Truth: Books to Read

Here are some books to read as suggested by many of you. Keep them coming.

Sports: The Glory of their Times by Lawrence Ritter and What a Game They Played by Richard Whittingham
Biography: Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam
Humor: Lazlo Letters by Don Novello and The Groucho Letters by Groucho Marx
Philosophy: Ralph Waldo Emerson Journals
Music: Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung by Lester Bangs
History: Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose

American Brutus by Jonathan Yardley
Crimes and Punishment Fyodor Dostoevsky
Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follets
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
The Dollmaker by Harriet Arnow
The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb
Rhinocerous Success by Scott Alexander
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
The Yankee Years by Joe Torre
No Wonder They Call Him the Savior by Max Lucado
The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs
This I know is True by Wally Lamb
The Herioin Diaries by Nikki Sixx
Are You There God? It's Me Margaret! by Judy Blume
Appointment in Samarra by John O'Hara
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
The Secret By Rhonda Byrne
Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollen
Look Me in the Eye by Barbara MacDonald
My Life with Asperger’s
The National Electrical Code Book
The Seat of the Soul by Gary Zukav
The Dollmaker by Harriet Arnow
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand


Slowing Down to the Speed of Life, by Richard Carlson and Joseph Bailey
It's about learning to live and think in the moment, showing us how our thoughts are what create our emotions, how we can become calm in the middle of chaos, how we can minimize stress, become better parents, improve our relationships, blah blah blah.

Truth - Things I've Done

Things I need to do

Things I have done in my lifetime:
( ) Gone on a blind date
(X) Skipped school
(X) Watched someone die
(X) Been to Canada.
(X) Been to Mexico.
(X) Been to Florida.
( ) Been to Hawaii.
(X) Been on a plane.
(X) Been on a helicopter.
(X) Been lost
(X) Gone to Washington, DC.
(X) Swam in the ocean.
(X) Cried yourself to sleep
(X) Played cops and robbers
(X) Recently colored with crayons.
(X )Sang Karaoke
(X) Paid for a meal with coins only.
( ) Been to the top of the St. Louis Arch
(X) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't
(X) Made prank phone calls
( ) Been down Bourbon Street in New Orleans
(X) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose
(X) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
( ) Danced in the rain
(X) Written a letter to Santa Claus
( ) Been kissed under the mistletoe
( ) Watched the sunrise with someone
( ) Blown bubbles
(X) Gone ice-skating
(X) Gone to the movies
(X) Been deep sea fishing
( ) Driven across the United States
( ) Been in a hot air balloon
( ) Been sky diving.
(X) Gone snowmobiling
( ) Lived in more than one country
(X) Lay down outside at night and admired the stars while listening to the crickets
(X) Seen a falling star and made a wish
( ) Enjoyed the beauty of Old Faithful Geyser
(X) Seen the Statue of Liberty
( ) Gone to the top of Seattle Space Needle
( ) Been on a cruise
(X) Traveled by train
(X) Traveled by motorcycle
(X) Been horse back riding
( ) Ridden on a San Francisco CABLE CAR
(X) Been to Disney World
(X) Truly believe in the power of prayer
( ) Been in a rain forest
( ) Seen whales in the ocean
(X) Been to Niagara Falls
( ) Ridden on an elephant
( ) Swam with dolphins
( ) Been to the Olympics
( ) Walked on the Great Wall of China
( ) Saw and heard a glacier calf
( ) Been spinnaker flying
( ) Been water-skiing
( ) Been snow-skiing
( ) Been to Westminster Abbey
( ) Been to the Louvre
(X) Swam in the Mediterranean
(X) Been to a Major League Baseball game
(X) Been to a National Football League game
(X) Been to a National Basketball Association game
(X) Been to a National Hockey League Game
( ) Seen the Harlem Globetroters
(X) Been to the Super Bowl
(X) Saw the Stanley Cup
(X) Met a celebrity
(X) Been to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
(X) Been sailing
( ) Been Bungee Jumping
( ) Drove a race car
(X) Rode a motorcycle
( ) Saw the Golden Gate Bridge
(X) Seen a volcano eruption
(X) Been ice skating
(X) Played BroomBall
( ) Played curling
(X) Ate Sushi
( ) Seen the Eifel Tower
( ) Seen The Pope

Liberty: Obama Fuzzy

Interesting read from the NY POST on Obama's stimulus package. Can you say SOCIALISM? While I get blasted from my liberal friends who tell me the mess we are in is because of Bush's tax cuts, this is what Obama brings to the table. I'm sick of it.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/02262009/postopinion/editorials/obamas_fuzzy_tax_math_157018.htm

OBAMA'S FUZZY TAX MATH
WHEN he officially unveils his bud get today, President Obama is ex pected to call for an end to the Bush tax cuts - but only for "the rich."

That's, well, rich.

Indeed, observers on both the right and left agree that there's no way he can meet his goal of halving the deficit without raising taxes.

So while the president has promised that families making less than $250,000 a year won't see their taxes go up "a dime," don't hold your breath.

Now, it's true that the average worker will get $13 a week this year from the stimulus plan, dropping to $8 next year.

But how does that stack up against the Bush tax relief that Americans are likely to lose? Do the math: This year, the Bush tax cuts should save Americans an estimated $205 billion. Divide that by 142 million workers and it averages $27 a week in every pocket.

