Why Do Letters to the Editor Stink So Much Nowadays?

I used to enjoy reading the letters-to-the-editor in newspapers.  While I know they were always the vehicle of choice for the raving loons, they were in the minority and the rest usually made for an interesting read.  Historically, it always seemed like it was a forum for reacting to a previous story in the paper or a local controversy.  Throw in some "Good Samaritan thank yous" or complaints about potholes or dogs on the loose and you had your typical section.  Heck even the loons were usually writing about local issues.

But now it seems like it is almost all rants on national topics.  Some guy calling for Bush to be impeached or someone likening Obama to Lenin or something.  Nothing is added to the conversation, no insight given (except, of course, that the author is an idiot) yet column inch after inch is devoted to this garbage.  It's like reading your typical political blog, with better spelling.  Everybody is a pundit.  And a poor one at that.

I'll admit I've written a few letters to the RGJ.  Heck I think I've even won a few of their Silver Pen awards (FYI:  The pen stinks. The mug, though, is pretty cool.)  But each one of those was in response to an RGJ story or column on a local issue.  I think all of them were critiques on the premise, or purpose, of said story, but it didn't involve name calling, citing of vast conspiracies or other crap that is the ranter's stock in trade.  It was just making a point.

The reason I bring this up is a letter in Saturday's RGJ.  You've probably seen a variation of it before.  The anger, the stupid solution and, of course, the horrendously bad math.  This time it is the bailout and how instead of spending the $7 trillion on corporate fat cats, because we all know it is going directly into their personal accounts, a better fix would be to give each American a million dollars.  Why?  Because "one million times 306 (million) is a hell of a lot less than seven trillion."

Luckily our intrepid economist is called on his stupidity and lack of math skills by those commenting.  Still, you have to wonder how crap like this makes the cut for inclusion.

Going Out of Business Scheme

Here in Reno almost every major intersection for the past few months has had at least one sign waver touting some bankrupt business (Mervyn's, Linens 'n Things, Circuit City and numerous furniture stores) and the "huge" 10 to 90 percent savings available.  Of course, anyone who has walked into one of those places with a skeptical eye can see the prices usually still stink.  Forty percent off an inflated price is still somewhat inflated.  ABC News has a nice bit on how the Going-Out-of-Business business works and why it still does.

Black Friday Might Turn Red

We've all heard the doom and gloom predictions for this year's Christmas retail season, but if this poll from American Research Group is even remotely within shouting distance of accuracy it would be an all-time worst.

The 1,100 people polled by ARG said they were planning to spend an average $423 this holiday season. That would be a 50-percent decline from 2007. Heck, it would be a 59-percent drop from 2001 spending ($1,052). In fact, in the prior 10 years the lowest amount was last year's $859.

Hopefully this is what would be called an outlier poll. But, then again, ARG was the fifth most accurate polling outfit for the presidential election.

So be prepared for Black Friday retail numbers to be all the buzz this weekend. And, hopefully, higher than the one above.

Freakonomics' Levitt Probably Made UAW's Hit List

The Freakonomics blog over at the NYT is one of my must-reads.  Always interesting stuff in a field too few people seem to understand, or even want to, but should.  Today, Steven Levitt wrote about GM and their problems and probably pissed off a few million card-carrying union members in the process with the line below.  But he is right.

To me, one of the greatest benefits of bankruptcy is that the bankruptcy judge could break the unions in a way that will likely never happen otherwise.

Time's Halperin Points Out Media's "Extreme Bias" On Election Coverage

"It's the most disgusting failure of people in our business since the Iraq war," said Time magazine's Mark Halperin at the Politico/USC conference on the 2008 election. "It was extreme bias, extreme pro-Obama coverage."

Not everyone agreed, the L.A. Times' Mark Barabak didn't, but the article did note,"Still, Halperin's general point met with little resistance."

"Team of Rivals" Theme Takes a Hit

While "Team of Rivals" storyline seems to be all the rage, though it remains to be seen if Barack Obama's cabinet picks truly mirror those of Abraham Lincoln, some historians are saying Doris Kearns Goodwin's book glossed over some of the difficulties.  Lincoln did bring in bitter enemies, but the results weren't always pretty.

