I failed to mention in my previous post that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin served as the Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska for six years. On first glance, this might sound impressive. But, considering the town of Wasilla has fewer residents than Duke University does undergraduate students, it might be said that a four-year member of the Duke Student Government has nearly as much if not more experience in terms of executive management.

Also, a few of the better comments about the Palin nomination from the BBC News website:

Image courtesy the real cjs

According to The New York Times, and a variety of other sources, Senator John McCain, the presumptive GOP nominee, has chosen Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. The Obama people must be elated. Senator McCain could not possibly have chosen a worse person to convince Americans he should become the nation's next commander-in-chief.

First and foremost, Governor Palin completely, totally and utterly undercuts the McCain camp's principal well-reasoned argument against an Obama presidency, that of Senator Obama's relative inexperience versus Senator McCain's. Unlike Senator Obama — who at least worked as a community organizer, served as the president of the Harvard Law Review, won a seat in the Illinois state Senate, lectured at the University of Chicago Law School, wrote two best-selling books and won a seat in the U.S. Senate — Governor Palin's only experience comes from a brief stint as a city commissioner, another stint as an appointed ethics reform tsar and two years as Alaska's governor. I suppose we needn't worry she will exert Cheneyesque control over Senator McCain. Or perhaps we should, given that her frighteningly short CV might lead her to make more than a few misguided choices. Regardless, the fact that Senator McCain believes her capable of becoming the nation's vice president shows the Arizona Senator cannot care as much as he professes to about experience.

More importantly, though, from a policy standpoint, Governor Palin supports drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Either Governor Palin doesn't understand how markets work, or Governor Palin wants to feed the nation's continued addiction to the very carbon-based fuels that have ravaged our environment and compromised our security. Or perhaps both. Given the relatively meager returns the U.S. would realize by drilling in the Refuge at the cost of disturbing, however gently, a magnificent preserve of the Earth's awesome biological diversity, and the fact such drilling only aids and abets economic stagnation, environmental destruction and petro-authoritarian regimes, drilling in the Refuge makes no sense.

It seems to me Senator John McCain has reached the point of desperation. While, when I last looked, the polls still had Senator Obama in a dead-heat with Senator McCain, the man must be worried. Without a doubt, Senator McCain chose Governor Palin as his running mate for two reasons. On the one hand, she appeals to the one-issue religious extremist vote, by staunchly opposing abortion and claiming to uphold "traditional values." On the other, as a female, the McCain campaign must have some irrational hope they will be able to persuade one-time Hillary Clinton supporters to cast their votes for the Republicans. She succeeds on the first count, though I have a hard time believing any supporter of Senator Clinton would be idiotic enough to support a ticket that so diametrically opposes Senator Clinton's views.

Joe Biden will have a field day at the vice presidential debate.

Image courtesy Alexis Matsui of the NewsHour

I liked Senator Clinton's speech tonight at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. It was forceful, energetic and, above all, brilliantly delivered. I enjoyed it all the more thanks to Politico, who posted the full prepared text of her speech a few moments after the end of her banal documentary film introduction. She deviated from the prepared text a number of times — most notably at the end when she inserted another call to vote for Senator Obama in November — and clearly lost her spot on the teleprompter at one point. That said, she covered the lapse beautifully.

Rhetorically, the one piece of her speech — and of the Democrat's platform generally — I disliked was the constant reference to "Green Collar" jobs. Obviously, it alludes to the blue- and white-collar labels many attached to certain types of jobs in decades past, and, to a lesser extent today. Even so, I doubt many people in the burgeoning alternative energy industry wear shirts with green collars on a regular basis. Couldn't they have come up with something a little more creative? Clean room jobs? T-shirt and jeans jobs?

Regardless, it was a brilliant speech. I only hope the topics turn away from the lingering Obama-Clinton animosity and more toward the issues that swing voters actually care about.

A few weeks ago, I decided to add yet another item to my to-do list: start an online magazine. While, for competitive reasons, I will refrain from discussing the exact nature of this online magazine, founding an Internet venture has led me to the state of Delaware. Or, more specifically, incorporating in the state of Delaware.

From what I've read, two states — Delaware and California — have much more extensive bodies of state laws governing corporations and LLCs, which can be helpful. What's more, those extensive bodies of law have a wonderfully pro-business lilt. For example, Delaware LLCs pay a flat $250 annual income tax, regardless of how much money the LLC makes. Corporations pay a relatively modest 8.75% income tax, but — and other Internet ventures must love this — only on taxable income generated in the state of Delaware. It's genius. So genius, in fact, about 60% of the Fortune 500, countless Internet start-ups and even some foreign companies trying to avoid local red tape call Delaware home, at least in a legal sense. Delaware incorporation also, according to what I've read, helps should the company ever want to obtain venture funding.

