Thursday Links

Wow, wow, wow: I blogged about this some time ago -- Federal money --> grants to green energy companies --> green energy companies' donations to political parties --> there's a name for this. Here's the story.  This is not rocket science.


WSJ, page D1, tactile business cards. Really, really cool. "Business cards do high-tech work."

WSJ, page B1, Amazon is starting to publish its own books instead of just selling books by other publishers. Barnes and Noble will "boycotte" Amazon-published books.  Like that strategy will work. Now I know when I go into Barnes and Noble, certain books will be unavailable. Hmmmm. Good, bad, indifferent for Barnes and Noble, it seems short-sighted. For folks who harbor affinity for Amazon, and a neutrality for Barnes and Noble, that move pushes on the pendulum a bit, in a direction that may not be good for B&N.

WSJ, page B7, big story for ATT: federal regulators signed off on a plan that would resolve long-standing interference issues between ATT and Sirius XM Radio, and allow the wireless giant (ATT) to expand its high-speed LTE network. The plan was unanimously approved. ATT acquired this spectrum years ago but was unable to use it because of concerns it would knock out Sirius's satellite radio service. The plan would allow ATT to use some of the so-called WCS spectrum licenses.  The two companies (Sirius and ATT) presented a compromise plan to the FCC which then approved the plan.

WSJ, page A13, "The Un-President"

So came the moment late in the Hofstra debate when moderator Candy Crowley looked at Mr Obama and asked: "Does the buck stop with your secretary of state as far as what went on here [the Libyan debacle]?"

Staring back, the president clutched for a second. HE looked like a fourth-grader being confronted in front of the whole class by Miss Crowley of all our childhood nightmares. That moment revealed the problem: At the core of Barack Obama's persona and his presidency is a constant instinct to deniability.

It's not my fault. He comes across as one of those smart kids who always had some elaborate excuse to disperse responsibility for anything bad in his vicinity. And so it was in his answer to Miss Crowley: "Secretary Clinton had done an extraordinary job. But she works for me. I'm the president. And I'm always responsible. And that's why I'm interested in ..." By the end, he said it was Mitt Romney's fault for bringing it up!

Great writing.  Good, bad, or indifferent, it it what it is. I didn't watch the debate; interestingly, this is the first time I've read about this little bit of give and take. Good for Miss Crowley. I didn't know she had that in her.

WSJ, page A13, Karl Rover: Obama Won the Debate....