Archive for August, 2008

The Tina Fey Factor

Sunday, August 31st, 2008

Atrios is surprised that this is an official McCain-Palin campaign product; he thinks it “looks like something from a bad Hollywood sitcomish movie about a presidential campaign.” But what it really looks like — exactly like — is something from a movie where the joke is that Tina Fey is ...

Women More Skeptical of Palin Than Men

Sunday, August 31st, 2008

I don't think this is very mysterious. Women and men have, on average, different political opinions with women being generally more left-wing than men are. Since Sarah Palin is very conservative, you'd expect women to be more dubious about her. Given a choice between two candidates with similar views on ...

Lenders mulling new offer in Alabama debt standoff

Sunday, August 31st, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) - Alabama's Jefferson County and lenders pulled back from the brink of a threatened bankruptcy filing on Friday after the county proposed restructuring $3.2 billion of soured sewer debt.

Lehman nears plan for real estate assets: report

Sunday, August 31st, 2008

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. has settled on a structure that will allow it to offload billions of dollars in real-estate loans from its books, according to the on-line edition of the Wall Street Journal.

Allianz and Commerzbank poised for Dresdner deal

Sunday, August 31st, 2008

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Management at Allianz SE and Commerzbank AG sought approval from their supervisory boards on Sunday to sell control of the insurer's Dresdner Bank to Commerzbank.

Bush: Bolton Not Credible

Sunday, August 31st, 2008

Here's a wacky story — hard-core neocons confront George W. Bush about him having abandoned their fringiest ideas: Boot remained unimpressed. He cited a column in that morning’s Wall Street Journal by John Bolton, who was Bush’s ambassador to the United Nations, lacerating the administration for betraying its own principles by ...

Hard-up consumers seen seeking solace in gadgets

Sunday, August 31st, 2008

BERLIN (Reuters) - Consumer electronic makers are bracing themselves for slower growth in the second half of this year and in 2009, but count on consumers turning to home entertainment amid tougher economic times and tighter budgets.

Economic Growth or Temporary Spike

Sunday, August 31st, 2008

The major weblink today from msnbc is:"Economic Growth Stronger than Expected."All this because revised GDP growth for the second quarter 2008 is 3.3%, up sharply from the original estimate and past quarter. The problem of course is that is when everyone started getting and spending their stimulus checks. So, ...

VP Who?

Saturday, August 30th, 2008

Okay, this confirms what I'd only inferred earlier — John McCain's barely met or spoken to Sarah Palin, and other key McCain aides have never met her at all, with some of his main supporters being as ignorant about her as any normal person would be: As Chuck Todd says at ...

Boeing machinists union says members should strike

Saturday, August 30th, 2008

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Boeing Co's largest labor union said on Friday it advised its members to reject the company's final contract proposal and go forward with a strike next week that could cost the plane maker $3 billion a month.