GameCube: E3 2005: Shigeru Miyamoto Interview

GameCube: E3 2005: Shigeru Miyamoto Interview: "IGNcube: We're all assuming that the revolutionary aspect of Revolution is the controller. Do you know what the Revolution is yet or are you still trying to figure that out?

Shigeru Miyamoto: [Laughs] You're doubting me, aren't you? I can see that you're over there mistrusting my word. I understand. [Laughs]

Of course. It's set in stone. It has been determined. I'd love to show it to you. I'd love to be able to show you the features of the Revolution controller and tell you about them. However, unfortunately if we do that too early those ideas would be stolen. We know that from past history. Analog stick. Boom - gone. Rumble Pak. We bring it out and everybody has to have rumble. We got the wireless out first and now there's wireless everywhere. So we have to keep it under wraps."

Interesting, Nintendo has some ideas to make their next console unique. These ideas can get stolen, therefore, the plan is to wait until Sony and XBOX have product before making the announcement.

Looks like MS XBOX 360 will be squeezed by Nintendo innovation and Sony marketing muscle.

If this "novel" next-gen game platform is affordable, $199-$299, then Nintendo can really gain marketshare on MS and push Sony.

Factor 5 Shuns Xbox 360 For Game Development

Factor 5 Shuns Xbox 360 For Game Development: "IGNIQ.com reports that Factor 5, developer of games including the Star Wars: Rogue Squadron series...

... has announced it will not be developing for the Xbox 360, due to what it believes are far more powerful hardware on the Playstation 3.

Factor 5 was previously commited to the 360, but switched after seeing the specs for the new Playstation, with their president saying he was 'shocked by how powerful' it will be. "

My guess, Factor 5 can't afford dual platform development and is picking Sony. XBOX 360 probably has not differientiated itself enough in either time-to-market or hardware specs.

The Believer - New York Times

Strange yet not surprising:
The Believer - New York Times: "Santorum is not a reader of Scripture -- ''I've never read the Bible cover to cover; maybe I should have'' -- and has no passages he clings to when seeking spiritual guidance. ''I'm a Catholic, so I'm not a biblical scholar. I'm not someone who has verses he can pop out. That's not how I interact with the faith.''"

Sony takes lead as game-console war heats up

Sony takes lead as game-console war heats up: "Did Nintendo's decision not to reveal details about its new console hurt its prospects?

The buzz: Publishers were disappointed that Nintendo didn't tell them anything they didn't know and aren't sure how Nintendo's box will compete against Sony's and Microsoft's.

Analysis: Game publishers still have enormous respect for Nintendo's creativity when it comes to making zany kids' games. But they are skeptical that Nintendo's strategy will allow it to attract developers to its side when Microsoft and Sony are signing up developers left and right. There may not be many left for Nintendo."

Nintendo should have said more at E3 but they're trying to make their own rules which is to not showboat or tip their hand on what the new game console will do and how it works. MS and Sony are doing the opposite - showboating for mindshare where Sony just won round 1. In a 3 way race Nintendo's caution is a necessary move - they'd be 3rd after trying to impress.

Nintendo isn't going to ship the the fastest system (Sony will), or be a first mover and ship in 2005 (MS will and XBOX is also powerful). Nintendo is forced to play it "smart", that is they're trying to out think and maneuver MS and Sony. That means they must make something novel and not let the others catch on to the specifics too soon. If they tip their hand early, MS and Sony for sure will incorporate Nintendo's ideas and out muscle them with a more powerful system.

Nintedo has a chance. Nintendo's system will be more affordable, smaller, compatible and ??????. We don't know the last attribute and will not until probably it ships.

Will developers target Nintendo? Yes.

Why? Cost. - It will a simpler and therefore easier system to program and therefore draw those developers because they will not need to program for 3 PPC CPUs.

Nintendo games and the platform should be significantly less expensive than XBOX and PS3. While Sony and MS can sell at a loss, game developers will not.

Today Nintendo trails MS by a nose and is in the #3 position (19% to 14%). They have a chance to be number 2 and if Sony (43%) blows it with PS3, a solid number 2. Sony has yet to ship a Cell processor and show any hardware. Sony is not going to drop to #3 - they have to much of an installed base but they have set the bar high and might slip up in 2006.

MS is looking weak. They're moving too soon with the new XBOX360 (disparaged as XBOX v1.5). Sony's game will out perform XBOX in graphics resolution (What MS thought was an XBOX strength) and XBOX360 has compatibility problems with today's XBOX games. While MS can afford to lose money and bleed Sony with cut rate pricing - they can't bleed Nintendo since their system will not be as expensive to make.

MS has to leverage their lead to market and sell a lot of systems in 2005-06 while Sony has to use PR to freeze the market and ship new PS2 titles in 2005 and show great demos of things to come in late 2006.

Nintendo has no choice than to let Sony freeze the 2005 market (and slow MS XBOX360) and then ship something novel, easy to program and affordable in 2006 just after PS3 ships. If Sony slips up with PS3, Nintendo will be there with a novel console selling for less than an XBOX360 with less expensve titles and great software compatibility.

Why home prices are high

MONEY Magazine: Your Home 2005: Confession of a market timer - May. 20, 2005: "The lessons I learned

I've thought a great deal about this whole experience -- and specifically about the role of real estate in an investment portfolio. Here are the conclusions I've come to.

1. Real estate isn't like other investments Quality-of-life considerations count more than the numbers do.

Imagine you had a choice between earning an annual average return two percentage points below that of the stock market while living for 20 years in a home you loved, or beating the market but having to move five times and never really liking the place you were living in. Almost everyone would accept the lower return.

2. Market timing with real estate is a hopeless exercise Buying and selling are slow and transaction costs are high. In addition, moving and setting up a new home is time consuming.

Worst of all, you not only have to call real estate correctly, but all your other forecasts have to be right too. If you sell overpriced property and move into stocks, you've accomplished nothing if share prices go down.

3. You should buy as much house as you can reasonably afford Because I got such a great deal on my apartment going in, I earned an excellent percentage rate of return even though I sold too soon. So if you have an opportunity to buy during a dip in the real estate market, grab as much house as you can.

Even today, when prices aren't cheap, it makes sense for anyone under the age of 45 to buy the best property possible without getting overextended. If you're still below your peak earning years, you'll likely want more space in the future rather than less.

4. If you get a shot at the home you really want, go for it I've had several opportunities over the years to buy apartments that would have met my needs -- if not forever, then certainly for a long stretch of time.

