Thursday, July 31, 2008
Fleeing Thoughts: On Favre, Part Two
-Dude, you're retired. Stay retired. Coach the high school team in that wee Mississippi town you live in, take up knitting, move to Montana and raise you some dental floss, do whatever, just stop your sobbing, wipe your nose, and stay retired. Stop bothering people and making a mockery of your Hall of Fame career.
Fleeing Thoughts: Junior
-Pending the approval of Ken Griffey, Jr, and the MLB front office, Griffey looks like he's heading toward the South Side. I like Junior, but I don't think he'll be a difference maker for the White Sox, just as he wasn't one for the Cincinnati Reds. If the Sox get to the World Series, it won't be because they added Griffey.
Fleeing Thoughts: This is Not the Summer of Love
-Exxon Mobil announced quarterly profits that are the highest ever recorded by an American company. They are making $1,500 per second. Per second. I don't think there's a derogatory comment I can make that you haven't already thought of yourself.
-Oddly, these record profits actually fell short of Wall Street analysts expectations. There's something really amiss with the thinking of people on Wall Street when a corporation can make $1,500 per second and still falls short of expectations.
-The new John McCain ad compares Barack Obama to Paris Hilton and Britney Spears and refers to Obama as "the biggest celebrity in the world." I don't know that Obama is the biggest celebrity in the world, but he is certainly popular wherever he goes, as Obama proved on his Premature Victory Lap around Europe. McCain does make a good point in this ad. Obama, Spears, and Hilton are all well-known for being nothing more than being well-known. Obama may have contributed slightly more to society than the blonds in question, but not much more. And thankfully, no video of Obama having sex has ever popped up on the Internet. Yet.
-Oddly, these record profits actually fell short of Wall Street analysts expectations. There's something really amiss with the thinking of people on Wall Street when a corporation can make $1,500 per second and still falls short of expectations.
-The new John McCain ad compares Barack Obama to Paris Hilton and Britney Spears and refers to Obama as "the biggest celebrity in the world." I don't know that Obama is the biggest celebrity in the world, but he is certainly popular wherever he goes, as Obama proved on his Premature Victory Lap around Europe. McCain does make a good point in this ad. Obama, Spears, and Hilton are all well-known for being nothing more than being well-known. Obama may have contributed slightly more to society than the blonds in question, but not much more. And thankfully, no video of Obama having sex has ever popped up on the Internet. Yet.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
They're no Thin Lizzy, but they may make it in the music business
Much like the best of rock and/or roll, this video is sexy and vile and stupidfun, sometimes all at once.
A Jetpack for Everyone: "Safety is a Relative Thing"
A man from New Zealand has seemingly invented a usable jetpack for the common man, if the common man has around $100,000 to spend on it. (It's not truly a "jetpack" but that's beside the point.) No longer the stuff of James Bond movies, the jet age is now meeting up with the me generation. "It's all about me, and I want to fly around on my own, free as a bird with 250 pounds of stuff anchored on it's back."
I think it's a great idea - sort of. I'd love to do it, to lift off and soar upward, one of these contraptions thrusting me into the sky. But will this be a practical idea for the everyday person? Granted, if enough people have one of these things for personal transportation, surface level traffic would diminish. However, based on my lifelong observation of the driving skills (and I use the word "skills" lightly) of people in the Chicago area, Sunday driving is an everyday occurrence. And no one anywhere in the state of Illinois knows how to merge. No one. So there could be some problems in the skies. And when there's a fender bender at an altitude of say, 200 feet, well, look out below.
Questions remain to be answered regarding this invention. During rush hour, will women be able to apply their make-up while steering a jetpack? Will men be able shave with their portable electric razor while operating a jetpack? And what about cell phone use? I think a hands free device would be optimal.
The jetpack would change so many other things in peoples lives. For instance, tailgating before Bears games would be different. Not much of a tailgate to speak of on these things. There will still need to be one guy in your social group to drive his pick-up or SUV to Soldier Field with all the food and liquid refreshments. And speaking of these refreshments, drinking and flying may be even more dangerous than drinking and driving.
