Stuff that’s been in my head:

  • Long before Markos at DailyKos said it, I argued that Obama’s secret way of funding the bailout package is to name high-profile tax evaders to his cabinet and other high-level governmental positions: as they are named, they are vetted, smoked out and must pay. Soon enough, the bailout will be fully funded, and the federal deficit will be reduced.
  • Speaking of Obama and cabinet picks: Howard Dean should be the natural pick for Secretary of Health & Human Services, as well as the Health Care Czar position. Dean eats, sleeps and breathes health care policy – specifically universal coverage for children under 18. If Rahm Emmanuel is still bitter with Dean over the 50-state strategy (face it, Rahm, Dean won that battle, and the only reason you are CoS for POTUS is because of Dean’s reworking of the DNC food chain), that’s too silly a reason to pass over the former governor of Vermont.
  • The suggestions that Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) be HHS Secretary are laughable and scary: this is the man, after all, who allows so-called “health supplement” companies to continue producing formulae of questionable health value without the oversight of the FDA. Of course, the gullible and naïve voters of Utah have returned this idiot to the Senate too many times to count, so perhaps this might be the only way to get some new blood in Utah’s congressional team, but still…. bad idea. And I can count the times Hatch has been bi-partisan/non-partisan on one hand (with fingers left over).
  • When will the Dems – other than Barney Frank – act like they actually won the election in November? I’m waiting, but it’s time to put up or shut up – and I’m pointing my fingers are you, Sen. Reid and Rep. Pelosi.

In non-political stuff (okay, might be slightly political):

  • As Sarah noted, Ticketmaster is an evil monopoly. Sure, I managed to get tickets to Springsteen’s show here in DC, but only after being denied good seats due to a site error, then finally getting tickets 20 minutes after they went on sale. All the while, my fruitless attempts at getting seats resulted in Ticketmaster suggesting I buy tickets for the same show (at a greatly inflated price) via TicketsNow, their legal “reselling” (read: scalping) sister company – these tickets almost certainly coming from under-the-table skimming of prime seats from one arm of the company to the other. That, to put it bluntly, is fucked up. And now Ticketmaster is looking to buy out one of their few remaining competitors, LiveNation. If this isn’t a true monopoly that acts against the best interests of consumers, I don’t know what is. Let’s hope the Obama DOJ investigates these criminals for what they are – a ticket mafia – and that the trust is broken and people put in jail.
  • While I love a cupcake as much as the next person, the trend of boutique cupcakes has got to end: when run-of-the-mill cupcakes in the supermarket now command more than $2 per specimen, that’s just wrong. And let’s face it: many of the boutique cupcakes aren’t that good: most home bakers could bake equally tasty, if not better, cakes.
  • I’m very much ready to get back to real winter. DC has been lacking in this area. Sure, we had a true, hard freeze this year (fewer mosquitoes this summer is a lovely thought), but a scarcity of snow. New England and the west have been inundated, so I’m headed to Colorado tomorrow to get a snow fix.
  • It’s time to start ramping up my bike training regimen for the 2009 season: lots of big rides loom ahead, and the warm months aren’t too far away. But I’m really glad I spent some time off the bike, as I was getting a bit burnt out.