None was a perfect investment, but had I bought any of them, I wouldn't have wasted a huge amount of time over the past 20 years looking and moving. When it comes to your home, stability, predictability and security are ultimately the greatest rewards."

Buy where you want to live, buy what you like, buy as much as you afford, and don't compromise trying to time the market.

The Bay Area is desirable, the prices are high and the future is certainly going to include a correction. Still, the lessons say buy - if you can afford it.

Bushism

The Complete Bushisms - Updated frequently. By Jacob Weisberg: "'I believe that, as quickly as possible, young cows ought to be allowed to go across our border.'—Ottawa, Nov. 30, 2004"

from The Complete Bushisms - Updated frequently. By Jacob Weisberg

Greenspan: 'Local bubbles' build in housing sector (in Blue states)

USATODAY.com - Greenspan: 'Local bubbles' build in housing sector: "Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said Friday that the Fed sees 'a lot of local bubbles' in the booming housing sector but that the central bank does not see a national housing bubble.

'We don't perceive that there is a national bubble, but it's hard not to see ... that there are a lot of local bubbles,' Greenspan said during audience questions after delivering a speech to the Economic Club of New York."

The Blue states!

Darth Vader's Family Values - New York Times

Fuck yeah. The liberals are Sith in Star Wars. Tienery says so.
Darth Vader's Family Values - New York Times: "For those Democrats, the signature line in this 'Star Wars' is the one spoken after the chancellor, citing security threats, consolidates his power by declaring that the republic must become an empire. Senator Padm�listens to her colleagues cheer and says, 'So this is how liberty dies, with thunderous applause.'

She's disgusted with them, but their enthusiasm is understandable. The chancellor has tapped into their primal desire to unite in one great clan with a shared purpose. They're in the throes of the People's Romance."

Interest Only

This is interesting:

COMPARING MORTGAGES

Interest-only loans are growing more popular as strapped buyers stretch to get into the property market. Initially, an interest-only loan can carry lower monthly payments than a fixed loan because they are usually adjustable loans that require no principal payments. However, payments can leap in later years when principal payments come due and if interest rates rise..

$2,917

Monthly payment for home buyer who borrows $500,000 using a 30-year fixed mortgage at 5.75 percent..

$2,083

Monthly payment if that same borrower opted for an interest-only mortgage in which the rate was fixed at 5 percent for the first five years..

$2,922

If the interest rate did not budge after the first five years, the monthly payment would rise as the borrower began to pay down the principal..

$3,533

Monthly payment after five years if rates were to increase to 7 percent. The payment would jump 70 percent above the original interest-only payment and 21 percent above the 30-year fixed rate mortgage.

---

This family is paying $4,200 for an interest only loan.  I'm paying exactly half that mortgage for my Bay Area home and it's a 30 year fixed.  He put down 10%, the same as I, but he wasn't working when he qualified.  Oh my.

With a down payment of $100,000, Michael Kelly bought a $1 million home in Foster City last year despite the fact that he was unemployed at the time. Kelly, 42, landed an interest-only loan using stated income only; that is, he was not required to submit written proof of income. His new technology consultancy is flying, and Kelly is confident that with a fixed monthly payment of $4,200 for the first three years, he chose the right mortgage.
...
Like Howard, he acknowledges some of the possible perils of his mortgage. But even in the worst-case scenario, he figures he could refinance or sell the house and move to a less expensive part of the Bay Area.

"For most people," he adds, "I think (interest-only loans) are a terrible idea. If they don't have bright prospects (for income growth), they could be in real trouble."

So he was not working when he bought but he has bright prospects on the future.  I guess we're all above average. 
I wouldn't worry about selling a home in the Bay Area but if his 1 million dollar property drops the anticipated 10-20% of it's value when this bubble pops then he'll at best lose his 100k down payment and at worse be 100k in the hole if he is forced to sell at this low point.  Why would he have to sell soon?  He has three years for interest only payments and then must pay an ARM (rate can go up) and also pay principle.  If his payments are too much, he be forced to sell and if the market drops, probably at a loss. if he tries to wait it out and goes into credit card debt, he'll be forced to pay his debt thanks to the new bankruptcy law. 

Let's think some positive thoughts.  He can deduct his interest - $4,200 x 12 or $46,200 from his taxes.  If he's in a 33% tax bracket, that's equal to $15,400 in tax refunds.  Here's something else to offset his high mortgage costs.  Let's say he's in a good location - Foster City is very central so he minimizes driving.  It costs $0.36/mile to operate a car.  A 50 mile commute is a 100 mile round trip a day or $36.00.  Driving 20 times a month is $720.00 or $8,640.  Now it may make sense to roll up operating costs of a car into a mortgage if you don't have to drive much.  A rough estimate is every 100k costs $600.00 to finance so a buyer who lives near work can afford a larger payment - $100,000 or more.  His total cost avoidance for a car and taxes is $24,040.

Interest Only

Wheeee
This is interesting:
<http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/05/20/MNG5CCS82U1.DTL>

COMPARING MORTGAGES

Interest-only loans are growing more popular as strapped buyers
stretch to get into the property market. Initially, an interest-only
loan can carry lower monthly payments than a fixed loan because they
are usually adjustable loans that require no principal payments.
However, payments can leap in later years when principal payments
come due and if interest rates rise..

$2,917

Monthly payment for home buyer who borrows $500,000 using a 30-year
fixed mortgage at 5.75 percent..

$2,083

Monthly payment if that same borrower opted for an interest-only
mortgage in which the rate was fixed at 5 percent for the first five
years..

$2,922

If the interest rate did not budge after the first five years, the
monthly payment would rise as the borrower began to pay down the
principal..

$3,533

Monthly payment after five years if rates were to increase to 7
percent. The payment would jump 70 percent above the original
interest-only payment and 21 percent above the 30-year fixed rate
mortgage.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
This family is paying $4,200 for an interest only loan. I'm paying
exactly half that mortgage for my Bay Area home and it's a 30 year
fixed. He put down 10%, the same as I, but he wasn't working when he
qualified. Oh my.