Still, despite all the obstacles that would need to be overcome before there's an individual flight vehicle in every garage, I think there's a future for this mode of transportation. I mean, how cool would a guy look picking up a date by landing a jetpack in front of her house?
I think it's a great idea - sort of. I'd love to do it, to lift off and soar upward, one of these contraptions thrusting me into the sky. But will this be a practical idea for the everyday person? Granted, if enough people have one of these things for personal transportation, surface level traffic would diminish. However, based on my lifelong observation of the driving skills (and I use the word "skills" lightly) of people in the Chicago area, Sunday driving is an everyday occurrence. And no one anywhere in the state of Illinois knows how to merge. No one. So there could be some problems in the skies. And when there's a fender bender at an altitude of say, 200 feet, well, look out below.
Questions remain to be answered regarding this invention. During rush hour, will women be able to apply their make-up while steering a jetpack? Will men be able shave with their portable electric razor while operating a jetpack? And what about cell phone use? I think a hands free device would be optimal.
The jetpack would change so many other things in peoples lives. For instance, tailgating before Bears games would be different. Not much of a tailgate to speak of on these things. There will still need to be one guy in your social group to drive his pick-up or SUV to Soldier Field with all the food and liquid refreshments. And speaking of these refreshments, drinking and flying may be even more dangerous than drinking and driving.
Still, despite all the obstacles that would need to be overcome before there's an individual flight vehicle in every garage, I think there's a future for this mode of transportation. I mean, how cool would a guy look picking up a date by landing a jetpack in front of her house?
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Fleeing Thoughts: On Favre
-Ok, so maybe Brett Favre isn't that smart after all. Turns out he used a cell phone issued to him by the Green Bay Packers, and paid for by the Packers, to call the Minnesota Vikings about a possible job after Green Bay didn't express much interest in seeing Favre return. Of course, when Packers front office people got the bill for this cell phone and saw who Favre was calling, they filed tampering charges with the NFL against the Vikes. Perhaps the Packers know what they're doing, not wanting Favre back. Did he get hit in the head too many times in his career? Seems so. By the by, the Packers may want to discontinue the service on Brett's cell phone. He can probably afford to pay for phone service on his own.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Sunday, July 20, 2008
The Small, Good Things of Summer
-Fireflies. Lightning bugs we called 'em when I was a kid. Whatever. Good to see 'em.
-Ice cream that you've just brought home from the store and it's a little bit melted when you open the container, which I do before putting it away in the freezer. Ice cream tastes it's best right then and there.
-The kid across the way from me who runs with his dog. Every evening I will look up from my perch on the couch and across the way from my condo is a young man who runs full throttle with his dog across the lawn. Dog and man/boy zip through my field of vision in about a second, but it's a joyous second. Their enthusiasm for the run is unbridled and quite a sight to behold. (Mind you, I've seen them do this in the dead of winter as well, but they both look a lot more comfortable on a warm summer evening.)
-Ice cream that you've just brought home from the store and it's a little bit melted when you open the container, which I do before putting it away in the freezer. Ice cream tastes it's best right then and there.
-The kid across the way from me who runs with his dog. Every evening I will look up from my perch on the couch and across the way from my condo is a young man who runs full throttle with his dog across the lawn. Dog and man/boy zip through my field of vision in about a second, but it's a joyous second. Their enthusiasm for the run is unbridled and quite a sight to behold. (Mind you, I've seen them do this in the dead of winter as well, but they both look a lot more comfortable on a warm summer evening.)
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
We Did Get Fooled Again
If another country, pick any one in the European Union for instance, were to glance at the major contenders for president of the United States, they might be enticed to give the US a shout out on the quality and diversity of the candidates. There may indeed have been some quality there. If you've gotten to a place in your political career where you can have a viable shot at the presidency then you must have done something right along the way.
