What's Black and White and Read All Over?

Apparently, Palin doesn't know the answer to that. In an interview with Katie Couric of CBS' Evening News, she could not name a newspaper she read before she was nominated for the vice-presidency. Watch the awkward video here.


>>>National Post: Video: Palin on newspapers she reads: 'Um, all of them, any of them that have been in front of me'

2008 Presidential Debate #1 Notes

As promised, my notes of the first Presidential debate between Democratic nominee Barack Obama and Republican nominee John McCain held in Mississippi last Friday, September 26th.

2008 First Presidential Debate Notes

Alternate full transcript: http://www.scribd.com/doc/6256195/Presidential-Debate-Transcript

777 Ain't Lucky After All

I'm talking about the stock market of course. The Dow Jones industrial average plummeted 777.68 points today , as the US House rejected a $700 billion bailout plan for the nation's crippling bank and investment system. It was the largest one day decline for the Dow Jones, resulting in a $1,000,000,000,000 loss for investors, and other markets both in New York and in the world quickly reacted and followed suit with their own losses. Looks like stuffing money under the mattress might be back...

(Screenshot from: CNN Money)
Edited 11:38

McCain Flip-Flops on Debate

I was going to post about how McCain put Obama in a tight spot earlier this week by "suspending" his presidential campaign to "work" on the bank bailout plan. However, it turns out that McCain relented flip-flopped today, and is on his way to the first presidential debate of 2008 in Mississippi tonight. I will watch it and blog about it soon after.

Historically, tonight's debate is also 150 years after Abraham Lincoln's famous debate with Stephen Douglas.

>>>ABCNews: McCain-Obama debate to go ahead

Good and Bad News for Riders

(+) Yesterday, Google, the MTA, and New York Governor David Paterson unveiled Google transit for New York City. The Google Maps-based program helps travelers plan trips through an integration of the region's transit networks, including New York City Transit, Long Island Rail Road, Metro North, PATH, and New Jersey Transit. The maps will feature directions as well as suggested alternatives and even incorporates schedules. Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin were also on hand at Grand Central to release the local version of Transit, which was already available in over 60 other U.S. cities and in areas of 9 other countries. The great part was, the MTA did not have to pay for this service, all they had to do was provide the data. Let's give them (MTA and Google) a round of applause!
>>>New York Times: Google Transit Expands to New York

(-) But we just have to end this post on a bad note since we all have to return to reality sometime. If the MTA had spent their own money doing that, I wouldn't have supported it, especially with their deficit growing everyday. Which may explain why the MTA is now delaying the completion of their $185 million, 152 station plan to install electronic displays on the IRT 1-6 lines. The displays which are supposed to provide info about train arrival times, were supposed to be installed by Siemens by 2006, but had their contract canceled due to glitches. The installation is now pushed back until 2011! The L line already has similar technology as part of a pilot. All platforms already have some sort of LED display, installed in the 90s, but all it does is display the current date and time and is useless today since most of us have watches/cellphones. Hopefully, the MTA can just incorporate the current date/time displays with the train arrival system, saving time and money.

>>>Daily News: Subway arrival info behind schedule

P.S.: The weird part is, the uptown Astor Place station has 2 displays, one just recently installed at an end of the platform far away from where most passengers wait for their train...