endurablegoods

The Debate - Liveblogging by endurablegoods

Holy crap.
This will be amazing.

5:38
I'm watching live both on CNN and C-SPAN. The streaming is pretty stable so far. The C-SPAN set up is a static webcam placed way in the back of the auditorium and (oops, it just died - back on) and CNN is flipping through a variety of talking heads.

5:40
CNN is letting iReporters speak live. Barbara Rademacher from Arkansas is asking about health insurance - likes Barak's approach to foreign policy (talk first, fight later). The CNN reporter looks European.

5:41
Holy crap. Obama is taking a photo with a fan? Right now? Calm. Cool. Cameras flashing like mad.

5:43
C-SPAN - nothing happening. Stage empty. Crowd murmuring.

5:45
I had Grape-Nuts for dinner.

5:47
How Many of You Are Just Sitting There Waiting for Obama to Knock McCain Back Into the 1950s in Tonight's Debate?

5:48
WTF. CNN shows off some crazy Audience Reaction meter. Twist the nob to the left = positive, right = negative. Live, dynamic graphing?

5:52
In the Debate Hall, guy on stage asking the audience to keep the hollerin' and cheerin' to a minimum so he can concentrate. "This is not an (inaudible) pep rally," he says.

5:53
"Not only does this debate have to be fair, it must appear to be fair."

5:55
Crap. This C-SPAN stream ends. Have to find C-SPAN2. (Update: The stream has turned to an area called The Grove on Ole Miss campus where huge screens are set up. Looks like a jamband scene. Huge crowd.)

5:58
Holy crap. Myspace has a sweet site.

6:00
Obama Speaks! Talking about the Bail-Out. Ah... Wall Street vs Main Street. Wow. He has answers - quick and fast. Countin' 'em off...answers.

6:03
McCain mentions Kennedy. Decent. He looks old. Starting strong...he is talking about vague things. No clean, numbered answers. "A number of important elements." (?) This is the end of the beginning of the crisis, he says.

6:06
Head-to-head combat time! Lost my C-SPAN feed. Closed the wrong window. McCain coughs. Nice Normandy story, however. McCain scores. He talks about the accountability - (I don't believe him).

6:10
C'mon, Obama. Stop thinking so much. Just say it. McCain and Obama seem to have trouble talking directly to each other. Ear-marking as a gateway drug. Nice. Bear joke doesn't work. McCain does well with run-away spending topic - Obama takes one on the chin.

6:14
I don't know if I can keep this up.

6:16
McCain still doing well. Damn. Obama jumps in! Just got an email from http://debatehub.c-span.org/ They saw my live posting. Check it out. (Late follow-up: this site is pretty awesome, actually. The debate clips are already batched out for you and ready for embedding, they've got an active Twitter set-up and the national blog coverage is excellent. The Debate Timeline tool is amazing.)

6:21
It's getting messy and technical. I don't know as much as I should about these tax issues. Careful mentioning oil, John.

6:22
"That's not true, John." Obama is cold. New question: The Bail-Out. What are you willing to let go in order to pay for the Bail-Out. He's a little off-topic, I think. Stick to it, Obama. McCain goes back spending and waste. Good stuff. Obama jumps back in - he wasn't ready. Damn. Battery dying - brb.

6:30
Spending freeze. Hatchet vs scalpel. Nice. Obama brings up Iraq. Nice. Neither will give specifics on what they are willing to give up. McCain back to spending restraint. Strong. 90% of the time! There it is! ORGY (Obama just said "orgy") of spending lies! 90% of the time. 90% of the time. 90% of the time.

6:35
Lessons of Iraq - a failed strategy. Blame the lack of planning. "We are winning in Iraq," says McCain. Same shit, really. Obama and the lessons of Iraq. Barak leads with Why? 4,000 lives, 30,000 wounded, a trillion dollars with nothing to show for it. "Use our military wisely," say Obama.

6:40
Obama brings in Biden, calls McCain wrong on many things. McCain quotes "We don't want out kids coming back here," said some soldier, claims McCain. McCain claims peace of prosperity in Iraq. The troop funding issue - here it is. Democrats saw this coming, of course. McCain kind of lied here.

