Foreign Policy: The Dream Team → this is a pretty entertaining list of people the next president should pick for the cabinet. i enjoyed bauer’s picks most, with a nod to bucky. the wry humor of the palin pick is good, too. reading through lists like this make me think, whoa what if my name showed up there: Tim’s worked a ton of different jobs and reads a lot. He’d be the perfect pick for National Security Advisor.

It’s been quite the year, which is to say, a really fast year. We’re heading into the last months of 2008, and once November rolls around, it seems like everything else seems to fall by the wayside. Couple that with the fact that it’s an election year, and November is going to fly by while I either wallow in depression or bask in jubilation.

But at the same time, I wouldn’t think of letting the year end without getting a new mix tape out there. So let this be notice for everyone to start thinking in earnest about what you’d like to cover this year. I have a few things in mind myself, and will be chiming in whenever I think of something else someone should be covering do there shall be plenty of ideas out there, I’m sure.

Now, a little housekeeping: there are people out there whom I’ve grossly neglected who have not yet gotten a copy of last year’s mix (Jason and Jenna, I’m looking at you). If there’s anyone else out there looking for a copy but hasn’t gotten one yet, please let me know; leave a comment.

This year applies same as last year: new stuff from this year that you love and would like to cover is encouraged, but if you have stuff from years past that you’d like to take a crack at, by all means, don’t let arbitrary rules stop you.

Now, I’m going to finish my lunch. Got some ideas for songs? Leave ‘em in the comments. I’m thinking some Alicia Keys is in order, but also some Bon Iver, Noah and the Whale.

The eyeballing game → I did it twice and refuse to do it anymore. best score was 3.27.

Op-Ed Contributor – Buy American. I Am. – NYTimes.com → buffet on the markets.

Op-Chart – Bulls, Bears, Donkeys and Elephants – Interactive Graphic – NYTimes.com → I love infographics, but is this not a little bit misleading? Registered Dem speaking, but does this cycle just point more to how people vote in bad economic times rather than good ones? And if the Dow tanks now and people eventually buy in, aren’t they naturally going to get a higher return simply because they bought lower once recovery sets in? Keep me honest, here.

Slashdot | Internet Use Can Be Good For the Brain → Sounds an awful lot like Steven Johnson’s “Everything Bad is Good For You.” I buy it. The idea of “telescoping” in that book isn’t much different than Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development and scaffolding. The nature of the internet necessitates scaffolding because navigation is typically non-linear; you’re rarely just turning the page. Don’t get me wrong, there’s also inherent value in digesting more than a paragraph at a time, but those discounting the value of Internet skills (like computer literacy) are just deluding themselves into obsolescence.

It’s been a while since I’ve done this, and this is actually only the second time. But here’s a Thing I Learned Today. It’s called the TED spread, which stands for the T-Bill and EuroDollar. The spread right now is the highest it’s ever been since Black Monday, and needs to fall below 1 soon otherwise it’s a good sign the DOW will dip much lower than it already has. The TED represents the dollar value between the T-Bill and the EuroDollar based on short-term 3-month loans. Commercial paper is short term loans that banks and many small businesses use to reconcile balances at the end of the day—before the cash has actually been received. Credit, basically. That’s what a credit crisis is.

My understanding is that the TED spread is an indicator of aversion to risk; showing whether or not people will lend money. When it’s where it is now, that means no one will loan anyone any money, and in the odd occasion that they do, it’s at a crazy interest rate. When the spread goes down, that means the assets start to thaw and money (credit) starts moving again. When this goes back down, you’ll see the DOW recover.

Watch the spread.

Come on up for The Rising – The Plank → we saw bruce in front of the Rocky steps in Philadelphia last weekend after we went canvassing for the Obama campaign. We supposedly were supposed to get in up close to the stage, since we had volunteered, but something got messed up in the translation, and we were about as far as can be. Which is fine, we really just wanted to be near other Obama supporters.

Funny thing though, there was one guy with a mccain-palin sign, all tattered and torn, crumpled up, walking around holding it up for people to see. Later, I saw him sitting down, listening to Springsteen and clapping when he was talking about “rebuilding the house”, meaning America, of course.

There was also a whole family holding signs saying, “Independents for mccain” written in black magic marker on big pieces of cardboard. Mom lead the charge with son, maybe 5-years-old, and dad following with little girl up on his shoulders. All I could think about is how if they get their way, they might end up living under those signs. Poor kids. It’s not their fault their parents are voting for a guy that’s going to make their lives a lot harder.

In Fla., Palin Goes for the Rough Stuff as Audience Boos Obama | The Trail | washingtonpost.com → "Kill him" proposed one man in the audience."