With a down payment of *$100,000, Michael Kelly bought a $1 million
home in Foster City *last year despite the fact that he was
unemployed at the time. Kelly, 42, landed an interest-only loan
using stated income only; that is, he was not required to submit
written proof of income. His new technology consultancy is flying,
and Kelly is confident that with a fixed monthly payment of $4,200
for the first three years, he chose the right mortgage.
...
Like Howard, he acknowledges some of the possible perils of his
mortgage. But even in the worst-case scenario, *he figures he could
refinance or sell the house and move to a less expensive part of the
Bay Area.*

"For most people," he adds, "I think (interest-only loans) are a
terrible idea. *If they don't have bright prospects (for income
growth), they could be in real trouble."
*

So he was not working when he bought but he has bright prospects on the
future. I guess we're all above average.
I wouldn't worry about selling a home in the Bay Area but if his 1
million dollar property drops the anticipated 10-20% of it's value when
this bubble pops then he'll at best lose his 100k down payment and at
worse be 100k in the hole if he is forced to sell at this low point.
Why would he have to sell soon? He has three years for interest only
payments and then must pay an ARM (rate can go up) and also pay
principle. If his payments are too much, he be forced to sell and if
the market drops, probably at a loss. if he tries to wait it out and
goes into credit card debt, he'll be forced to pay his debt thanks to
the new bankruptcy law.

Let's think some positive thoughts. He can deduct his interest - $4,200
x 12 or $46,200 from his taxes. If he's in a 33% tax bracket, that's
equal to $15,400 in tax refunds. Here's something else to offset his
high mortgage costs. Let's say he's in a good location - Foster City is
very central so he minimizes driving. It costs $0.36/mile to operate a
car. A 50 mile commute is a 100 mile round trip a day or $36.00.
Driving 20 times a month is $720.00 or $8,640. Now it may make sense to
roll up operating costs of a car into a mortgage if you don't have to
drive much. A rough estimate is every 100k costs $600.00 to finance so
a buyer who lives near work can afford a larger payment - $100,000 or
more. His total cost avoidance for a car and taxes is $24,040.

**

The Chinese Connection - by P. Krugman

The Chinese Connection - New York Times: "Here's what I think will happen if and when China changes its currency policy, and those cheap loans are no longer available. U.S. interest rates will rise; the housing bubble will probably burst; construction employment and consumer spending will both fall; falling home prices may lead to a wave of bankruptcies. And we'll suddenly wonder why anyone thought financing the budget deficit was easy.

In other words, we've developed an addiction to Chinese dollar purchases, and will suffer painful withdrawal symptoms when they come to an end.

I'm not saying we should try to maintain the status quo. Addictions must be broken, and the sooner the better. After all, one of these days China will stop buying dollars of its own accord. And the housing bubble will eventually burst whatever we do. Besides, in the long run, ending our dependence on foreign dollar purchases will give us a healthier economy. In particular, a rise in the yuan and other Asian currencies will eventually make U.S. manufacturing, which has lost three million jobs since 2000, more competitive.

But the negative effects of a change in Chinese currency policy will probably be immediate, while the positive effects may take years to materialize. And as far as I can tell, nobody in a position of power is thinking about how we'll deal with the consequences if China actually gives in to U.S. demands, and lets the yuan rise."

Scary huh?
So many people are going to suffer. I can't say they deserve it. Buying a home is tax deductable, it's a chance to save for retirement or at least have stable housing costs in a home you own rather than renting.
Greenspan is after Fannie Mae. He's worried about the risks assoicated with mortgages and how they are financed and re-sold. It seems there isn't a clear understanding of the consequences of these dealings and how they calculate risk. I'm not sure what his concern means except that its part of the equation that will need to be balanced.

GAO says not much good and a lot of bad.

GAO steps in on currency devaluation

May 19 (Reuters) - It's hard to predict what the practical impact will be if China lets its yuan currency rise in value as the Bush administration, Congress and U.S. industry have demanded, a Congressional watchdog agency said on Thursday.

An 80-page study by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found economic experts were widely split about the extent to which the yuan, also known as the renminbi, was undervalued and about who will be helped or hurt if it rises.

While lawmakers denounce China's policy of pegging the yuan's value at about 8.28 to the dollar as unfair, the GAO noted that letting it appreciate might also carry costs for some U.S. economic sectors.

"Some groups could be negatively affected by a higher-valued renminbi, including U.S. producers who use imports from China in their own production and would face higher prices and costs of production," the GAO said.

"Consumers could also face higher prices," it added.

This week, the Treasury Department warned China that it "likely" will be designated as a country that manipulates its currency for trade advantage unless it modifies its exchange-rate policies. On Thursday, Treasury named a new special envoy to China and said it was "critical" that China change its exchange policies.

But the GAO, which conducts studies on specific topics in response to lawmakers' calls for them, found scant agreement on what the impact of a revaluation might be.

Some three million U.S. factory jobs have disappeared in the last five years and manufacturers complain they can not compete with cheaply priced imports, though the GAO did not see the jobs coming back.

"In terms of employment, many experts believe that a rise in value of the renminbi relative to the dollar would be unlikely to have much, if any, effect on aggregate employment in the United States," it said, since interest rates and the supply of workers play a larger determining role in hiring.

As the U.S. trade deficit with China and the rest of the world has soared, the United States has borrowed massively to make up the shortfall between its spending and its income. The GAO said the huge flows of capital into the United States from China, which has become a major buyer of U.S. Treasury securities, could be disrupted and again the impact is unclear.

"While some analysts believe that the effects of a foreign withdrawal from U.S. financial markets -- or a reduction in foreign purchases of U.S. debt -- would have limited effects over the long run, some acknowledge that short-run disruptions, such as the loss of value of assets and higher interest rates, could be significant," the GAO said.

What are the impacts of a devalued Chinese currency?
1. Home prices will significantly drop and mortgage rates increase. 
2. Employment will not improve.

What a fuck'in disaster waiting to happen. 

People are buying homes with nothing down and using interest only ARMs. If their heavily mortgaged assets turn upside down then they'll be forced to walk. The question is."How will the new bankruptcy law impact people who have to walk from upside down loans?"  Are we going to see people whose financial life is ruined by getting into an inflated real estate market?  Others have consolidated loans or financed trucks and educations with home equity loans pegged to the prime rate.  With increasing interest rates, will these folks be able to make payments or will they too face foreclosure and the shadow of debt for the rest of their lives?

Where are the new jobs in manufacturing going to come from if we have high interest rates and little incentive to reinvest in the US? 

Brown Seen As Model for Filibuster Fight - New York Times

Brown Seen As Model for Filibuster Fight - New York Times: "When Kmiec introduced Brown to the graduating law students at Catholic University in 2003, he said she formulates opinions ''in prayer and quiet study of the Bible.'' Brown then took the podium and criticized philosophers and scientists for trying to mold society ''as if God did not exist.''