6:45
My ex-girlfriend (RIP) is watching the debate at The Grove?

6:48
"Snatch defeat from the jaws of victory." Knock it off, John.

6:50
Pakistan, Taliban, poppies, terrorists. Afghanistan. Iraq. What a fucking mess. "If you going to point a gun at someone, you'd better be prepared to pull the trigger." Not too sure where John is going with this.

6:52
(Why do we have to help anyone, again? I forget). McCain talks about terrorism and jihadist. Pretty much saying that we should do what we are doing - but with more troops and money.

6:53
I, personally, not a fan of Obama's stance on "taking them out". Lot's of talk of war, ethnic cleansing...McCain rightly struts his record. He's been there. Not that he's made the right decision, but he has been there. Damn. McCain drops a story about a soldier's mother giving him a bracelet to remember him by. "I've got a bracelet, too," says Obama. Nice.

6:59
McCain sticks with prevailing in Iraq and Afghanistan - says we need to stay there because of safety and such. Jim Leher is good. McCain - Iran is a threat to Israel. Stop it with the Second Holocaust bullshit. League of Democracies? Never heard of it?

7:03
Iran is a serious threat, says McCain. Mostly concerned about nukes, it seems. Obama is also concerned about nukes - 'We cannot tolerate a nuclear Iran," says Obama. We need tougher sanctions, says Obama. Thankfully, Obama brings up diplomacy. Isolation is not helping, says Obama.

7:06
McCain does not believe in sitting down with world leaders w/out preconditions. He believes that meetings will legitimize world terrorists.

7:10
Obama brings up McCain flub on Spain. (I'm astounded that McCain is doing this well.) McCain claims that Obama is not only naive, but dangerous. "Trust but verify," says the Reagan of old. 6-Point cease-fire in Russia. (I don't know what that is). Obama stresses diplomacy re: Russia. Obama does not want a new Cold War - we need to work with them.

7:16
Russia DID NOT commit the first move on Georgia. McCain is wrong here, I think. McCain botched a Putin-KGB joke. The Russians? Really? The Russians? More chatter on Russia. Obama and McCain are mostly on the same page, it seems. Most of this is lost on the viewers, I bet. It's murky for me, too.

7:21
Obama calls out McCain on his alternative energy voting record. 23 of 26 times McCain voted against it. McCain pushes drilling again. Incidentally, the Democrats caved on off-shore drilling a few days ago.

7:25
Here it is 9/11. McCain says he'll never torture again. Says that we have a long way to go as far as becoming "safer". We need better intel and stronger border, says McCain. I agree. Nothing to not agree with here. Obama makes it clear that he wants to regain our respect in the world. We need to regain our stature.

7:30
(Is it over yet? This is hard.) Trillion dollars, Obama says. Back to Al Qaeda. Obama says the next president must have a broader strategy, bigger and more global. McCain calls Obama naive - kind of calls him dumb, really. McCain claims the veterans love him - last I checked, Obama out-polled McCain something like 4-1 AGAINST McCain.

7:34
Almost down. McCain finally brings up POW stuff. POW. POW. DONE!

7:35
Kisses to the wives, Obama looks calm - confident. McCain's wife is freakish. McCain looks stunned to still be alive. Crowd leaves. Oh - John Kerry was there in the audience. I think I just saw Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings). Probably not.

7:38
Thirsty. Don't think I can stomach reading commentary all night. I think McCain did really well. Obama needs to make stronger ties between Bush and McCain. McCain looks ghostly.

8:02
Wow. Remix ad based on debate video already up.

A Leap Of Fear

I'm going to allow myself a quick dip in the Conspiracy Pool and take a few laps in this ominous news from the Army Times.

Brigade homeland tours start Oct. 1

3rd Infantry’s 1st BCT trains for a new dwell-time mission. Helping ‘people at home’ may become a permanent part of the active Army

But this new mission marks the first time an active unit has been given a dedicated assignment to NorthCom, a joint command established in 2002 to provide command and control for federal homeland defense efforts and coordinate defense support of civil authorities.

