Ahmed Sharif donations (Stabbed New York cabbie)

Earlier this week, a man stepped into Ahmed Sharif's taxi cab in Manhattan.  He asked Sharif if he was Muslim.  When Sharif said yes, the attacker slit Sharif's throat and arm.  Sharif survived the brutal attack but cannot work for at least four months.  He supports his wife and four children.  One of them is just 10 months old.  Donations to help the Sharif family so far has been lackluster.

Story.
Donate.

Obama and Clinton presidential announcements

I am capping off the summer reading season by reading Game Change.  It's about the 2008 U.S. presidential election.  It's an in-depth, thorough, and very private look into the Obama, Clinton, and McCain campaigns, the candidates themselves, and their families.

I'm not really a political junkie, but for all of 2008, I was glued to MSNBC (especially Chuck Todd and Chris Matthews), the Huffington Post, even the Drudge Report to get any snippet of gossip, factoid, or trend about how blue collar Neptunian-American females ages 19-35 voted in the last six elections in Polk County, Iowa.

Here are Obama and Clinton's "announcements".  First, look how young they looked in 2008.  Second, their styles and the messages they conveyed are so...disparate.

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham's BMW toy car

I was perusing the New York Times magazine this morning when I came across this article about Republican Senator and Joe Lieberman bff Lindsey Graham.

In the photo of his office, there is a die cast model of an E36 BMW 3 series.  No doubt it was given to him by BMW as there is a factory in Spartanburg, South Carolina.  As the 318i/is was the only E36 produced there, I shall assume the model is a 318.

Ah, only an obsessive-compulsive car nut with a penchant for die cast model cars would make such a random observation.

The car is below the flag

Ex-HP CEO Carly Fiorina attack ad

The U.S. Senate seat battle in California has so far been sedate.  Tom Campbell, Haas Business School's former dean and former Stanfurd Law professor, is pitted against Carly Fiorina, former head of Hewlett-Packard.  The winner gets to duke it out with Senator Barbara Boxer this November.  I have always respected Campbell and may even vote for him this time around.  I must say that I'm a bit surprised at the ferocity of this attack ad.  I always thought he was a gentleman.  But then again, everything in this ad is true.

Jerry Brown's cars

I miss election season.  Fortunately, it is about to start here in California.  So who is going to replace Arnold as our governor?  Well, it looks like it will either be former governor (and former Oakland mayor and current California Attorney General) Jerry Brown or former Ebay head Meg "I supported Barbara Boxer but am now endorsed by Dick Cheney, and oh, by the way, I neglected to vote for decades" Whitman.

Brown is an interesting guy.  When he came into office as governor in 1975, he saved money by eschewing the governor's mansion and moved into a small apartment.  He refused to use a limousine, riding instead in two blue 1974 Plymouth Satellites (one for Southern California, one for Northern California.)  Here, he is reminiscing about the car's bench seat and his then girlfriend Linda Ronstadt.

His newer car, a Toyota Camry Hybrid, made news recently when two of its wheels were stolen outside his Oakland home.

My prediction is that if he wins this November, he will keep his sensible Camry Hybrid as his official car.  We'll see.

Jerry Brown's 1-800 Number

1-800-426-1112.

I can't believe I still remember that number. As an idealistic high schooler, I was a fervent supporter of Brown for president. My senior year poli sci project was about my work on his campaign. My first car accident (of two in my whole life) took place as I was leaving a campaign rally in Venice Beach (I got to shake Gov. Moonbeam's hand). I even had a Brown for president bumper sticker on my Isuzu Impulse SE.

Well, much has happened since '92. I am more realistic. I pay taxes. I am more cynical. And the Golden State is a lot less golden. I don't know how I'm going to vote. But if this state is going to turn around, it has to confront (and possibly eliminate) Prop. 13 and the whole propositions process.

P.S. I just tried that number. It belongs to Brown's campaign.

1972 Pontiac propaganda film: Protectionist Xenophobes Unite!

Via Japanese Nostalgic Car.

Demon Sheep Ad Is Entertaining And Tragic

The California election season has finally become interesting. For months, I have had to endure low-grade coma-inducing AM radio ads by Meg Whitman for Governor. The former eBay head, who has a near perfect record of never voting in her life, spent tens of millions of dollars boring millions of Californians with her substance-free ads.

But finally, something to write home about. Ex-HP head Carly Fiorina is going up against Tom Campbell for Barbara Boxer's U.S. Senate seat in the GOP primary. Fiorina was not exactly spectacular when she tried to support McCain for president. She was the go-to person for McCain's policies on the economy. She also said Palin was not fit to run a company like HP. Way to support the team.