Looks like average Joes lose. And that's true, even down the income ladder.

Democrats like to claim that most of the Bush tax relief goes only to the wealthy - implying that scrapping it won't hurt others. But maybe they should ask the breadwinner in an average family of four making about $42,000.

The Treasury Department has estimated that the Bush tax cuts would save such a taxpayer just over $2,300 this year - more than $44 a week. If Obama winds up ditching the cuts for him, he'd be worse off, just like the "wealthy."

Even if Obama works money miracles and doesn't hike taxes on anyone but "the rich," there's still cause for huge concern.

Many of the folks who report $250,000 or more in income are hardly fat cats: They're hard-working small-business owners who pay taxes on their revenues via their personal income-tax returns.

In fact, in the top two income-tax brackets - the ones Obama proposes to squeeze most heavily - a full 80 percent of filers report small-business income.

Over the last 10 years, small businesses created 60 percent to 80 percent of the nation's net new jobs. By socking it to their bottom line, the president's new tax move will dry up the nation's most fertile source of employment - just as more and more Americans are looking for work.

So let's get this straight: Obama's big stimulus is a worse deal for workers than the Bush tax cuts he's sacrificing to pay for it.

The tax hikes will slam small-business owners and discourage the entrepreneurship and risk-taking our economy needs.

And by signaling that Americans can expect tax hikes down the road, Obama encourages sensible people to bank their stimulus checks and save for the leaner days ahead - undermining the whole purpose of the massive spending.

Sounds like he should have left well enough alone.

Truth: Lex on Detroit

My friend Lex Kuhne an entertainment lawyer and general all around cool guy (despite his left wing illusional tendencies) was featured in this article. One of the founders of real radio in Detroit featuring good alternative music, which at the time was all AOR orientated, now teaches ...to name a few things. Lex also blogs on http://lexkuhne.blogspot.com/ which I feature in my Link Love section. Anyone who is anyone in Motown, and even parts of LA knows the Lexster.

http://www.legalnews.com/detroit/common/ShowFile.aspx?typ=editorial&FN=332899-1.html

Making radio waves 89X co-founder has spent his life seizing opportunities and now encourages Cooley students to do the same

By Taryn Hartman

Legal News

It's hard to imagine that the radio station advertised on red-and-black billboards around town as "the only new rock alternative" could have been originally co-founded by a DJ, a sales guy and a lawyer, who says he's sometimes characterized as "a straight-up geek."

Bespectacled Birmingham lawyer Lex Kuhne helped get the popular station 89X (88.7) off the ground with on-air personality Greg St. James and sales extraordinaire Lem Payne in the early 1990s. It was a grassroots effort from the get-go: the three raided their CD collections to form the station's first library; Kuhne and St. James mapped out the station's first schedule while sitting in Kuhne's Royal Oak kitchen; and the first sales office, which would soon become the station's prize pick-up office, was actually the office of Kuhne's architect father-in-law.

"The coolest thing that I've been able to do that only happened because I was a lawyer was the whole 89X experience," Kuhne said of his career in law. He works as a solo practitioner handling family, business, and entertainment and estate planning law, and in the 89X effort was the point person when it came to drafting contracts, securing deals and creating the entities needed to make the station a reality.

The original format was "80's-oriented rock," or the music Kuhne had listened to while an undergraduate at the University of Michigan and law student at Wayne State. And that logo's first colors? Purple and orange.

The station grew out of Kuhne's "Word of Mouth" column for the Detroit Metro Times, which he wrote from 1987-1995 and in which he often lamented the sad state of local radio. In 1989, when the first idea for the station began to take root, St. James was filling the 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. time slot at rock station 101.1 WRIF. To handle the sales side, Kuhne enlisted Payne, whom he'd first met when he sold Kuhne's mother her Volvo.

89X started as a nightly specialty show called "The Cutting Edge" and rapidly expanded from an original 4-hour time slot from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. to a 12-hour block from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. The Friday before Memorial Day in 1991, the station took off as a 24/7 destination at the low end of the dial.

When the Lollapalooza music festival came to town that summer, it was Kuhne doing the station's interviews with artists, including rapper Ice-T (now recognizable from "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit") and Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor. Kuhne recalled this experience as his favorite memory in a post about the station's founding at his 60 Second Blog (http://lexkuhne.blogspot.com/), writing, "I knew we were doing something that wasn't disappearing anytime soon."

The Kuhne-St. James-Payne trio's consulting agreement with the CHUM Radio Network expired after two years and 89X's format began to evolve, but not before introducing on-air talent the likes of Greg Gnyp, Vince Cannova (now the station's program director) and Scott Vertical, all of whom remain fixtures over Detroit airwaves.

Although the station has become one of Metro Detroit's premiere destinations for modern rock music instead of the format Kuhne originally envisioned, he hasn't stopped listening to the frequency he founded. And while his station has changed, his opinions about where radio stands haven't.

With his vocal chords still tingling to get back on the air (for a time he hosted "The Lex Files" on the Michigan Talk Radio Network), Kuhne bemoaned the current state of radio in Detroit and beyond at the hands of corporate ownership and consolidation.

