Good Morning, Mr President. It's a New Day

Yesterday was as much a watershed moment for this country as any in our history. I thought President Obama's speech struck the right tone. It was inspiring yet somber. It offered a great balance of vision, pragmatism, and idealism. Most importantly, his speech was a clarion call. He's calling us all to return to a participatory government: participatory not just in the sense of choosing our leaders, but in actually following them to get the work of the nation done:

We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions -- that time has surely passed.

Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

Similarly:

What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility -- a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

Obama portrayed his response to the moment at hand as ideology-free: 

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions, who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short, for they have forgotten what this country has already done, what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose and necessity to courage. 

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them--that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works--whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified.

Yes, we can. We are in for some interesting times, and I can't help but smile.

The full speech can be read here and watched here. An awesome satellite image of the Washington Mall during the inauguration can be seen here.

Before we witness history today, let's remember another historical night..

Inauguration Day Schedule

The oath of office will be administered to the President-elect and the Vice President-elect on the steps of the United States Capitol in Washington, DC on January 20, 2009 beginning at 11:30 a.m. The Presidential Inauguration Committee has announced the official program for the inaugural swearing-in ceremony as follows: 

Musical Selections
The United States Marine Band
The San Francisco Boys Chorus and the San Francisco Girls Chorus

Call to Order and Welcoming Remarks
The Honorable Dianne Feinstein

Invocation
Dr. Rick Warren, Saddleback Church, Lake Forest, CA

Musical Selection
Aretha Franklin

Oath of Office Administered to Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
By Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, The Honorable John Paul Stevens

Musical Selection, John Williams, composer/arranger
Itzhak Perlman (Violin), Yo-Yo Ma (Cello), Gabriela Montero (Piano), Anthony McGill (Clarinet)

Oath of Office Administered to President-elect Barack H. Obama
By the Chief Justice of the United States, The Honorable John G. Roberts, Jr. 

Inaugural Address
The President of the United States, The Honorable Barack H. Obama

Poem
Elizabeth Alexander

Benediction
The Reverend Dr. Joseph E. Lowery

The National Anthem
The United States Navy Band "Sea Chanters" 

Presidential Inaugural Parade

January 20, 2009, 2:30 p.m. 

The New York Times has an excellent interactive map and other details here.

The Financial Crisis Worsens

Free market economic system, my ass. This week, the government announced another round of bailouts for the banking industry:

Two weeks after closing its purchase of Merrill Lynch at the urging of federal regulators, the government cemented a deal at midnight Thursday to supply Bank of America with a fresh $20 billion capital injection and absorb as much as $98.2 billion in losses on toxic assets..

The second lifeline brings the government’s total stake in Bank of America to $45 billion and makes it the bank’s largest shareholder, with a stake of about 6 percent.

 

By the way, the graph above shows Bank of America's stock price over the past year (down nearly 80%). 

The government also announced that Chrysler Financial would be getting a $1.5 billon loan. And there are rumors that Wells Fargo might also need more capital. Unfortunately, there are more casualties:

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp said National Bank of Commerce of Berkeley, Illinois and Bank of Clark County of Vancouver, Washington were closing with other banks taking over their insured deposits. In 2008, 25 banks were seized by officials, up from just 3 in 2007.

And:

Circuit City became the largest retailer to fall victim to the expanding financial crisis Friday, announcing it will shut down its remaining 567 U.S. stores at the cost of 34,000 more jobs after failing to sell the business.

He's Only Got a Few Days Left..

We might as well pile it on. Here's a funny compilation of David Letterman's Great Moments in Presidential Speeches:

Because George W. Bush Was President..

Blogger Ezra Klein nails it:

At this point, the facts of the case are clear. Because George W. Bush was president, innocent people died in large numbers. Because George W. Bush was president, the earth warmed and disaster edged nearer. Because George W. Bush was president, more children live in poverty. Because George W. Bush was president, the rich wield more power. Because George W. Bush was president, more people hate America. Because George W. Bush was president, more Americans view the presidency cynically. Because George W. Bush was president, this country is worse off, and this world is worse off. He betrayed us. I have no interest in engaging the debate that asks whether he was a cynical monster or a hapless fool. It is enough to say he was a failure, and leave it at that. He can spend the rest of his life giving speeches to justify his actions. But he will never be able to drown out the roar of his record.

Don't Fall For It

Like any commodity subject to the forces of supply and demand, oil prices go up and down, but as the graph on the left shows, 2008 was as especially volatile year. Oil prices reached the highest in history at more than $147 per barrel in July (resulting in $4/gal gas prices), then plummeted to under $37 per barrel last month (it's now at $34). Historically, volatility is a sign of an unstable market whose direction is uncertain. 