This makes me wonder, though, why other states don't try to emulate California and Delaware. The states must benefit in some way from having such a concentration of corporate activity within their borders. Given that Delaware and California rank 9th and 11th respectively in terms of per capita family income, the public doesn't seem to suffer too greatly from decreased state-level regulation. Though, I suppose building a large body of corporate law requires time, or at least lots of litigation. And most states do have Delaware-esque corporate tax rates.

More on the magazine soon.

On my recent trip to the Bay Area, I poked my head into more than a few shops, looking for this, that and the other. Two stand out because they present such a paradoxical contrast. I speak of H&M — the IKEA of clothing, as I like to call it — and Theory, the ultra-minimalist high-fashion label. One offers oodles of clothing at shockingly low prices, while the other peddles a much smaller assortment with much heftier price tags. For a culture that usually equates wealth with the mythical concept of More, this seems weird.

For anyone not familiar with H&M, the fast-fashion label has its roots in Sweden. It made a name for itself largely by offering fashionable clothing at obscenely low prices. More recently, the company has co-opted everyone from Roberto Cavalli to Madonna to design everything from chic dresses to lurid velour jogging suits.

The principal H&M shop in San Francisco, located just a few blocks off Market on Powell, is a feast for the senses. Enormous video monitors cover the walls, flashing H&M propaganda at regular intervals. Loud, pulsing music gives the shop the air of a European discotheque. But, above all else, the store brims with clothing in every imaginable color, shape and size.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, entering the Theory store on über-fashionable Maiden Lane might be compared to entering a prison. Aside from floor-to-ceiling windows facing the street, the store's interior has no color whatsoever. The walls, the floor and the ceiling are all neutral gray concrete. Neither dark, nor light. Dull, neutral gray. Only the small army of smartly-dressed salespeople, the smattering of mostly monochrome clothing, and the conspicuous absence of dirt and dust offer any indication that Al Capone isn't lurking in a dark corner.

But how on earth did our society arrive at this point? Five hundred years ago, had I presented the average Genovese sailor with one store selling oodles of brightly colored clothing in every imaginable shape and size, and another peddling a sparse assortment of black pants and simple shirts, the average Genovese sailor would have insisted the former, not the latter, was the province of the well-to-do. Only the aristocracy could have afforded such abundance!

Yet here we are. I can only suppose that minimalism appeals to up-market shoppers precisely because more down-market shops, like H&M, have such exuberant wares on hand, in much the same way that utensil-free eating has become so popular in the nation's most exclusive restaurants. Not to say that makes much sense to me either.

Image courtesy chocolate monster mel

This morning, just blocks from San Francisco's famous Union Square, I had breakfast at some supposedly famous diner by the name of Lori's. (Highly not recommended.) Rather than order an over-cheesed cheese omelet or commit to consuming a mile-high stack of pancakes, I opted for French toast. Not for the first time, I found myself quite disappointed. Like dozens of other breakfast spots around the nation, Lori's French toast, while golden brown on the outside, offers nothing more than parched, insipid nothingness on the inside. Not my idea of "Fabulous French Toast," as the Lori's menu puts it.

No, to gain a true understanding of what French toast ought really be, we must dive into the pages of history. French toast, in American parlance, has its origins in France, of all places. There, it goes by the haughty and pretentious name of pain perdu, or literally "lost bread."

Back in the days before food scientists had developed the wacky chemicals used to keep modern bread soft for unnaturally long periods of time, those bread-loving French people needed something to do with their stale bread. Some made bread pudding. Some made croutons. The most cunning culinary creatives, however, tried something altogether more interesting. They brought their bread back to life by first softening it in raw custard — eggs, cream, vanilla — and pan frying the custard-laden slices.

Thus, true French toast: crunchy and golden on the outside, moist, tender and custardy on the inside. There is no substitute.

I can only guess why the modern American restaurant has abandoned this recipe for guaranteed deliciousness. On the one hand, rehydrating a completely dry, rock hard slice of bread takes far longer than coating a still soft slice with batter. In the time-is-money world of the restaurant business time saved could be money earned. On the other, perhaps drying out hundreds or thousands of slices of bread poses too much of a logistical challenge. But whatever the problem, restaurants should seriously consider revamping their French toast. Otherwise, I will have nothing to order for breakfast but oatmeal.