But was there really diversity? Or was it the same old song and dance done by a new breed of performers? Certainly, there was a superficial diversity: a woman, a black man, and a white man who wouldn't get carded when asking for a senior discount when going to the movies.
The key word here is "superficial": the three main players appeared different. Before Hillary Clinton no woman has gotten as close as she at becoming the first female president. Clinton was the first viable female candidate, combining a first rate intelligence with a steely toughness. But other than a lack of testicles (physically, not attitudinally) Clinton was no different really from any other Democratic candidate, she was just the one with the chutzpah to beat back all other contenders save for the senator from Illinois. Also, aside from the fact that her ideas weren't particularly original, she had what in this case was the misfortune of name recognition. America finally seems to have had enough of two political families: the Bushes and the Clintons. Since 1980, someone with those names has been running for either president or vice-president. Unfortunately for Hillary, this was the year We said "enough".
John McCain is thought of as a maverick in the Republican party, mostly because he is not, like the rest of the Congressional Republicans, an automaton who toes the party line 100% of the time. He occasionally votes his conscience, and his conscience has an independent streak. For the most part though, no matter how he sometimes tries to distance himself from the failures of the current Bush in the White House, McCain is just another Republican who will favor Big Business, which is not necessarily a bad thing unless it's to the detriment of the American people, and these days Big Business (and Medium Business and Little Business, too) don't seem to care too much about the fate of the America, especially it's Middle Class. While there is a certain erratic quality to McCain's nature that I find appealing, he's been keeping crazy, angry Grandpa John locked in the attic for most of the campaign, and that's too bad. That was the McCain who might on occasion do the right thing. Controlled politician McCain will do and say what will get him elected.
Speaking of doing and saying anything to get elected, there can be no bigger disappointment in this election cycle than Barack Obama. He emerged from the shadowy mists of Chicago as an Agent of Change, speaking about Hope and how the old way of doing business in Washington would be no more. He was endorsed by members of the Kennedy family because Obama seemed to have the Kennedy qualities of hopefulness and enthusiasm about him. Sadly, Dr. Jekyll turned into Mr. Hyde last week and, unfortunately for US, Mr. Hyde seems to be the real Obama. In a flip-flop of epic, and possibly disastrous, proportions Obama voted for the new surveillance law, a measure he previously opposed. This was done out of political expediency. Obama knew if he voted against the bill, the Republicans would make an it a national security issue during the campaign, and that's an area Obama doesn't feel is his strong point. However, having committed himself with this vote to spying on American citizens, we should all be thankful that we can now see Obama for what he is: an opportunist, full of Hopeful, empty rhetoric.
After the disappointment that Bill Clinton was, and the mean spirited George W. Bush administration, Americans were ready for sunny talk about changing the climate of politics. We had been fooled by Bill and duped into fear and loathing by W., so we were hoping not to get fooled again. But we were. And now we're stuck.
But was there really diversity? Or was it the same old song and dance done by a new breed of performers? Certainly, there was a superficial diversity: a woman, a black man, and a white man who wouldn't get carded when asking for a senior discount when going to the movies.
The key word here is "superficial": the three main players appeared different. Before Hillary Clinton no woman has gotten as close as she at becoming the first female president. Clinton was the first viable female candidate, combining a first rate intelligence with a steely toughness. But other than a lack of testicles (physically, not attitudinally) Clinton was no different really from any other Democratic candidate, she was just the one with the chutzpah to beat back all other contenders save for the senator from Illinois. Also, aside from the fact that her ideas weren't particularly original, she had what in this case was the misfortune of name recognition. America finally seems to have had enough of two political families: the Bushes and the Clintons. Since 1980, someone with those names has been running for either president or vice-president. Unfortunately for Hillary, this was the year We said "enough".
