October surprise? 

I just listened to a chilling but fascinating edition of FreshAir.

So chilling and thought-provoking it will certainly help you forget Sarah Palin, and might just get you to forget the subprime meltdown crisis depression, etc.

http://bit.ly/3AQzbV

The big question -- will an October Surprise, one that gives us four more years of Republican rule in the US be an American attack on Iran, or an American-approved attack by Israel?

The subject of the interview, Robert Baer, is absolutely sure that if that happens, the Iranians will shut down the flow of oil to the world from the entire Persian Gulf.

That's the Straits of Hormuz, the place all the arrows are pointing at. It's tiny. All the oil from Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, etc flows through there. If Iran wants they can shut that down at any time. Attack Iran, they say, and that's the end of oil. Baer says that would start a depression that makes the subprime meltdown look like a day in the park. He calls it a Hail Mary Pass, one that Bush might throw, one last chance to save his legacy and keep the White House in Republican hands.

Have a listen, if you have the time. It's riveting radio.

Time Loves a Hero 

Random news links to start the day.

If you're following the news of the election as it heads into the final stretch, I can't recommend highly enough our NewsJunk headline service. There's so much news. It's an excellent way to keep up. Via: the website, RSS, mobile, Twitter, FF, identi.ca, google group. If you can think of another way let me know. News is breaking so fast, and imho, this is the best way to stay informed.

The event at the Hillside Club was an unqualified success. A couple of hundred people showed up. We're going to try to do it again for the Presidential debates. (One problem -- somehow the Obama people got the idea this was a campaign event, it wasn't. Next time we have to make that much more clear.)

I kept thinking "Sarah Palin sandbagged us" -- that the interviews she did were deliberately bad to set the debate expectations unbelievably low. I still despise everything she stands for, but she did a credible debate, as did Joe Biden.

The title of this section is a great Little Feat song, one of my favorite bands. Founded in the 70s as a spinout of the Mothers of Invention, it was named after Lowell George's feet, which were very little. He mis-spelled the word as a tribute to the Beatles. Time Loves a Hero always made me think of my uncle, who took a fishing boat to Jamaica not Puerto Rico, and whose birthday, had he lived, was this week on Oct 1.

I love the way you can get a low-rez version of almost any song on YouTube and I love that the music industry hasn't shut it down. I don't often have cause to thank the music industry, so Thanks!