Dobrindts dot com...again

This was in today's New York Newsday.

"Mom robbed in daylight Central Park nightmare. A cold-hearted crook shoved a gun into the face of a cute 3-month-old baby in sun-soaked Central Park yesterday as he ambushed the child's mother and mugged her, cops said."

That guy is going to hell.

Posted by David at 04:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Frank Purdue died today. I remember going to a speech while in college given by the head of the ad agency that ran his popular commercials. The guy said that Frank Purdue was actually a really tall man and they made the props on the commercials larger to give Frank a much smaller appearance. Not sure if it?s true, I couldn?t find anything about his height after a quick google search. Getting his height on the web would be a great web scavenger hunt item. That, and the total blades of grass on the 15th tee at Augusta.

Posted by David at 03:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I am going to serious for a moment, so if you want humor, skip this post.

A crackhead pedophile killed a 9 year old girl and buried her body. Details about what he did are not known, nor do I want to know. The girl was missing for a few weeks before this piece of filth confessed to killing her. There is nothing that I can think of that is worse than what that poor girl went through in the last minutes of her life. And I cannot image what her father and her loved ones are going to go through as the case progresses. I was originally going to write a separate blog titled ?Crackhead Pedophiles Don?t Deserve To Live? but thought it was a little over the top, and obvious. The problem, this is just my uneducated opinion, is in the prison system. Pedophiles who get caught are not like car thieves who get caught. If you steal a car and do a couple of years in prison, I don?t think there is much of a need to ?rehabilitate? you. Chances are you know what you did was wrong, and if you don?t want to spend more time in prison, you won?t do it again. If you have a drug problem that you are funding through stolen cars, then get into a drug rehab program. But with pedophiles, it is coded into their sick and twisted minds to do what they do. It?s not something they know between right and wrong, and when you throw crack into the equation, you get what happened in Florida. Again, I don?t know for sure, but I wonder if there is any kind of rehab program for these sick piles of trash in prison. Because if not, the minute they are released, it is the wolves among the sheep, and a parent can only do so much to protect the sheep.

I don?t think any degree of punishment can be enough for that crackhead. I take some solace in knowing that his true punishment will start the day he dies, but for her father, and trust me, I would be exactly the same way if not worse, I would want him to suffer death in the worst possible way. But we live in a constitutional republic that offers humane methods of killing people, which is kind of funny when you think about it. I am all for capital punishment, especially with heinous crimes like this, but we leave it up to words in a legal document to dictate when someone?s life is going to end. Anyway, this story sickens me and if they need help administering justice, I?ll bring the rope and shovel.

Posted by David at 08:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The other thing I want to touch on is the steroid use issue in baseball. I know it?s a big deal ? young fans see their sports heroes accused of taking drugs, historical baseball greats unfairly have their records taken away, young men are ruining their lives taking drugs, players not on the juice do not have a chance against the players who are ? but for some reason I could care less. I am tired of it already. It came as no shock to me that players were using steroids. I had Brady Anderson on my fantasy team the year after he hit 50 home runs and the rumors started back then. The steroid issue is old news, and even when it was new news, it was boring. I just do not care.

MLB is not going to do anything about it. They put a penalty for the first offense at a 10 game suspension (first time offense in the Olympics is a 2 year ban) which is a joke to these guys. They argue that you cannot do another test for months because it stays in your system but they use masking agents to block out the detection when they know when they are going to get tested. They can hide behind the union. Hey, it?s unfair and not right, but I like to see baseballs hit farther, pitchers throw faster, football players hit harder, running backs run faster and quarterbacks throw longer. I am part of the problem because I like to watch great athletes and I pay to go to games and I buy merchandise which pays for the owners to bid on players who hit the ball father, throw the ball faster and are better athletes than the next guy.

If fans really cared that much, they would stop buying jerseys and hats and shelling out a week?s salary for a night at a game. But I am sick of hearing about it already because there is nothing new to report. Players are accused of doing steroids, players deny using steroids, some players admit using steroids and offer a disingenuous apology (if they apologize at all), major league baseball and the player?s union does nothing, fans continue to watch games.

Jose Canseco and Jason Giambi could have been good guys if they came out and said they did steroids and it ruined their lives, sincerely apologized to the fans and their teammates, and begged kids not to follow the same path. But Jose goes on 60 minutes and every radio station saying the same meaningless thing over and over, all while his book hits the best seller list. I am as concerned about the steroid issue as I am about weather in Europe ? I might notice it but don?t really care.

Posted by David at 05:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Nicolas Negreponte, famed founder of the MIT Media Lab and author of Being Digital, millionaire many times over, recently sketched out a design for a PC that Third World governments could buy in bulk for $100 apiece and distribute to children in a bid to boost their educations, according to an article by technology writer Hiawatha Bray in the Boston Globe yesterday.

Negroponte and his wife started two schools in Cambodia in 1999 and were able to get laptops for all the kids, and he wants millions of other poor kids to have laptops.

Some of the more interesting points from the article. And my restrained response.

"You don't have to be dirt poor to desire a dirt-cheap computer." No, you have to be a poverty stricken kid who has a half a bowl of rice once a week. Dirt-poor is an upgrade for most of the world' worst people. How about getting them food. Or something to treat their dysentery, malaria or AIDs.

"But for the world' poorest countries, laptops may someday cost just $100."Great, these countries can spend money on laptops and ignore waste management systems, security, healthcare and other indulgences like FOOD and MEDICINE. Or roads.

"Any problem you name, from birth control to basic health to poverty elimination to world peace, is best addressed through education."I totally agree, but how are we introducing computers when there are no classrooms, or government, for that matter. These aren't the projects of Cambridge or Cambodian college professor' kids we' re talking about. These are the 15 year old kids who weigh 30 pounds and are lucky to be alive each day.