The law, she said, is the ''terrain on which Americans are struggling to decide what kind of people they are.''

She defended her faith-based approach to the law again last month, telling a gathering of Roman Catholic legal professionals in Darien, Conn., that ''these are perilous times for people of faith, not in the sense that we are going to lose our lives, but in the sense that it will cost you something if you are a person of faith who stands up for what you believe in and say those things out loud.''"

Bullshit.
No one is trying to close down a church or stop a religion. If we oppose her forcing her nutty view of god on our children, she's whining her and her faith is in peril. My God isn't her god, my views are not hers. The majority's religion and this amorphous god of the United States of America is a false deity.

Generals Offer Sober Outlook on Iraqi War - New York Times

Generals Offer Sober Outlook on Iraqi War - New York Times: "'I think that this could still fail,' the officer said at the briefing, referring to the American enterprise in Iraq. 'It's much more likely to succeed, but it could still fail.'

The officer said much depended on the new government's success in bolstering public confidence among Iraqis. He said recent polls conducted by Baghdad University had shown confidence flagging sharply, to 45 percent, down from an 85 percent rating immediately after the election. 'For the insurgency to be successful, people have to believe the government can't survive,' he said. 'When you're in the middle of a conflict, you're trying to find pillars of strength to lean on.' Another problem cited by the senior officer in Baghdad was the new government's ban on raids on mosques, announced on Monday, which the American officer said he expected to be revised after high-level discussions on Wednesday between American commanders and Iraqi officials.

The officer said the ban appeared to have been announced by the new defense minister, Sadoun al-Dulaimi, without wider government approval, and would be replaced by a 'more moderate' policy. To raise the level of public confidence, the officer said, the new government would need success in cutting insurgent attacks and meeting popular impatience for improvements in public services like electricity that are worse, for many Iraqis, than they were last year. But he emphasized the need for caution - and the time it may take to complete the American mission here - notes that recur often in the private conversations of American officers in Iraq.

'I think it's going to succeed in the long run, even if it takes years, many years,' he said. On a personal note, he added that he, like many American soldiers, had spent long periods of duty related to Iraq, and he said: 'We believe in the mission that we've got. We believe in it because we're in it, and if we let go of the insurgency and take our foot off its throat, then this country could fail and go back into civil war and chaos.'"

Failure is possible, probable, if people lose faith in their government. Members are hiding in the Green Zone and are still being assassinated.

If we "take our foot off its throat". "Its" refers to the insurgency but that's a term that refers to Iraq in general. We're not going to get out this soon and were going to have to keep our foot on their throat.

Bashing Newsweek - New York Times

BoBo says liberals hate America

Bashing Newsweek - New York Times: "Meanwhile, the left side of the blogosphere has erupted with fury over the possibility that American interrogators might not have flushed a Koran down the toilet. The Nation and leftish Web sites are in a frenzy to prove that the story is probably true even if Newsweek is retracting it.

This, too, is unhinged. Would it be illegal for more people on the left to actually be happy that a story slurring Americans may turn out to be unproven? Could there be a few more liberals willing to admit that prisoners routinely lie about their treatment? (Do we expect them to say their time in captivity wasn't so bad?)"

"prisioners routinely lie about their treatment"
"may turn out to be unproven?"

"unproven"?

Wouldn't a reporter try to find out if this story is correct? Instead BoBo says journalism is leftism and a story "slurring Americans may turn out to be unproven". See, if it's correct then the reporting it is still slurring Americans, not the other way around where the perpetrator is slurring American values. No, the vandal is being slurred by the truth.

Only $49.99 a year for this the privilege of reading this asshole's columns?

Nintendo to launch new game console in 2006

Nintendo to launch new game console in 2006 | CNET News.com: "

Nintendo will launch its new video game console sometime next year, missing the key 2005 holiday shopping season and putting it a step behind Microsoft in the battle for the next-generation game machine, a Japanese business newspaper reported on Saturday.

The report comes two days after Microsoft announced that its new console, called Xbox 360, will be in stores in time for the 2005 year-end shopping season, giving it a head-start on the competition if Sony and Nintendo don't introduce their new consoles until next year.

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun paper said it obtained the information from Nintendo on Friday, without citing sources. Nintendo has not officially set a date for its next generation console, code-named 'Revolution,' although a 2006 launch has been widely expected.

Nintendo officials were not immediately available for comment.

Based in the ancient Japan capital of Kyoto, Nintendo was the dominant brand in home video game consoles for much of the 1980s and early 1990s until Sony entered the market with its PlayStation and Microsoft later introduced its Xbox machine.

Nintendo has said that Revolution will be ready for wireless Internet gaming and backward-compatible with the current generation GameCube, which is now in third place in the console market behind Sony's PlayStation 2 (PS2) and the Xbox.

The new console will be powered by a chip developed by IBM code-named 'Broadway' and a graphics processor from ATI Technologies code-named 'Hollywood.'
The Xbox factor

Revolution will use 12 cm optical discs and be about the size of three DVD cases stacked together, the Nihon Keizai said.

Sony has not said when it will release its next-generation console, tentatively named PS3, although industry watchers generally expect it to hit stores sometime next year.

Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft are expected to show off their next-generation gaming consoles to developers next week at the annual or Electronics Entertainment Expo, or E3, as all three companies seek to entrench themselves deeper into living rooms with advanced computing, graphics and multimedia players"

MS isn't the leader so the comparison between Nintendo and MS is misleading. Nintendo, like MS and Sony, is using an IBM PPC processor. Like MS, they are using an ATI GPU. Unlike MS, the Nintendo system is going to only play DVDs and focus on gaming and wireless networking. MS wants to own the home server/PC/media - a broad market. Possibly Nintendo will have a better engineered system, like the Dreamcast which plays so well on modest sounding hardware specs. They'll need to put together a efficient system for gaming with this PPC core.

The Nintendo system will be small, like the Gamecube and backwards compatible with gamecube titles. Like the Sony PS3, backwards compatibility is critical to keeping sales strong and offering an installed base of affordable games for the new system.

The Nintendo system will need to be cheap to make so it can sell for less than the MS console. It will also need to be easier to use and it will be since it does less than the XBOX 360. Meanwhile nintendo has to keep pace with MS in 2005.