Is this legal? There should be a law...oh, wait. There is. The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 expressly forbids the armed forces to be deployed inside the country.

Sec. 1385. - Use of Army and Air Force as posse comitatus

Whoever, except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress, willfully uses any part of the Army or the Air Force as a posse comitatus or otherwise to execute the laws shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.

Aren't the National Guard supposed to be taking care of of stateside emergencies? Of course they are; if they make it back from Iraq. Why, instead of bringing back the ostensibly more civic and community-minded Guard, are we bringing back real, hardened soldiers?

Add this to the already well-know militarization of the nation's police forces.

OK... that was fun.

The End Of The American Way

Not that anyone really cares, here is what you and I are paying for this MASSIVE financial clusterfuck. This is your money - my money - going to pay for criminal negligence and a complete disregard for consequence. Please note that none of this almost two-trillion dollar tab includes the ongoing two-trillion dollar military and humanitarian disaster that is Iraq.

America is on the hook for four trillion dollars we simply don't have. Honestly, I'm stunned that there hasn't been a massive run on banks. If I had a considerable sum in a bank, I would most certainly remove it. Call me crazy. (Also, as I am by no means an Economist, I'd greatly appreciate someone explaining why the American taxpayer must foot the bill for this. What would happen if we revolted and said 'no'?)

While I find it interesting that I am quoting Pat Buchanan (again), I'd like to recommend a quick read. "What we are witnessing today is how empires end." And he's not the first to call some type of "end of America" future. This is not a well-contained meltdown affecting only Wall Street and day-traders. This is quite possibly the end of the American Way to which we have all become so comfortably familiar. It was fun while it lasted.

UPDATE I
The text of the Bailout Act is out. And Section 8 is crowns a new American King.

Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.

UPDATE II

In short, the so-called "mother of all bailouts," which will transfer $700 billion taxpayer dollars to purchase the distressed assets of several failed financial institutions, will be conducted in a manner unchallengeable by courts and ungovernable by the People's duly sworn representatives. All decision-making power will be consolidated into the Executive Branch - who, we remind you, will have the incentive to act upon this privilege as quickly as possible, before they leave office. The measure will run up the budget deficit by a significant amount, with no guarantee of recouping the outlay, and no fundamental means of holding those who fail to do so accountable.

============================================

Your Money Went Here

—Up to $700 billion to buy assets from struggling institutions. The plan is aimed at sopping up residential and commercial mortgages from financial institutions but gives Treasury broad latitude.

—Up to $50 billion from the Great Depression-era Exchange Stabilization Fund to guarantee principal in money market mutual funds to provide the same confidence that consumers have in federally insured bank deposits.

—The Fed committed to make unspecified discount window loans to financial institutions to finance the purchase of assets from money market funds to aid redemptions.

—At least $10 billion in Treasury direct purchases of mortgage-backed securities in September. In doubling the program on Friday, the Treasury said it may purchase even more in the months ahead.

—Up to $144 billion in additional MBS purchases by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.The Treasury announced they would increase purchases up to the newly expanded investment portfolio limits of $850 billion each. On July 30, the Fannie portfolio stood at $758.1 billion with Freddie's at $798.2 billion.

—$85 billion loan for AIG, which would give the Federal government a 79.9 percent stake and avoid a bankruptcy filing for the embattled insurer. AIG management will be dismissed.

—At least $87 billion in repayments to JPMorgan Chase [JPM for providing financing to underpin trades with units of bankrupt investment bank Lehman Brothers [LEH Paulson said over the weekend he was adamant that public funds not be used to rescue the firm.

—$200 billion for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Treasury will inject up to $100 billion into each institution by purchasing preferred stock to shore up their capital as needed. The deal puts the two housing finance firms under government control.

—$300 billion for the Federal Housing Administration to refinance failing mortgage into new, reduced-principal loans with a federal guarantee, passed as part of a broad housing rescue bill.

—$4 billion in grants to local communities to help them buy and repair homes abandoned due to mortgage foreclosures.