While talking about the cheap laptops, "It's a noble goal, and an exciting one even for American tech buffs." Has anyone asked those in this world who have given their lives to make the third world and developing countries a better place? Ask the Peace Corp if they think boxes of laptops are a good idea. Not sure but I would guess they would ask for clothes, medicine and something to eat.

"Lots of tasks need just a little computing power; those are the jobs well suited to Negroponte's dream machine." I agree. Tasks like providing nourishment to starving babies requires almost no computing power. And how much computing power does the task of stopping ethnic cleansing need? Hmm? Wanna answer that one?

"For one thing, it would be light. There would be no disk drives to speak of - hard, CR-ROM, or floppy." Huh?? Disk drives? Floppy? The people in third world countries DO NOT GIVE A SHIT about USB ports and track points. My Lord, do you think that if you walked up to some 12 year old wearing a faded Nike shirt holding a machine gun guarding the local diamond mine he would say that he is excited about a laptop that wasn't too heavy?

"Instead, the supercheap laptop would boast a gigabyte of main memory and use flash memory to store essential software." Cool, a gigabyte of main memory while the laptop is used to treat smallpox.

"To add software or remove files, users would plug in a key chain flash memory drive or an external hard drive." Let's get those starving kids a thumb drive that is in the shape of candy bar. I have seen them on ebay and can get one for 10 bucks plus 7 for shipping and handling. Or sushi-shaped thumb drives are really popular in Japan, I have been meaning to get one. Let's order some with 32 meg capacity, a few with 64 meg and some with 128 meg for our star performers.

"The planned $100 laptop would include WiFI wireless networking. Even more impressive is Negroponte's plan to include mesh networking capability." So let me get this straight. While a starving mother of 5 struggles to provide clean water for her kids, she can access a wireless network to do what? Find out what the temperature outside her hut is? And even I don't need mesh networking capability. Something tells me you can leave off that little add-on and maybe provide an energy bar instead.

"Imagine a small town in Peru with one of these laptops in every home. They'd automatically talk to each other, instantly creating a municipal communications network for instant messages, e-mails, maybe even voice traffic." I can see the instant messages now. They would go something like this.

4evahhungry: Hi! Gr8t to see u online. Any idea when the UN peacekeepers are suppose to arrive?

2skinny2think: Hey girlfriend! Not sure. But I could use some more oatmeal paste, it's been almost 2 months since I ate.

H8myhair: 2 months? Lucky u. Stupid sewage is back in my drinking H2O. Heard General Kadafi (spelling?) is heading our way.

EyesCrustedShut: IC. My 4 year old brother is thinking of becoming a soldier. Did u see Gilmore Girls last night?

"The Negroponte machine would rely on the Linux operating system, which can be had for free, and easily customized." Oh, well, that is good news. We wouldn't want a young man who lost his legs to some landmine to shell out $699 for Windows XP.

"The most challenging part of the design will be the display screen." No, the most challenging of part of the design will be holding classes in war ravaged countries to teach orphan kids how to create a PPT presentation.

"By the way, you're the battery. Negroponte wants to power his laptop with a crank, just like the ones used on emergency radios." Now there is a good idea. Let's sap the last ounce of strength from poverty-rich people to crank up the ol' Negroponte 5000.

"God bless him for his good intentions - and for coming up with a gadget that would be a hit even with people who can afford something better." Sweet mother of mercy stop kissing this guys ass. God bless him? Are you joking? If he said he is working on a new energy source that would require no fuel and provide little risk to the environment, I would say God bless him. And coming up with a gadget for people who can afford something better? What have you been reading? He is doing this to help third world countries. "Afford" is not a word they use regularly. You must be thinking of your Harvard club buddies, sorry, my mistake. I thought we were still talking about Sally Struthers' kids.

"Consider the lowly journalist on assignment. The Negroponte PC would be ideal for writers, students, travelers and hangers-on at the local Starbucks."? And it would be ideal for young men and women who have never seen 16 ounces of water that can be safely consumed, or a hamburger, or a movie theater, or fields of flowers, or a lacrosse game, or mounds of food going cold on a Thanksgiving Day table, or an unfinished bottle of wine being recorked, or a color printer, or snow plows, or the Super Bowl. Forget about Frappachinos, let's try wheat and penicillin. While my heart goes out to the "lowly journalist on assignment", it goes out even more to humans who are killed each day by genocide-driven soldiers, or die from disease and starvation. But that is just me, I don't write for the Boston Globe.

Forget crazy luxuries like food, water and health care, give them computers. That way they can play solitaire while they starve to death, or create spreadsheets to track the UNICEF trucks who give food shipments to local warlords. I like the idea of cheap laptops so I can buy one for each of my kids and they can bang away on the keys and make funny shapes, but don?t even for a second think that your plan is going to solve any of the core problems of third world countries. Education, definitely. Laptops, give me a break.

Posted by David at 11:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

My friend Brian (Brian of Watertown) and I don't exactly see eye-to-eye when it comes to politics. Not a huge surprise living in a Blue State since people around here engage in the fun and sporty "car burning" when their team finally wins something but cannot for the life of them understand how anyone walking erect can vote for Bush, but Brian did send me something kind of funny. In a 'New England' sort of way.

"Today is Groundhog Day and the State of the Union Address. As Air America Radio pointed out, it is an ironic juxtaposition: one involves a meaningless ritual in which we look to a creature of little intelligence for prognostication -- and the other involves a groundhog."

