught with a live boy and a dead girl in your bed all at the same time. It will kill your campaign. Just sit there and quietly bide your time. Once you win, spring it on them!

BP Atlantis about to come online? Atlantis will be the one of the biggest platform in the Gulf, if BP can ever get it finished. It's years behind schedule and I've heard that some analysts put the cost overruns at a BILLION dollars. (NOTE- I just realized I was confusing Atlantis and Thuderhorse, two similar platforms in the same area. Both are big and over budget. Thunderhorse is the bigger of the two.)

CEO of Dow Chemical talks about the Sci/Tech shortage. In the National Review Online. I think the Sci/Tech education crisis could unite the left and right.

Head I win, tails I get bailed out. Bernake is bailing out the bad guys and hurting the good guys.

Very long article about the economics and oil. The Petrodollar thesis was one of the most buried news stories of the past few years. I don't know whether or not I completely buy it, but it's earth-shakingly powerful. The long article ties together Iraq, Iran, economics, the unfolding dollar collapse, China, the Fed, the Saudis, the Russians, and just about everyone together in a huge, high-stakes geopolitical chess game. I'm in awe of the journalism it took to put this together. A complex thesis like the Petrodollar takes a lot of things interlocking to work, but if it holds true (and a cursory search of the subject checks out), it's frightening.