"When radio fragments itself into its programs, it augments the fragmenting of society," he said, adding that the market's greatest need-similar to the need he, St. James and Payne saw when putting together 89X-is a "normal" talk radio station featuring bias-free discussion and personalities like the late J.P. McCarthy, who hosted WJR's morning show for over 30 years and embraced interaction with his listeners. Most current talk radio, Kuhne said, has some kind of an agenda, whether it be sports, politics or issues of concern to a particular ethnic group.

"Radio is a genre that used to be an art form," Kuhne continued. "With consolidation and 'downsizing to greatness,' there's no soul to it, there's no art to it." Whereas stations used to be run like neighborhood restaurants, "it's all just one big Applebee's now," he said.

Media has played a major role throughout Kuhne's life and career as a lawyer. Early television experiences shaped the two dominant elements: he decided he wanted to be an attorney while watching the Watergate hearings as a Grosse Pointe 5th-grader in 1973 and first began subscribing to rock magazine Rolling Stone after the publication's 10th anniversary television special aired in 1977.

Soon after Rolling Stone started landing in Kuhne's mailbox, rock magazine CREEM began arriving alongside it. CREEM originated in Detroit and provided some of the basis for former CREEM and Rolling Stone contributor Cameron Crowe's Academy Award-winning film Almost Famous, and Kuhne tried to revive the title about 10 years ago.

The Metro Times "Word of Mouth" column started as a way for Kuhne to generate interest in his solo practice when he decided to strike out on his own after law school, and ended up putting him in touch with co-founders St. James and Payne. The 89X gig led him to television, where he was a correspondent for Detroit Public Television's "Backstage Pass" entertainment program on WTVS/Channel 56 for a number of years, allowing him to continue connecting the dots between his work and Detroit's media scene.

"If you can take a vocational training and apply it to something you use as an avocation, you've won," Kuhne said of the integration of the personal and professional in his life.

Kuhne professed that he felt lucky to have chosen a path that showed him other opportunities, which he now tries to impart to students enrolled in his entertainment law class at Cooley Law School's Auburn Hills campus.

He purposely runs his class differently, always with an eye on helping them connect the dots between the legal theory they're learning now and the practical elements they'll need to earn livings as lawyers.

"I want to teach this course the way I wanted my courses to be taught," Kuhne said, remembering that civil procedure would have been much easier to understand if the professor had begun class by explaining that what Kuhne and his classmates would be learning was what they saw each week on "L.A. Law."

"It could be more user-friendly," he said of legal education, and Kuhne tries to make the information from a textbook more accessible to students by connecting it to a situation they're familiar with. "These people are my clients. They're paying a lot of money to be here."

He also does his best to use his experiences to encourage his students to connect their own dots and consider pursuing opportunities outside the traditional lawyer box.

"I worry sometimes that I've muddled who I am to each different group," Kuhne said on a recent Monday after class while reflecting on the multiple hats he continues to wear. In addition to his lawyering, teaching and blogging responsibilities, Kuhne and wife Dawna are parent to two active daughters: 14-year-old Kit, a freshman at Birmingham Seaholm, and Mara, 10, who attends Quarton Elementary.

On the flip side, he mused, "maybe I was a pioneer" in a new economy where people do multiple things.

One thing Kuhne is sure about is the creative culture of Detroit and how it can continue improving with tax breaks for filmmakers.

"I think it's awesome," Kuhne said. "I think it's great. I think Detroit is underrated as a location for everything."

Even the post-apocalyptic RoboCop films of the early 90s, set in Detroit? In a recent post on his Twitter page, Kuhne wrote, "Dear Charlotte, NC You haven't earned 'Detroit of the South' moniker until a RoboCop movie is set there."

"Until you give people a different narrative, they're going to stick with the easy ones," Kuhne said of why Detroit remains the poster city for decay and the butt of urban blight jokes. He was also quick to point out that if RoboCop wanted to hate on the city, the least it could've done was "write us the check" and shoot here instead of Dallas.

And he still has faith that Detroit is every inch the entertainment hotbed it used to be in the glory days of Motown. The fact that homegrown artists like Bob Seger, Ted Nugent, Kid Rock and Eminem have all chosen to remain local instead of moving their operations to New York or Los Angeles speaks well for the creative reputation of the city, Kuhne said.

"I would say that Detroit never stopped being creative," Kuhne said. "It's just a question of whether people notice it or not."

Sports: Beer League Needs Stimulus

This is pretty funny. I enjoy Mike Keenan's articles, this is great.



My Beer League Team Needs Stimulus Money

By Mike Keenan
The following appeal to President Barack Obama was written by Seattle rec league player Mike Keenan (not that Mike Keenan). The views expressed below, while not necessarily reflecting those of the Times hockey blog, are presented to foster a healthy exchange of ideas among our readers.

Dear President Obama:

My beer league hockey team needs stimulus money!

Please consider this idea before you finalize your spending plan. I would have gone through the channels of the Senate and House of Representatives and the Senate, but I thought that would be too slow and get me nowhere. I think that Thin Ice, my men’s (beer) league hockey team, is deserving of a small portion of the $800 billion stimulus package. Go ahead and laugh — God knows you need a good one. But in all seriousness, my proposal makes perfect sense, and it would keep all the Republicans and Democrats happy.

Why, you ask? Well, to start, let’s talk about saving jobs. We take ice time that no one else wants, usually after 10 p.m. If we decide not to play, or can’t afford the costs, that ice remains unrented — in which case the ice rink loses $320 per session and there is no need for two referees, a scorekeeper and the all-important Zamboni driver. Those are often second jobs with pretty decent wages.