For my more delicious French toast recipe, read on.

Engadget just posted a hands-on evaluation of a new Dell laptop, which, in and of itself is not tremendously remarkable. But I noticed Dell decided to take a page out of the Obama handbook with regard to marketing:

Image courtesy Engadget

Look familiar? As Senator Obama's campaign has gained more and more momentum, more and more organizations have decided to parrot its innovative marketing, the use of Gotham included. At the very least, it reinforces the perception that his political juggernaut has made more than a few good decisions.

Image courtesy rich115

NBC seems to think Americans still live in the pre-Internet age. I can understand, after paying as much as they did for the broadcast rights to air the Olympics in the United States, that NBC would want to arrange the most popular events in such a way as to give its advertisers the most possible eyeballs. At the same time, however, NBC acts as if the Internet and World Wide Web are still the exclusive province of research universities when it tape delays its primetime coverage of the Olympics for viewers in the United States' two western time zones. The results of every event show up live on any number of websites, be they the pages of domestic media operations or the foreign media outlets who air the games live.

I might have more sympathy for NBC if they were tape delaying some of the more popular content because of the time difference between North America and East Asia. This year, however, NBC managed to strong arm the Olympics organizers into holding popular events early in the morning, which happens to correspond to the evening here in the United States. While people in the United States' two eastern time zones do see those specially-scheduled events live, those of us lucky enough to live in Pacific or Mountain time see the primetime coverage at a three hour delay.

What's more, NBC further insults its viewers in the Pacific and Mountain time zones by keeping a gigantic aston reading, "LIVE," in the upper right corner of the tape delayed feed. The geniuses at NBC, of course, would claim that, by briefly flashing a tiny blob of white text reading, "pre-recorded," in the upper left of the screen for half a minute, at the top of every hour, everyone can still sing songs together around the campfire. On the other hand, I see it as an insult to viewers' intelligence. I know of no other media outlet in today's world of instant information who would be so idiotic as to keep the "LIVE" badge on pre-recorded footage. Someone should sue.

And, while I tear apart NBC's coverage of the Olympics, let me pose this question: why must American media lace its coverage of sport with cloying personal interest pieces before the athletes performance? Have we become so addicted to reality television?

I have no problem with a commentator slipping interesting tidbits into the program. That someone broke her ankle just two months before the games makes her remarkable performance all the more exciting and noteworthy. But I have no need to watch a ten-minute feature backed with swelling violins to explain how much Marie-Cécile Smith worried about her chances when she broke her leg.

Yet again, I wish I could receive the BBC.

Image courtesy Hamed Saber

But this week, out of nowhere, Senator Obama decided to espouse two brand new, disastrously dumb ideas. First, the Senator declared he hoped to use a new tax on oil companies' windfall profits to put yet another stimulus check in the hands of "average" Americans. Second, he proposed we augment the nation's supply of oil by releasing fuel from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

To the first proposal, I see no reason the oil companies should face a larger tax burden than they already do simply because they happen to provide something consumers want. The price of other equally — if not more — essential commodities, such as wheat and corn, has also climbed quite steeply in the last 12 months due to high demand. Yet, I doubt even the most dyed-in-the-wool socialist would argue we should tax farmers' boosted revenue at a steeper rate to provide families with discount vouchers for bread.

For obvious reasons, people want to blame Wall Street speculators or big oil, however, they should really blame themselves. Unlike the oil crisis of the 1970's, this year's oil crisis is a story of supply and demand. People in the United States keep buying bigger cars, bigger homes and bigger burgers, just as people in the developing world abandon their bicycles for Buicks.

I dislike the Senator's second proposal precisely because it alters the supply-demand equation in a way that lowers prices at the pump. If anything, in the wake of falling oil prices, the Senator should have proposed the United States phase in a new $2-a-gallon gasoline tax to keep prices high and give consumers an incentive to use less petrol and make the move to alternatives. As Tom Friedman so sagely put it, "When a person is addicted to crack cocaine, his problem is not that the price of crack is going up. His problem is what that crack addiction is doing to his whole body. The cure is not cheaper crack, which would only perpetuate the addiction and all the problems it is creating. The cure is to break the addiction. Ditto for us."

Back when the Democratic primary still grabbed headlines, I threw myself into the Obama camp for one reason. I want a leader who will lead: someone who, when the situation merits it, will adopt an unpopular position, in spite of the political cost. Neither the wiretap immunity nor the Supreme Court decision merited the political cost of pursuing the right path with unwavering dedication.