So what happened?

One of the main reasons why the price of oil has dropped through the floor is because, in the past four months, demand has reduced due to the global recession. But that doesn't fully explain the volatility in the market. A recent article in BusinessWeek and a report by 60 Minutes suggest a reason why oil/gas prices are swinging as much as they have been: speculation. 60 Minutes explains:

To understand what happened to the price of oil, you first have to understand the way it's traded. For years it has been bought and sold on something called the commodities futures market. At the New York Mercantile Exchange, it's traded alongside cotton and coffee, copper and steel by brokers who buy and sell contracts to deliver those goods at a certain price at some date in the future. 

It was created so that farmers could gauge what their unharvested crops would be worth months in advance, so that factories could lock in the best price for raw materials, and airlines could manage their fuel costs. But more than a year ago those markets started to behave erratically. And when oil doubled to more than $147 a barrel, no one was more suspicious than Dan Gilligan. As the president of the Petroleum Marketers Association, he represents more than 8,000 retail and wholesale suppliers, everyone from home heating oil companies to gas station owners. 

When 60 Minutes talked to him last summer, his members were getting blamed for gouging the public, even though their costs had also gone through the roof. He told Kroft the problem was in the commodities markets, which had been invaded by a new breed of investor. 

"Approximately 60 to 70 percent of the oil contracts in the futures markets are now held by speculative entities. Not by companies that need oil, not by the airlines, not by the oil companies. But by investors that are looking to make money from their speculative positions," Gilligan explained. Gilligan said these investors don't actually take delivery of the oil. "All they do is buy the paper, and hope that they can sell it for more than they paid for it. Before they have to take delivery." 

"They're trying to make money on the market for oil?" Kroft asked. 

"Absolutely," Gilligan replied. "On the volatility that exists in the market. They make it going up and down." 

In other words, the oil market is like a casino with people betting that the future price will go up or down. The thing is they don't care if the price goes up and down. They can make money either way. 

Considering the economic crisis, most consider low gas prices a welcome respite. However, I wouldn't expect gas prices to stay this low for long. Unfortunately, people are already starting to buy SUVs and trucks again. They'll be kicking themselves when they have to shell out $100 to fill their tanks. 

Exit Strategy

During the last 8 years, the nation has seen the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, two wars that still rage, an illegal wiretapping program, a bungled response to Hurricane Katrina, and an economic crisis that has pushed the middle class, financial sector and the auto industry to the brink (to name a few). In an effort to not be known as the worst president in US history, President Bush has been desperately trying to defend his record (but as a good buddy of mine used to say, "you can't shine shit.") Needless to say, it's made for some very interesting theater. I was planning to write about it this week, but Jon Stewart did a much better (and funnier) job than I ever could:

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Six Days Seven Nights

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

The End of White America?

According to an August 2008 report by the U.S. Census Bureau, racial minorities will account for a majority of the U.S. population by the year 2042. Noting that "The Election of Barack Obama is just the most startling manifestation of a larger trend: the gradual erosion of “whiteness” as the touchstone of what it means to be American," in a fascinating article in The Atlantic, Hua Hsu asks:

If the end of white America is a cultural and demographic inevitability, what will the new mainstream look like—and how will white Americans fit into it? What will it mean to be white when whiteness is no longer the norm? And will a post-white America be less racially divided—or more so?

Tough questions, to be sure. I tend to think that post-white America will be less racially divided. Each new generation is more tolerant of different races and cultures. Although we are not there yet, I don't expect this to change. Hsu agrees:

..we aspire to be post-racial, but we still live within the structures of privilege, injustice, and racial categorization that we inherited from an older order. We can talk about defining ourselves by lifestyle rather than skin color, but our lifestyle choices are still racially coded. We know, more or less, that race is a fiction that often does more harm than good, and yet it is something we cling to without fully understanding why—as a social and legal fact, a vague sense of belonging and place that we make solid through culture and speech.

But maybe this is merely how it used to be—maybe this is already an outdated way of looking at things. “You have a lot of young adults going into a more diverse world,” Carter remarks. For the young Americans born in the 1980s and 1990s, culture is something to be taken apart and remade in their own image. “We came along in a generation that didn’t have to follow that path of race,” he goes on. “We saw something different.” This moment was not the end of white America; it was not the end of anything. It was a bridge, and we crossed it.

I'll drink to that. What I look forward to is not the end of white America but the end of a world where no social value or privilege is placed on the color of your skin.