Now, Fiorina has this Demon Sheep ad, accusing her opponent of being an adorably evil but benign man dressed in a sheepskin seat cover with red LED eyes. The narrator may win an Emmy for his gravitas-filled browbeating of Campbell. The ad has more stock footage than a local news piece about obesity (with obligatory shots of rotund citizens waddling down the sidewalk carrying milk shakes and fries, from the neck down, of course).

I respect and like Campbell. A lot. Even though I don't agree with many of his policies, he is very intelligent and extremely principled. Which makes all of this brouhaha even more tragic, in a fun way.

And did you catch that dig in the beginning against MEN?

Economists F.A. Hayek v. John Maynard Keynes Rap Song Video

This is for all you econ majors out there. Brought to you by a producer from Spike TV.

Fear the Boom And Bust:

What's On My Reading List

I read books in spurts. Sometimes it takes me two days to read a book. Other times, it takes me a month. You may have noticed that I keep a running tally of recent books I've read on the column to your right.

Here are books that I plan to read. Incidentally, I usually get my recommendations from the Sunday New York Times book review, The Economist book review, and Fresh Air interviews.

On my nightstand right now waiting to be read:

• Sven Hedin's Silk Road (Epic 10,000 mile journey in the 1930s)
• Ted Conover's Coyotes (How illegal migrants cross into America)
• Steinbeck's The Moon Is Down (Novel set in WWII Europe)

Books in my Amazon queue:

Central Asia

• Out of Steppe: The Lost Peoples of Central Asia
• Eurasian Crossroads: A History of Xinjiang
• Kashgar: Oasis City on China's Silk Road
• Dragon Fighter: One Woman's Epic Struggle for Peace with China (Biography of Rebiya Kadeer, Uyghur leader)
• Adventure on the Old Silk Road: From Venice to the Yellow Sea
• Afghanistan: A Companion and Guide
• The Great Gamble: The Soviet War In Afghanistan
• Inside Central Asia: A Political and Cultural History of Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan

History

• The Dutch Seaborne Empire: 1600-1800
• The Bloody White Baron: The Extraordinary Story of the Russian Nobleman Who Became the Last Khan of Mongolia
• The Siberian Curse: How Communist Planners Left Russia Out in the Cold
• The Last Resort: A Memoir of Zimbabwe

Cars

• Cars for Comrades: The Life of the Soviet Automobile
• The Routes of Man: How Roads Are Changing the World and the Way We Live Today

Food

• The Food of a Younger Land: A Portrait of American Food-- Before the National Highway System, Before Chain Restaurants, and Before Frozen Food, When the Nation's Food Was Seasonal

Social Science

• Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture
• Hos, Hookers, Call Girls, and Rent Boys: Professionals Writing on Life, Love, Money, and Sex
• Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan
• Strange Maps: An Atlas of Cartographic Curiosities
• Revolution!: South America and the Rise of the New Left
• Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime

Miscellaneous

• American on Purpose: The Improbably Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot (Craig Ferguson's memoir)

2010 Census PSA Ad Starring Ed Begley (Christopher Guest Production)

If you watched the Golden Globes last night, you saw the weird census PSA made by Christopher Guest and his friends. Ed Begley, Jr. stars as Payton Schlewitt, an obnoxious, clueless visionary of a director. I like the creativity but question whether this is a good way to spend part of the $340 million publicity campaign for the census. Seriously, don't you think the people who enjoy Waiting for Guffman and Best In Show are the people most likely to meticulously and religiously fill out census forms?

Anyways, the Schlewitt campaign is supposed to comprise of five parts over the coming months. Here is Part One. Again, Stiffler's mom steals the show.

How Rob Miller Raised Over $630,000 In Less Than A Day

Immediately after Rep. Joe Wilson yelled at Obama during the health care speech, I looked up Wilson's Democratic opponent. It was Rob Miller, a young Marine who served in Fallujah. I don't know about Miller's views, but I suspect that a white, ex-military, South Carolina Democrat is probably a Blue Dog. Whatever. It doesn't matter. In any event, I went to his fundraising site and noted that he had raised about $2,500 for his 2010 run against Wilson.

Well, thanks to Twitter and Daily Kos, progressives from around the country started pouring money into Miller's coffers. In less than 24 hours, 17,000 people have donated about $630,000 to his campaign. A one-million dollar goal may not be a pipe dream for this recent unknown.