The Gamecube is a good system and for $99 it's a steal. Look for the GC to bundle games and equipment at $99 or drop to $79 or hell, $49 for XMAS. If XBOX 360 is NOT backwards compatible then Nintendo should push the gamecube hard in 05. It's worth cutting the price and pushing up the userbase for upgrading to the next generation game console. It's worth getting users to adopt GC by pushing the low price and cutting prices on legacy games.

Since multi-processor programming is so difficult, early games from MS and Sony should compare to the Nintendo Revolution - assuming it's a less complex PPC CPU. It will take time to write software that can differentiate these more complex hardware systems. Advantage Nintendo in 2006-07.

Meet the Poor Republicans - New York Times

Meet the Poor Republicans - New York Times: "President Bush has made a lot of traditional Republicans nervous with his big-government conservatism. He's increased the growth of nonsecurity domestic spending at a faster rate than Lyndon Johnson and twice as fast as Bill Clinton. But in so doing, he's probably laid down a welcome mat to precisely these poorer folks.

Even so, Republicans have barely thought about how to use government to offer practical encouragement to the would-be Horatio Alger heroes. They've barely explored their biggest growth market. If Republicans can't pass programs like KidSave, which would help poor families build assets for education or retirement, then Hillary Clinton, who is surprisingly popular with poor Republicans, will take their place."

Bush's government spending is non-sustainable. His tax cuts are in conflict with his appeal to the poor. Poor Republicans aka Americans, expect their government to help them when unfortunate events happen beyond what is reasonable to prepare, injury or rare illness. This basic safety net isn't affordable under Bush's economic reality and he's hell bent on dismantling the social insurance social security.

Finally a new progressive at the NY Times

Start a War, No Money Down! - New York Times: "Note: Maureen Dowd is on book leave until July 6. Matt Miller, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and the author of 'The 2 Percent Solution,' will be a guest columnist for the next four weeks. He can be reached at mattmiller@nytimes.com."

I'm a repetitive fool

A Tale of Two Trust Funds - New York Times: "He and other experts urged the committee to stop raiding the fund and find a way - personal accounts or some other scheme - to save the money, but the Democrats on the committee were in no mood for such drastic measures. 'No matter what any of you say,' Representative Charles Rangel told the economists, most people 'believe that their benefits are guaranteed, and their kids believe it, and their grandkids believe that they are entitled to this benefit.'

The part about the grandkids isn't quite right, at least according to polls showing young people's skepticism about getting their promised checks. Nearly half of them have already started their own retirement accounts. They, like the drivers now paying tolls for roads that aren't being built with their gas taxes, seem to understand a lesson about trust funds managed by Congress: be prepared to pay your own way."

This man can't stop to help himself. Krugman smacked him down but he will not stop.

In 70 years Congress hasn't once not paid a SS benefit. Tienery want's us to think they'll default on US Treasury bonds and when so doing a private bank account will be safe. A Pox on the Times for hiring this fool - they're ruining their reputation with this low class neo-con artist.

Backwards compatibility? Problems!

BBC NEWS | Technology | Xbox 360 kicks off console wars: "What is not known is if gamers will be able to play current Xbox games on the 360. The price of the console has yet to be announced but some speculate it could go on sale in the US for $300 (�162).

Microsoft is aiming for what is called backwards compatibility but is facing technical difficulties."

If this XBOX isn't backwards compatible we'll see the Osbourne Effect. They'll cut the feet out from current XBOX sales and game development but not have enough titles to draw new existing users to XBOX 360. They'll freeze their customer base and negate their early to market lead with XBOX 360.

Gates is Mr. Magic. MS uses him to preannounce products and ruin the market leaders's advantage. Well, MS is trying to freeze Sony PS2 users with this shiny new XBOX360 and then win them over when XBOX 360 ships. WITHOUT backwards compatibility in XBOX 360 they will fail.

Sony says the PS3 is backwards compatible with PS2 so game sales and development will continue strong well into 2006. XBOX has to leverage their smaller installed base. Cutting and running will kill them.

Xbox 360 Specs

BBC NEWS | Technology | Xbox 360 kicks off console wars: "CPU with three IBM PowerPC 3.2Ghz cores
ATI 500MHz graphics processor
48 billion shader operations per second
512Mb GDDR3 RAM of memory
Removable and upgradeable 20Gb hard drive
Three USB ports
Windows Media Extender built-in
Support for DVD-video, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD R, CD-DA, CD-R, WMA CD, MP3 CD, Jpeg photo CD"

20 gig allows for a local storage of a HDTV movie (its also upgradeable).
3 USB ports allows for extendability.
500 Mhz ATI processor (not id'ed) is state-of-art speed for PCs
3 core processor at 3.2 Ghz allows for multithreaded support.
This baby is going to be hot - literally.

The Seattle Times: Leaks deflate MTV Xbox show

The Seattle Times: Leaks deflate MTV Xbox show: "

By Kim Peterson
Seattle Times technology reporter

Microsoft is taking the wraps off its next-generation Xbox console on cable television tonight, giving the world an early look at a system it hopes will define and dominate the future of video gaming.
...
Although Microsoft has tried to keep a lid on the Xbox 360 until tonight's official unveiling, leaks about the console's power, speed and accessories have surfaced on avid gamer sites and online forums. Much of the leaking was spurred by a posting on the Engadget site, which showed a picture of the console taken at a pre-launch party last week.

According to numerous sites that focus on video gaming, the Xbox 360 will have wireless controllers and a remote control — features that could help the console land a coveted spot in living-room entertainment centers.

The technical elements of the console, if true, would make it about as powerful as many of the personal computers now in stores. According to such Web sites as Gaming Horizon, the Xbox 360 will have 512 megabytes of memory — eight times that of the original console — and three 3.2 gigahertz processors. The original Xbox had a 733- megahertz processor.

The new console, according to these sites, will have a 20-gigabyte detachable hard drive, compared with an 8-gigabyte hard drive for its predecessor.
...
Such an advanced system is certainly going to cost Microsoft in the short run. It is expensive to produce and likely has a small profit margin, and its retail price — which has not been disclosed — may be so high that it deters potential buyers. But component prices will undoubtedly fall, and years from now the console could still hold its own technology-wise.