In addition to buying relatively expensive gear ($150 hockey sticks, $300-plus skates, safety equipment, etc.) at local sporting goods stores, we also buy our share of beer for the locker room — after we skate, or course. When that beer runs out, it’s off to any “restaurant” that’s still open. Our tabs hover around $100, and our tips to the bartender exceed 20 percent.

That’s the business benefit, but don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about the Democrats. Hockey is a physically demanding sport that requires even us old guys to stay in good shape. Other than the occasional trip to see a dentist, we generally keep health care costs down by making fewer trips to the doctor’s office.

And then there’s the social benefit our beer league team provides. Players getting out once a week have the chance to blow off steam and clear their minds, leaving them refreshed for their wives and kids the remaining six nights each week. (At least that’s what we tell ourselves when we get home at 2 a.m. on hockey night.)

The Thin Ice season costs $84,000, or $560 per player — and if you add in the cost of travel, equipment and refreshments, it’s even more, and quite expensive indeed. Maybe we should consider folding the team, saving our hard earned income, staying home and just sitting on the couch.

But on the other hand, Mr. President, if the government were willing to pay our beer league entry fee, we would promise (even in writing) to continue to pump our money back into the economy, stay physically fit and maintain a healthy family life.

Now who could argue with a stimulus measure like that?

Mike Keenan
Seattle

Truth: 245 Films

SUPPOSEDLY if you've seen over 90 films, you have no life. I've marked the ones I've seen. There are 245 films on this list. Do you have a life?

( ) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(X) Grease
(X) Pirates of the Caribbean
( ) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
( ) Boondock Saints
( ) Fight Club
( ) Starsky and Hutch
( ) Neverending Story
(X) Blazing Saddles
(X) Airplane
Total: 4

(X) The Princess Bride
( ) Anchorman
(X) Napoleon Dynamite
( ) Labyrinth
( ) Saw
( ) Saw II
( ) White Noise
( ) White Oleander
( ) Anger Management
( ) 50 First Dates
( ) The Princess Diaries
( ) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Total so far: 6

( ) Scream
( ) Scream 2
( ) Scream 3
( ) Scary Movie
( ) Scary Movie 2
( ) Scary Movie 3
( ) Scary Movie 4
(X) American Pie
(X) American Pie 2
( ) American Wedding
(X) American Pie Band Camp
Total so far:9

(X) Harry Potter 1
( ) Harry Potter 2
( ) Harry Potter 3
( ) Harry Potter 4
( ) Resident Evil 1
( ) Resident Evil 2
( ) The Wedding Singer
( ) Little Black Book
( ) The Village
(X) Lilo & Stitch
Total so far:11

(X) Finding Nemo
( ) Finding Neverland
( ) Signs
(X) The Grinch
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
( ) White Chicks
( ) Butterfly Effect
( ) 13 Going on 30
(X) I, Robot
(X) Robots
Total so far: 15

( ) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
( ) Universal Soldier
( ) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
( ) Along Came Polly
( ) Deep Impact
( ) KingPin
( ) Never Been Kissed
(X) Meet The Parents
(X) Meet the Fockers
( ) Eight Crazy Nights
(X) Joe Dirt
(X) KING KONG
Total so far: 19

( ) A Cinderella Story
( ) The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
( ) Dumb & Dumber
( ) Dumber & Dumberer
( ) Final Destination
( ) Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
(X) Halloween
( ) The Ring
( ) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving X-MAS
( ) Flubber
Total so far: 20

( ) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
( ) Practical Magic
( ) Chicago
( ) Ghost Ship
( ) From Hell
( ) Hellboy
( ) Hellboy 2: The Golden Army
( ) Secret Window
( ) I Am Sam
( ) The Whole Nine Yards
( ) The Whole Ten Yards
Total so far: 20

( ) The Day After Tomorrow
( ) Child's Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
( ) Bride of Chucky
( ) Ten Things I Hate About You
( ) Just Married
( ) Gothika
( ) Nightmare on Elm Street
(X) Sixteen Candles
( ) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
( ) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
(X) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask
Total so far: 22

( ) Bad Boys
( ) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
( ) Lucky Number Slevin
(X) Ocean's Eleven
(X ) Ocean's Twelve
(X) Bourne Identity
(X) Bourne Supremacy
( ) Lone Star
( ) Bedazzled
(X) Predator I
(X) Predator II
( ) The Fog
(X) Ice Age
(X) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
( ) Curious George
Total so far: 30

(X) Independence Day
(X) Cujo
(X) A Bronx Tale
( ) Darkness Falls
(X) Christine
(X) ET
( ) Children of the Corn
( ) My Boss's Daughter
( ) Maid in Manhattan
( ) War of the Worlds
(X) Rush Hour
( ) Rush Hour 2
( ) Rush Hour 3
Total so far: 36

( ) Best Bet
( ) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
( ) She's All That
( ) Calendar Girls
(X) Sideways
( ) Mars Attacks
( ) Event Horizon
( ) Ever After
(X) Wizard of Oz
(X) Forrest Gump
(X) Big Trouble in Little China
(X) The Terminator
(X) The Terminator 2
(X) The Terminator 3
Total so far: 43

