Joe? D'Oh!

This was just too funny. I realize that gaffes happen, but this is more than just a gaffe. It's telling. Is this not the perfect microcosm of his slopped together campaign?

Roscommon and I made an observation today as the two presidential candidate were shown giving live speeches in near split screen format - Barack looks, speaks, and acts like a President. He has for months. He's a presidential personality. His campaign is a juggernaut of perfection, spreading his support like a pandemic of Hope. McCain, on his half of the screen, seemed very clunky and awkward stumbling to the podium, bumbling through a non-inspiring speech, literally mocking Barack's ideals and supporters with curt (and I thought extremely rude) laughs after each punchline. He doesn't seem presidential at all. He seems like a petulant old man who doesn't want to be where he is. Then he shows thousands of watchers and supporters why he isn't going to win on Tuesday - his campaign blows. It blows! They 'didn't realize Joe wasn't there until after McCain had gone on' and couldn't tell him in time. Turns out, the McCain campaign only invited Joe several days ago, and never called back to confirm. Nobody noticed? Even when they did, is there no one manning the teleprompter? Wouldn't it be better if a staffer stepped up and whispered to McCain rather than making their candidate look like he didn't know what was going on? I'm personally not surprised. McCain's campaign has been mismanaged from the start pissing away what could have been a VERY strong Republican candidate. Obama's campaign has put on a CLINIC that will be studied for years to come.
Similarly-
-McCain graduated 894th of 899 in his class at the Naval Academy, even though his father was a Navy Admiral.
-Obama was President of the Harvard Law Review and a professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Chicago - the 8th ranked university in the world. What's the first ranked university in the world? Harvard, where he was President of the Harvard Law Review.

I voted today for Barack Obama.



click here to find your polling place and answers to common questions.

"scary smart"

I'm BACK! Been seriously slacking on the blogging due to a new job, band practices, and general laziness.
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The story of the last few days was a 7-year old blurb that Barack Obama had said on a NPR radio show. (WBEZ CHICAGO, where This American Life is from) The 7 second sound byte included a few key words that makes conservatives cringe, but mainly "redistribution of wealth." The clip that was used was a discussion of the Civil Rights era and the role of the courts, so instantly I wondered whether this quote was out of context. I found the whole interview (it was a long one) and I realized something I'd never been able to put my finger on....
Barack Obama reminds me of a college professor of mine. The guy is CRAZY smart. Like, really wicked smart.

There's a plethora of stories and blogs like this one today.

So it's no surprise that many people went back and listened to that interview from 7 years ago, and I think that whoever used that clip to try and scare the conservatives from voting for Obama wishes that they hadn't. Because many more people are finding out that Obama isn't the insane marxist they're trying to paint him as - but what he IS, in fact, is one of the smartest people in politics. His enemies weren't just saying he has a 'first-rate intellect' as flattery. This is somebody who SCHOOLS people.

No, seriously, he was a Constitutional Law professor.

Stoop

Sometimes the world is a sad place. This story, for example. Here's a synopsis:
"A homeless Vietnam veteran is recovering from injuries he sustained during a robbery last week.
64 year old Richard Denise was attacked while he was sleeping behind the Bank of America at 900 W Sample Road in Pompano Beach.
Denise was hit with a wooden board.
The homeless vet had his money and his wheekchair stolen.
BSO reports that Denise has been using the chair since he was wounded during the Vietnam war."

Dang. Stealing wheelchairs from homeless veterans? I'm no saint, but I'm pretty sure that somewhere, God is frowning on whoever did this. Luckily, not everyone in the world is evil. The article ends with some Hope.

"A good samaritan has donated another wheelchair to Richard Denise."

Not Advised

A different kind of bailout.

LOST = my shoes

My brain hurts. But I think that this is the most accurate explanation on what exactly is going on in the TV show LOST. There are a lot of theories out there (a LOT), but I think this one is the best and lines up with what I personally think it going on.

DO NOT READ THE LINK IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE ENTIRE SERIES TO DATE. It will ruin things for you.

Essentially, the entire premise of LOST is a struggle between fate and man's free will. If someone was able to go back in time, knowing what they know, is it possible for that person to change his fate? Or would fate take steps to course-correct events to the same conclusions that the time-traveler left behind?

Cereal Rated

Mia Madre was very strict about which cereals we could have growing up. I remember resenting that other kids had 'better tasting' cereals, but now I don't really even want those cereals. Maybe one of the small variety pack boxes every few months, but not as a keep-in-the-house cereal. Sometimes there is NOTHING better than a bowl of standard yellow box Cheerios with a sliced banana.

As it turns out, Homebase was pretty smart with her cereal choices. We usually had Cheerios, Honey Nut Cheerios, Kix, Raisin Bran, or the occasional Life. The top rated cereals were Cheerios, Honey Nut Cheerios, Kix, and Life. Good call, Mom. Among the worst rated cereals were Fruit Loops, Smacks, Corn Pops, Cap'n Crunch, and Apple Jacks. (some of my favorites. good thing I didn't buy the cereal)

When TMZ gets even slime-ier

When you think low-lives can't get any lower - they do.

So it was all over the news yesterday about Heather Locklear was arrested for 'driving erratically'. Not sure if she was charged with a DUI or not. Anyways, it came out today that a microcosm of what's wrong with America (read: Paparazzi) who had been following her around was the one who called the police to come arrest her. The paparazzi then photographed her arrest and made a bunch of money. Tipped off her pap friends to the impending arrest.

Now here's the question - do people have a civic duty to rat out drunk drivers? Most people would say yes. But isn't there a conflict of interest here when the informant stands to make a lot of money if Heather was arrested? Which she was. And a lot of money was made. Pretty soon the Paparazzi will be forcing celebrities' cars into medians at high speeds, killing them and then getting paid for pictures of the crash.

....oh wait, that already happened.

Ballin'est $hit Eva!

This is pretty wasteful. Or badass. I can't decide which. If I wasn't looking for a nice used piano right now, I'd probably think this was cooler.