The Plan

With grim economic news and forecasts, you may be wondering what the Obama administration (yes, it feels good writing that) is planning to do about it. Some of the key points: save or create 3 million jobs by doubling the production of alternative energy; weatherize 75% of federal buildings and two million American homes; computerize America’s medical records; update thousands of schools, community colleges, and public universities; expand broadband; and investing in science, research, and technology.

More Memories

Sometimes I'm not sure whether I should laugh or cry..

Get the latest news satire and funny videos at 236.com.

Two Terms Worth of Bushisms

BBC News has cataloged some of the most memorable Bush quotes. Enjoy: 

"There's an old saying in Tennessee - I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee - that says, fool me once, shame on... shame on you. Fool me - you can't get fooled again."
Nashville, Tennessee, 17 September, 2002

"For a century and a half now, America and Japan have formed one of the great and enduring alliances of modern times."
Tokyo, 18 February, 2002

"The ambassador and the general were briefing me on the - the vast majority of Iraqis want to live in a peaceful, free world. And we will find these people and we will bring them to justice."
Washington DC, 27 October, 2003

"You know, one of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror."
CBS News, Washington DC, 6 September, 2006

"Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?"
Florence, South Carolina, 11 January, 2000

"Too many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many OB/GYN's aren't able to practice their love with women all across the country."
Poplar Bluff, Missouri, 6 September, 2004

"Information is moving. You know, nightly news is one way, of course, but it's also moving through the blogosphere and through the Internets."
Washington DC, 2 May, 2007

"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully."
Saginaw, Michigan, 29 September, 2000

"I'll be long gone before some smart person ever figures out what happened inside this Oval Office."
Washington DC, 12 May, 2008

And finally, one of my favorites:

Down on the Pharm

In patients with hereditary antithrombin deficiency, a condition which is estimated to affect over 200,000 people in Europe, Canada and the United States, inadequate production of the protein antithrombin can increase susceptibility to excessive blood clots. This is dangerous because if the clot breaks free and travels to the lungs or brain, it can cause serious and sometimes fatal complications. The problem is human antithrombin is in short supply. The solution?

GTC Biotherapeutics, a Massachusetts company, has genetically engineered goats to produce a human form of the anticoagulant protein antithrombin in their milk. Once extracted from the goat's milk, the protein (which they've named ATryn) is indistinguishable from the antithrombin produced in humans. The goats have been carefully bred to maximize milk production, so that they produce as much of the drug as possible. They are, in other words, living drug factories. Thomas Newberry, the vice president of GTC Biotherapeutics, explains:

"The mammary gland itself has developed naturally to efficiently express a variety of proteins as nutrition for offspring...Our technology simply provides an extra bit of coding so the mammary gland also makes a protein with human therapeutic value."

"As an example, if you were to take all the donated human plasma in the U.S. and devote it to making plasma-derived antithrombin you could get about 100 kg per year," Newberry said.  "We can produce 100 kg per year of ATryn from about 150 goats."

As an added bonus, this new method..

..could slash the price of manufacturing protein-based medications, which are notoriously expensive, allowing drug makers to churn out affordable treatments for exotic diseases.

Although ATryn has already been approved for use in Europe, if approved by the FDA, it will be the first medication made by a genetically modified animal to be sold in the US.

For any of you who might be freaked out by this, realize that most of us have already taken drugs produced by another organism. Many antibiotics are made by bacteria.

Unemployment Hits a 16-year High

More bad economic news:

With the recession in full swing, the nation’s employers shed 524,000 jobs in December, the government reported Friday, and a rapidly deteriorating economy promised more significant losses in the months ahead. December’s job losses brought the total for 2008 to 2.6 million, spanning a recession that started 12 months ago.

The unemployment rate jumped to 7.2 percent in December from 6.8 percent in November and 5 percent last April, when the recession was four months old and just beginning to bite. More than 11 million Americans are now unemployed, and their growing ranks seem likely to put pressure on President-elect Barack Obama and Congress to act quickly on a stimulus package that mixes tax cuts and public spending.

“These numbers, back to back, of more than a half million a month suggest that the U.S. economy is in a freefall,” said Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at IHS Global Insight. “It’s scary, and it indicates that unless something is done and done quickly to turn this economy around, we’re looking at an awful situation this year.”