America's addiction to fossil fuels, however, does merit that kind of political sacrifice and leadership. While I will not cast my vote for Senator McCain come November — his scorecard on leadership, frankness and our petroleum problem make Obama look like a straight-A student — I would feel much less uncomfortable putting Senator Obama in the Oval Office if I knew he took our energy problems more seriously.

For what seems like my entire life, NBC has used the same Wagnerian piece of John Williams' music for all of its Olympics bumpers and promos. I couldn't find any of the NBC Beijing promos on YouTube, but I did manage to track down the promo spots used by BBC Sport and France2, who air the Olympic Games in the U.K. and France, respectively. I find the contrast between the three nations' presentations quite curious.

From France2:

From BBC Sport:

If I can find a decent recording of NBC's material, I'll append it.

While I sometimes feel like my Google Analytics account gives me a little too much information about my visitors, seeing the data really makes me appreciate this whole World Wide Web concept. Here are a few crazy stats for the months of June and July:

• 13.4% of visitors to Kibeland live outside the United States
• People from 26 countries visited Kibeland, including: Malaysia, Egypt, France, Russia and Venezuela
• Only 73.41% of visitors used a browser other than Internet Explorer (higher than the global average, but still disappointingly low)
• "hermes octopus tie" led the 4th greatest number of people to Kibeland from search engines
• 11.96% of searchers found Kibeland with the search string "kibeland" (apparently the four extra characters in ".com" proved too much for some)
• June-July's most popular entry was "Pocket Computing," which accounted for 2.4% of all page views (most people read the RSS feed or the main blog page)

The world feels very small indeed.

Sure, the text is missing a few commas and has a misappropriated preposition or two. But that really doesn't matter. The text works. I can't decide whether it's the short sentences, higher-than-average use of the exclamation point, or constant references to Sweden, flatness and low prices that make it work so well. It has a maddeningly brilliant simplicity. It's almost as if they care just as much about keeping their word counts low, while maintaining a reasonably high standard of writing, in the same way they strive to make beautiful, but inexpensive furniture.

I'm almost tempted to look at an English textbook for Swedish speakers.

Image courtesy casasroger

Of course, Ms. Hilton's brief foray into the realm of politics was meant as a joke. Nevertheless, those battle-hardened soldiers over in Camp McCain leapt at the chance to use the socialite's latest stunt to score a few points. McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds commented: "It sounds like Paris Hilton supports John McCain's 'all of the above' approach to America's energy crisis - including both alternatives and drilling. Paris Hilton might not be as big a celebrity as Barack Obama, but she obviously has a better energy plan."

Meanwhile, in Florida, Barack Obama softened his opposition to the idiotic offshore drilling proposal McCain never ceases to extol. From a political standpoint it makes sense. The American people seem to like this ill-conceived offshore drilling idea and Senator Obama would rather not lose the election. Naturally, the media — and the McCain brigade — took the opportunity to label Senator Obama a "flip-flopper."

These two incidents have pushed me over the edge. Why must politics in this country consist of nothing more than the exchange of petty insults? Is it really too much to ask the two candidates to have an intelligent debate?

Of the three presidential debates scheduled to take place between now and November, not a single one allows the two candidates to speak to one another. Instead, two will feature some hopelessly dull moderator and the other a cast of undecided voters who pose the questions. Ugh.

I remember watching the 2005 pre-runoff debate between Nicolas Sarkozy and Ségolène Royal with some fondness. The two candidates sat, one across from the other, at a table. They had no "moderator" per se, just a timer and a charming television personality to make sure neither one hogged the limelight. While their exchange veered off course on a few occasions, they managed, for the most part, to have a serious discussion of the issues. One would bring up his or her proposal, give a basis for it and the other would respond with a logical rebuttal. No one cared about flip-flops or expensive loafers. Instead, they raised concerns about the cost of certain projects, or the moral issues surrounding providing a set of services to one group, but not another.

I have no doubt Barack Obama and John McCain could have that kind of discussion. And, to both of their credit, they have both made at least a minimal effort to move in that direction. At the same time, however, both Camp McCain and the Obamites have stooped to crying "flip-flop" on at least one occasion.

The issues have nuance. None of the proposals put forth by Senator Obama and Senator McCain have no merit whatsoever, nor do all of their proposals have no demerits whatsoever. Given the job of weighing an idea's merits against its demerits, and a changing temporal, political, economic and social climate, it seems perfectly reasonable and perfectly natural that both candidates would change some of their positions in the course of this unbelievably long campaign. I wish our politics better reflected that reality.