"Consider this inconvenient truth: Out of the four leading vote-getters for the 1860 Republican presidential nomination whom Lincoln placed on his original team, three left during his first term -- one in disgrace, one in defiance and one in disgust," writes Matthew Pinkster in an L.A. Times piece titled Lincoln and the Myth of 'Team of Rivals'.

And The Boston Globe wonders if it is a wise strategy in today's world.

"I question the entire concept of 'Team of Rivals' being sound," said Douglas Brinkley, a Rice University historian and author. In Obama's case, he said, "It's not organic, and it's not realistic. It's a very ethereal idea being played on a high level, and it's based on a false historical analogy."

A Primer On How To Skip Out On Your Mortgage

An SFGate story titled "Are You an Idiot to Keep Paying Your Mortgage?" pretty much sums it up.  Another government fix that looks to shaft the responsible and reward the stupid.  Unreal.

Love the quote by Peter Schiff, president of Euro Pacific Capital.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Schiff says. "People are going to feel like complete morons if they don't participate. The people getting punished are the ones who never made an irresponsible decision to buy a house they couldn't afford."

The government is offering loan servicers $800 for every homeowner they get into the plan.

Schiff predicts that loan agents "will be cold-calling people trying to get them into it. Just like they encouraged people to overstate their income to get a bigger loan in the first place, now they will encourage them to understate their income to qualify for a smaller loan."

Does Anybody Use McDonald's Wi-Fi?

A few years ago I had stopped at McDonald's during one of their Monopoly promotions and ended up winning a free entry or two for fantasy football teams with CBS Sportsline.  It was one of the consolation prizes but, considering my addiction to Yahoo sports fantasy leagues, a relatively cool one.

This year I ended up with some game pieces and "won" an hour of  free Wi-Fi at participating McDonald's restaurants.  I didn't even know they offered it, let alone charge for it.  Of course, after looking at their site, it appears only one Reno location has it (1071 Steamboat Parkway).  Strangely, Carson City has three.

Well anyways, another consolation prize that might be considered cool but one I have no use for.  So if anybody out there has a pining to surf the web along with a Big Mac and fries, go ahead and email me (my contact link is over on the left) and I'll send you the code and instructions.

Change You Can Conceive In?

All of all the story angles concerning election night, this Newsweek piece probably reaches the true nadir.  But it does have a quote from a Reno woman.  That counts for something, right?

"On election night, my husband had managed to down a bottle and a half of wine in celebration and he was all about making an 'Obama election baby'," Abbi Whitaker, 32, of Reno, Nev., told NEWSWEEK. "He thought it would be the coolest thing."

Apparently Junk Mail Isn't Feeling the Economic Pinch

With almost every sector feeling the economic pinch you would think junk mail would also fall victim to cutbacks.  I mean, locally you have the RGJ's Sunday help wanted section barely at a page and a half nowadays and jobs stalwart IGT laying people off.  Cripes, even the Denny's in south Reno closed a month or two ago, and aren't they about the most recession-proof restaurant there is?

Yet in a two-day period I received the following:

• Allstate wanting me to switch car insurance and save $353.
• Inc. magazine offering me a year subscription for $5.
• Fast Company magazine wanting me to re-up with a 2-for-1 deal for $12.
• The World Wildlife Fund wanting me to save polar bears for $16.
• Bankers Life and Casualty Co. warning me of what Medicare doesn't cover.  Not sure who they bought that mailing list from, but they are off by a couple decades.
  
• Bankers Life and Casualty Co. warning someone who doesn't live at this address of what Medicare doesn't cover.
• Chase offering those checks to access your credit line (0.99% until 05/09 or 6.99% until paid off).
• One of those "Dear Resident" offers from a Meadowood Mall store for a free Samsung Fin cell phone if we sign our lives away to Helio.
• Our first Christmas Card.  It was from the Reno Salvation Army.  The wanted a donation.
• Another local charity, St. Vincent's Center, asking for a donation for their food pantry.
  
• Trader Joe's Thanksgiving flier.  Lot's of great food, though a little weird that it was in the same batch as St. Vincent's letter.
• A special investment opportunity in a diesel scrubbing muffler!  Yes, ENVI.PK is "set to skyrocket" says the investment newsletter editor who has sold out.

Apparently bulk mail isn't suffering.  Just the recipients.

14 Paid Holidays?

No wonder California's budget is so out of whack.  State employees receive 14 paid holidays annually.  Can the average Californian (well, those not employed by the state) even name 10 of them?