He Won't Be Missed

We are less than 2 weeks from finally getting our new President! Although George W Bush will likely be remembered for his handling of three catastrophes that all happened on his watch: the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Hurricane Katrina and the collapse of America’s financial system, let's compare some of the hard numbers from 2001 to now:

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

Then: 4.2% (Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 2001)
Now: 6.7% (Bureau of Labor Statistics, November 2008)

DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE
Then: 10,587 (close of Friday, Jan. 19, 2001)
Now: 9,015 (close of Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009)

BUSH FAVORABILITY RATING
Then: 50% (1/01 NBC/WSJ poll)
Now: 31% (12/08 NBC/WSJ poll)

SATISFIED WITH THE NATION'S DIRECTION

Then: 45% (1/01 NBC/WSJ poll)
Now: 26% (12/08 NBC/WSJ poll)

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE (1985=100)
Then: 115.7 (Conference Board, January 2001)
Now: 38.0, which is an all-time low (Conference Board, Dec. 2008)

FAMILIES LIVING IN POVERTY
Then: 6.4 million (Census numbers for 2000)
Now: 7.6 million (Census numbers for 2007)

AMERICANS WITHOUT HEALTH INSURANCE
Then: 39.8 million (Census numbers for 2000)
Now: 45.7 million (Census numbers for 2007)

U.S. BUDGET
Then: +236.2 billion surplus (2000, Congressional Budget Office)
Now: -$1.2 trillion deficit (projected for 2009, CBO)

President-elect Obama is calling for quick action by Congress to pass sweeping economic stimulus measures, saying that without them “this recession could linger for years.” I don't think he's kidding. Unemployment figures due out tomorrow are expected to show that the U.S. lost another 500,000 jobs in December and some economists are predicting that we'll lose another 1 million jobs over the next few months and the unemployment rate will reach 9% this year. 

By the way, The Daily Beast also takes a look back at some of the less memorable scandals this poor excuse for a chief executive has brought us. 

Be the Change

As a community organizer in the public housing projects in the South Side of Chicago in the mid-1980s, Obama learned some of his most important lessons about politics, leadership, and the paths to social change. Now the President-elect is calling for a renewed commitment to national service. He's launched a new website to enable Americans to find a volunteer opportunity in their neighborhood, or to create and host an event on their own. As Arianna Huffington noted in her blog this week:

The preamble of the Constitution starts with We the People. And it has never been clearer than it is now that we can't "form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity" without the active participation of millions of us. It is not just the Bush Years that should be over on January 20th, but also the expectation that a knight in shining armor will ride into town and save us while we cheer from the sidelines. Even if the knight is brilliant, charismatic, and inspiring. It's up to us -- We the People.

To get active in your community, please visit: http://www.usaservice.org/

Happy New Year, Ladies and Germs..

PSG is back!

ABC News has an interesting article which helps debunk a number of myths about germs. For example, can you get sick from sitting on public toilet seat? Nah:

"Just sort of sitting on the seat and having that contact with the skin on your butt isn't going to be a way of transmitting an infection," said Elizabeth Scott, co-director and founder of the Simmons Center for Hygiene and Health in Home and Community Settings at Simmons College in Boston. "I think that one's associated with the fact that we all find public toilets very disgusting," she said, adding that you were more likely to get sick from touching the toilet seat or the flush handle with your hand.

Dr. J. Owen Hendley, professor of pediatric infectious disease at the University of Virginia Children's Hospital, said that this myth has been a persistent one. Of getting an infection, he said, "I guess you could, but I've never known of a documented case where that actually happened."

Actually, your cell phone has many more germs than a public toilet seat or even the sole of your shoe.

Does antibacterial soap keep your hands cleaner than regular soap? Nope!

Given that regular soap and water removes the germs, there is no need for an antibacterial agent, and it probably won't work anyway. "The speed of action of these ingredients that are added is rather slow, so that they are not there on the hands long enough to present the desired level of reductions." said Syed Sattar, a professor emeritus of microbiology at the University of Ottawa.

In fact, antibacterial agents such as triclosan may create drug resistant strains of bacteria and that's not good for anyone (speaking of drug resistance, make sure you finish those antibiotics the doctor gives you, even if you are feeling better!). 

What about that old story about a dog's mouth being cleaner than a human's? 

If you heard this myth, it probably came from a dog lover as they justified why they let their pet lick their face. And in one sense, they may be right: A dog's mouth is likely to contain fewer microbes that are harmful to humans."If I were forced to be bitten by a dog or a human, I'd take a dog," said Hendley. But that doesn't mean a dog's mouth has fewer microbes, or that it's "clean." "I'm thinking, what was the dog last licking?" said Scott. Hendley and Scott noted that dogs tend to lick themselves, particularly after scraping themselves, and their mouths tend to come in contact with animal feces.