A company fails. So, they go to the government for a bailout. Because of their willingness/need for this bailout, people lose confidence in the company. Therefore, investors pull out. The bailout funds initially received are now quite insufficient. The company goes back to the government. Repeat.

I’m sure AIG isn’t the only company headed into that loop. I’m sure the American automobile industry will head that way, soon enough (they may have already).

So what are the limits to this bailout mentality? What’s truly disturbing about it is that all of this is happening to companies that are considered to be “vital” to the American economy. So, we’re essentially bullied into forking over money that doesn’t exist–after all, we’d be heartless to let companies fail and people be out of work. However, how long can debt be run up before we just collapse because of the consequences of it?

I’m thinking the consequences of acting the way we are, if there is no interrupt of this loop, may be far greater than if we had let the likes of AIG fail.

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

Just in case the theory of global warming is really true, I thought I would capture snow in these parts so that the next generations will believe me. lol.

Prepare for a shock…

And, the grand finale…

(link)

I finally got a data plan this week. It’s my very first ever. The phone I got is a Samsung Omnia. I had been tempted just to switch over to AT&T and get an iPhone, but Verizon has just been too good to me. Their coverage is wonderful, and I know more than a couple people who want to switch to Verizon from AT&T just for that reason. The only problem I’ve ever had with coverage was in Minnesota.

Anyhoo, the phone is pretty cool. It has a 5MP camera, which is 1MP better than the Kodak EasyShare that I have. The image quality is pretty awesome. Below is the lovely Ruthie.

Ruthie Pic

The phone also does video fairly well, up to 640×480. Not too bad, for a phone. YouTube on the go is now a reality, if I ever find anything funny or sensational enough to put up there. lol.

I’m not really running Windows much anymore, so I’m relying on a VM and samba to get files back and forth–e.g., music and videos to fill up the 8GB of capacity in this puppy.

I tethered the phone to my lappy this morning, so I know that it is possible. That’s another reason why having a Windows Mobile device is nice–it’s fairly easily hackable. It’ll be good for any places where WiFi isn’t around…certainly better than relying on NetZero or something, me thinks. Verizon has a 5GB/mo cap. As long as I just use Verizon for surfing, I don’t think I’ll come close to that…no WoW on that connection. lol.

To fund the phone, I eBayed off my iPod Touch and KRZR. While the Touch was awesome, the idea of having everything in one was intriguing; now I don’t need two separate devices on me. Also, Windows Mobile has certainly come along nicely. It’s still not as slick as the iPhone in interface, but in features it delivers everything I need and then some.

In other news, it just won’t stop raining around here. My folks were headed to Mesa today for spring training, and I certainly hope that they’ll get nothing but sun out there–we usually have before. The Cubs are 3-0, so they’re headed into AZ with the Cubs playing well for these first few days in exhibition.

Galactica is just all fraked up. It’ll be really interesting to see how these last three episodes shape up (technically 4, but they’re airing the last two on the same night).

Frodo, Ruthie’s new pug, graduates from puppy training tomorrow…cap, gown and all. Maybe I should buy him a steak 🙂 There will be pictures, so I’ll post them when I get the chance 😀

Let it be known that, as of this morning, I have stimulated the economy. I paid off my very first long-term car loan with my Fed tax return. w00 h00! It gives me more monthly moola to play around with 😀 Of course, at this point, I’m going to save most of it for excursions for the cruise in August.

This makes the Kevin smile greatly 😀

That is all…

Oink, oink, oink

In cut, for those who don’t know about current events

It amazes me, the resiliency of this country. People spend time and time again, bashing each other for their political or philosophical beliefs. We debate and elect new leadership–which at this point is a fairly polar proposition, nearly half-and-half.

And then comes the magical day where it all comes to fruition: the peaceful transition of power known to few places in the world.

Say what you want about Bush or Obama, but the way this country is able to handle such power transfer is absolutely astounding. Even as a citizen who has voted in the past three elections now, it truly has me in awe how great this nation is.

Of course, I think it would’ve been cool if Bush or staff had done something cool, like leave “change” in the presidential desk–it certainly would’ve been far less destructive or disruptive than removing all ‘W’s from keyboards 😉

Beyond all of that, though, I was checking out the new White House website, particularly the “Agenda” section that I’ve linked to here about Iraq…

“Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe we must be as careful getting out of Iraq as we were careless getting in…”

I mean, W.T.F?!?! His first day in office, and that very statement alone sounds like campaign rhetoric?!?! On the official website of the Executive Branch?!?! It irked me enough when the guy so brazenly made up the “Office of the President Elect”, but geez. You need talk about policy on the website, the direction you want the country to go from here. You don’t bash the leaders of the past. He already won the presidency, and for this to be posted on the official website of the Executive Branch is just beyond horrendous.

So, Ruthie and I went on the big tour today of the Jack Daniel’s Distillery in Lynchburg, TN. It was really cool. It sort of reminded me of that Family Guy episode where Peter wins a golden ticket to the Pawtucket Pat Brewery, without the benefit of tasting all of the bubbly…ironically enough, Lynchburg is a dry county.

It’s the craziest irony ever, that they make whiskey in a dry county. Not only are they missing out on retail revenue streams, but also tax. I asked a number of shop owners in the small downtown area why the county was dry. I got a varied number of answers. One was a conspiracy theory that said the corporation liked it that way, one gave the answer that having a couple of liquor stores or bars may bring undesirable consequences and the need for more police, and still another said that there really weren’t enough people in the county to mount a campaign for referendum to bring it back. Collectively, no one said they knew the real reason; it was all just speculation.

In any case, the distillery was quite awesome. I would highly recommend it to anyone who might ever be in the Lynchburg area. We also stopped off at a very nice resturaunt called Cattywumpus. It was essentially a very fancy little hole-in-the-wall diner. They made up fried chicken as if it were gourmet, and it certainly tasted such.

Very nice way to celebrate the last day of the Bush Administration…with booze–even if there was none had. heh.