Crushing Krisis

C-Span Debate Hub = Awesome

Posted on October 3rd, 2008 @ 12:34 am by krisis.

C-Span has the entire VP debate already typed in, sliced up, and graphed out at the C-Span Debate Hub. Halfway through the debates it is the best single-page tool I’ve found for recapping the debate in nothing more than the candidates own words.

Also, again, Washington Post did some live fact-checking that rebukes a few of tonight’s more notable points. However, beware of some of the facts they check - on the health care fact they state that Biden mischaracterized McCain’s plan, but he was mostly addressing how many people would be dropped due to the tax on health benefits - WaPo does nothing to refute that.

In the long run, Fact Check does a good bipartisan job at debunking the various claims of the campaign.

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Live blogging & recapping the Vice Presidential debate

Posted on October 2nd, 2008 @ 8:08 pm by krisis.

We have arrived at perhaps the most anticipated televised political event in at least a decade, if not of all time: the Vice Presidential debate between Senator Joe Biden and Governor Sarah Palin.

I’ll be liveblogging this debate to capture some of the highlights and to discuss my immediate reaction, just as I did last week for the first Presidential debate.

Here we go.

Mics on for the intro, Sarah in black, first punch: “Nice to meet you! Can I call you Joe?”

That leaves us at Biden 42, Palin 31 - which seems like a touch of a blowout, but really it was just Palin’s failure to really address the fundamentals of a handful of questions - Obama and McCain did the same thing. Realistically, she hung in well for the entire debate. Against anyone other than Biden she may have won handily.

Significantly, Biden is the real straight talk express. The man does not parse or lie - he is an encyclopedia of issues and facts, and he will outright say that he was wrong or that he disagreed with Obama rather than spending two minutes trying to build a narrative to explain away the inconsistency.

Equally significant for the general election, we were reminded that Palin can be very effective - in some ways the most out of all four candidates - at talking to the general population. It’s not because of her folksy charm, either. It’s that Palin truly is an outsider, and so she won’t go into talking points that would lose the average America. By that virtue, it’s absolutely guaranteed that everything she says is going to be understood, even if it’s ultimately not agreeable or credible.

I will not be surprised if the GOP converts Palin to Congress at the next possible chance and starts grooming her for 2016 or 2020. Maybe even a Clinton-esque move for her into a more prominent state?

In my 4-5 points per question format this debate had double the points of the first debate, so I’m going to half them in updating the overall total. I awarded McCain 18 and Obama 16 at that one, to which I’ll add Palin 16 and Biden 21. We currently stand at Obama 37 and McCain 34.

Personally, this debate just furthers my relatively tepid response to the two main candidates, who I have more strongly endorsed in the past. It really makes you think about the early primary period, where people like Biden were offered to us as a pick against Clinton and Obama. I think next time around I’m going to be paying a lot more attention in the earliest stages of the election to make sure I wind up with the candidate I actually support, instead of just the one who I hope will win.

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This Thursday

Posted on September 30th, 2008 @ 6:39 am by krisis.

Peter,

I am also excited to see the VP debate.

If I can see the moon from my house, can I be an astrophysicist?
OR If I can see the road from my house, can I be secretary of Transportation.

MOM

PS: I hope Biden does not put his foot in his mouth.

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Rachel Maddow, in brief

Posted on September 29th, 2008 @ 11:15 am by krisis.

It’s always interesting to read a foreign take on American news media - in this case, a brief Guardian bio of newly minted MSNBC host Rachel Maddow.

Interesting to me is that the article focuses on Rachel’s sexuality - she is gay, and has been out since age fifteen. Not surprising, considering it’s the Guardian. Yet, the revelation still holds some intrigue because:

(a) I had no idea she was a lesbian;

(b) My ignorance nonwithstanding, I don’t think this is a widely known fact in the US;

(c) Yet, clearly it’s known by the media- and political- establishment. is it a component of the “liberal” tag applied to her; and

(d) Rachel is rapidly achieving rating dominance; she has recently topped Larry King in her time slot. This makes her one of the most visible “out” personalities in the media, and from the article it sounds as though she’s more vocal about her sexuality than Anderson Cooper.

Lest it be overlooked, she also holds a doctorate in political science, specializing in AIDS and prison reform. Certainly not a lightweight coming from the world of sportscasting.

(Lest you mistakenly think that was a Palin joke, I’m actually refering to her sometimes-mentor Oblermann. As Palin jokes go it was way too easy.)

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Stuff I have bookmarked, but never investigated.

Posted on September 28th, 2008 @ 12:42 pm by krisis.

I’ve been futilely struggling to clean my office/studio so that Gina and I can record our next Live @ Rehearsal disc (and also so I can make good on promises to Vicky and Nate to record them).

I realized the futility of my struggle was connected not to the level of mess or lack of places to put things. Instead, it is due to my obsessive need to collect tiny flecks of information that I might at some point have a future use for.

This collection takes the shape of back issues of Wired with folded over pages, old business cards with words scribbled on their backs, and old notepads with a few last clinging pages. Occasionally, an url makes it all the way into my bookmarks file - making it even less likely that I’ll ever visit it.

I am throwing them all out.

Below is the net results of my trash haul - the bits of information that seem worth remembering.

If you know anything about any of them please feel free to chime in, as clearly I still haven’t gotten around to looking into them too deeply.

37signals (Small business software.)

Dymo DiscPainter (Only $279 - could be worth it.)

The Motels. (Will I like them?)

The Annotated Watchmen. (I finally sat down and read it last weekend, so maybe now I’ll have a use for this one.)

Boost Your Bottom Line (butt exercises)

City Chase (Amazing Race without a television; Elise and I both bookmarked it to show each other, but haven’t got much farther than that)

Sheepskin Sandals (I think I wanted to buy these for Jack?)

The Pirate Bay (I don’t actually like torrents; I must have been looking for something specific.)

Birth of Rocker Venus (I use this a lot on mix CDs; not sure why it’s still bookmarked.)

BitPim (Allows you to manipulate data on your cellphone.)

The Rainy River Record (I have no idea.)

Entertainer’s Secret Throat Spray (I’m happy with my Vocal Eze, even if it’s just a placebo effect.)

Lark’s Tenor Guitar (Still tempting, but I wouldn’t spend more than $300)

Electronic Frontier Foundation Staff (Elise and I loved Fred Von Lohmann in a documentary - maybe This Film Is Not Yet Rated? If I ever went to law school this is what I’d want to do.)

Tune Tech Clip-On Tuner (Gina has this one; I still prefer my Intellitouch.)

How to convert a DVD for iPod (I’ll need a bigger PC and iPod to make this useful. Maybe next year.)

Better Living Through Design (Ikea for rich people.)

How to use space in a presentation (Just now cribbed from MLarson; if I remember this exists I will use it dozens of times a year)

Ma.tt (Love this design; fodder for the pm.com redesign.)

There might be more…

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