Blogcritics Author: Joanne Huspek

Product Review: Rosetta Stone (Japanese - Level 1)

Joanne Huspek — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 06:41:00 EDT

Rosetta Stone Japanese Level 1: A good but expensive program, and not without good, old hard work.
Since my kids are now in college and I’m left with a nice, clean empty nest, I thought I would take this opportunity to pursue some interests I’ve left on the back burner for too long. One of these pursuits is to learn enough Japanese to be able to go to Japan to visit with distant relatives. I am half-Japanese, and there was a point...

An Independent Pessimist Takes a Look at the Third Parties

Joanne Huspek — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 14:36:06 EDT

I won't approach the political process like a trip to the casino in search of a winner. I'm voting my conscience.
Last night’s third and final Presidential debate was the straw that finally broke this camel’s back. Overcome by a combination of Senator Obama’s presentation (and they called Bill Clinton “Slick Willie???”) and his annoyingly smirky mug in the background, and Senator McCain’s tiredly impassioned but uneven jabs...

Satire: A Cautionary Tale of the Value of a Vote

Joanne Huspek — Thu, 9 Oct 2008 12:17:43 EDT

The net worth of a vote? Not as much as you would think.
The economy is in rough shape these days. My business not only suffers from a dwindling client base (most of the wiser people vacated Michigan long ago, taking their children with them), it is also being hit by high costs – mostly due to the mumbo-jumbo of regulatory doublespeak coming from Lansing - and continuing competition. Competition is...

An Independent Pessimist Takes a Gander at the Debate

Joanne Huspek — Thu, 9 Oct 2008 00:05:03 EDT

The independent pessimist declares the debate a no-win for both candidates.
Due to the time I have to rise in the morning, my normal routine is to go to bed very early. Very, very early. Even though I crave my beauty rest (and am dead tired by the time I hit the sheets), last night I decided to stay up and catch the hotly advertised town hall “debate” between John McCain and Barack Obama.I’m like most...

Another Frustrating Day on Main Street

Joanne Huspek — Thu, 2 Oct 2008 15:49:38 EDT

It's frustrating down here on Main Street.
It was a Herculean effort, but I just spent the last couple of hours perusing the recently passed Senate bill for our “Emergency Economic Stabilization” (“bail out” is such an onerous term, I’m not using it anymore) of the country. After wading through 451 pages of legalese (hard to do on a computer screen, but I...

The Difference Between a Loan and a Bailout

Joanne Huspek — Wed, 1 Oct 2008 03:08:49 EDT

There's a huge difference between a loan and a bailout.
Drowned out by the din of Beltway big shots and Wall Street haggling over their financial package this weekend, Congress managed do something constructive. They passed a $25 billion loan package to the Big Three on Saturday. The automakers are going to use the money to retool existing factories for the production of fuel efficient vehicles.Of...

Checklist for the Upcoming Depression

Joanne Huspek — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 02:56:15 EDT

Being prepared means coming up with a checklist for the upcoming depression.
Over the past few weeks, the rest of the world has become privy to what the people in Michigan have known for years: our economic world is poised on the brink of collapse. Like those who live from paycheck to paycheck, the country as a whole (with the world following close behind) is only one sound bite away from a failure of cataclysmic...

The "New" Facebook: Crossing Generational Lines in Confounding the User

Joanne Huspek — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 02:16:51 EDT

Facebook. If it's not broken don't fix it.
I started using Facebook over a year ago, when the popular, social networking web site decided to open the doors to everyone. I know what you're thinking. I'm OLD. What the hell am I doing on Facebook?Well, people, first of all, you are only as old as you feel. I didn't register to feel younger. At first, I logged on to keep in touch...

Note to Both Candidates, Surrogates and Supporters

Joanne Huspek — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 11:12:29 EDT

Note to candidates: Put away the light sabers and get down to the meat of the matter.
I consider myself an independent voter. In the past, I have voted for Democrats, Republicans and Independents, and I'm not ashamed to say so. That doesn't make me a yahoo-hillbilly, uneducated or a cafeteria voter. Being an independent voter makes me uniquely interested in the political system. I'm willing to do an extra amount of...

Mourning the Death of a Classic: CBC Radio 2 Changes Format

Joanne Huspek — Sun, 7 Sep 2008 10:42:34 EDT

The classics die at CBC Radio 2, and the people are not amused.
With all of the political hoopla going on here in the US the last couple of weeks, it’s easy to neglect the subtle changes in routine in the rest of one’s life. So it was for me. I didn’t even realize Monday was a holiday until Sunday. My ignorance was complete until Tuesday morning, when I flipped on my favorite classical radio...