It's worth noting that today, the performance of several car manufacturers was announced.  Their US sales were as follows:

• Toyota - Down 37% year over year
• GM - Down 31% year over year
• Ford - Down 32% year over year
• Chrysler - Down 53% year over year

Now for all that it was played up that some how the big three American car manufacturers are offering crappy inferior products, and that's why they are screwed, they actually did better (or perhaps less bad) than Toyota with the exception of Chrysler.  Chrysler has been struggling for a long time now, so I expect they'll disappear before long even if they are kept alive through the downturn for other reasons. 

The reason that the big three are in so much worse shape than companies like Toyota is simply that they have a larger focus on US sales.  Toyota sells more cars outside of the US market than any of the big three, so their exposure to this down turn is lessened.  If there was a major down turn in Japan, you can expect that Toyota would take a bigger hit than GM, Ford, or Chrysler. 

There are also a number of other factors that hurt the big three that have little to do with their current day to day operations.  They have a legacy of retirement benefits to older workers that makes their production costs much higher.  They also have to pay for medical coverage in the US that would be covered by the government in Japan.  There's been an attempt to blame unions, but the difference in pay scale between union and non-union workers in the US isn't all that large.  Certainly not large enough to suggest it has anything to do with the problems the big three are having now.

So apparently Israel has moved into phase two of their operation against the Gaza strip and begun moving in ground troops.  The UN has called for emergency consultations which I expect will, at most, result in a resolution that the US vetoes.  Some Israelis will be killed and a lot of Palestinians will be killed.  And the beat goes on...

This weekend I was listening to a podcast where they were debating this.  Invariably it turned into a back and forth between the Palestinians are in the right and the Israelis are in the right.  Of course, the fundamental reality is that they are both in the wrong.  It is wrong to launch rockets into civilian areas.  It is wrong to kill hundreds of the other side's people for every one of yours that's killed.  It is wrong to strap a bomb to yourself, walk into a crowded market, and fire it off.  It is wrong to blockade humanitarian aid. 

It is totally pointless to get into a discussion of the moral superiority of either position because there simply is none at this point.  The tit for tat goes back beyond anybody's memory and ultimately ignores a very stark reality.  Whatever your justification for killing people, the reality is that whoever you kill probably has a family.  That family will hate you with every fiber of their being no matter your justification.  The constant back and forth turns from a geopolitical game into a very personal one. 

So until people can step beyond trying to figure out who is right, nothing will be accomplished.  They are all in the wrong.

Alright, so I'm still not sure I'm going to go through with growing a beard or not.  Monday is my first day back at work since letting it go so either I'm committing to it or giving up and shaving.  It is very obvious that I haven't shaved now, even with my light hair color.  So if I'm going to sit through all the coworkers asking me about it, I'm going all the way.

The odds are that, if I go through with it, this will be a short lived experiment though as I know of ZERO women who have had any reaction other than, "ew, why?"  So clearly this isn't about getting the ladies.  I'm just really curious how it would look on me.  I've always had somewhat of a baby face so I'd like to see what comes of it. 

Poll #1324825 The Beard Poll
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

Should I grow a beard?

So I've been contemplating New Year's resolutions and I've always thought these resolutions are a waste of time.  People make them, then break them within weeks, generally speaking.  So, I'm not going to make any, however, I do have a laundry list of things that I'm working on though:

1. Growing a beard - never had one before so I'm curious to see how it turns out.  Probably won't keep it, but what the hell?
2. Paying off my debts - doable if I'm good about my budget
3. Selling the car
4. Redecorating the bedroom
5. Redecorating the lounge
6. Getting down to 180 lbs - slacked off a bit, so time to correct that
7. Dating - I never really dated as such before, so I'd like to get out there and try to enjoy just dating

It's tempting to say that 2008 sucked, but I feel like it's really that 2008 was the beginning of putting a lot of things in motion both in the world at large and my personal life.  Where it all goes, I don't know, but overall I'm optimistic. 