John McCain is thought of as a maverick in the Republican party, mostly because he is not, like the rest of the Congressional Republicans, an automaton who toes the party line 100% of the time. He occasionally votes his conscience, and his conscience has an independent streak. For the most part though, no matter how he sometimes tries to distance himself from the failures of the current Bush in the White House, McCain is just another Republican who will favor Big Business, which is not necessarily a bad thing unless it's to the detriment of the American people, and these days Big Business (and Medium Business and Little Business, too) don't seem to care too much about the fate of the America, especially it's Middle Class. While there is a certain erratic quality to McCain's nature that I find appealing, he's been keeping crazy, angry Grandpa John locked in the attic for most of the campaign, and that's too bad. That was the McCain who might on occasion do the right thing. Controlled politician McCain will do and say what will get him elected.
Speaking of doing and saying anything to get elected, there can be no bigger disappointment in this election cycle than Barack Obama. He emerged from the shadowy mists of Chicago as an Agent of Change, speaking about Hope and how the old way of doing business in Washington would be no more. He was endorsed by members of the Kennedy family because Obama seemed to have the Kennedy qualities of hopefulness and enthusiasm about him. Sadly, Dr. Jekyll turned into Mr. Hyde last week and, unfortunately for US, Mr. Hyde seems to be the real Obama. In a flip-flop of epic, and possibly disastrous, proportions Obama voted for the new surveillance law, a measure he previously opposed. This was done out of political expediency. Obama knew if he voted against the bill, the Republicans would make an it a national security issue during the campaign, and that's an area Obama doesn't feel is his strong point. However, having committed himself with this vote to spying on American citizens, we should all be thankful that we can now see Obama for what he is: an opportunist, full of Hopeful, empty rhetoric.
After the disappointment that Bill Clinton was, and the mean spirited George W. Bush administration, Americans were ready for sunny talk about changing the climate of politics. We had been fooled by Bill and duped into fear and loathing by W., so we were hoping not to get fooled again. But we were. And now we're stuck.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
A Baseless Obama
Check out this article from the liberal/progressive website Common Dreams. In "Obama and the Progressive Base," author Normon Solomon acts as an apologist for Barack Obama and his move to the center and away from the populist brand of progressivism that Obama has been pushing since he started running for president, going so far as to blame Obama supporters for the "disillusionment" they now have for the candidate. While Solomon does state that Obama should be called out on his vote to undermine the privacy of the American public, there is nonetheless a vitriolic response from the readers, mostly toward Obama, and some for Solomon as well. It is these responses that are worth reading (they're much more interesting than the article, and funnier, too) and they are a clear indication that a vast swath of Obama supporters are no longer supporters. The senator needs to come out and say something to appease these people, like "Boy, did I screw up that surveillance vote! I mean to vote no, not yes! No, really! I'm just so darn tired I didn't know what I was doing." Unless Obama can put out this fire, he has got big problems in November.
Obama: Summer is for Flip-Flops
Barack Obama, the alleged agent of change, is proving to be very Clinton-like (Bill, not Hillary) in how he handles himself now that the presidency is within his reach. Just like Slick Willy, Obama is more than ready to do what is politically expedient rather than what is right.
Obama’s “yes” vote on the updated federal surveillance law proves this. This law provides retroactive protection from lawsuits against telecom companies that cooperated with NSA in the days following 9-11. It is this provision that Obama had been previously opposed to, and rightfully so. Yet, to avoid appearing weak on national security issues during the campaign, Obama cast his vote for this odorous law. Ironically, Hillary Clinton, free of trying to look presidential (meaning “tough on terrorists”), had the balls to vote against the bill.
Proving himself to be just another politician more interested in winning than bringing a new era of change to Washington, Obama may have done himself a large disservice. Supporters brought to his campaign by talk of hope now may be quite dismayed, to the point that they may go to McCain, or even to Ralph Nader, or simply stay home on election day. With this single vote, Obama may have lost the White House.
Obama’s “yes” vote on the updated federal surveillance law proves this. This law provides retroactive protection from lawsuits against telecom companies that cooperated with NSA in the days following 9-11. It is this provision that Obama had been previously opposed to, and rightfully so. Yet, to avoid appearing weak on national security issues during the campaign, Obama cast his vote for this odorous law. Ironically, Hillary Clinton, free of trying to look presidential (meaning “tough on terrorists”), had the balls to vote against the bill.