—$29 billion in financing for JPMorgan Chase's government-brokered buyout of Bear Stearns in March. The Fed agreed to take $30 billion in questionable Bear assets as collateral, making JPMorgan liable for the first $1 billion in losses, while agreeing to shoulder any further losses.

—At least $200 billion of currently outstanding loans to banks issued through the Fed's Term Auction Facility, which was recently expanded to allow for longer loans of 84 days alongside the previous 28-day credits.

2hp. Surfing

Took a walk down Half Moon Bay Beach this weekend with Stacia. Among the family picnics, beachcombers and the napping elderly were a few surfers making the most of a flat-water day. What I first thought was a standard skim-boarding outing was something more creative.

These innovative lads had built a slick tow-rope machine that pulled fast enough to provide just enough extra speed to enable them to catch the very brief, anemic waves.

Basically, a guy would walk a couple hundred yards down the beach with rope in hand and wait for the next decent swell. At the right moment, the crude toggle switch is pushed and the little engine begins to take in the cord pulling the rider along the water.

A decent pull drags the rider directly into a wave on which, hopefully, the rider is able to capitalize and get in a few snappy turns.

There is a good chance that you can buy one of these somewhere - that they may be standard fair in the scene, but a cursory search proved fruitless.

American Dreamers: Michael Jacobs Interviews The Crazy Guy Down The Street

Tucked away in forgotten corners of the country, oddballs, kooks, artists and performers live quiet (and not-so-quiet) lives of faith, love and revenge. San Francisco filmmaker Michael Jacobs scoured the nation to find a heaping handful of some of the most colorful characters to spill onto the screen since AMERICAN MOVIE. Short but rich interviews capture the unique intensity of a woman demolition derby driver, an outer-space alien hunter, a castle-builder, a fire-breathing side-show act and more.

The success of Jacob's previous work - the excellent tragicomic documentary AUDIENCE OF ONE - was enough to get Sony Pictures to peel off a few hundreds and get him and his small crew on the road to interview this cavalcade of whimsy. The "film" is designed to be a series of webcasts and are appearing on Sony's CRACKLE site. The first 'sode is already up - and it happens to be my favorite one as I had the good fortune to have seen this place in person. (Before it became popular, they used to have parties here.)

AMERICAN DREAMERS was screened to a local and lucky audience at The Dark Room last Thursday night. The crew and Jacobs took questions and two "stars" from the film were on hand, too.

The two "stars" were local hero Frank Chu, who nursed a cold Budweiser and happily discussed all things 12 Galaxies, and Captain Kazoo who was parked out front handing out kazoos to anyone bold enough to take something for free from an odd-looking man sitting in a sketchy van on Mission.

Solid editing and camera-work, a decidedly hands-off approach and just plain endearing and extraordinarily human characters made AMERICAN DREAMERS a warm and authentic delight. It may not keep the same impact when chaptered and put online, but a few of the interviews are likely to go viral. Watch for emails about "that crazy alien hunter guy." Good stuff.

Who is this Jacobs fellow?

David Foster Wallace - RIP

This is my fourth try at writing a decent obituary for one of the few heroes in my life, David Foster Wallace. I can't do it.

I've spent the last couple hours reading articles, blogs, essays and one-word screams of 'NO!' on message boards expressing, together, a cacophony of confusion and condolences. I feel sick, sad and alone.

The way he looked at the world - his deeply analyzed yet unfiltered understanding of The Way Things Really Are - is the closest thing I have come to someone - anyone - having even a glimpse inside How I Think.

The fire became worse than the fall.

++++++

I saw him speak in 2006.
Kenyon College Commencement Speech - (a must-read)

The Hurricane Ike Bear - TOPLESS! OMG!

The Internet is loving the Hurricane Ike Bear footage. An unknown screwball dons a bear costume and skips along the hurricane-wrecked beach while Channel 11 News tries to cover the damaged pier down the way a bit.

Watch the video to catch up.

While we may never know who this person is, I have a feeling that she has a nice rack. (link fixed)

Dear Joe Biden:

Destroy her.

Christopher F. Smith

Fear Makes The Wolf Look Bigger