(X) X-Men
( ) X-2
( ) X-3
(X) Spider-Man
(X) Spider-Man 2
(X) Spider-Man 3
( ) Sky High
( ) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
( ) Catch Me If You Can
( ) The Little Mermaid
( ) Freaky Friday
( ) Reign of Fire
( ) The Skulls
( ) Cruel Intentions
( ) Cruel Intentions 2
( ) The Hot Chick
(X) Shrek
(X) Shrek 2
(X) Shrek 3
Total so far: 50

( ) Swimfan
(X) Miracle on 34th street
(X) Old School
( ) The Notebook
( ) K-Pax
( ) Krippendorf's Tribe
( ) A Walk to Remember
( ) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
( ) The 40-year-old Virgin
Total so far: 52

( ) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
( ) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
( ) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
(X) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(X) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(X) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
(X) Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull
Total so far: 56

( ) Baseketball
( ) Hostel
( ) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
(X ) Elf
(X) Highlander
( ) Mothman Prophecies
( ) American History X
( ) Three
Total so Far: 58

( ) The Jacket
( ) Kung Fu Hustle
( ) Shaolin Soccer
( ) Night Watch
(X) Monsters Inc.
(X) Titanic
(X) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
( ) Shaun Of the Dead
(X) Willard
Total so far: 62

( ) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
(X) Hulk
(X) Dawn Of the Dead
(X) Hook
( ) Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
( ) 28 days later
( ) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
(X) Waterworld
Total so far: 66

( ) Kill Bill vol 1
( ) Kill Bill vol 2
( ) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
( ) Kingdom of Heaven
( ) The Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
( ) Army of Darkness
Total so far: 66

(X) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(X) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
(X) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(X) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(X) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(X) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
( ) Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
( ) Ewoks The Battle For Endor

Total so far: 72

(X) The Matrix
( ) The Matrix Reloaded
( ) The Matrix Revolutions
( ) Animatrix
( ) Evil Dead
( ) Evil Dead 2
( ) Team America: World Police
( ) Red Dragon
(X ) Silence of the Lambs
(X) Hannibal
Total 74


I HAVE A LIFE!!!!!!

Truth: Pretty Freaky

1 Kidnap per day in Phoenix, Arizona

http://video.yahoo.com/watch/4476370/11999262












Thanks Chris

Liberty: One Step Forward...

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back That's the Obama way of change! Who's still drinking the Kool-aid?


Check out what my friend and prophet Todd Mirkin says:

Don't fear a thing. After doubling our debt over night, having Congress talking about their Budget Bill (all 9000 earmarks of it) being around 450 Billion, Obama says he's going to cut the deficit in 1/2. K-5 Math time folks!

Bush = 1 Trillion
Obama = >1 Trillion+ "Stimulus" Package
Dems = 450 Billion Budget for 2009-2010
Debt - Bush+Obama+Dems = >2.450 Trillion
50% of 2.450 Trillion deficit after proposed cut = >1.225 Trillion

After the cuts our debt will be HIGHER, not lower, under Obama according to his promise and that's assuming they keep their word.

This smells of ex-NJ Governor Jim Florio's B.S. He raised sales tax 2% then before the next election he lowered 1% and went around saying "Vote for me I lowered the Sales Tax 1%". Christine Whitman beat him that year but I digress.

Truth: Paczki!

I've got nothing against tradition...but what's the point of these things? No offense to my Polish friends but these things aren't that good. A giant mound of sugar filled with more sugar. Can you say heart attack or diabetic coma?

Truth: Sexist Monday in Review 22309

Hockeydino
Is there anything more annoying than the Lifetime Channel? What has caused more marriages to be broken than this?

Layla
ESPN, Outdoor Channel...where's my coffee dino?

Rina
Also the Spike channel....

John
Cheating Dino!! That has caused more break ups then the lifetime channel.
U have a pretty shakey marriage if u break up because of the tv.lol

Jo MIllard
OpraH

Jo
k cheating is a deal breaker

Layla
That hot host on The Doctors...

Rina
You have a point there, John. If your marriage is basically shaky, then even BREATHING will take it down!!!

Layla
Did I mention the smokin hot host of The Doctors?

Jo
Yes that smokin hot host would do it!

Michael
Bite your tongue, Dino. The new comedic-tragic dramedy "SlutHouse Billionaires" premiers this fall on the spin-off Strifetime Channel.

Cheri
Hell since we r talking doctors.... How about Mr melt in ur mouth on Grey's Anatomy, Eric Dane... HE can break up my marriage.

Cheri
Other than him I want to say Mamma's boys. Get off ur mom's tit.

Layla
LOL

Michael
What we need is more "rags to better looking rags" stories ... and the Lifetime Channel provides that family fun kind'a viewing stuff, so I like it. One pinky up.

Rina
Michael - who do I call to get Strifetime Channel?? LOL!!!!

Theresa
I want to know who decided that Lifetime is "television for women". I'd rather watch Discover or the Science Channel. Mike Rowe is a real man.

Sports Diva
Your Snorkasaurus is beginning to like it.....better hurry!

Lisa
Do you just sit around and think up this stuff, its crackin me up

Linda
What has caused more marriages to be broken than this?
internet

Carmine
Yes and they should remove this channel , it should be outlawed

A.D.D. Rumblings No. 22309

1. What's the deal with guys wearing pink all of a sudden? Is this acceptable or cool? I'm not gonna do it. I just find it odd seeing men wear pink. What's up with that? I am having 1985 flashbacks.



















