Assorted Afflatuses

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.