GRABBINGSAND

I’ve updated the Hope Fix Mix post with some cover art.

If you missed the mix twenty days ago, go check it out, give it a listen, pass it on. According to DivShare’s counter, about 70 people have downloaded, give or take.

So if you’re going to be spending today (the last day for Advance Voting in Georgia) or November 4th in a long line, waiting to cast your vote with iPod in hand, this ought to get you through an hour (or two if you don’t mind repeating).

And if you like it, let me know.

In light of tonight’s scheduled programming — which will not actually delay the game — here is an appropriate logo:

(Revised World Series logo courtesy of AnimalNY.)

Been a very long time, I know. I’ve been busy.

The United States Secretary of the Treasury heads up the U. S. Treasury Department. The Treasury Department is “the executive agency responsible for promoting economic prosperity and ensuring the financial security of the United States.”* Where other countries have finance ministers, the United States has a Treasury Secretary. Unlike some other Cabinet positions, it would appear that the duties of any specific Treasury Secretary is a moving target. The current Treasury Secretary is “responsible for formulating and recommending domestic and international financial, economic, and tax policy, participating in the formulation of broad fiscal policies that have general significance for the economy, and managing the public debt.”* Twelve distinct agencies, called bureaus, operate under the aegis of the U.S. Treasury Department. These include the U.S. Mint, the Internal Revenue Service and the Bureau of the Public Debt. Until recently, the U.S. Treasury was home to the U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Customs Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Post-9/11 legislation (Public Law 107-296) shifted these agencies under the newly-formed Department of Homeland Security, effective Spring of 2003.

The Secretary of the Treasury is fifth in the line of succession, right after the Secretary of State. The first Secretary of the Treasury was Alexander Hamilton, who served 1789 to 1795. Since the position was established, the seat has been held by 74 different Secretaries.

Current Secretary: Henry “Hank” Paulson, former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Goldman Sachs. Unlike my other Cabinet picks, Mr Paulson has been in the news so much of late that introductions are probably unnecessary. And so, I will instead reveal a secret hope that just once in his life, Paulson has turned to someone and said “You don’t have to call me mister, Mister, the whole world calls me Hank.”

Number One Draft Pick: Joseph Stiglitz. Who better to deal with a WTF financial situation than a Nobel Prize Winning econ professor who seems to really understand WTF just happen’d? And if he has a sense of humor, then all the better.

Here is where I am supposed to give you a single story that justifies my selection. Instead, I’m just going to let Mr Stiglitz speak for himself. An Oxford University lecture on our current financial situation — the “credit crunch” — is available for download via iTunes, free of charge. In just under an hour, Mr Stiglitz manages to explain the origins of this crisis, not only in terms of financial impact, but also where the crisis is affecting the world societally. Along the way, he explains how toxic debt polluted the world’s economies much in such a pandemic fashion.

So what were they doing? You have to scratch your head and say, “the regulators should’ve been asking a question like that.” They should’ve been asking “What were they doing? What were they thinking?” Well, the answer is really not that hard. It goes back to the concept of securitization. They were creating pieces of paper that they were selling to people in Australia, and France and elsewhere who were stupid enough to buy them. And it was based on the general principle that a fool is being born every minute, and if we can just find those fools, we can make money! And they found a lot of them!

To avoid a repeat of so much fool-mongering, Stiglitz encourages far more transparency and proposes the development of Financial Products Safety Commission — an idea first put forward in 2007 by Elizabeth Warren of Harvard, included in Senator Hillary Clinton’s campaign platform and being discussed in a brand new article in BusinessWeek.

Alternate Picks: In this case, I’ve no real alternates. It’s been mentioned elsewhere that it might be a good idea to keep Mr Paulson in the role on into the next administration. While this might provide a certain amount of stability, this is a Cabinet position in dire need of an honest approach from a new direction.

West Wing Reference: While the Treasury Secretary is a pretty big deal in the real world, neither of the two fictional counterparts in the Bartlett administration got much airtime. The first appeared in one episode late into the first season and said nothing memorable. And the second appeared only in that awkward episode after Leo suffered a heart attack at Camp David.

Likelihood: The possibility is already being discussed, particularly if the White House goes blue in November — something that Stiglitz has predicted, actually. He’s been consulted often in the last month or so as an effective reality check against the mega-bailout (here, here and here, just to cite a few).

Already On The Roster: Agriculture and Commerce.

Next Up? Who knows?! Maybe Defense …

Pumpkin of Much Hope, originally uploaded by grabbingsand.

Stencil by Jason Powell found on Yes We Carve.

Nikki has a shot from a different angle.