Posted by David at 07:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Michael Jackson molestation trial begins today which brings my level of ?do I care? to about a zero for celebrity trials. I am more interested in the progress my mailman makes each day than I am in Michael Jackson and his life. Thriller was a great album but that was the 80s and a long long time ago.

Posted by David at 08:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I woke up extra early today, jumped out of bed, and went through my morning routine with an extra bounce in my step. Today is ELECTION DAY. That?s right. It?s Election Day 2004. By this time tomorrow we will be well into a series of drawn out law suites filed by the losing side to keep the public from coming to grips with whoever is elected.

Times like this remind me of words from the great Mary Lou Lord song ?Shake Sugaree?

?I pawned my horse
Pawned my plow
Pawned everything
Even my old milk cow?

Actually, that reference makes no sense at all but I have been trying to plug it in somewhere so I thought I?d do it here.

Like I was saying, today is Election Day ?04, an exciting time to be an American. A couple of thoughts.

- No matter who wins, we can be guaranteed that the president will be a wealthy privileged man who never had to take a risk in his life to provide for his family. Both guys have never had to worry about coming up with money to fix the brakes on their 10 year old car.

- They predict about 110 million people will vote this year. Some are saying it could be as high as 122 after the ?vote often? thing. There are roughly 300 million people in this country. There are roughly 200 million eligible voters. There are roughly 130 million registered votes. I think that if you are eligible, you should vote. It?s your right and a privilege. The popular vote might not be the one that counts, but in theory it matters because the popular vote should mirror the electoral vote. Or so they say.

- If Kerry wins, I wonder if they will let Edwards give his speech. The thought of listening to Kerry for any length of time makes me want to throw up on myself.

- They say the election will be decided by Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida. I actually think the election will come down to Rhode Island, Wisconsin and Nevada. Not sure why, but a feeling I am getting.

I plan on staying glued to the TV tonight watching the elections. Except of course to watch NYPD Blue. But before and after the 10-11 PM time slot, I plan on watching Tim Russert and Tom Brokaw tell us almost nothing all night.

Posted by David at 09:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Patti told me that over the last couple of months, several young people stopped by the house to talk to her about John Kerry and the Democratic Party. They were walking house to house in our town, a nice community south of Boston, trying to get people to vote for Kerry and Edwards. And while walking around Cambridge near my office, I see campaigners and Kerry supporters, still wearing DNC 04 shirts, trying to stop people to talk to them about Kerry and Edwards and get them to sign papers or give money or something. Because, let?s face it, if people do not read the papers, watch the news, watch the debates, or talk to others at the water cooler, I am sure they will pay attention to some tongue-ring, blue-hair colored college kid to get up to speed.

Now, I am not saying this does not happen with Republicans who support Bush. But where are they? Where are all the zealots who are trying to get people to vote Republican? Oh I know. They are at work.

And another thing. Why go through this effort when the greater Boston area is like 104% registered Democrats and Kerry is FROM THIS STATE.

A message to Kerry campaign volunteers. First, stay away from my house. Pretend it has the plague and you will get very, very sick if you preach to me about how evil Bush and Chaney are. To be fair, I feel that way about charity and religion. Great if you like something, don?t push your agenda on me. I do my own thing. Second, I am glad you have a trust fund and there is no need for this silly work thing, but if I ever interview you for a job, bring up the campaign stuff. I have a lot of sympathy for people who have had everything handed to them.

Posted by David at 01:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The only thing I wanted to replay from the debate last night was this comment by Kerry.

Kerry: ?Let me come back in one moment to that, but I want to speak for a second, if I can, to what the president said about fiscal responsibility.

Being lectured by the president on fiscal responsibility is a little bit like Tony Soprano talking to me about law and order in this country.?

Dead silence from the audience.

Crickets: chirp-chirp.

Kerry: ?I said Tony Soprano.?

Dead silence and blank stares from the audience. .

Kerry: ?Soprano?law and order?haha.?

Kerry: ?Anywho, this president has taken a $5. 6 trillion surplus and turned it into deficits??

Posted by David at 01:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Today is a great day. You have, in this sequence, the Red Sox playoff game, the Yankee playoff game, and the mother of all entertaining events ? the vice presidential debate.

The Red Sox game is something I?ll talk about in a sports column. Same with the Yankee game. They both should be good and if the Sox win the World Series I will have to move out of Boston. But the VP debate is something I need to talk about, and for good reason.

Normally the vice presidential debate has about as much buildup as the start of the WNBA season. I mean come on, last time we had Dick Cheney and Lieberman with Bernard Shaw moderating. Remember Al Gore and Jack Kemp? Yeah, me either. What about Gore, Dan Quayle and James Stockdale. I remember that one only because of Stockdale. And the only reason I remember the Quayle Lloyd Bentsen one was because they keep showing the ?You are not Jack Kennedy? thing ALL THE TIME.

Anyway, this year is different. This year we have something to watch. Not so much because I think the election is tight (I will not say who I think has it wrapped up) but because there could not be more opposing styles than Cheney and Edwards. Cheney is like the high school dean or vice principal who is dry as the desert. I think of Edwards as the high school senior who is a good athlete, good with the girls, has a swagger and self confidence. And the high school student walks into the dean?s office after getting caught mouthing off in class and he gets a lashing by the dean so bad he walks out with his shoulders slumped and tears in his eyes. Yeah, I know this is not the same because Edwards is a great trial lawyer and gets paid 20K an hour forcing HMOs to up my fee 100% each year and Cheney is involved with the Haliburton conspiracy and is a very good executive but not real personable. They each have something to offer. The great thing is that Edwards appeals to the younger voters and the ladies and Cheney appeals to the rich and corporate guys, and they could not be more different.