Proving himself to be just another politician more interested in winning than bringing a new era of change to Washington, Obama may have done himself a large disservice. Supporters brought to his campaign by talk of hope now may be quite dismayed, to the point that they may go to McCain, or even to Ralph Nader, or simply stay home on election day. With this single vote, Obama may have lost the White House.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Jesse Helms Arrives in Hell
Hell (AP)-Jesse Helms, his lying-in-state and funeral now over, has arrived in Hell. The late North Carolina senator was greeted warmly upon his arrival by Satan, the Dark Lord of the Underworld. “So good to finally see you, my friend,” Satan told Helms as he gave him a warm embrace. Helms appeared happy with his new surroundings and commented on the weather. “Being from the South," Helms said, “I’ve always enjoyed the heat. At least down here, it’s a dry heat.” Helms was also happy to reacquaint himself with old friends. “Strom, old buddy, good to see you,” Helms said as he shook hands with the late senator from North Carolina, Strom Thurmond. Thurmond told Helms he would enjoy the compatibility of everyone in Hell. “We all get along, and, thank goodness, there’s none of them homosexuals around, except for that Roy Cohn fella. But he was one of the good ones,” Thurmond said. “I’m not sure why J. Edgar Hoover is wearing a sun dress, though. Makes you wonder.” Senator Helms was also looking forward to meeting historical figures he admired. “Mussolini is quite a character. We’re having dinner tonight and I’m going to find out how he got those trains to run on time. Never got that socialist organization Amtrak to do that,” Helms said. “And tomorrow, I’m playing shuffle board with Jefferson Davis. I hear he’s quite good.”
The Blogosphere Expands By One
I have given the world what it needs most in these trying times: a new blog!
Yes, another exercise in self-indulgence whereby the author inflicts upon his audience (as if there were one) his musings on the everyday travails of his personal life.
This one might not be so bad though, because buried deep in the soil of self-indulgence is a root of gold.
I'm participating in Go Vertical Chicago 2008 in November at Chicago's Sears Tower, a stair climbing event sponsored by the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation. Before I do the stair climb though, I need to get in stair climb shape. I am currently in couch sitting shape.
Training Days will be the journal I keep as I go from fat to fit. Hopefully the tragic comedy elements of a man who has trouble running a half mile in under 30 minutes will entertain you. But entertaining or not, cut loose with some cash and sponsor my climb, if you haven't already, or even if you have. Who knows, maybe you won the lotto since you last donated, and you have a lot of spare cash you want to toss at a sweaty guy crawling up some stairs. Whatever, if you want to make a pledge toward my climb, go to my personal web page (every climber in Go Vertical has one set up by the foundation for them) and give what you can. If you prefer, you can make a donation directly to the foundation on their website.
Yes, another exercise in self-indulgence whereby the author inflicts upon his audience (as if there were one) his musings on the everyday travails of his personal life.
This one might not be so bad though, because buried deep in the soil of self-indulgence is a root of gold.
I'm participating in Go Vertical Chicago 2008 in November at Chicago's Sears Tower, a stair climbing event sponsored by the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation. Before I do the stair climb though, I need to get in stair climb shape. I am currently in couch sitting shape.
Training Days will be the journal I keep as I go from fat to fit. Hopefully the tragic comedy elements of a man who has trouble running a half mile in under 30 minutes will entertain you. But entertaining or not, cut loose with some cash and sponsor my climb, if you haven't already, or even if you have. Who knows, maybe you won the lotto since you last donated, and you have a lot of spare cash you want to toss at a sweaty guy crawling up some stairs. Whatever, if you want to make a pledge toward my climb, go to my personal web page (every climber in Go Vertical has one set up by the foundation for them) and give what you can. If you prefer, you can make a donation directly to the foundation on their website.
Monday, July 7, 2008
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