Few things are as unsettling as those last few minutes of casting your vote. You’ve selected your principal candidates, perhaps a judge here and there, and now you’re face-to-typeface with a sea of legalese. You knew they’d be there, but you just didn’t find the time to do the research. Now you have to make an intelligent decision without the education to back it up.

I’m talking about amendments to our state Constitution. This year, Georgia voters will be asked to consider the merits of three different concerns. Just a simple yes or no will do.

These amendments are summarized thusly:

1. An Amendment to encourage the preservation of Georgia’s forests through a conservation use property tax reduction program.
2. An Amendment to authorize local school districts to use tax funds for community redevelopment purposes.
3. An Amendment to authorize the creation of special Infrastructure Development Districts providing infrastructure to underserved areas.

Obviously, these summaries are sorely lacking in context and history, and not by accident. (Who doesn’t love trees!?!) If you’d like to read more details about what each amendment will entail, I encourage you to download the handy brochure from Georgia’s Secretary of State’s office. (It’s a PDF.)

Once you’ve given it a read or two — and chased the doing so with a couple of Advil — head on over to GriftDrift’s blog. He’s started walking through the three amendments, one after another. As of this afternoon, he’s posted an introductory summary and his take on amendment number one.

Caught myself this afternoon, just watching the Dow Jones steadily plummet. A stalled airplane, spiralling. An imminent train wreck in slow motion. This isn’t the end of the world, I know, but it feels like the end of something.

There are a couple of analogies that have entered my mind in the last month or so.

A few weeks ago, I told Nikki that it feels like the Current Administration is treating our country like a rental car, stripping the gears and thrashing the engine, wrecking it well and good with no concern for the next driver to come along.

The other analogy is that the next few weeks — the time between now and November 4 — are going to be much like living with an alcoholic uncle. There’s no predicting just what crazy-ass thing he’s going to do next, and you’re stuck with him no matter what.

To keep myself sane, I’ve taken inspiration from a couple of very creative people. One is King Most, the other is Z-Trip. Both of these fine folks have compiled hour-long mixes, free to download, in support of Senator Barack Obama. Z-Trip seeds his very effective and accessible Party For Change mix with samples from Gil Scott-Heron, Audioslave, Pink Floyd, President Reagan (!), and tons more. Regarding The Obamix, King Most said “The intent of this mix was to try and capture what WE’VE all been feeling these past months: hope, struggle, and the importance of facing a challenge.”

So this is what I’ve done. To combat a week of somewhat sleepless nights, I’ve compiled an hour of tracks and messages that maintain my hope. Like the man said, “There has never been anything false about hope.” So I’m calling this The Hope Fix Mix.

Download The Hope Fix Mix from DivShare.
(Tracklisting after the jump.)

Download it, give it a listen or two, pass it along if you feel like sharing. And don’t oversleep on November 4th. Set three alarms. Four, even.

UPDATED 10.31.2008: Now featuring a cover image.  It took a week or three, but I found the right image to build a cover around a couple of days ago. (more…)

My Name Is Not Jonas, originally uploaded by grabbingsand.

So …

I’m starting to wonder about the security of Twitter. Why? Well, when last I refreshed my Twitter page, I was no longer myself. I’d become @jonasfashion. The Profile link took me to @jonasfashion’s profile. And yes, I had access to all of @jonasfashion Settings. No, I didn’t change them.

Odd. And a little unsettling. It reminds me of when I had a cell phone on the old Cingular network. Occasionally, I’d log-in to my voicemail and find myself listening to somebody else’s messages.

Anyone else ever experience this?

John Cornetta is shutting down his Love Shack in Johns Creek. While I’m sure that the silent powers of Johns Creek will quietly trumpet Cornetta’s departure as a victory of decency over indecency, I’m guessing that the man has simply over-extended his empire. After all, it was only last year that he was giving thought to expanding in the food service industry. I never heard of any ground broken locally where that enterprise was concerned, but it always seemed an ill-thought choice to expand one’s material retail concerns into the business of feeding people.

The thing is, two years into Cornetta’s oh-so-sinful presence in Johns Creek, I never give his shop a second thought. Nor does anyone else, I’m sure. It just fades into the general offerings found up and down States Bridge Road. There’s a Chick-Fil-A. Here’s a McDonald’s. A Quik Trip. In fact, if James hadn’t given us a heads-up this afternoon, Cornetta’s departure would’ve gone absolutely unnoticed.

After so much outrage and organized opposition at the shop’s outset, maybe one of the original band of righteous warriors will break out an old protest poster. Then he can stand in the parking lot and watch smugly while Cornetta’s van pulls slowly away. “See ya around, sinner,” he’ll mutter. Maybe he’ll shake a fist wanly. And once the naughty van is just out of sight, he can celebrate by stepping into the establishment next door and purchasing a four-pack of Bartles & Jaymes.