The Krona is Dead

Today Iceland has all but hit rock bottom. They are on the brink of bankruptcy and are now seeking help from the World Bank.

Remembering the Keating Five

Amidst the release of a short film by the Obama Campaign on the Keating Five Scandal, Time magazine investigates:

"An investigation into Lincoln Savings and Loan uncovered flagrant violations of these regulations, exceeding the limit by over $615 million. But before any measures could be taken against the company, five Senators came calling at the FHLBB, requesting that the charges against Lincoln not be pursued, on the basis that the S&L was a major employer in their states. These Senators — McCain , John Glenn (D-OH), Alan Cranston (D-CA), Donald Riegle (D-MI) and Dennis DeConcini (D-AZ) . . . One of the only elements that linked the men together was Charles Keating. The banker had been a major contributor to each of their campaigns, donating close to $1.4 million dollars total. Keating also considered John McCain to be a close personal friend, with whom he'd shared vacations and business ventures."

". . . when Keating was asked whether his financial support had influenced the Senators on his behalf, he responded 'I want to say in the most forceful way I can: I hope so.'"

The Senate Ethics Committee found that McCain had broken no law, but had engaged in "poor judgment".

CNN analyzed the claims directly and agreed the film is: "true"

Forget Cable and Satellite

With all of the hype over the Federal requirement for all OTA (Over-The-Air) transmissions and TV sets to be purely digital it seems more than appropriate that I write this.
Sometime in the near future TV as we know it is going to change, and change more drastically than just these digital OTA signals. What I am telling you is that now is the time to start changing over, and, at the same time, especially in these harder economic times, severely decrease your TV bill or eliminate it all together.

1. Get an HD antenna. Hook one of these up to your existing cable lines in your house, and either purchase a new HDTV, or, the signal converter boxes for your TV. Often times you are able to pick up more than just your local stations over the air. There are people in my area who are able to pick up both Comedy Central and ESPN, for FREE.

2. Sign up for Netflix. Netflix is pretty inexpensive and for $16.99 a month you can have 3 DVDs out at a time, and have unlimited rentals per month.

3. Get a ROKU. If you're a Netflix member you have the option of streaming movies right to your PC over the internet. For $99.99 you can buy a ROKU, a box that allows you to stream DVD quality movies from your Netflix subscription straight to your TV. If you don't want a lot of obscure or old films from Netflix, you can downgrade to their $8.99/mo. plan which allows 1 DVD out at a time, unlimited rentals, and the capability to stream unlimited videos to your computer/ROKU.

4. Get an Apple TV. Sure they are $299.99, which is a little pricey, but their content is cheap, sometimes as cheap, if you buy a season pass, some shows are as low as $0.90 an hour, which is less than what I pay per hour for cable. You also open up access to Youtube which is full of content.

5. If DVR is your thing, you can have that too. Sony and LG offer great models that are, depending on where you purchase them from, anywhere from $200-$400 online. They allow you to record multiple shows at once, record a show while you watch a show, and pause/fast-forward/rewind live TV. They also offer you access to a FREE on-screen TV guide.

6. Get Verizon DSL. You can get 3mbps, sometimes 6mbps, if you call and ask them for a higher data rate for $29.99 a month.

So, if you are currently paying, like I am $150 a month for your cable and internet, which is $1800 a year, you can decrease your costs a lot... here's the breakdown:

One-Time Costs:
- ROKU $99
- DVR $300
- AppleTV $300
-------------------
Total Cost $700

Monthly Costs:
- 5 TV shows on AppleTV (4 episodes each @1.10 on season pass) $22
- Netflix Subscription $8.99
- DSL $29.99
-------------
Total Monthly Cost $61

- First Year Cost: $1432 (Savings of $568)
- Every year After: $732 (Savings of $1068)

Ball-busting may now actually have a purpose!

New research suggests that there may be stem cells available in many unexpected places in the adult body- such as testicles. While they are not quite as much of a "blank slate" as embryonic stem cells, the pluripotent cells were shown to mature into connective tissue, muscle, and (most importantly) nerve cells. These cells are available in all males, can be harvested without adverse effects and can be autografted- without risk of rejection. Other areas under research are amniotic fluid, maternal blood, and even skin.

Speaking of Glass Houses....

McCain linked to private Iran-Contra group

After bringing up that Barack Obama happened to serve on the same charity board as '60s Weather Underground co-founder William Ayers, it seems John McCain has also served on a board with some unsavory ties. The Senator from Arizona was on an advisory board of a US chapter of the World Anti-Communist League which has links to ultra-right-wing death squads in South America that fought the Nicaraguan leftist government in the '80s. During the Iran-Contra fiasco, the group supplied the anti-communist Contras with weapons and aide.

Those who live in glass houses should not throw rocks.

Our Solar System: from No Def to High Def

These days, the Solar System is looking a lot better than it used to. As NASA turns 50, check out this gallery of pictures over the years. The difference as technology progressed is stark and amazing.

Lego tower breaks world record

460,000 Lego bricks and 4 days later have yielded a Lego tower in Rathaus Platz, Vienna that now holds the world record in the Tallest Lego Construction category. The tower reaches 96.73 feet and features the work of 3,000 children.

I once built a tower that was as tall as I was... in about an hour.

XKCD: I am not a ninja

Oops...

No more drunk Gmailing with new feature

Once again, Google has your back, making sure that you don't send that angry email to your ex or tell your boss how you really feel. Mail Goggles let's you set times when you're most likely not to have all of your emailing faculties about you and then it requires you to solve several math. problems before you can hit send. You determine the difficulty of the problems when you set up the add-on.

If you get any of the problems wrong, Gmail prompts you ""Water and bed for you. Or try again."

The real question is, Will this be a feature in Android?

Senate helps Amtrak with a little love

The US Senate passed a bill that would increase funding to Amtrak by a veto-proof margin. Amtrak has seen increases in passengers but not much in the way of funds. The train company is saddled with debt while trying to improve an aging infrastructure.

With any luck, this will lead to improved service, expanded rail capacity, and extended lines into new cities.

XKCD: Flash Games

Many hours of my life have been spent in futile pursuit of meaningless victory.

Presidential Debate 1908

Hear recordings of Taft and Bryan speaking on wax cylinders. I particularly loved the political cartoons - they make our current elections look graceful.

Bill O'Reilly vs. The Honorable Barnett Frank, Congressman from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

Obama on Olbermann's Worst Person List

And rightly so... dude forgot which anniversary he and his wife were about to share.

XKCD: Brain

Not today's, but oh so true.

McCain's Healthcare Solution: Wal-Mart

House defeats bailout

The US House of Representatives voted down a $700 billion emergency relief package today. The markets reacted sharply with the DOW Jones Industrial Average dropping over 700 points alone.

The bailout measure is massively unpopular on both sides, although leaders in both parties urged its passing to stave off further financial collapse. The bill would give the Secretary of the Treasury unprecedented power with little oversight, making many lawmakers and citizens uncomfortable.

Bailout Vote: Obama plans to attend, McCain "hopes" he can make it

After all that fuss about suspending campaigns and boycotting bills, the "Bailout Bill" is up for a vote today. Both the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates have issued press releases. Barack Obama will be at the vote and is planning on supporting the bill, but is still reviewing the final details. John McCain "hopes" he can vote on the bill, but he'll have to check his schedule.

New meaning for "On the rocks"

Nordic Rock stone ice cubes work just like regular ice cubes, except they are made of rock, and don't melt. Throw them in the freezer for an hour and then keep your drinks cool without watering them down.