I thought Edwards did a great job at the DNC and I thought Cheney was boring at the RNC. I am looking forward to the debate tonight to listen to Cheney?s dry voice and sourpuss face explain to the young and inexperienced Edwards what the real world is all about. And I look forward to Edwards smoothly discussing the issues and making me want to listen to what he has to say.

I like Cheney a little bit more because I think he is a very very smart guy and I believe running a large international company makes him more qualified to run the country. I think Edwards, while smart and charismatic, is a little too slick and being a rich lawyer might not make him the best political leader. But I guess we?ll see what happens in November. Either way, tonight should be interesting.

Posted by David at 11:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Presidential Debate number 1
Thursday, September 30, 2004

<u>8:39 PM</u>: 21 minutes to show time. The anticipation is killing me. In about 20 minutes I am going to watch a stuttering near illiterate bully run forensic hurdles against an indecisive pedantic bore. I thought I?d watch some pre-game shows, like the Civic Super Bowl this thing is, but was surprised to fine news about war, Martha Stewart and dogs being throwing out of moving cars. Oh sure, there were some things on the new rules and if I see Richard Nixon?s sweating unshaven head and gray suite one more time I might decide to watch Clifford cartoons on On-Demand to make my night even more painful, but overall things are pretty quiet. But then again, I am watching Survivor and only turn to the news channels on commercials so who knows.

<u>8:52 PM</u>: Getting a beer so I don?t have to move. This is going to be a good debate. Plus the female redneck on Survivor is about as much fun to watch as a doctor giving my infant son a shot so a beer is a fit right now.

<u>9:05</u>: Yeah Lehrer, you tell them the business. Do not take any crap from these two suits.

<u>9:06</u>: Give it up Kerry, your insincere well wishing and ass-kissing is not going to win you points.

<u>9:09</u>: Vociferously? Someone has been using his presidential thesaurus.

<u>9:11</u>: Where do you want me to begin? Let?s start by wiping that smug look off your oddly shaped face.

<u>9:16</u>: Hey boys, Saddam Hussein is the one with the bushy mustache in jail. Osama Bin Laden is the tall one who was responsible for Sept.11. Let?s try to get them right.

<u>9:25</u>: You?re struggling Bush, you?re struggling. You?re starting to look like Mike Tyson at a spelling bee.

<u>9:27</u>: Stop with the ?Help is on the way? nonsense. We heard that enough during the DNC.

<u>9:52</u>: Sorry, I passed out. I am back though.

<u>9:58</u>: I kind of like Bush?s sarcasm. Wish he would drop some F bombs now and again.

<u>10:01</u>: One thing I wanted to mention was that I think we should outsource our trial and judgment system to Yemen.

<u>10:06:</u> Now now President Bush, making faces is against the rules. Oh, sorry, that is your normal face. My mistake.

<u>10:07</u>: Hey Kerry, why the long face?? Thank you, I am here all week. Try the veal. Tip your waitress.

<u>10:08</u>: Hey Lehrer, don?t push your agenda at this debate. YOU are not running for president.

<u>10:10</u>: YEAH BUSH. You mentioned my homeland, Liberia. YEAH. YOU GO!!

<u>10:12</u>: What in the world could they be writing down? Seriously. What are they writing? Notes?

<u>10:14</u>: The Yankees win, Theeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Yankees Win. Thanks Unc for pinging me with the score. Another AL East title.

<u>10:16</u>: I just realized that ALL of the discussion has been about war and terrorism. Then I realized this debate is about foreign policy.

<u>10:19</u>: At my next meeting when there are conflicting opinions, I am going to say ?30 seconds Mr. Jones?, then cut him off 5 seconds into it.

<u>10:24</u>: What do you expect from Putin, he used to be a high ranking KGB officer.

<u>10:25</u>: Bush is done with this nonsense. He is tired of using long words and reciting what his speech writers wrote for him. He?s starting to act like me during church was I was 7.

<u>10:29</u>: My wife said this ?I know he rehearsed his closing statement but he always sounds like he is making things up as he goes along. He sounds like he doesn?t know what he is going to say next?.

<u>10:30</u>: Right ON TIME Lehrer! Good job. Shake hands. Kiss the wife. Wave. Frat brothers? Didn?t know.

Overall the format worked well. No embarrassing exchanges. No broken noses. Not sure who won because I kind of had trouble focusing, but I?m sure the left will say the right won, and the right will say the left won. This is David Dobrindt from Milton signing off, Goodnight and God Bless.

Posted by David at 10:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

You might not realize this, but the major newspapers, like the NY Times, Boston Globe and Washington Post actually have people on their payroll whose sole responsibility is to go out and look for damaging information on President Bush. Yes, it?s true. They are paid by the newspapers and they are tasked with finding bad stuff on old Georgie. They?re called Reporters. It is no secret that the major news outlets are run by the liberal folks among us. They focus on bad news against the republicans and bury bad news on democrats. It follows a basic trend of liberal zealots who are more focused on negative campaigns. Money spent by groups trying to attack Bush is 5 times as much as money spent by groups trying to attack Kerry. But that?s ok. It?s the way this country works and level headed citizens, both liberal and conservative, pretty much see through it and form their own opinion.

But this nonsense with Dan Rather is crossing the line. Hey Dan, your reputation as a reputable newsperson is like my 32 inch waistline. A thing of the past and not likely to return. Treating Saddam Hussein with more regard than Bush was fine. After all, you are a nut. But fabricating a document that disparages Bush, reporting on it, getting caught in your lie, then embarrassing yourself by trying to talk your way out of it is?pathetic. It is almost sad to watch you flail and dry heave your way out of this mess. CBS can?t be blamed for sticking behind the story because they need to save face and stick to what they backed. In all likelihood, the execs that run the network probably considered throwing you under the bus but decided they like your Christmas parties and summer barbeques too much and wanted to remain on your mailing list.

