Notice how I tend to always post these on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, but miss on Tuesdays and Thursdays? Anyway, last night I was just about to do it when my wife called and reminded me we were expected for dinner at my parents’ house, and had to run…
Here are the headlines at this hour:
- Bernanke Says Fed Stands Ready to Support Recovery (WSJ) — By doing what? Move interest rates to negative numbers? (Oh, wait — NPR has actually answered my facetious question.) Here’s what Ben’s reacting to: “Economy grinds to near halt.” Remember what I was saying about the negative waves, man?
- U.S. Economy Slowed to 1.6% Pace in 2nd Quarter (NYT) — In fact, this thing (mentioned above) is bad enough I thought I’d give it its own sidebar.
- Afghanistan’s Karzai criticises US troop pullout (BBC) — Hey, if I were going to be left holding the bag over there, I’d criticize it, too. In fact, I think I will anyway…
- Video Messages From Trapped Chilean Miners (NYT) — A human-interest story that continues to amaze us.
- North Korea Frees American After Carter Visit (BosGlobe) — This is quite a few hours old, but I thought it still held up. I found interesting this comment by Mark Knoller on Twitter this morning: “North Korea likes having former US presidents come calling for the release of Americans held by the Kim Jong-il regime.” Yup.
- Blockbuster tells Hollywood studios it’s preparing for mid-September bankruptcy (LAT) — Well, we all saw this coming, didn’t we? Still, ya gotta love the irony: After all the warm little Mom-and-Pop rental stores it ran out of business back in the 90s, it’s Blockbuster’s turn. You’re goin’ down, Blockbuster!
Related Posts
How about this news:
“Republican state legislator Nikki Haley now earns 52% of the vote in her bid to be the next governor of South Carolina. Democratic State Senator Vincent Sheheen picks up 36% of the vote in the latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in the state. ”
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2010/election_2010_governor_elections/south_carolina/election_2010_south_carolina_governor
So after all the negative campaigning, Sheheen fell two points FURTHER behind from the start of the month. And just think – there hasn’t even been any negative TV ads yet against him (probably will start next month).
He’s got to start running FOR Governor instead of AGAINST Sanford if he wants to win.
Debates!
Re: No. 6–you seem to imply intent on Blockbuster’s part to run the mom-and-pop video stores out of business. They haven’t been reported to have used any dirty tricks–they just built a better mousetrap–plenty of boutique rental shops (in cooler places than famously hot Cola) survive–although Netflix may be hurting them.
I don’t shed tears for the mom-and-pops than are put out of business fair-and-square. I have been treated a whole lot better in the big box home improvement stores, and gotten better advice than I ever did at a small hardware store.
It’s called competition–and the consumer benefits from it.
Netflix FTW.
Uh… Doug… WHAT “negative campaigning?” You mean asking that Nikki take simple, basic steps to try to live up somewhat to her “transparency crusader” role?
Pointing out how obviously your opponent fails to live up to the standard that SHE sets is hardly dirty pool, Doug. It’s not like he’s going around talking about the Will Folks stuff.
It’s bizarre to me that you would use the term “negative” in reference to Sheheen when EVERYTHING about Nikki’s campaign is negative. It’s all based in how awful everybody in government is except HER. The problem is, her own virtue as a champion of transparency doesn’t hold up to even minimal scrutiny.
And Kathryn — What I’m talking about was Blockbuster undercutting, or at least matching (along with better selection based in volume) the prices of the Mom-and-Pops back when the were charging $2 for most movies and $2.50 for new releases. Then, when the little guys went out of business, Blockbuster went to the $3-$4 range, and we had no options. All the worst features of a monopoly.
So it’s good to see the Netflix model win out — while that lasts. Netflix seems to be adapting pretty well to technological change, but we’ll see. In any case, the prices are very reasonable for now.
Rasmussen didn’t call me. I always wonder how they really know if they have a good representative sample when they do polls.
Doug, I really kind of think you just hear what you want to hear no matter what is said. I wish Vincent’s campaign was more visible, but when I do look for information from his campaign, I find positive constructive statements that make sense to me. I don’t see the negativity.
I know I am probably biased, but I’m really trying to look objectively.
Has anybody other than the biased-to-the-right Rasmussen conducted any polls on this race yet? I have no doubt that Haley is ahead, but seriously doubt the margin is that large. Well, if it helps give her overconfidence, so much the better.
But Blockbuster was making money on it–they weren’t selling below cost, and they had a better selection than most–just a better mousetrap–although I preferred the arty place in Portland’s Old Port to Blockbuster–and it’s still open–but yes, Netflix, especially Watch Instantly on a Roku, FTW!
Someone needs to commission a poll from Gallup rather than Rasmussen. The more I read about them, the more I believe they drive opinion and not the opinion driving the poll.
@scout
I’m only commenting on what I see and what I read. Nearly every message that comes out of the Sheheen campaign is tied to Mark Sanford or Nikki Haley being the next Mark Sanford. Too beat in Republican in South Carolina, he has to have a message that isn’t just “I’m not Mark Sanford”. I’ve been a realist about this race from the day the primaries ended. Sheheen starts behind based on raw party affiliation (Haley got more primary votes than all the Democrats combined)… Republicans are more energized this year (the Obama effect)… and Sheheen hasn’t run a campaign that defines specifically what difference he would make to the people.
And from today’s The State article about voting blocs, comes this clear reality:
“His real challenge will be energizing black voters to show up at the polls, political scientists say.
“It’s not that (black voters) would vote for Representative Haley,” said Adolphus Belk Jr., a political scientist professor at Winthrop University and director of its African-American studies program. “It’s that they’ll stay home. He’s got to reach out to them and give them a reason to vote for him.”
If Sheheen, a naturally low-key candidate, fails to make an impression in black communities, it could be devastating for his candidacy.”
Read more: http://www.thestate.com/2010/08/29/1438206/voting-blocs-key-in-governors.html#ixzz0y0VfBVlr
A naturally low-key candidate is not going to beat a Republican. And openly courting the black vote will have (unfortunately) the opposite effect on a segment of the white population.
To win, he has to run a game changing campaign. Otherwise, it’s 53-47 and Haley wins easily.
Netflix – each month, we pay our dues and each month, another contribution to MoveOn and a few other radical left organizations by way of George Soros, who happens to own Netflix.
George Soros = radical left?
Right.
Bart, isn’t Soros just a stockholder of Netflix, not the majority owner? But I get your point, when you patronize a company or a product you never know whose political viewpoint you might be subsidizing. For example, every time you buy Dixie cups or Brawny paper towels at the supermarket, you’re channeling money towards these billionaires with very far-out, extremist views:
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/30/100830fa_fact_mayer
It has been said on my favorite “radical left wing” blogs that pretty much all business owners have politics we don’t care for, so take your pick.