Monday, November 10, 2008

Big Random Post

The cafe was actually a little busy today. I even did something other than set up and tear down my work station, wash dishes, and stand around with my thumb up my butt. Wow. Business still dies a couple hours before close, but if we can make the rest of the day consistent, then I think we will be OK. Maybe.

At least I don't work for (or draw a pension from) GM. The stock hit a 60-year low at around $3 a share. That's not a typo. GM, which since I've been old enough to read the stock page in the newspaper has traded $50, $60, $70 a share with spikes over $100 is now at $3. And according to Deutsche Bank's Rod Lache, the stock is still over-valued. It's actual worth is $0. But never fear! That's what we have suckers... er... taxpayers for! Bailing out companies that can't figure out how to make products that people want to buy!

In other news, internet DDoS (distributed denial of service) attacks are growing in their volume and sophistication. We're not talking about bored college kids anymore. These are government-sponsored attacks. I realized after reading the article that is has been a while since I ran Shields Up!, which does a very thorough job of checking for cracks in your defenses. It found none, which I believe is the first time I've ever had that happen with a Windows PC. I don't believe for a second that Microsoft has magically plugged every security hole, but rather that my cable company did an excellent job with the default firewall settings on the cable modem.

Obama plans to start converting us over to socialism with a bang. The nice part about falling out of the middle class is that we won't be funding it directly (just indirectly through reduced employment, lower wages and higher prices). On a side note, I would think Obama would prefer to avoid metaphores employing words like "bang." And off the side of the side note (with most humble apologies to Arlo Guthrie), we have Fred Reed's thoughts on Obama, blowing up weddings, the economy, and more.

Good news. The sun appears to be starting the next solar cycle. That's probably a good thing. If Uncle Al and Friends think global warming is a problem, try an ice age. Even a mild one will convince you that cold is a much bigger problem than warm.

Still not depressed enough to quit reading this? Yahoo! Finance has a new feature called Tech Ticker. In spite of the name, probably fewer than one-in-five of the video shorts deal with technology companies. Anyway, just click on the link. The latest video will start automatically, then the next previous, etc. in typical backwards blog order. Just sit back and let 'em run. It's a very interesting experience. Makes you want to just run out and start buying stuff.

Feh. I don't think Santa will be coming to North America this year.

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