Sony is getting a lot of grief over the PS3 right now.  The PS3 is not selling well compared to the 360 and the Wii.  Sony made a lot of mistakes in setting the price point and the delay getting to market gave Microsoft a huge advantage.  But let's be clear about what the real costs are.

The 360 has two models, the pro, and the arcade.  The arcade is cheaper, but it doesn't have a hard drive which really makes it a less capable system.  Games are slower to load and you can't take advantage of downloadable games and content.  So comparing the price of the 360 Arcade version to the PS3 is really not reasonable.

So let's look at the 360 Pro vs. the PS3:

• PS3 - $399
• 360 Pro - $260

Wow, the PS3 gets it's ass beat doesn't it?  An enormous $139 difference.  Right?  Welll... not really.  Let's take this analysis a little further.  Cost to play networked games:

• PS3 - $0
• 360 Pro - $70/year (depending on the package)

So if you keep the PS3 for two years, the prices are effectively identical.  If you keep it longer than that, you're actually saving money.  Plus you are getting a superior platform with a blu-ray player, etc.

The problem is that Sony has utterly failed to make that value proposition clear.  If you go look at an Apple laptop, it is more expensive than a Dell laptop if you just look at the cheapest options.  However, the Apple laptop is ultimately better hardware and better built than the cheap laptop.  Yet Apple is able to convince people that there's enough value in their product to warrant paying more.  

The PS3 is a good system, and it's good value for the money, it's just been poorly handled by Sony. 

Okay, I doubt anybody out there reading this actually gives a hoot about the Broncos, but I do so I'm blogging about it.  Anyhow, I'm thrilled to see Shanahan go.  He was smart about how he called plays, generally, and his offensive scheme was successful throughout his career.  But the truth is, he SUCKED at drafting talent. 

To illustrate, they have THREE players on the team who were drafted between 2001-2005:

• Ben Hamilton
• D.J. Williams
• Karl Paymah

And none of those three really strike me as big time play maker types.  This year they actually did get some good draft picks, but they put all of their picks into offensive positions.  So the Broncos were left with a completely awful defense.

Now, to be fair, the Broncos lost a lot of players last year.  Lynch, Wilson, etc.  Also to be fair, I think the offense, provided they can get one consistently healthy running back in there, will be really good.  But the defense is bad.  They could hold their own for one quarter in most games this year and then proceeded to get trounced.  

I've always thought Shanhan was a decent coach, but it was pointed out that in the last 10 years, the Broncos have only won a single playoff game.  I heard that and was like, "really?"  But yeah, for all that he's hailed as some kind of genius he's done a lousy job of getting the team much of anywhere since the end of the Elway era.

In the end when you look at him, he's got a great strategic mind, but his personnel choices have just sucked too badly for him to compensate.  Had he been willing to let somebody else run personnel and he'd focussed on the strategy, I think he'd have had a lot more success.  But he wasn't able to recognize his own weakness.  So he goes.

Hopefully we can get a new coach and a new GM, as two seperate people, who can start making some good personnel decisions.  Frankly the offense is solid if we just get a healthy back.  If they can hold that together and then rebuild the defense, there's some real potential in the next few years.

Bigbrother is currently down.  I should be able to fix it relatively quickly, but I won't be able to do anything to fix it until Sunday afternoon.  So in the mean time all services hosted there are out of commission.  

I'm a big fan of the photo blogs from Reuters and the Boston Globe.  Not only do they show off some amazing photography, but they also give me some insight in what it is to be a professional photo journalist.  My conclusion is that I could never do that job.

Certain elements of the job I totally love.  There's a kind of hacker mentality to a lot of it.  Trying to figure out ways to get just the right shot in difficult situations, etc.  I love reading about what they go through to get some of the spectacular shots that they take.  But then I see photos of war, death, suffering, and I cannot imagine doing that for a living.

