Monthly Archives: January 2008

What the U.S. owes China

Understanding the U.S. debt to China
General Overview
Current U.S. debt to China:
$1.4 trillion (estimated)
Real-time U.S. national debt clock
U.S. Treasury bonds owed to Chinese investors
Official Obama Administration comment on the China debt
Paul Krugman, winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics, explains U.S./China finance
Although the Chinese government keeps the exact data secret, it’s reasonable to believe that [...]

Wednesday Midweek Roundup

So the Pound Is Worth More than the Dollar? Who cares.
Air travelers get mad in Argentina
When do we get to this point in the US? Or are we all a bunch of suckers to afraid to lash out? Everyone complains but no one knows what to do. Given the current state of the major [...]

Stuff we shouldn't be talking about

There are a lot of important issues everyone should be discussing in the run-up to this year’s presidential election. Wouldn’t it be nice to know what each candidate would do about our impending economic doom? What about their opinion on the new Iraqi law that supposed to help Sunnis but is actually opposed by most [...]

My enemy's enemy: The conservative case for Barack Obama

Barack Obama is the self-professed candidate of change, hope and national unity. A message that has already proven successful with independents and newcomers in Iowa. But can Obama be the real deal and gain the support of conservatives and Republicans?
I think there is little chance Republicans will lay to rest the Limbaugh/Druge/FOX News smear [...]

Chris Matthews and media's real job

I’ll admit that I watched a lot of the political coverage on TV Tuesday night. Usually because MSNBC brings together the most interesting personalities, I tend to favor their coverage. It’s definitely not because they offer any special insights, if very many at all for that matter.
One exchange between Chris Matthews and Tom Brokaw [...]

America and Iran play in the Gulf

(Update: Glenn Greenwald raises serious doubts about the U.S. military version of the incident) 
It’s now confirmed by video tape that U.S. warships were provoked by Iranian boats in the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait of Hormuz is a strategically important choke point that separates the Persian Gulf, and thus a lot of oil shipping, from the rest of the world’s oceans.
Here’s the U.S. [...]

McCain and the 100 year occupation

Watch Senator McCain come out in favor of keeping our troops in Iraq for 100 years:

This is precisely the kind of talk that hurts the situation in the Middle East. No matter how benign McCain’s intentions may be, I doubt there any many people on the planet, let alone in Iraq, who would welcome [...]

$100 oil and peak food?

Would you pay $600 to tell your friends and family a rousing commodities exchange story?
The BBC is reporting that the person responsible for pushing oil over $100 a barrel lost $600 in the transaction. Apparently, it was solely a bid to say they were the first to buy oil at the $100 mark. They immediately [...]

What's wrong with the ("viable") candidates

(Update: Obama and Huckabee win in Iowa)
In just a few hours we should know which two candidates can claim victory in Iowa. If polling means anything, the winners will likely come from this pool: Clinton, Edwards, Obama, Romney, and Huckabee.
Given the ongoing disaster in Iraq, it’s disappointing that none of these candidates have been [...]

Welcome to the new Why We Worry

Hello fellow blog reading public,
This is the new Why We Worry blog (you can still find the old one here), just in time for the Iowa caucuses. The plan is to have a single post relating to something worrisome five days a week, with the comments clearly visible on the main page. The best part about blogs, in my opinion, is the [...]