This is not a big deal because Kerry is screwing things up enough without Dan adding to it. His stunt just backfired like my 78 Ford Fiesta in its final days. I might be wrong, but I have a feeling we are in for another 4 years of Bush. Not a bad thing.

Posted by David at 09:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This passage is from a <a href="http://www.brokentype.com/" target=_blank> blogger </a> I read often, describing his protest experience at the RNC.

If there were any actual delegates nearby the police were keeping them sequestered, and we were forced to vent our rage at the blank face of Madison Square Garden. �You�re destroying our nation!� Sarah cried to a concrete column. It remained indifferent. Addressing the �s� in "Madison" Brenden yelled, �Don't throw your party on our tragedy!� I turned on the light fixtures: �You bastards. You liars. You warmongers." Chris was going hoarse yelling "No War" at the reflection of George Bush in the bulbs of a giant electronic ticker that flashed, idiotically, �Thanks New York!�

Posted by David at 02:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

That?s it. It?s over. The democrats left the city last Friday and things have returned to normal. There were no terrorist attacks (thank God), no real protests (too bad), no traffic problems (who cares) and nothing of any significance said by the speakers (no surprise). Oh sure, Hillary and Ted bored everyone to death with their monotone speeches about absolutely nothing, Bill was his usual coy self with his smug smirk, Howard Dean kept his cool and tried not to look pissed off the shindig was not about him, Barack Obama or whatever his freakin name is was kind of cool, Tereeeeeza Heinz put her foot in her mouth, John Edwards gave a fast past speech about hope or some kind of crap, and then there was John.

Oh John, John John John John John John. John ?F? Kerry. Johny. John, why do you mock me so? Why? First of all, next time remember to tell them to turn down the heat. You were sweating like David Duke at a Black Panther rally (thank you Dennis Miller, I use that one about once a week, not kidding). You even broke the rule and wiped your sweat soaked sculpture-gone-bad head like you just spilled a bottle of beer on your mother?s diamond studded oak floor. And why do you continue to speak like that? Huh? John Edwards showed you how to keep things moving. But you had to resort to the standard Hillary-Kennedy-everyone-else monotone way of speaking. I didn?t think it was possible to speak for 55 minutes and not have a single inflection in your voice. It was amazing. You were like some sound machine that people speak through with its batteries running out.

And DO NOT give us that crap about working for US, middle America. Just once I would like you, or any politician for that matter, because let?s be honest, almost everyone running for a high level office has more money than I could ever think of having in ten lifetimes, so be honest for once. How about this speach.

?I will fight for better health care where (make sure you read this slowly, in a inflectionless voice) there are not two classes of people and the rich and famous will not get better health care because they can afford it. Middle America will be able to get the same treatment as those of us, I mean those who are wealthy. Make no mistake, I fall into the ?wealthy class? and trust me, if me or mine ever had a problem I would not hesitate to call on the best doctor my wife?s money could buy. Do you think I would go through some book sent to me by a poorly run HMO trying to find a med school moron to misdiagnose me. NO effing way.

And (make sure you still keep that voice) the privileged will not get a better education and go to Yale or nice schools like that just because their parents can afford to send them to some 50 thousand dollar a year place that the teachers get paid to give them great grades and get them into the Ivys. Again, not me because my moms, a Forbes, had more trust funds than kids and I got to burn 100 dollar bills to keep my imaginary friend warm on chilly fall evenings, got to send me to the best schools around. But I feel bad for you, living in some second rate town with a poor school system and hell, this world needs janitors so why should I care about equal schools. But I WILL. FIGHT. FOR. YOU.

And why should someone struggle to pay their bills and loose their 90 thousand dollar house because your husband is gambling your money away at a casino boat. I will fight for you. It was just last week that I had a hard time locating a 20 dollar bill to tip the guy who keeps dust off my wine collection in my 6 million dollar Beacon Hill house. And I TOO struggled last year when my daughter?s boyfriend broke a crystal cigar cutter at our 9 million dollar Nantucket home. I know how it is to barely make your mortgage on some 700 square foot run down home next to a freeway. It was just last fall that my yacht took on a lot of water and I had to pay someone to clean it up with an eye dropper and a piece of silk cloth.

BUT I AM HERE FOR YOU. I will fight for the growing middle class of this country because the wealthy just keep getting richer. Me included. After all, Tereeeeezzaa and I are worth over a billion dollar. Most of you couldn?t imagine making a percentage of that in 100 lifetimes. I bet I spend more in one year on hair spray then most of you spend on food. And it?s just not fair. YEEEHAAA. I learned that one from Dean. Kerry OUT?

To spread my cynicism, the same comments apply to Bush, Clinton, Reagan, Arnold, and most every politician out there. These guys have millions and millions and they are doing this to make themselves and their Harvard Club buddies feel good. They should quit their disingenuous BS about healthcare and schools and tell us how they will keep the economy going and protect us from being blown up by terrorists. John Forbes Kerry should stop making his point by trying to divide this country (two classes) and stop playing ?fear? politics (if you don?t elect me terrorist will blow up your double wide) and try to make a salient point for once.

Posted by David at 12:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

According to John Edwards, you should try the following.

When you see someone laying next to a building in a dark alley, curled into a fetal position, groaning and bleeding from the head, walk up to him and tell him ?Hope Is On The Way?.

When one of your maxed-out credit card companies calls and demands a minimum payment, tell them ?Hope Is On The Way?.

When your second cousin calls, long distance, collect, to ask for bail money, tell him ?Hope Is On The Way?.

When you pass someone broken down on the side of the road, desperately trying to flag someone down to give them radiator fluid, shout out ?Hope Is On The Way?.

When a family of 4 gets bumped from their connecting flight to Chicago, as you pass them on your way to first class, say ?Hope Is On The Way?.

When you get laid off because of government oversight in corporate America is costing your company too much money, tell your family ?Hope Is On The Way?.

When your neighbor is having trouble paying her bills because she decides not to go on the dole and not accept social program money that others abuse, tell her ?Hope Is On The Way?.

When your paycheck gets reduced because of higher taxes and your HR personal tells you it?s because of the new administration, they will say ?But Hope Is On The Way?.

When you work harder and harder to support drug addicts and government free loaders, tell your kids that miss you ?Hope Is On The Way?.

Ok, the last few started to move from good natured joking to political attack. Sorry. I am apposed to people who abuse social programs and it costs me and millions of other hard working contributing citizens more and more money, I get vocal. I will stop now. One more.

When a big, drunk guy is at the bar pissed off the Red Sox blew another lead and didn?t make the post season, tell him ?Hope Is On The Way?. After you pick up your teeth, get out of the bar and go back to your safe suburban house.

Posted by David at 10:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

DNC ? running log

<u>July 26, Monday, 9:20am:</u>

Today is the first morning of the DNC. The crazy, er, sorry, democrats were streaming in this past weekend. Last night there was a nationally televised Sox/Yanks game and the stuffed shirts were in attendance. This included Kerry who threw out the first pitch (like a girl) and ever-present Ben Affleck with his stupid white Boston hat with a green ?B?. I hate that hat. Anyway, today starts the mayhem. For those who do not live in this area, I plan on posting anything significant. So far, the local TV newscasts are reporting heavy traffic but nothing that was not expected. In case you have not heard, Boston is heavily restricting and finally shutting down the ONLY highway that runs through the city. In addition, they are shutting down Boston?s version of Penn Station and busing, yes, busing, in riders from a train station outside of the city. Basically, they are telling people not to drive in to the city and to take public transportation, but making public transportation a nightmare. But hey, we get to have the DNC so that the country can see the true Boston full of barbwire, fences, protesters and locals hiding at home in their basements working off of laptops and cell phones. It?s good for the local economy too when hourly workers are given the week off and local sandwich and pizza shops are scuttled because they do not serve grilled quail and foi gras and the convention is costing the taxpayers one cool mil an hour. Good times.

Posted by David at 09:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Martha Stewart had this to say recently.

?I could do it. I'm a really good camper. I can sleep on the ground. There are many, many good people who have gone to prison. Look at Nelson Mandela."

Is she comparing herself to Nelson Mandela? No!?! No she didn?t. He was imprisoned for 27 years because of his fight against oppression. You are going away for 5 months because you tried to get away with insider trading.

During one of Mandela?s many trials, he had this to say

?I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."

Mandela spent most of his time on the Robben Island Prison run by brutal guards and encased in barbwire. From an article detailing the history of the island:

?Sixty prisoners were crammed into a cell made to house twenty men. They were woken up at 5:30 every morning and forced to leap across the compound naked. There was a strip full cavity search every morning. Breakfast consisted of a cold cup of coffee and porridge. Men were forced to eat on their haunches. Guards were instructed to beat anyone whose butt touched the ground. During the day the prisoners were forced to do hard labor on the mainland. Jobs consisted of moving a mountain of dirt from one location to another and then back again. Deaths from starvation and disease were common, and deaths from beatings were even higher.

Robben Island was said to be Hell, a place of desolate banishment from which few returned. The prison was an institution that perpetuated segregation and racism. Hundreds of thousands died for the color of their skin and the tenor of their ideas.?
Stewart has asked to serve her prison time at her 153-acre estate in the exclusive and very rich town of Bedford, N.Y., a property that features five houses. FIVE.

Martha, if you can read this, please never compare yourself to Nelson Mandela. He fought to free humans. You got caught lying about insider trading. He spent the better part of his life in jail, running from the government or on trial because of his beliefs. You have to pay a fine that is less than your monthly masseuse bill.

While I feel bad that you will not be able to helicopter to your place in the Hamptons while on house arrest, torture, I know, you could be much worse off. Never compare yourself to Nelson Mandela.

Posted by David at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

So there I was, sitting at work, spacing out a little and thinking about being home, and came across

<div align="center"> <a href="http://www.moveyourasana.com/David/pictures/landingpage/RedIcebergLowRes.jpg" TARGET=_blank><img src="http://www.moveyourasana.com/David/pictures/landingpage/RedIcebergBlog.jpg" title="Iceberg" name="Red Iceberg" alt="Red Snow Cone" name="Snow Cones" width="450" height="350" border="1</a>

Posted by David at 04:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Notice that to the right of the story below, <a href="http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/bronx/nyc-nymurd033693733mar03,0,3189531.story?coll=nyc-homepage-headlines" target=_blank>in detail here,</a> describing how this guy killed his girlfriend because she wouldn?t marry him, Newsday used ad space to promote a ?Picture Perfect Wedding?. I was thinking of sending in the caption of the two taken BEFORE he killed her. I guess they decided to change the ad later in the day.

<div align="center"> <a href="http://www.moveyourasana.com/David/pictures/landingpage/Newsdaymurderwedding-2.jpg" TARGET=_blank><img src="http://www.moveyourasana.com/David/pictures/landingpage/Newsdaymurderweddingweb.jpg" title="Newsday" name="Sell more add space" alt="Make money" name="Gotta sell ads" width="450" height="550" border="1</a>

Posted by David at 02:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Well, you guys, you have already got the picture here. I, I was about to say you know I, I?m sure there are some disappointed people here.