The thing is, I know that they do good in the world by taking those pictures and showing us the world for what it really is.  But I can't imagine being there, watching the suffering and doing nothing but taking a picture of it.  I can't imagine seeing a grieving widow crying over her dead husband's body, and then get up in her face with a camera lens.  It just seems so rude and intrusive to me. 

I think one of the overall biggest struggles I have with photography is that I am keenly aware of how intrusive it can be seen by others.  There are countless times when I would love to take a photo of some person that strikes me.  But I feel like it's wrong to do so on some level.  Actually, it's not so much that I feel it's wrong, but I feel like I'm intruding in their space.  If I could take the photo without them being aware of it or concerned about it, I'd do it in a heart beat.  But being there and having them notice me taking the photo makes me very self conscious. 

There's an ad on for a camera that's telling me it's so great that my photos will all be keepers.  They then say, "did you know that most people delete 1 out of 4 of the photos they take?".  Dude, if I thought 3/4ths of my photos were keepers, I'd be thrilled!  Generally if I take 10 photos, 1-2 are keepers. 

Oh and the ad goes on (apparently it's an informercial) it shows a guy taking photos and they are like, "wow these are great!"  I'm like, well, the framing is good which has nothing to do with the camera, and then the shot is underexposed.  Hilarious :)

Then they show people riding along in pedal cars taking these candid quick shots to demonstrate how steady it is.  Then the "result" photos are like perfectly set up with the subjects posing perfectly...  Yeaaaaaah....

Okay I'll stop it was just cracking me up.  And now to walk the goddamn dog in the goddamn cold... arghh....

Tomorrow the wind chill in the middle of the day is supposed to be -20...

One of the things I really love about where I live is that, though Chicago is enormous, I feel like my neighborhood is kind of it's own small town.  I grant I don't know most of the people around me, but I go to little stores and restaurants around here and I know many of the folks who run them and work there. 

Today I'm a little sad because I found out that the guy who ran the wine shop by me died recently.  I'd go in there and see him most of the time, but lately I hadn't been.  I'd considered asking but wasn't sure if I was just timing it badly.  Today though I saw that they had posted his obituary by the register :(. 

But in thinking about it, it makes me oddly happy.  How the world hasn't been totally taken over by big chain stores where you never know the people there.  The people could be machines for all it mattered.  I know it seems a little odd for me to exalting this given my predilection for just ordering online instead of going to the mall.  But I think that's part of my point.  What's the difference between a mall and amazon?  The interaction you get is this poor facade.  Somebody trained to be friendly by wrote and offer you their frequent shopper card while they're at it. 

So I'm sad, but it's good that I'm sad if that makes any sense.  He wasn't my friend.  We weren't close.  But I did know him and every time I go get wine there I will notice his absence. 

Alright folks, chili night is on.  We might play poker.  We might play something else.  We might watch movies.  We'll see.  But I do know one thing, we will eat chili!

I will supply chili.  If people can bring other things that might go well with it, like beer, that would be groovy (I have some, but not a lot). 

Figure I'll get thing started at like 7'ish. 

If I invited people over for poker and chili tomorrow night would anybody have an interest?

From the Boston Globe's big picture series:

As stolen from phlyersphan :

If you aren't aware of it, Obama is planning to have Rick Warren on hand for his inauguration.  Warren has taken a position against gay rights.  In response to the abundant criticism for this move, Obama said the following:

From a spam I just got:

I've discovered a new fun game to play with your iPhone.  What you do is grab the Amazon app for iPhone and then use the Amazon Remembers feature.  If you're not familiar with it, it's this cool trick where you take a picture of an item and it will then search for matching items on Amazon.  It's actually remarkably intelligent from what I've seen and matches pretty well.

Anyhow, I decided to take pictures of my friends at the bar tonight and see what products Amazon came up with.  Most of them were fairly mundane, sweaters, glasses, etc, but this one was awesome:



The product it came up with?  An Uncommon Drunk: Revelations of a High-Functioning Alcoholic

LOL :)

An Iraqi journalist expresses his displeasure with Bush: