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August 2008

McCain Brain Drain and DNC Day Four

Before I get to my DNC observations, I need to vent about McCain's little stunt regarding the announcement of his running mate. First, it was petty to make the announcement to try and steal the spotlight from Obama. I know he has that prerogative, but if the Dems do the same next week, you know you would never hear the end of it.

Second, for months now, McCain has gone on about how inexperienced Obama is. Obama has so far, taken the high road by not constantly repeating that McCain is the oldest man to EVER run for president. So what does the oldest man to EVER run for president, and who constantly harps on his opponent's youth and inexperience do? He picks a running mate who is THREE YEARS YOUNGER than Obama! So if the oldest man to EVER run for president should win and then die in office of let's say, OLD AGE, we would get a president who has no experience with national policy, no experience with international policy, and barely any experience as a state executive.

One thing she does have experience with, like the current president, she has frequent conversations with god. So there is that.

On to the observations:

They packed that stadium! I don't think even the Broncos have ever gotten that many people in that stadium.
Obama laid out his points very succinctly, putting an end to criticisms about lack of substance.
Watching the telecast on PBS, I realized that there are bad pundits everywhere. One guy seemed to be unmoved by any speech. I got the impression that he would have been unmoved by the best FDR, JFK or MLK could deliver.
That same anonymous (to me at least) pundit fell over himself in reiterating how going to the stadium was a mistake. That Obama was too removed from the audience to connect. Did he even see the stage at the convention center? The closest seating was over a hundred feet from the stage! Not exactly hand shaking distance.
The broadcast networks seemed very quick to end their convention telecasts every night the moment the featured speaker finished. I wonder if the RNC will get the same treatment next week.

29 Aug 2008 Posted by MD Wong at 9:15:03

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DNC Observations: Day Three

My teaching gig Wednesday nights precluded me from watching the big speeches, but from everything I read, Bill delivered big time. Makes you wonder what could have been if Hillary's campaign had been successful.

Big impressions from the day:

Roll call suspension.
Nomination acclamation.
California delegates just can't get their act together.
Obama surprise.

28 Aug 2008 Posted by MD Wong at 13:34:44

DNC Observations: Day Two

The night that Fox News was hoping for didn't happen. The DNC didn't implode into a Hillary/Obama schism. Some other things to note.

If you're a nobody, no one listens to your speech even if you're talking up the green energy policies
You can't give a keynote and not be critical of the other party. Congressional bipartisan cooperation. There's an oxymoron for you.
Hillary makes it clear what her supporters should do. So if they act up, they're only in it for themselves. Either that or they're right-wing paid operatives bent on sabotaging the convention (hey if the NRA could do it, why not the GOP?)

27 Aug 2008 Posted by MD Wong at 13:06:08

DNC Observations: Day One

Here are some tidbits I saw during the DNC telecast last night.

Maria Shriver left Ahnold to deal with the state budget crisis.
Ted Kennedy looked well considering his condition
Why does every cable news network have to constantly rotate info graphics on the screen?
PBS broadcast is much better. No scrolling, flashing or moving graphics.
Michelle Obama will be a major asset for this election. Can McCain say the same of his free-spending spouse?
If you're going to do a live satellite hookup, expect snafus. Next time, just skip the live bit entirely.
Message of the day: Choose between change or more of the same. 'Nuff said.

26 Aug 2008 Posted by MD Wong at 11:32:25

Palm Drops the Ball with Treo Pro Launch

As the end of our current two-year contract approaches, I've been considering what phones I should look at for upgrades. Besides trying to save as much as possible on the phone, I want to make sure that the phone is of much better quality than the phones we got before. Additionally, I would like to get a smartphone for myself. Since the iPhone has too many strings attached for the best price, the best alternative is a Palm phone to replace my m505.

I liked the Centro in theory, but I went to an AT&T store and tried it out and was unimpressed. The screen is too small. The web browser displays web content for mobile rather than web as the iPhone does. Finally the phone lacks Wi-Fi. If I'm forgoing an iPhone, I at least want to be able to cruise the web without relying on a data network all the time.

Now Palm has introduced the Treo Pro. At first glance, it has everything I need. Nice screen. Wi-Fi. Good form factor. But it runs Windows Mobile. I run Palm OS. I'm sure they have a way to sync old Palm profiles with the WM OS, but why make me do that. Why not give users a choice?

Maybe I'll just keep using my old m505 til it bites the dust completely and just get the best phone I can.

25 Aug 2008 Posted by MD Wong at 14:29:07

Olympic Controversy?

What kind of Olympics would it be without a little controversy? There are questions about the real ages of the Chinese women gymnasts that won the gold medal this week. Maybe what really happened is that the real He, Yang and Jiang are 16, but they weren't good enough, so in the interest of the state, they were replaced with better but younger athletes to compete in their place.

14 Aug 2008 Posted by MD Wong at 10:40:09

Making the Poor Fill the Gap

As usual when confronted with a budget impasse and revenue short-fall, Ahnold's only solution is to increase the sales tax "temporarily". Is it really a good idea to make spending money more expensive during sluggish economic times? Probably not. It's also disappointing that the Dems are on board with this.

05 Aug 2008 Posted by MD Wong at 13:58:39

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