CNN's Stimulus 101 overview

CNN has an overview of the proposed 2009 stimulus plan.

Baker's ideas for 2009 stimulus package

Dean Baker article has some ideas for the 2009 stimulus package, many of which are ideas from his Conservative Nanny State book. I really support the public funding of pharma clinical trials that would eliminate the current pharma monopoly system.

Obama's current stimulus plan is very disappointing. Per Rachel Maddow, only 18% is on infrastructure. More than that infrastructure amount is more supply-side Reaganomics tax cuts, which have been proven failures since the 1980s. If the Feds are gonna spend $820 B, it should all be bang-for-the-buck items that have a good chance of getting a return.

It seems that on economic policy, Obama is like B Clinton, a moderate ReThug, a less whorish Corporate Welfare Whore. I sincerely hope Obama proves me wrong on this stimulus package & other economic policies in this 2009Q1. Just being less corporate welfare whorish than WOAT Bush, but still whorish, is NOT "change that I can believe in".

offshore outsourcing of drive thru

article on how Jack In The Box fast-food restaurant (same niche as McDonalds), in its Charlotte restaurants, has started using offshored drive-thru order takers.

ESPN2 Aus Open schedule

BTW, peep the Hewitt pic of dunny doing his classic "come on" gesture.

ESPN2 has stepped up their tennis coverage tremendously.

IIRC, it was just 3 years ago when ESPN was derided/ethered by Jon Wertheim as "Eternally Shafting Players Non-American". They would stay showing rerun blowouts of the Williams sisters & Roddick, while a live epic 5-set match was going on bt non-Americans such as M Safin v F Gonzalez or some such. The only exception was the Non-American they vag-rided even more than the few American stars, Maria Sharapova.

Sharapova is injured this year, so we don't have to bare her-shrieking unsportsmanlike anorexic ass this year preempting more interesting matches.

But ESPN2 aka "the deuce" (no scatalogical jic) is rolling mad hours of live coverage.

Well done ESPN.

Here's the ESPN2 sched (source tennis.com):

ESPN2 live schedule
Mon Jan-19 21:00-02:00
Tue Jan-20 03:30-08:00, 22:00-02:00
Wed Jan-21-Thu Jan-22 03:30-08:00, 23:00-02:00
Fri Jan-23 03:30-08:00, 19:00-21:30, 23:30-02:00
Sat Jan-24 03:30-08:00, 22:00-01:30
Sun Jan-25 03:30-08:00, 21:00- 01:30
Mon Jan-26 03:30-06:00, 21:30-01:30 QF
Tue Jan-27 03:30-06:00 QF, 21:30-02:00 QF
Wed Jan-28 03:30-06:00 QF, 21:30-01:30 W SF
Thu Jan-29 03:30-06:00 M SF, 23:00-01:00 WD F
Fri Jan-30 03:30-06:00 M SF
Sat Jan-31 03:30-05:30 W F
Sun Feb-01 03:30-06:30 M F

Ravi Batra on the 2008 Financial Crisis

Economist Dr Ravi Batra's essay breaks down the 2008 Financial Crisis like an organic compound, no Keith Murray. Batra's website here, unfortunately he doesn't update it much, but will drop some essays periodically.

Batra is mad nice, too bad Obama overlooked "economists who called it correctly" like Batra & Dean Baker, in favor of 90s Clinton retreads who got it wrong like Larry Summers.