Really? I mean... Really?

I try not to rag on Fox news just to rag on Fox news. I mean, for every right wing news station there is a corresponding left wing station, but I can promise that CNN has never pulled anything like this. Fox altered pictures of reporters that had "attacked" fox news, making them noticeably less attractive. I honestly didn't believe that Fox news did this until I watched this video. Obviously the "Dog Shot" was meant to be a joke... but the altered head shots were certainly misleading and libelous. I actually worked at the Daily Utah Chronicle and you are not even allowed to flip image directionality to better fit a page layout because it is considered to be an alteration of the image and unethical. The best part is that the reporter actually makes reference to Fox news as being the number one news source. Is this the sort of accurate reporting that Americans have chosen to rely on? Check out the link to read more.

Once again... you can turn off my music at the bottom of the page.

I still feel lightheaded.

So, I spent my weekend pouring muriatic acid (also known as Hydrochloric acid) over two sheet metal panels. What I should have remembered is that HCl is actually gaseous and hydrochloric acid is just its liquid state, so HCl fumes filled the air and created a chemical fog. It was like I was inside of one of those crazy carnival looking extermination tents. I think I actually melted the hair in my nose and I'm certain that I have self-imposed permanent brain cell loss. The end goal was to create a rusted style magnet board for my wall. After letting the panels corrode I coated them with polyurethane and screwed them to the wall. This was also insanely difficult to do by myself. It was one of those tasks that I attempted at 4 am in my underwear with streaks of rust all over my nasty sweaty face. I should probably go get a tetanus shot... I'll just wait until lock jaw sets in. Anyway, I thought I would go ahead and post a photo. I plan on putting magnetized frames all over the board. I have just one small frame up now to sort of give ya the idea.

The weirdest things make me mad.

For some reason that Nextel commercial, with the fireman mimicking Congress really make me mad. Ask those same firemen how much of their paycheck they'll give up for clean water and better roads and I bet they'd start to beat each other up (like in the Malaysian Parliament) and we'd end up with mediocre roads and sort of clean water. Not that the actual Congress isn't in many ways flawed, but I can just see the "average citizen" watching that commercial and going, "Yeah, those stupid politicians. Why can't those corrupt people get things right?" It's just ludicrous how unaware people are of the time and knowledge it takes to be a successful legislator. Run for office if you don't agree.

Perhaps the best thing that has ever happened to me...

... is this video. Be sure to turn off the media player at the bottom of my blog before you play this. I think they tried to get the Golden Girls to put something like this together for McCain, but Dorothy fell and broke both her hips. The outlook is grim.

Some More Mark Ryden

The Crazy Cycle of Economic Recession

First of all, I had to come to the slightly startling revelation that my Obama push was really a push for strategic voting rather than sincere voting. The rational voter should always be sincere, but I just couldn't help but get excited about the possibility of Utah going Blue after 44 years of Red control. LBJs election in 1964 was the last time Utah voted for a Democrat president. However, after spending a long time reviewing the candidates I was forced to admit that Hillary Clinton has a better Healthcare plan and a better Green Collar Jobs plan. Really, overall... she's just a policy guru. Too bad everyone kind of hates her a little.

Now in reference to the title. I just wanted to post an article by Paul Krugman, my new favorite NY Times journalist. I had no idea that the U.S. had experienced a nearly identical crisis in the past and I'm starting to wonder if we're ever going to learn our lesson. Besides the obvious observation that Reaganomics was an utter failure (come on and just admit it), the article is somewhat bipartisan so I should be on mildly safe ground.

Don’t Rerun That ’70s Show

By PAUL KRUGMAN

Published: February 22, 2008

Will the next president be the second coming of Jimmy Carter? Given Thursday’s economic headlines, full of ddire warnings about the return of 1970s-style stagflation, you might think so. Realistically, though, the parallels between the problems facing the U.S. economy now and those of the late-1970s aren’t that strong. That’s the good news.

The bad news is that the economy probably will look similar to, but worse than, the economy that undid the first President Bush. And it’s all too easy to see how the next president could suffer a political fate resembling that of both the elder Mr. Bush and Mr. Carter.

Let’s talk first about the Carter-era economy.

Jimmy Carter’s overall economic record was much better than most people realize — the average economic growth rate under his administration was 3.4 percent per year, slightly higher than the growth rate under Ronald Reagan and far better than growth under either Bush.

Reagan famously asked Americans whether they were better off than they had been four years ago; the answer, actually, was yes — most families had higher real income in 1980 than they did in 1976.

But the good economic news came in the Carter administration’s early years, while its final year was marked by rising unemployment and soaring inflation, largely caused by a surge in oil prices.

And once again we have a weakening economy coupled with rising inflation, again thanks in large part to a surge in oil prices.

That said, I don’t believe we’re really facing anything comparable to 1970s stagflation. For one thing, we’re less dependent on oil: America has more than twice the real G.D.P. it had in 1979, but consumes only slightly more oil. For another, there’s no sign of the wage-price spiral that once drove inflation into double digits — in fact, wage growth has been declining even as inflation rises.

What’s much more likely is that we’ll have an economy like that of the early 1990s, only worse.

The first President Bush presided over the 1990-1991 recession. But his real problem came during the alleged recovery, which was hobbled by financial problems at many banks, which had been badly damaged by the collapse of the late-1980s real estate bubble, and by sluggish consumer spending, held down by high levels of household debt.

As a result, the unemployment rate just kept rising, not reaching its peak of 7.8 percent until June 1992.

If all this sounds familiar, it should. Many economists have pointed out the parallels between the current situation and the early 1990s: another real estate bubble, subprime playing more or less the same role formerly played by bad loans by savings and loan institutions, financial trouble all around.

The difference is that the problems look a lot worse this time: a much bigger bubble, more financial distress, deeper consumer indebtedness — and sky-high oil prices added to the mix. So if history is any guide, we should be looking at an extended period of economic weakness, probably extending well into 2010, and quite possibly even longer.

Can the next president do anything to avoid that outcome? In terms of straight economics, the answer is a clear yes.

To this day, it’s not clear what Mr. Carter could have done differently: stagflation is a problem with no good solutions. But weak spending is a treatable condition. A serious fiscal stimulus plan — one that emphasized public investment and aid to Americans in economic distress rather than across-the-board tax rebates, which many people won’t spend — could do a lot to ease the country’s economic pain.

Politically, however, it’s hard to see this happening.

If the next president is a Republican, he will be captive to the doctrine that tax cuts are the answer to all problems, and therefore won’t seek an effective response to the economy’s troubles.

And even if the next president is a Democrat, any serious stimulus plan would face intense, ideologically motivated opposition in Congress. Will the next president be prepared to fight for an effective plan? Or will we end up with a compromise like the one Congressional Democrats agreed to this year, legislation that assuages conservative objections at the cost of undermining the plan’s effectiveness?

Until recently, I thought the biggest political struggle facing the next president was likely to be over health care reform. But right now it looks as if the first thing on the next administration’s plate will have to be dealing with a weak economy.

And if effective action isn’t forthcoming, the next president will suffer the fate of Jimmy Carter, who began his administration with words of uplift — “Let us create together a new national spirit of unity and trust” — and ended up delivering America into the hands of the hard right.

WOW! THAT WAS A BIT LONGER THAN I THOUGHT, CONGRATS TO THOSE WHO MADE IT TO THE END.