Snow Stop

Snow has devastated the East Coast

Jon Stewart on the O'Reilly Factor

Comedy Central's Jon Stewart appears on the O'Reilly Factor:



Bill O'Reilly barely lets Stewart speak about anything.

Toyota Turmoil

Toyota is facing more recalls, now including the Prius:

To fix the problem, Toyota is responding with a media blitz:

“We believe we are close to announcing an effective remedy,” the Toyota City, Japan-based automaker said in an advertisement in more than 20 U.S. newspapers yesterday.

“I am deeply sorry that we’re giving cause for concern to customers,” Toyoda said in an unscheduled interview on Jan. 29 with Japan’s NHK television network in Davos, posted to U.S. broadcaster ABC News’ Web site. “We’re preparing to explain the facts to our customers as soon as we can so that we can remove that anxiety.”

Critics aren't impressed with Toyota's response:

“They have wasted too much time without doing anything,” said Tatsuya Mizuno, director of Mizuno Credit Advisory. “Toyota used to be a company with foresight, always ready to take action, but now they have fallen very far behind the curve.”

While I may not like the company, they were one of the best run companies in the world. This is a very surprising blunder by the company. I guess part of this is because they aren't used to this kind of disaster.

The Diplomat: India Invites Pakistan To Talk

As many of you know, India and Pakistan have a long history and recent relations between the two countries have not exactly been friendly. With Pakistani based terrorists focused on India as well as fears that Pakistan is harboring terrorists, India has been growing its arms, spurring a race for arms between the two country. Both countries have nuclear arms. However, India has offered Pakistan an opportunity to talk:

"Though little progress has been made in India's efforts to get Islamabad to crack down on India-focused militants operating on Pakistani soil, India's concerns over Taliban appeasement in Afghanistan are driving New Delhi toward engagement with Islamabad," said Stratfor, which provides strategic intelligence on security and geopolitical affairs.

"India knows the only way it can edge into the Afghanistan dialogue and hope to influence the Taliban negotiations is to first reopen a diplomatic channel with Pakistan," it said in its news analysis on India’s offer of talks with Islamabad.

This is a very significant development, but it remains to be seen whether anything will be done. I doubt that Pakistan will agree to anything beyond the talks.

Haiti Aid

Get involved.

Brown Goes To Washington

Scott Brown was sworn into office today.

Obama Takes A Stand

Barack Obama has taken a stand against an anti-gay bill in Uganda:

"We may disagree about gay marriage, but surely we can agree that it is unconscionable to target gays and lesbians for who they are -- whether it's here in the United States or ... more extremely in odious laws that are being proposed most recently in Uganda," Obama told the National Prayer Breakfast.

Obama has made a strong push for gay rights in the last week, following his State of the Union speech last week.

IslamaBAD

Three troops were killed in a blast in North-West Pakistan as well as a Pakistani soldier and three school children. This is further reason as to why Pakistan should take a harder stance against terrorism and terrorists within its borders.

Toyota Suffers, Honda Prospers

Toyota seems to be feeling the strain of the recent vehicle recalls

US Sales have dropped:

Toyota Motor Corp suffered a sharp drop in U.S. sales last month as its massive recall and unprecedented sales halt allowed rivals to grab market share from the world's largest automaker.

Here's what PR Consultant, Ong Huac Chuan, had to say:

"In moments of a business crisis, people want to see a company take full responsibility, be empathic to the victims and their families and be in control by outlining the problem and how they intend to solve it. They also expect the CEO doing all this," said Ong Hock Chuan, technical adviser of Jakarta-based PR consultancy Maverick who specializes in crisis management.

"Toyota seems to have failed in all counts. It's admission of the problem has been half hearted and almost reluctant, it has failed to apologize unequivocally to victims and their families, and its failed to articulate and communicate what it intends to do to regain control of the situation."

For a business, hellbent on being the market leader, Toyota seems to have failed miserably to show its customers that it cares about them.

On the other side of the docket, Honda raised its profit forecast:

Honda Motor Co (7267.T) lifted its annual guidance far beyond market expectations on Wednesday after cost cuts drove quarterly profit to the strongest in a year and a half, and said it anticipates further growth next financial year.

Executive Vice President Koichi Kondo:

"Under these sales conditions, I see a fundamental ability to make 100 billion yen in operating profit every quarter," Executive Vice President Koichi Kondo told a news conference.

He worries though that the recent Toyota recalls will have a negative effect on Japanese brands, including Honda:

"Toyota is the front-runner representing Japanese cars," Honda's Kondo said. "In that sense, we're somewhat worried that there may be a knock-on effect on other Japanese brands, but we'll need a little more time to gauge any impact."