So how did this happen? It had nothing to do with Miller (no offense to you, Mr. Miller). For almost the entire 2008 calendar year, people had been donating hundreds of millions of dollars in small increments to Obama online. They have not donated anything to anybody in OVER TEN MONTHS! Plus, people have been foaming at the mouth throughout the summer, listening to teabaggers, town hall crashers, Lyndon LaRouche cultists, Alaska hockey moms, and birthers spew vitriol and untruths non-stop. They had enough. The breaking point was Wilson's Tourettes-y yelp. After that, le deluge.

Rob Miller, Joe Wilson's Democratic Opponent

The highlight (or low) of tonight's Obama health care speech has to be South Carolina Representative Joe Wilson calling Obama a liar. The stare from Pelosi's eyes was priceless.

It seems that Wilson's Democratic opponent, Rob Miller, came sort of close to winning in 2008, despite a significant financial disadvantage. Just after the speech, only 25 people had donated about $2,500 to his 2010 campaign. Let's see how much attention he gets after this furor.

Update 1: In the last 12 hours, almost 4,000 people have donated $135,000 to Miller's campaign.

Update 2: It's been almost 24 hours since I first posted and Miller has about $630,000!

Health Care Debate

As I watch these protesters bum rushing town hall meetings, I want to ask the most belligerent anti-health care reform protester: Do you think Obama is a U.S. citizen? I then want to ask the most civil anti-health care reform protester: You want the free market to take care of everyone's health care needs; how well did an unregulated free market help the mortgage industry over the last decade?

What Are They Drinking at the Obama Beer Summit?

Obama (Bud Light): Obama can't be elitist so all microbrews and foreign beers are out. I assume he's health conscious so he wants something that's less filling and tastes great. Except Bud Light does not taste great.

Professor Gates (Red Stripe): I kinda understand why he chose a Jamaican beer. But ultimately, Red Stripe is owned by some faceless British conglomerate. Plus, it tastes like piss. How about a domestic beer from a minority-owned/operated microbrewery instead?

Sgt. Crowley (Blue Moon): Although I've never tried this pseudo-microbrew owned by Coors, I've heard good things about it. In this three-way beer competition, I declare Sgt. Crowley the winner.

Although unintentional, what are the chances that Gates and Crowley picked beers with colors in their names?

Guantanamo Uyghurs Going to Palau

I've talked about the plight of the Guantanamo Uyghurs before. It looks like they're going to end up in Palau, one of a handful of countries that recognizes Taiwan over China. In all likelihood, Obama and Clinton worked out a deal with Taiwan and Palau to admit the Uyghurs. China will no doubt be pissed. It will be interesting to see how all of this unfolds.

CKY

Native America Fights Back

After a day at Cache Creek Casino Resort, I've come to realize Native America's three weapons against its conquerors:

1. Tobacco
2. Corn (HFCS)
3. Gambling (Indian casinos)

This is karma.

CKY

Kazakhstan ChevWrong Poster

More (Burma, Canada, Iraq, USA, Ecuador, Philippines, and Nigeria) here.

CKY

Cars of Supreme Court Justices

Obama will probably nominate Sonia Sotomayor next week. With all this buzz about the Supremes, why not look at what our honorable justices drive?

1. Scalia drives a blue/silver E39 BMW.


2. Chief Justice Roberts drives a Honda Odyssey. He also has a Volvo and a PT Cruiser.

3. Justice Souter drives to and from his home in New Hampshire in this VW Passat. I'm quite proud to say I stirred up quite a minor storm in the blogosphere earlier this month when I raised the issue of Souter's car.


4. Clarence Thomas owns a black 1990 Corvette ZR-1. He raised a few eyebrows when his financial disclosures showed "extravagant" gifts to him like a performance chip and a set of tires. He also drives around the country in his Class A 40' RV. Here is Justice Thomas with Trump and his lovely wife. I believe the Daytona 500 jacket was a gift too.


5. Alito and his Dodge Grand Caravan. Exciting.


Bonus: Retired justice Sandra Day O'Connor drives a silver Buick.

I'm searching the rides of Breyer, Kennedy, Stevens, and Ginsburg. Rumor has it that Breyer drives a jalopy.

CKY

Which Politicians Are Outed By Outrage?

This year's biggest documentary will be Outrage, which "comes out" tomorrow. So which public officials are going to be outed?

• California Rep. David Dreier,
  
• Florida Gov. Charlie Crist,
  
• former Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman,
  
• ex-Louisiana Congressman Jim McCrery,
  
• former New York City Mayor Ed Koch,
• and ex-Idaho Sen. Larry "Wide Stance" Craig,
• ex-Virginia Congressman Ed Schrock.