We got beat by a Tree...

Yesterday the University of Washington football team hit a new low by loosing to Stanford. Even my football obsessed friends have lost hope for the team. Plus, on top of the loss our quarterback Jake Locker broke his thumb and our only decent WR D’andre Goodwin has an ‘apparent rib injury’ according to the Seattle Times .

Why football gods, why do you hate us so much?

At least we don’t suck as much as WSU. If we don’t win the Apple Cup this year I’m going to have to put half my friends on suicide watch. Tyron Willingham is so fired after this season.

Also, is Jake chewing in that picture? Bad Jake!

More politics

So I'm sure that everyone and their mom is tired of politics at the moment but the transcripts of Sarah Palin's interview with Katie Couric are a must read.

Domestic policy segment.
Foreign policy segment.

First Day of Class

Morning of the first day of class and what do I wake up to? A bloody cold. Thanks body.

Freshmen

Listening to newly inducted frat boys invite girls to parties: painful. Very, very painful

McCain's Speech on 9/18

John McCain speech about the financial market. All in all he does a nice job of saying nothing. However this phrase which, granted, is taken out of context is hilarious:

"And we will simplify the tax code so people can understand it and do their tax returns themselves."

Riiight. The only reason I did my own taxes this year was because I only needed to fill out one form and I'm a broke college student. Don't over extend yourself their McCain, that statement is called making a promise you can't keep.

Reading political jargon makes me so frustrated. there's all these words on the page and yet the candidates never actually say how their going to change things, just that they are.

Gray

This is why people in Seattle have a high depression rate. It's not the rain, it's the gray. It honest to god looks this color for nine months out of the year here. If this where a crayola color it would be called: 'It Might Rain Sometime Soon But I'm Just Going to Stay Gray Like The Sidewalk and Concrete Buildings Anyway To Make You Mad'.

Judge Rejects Plan for More Snowmobiles at National Parks

"A federal judge ruled Monday that the Bush administration’s plan to allow more than 500 snowmobiles a day into Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks was not in keeping with the National Park Service’s responsibility to protect the parks." (New York Times)

YES!!!

Economic Downfall

For the first time EVER the Fed's are bailing out a major insurance company from going bankrupt. A MAJOR company. When I read the headline I couldn't do anything except stare at the computer screen and blink dumbly. A.I.G is being given an 85 billion dollar loan by the Federal Reserve to keep them from filling for bankruptcy. I knew that the economy was in trouble but when major corporations like A.I.G need the government to fix them...we are worse off then I thought. And as this Times article states:

"...the bailout is likely to prove controversial, because it effectively puts taxpayer money at risk while protecting bad investments made by A.I.G. and other institutions does business with."

Overlooking the typo at the end of the sentence this is a super good point. Why should taxpayers have to put money at risk because A.I.G made bad investments? Unfortunately I do understand the highly negative repercussions a company like A.I.G filling for bankruptcy would cause, I just wish their was a better way for the problem to be resolved. Congress is even considering building a new government agency thats sole purpose would be to buy out failing financial companies (Times article here). It seems like a catch 22 to me, such an agency might allow for corporations to make riskier investments but no one wants to watch the market crumble as those corporations fall.

All in all, no matter who gets the White House this November (please, please let it be Obama) they are inheriting a rats nest of problems.

Writer's Humor

Thanks, Married to the Sea.

Google Government

Finally, something to get excited about in Washington!

"The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (Transparency Act) requires a single search able website, accessible by the public for free that includes for each Federal award: 1. The name of the entity receiving the award. 2. The amount of the award 3. Information on the award including transaction type, funding agency, etc. 4. The location of the entity receiving the award. 5. A unique identifier of the entity receiving the award. " (http://www.usaspending.gov/)

The bill makes it possible for the general public to use a Google like search engine to see where government spending is going. Definitely a step in the right direction!

Credit to P.S.A for the heads up.

One more two cents

This article made my day.

McCain gets questioned by the ladies on The View. Viewer comments on the bottom of the page also very insightfully.

My Two Cents

It bothers me to no end that annalists wonder if Palin being chosen as McCain's running mate will give McCain the 'women's vote'. The worst part is the news media doesn't even seem to notice that they are alluding to such a connection. Even is this Times article, which appears fairly neutral, the allusion that a women will vote for a women no matter what is made:

"There has been considerable speculation about whether Mr. Obama would be better positioned to curb the excitement that Ms. Palin has generated if he had picked a woman and whether Ms. Palin is drawing the support of women who might have voted for Mrs. Clinton, despite their vast policy differences."

I'm not going to vote for another women purely because she's female. I don't think, 'Hey! You're a women, I'm a women that means I have to vote for you!'. The idea that anyone thinks female voters will vote for Palin simply because we share two X chromosomes is seriously insulting. Just like the rest of the US (hopefully) I'm going to vote based on policy. Not race, gender or any other diversifying factor.

Wow

Long break. Quit my job, moved apartments and started back at my old job. All of which translated to little writing time and much less access to the internet. Internet, I MISSED YOU!