All I can say is “WOW!”

The inauguration was highly impressive on a number of levels.  On a very basic level, watching the ceremony unfold, with barely a glitch, in such perfect manner was very impressive.  Take into account the history that was unfolding, add in the sea of humanity, and you have the perfect recipe for a modern day drama. 

I was quite impressed with the class President Obama showed during todays events.  While our nation faces a number of uphill battles, he did not place blame with any one specific person or political party.  He did move away from the political attacks in hopes of bringing the country together and, I believe, in a number of ways he did.  While I found his overall message to be less positive – and more realistic – than I had expected, he provided a message that resonated with the masses in general.

I do have a major problem; however, with something that took place today.  The crowd was booing when VP Cheney and President Bush were introduced (and, yes, they were still the VP and President at the time).  If you have a problem with the former VP and President I fully support you and your views, but you simply do not boo.  This isn’t a free speech issue, it’s a respect issue – respect for the Office of the President – not necessarily the person.  You respect the position. When you disrespect the Office, you are disrespecting the nation, and it only shows the ignorance that still is within our society today.  

Again, best of luck President Obama.  You have a huge task in front of you.  

Stock Market

At the beginning of the year, all of Twenty days ago, I was concerned about how quickly the stock market was rising .  The DOW almost reached 9100, and it was acting as if no recession was gripping our economy. Bad news would come out, the DOW would go up.  Good news would come out, the DOW would go up even faster.  The market was enthusiastic for no real reason, and now it has a huge hangover.  Today the DOW dropped 332 points, closing below 8000 for the first time in 2009.  

Yes, the news looks scary once again.  The survival of US banks are in question. Will Bank of America survive?  How long will it be before The Royal Bank of Scotland will be fully nationalized? What company will go bankrupt next?  Look past the obvious bad news and you can see good news.  REALLY good news, actually.

Take a look…

IBM posted a profit of $3.28 for the quarter – .$25 higher than expected.  Not only that, IBM expects to make $9.20 per share for the 2009 fiscal year, up $.45 from what was previously forecast.  Johnson and Johnson posted quarterly profits 14% higher, though they expect 2009 figures to be flat.  CSX – the rail transportation company – posted a profit of $.90 per share, a whole penny less than expected. 

The earning are there and better than expected from some of the economic bellwethers.  I’m not saying the economy isn’t in the crapper, nor am I saying everything will be fine tomorrow, but I do believe that the market has swung to low too fast.  

Essentially, I think the stock market is way oversold and is trading on emotion, not on the reality of the current situation.

Pilates, I have a new found respect for you

Today was the first day of my workout routine and Pilates was on the docket.  I doubted the effectiveness of a Pilates workout… until today.  For a 17 minute workout I felt the “burn”, as it were, and I was sweating up a storm.  

Seriously, I was very surprised and I cannot wait for the next workout… oh, and I’m down to 162.5 pounds, down 6 pounds in about two weeks.  There is no target weight I have in mind, I simply am taking better care of myself and it seems to be working.

Erasure Pop Remixed!

I had the chance to listen to a promo copy of Erasure’s “Pop Remixed!” and I can officially say that I am disappointed.  Really, not trying to sound negative or unsupportive, but the remixes are really…   thin… weak… uninspiring.  

Here is a quick breakdown.

Always – The Manhattan Clique remix doesn’t embody any of the original – outside of the vocals, nor does it do the song justice.  I’ve never understood the fascination Erasure has with Manhattan Clique as their work never seems impressive.

Drama!  - Really, you would think that Andy Bell would honor his own song in little better than this.

A Little Respect – Hello bad late 90’s Euro Trance music

Fingers and Thumbs – The full remix is long and, at times, seemingly pointless. Worse yet, the remix uses a vocoder on Andy’s voice…  The edit version is OK, but nothing impressive.

There was such potential here but my fears, I believe, have been realized…. 

Until next time, stay (fill in the blank).

Tomorrow Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th President of the United States and has a daunting task facing him come 12:01 PM. He steps into office with an economy that is deep in recession, unemployment rising on a seemingly weekly basis, foreign conflict continually erupting and a Democratic party that seems to be at odds with him over several issues. Still, at this point the man can do no wrong.

Obama’s pick to be treasure secretary, Timothy Geithner, forgot to pay income taxes for 2003 and 2004 even though he signed an employment agreement saying he would do so. Bill Richardson, his nominee for Commerce Secretary, had to withdraw his name from consideration because of a Grand Jury investigation. The Obama team was well aware of the investigation, so why even pick him? Or take Rahm Emmanuel, the incoming White House chief of staff, who has already been linked to the Rod Blagojevich scandal. Camp Obama won’t even explain the level of detail that Emmanuel did/did not talk to Blagojevich.

Why hasn’t the press, or the public, demanded answers from the incoming president? Why hasn’t the press jumped all over Geithner for not paying taxes? How can someone who forgot to pay their taxes be trusted to the the Treasury Secretary? Why hasn’t anyone truly pointed out the inconsistencies from Camp Obama on the Blagojevich scandal?

It’s all about hope….

The general public has hope that Barack Obama can take on the financial crisis the world is facing. People believe that Obama can “clean up” the image the United States in the eyes of the world. The public hopes he can fix the situation in Iraq, and the nation hopes that Barack Obama will move away from the politics of scandal, leading the nation on a new path of leadership.

It’s funny, however, that the very actions the nation is enraged over – the deception, and the dirty politics of the current administration – are already taking place but no one seems to care. People are willing to overlook the “little” things simply because they have hope for the future with Obama. Even if we give Obama a pass on his missteps now at what point do we stop compromising our beliefs in what is right for the potential of what could be? If a year from now the economy is in worse condition, will we be willing to look past the potential scandals?

While Barack may do no wrong in the eyes of the public (for now), how will the stock market react? Will the market be awaiting a new era with baited breath, like the rest of the nation, or will the realities of our current economic situation triumph? It will come down to the tone Obama sets. The market needs something to hold onto, some hope that the government has a plan to address the ills of the nation.

But does he? That is what the market will want to know, and they will want to know very quickly. Also, if the market continues to trend lower, does that indicate there is little faith in what Obama plans to do?

At roughly Noon Eastern, Obama will be sworn in, and I’ll be watching, but his polish my wear off very quickly if he do not live up to the standard he has set.

I wish him the best as he is facing a huge task.