<i>(crowd groans)</i>

You know what, you know something, you know something, if you had told us one year ago that we were going to come in third in Iowa, we would have given anything for that. And you know something. You know something.

<i>(Dean starts to speak more quickly)</i>

Not only are we going to New Hampshire, Tom Harkin, we?re going to South Carolina, and OKLAHAMO, and ARIZONA!

<i>(crown cheers and claps wildly)</i>

AND NORTH DAKOTA! AND NEW MEXICO! AND WE?RE GOING TO CALIFORNIA,!AND TEXAS AND NEW YORK!

<i>(dean shouts and face turns red)</i>

Not going to Florida because I hate the heat and old people.

BUT WE?RE GOING TO SOUTH DAKOTA! AND OREGON! AND WASHINGTON, AND MICHIGAN. And THEN WE?RE GOING TO WASHINGTON DC TO TAKE BACK THE WHITE HOUSE FROM THAT S**T KICKING COWBOY

YYAAAAAAaaahhhhh. haha.

<i>(dean pauses a moment. Crowd grows crazy)</i>

SHOW ME YOUR HANDS MOTHER -expletive deleted-.

COME ON. MAKE SOME NOOOOIIIIIIISSSSSSEEEEE.

<i>(crowd goes wild with applause and cheers)</i>

WE WILL NOT GIVE UP. We will not give up in New Hampshire. WE WILL NOT GIVE UP IN SOUTH CAROLINA, WE WILL NOT GIVE UP IN ARIZONA.

I?LL GIVE UP IN ALASKA BECAUSE FAIRY, I MEAN KERRY, CAN HAVE THAT ICE BOX.

BUT NOT IN NEW MEXICO, OKLAHOMA, NORTH DAKOTA, DELAWARE, PENNSYLVANIA, OHIO, MICHIGAN!!!

<i>(dean pauses, crowd continues to cheer)</i>

WHEN I SAY ?WHO?S HOUSE????..YOU SAY ?HOWARD?S HOUSE?.

NOW WHO?S HOUSE?

<i>(crowd yells ?howard?s house)</i>

I SAID ?WHO?S HOUSE??

<i>(crowd yells louder ?howard?s house?)</i>

THAT?S RIGHT MOTHER - expletive deleted -, THAT?S G**D***ED RIGHT!!

We will not quit now or ever. We want our country back for ORDINARY AMERICANS.

<i>(dean points to the back of the crowd)</i>

Ordinary Americans like that fat man back there. And that ugly woman in the American flag sweater.

<i>(crowd cheers and applauds)</i>

I, and we?re going to win in MASHASHUSETTS. AND NORTH CAROLINA, AND MISSOURI

DO YOU HEAR ME TALKING PEOPLE!! MIZ-EFFING-URI.

AND ARKANSAS, AND CONNECTICUT, AND NEW YORK, AND OHIO. MIGHT NOT WIN IN ALABAMA BUT WHAT DO THEY KNOW, THOSE DUMB REDNECKS.

<i>(crowd continues to cheer wildly)</i>

I?M A CRAZY MAN AND NOTHIN? GUNNA STOP THIS TRAIN. NOTHIN!!

<i>(dean let?s the crowd quiet down)</i>

Let me, let me, let me, wait a minute wait a minute wait a minute, way way, I, I there are some, there are some polite things we have to do here. And the first is to thank some people.

And I want to thank Jeani Murray and her extraordinary Iowa people. She has worked so hard.

Come on up here, Jeani. Come on up. Come on up. Jeani Murray. Come on. Come on sweet girl.

Who?s your daddy Jeani? That?s right. Dean?s your daddy. Daddy Dean. Now give me some sugar. Right here.

<i>(Ms. Murray kisses dean on the cheek)</i>

Now who else out there wants some DEAN?

HUH??? WHO???

<i>(crowd yells and cheers)</i>

HOW ELSE WANTS DEAN?

YOU WANT DEAN?

<i>(dean points at a section of the crowd)</i>

YOU WANT DEAN?

<i>(dean points at another section)</i>

DAMN RIGHT YOU WANT DEAN. DAMN RIGHT MOTHA MO-FOS. EVERYONE WANT DEAN.

<i>(dean takes a few steps back and runs forward, leaping headfirst into the crowd, microphone still in hand)</i>

YEEAAAAHHHHHH.

<i>(crowd places dean back on stage)</i>

I?M DRUNK AND PISSED OFF I LOST IN HAWKEYE. I OUT OF HERE.

PEACE OUT.

<i>(dean walks off the stage backwards attempting to moon walk)</i>

Posted by David at 03:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

We live in Milton, Massachusetts, home of the renowned Milton Hospital. Earlier this year, an image of the Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus appeared in one of the windows. Now, depending on your beliefs, this can either be a miracle or condensation. Either way, it made <a href=" http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/2282435/detail.html" TARGET=_blank>the local news </a>, the national news <a href=" http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/07/07/earlyshow/contributors/tracysmith/main561968.shtml" TARGET=_blank>here </a> and <a href=" http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/virginmary030617.html" TARGET=_blank>here </a>, and <a href=" http://www.revelation13.net/Mary.html" TARGET=_blank> religious news </a>. It even made <a href=" http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2999172.stm" TARGET=_blank> international news </a>.