The setup also allows Microsoft to set the stage for the Xbox 360 to handle major upgrades in the future. A detachable hard drive, for example, could give Microsoft room in the future to upgrade to new hard drives that can also play music through a set of headphones or house a small screen for playing videos.
...
Users would also be able to play music from portable devices and show photos from digital cameras.
...
"That's not going to help Microsoft a whole lot, because what they want to do is when they reveal it on MTV or to the industry, they want to make a really big splash," said Dan "Shoe" Hsu, editor in chief of Electronic Gaming Monthly magazine. "Now when people see it, what's going to be running through everyone's mind is, 'I've seen it already.' "

If it is the first next-generation console to launch, the Xbox 360 will beat the PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Revolution by several months, perhaps even a year. Because of the timing, Microsoft will have the most to say about its console at E3, said Peer Schneider, senior publisher for IGN Entertainment.

But expect Sony to have plenty to say as well, Schneider said.

"They'll have to say something," he said. "Sony has to defend itself and it has to tell the gaming industry why it should care about the PlayStation 3."

MONEY! Billions!
MS is early with a replacement after 4 (not 5) years of XBOX v1 so to match the 2006 Playstation 3 they have to really reach on system power and performance.
Why?
Move too soon with a new game system and the incremental improvment in affordable hardware will not be compelling for upgrades but wait better hardware and maybe move too late, face a new market leader and play catch-up.
MS will move too soon but spend $$$. MS has money to throw at hardware to make a powerful, and expensive, XBOX 360 in 2005 that will equal 2006 class hardware in a Playstation 3. They'll sell these expensive systems well below cost by hundreds of dollars and bet on Moore's Law to bail them out over time so this device isn't a huge loss. This XBOX 360 is a high-end PC running a Power PC CPU core. (Apple runs on Power PC CPUs). 3 x 3.2 gigahertz processors and 512 MB RAM!

The addition is HDTV resolution for gaming which will appeal to some but face it, this is the PC experience on a TV, nothing extraordinary except more resolution. No fancy new way to play games - just more resolution and options to play lisenced audio and video media. Since HDTV is still not the dominate kind of TV sold today, they're ahead of the curve there. Note the HDTV is the monitor. That's become the most expsnsive component for a PC.

MS is basically selling a PC at a huge loss to capture marketshare and replace entertainment PCs with XBOXes. Oh and the multiple, PPC core CPUs make this XBOX the IA32 killer NT-RISC was supposed to be, SMP and all. Amazing. The loser here is DELL and all hardware manufacturers.

Nothing mentioned about backwards compatibility for XBOX games but this system can emulate a 800 mhz IA32 processor. It's a matter of making the software to do it.

Sony has it's own problems as does Nintendo but right now I betting on a lot of noise from MS, doom and gloom from the media and disappointingly small sales announced this time next year.

Report: Gates Says IPod Success Won't Last - New York Times

FUD - fear uncertainty and doubt.
Apple and MS will fight over HDTV as the ITunes/Ipod morphs into a HDTV device based on the Mini Mac.

This is Gates trying to create doubt over Apple's viability.

MS is going to position the XBOX as a HDTV device and probably add capabilities to play downloadable HDTV content.

Problem: MS XBOX 360 is an incremental jump over the XBOX and Playstation - if it's not backwards compatible with legacy XBOX apps, MS will have a stinker on their hands. More...

Report: Gates Says IPod Success Won't Last - New York Times: "''I don't think the success of the iPod can continue in the long term, however good Apple may be,'' the chairman of Microsoft, the world's biggest maker of computer software, was quoted as telling German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in an interview published Thursday.

''I think you can draw parallels here with the computer -- here, too, Apple was once extremely strong with its Macintosh and graphic user interface, like with the iPod today, and then lost its position.''"

A Turning Tide for Bolton - New York Times

BoBo says:

A Turning Tide for Bolton - New York Times: "over the past two weeks John Bolton's confirmation prospects have gotten stronger. What happened?

On April 19, Bolton's nomination was knocked off-track by Senators Chris Dodd and Joe Biden at a Foreign Relations Committee hearing. They made powerful presentations against Bolton, which clearly spooked several Republicans. So investigators were dispatched to interview dozens of Bolton's colleagues to get a deeper view of his conduct.

The interview transcripts suggest that Bolton could behave in a 'fairly blunt manner' and that some people felt 'undue pressure' to conform to his views, as John Wolf, a former assistant secretary of state, testified.

But they also reveal that Bolton has a professional sense of limits. He'd push his views, and push hard. But after he'd had his say, he would almost always bow to the dictates of the organization."

The momentum has shifted on the Bolton nomination because John Bolton turns out to be a more complicated figure than earlier portrayed. It's become clear that earlier tales of him chasing women down hallways are unreliable. It's become clear that while he's abrasive, he is professional. If Senator George Voinovich reads these transcripts before he votes, I'm sure Bolton will be confirmed.

• In a reply to Kerry's questions, Bolton holds the right to have contrary opinions to the US Gov't.
  
• Bolton forgets to qualify his opinion as his only and passes it off as US policy.
• Bolton's wife left him and it suggests because of his "swinger" lifestyle.
• BoBo is behind the curve. This column is a joke.

Bolton:Hustler Articles

BoBo thinks Bolton's nomination is going to pass. Maybe not.

Hustler Articles: "Publisher Larry Flynt's Questions Posed to State Department Regarding Corroborated Allegations that First Wife was Forced into Group Sex go Unanswered

May 11-LOS ANGELES-Court records concerning the divorce of John R. Bolton, the Bush administration's nominee to become the next ambassador to the United Nations, show his first wife fled the couple's marital home when he was traveling abroad in mid-August 1982. The records further show that she took most of the couple's furniture.

Corroborated allegations that Mr. Bolton's first wife, Christina Bolton, was forced to engage in group sex have not been refuted by the State Department despite inquires posed by Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt concerning the allegations. Mr. Flynt has obtained information from numerous sources that Mr. Bolton participated in paid visits to Plato's Retreat, the popular swingers club that operated in New York City in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

'The first Mrs. Bolton's conduct raises the presumption that she fled out of fear for her safety or, at a minimum, it demonstrates that Mr. Bolton's established inability to communicate or work respectfully with others extended to his intimate family relations,' said Mr. Flynt. 'The court records alone provide sufficient basis for further investigation of nominee Bolton by the Senate.' (Click here for court records). Mr. Flynt continued, 'The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations must be free of any potential source of disrepute or blackmail.'"

Bolton

Bolton want's to pass off his personal views as US policy.