I would hope people see through that and recognize Honda's long history of building excellent reliable cars.

Vegas vs Obama

Recent comments by President Obama against Vegas has struck a cord. These are Obama's words:

"When times are tough, you tighten your belts," Obama said, according to a White House transcript of his appearance Tuesday at a high school in North Nashua, N.H.

"You don't go buying a boat when you can barely pay your mortgage," Obama said. "You don't blow a bunch of cash on Vegas when you're trying to save for college. You prioritize. You make tough choices."

This has led to a tremendous amount of criticism. Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman:

"I'll do everything I can to give him the boot," Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman said during a hastily called news conference, adding that he was incensed when he heard about the comments and said he would no longer welcome the president here if he visits.

"This president is a real slow learner," said Goodman, who is not affiliated with a political party.

"He has to step up right away and say, you know, he wasn't thinking," Goodman said. "Sometimes when he's not using his monitors and reading what he says, he doesn't think. And this is one of those times he didn't think, and he should straighten out the record because he's been here, he knows Las Vegas is a great place."

Shelley Berkley:

"Enough is enough!" Democratic Congresswoman Shelley Berkley said in a statement. "President Obama needs to stop picking on Las Vegas and he needs to let Americans decide for themselves how and where to spend their hard-earned vacation dollars."

Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid:

"The President needs to lay off Las Vegas and stop making it the poster child for where people shouldn't be spending their money," Reid said. "I would much rather tourists and business travelers spend their money in Las Vegas than spend it overseas."

Reid later released a letter he received from Obama in which the president said he "wasn't saying anything negative about Las Vegas."

Obama's response:

"I was making the simple point that families use vacation dollars, not college tuition money, to have fun," Obama said, according to the letter. "There is no place better to have fun than Vegas, one of our country's great destinations."

Senator John Ensign:

Sen. John Ensign, a Republican, complained that Obama "failed to grasp the weight that his words carry."

"Once again he has threatened the struggling economy of Las Vegas," Ensign said, recalling what he characterized as Obama's "irresponsible" comment in February 2009.

Obama really dropped the ball on this one. There is no more important an endorser of tourism than the President of a country. If the President is depicting a place in a negative light, why would anyone want to go there?

Don't Ask, Just Tell?

Mullen on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

McCain reconsiders:

"The day that the leadership of the military comes to me and says, 'Senator, we ought to change the policy,' then I think we ought to consider seriously changing it because those leaders in the military are the ones we give the responsibility to," McCain told an audience of college students during the "Hardball" college tour on MSNBC.

I guess Obama might accomplish something. Meanwhile, our economy is in the tank, our deficit is ballooning every day, and we have multiple wars with more seemingly on the horizon.

Six More Weeks!

I feel bad for that Groundhog.

Just Another Suicide Bomber?

Except this one is a woman?

I'll let the video stand for itself.

The New Budget...

...same as the old budget

Here's Obama's plan to reduce the deficit:

The president spelled out plans to offset spending by more than $1.2 trillion over 10 years, partly through a freeze on many domestic programs and by imposing more than $800 billion in higher taxes and fees on households earning more than $250,000, on banks that benefited from the financial industry bailout and by repealing tax breaks for the oil, gas and coal industries.

There are some interesting quotes from various critics in that article.

Obama Wants To Kill...

...Moon exploration:

President Obama is calling on NASA to cancel the program that was to return humans to the Moon by 2020, and focus instead on radically new space technologies.

Mr. Obama’s 2010 budget proposal for NASA asks for $18 billion over five years for fueling spacecraft in orbit, new types of engines to accelerate spacecraft through space and robotic factories that could churn soil on the Moon — and eventually Mars — into rocket fuel

The question is whether this expenditure makes economic sense. I suppose this is what will be debated in Congress.

Grammys: Swift Takeover

Taylor Swift won Best Album along with four others. Here's what she had to say:

"Oh wow — thank you so much! I just hope that you know how much this means to me.... that we get to take this back to Nashville," said Swift, whose "Fearless" was last year's best-selling album of any genre.

"Oh my God, our families are freaking out in their living rooms," she added. "My dad and my little brother are losing their minds in the living room right now."

If you couldn't tell, I'm not that interested in this post. The Grammys seem sort of important though.

Too Early To Talk White House?

He is just getting his feet wet in the national spot light. It would be hard to see the voters elect another inexperienced politician to the White House. While another outsider might be elected, I don't think inexperience can be accounted for here. Scott Brown should probably try to establish himself as a national stalwart before he thinks about the presidency.