So being extremely curious ? and living about a mile from the hospital ? I headed down there to see for myself. I am not going to give away my thoughts, but you can see some of a pictures of the window <a href=" http://www.moveyourasana.com\David\pictures\miltonhospital\MiltonHospital-081703-01W.jpg " TARGET=_blank>here</a> and <a href=" http://www.moveyourasana.com\David\pictures\miltonhospital\ MiltonHospital-081703-03W.jpg" TARGET=_blank>here</a>. You can also see some of the people praying at the base of the building <a href="http://www.moveyourasana.com\David\pictures\miltonhospital\MiltonHospital-081703-09W.jpg" TARGET=_blank>here</a>.

Posted by David at 03:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

There?s been a lot of press lately on the flu problems this season. Both print and television have shown pictures or videos of little kids getting shots while sitting there smiling or calmly looking around. I thought to myself ?Huh? This is not MY experience with shots?. I think <a href=" http://www.moveyourasana.com/David/pictures/flu/flucry.jpg" TARGET=_blank>this kid</a> and <a href=" http://www.moveyourasana.com/David/pictures/flu/4_2_121103_flu4.jpg" TARGET=_blank>this kid</a> more accurately reflect the experience.

Posted by David at 10:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Something I would like to do full time is write. Anyone who has read anything of mine would suggest I think of something else to do if I want to keep my wife and child fed, but I like to write. I always thought writing well, actually something people wanted to read, was a God given gift. But my friend Paul, in a 30 second comment he kind of half said, made me rethink that. He said that creative, well structured writing was something most of us could probably do if we had the time. I never really thought of it that way but when I write these long, detailed reports for work, things I am paid to do 40-60-80 hours a week, they come out great. The reason is I have time to put my thought down on paper (computer), think it through, rethink it, re rethink it, and so on and so on. They come out pretty good. But for creative writing, it is usually done on airplanes, sitting in front of the TV at 1AM avoiding going to bed because my morning is going to suck (me right now), after having a few pops and some free time, or just responding to something on my mind. It is not well thought out. But the thing for me is that every time I want to write something, I usually am thinking it through in the back of a cab or waiting in line ? places where I have wasted time with only my mind to keep me company and can?t write down what I want to say and eventually I forget the main points. But the one thing I always remember is the title for an in depth column I want to write. A column on something significant. Not a useless and trivial event in my otherwise boring life. But something that will provoke arguments among couples who read it. Fan the flames of debate over scotch and waters. Stir muck from the forensic lake.

This all brings me to my point. I have been following very closely the latest class action lawsuit initiative I?ll call (me and every paper out there) Big Food. Big Food is being sued because kids are fat, similar to Big Tobacco because people die from smoking. I am not going to get into it because I intend on devoting a large column to this debate, but the argument by the lawyers is that companies like Nestle and Nabisco and Kraft make food very fattening and market it to kids to sell more stuff, a wacky concept to turn a profit and please shareholders. Insane, I know. But after reading <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2003-07-01-kraft_x.htm">numerous</a> <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2003-07-01-junkfood_x.htm">articles</a> and watching the Today show talk about it, I am changing the title of the column. Originally I was going to call it ?

??Big Mac versus Big Tobacco??

?and it was going to center on the difference of suing tobacco companies and suing fast food/consumer packaged good companies. But after reading a bunch of spin on obese kids and why companies that make fattening food are to blame, I am going to call it?

??Put Down Those G**damned Fries, Fat Boy, And Go Outside And Play!!?

Stay tuned, its going to be a good one.

Posted by David at 12:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

For the record, I think it was pretty damn cool how Bush flew onto the aircraft carrier. I know the left wing nuts are coming out against it and want to know how much it cost taxpayers, but no way in hell Clinton could have come close to doing that. No way. And I think it pumped up the mostly young, 3,000+ underpaid and under appreciated people who serve on that ship. But that?s just my opinion.

Dave

Posted by David at 08:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

From <a href="http://www.gawker.com/03/02/003605.html">gawker.com</a>.

Per this morning's Page Six item reporting that Chelsea Clinton has been offered a job at "McKinney": (That's McKinsey. M-C-K-I-N-S-E-Y.) A spy reports that during the recruitment workshop, Chelsea's effort at teamwork consisted of forming a team with her boyfriend, Ian Klaus, and the partner in charge of the presentation.

Not that it matters. McKinsey interviews generally go something like this:

Question 1: Estimate the number of manhole covers in New York. Divide by the number of Texans convicted of insider trading in 1987. Assess the global economic impact of the removal of the resulting number of manhole covers and their subsequent transfer to emerging markets with significant levels of interest rate volatility. Bonus points for solving Fermat's last theorem.
Question 2: Are you willing to die/trade your grandmother/spend an extended period of time in minimum security prison for McKinsey? (If yes, ignore question 1. Automatic offer.)
Question 3: Is your father a former U.S. President? (If yes, ignore question 1. Automatic offer.)
Question 4: Does at least 90% of your work wardrobe (if female) consist of Blass and Manolos? (If no, please explain.)
Question 5: With how many CEOs of potential client companies does your father play racquetball? (If none, please explain.)

We're guessing Chelsea got in on Question 1.

Posted by David at 11:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I was driving from Springfield back to Boston last week and I passed this on the Mass Pike. They had an RV followed by 3 Shamu shaped VW beetles. Good times.

Posted by David at 08:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I?m not sure why, but I was reading an interview with the <a href="http://www.twinship.tv/">Coors Light twins</a>. You know, the ones from the commercial ??and the twins?. Well, they were saying that they want to get into acting, and singing, and wrestling, and write their own songs, and dance and jump around and do all this crap. I am not up to speed on career goals of other female sex objects, but I have a feeling it is too often very similar. One day I would like to read an interview with some hottie model that was more like this?

?Am I doing this to get into acting? Hell no! I?m doing this because I make a boat load of money. My career goal is to be the president of NOW?.

Posted by David at 02:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)