And, on the 71st day, the President said...

Chrysler fiat

Let there be Chrysler!

From President Obama's statement on the GM/Chrysler restucturing/bailout:

"...The situation at Chrysler is more challenging. It's with deep reluctance but also a clear-eyed recognition of the facts that we've determined, after careful review, that Chrysler needs a partner to remain viable. Recently, Chrysler reached out and found what could be a potential partner -- the international car company Fiat, where the current management team has executed an impressive turnaround. Fiat is prepared to transfer its cutting-edge technology to Chrysler and, after working closely with my team, has committed to build -- building new fuel-efficient cars and engines right here in the United States. We've also secured an agreement that will ensure that Chrysler repays taxpayers for any new investments that are made before Fiat is allowed to take a majority ownership stake in Chrysler.

Still, such a deal would require an additional investment of taxpayer dollars, and there are a number of hurdles that must be overcome to make it work. I'm committed to doing all I can to see if a deal can be struck in a way that upholds the interests of American taxpayers. And that's why we'll give Chrysler and Fiat 30 days to overcome these hurdles and reach a final agreement -- and we will provide Chrysler with adequate capital to continue operating during that time. If they are able to come to a sound agreement that protects American taxpayers, we will consider lending up to $6 billion to help their plan succeed. But if they and their stakeholders are unable to reach such an agreement, and in the absence of any other viable partnership, we will not be able to justify investing additional tax dollars to keep Chrysler in business."

Now HERE'S an idea...

My wife and daughters keep talking about getting ourselves a Wii -- those game systems that allow you to play tennis, baseball, or the cello; bowl; box; pitch; and/or do long division (okay maybe not that last one) instead of actually going out to do any of those things.

Now, regular readers would think that such a thing would be right up my (bowling) alley. They'd be wrong. Call me old-fashioned, but, if you're going to bowl or play tennis or box, then, unless you live in an assisted living facility, get thee to a bowling alley, a tennis court, or a Gold's Gym. The odds are that the vast majority of Wii-owners do have the mobility to go out and participate in all these activities, so why do them virtually?

Don't worry, I do know why, but I needed a set up for this:

For those of us who,

on the one hand, have neither the intellectual capacity nor the extensive experience that can foster such feelings,

and,

on the other, are quite good at lying around the house,

I suggest a new gaming system that allows for inactivity within a virtual space where one's worldliness just weighs you down.

It's name?

You guessed it:

EN-Wii

Who could've predicted...?

...the US Women's Figure Skating team's poor performance at the World Championships?

Oh, that's right...please see my 1/25/09 post.

When picking a champion, judge the performance, not the effort/persistence of the athlete.

Is it just me...

1) ...or does the guy in drag and pretending he's pregnant, with the various kinds of nachos under his shirt in the Taco Bell television advertisement, look just like MSNBC host Rachel Maddow?

2) ...or do contestants on the quiz showJeopardy, when they manage to have a Daily Double opportunity in a fairly limited category (i.e., anything with initials, in quotation marks, or another one of those categories that Jeopardy writers love), always bet too low?
C'mon folks, there aren't that many possible answers, no one can beat you to the buzzer! Bet it all!

3)...or does it seem silly for the NCAA to investigate alleged UConn recruiting violations relating to a student who never played a game at UConn and has already been expelled? As readers of this blog know, I'm no fan of Jim Calhoun or his basketball program, but, if you're going to investigate and perhaps sanction the program, spend your time looking into potential violations concerning players who 1) have played or 2) are still enrolled or actually graduated.

4)...or will absolutely nothing good come of this whole HD transition? We already get way too much break-up on our connected-to-cable non-HD tv, and, just because the interference is in nice little pixilated strips of blocks, it's still bloody interference.

Whose idea was this again?

Educational Play or Pay

There's an appropriately doomed movement afoot in Connecticut to get public schools to repay the state any money it has been sent for each student who drops out before 1 April.

While the desire for reimbursement of its investment is understandable, the target of the repayment request should not be the schools; it should be the student and/or the student's family.

My wife, who is far smarter than I, has always thought that the portion of one's property taxes (or rent) that goes to education should be billed and and have to be paid separately. In this way, everybody, especially the students and their families, would see how much "free" education actually costs. If everyone saw the actual cost to each household, it's a good bet that most families would be far less casual in their approach to school. As it is now, the costs are hidden and easier to ignore. Making the total each household is paying each month (just like heat, gasoline, cable, food, and the rest of one's budget...) more evident, even without an increase of any kind, I'd bet, would yield an invaluable return in increased seriousness on behalf of the student and in the involvement/encouragement/pressure from the student's family:

"Junior, do you know how much today's classes are costing us? You bet you're going to school this morning, tomorrow morning, the morning after that...! If we're paying, you're staying!"

Money talks, but the way the education bill is paid now makes it too easy for students and their families to forget how much they're investing in Junior's education.

And, as a result, it's easy to see dropping out as much less of a waste than it is.

Make Room for Mao

At lunch today, Min , our Administrative Support Coordinator (such a lousy title for such an invaluable colleague!), was recounting how much she and her husband have changed from their days in China. She recalled her family's first television (in 1968 or so) and how she had assumed everyone in China had such things. She told us that it was only when she saw how her classmates actually lived (very differently from her very nice life with the t.v. and refrigerator, etc) that she realized that she had to leave China.

This, naturally, led to a discussion but not of politics, human rights, or the redistribution of wealth but rather to what the heck they'd be watching on Chinese tv in the late 60s anyway.

I Love Mao

The Mickey Mao(se) Club

Mao 5-0

My Three Maos
The Mao Bunch

Leave it to Mao

I Dream of Mao
That Mao!

and Hogan's Heroes (because everybody loves making fun of the Nazis)

Kate Smith, start singing "God Bless ESPN!"

It's time for the championship game of the World Baseball Classic between South Korea and Japan, the team that knocked out Team USA in last night's semi-final game.

John Miller, the lead play-by-play man on ESPN, insists on referring to the contest as the "game for Asian domination." (How American of him, no?!)

I believe this is the WORLD Baseball Classic because 14 other teams from around the globe aren't playing anymore since they lost.

This indeed is the World Series.