U.N. Nominee Asserts His Independence on Intelligence - New York Times: "Christian Westermann of the State Department's intelligence bureau complained that Mr. Bolton sought to declare, as the view of the government, that Cuba possessed a biological weapons program, rather than the more nuanced view of American intelligence agencies that 'we think, but do not know, that Cuba has B.W.'

'This relates directly to an I.C. judgment,' Mr. Westermann wrote, using an abbreviation for intelligence community, 'and is not a statement of opinion, and is therefore the I.C..'s responsibility to clear (or not clear).'"

What's the big deal?

Failure in the war on terror has to be downplayed so Tienery hauls some water for the NeoCons.

Just as New Yorkers came to be guided by crime statistics instead of the mayhem on the evening news, people might begin to believe the statistics showing that their odds of being killed by a terrorist are minuscule in Iraq or anywhere else.

Terrorists know the numbers are against them and realize that daily bombings will not win the war. All along, their hope has been to inspire recruits and spread general fear with another tactic, the bombing as photo opportunity. For some reason, their media strategy still works.

If the main stream media reports on terror attacks, you're aiding and abetting the enemy.

I'm not advocating official censorship, but there's no reason the news media can't reconsider their own fondness for covering suicide bombings. A little restraint would give the public a more realistic view of the world's dangers.

unofficial censorship is okay and here's Tienery's idea: Imagine a world where news coverage is directly proportional to it's fraction of the day's events. Call it "fair and balanced Part II". Since suicide bombers are a small portion of world's daily events, news about such events should be fair and balanced and thus relegated to that proportion of the newspaper.

The Tinker Bell strategy, if we all clap louder and ignore the problem, it will go away.

Tienery, like his twin David Brooks, is an ass.

Journalism & Standards for Iraq

Lessons on Journalism

1. Lesson One: Many journalists in Iraq could not, or would not, check their nationality or their own perspective at the door.
2. Lesson Two: Our behavior as journalists has taught us very little. Just as in the lead up to the war in Iraq, questioning our government's decisions and claims and what it seeks to achieve is criticized as unpatriotic.
3. Lesson Three: To seek to understand and represent to an American audience the reasons behind the Iraqi opposition is practically treasonous.
4. Lesson Four: The gatekeepers -- by which I mean the editors, publishers and business sides of the media -- don't want their paper or their outlet to reveal that compelling narrative of why anyone would oppose the presence of American troops on their soil.
5. Lesson Five: What it's like to be afraid of your own country.

Remeber: Bloggers do not follow MainStreamMedia Journalism Standards.

Dateline has new meaning

Top news story

TOP STORIES FROM DATELINE NBC

• SNL as rehab for stars in trouble?
• The Simpsons

Remember, bloggers are not held to any journalistic standard.

Bloggers and Standards

blog (blŏg) pronunciation
n.

A weblog.
intr.v., blogged, blog·ging, blogs.

To write entries in, add material to, or maintain a weblog.

[(WE)BLOG.]
blog·ger n.

from http://www.answers.com/blogger&r=67

But more bloggers, and blog readers, are starting to ask whether at least the most prominent blogs with the highest traffic shouldn't hold themselves to the same high standards to which they hold other media.

A blogger is a writer who uses a web log. No fraternity to join or "at-will" job to lose or corporate policy to follow.

This Times editorial illustrates they still don't get it. Blanket statements about blogs are nonsensical. A writer has to be judged as an individual who has earned a reputation. If they're reliable then they're worth listening to and if not, don't listen to them. If they use facts and uncover scandals like bloggers uncovering "Jeff Gannon", then they're reliable and worth following and citing.

Every mainstream news organization has its own sets of ethics rules, but all of them agree broadly on what constitutes ethical journalism. Information should be verified before it is printed, and people who are involved in a story should be given a chance to air their viewpoints, especially if they are under attack. Reporters should avoid conflicts of interest, even significant appearances of conflicts, and disclose any significant ones. Often, a conflict means being disqualified to cover a story or a subject. When errors are discovered or pointed out by internal or external sources, they must be corrected. And there should be a clear wall between editorial content and advertising.

In fact the Times arguing their is a common MSM journalism standard today is silly. The standard Fox and NY Daily News use isn't the same standard as the Times - we hope - so why claim their is a uniform ethos? The Times is still pretending they're part of a fraternity of corporate media where objectivity and professionalism rule the day. Fox understands there are no rules.

The MSM is held to a legal standard of libel and slander and that's it. If they get it wrong, they're wealthy enough to be sued. That's the legal standard. In a news room it's up to the employer - who have a myriad of interests. There's nothing else. Who at the Times has had the balls to hold Fox Chief Political correspondent Brit Hume accountable for his on-air lies? Yet the Times is tell us bloggers have no uniform standard.

What about AM radio? Why not ask about journalistic standards for Rush, Savage and the rest of the lying, hate mongering loonies on rightwing AM radio? How can Rush rant about blowjobs and get away with it if the Times were concerned about standards? Rush is popular and corporate so the Times will not touch him. Bloggers are an easy target.

Weblogs are like NY Times columns. Brooks and Tienery play word games and outright lie in their NY Times columns while Krugman, Rich and Herbert produce thoughtful columns. Friedman and Kristof are as unfocused and useless as Ragnast the Brown Wizard. We know who's worth reading and believing despite the seven appearing in the same pages under identical management. Before the Times chases their tail on setting standards for public speech, the Times should set the example and better police their opinion column pages - only seven people - and also start dissecting the failures in MSM. The Daily Show is filling a gap the Times should address before focusing on Bloggers and Thomas Friedman noted how many educated people are getting their "news" from Comedy Central.

And bloggers rarely disclose whether they are receiving money from the people or causes they write about.

1. Does the MSM universially require pundits and experts disclose whether they are recieving money from people or cases they write about? Does CNN? No.
2. Have any of the previously mentioned "left" Bloggers like Kos violated this standard? No.

Many bloggers who criticize the MSM's ethics, however, are in the anomalous position of holding themselves to lower standards, or no standards at all. That may well change. Ana Marie Cox, who edits Wonkette, notes that blogs are still "a very young medium," and that "things have yet to be worked out." Before long, leading blogs could have ethics guidelines and prominently posted corrections policies.

What's the point? If they haven't any standards and are reckless then ignore them. The MSM should start correcting and punishing the reckless MSM pundits, shows and hate radio, that fail to hold to established journalistic standards.

Lies and Fools

Pr.26:5*

BoBo lies:

Over the past few weeks, the president has called their bluff. By embracing the progressive indexing of Social Security benefits, the president has asked us to make a shared sacrifice for the common good. He's asking middle- and upper-class folks to accept benefit cuts so there will be money for the people who are really facing poverty.