2. So the stimulus bill is going to give you an extra $14 a week I guess if you make under $75k for about a year, then $7 for another six months...or something close to that anyways. The government (aka the idiots in D.C.) think if you had that money in one lump sum, you'd buy a tv with it and blow it at once. So since they know what is good for you, they want to give you a little so you can buy an extra pack of smokes a week, or a few more beers here and there. Somehow this is going to stimulate spending?. What they fail to realize is simple - Stop taking my money to begin with and I'll have more to spend anyway I want you friggin morons. Give me a choice!

3. I cannot stand the internet lingo of: lol, lmao, omg, rofl, ttyl, ctm etc. It drives me nuts. You know what else drives me nuts? When people type or text the letter "u" to replace "you". Or they will type "c" instead of "see". It may be more efficient I suppose, but I don't like it. Do you understand? Good.

5. I've said recently that Facebook is crack. I find it very useful, fun, and informative all at the same time. Kinda like my mirror. LOL! However there are silly applications on there that people try to send me everyday. Little games, or questionnaires or whatever. I ignore or block every one as much as possible, because they ANNOY me. Don't invite me to these things please. Just recently I got invited to use these: easter egg builder, nicest person contest, ketchup packet, Water Gun Fight, What flavor of ice cream are you? , Throw Pies! Are you freaking kidding me? By the way, Pistachio in case you really wanted to know.

4. As you know Dino the Snorkasaurus has been kidnapped by Thee Sports Diva and her silly minions. They are holding him for ransom. They want me to talk sports with chicks. I don't know why, because I would just end up vomiting, poking a fork in my eye, dropping a bowling ball on my head just to keep the sanity. I'd be then useless. It's a typical female power struggle where they want to talk sports, drive, vote...you know. Same old stuff. Well I don't negotiate with terrorists, and I think it's sad they are torturing him - threatening to take him to Detroit Lions games. Evil wenches I say! Evil!

6. The city of Detroit has 80,000 abandoned homes. They've gone from the 5th largest city in the United States down to the 11th. People get on my case for being so negative about it, but the facts are the facts. Identify what is wrong, so it can be corrected. A positive attitude might make you feel good, but it doesn't pay the bills brotha! Once the jewel of the Midwest, now it's the joke of the country.

[ This blog is brought to you by the word gosh and the number 8 ]

7. Is it true that women tend to pick men who are like their fathers? While men ultimately pick women who are like their mothers? I wonder if there is any truth to that theory. It would stand to reason at some point, probably early on when you first start dating that you go after those who are unlike your parents. You are rebelling, testing the waters. But ultimately, assuming your parents were cool to you, you'll end up being latched on to those same qualities that parented you. Seems legit to me. Call me daddy.

8. How many times have you looked on the internet for health advice. Looking up symptoms and treatments. Looking for medical tips and terms. Well there is a new phenomenon called cybercondria. That is you find things on the net, and think you have it because you are self diagnosing yourself. This often leads to extra visits to the doctor, or less visits if you decide to treat yourself. So be careful out there. Hey, wash those hands please too.

9. A friend informed me that two people she knows were involved in car accidents. One was fatal, the other very severe. The accidents were due to the other drivers texting while driving. You don't have to tell me twice, I'm done. Don't text and drive people. You heard me.

10. Public and work restrooms are full of newspapers. Often I walk in to hear the rustling of the sports section threw the stalls. I find this most odd. Who wants to read the paper in a public rest room or while at work? Get in, get out, don't make it a lounge. You aren't at home man!

Liberty: The Draft???

I love the military, respect the hell out of all veterans, and think we should support them at all times. However I have a problem with a mandatory draft; which some congressman want to implment. Many of my veteran friends feel the same way; but they arent thinking clearly. You see they are patriots who rose up to the occasion to serve. They have great memories, became better people, and sacrificed alot in doing so. However they fail to see (the ones I'm talking about) that what they served was the whole idea of choice and freedom. Careful...more from the Constitutional wacko Ron Paul (you know, the guy that's pretty much right about everything that is wrong with this country...yeah that guy).



Ron Paul:
Much has been made by the new administration of the idea of national service and volunteerism. While service to one’s community is certainly admirable, it is not the federal government’s place to “encourage” or promote volunteerism. Moreover, there are troubling signs that national service could transition from voluntary to mandatory, or de facto mandatory, such as the requirement of service in order to be granted a diploma, or something along those lines.

Involuntary servitude was supposed to be abolished by the 13th Amendment, but things like Selective Service and the income tax make me wonder how serious we really are in defending just basic freedom. The income tax enslaves workers for nearly 4 months out of a year by garnishing what amounts to all their wages in that period of time. A military draft could demand your very life, without your consent. This should be unthinkable in a free society.

Proponents of reinstating the draft claim it is needed to protect liberty from enemies abroad. But what about the enemies of liberty right here at home? I am convinced that there are more threats to American liberty within the 10 mile radius of my office on Capitol Hill than there are on the rest of the globe. If we would get our troops off of foreign soil, those perceived enemies of our liberty abroad are much more likely to stand down and let us be. We have more than enough troops to mind our own business and defend ourselves. It is only for world domination that we have a troop shortage.