Apparently Gov. Schwarzenegger wants to lop off a pair of them, Lincoln's Birthday and Columbus Day, to help trim the state's $28 billion budget deficit.  Needless to say, union officials aren't too keen on the idea.

And on a related note, isn't it about time we laid to rest the old wives tale of how public sector employees have it so much worse than the private sector.  Perhaps decades ago it may have held a little water, but no more.

Apparently Begging For Money Doesn't End When the Election Does

Even winning the biggest election prize there is doesn't bring an end to a campaign's onslaught of "send us money" emails.  Twice this week the Barack Obama camp has sent out "Get your Victory Shirt" emails.  The catch, though, is you need to bail out the DNC with a $30+ contribution.

The interesting part, and the reason I put $30+, was not everyone received the same email.  If you were a relatively cheap bastard, or didn't send a dime to the Obama campaign, you received the "Donate $30 or more" email for your shirt.  But, as Craig Stoltz at Wb2.Oh...Really? found out, some received an email with a request for $100.  As he explained, his friend had previously donated in $100 increments while he went the $25 a month route.  She received the $100 beg.

Another person hit up for $100 was Slate's Dahlia Lithwick.  I think it was the last straw.  Read The Audacity of Email: Dear Mr. President-elect, please take me off your spam list.  It's funny and sad.

Where All Those Political TV Ad Dollars Went

I meant to post the NYT's Ad Wars page a week or so before the election but never got around to it.  But perhaps it's better now as it has the final totals of the TV spots aired for both the Barack Obama and John McCain campaigns.  If you are a McCain fan, it wasn't pretty.  The Obama camp outspent him $236 million to $125.5 million from April 3rd on.

What makes the site most interesting, though, is the map which shows where the dollars were spent.  Check out Florida and Indiana to see how Obama changed them to blue.

Local Blogs Go To The Dogs ... Literally

I doubt they consulted each other, but both Ryan Jerz and Texex went the canine route Tuesday for a refreshing break from politics.

If you click through to Jerz, make sure you check out his tilt shift test on Viddler.  It's pretty cool.

Rasmussen and Pew Most Accurate 2008 Presidential Polls

Rasmussen Reports and Pew were the most accurate presidential polling outfits this election says Fordham University's Costas Panagopoulos.  Both nailed the actual results with their final polls.

Interestingly, some of the bigger more publicized polls were the most inaccurate.  Newsweek's brought up the rear in 23rd place.  CBS, NBC, ABC, Gallup, Zogby and The New York Times all finished in the bottom half.  Of course, some of the poor performers also had the furthest out polling dates too.

Most of the polls, 17 of them, had overestimated Barack Obama's strength.

All Blogged Out

Not sure if it was the marathon election night live blogging session over at Swift or just a culmination of too much presidential politics for way too long.  Either way, is it possible to get blogged out?  Feels like it here.

I get a feeling I'm not alone.  My Google Reader, which was buried on a daily basis up until Tuesday, cooled off considerably once the night was over.  Local and national political blogs seemed to take a rest.  Even Newsbusters, which seemed to find bias (whether it was truly there are not) in about 40 stories a day, has apparently calmed down since November 4.  Heck, even Zeke failed to post on the fifth.

Apparently The Wall Street Journal was thinking along the same lines (well, not about Zeke), as they pondered what's next for all the big political sites that will feel the inevitable traffic downturn.

Where To Find Us for Live Blogging the Election

I've mentioned it before, but figured one more plug couldn't hurt.

Ryan Jerz and I have been blogging over at Road to the White House for the Swift Communications' family of newspapers the past few weeks as sort of a build-up to live-blogging election day.  Well, after what seems like forever, November 4th is only hours away.  So if you are interested in our take on what's happening Tuesday go on over to America Votes.  Heck, I even jumped the gun and posted those early New Hampshire results.

Dixville Notch and Hart's Location Goes For Obama

The dueling "first in the nation" New Hampshire townships agree on at least one thing this presidential election -- they both want Barack Obama for president.

In Dixville Notch, Obama won with 15 votes.  John McCain had 6.

Hart's Location, meanwhile, gave Obama 17 votes to McCain's 10.  Ron Paul received two write-in votes.

Gibbons Cleared In FBI Probe

That's what his attorney is saying tonight.

Now he just has to worry about all those lawsuits.