So how has the St. Francis of Assisi wing of the Democratic Party responded to Bush's challenge? Does it applaud him for doing what it has spent the past years telling him he should do? Of course not.

The Democratic leadership has dropped all that shared sacrifice talk and started making demagogic appeals to people's narrow self-interest. Nancy Pelosi cries out that Bush's progressive indexing idea means "cutting the benefits of middle-class seniors." Representative Sander Levin protests it "would result in the biggest benefit cut in the history of Social Security."

The Times should require columnists make arguments that do not contradict or let go unchallenged facts previously reported in the newspaper. BoBo play pretends no one reads or remembers the facts covered in Krugman's NY Times columns. The Presnit's plan is not progressive, it unfairly taxes and reduces benefits for those living in poverty and it hits the middle class hard. BoBo doesn't even try to disprove what Krugman wrote so he pretends it never happened and just bullshits us.

Brooks acts like an ass. Who the fuck cares what this rightwing kiss-ass thinks about the middle class? He's clueless about normal life. He's part of a small clique of wealthy pundits that do not understand middle class life. Shame on him for bullshitting an intelligent readership about the basic facts the define this important issue.

The Times Editor has best establish quality control on his new columnists least he diminish the paper's reputation with it's core readership - people interested fact driven, reality based debate. William Safire set a bad example.

Remember Nick

Commander in Chief

Relatives of Nicholas Berg, the young American entrepreneur beheaded in Iraq, have taken different paths as they've searched for solace in the year since his death.

Michael Berg holds President Bush chiefly responsible for his son's death, blaming what he sees as Bush's abuse of power.

"Instead of my wishing harm to George Bush — whom I hold most culpable in my son's death — what I would like to see him do is maybe head up an organization ... that would establish an exchange citizen program" to send Americans into foreign homes for extended stays, Michael Berg said.

WAPost Losers

I.O.U.

Losers

But it's hard to take seriously the Democrats who say that Mr. Bush should switch focus from Social Security to the much bigger problem of Medicare: If they aren't willing to play a constructive role on the supposedly "minor" challenge of Social Security, why should anyone believe that they would behave constructively if the administration wanted to fix Medicare?

"behave constructively"?

There is no social security crisis and if the President is going to lie and use two contradictory economic projections to frame the problem then there is no opportunity for constructive dialogue. This Presnit is going to have to stop gaming the debate if he wants to negotiate. Why? You can't negotiate with a liar. Only a fool thinks it is constructive to bargain at any cost.

WA Post thinks this is a political problem; it's not. It's our retirement and our life is at stake, not an abstract debate. Who the fuck wants to pretend there's a "middle ground" when negotiating with a liar? The man wants to dismantle Social security. Are democrat's obligated to give him half of what he wants? Fuck no. Retirement is a fundamental problem for most of the middle class and so who gives a shit if the democrats don't play by the Post's "give'em half rule"? We'd blast the democrats if they tried.

Bush's lame "plan" fails to solve any fiscal problem when it the economic forecast used to disparage the current social security forecast is applied to Bush's vauge "plan". The current system shows a future partial-deficit decades from now and does better than his plan.

Meanwhile, the Presnit and knucklehead pundits insist that Social Security is at risk because the government is borrowing trust fund money with paper I.O.Us locked away in a file cabinet - also knon as - US government Treasury Notes. Amazing.

We'll negotiate when they stop lying and making absurd inferences about US solvency. The President is obligated by the Constitution to support the US treasury and it's borrowing. He's lying or worse - he's breaking the law and advocating a policy of insolvency.

Mendacity at it's finest.

Who is this man and what is his motto?

Fool

My pension depends on 535 politicians who will be asked to vote for steep tax increases or budget cuts that they fear could cost them their jobs. Pablo's pension depends on people driving between Chile's two largest cities.

In theory, there is a trust fund to cover this shortfall. When Congress sharply raised Social Security taxes in the 1980's, the idea was to generate surpluses during the baby boomers' working years that would finance our retirement. Instead, Congress spent our money, leaving the Social Security trust fund with a file cabinet full of i.o.u.'s in the form of Treasury bills.

"In theory there is a trust fund ... in the form of Treasury bills.", Oh, my god.

The NYTimes is fair and balanced - they'll give a column to a rightist whore who'll convince readers that a government treasury bond is a high risk I.O.U. slip. Either the NY Times hasn't any respect for it's readers and would pass this crap off on them or they have decided to switch demographics and go after toe-to-toe with The National Enquirer.

The column should have been rejected for proposing nonsensical, inconsistent economic double-talk that demenas the intelligence of the NY Times readership.
OR
Accept the column and start reporting the GOP plans to default on US Treasury bills, making them riskier than private toll roads.

Oh Look

Pay no attention to Iraq

Wheels coming off Bush "tractor pull".

Everyone remain calm. We have everything under control
... in the White House Press Corps.

1. Source: Iraq, Afghan wars limiting military's reach
2. Al Qaeda still a homeland threat, Gonzales insists
3. Poll: Most in U.S. say Iraq war not worthwhile | Charts
4. Religious bias probe at [Air Force] academy rocked by sex scandal
   

So who is she kidding? Rice issues tough warning to North Korea

NYT's Tierney is Lightweight

Tierney sez:

But middle-class Americans don't simply cast ballots for Republicans. They also vote with their feet, which is why blue states and old Democratic cities are losing population to red states and Republican exurbs. People are moving there precisely because of economic reasons - more jobs, affordable houses, and the lower taxes offered by Republican politicians.

NY has a Republican Governor and NYC a Republican Mayor. Why then Is NY's fraction of the US population shrinking?
And California, liberal California is gaining.

Tierney is lightweight.  His columns are simple rehashes of partisan fluff tied to a current event. Like Laura Bush's off color jokes.

Mrs. Bush's performance, and her husband's reaction, wasn't a shock to the reporters who cover the White House. For years they have tried to convince their friends outside Washington that Mr. Bush is actually not a close-minded dolt, and Mrs. Bush is no Stepford Wife or Church Lady. Yes, they're Texans who go to church and preach family values, but they're not yahoos or religious zealots.

We all know the White House Press Corps has been trying to tell us Bush isn't a closed-minded dolt. We see the sparse comical press conferences and we know he acts like a dolt but the Press Corps want to pretend otherwise.