Nevertheless, some think recruiting for our military is too low and that the younger generation will not answer the call of duty willingly, and must be drafted by force. I take extreme exception to this characterization of young people today. First of all, I believe they correctly see that foreign policy, as unpopular as it has been under Bush, is not significantly changing under Obama, and has little, if anything, to do with defending the United States, and certainly not the Constitution. Second, many see friends and acquaintances who have voluntarily enlisted, and have taken note of how the soldier, the veteran is treated. Perhaps rather than blaming younger generations for being selfish, older generations should remember their promises to those who volunteer for military service and be mindful of how they are treated. Every homeless vet by the side of the road, every suicide, every report of substandard conditions in veteran hospitals is a sign of how we let our military down. Perhaps we should look to those issues if we have problems with military recruitment, rather than to trample freedom in the name of protecting it.

If that is not enough reason, consider that most in the military are against a draft. There is a vast difference between serving alongside another volunteer, and serving alongside a reluctant conscript. Americans need to be on the lookout for any propaganda trying to ease us back into the draft. Too often a flawed foreign policy prompts the need for a draft. Abolishing the Selective Service is one thing we could do to counter those efforts.

Liberty: Supporting Bad Behavior?

CNBC's Rick Santelli and the traders on the floor of the CBOE express outrage over the notion they may have to pay their neighbor's mortgage. Fired up


http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1039849853

Liberty - Jenny Blowing Us Away Again

Liberal Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm is at it again. This time she wants liquor licences to double, because they haven't been touched since 1976.

She believes in her infinite wisdom that raising taxes will help the deficit. Well it might, but she fails to see the businesses that will shut down and leave. Can you say DUH!?!

She also is proposing that bars stay open till 4am. While that may offset the increased taxes for businesses in generating more revenue; you will take a bigger loss in the amount of more police you'll have on the streets. You'll have more accidents. You'll have more drunk drivers. You'll have more hospital visits; deaths and the increased costs for all of that.

You see the government that takes from you today, will take more from you tomorrow. This is just another case in point. You cannot tax into prosperity. It does NOT WORK!

Does anyone care??

Truth: Cliche Friday in Review

Cliche Friday Review from Facebook...

Hockeydino
this hurts me worse than it does you

Carrie
the best things in life are free

Dan
If I have to stop this car!!!

Michael
put up or shut up

Lp Kim
It's always Worse, before it gets Better.

Michael
or the calm before the storm

Jo
two bricks shy of a load

Patrick Lord
couldn't care less

Jessica
Its so cliche that its Cliche Friday...kinda boring.

Michael S
should be illegal in these times but......a penny saved....is a penny earned...Ben Franklin (what did he know anyway)

HockeyDino
jessica's attitude

Jessica
you love it

Rich
It's not about the money

Michael
show me the $$

Beth
Hold your horses buddy cause there is no crying over spilt milk.

Monica
there is no crying in baseball

Christine
that's what she said

Monica
I'll smack that smirk right off your face

Vanessa
for the love of it!

Michael
in bed......

Lp Kim
The grass is always greener on the other side

Susanna
A bird in the hand is worth more than two in the bush.

Kait
your friends are my friends

Christine
...at the end of the day....it all comes out in the wash...

Susanna
My house is your house

Susanna
that's how the cookie crumbles

Joy
There are plenty fish in the sea

Lynn
There's more than one way to skin a cat

Julie
size doesn't matter

Lp Kim
Giggles (no LOL's) at Julie

Jo
he can park his boots under my bed anytime

Robin
Two ways to do it. The wrong way and my way.

Christine
I brought you into this world and I can take you out.

Rina
All that glitters is not gold (actually, could be diamonds!!)

Kelly
tax title and license extra.

Christine
"weight loss of this customer not typical"

Frankenator
"We need to think outside the box". When I hear that phrase I want to cram that person into then box.

Tony
i'll call you

Frankenator
"I gotta be honest with you" (people are always about to lie when they say that!)

Raymond
a bird in the hand
is worh my face in your bush.....

Hugh
excuses are like assholes.
everybody's got one...

Christine
"I don't mean to sound racist...." just like Frank said. The box phrase is THE worst ever.

Carole
You can cry all the way to the bank

Julie
just touching base with you....

Christine
I'm giving you the heads up....

Theresa
you go, girl....

Theresa
go for it....

Julie
right there with ya

Kait
it will hurt more than a tickle, but less than paying your taxes

Christine
old coaches never die, they just lose their balls

Hugh
Dino, that's only the half of it.
here's the version I know
wouldn't kick her outta bed for eating crackers.....by the way they call me crackers....
butta bump bump

Ryan
Certain restrictions apply, because that's what certain restrictions do...they apply!

Anne
You can take the dino away from hockey, but you cant take the hockey away from Dino!

Jules
It 's not you...it's me.. (break up)

Hockey Dino
"I love you and will never leave you"

Linda
i never messed around on you

Linda
i can quit anytime i want.

Sue
Good luck with your layoffs, all right? I hope your firings go really well

Jo
he was my cousin....

Theresa Peace
wazzup?

Sports: Tie - Ozzie or Ty?

Well all of the talk about the best time of the year (aka Hockey Playoffs) in Hockeytown (Detroit), is who will be between the pipes. Chris Osgood or Ty Conklin? The rule of thumb in hockey is always go with the hot goalie. The goalie with the hot hand, the one who is playing better. Of any sport, hockey has the most superstition, and this rule while unwritten, usually happens.

