William Bridges

It’s official, on this day November 4th 2008 @ 9:06 a.m. Barack Obama and Joe Biden earned my vote for our next Presidential and Vice Presidential leaders. I won’t bore you with all my political input behind the vote, yet I can tell you this, we are at the turning point of future and tonights outcome will be a road we all must follow as one.

Remember, we are the United States of America; to those who fought and those who still fight for this unity and freedom, we thank you.

With November 4th closing in, I encourage you all to get out and vote. Prior to stepping into that retro looking booth, take a few moments and research the other positions being voted upon in your community, city, and state. When it comes down to it, you’ll have many options to ponder over, and you shouldn’t just cast a vote soley because of the members party or just because you like the way their name sounds. Educate yourself with your surroundings; stick with credibal news sources and come to a conclusion from the information you have gathered to make your vote matter. November 4th should be considered a National Holiday. Many people miss the opportunity to exercise their right to vote, mainly because they are at work. Why not have official voting days, thus gathering all voices and votes to be heard? Sound crazy?

If you are a Monroe County citizen; here are the 2008 candidate listings from the Monroe County Board of Elections. Google your hometown for your local listings.

Vote your Presidental Pre-election vote here…and see results of others.

Due to CBS subscriptions rights, I am unable to post the video on here, so follow the link to watch. Click here…

Letterman heats up the conversation by asking McCain about his relationship with Gordon Liddy…

“George Gordon Liddy” (born November 30, 1930) was the chief operative for the White House Plumbers unit that existed during several years of Richard Nixon’s Presidency.

Along with E. Howard Hunt, Liddy masterminded the first break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate building in 1972. The subsequent cover-up of the Watergate scandal led to Nixon’s resignation in 1974; Liddy served four and a half years in prison for his role in the burglary. (Wikipedia)

Liddy’s relationship with McCain… Read more

The Corporate Royalty Board meets this Thursday to vote on a 66% sales increase for digital music; rising from $0.09 to $0.15 per track. The raises in rates have to be paid by someone, so who is it going to be? Recording Companies? Apple? Or us, the Consumers? According to Maggie Shiels, a reporter from the BBC, researched Apples financial standpoint on such an increase; and the results would be an overall financial loss. The VP of iTunes, Eddy Cue, states “Apple has repeatedly made clear that it is in this business to make money, and would most likely not continue to operate iTunes Store if it were no longer possible to do so profitably.” Now if Apple nor the Recording Companies don’t “face the music”, (pun intended), we could be looking at a Public Backlash of boycotts, protests and more…Thursdays outcome should be an interesting one.

UPDATE - Thursday 10.9.08: The Corporate Royalty Board met today and had voted against the raise digital download rates. Looks as if iTunes can once again breath a little bit easier.

For some, the “Dream Ticket” of Barrak Obama and Hillary Clinton, would be the deciding factor of this years upcoming 2008 Presidential Election. Back in the spring of 2008, Obama took the safe road with bringing on Joe Biden as his running mate. This sudden potential change may be a last counteracting effort towards McCains running mate Sarah Palin; current governor of Alaska.

My thoughts reside on “strategy”. With Hillary Clinton as the Vice Presidential candidate, the Democratic campaign will finally unite with the two most arguably known influential people of our nation. The voters, believe it or not are educated people; knowing that this elections isn’t based on who has a woman on their ballot, it is the amount of experience and knowledge one person (man or woman) can provide to our nations needs.

After holding clinics accross New York State, Abby Wambach will be visiting the New Hampshire and Vermont areas come September. Abby will be teaching kids skills of the game and pointers on how to live a healthful active life. Once again it was a pleasure working with MVP Healthcare; sponsors of the youth soccer clinics.

If interested, check out the MVP Kid Power! website and visit the events page for listings.

Bank of America will be acquiring Merrill Lynch & Co. for $50 Billion USD; so how does a large buyout like this effective “you”, being one of their 59 million consumers? Positively speaking, with the takeover, Bank of America will earn the status of the country’s largest retail bank, largest credit issuer, the largest mortgage provider, and the largest retail brokerage. Thus, allowing Bank of America to send a sense of stability to its consumers and small business owners in an unstable economy.

With everything under one umbrella, perhaps this will bring bargaining power towards financial services. On the other hand consumers may get drawn into heavy rates and fees with the markets lack of competition. There is also the chance of the powerhouse, metaphorically speaking, “collapse”; and we as consumers may have nowhere to turn.

Side Note: Their online Customer Service is remarkable; I hope they will soon intergrate 24/7 LiveChat sessions.

Feel free to voice your opinion…

BMW teams up with Susan G. Komen for their 12th year in the battle against breast cancer. So how can you help? Check out your nearest BMW dealership by registering online for the opportunity to drive one of the signature BMW vehicles. For every mile driven, BMW will donate $1 to the Komen fund; totaling over $11 million since 1997. Also BMW and the Komen foundation will be honoring individuals fighting breast cancer at each of their 200 BMW Centers accross the country. Enjoy the open road towards an incredible cause.

• Susan G. Komen for the Cure 
• Shop Pink Ribbon Merchandise 
• Register for the BMW Ultimate Drive 
• 1.877.4.A.Drive