Right now Conklin is playing better. He has played better all season. Ozzie hasnt had the season of his career and has been struggling. However, I don't agree with that rule. I think you cannot put a goalie with 6 minutes of playoff experience for your run to the Cup in net. I think you need to go with experience, and let the chips fall that way.

I have great faith in Ozzie, and think he will be fine. I dont see him as the weak link on this team whatsoever. Come playoff time, he'll be just fine. If he falters, I am sure they will have no hesitation to bring in Conklin anyways and vice versa. So in the respect, it's not much different than last year when Ozzie took over for a struggling Hasek.

My leaning is towards Ozzie. Of course today they bring up Jimmy Howard (the forever prospect) from the minors while Ozzie takes a couple of games off to get himself into healthy shape. No matter, I'm not worried.

I'm concerned with have Maltby and Lilja playing every game! Heaven help us!

Truth - Needs ala Google

Here are the ground rules: Go to Google and type in your first name and "needs" (eg in my case: "Erin Needs"). Hit search and then list the top 10 results here. Feel free to add parentetical commentary.

Dino needs...help (no sh!t sherlock)
Dino needs...your special care to grow (again, no sh!t sherlock)
Dino needs...a good home
Dino needs...jail time (oh no)
Dino needs...to read or write data (yea fun)
Dino needs...his space (that's a fact jack!)
Dino needs...a black turtleneck shirt and a gold sportcoat (groovy)
Dino needs...to either chill out or leave (I left)
Dino needs...a dentist (thanks!)
Dino needs...more than regular care (mommy)

Liberty: Change You Can Count On

I always want to know who buys these things?



Obama Collector's Coins Turn Out To Be Stickers Stuck On Regular Coins
By Chris Walters

You may have seen the commercial where Montel Williams hawks some goofy collectible coins with President Obama's face IN FULL COLOR OMG. If you were planning on ordering some, though, watch this video from KATU 2 TV in Portland, Oregon first.* A father and daughter bought the coins and discovered that they're just regular money with color stickers applied. One of the news anchors even comments that she could see the face on the coin through the sticker when she looked at it from the side.

The company that's scamming them, U.S. Coin Network (uscoinnetwork.com and obamacoincollection.com), won't let them cancel the remaining orders they placed that haven't shipped yet, either.

We think this looks like the sort of thing the feds may want to get involved in. And if they don't do anything about it, we're going to go buy some new ink for the old color printer and start selling collectible Obama Pennies online.

Truth: Robe

I've discovered while thrifting through my closet that I own a robe. It's an ugly robe I must say. I've never worn this thing, yet I believe it has to be 10 years old or so. I've never had a need or desire to wear it. Sure I've slummed around often enough wearing just shorts, or sweats...sometimes pajama pants all day[ And you wondered how I dressed while writing this stuff?]. I just never could get myself to wear a robe. I think robes are for priests, hospitals, spas, and Hugh Hefner. Why would I wear a robe ever? When I see a robe or see someone wearing a robe, I immediately thing - LAZY. Like you don't have the time to get dressed, yet you can lounge around all day in that thing? You've got nothing better to do? Put your clothes on slacker!

I don't know...I just don't get the point of a robe. Surely one of you lazy sloths can give me a clue on this fashion module I'm dismissing.

Truth: Stimulus or Stupidus?

Why doesnt anyone listen to me? This is what the Obama stimulus package that republicans and democrats provides:

Billions of dollars in spending exclusively devoted to benefit federal employees.

$5.5 billion for making federal buildings "green" (including $448 million for the Department of Homeland Security's headquarters)
$198 million to design and furnish the DHS headquarters
$200 million for workplace safety in Department of Agriculture facilities
$75 million for the Smithsonian Institution
$300 million more for hybrid and electric cars for federal employees (see below)
$180 million for construction of Bureau of Land Management facilities
$500 million for wildland fire management
$110 million for construction for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
$522 million for construction for the Bureau of Indian Affairs
$412 million for Centers for Disease Control headquarters
$500 million earmark for National Institutes of Health facilities in Bethesda, Maryland
$100 million for constructing U.S. Marshalls office buildings
$300 million for constructing Federal Bureau of Investigation office buildings
$800 million for constructing Federal Prison System buildings and facilities
$307 million for constructing National Institute for Standards and Technology office buildings
$1 billion for administrative costs and construction of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration office buildings
That spending was added to an earlier version of the bill, which also benefited federal employees by splurging on things such as the following:

$600 million to buy hybrid vehicles for federal employees
$125 million for the Washington, D.C. sewer system
$75 million for salaries of employees at the FBI
$6 billion to turn federal buildings into “green” buildings
$88 million for renovating the headquarters of the Public Health Service
$5.5 million for “energy efficiency initiatives” at the Veterans Administration's “National Cemetery Administration”
$60 million for Arlington National Cemetery
$75 million to construct a new “security training” facility for State Department Security officers when they can be trained at existing facilities of other agencies
$110 million to the Farm Service Agency to upgrade computer systems
$200 million in funding for the lease of alternative energy vehicles for use on military installations


Wasteful spending that is not directly targeted at federal employees:

Arguably the best item in the Senate bill is a $1,500 tax credit to anyone that purchases “neighborhood electric vehicles”—also known as golf carts. The total estimated cost of that giveback is $300 million. Purchasers of motorcycles and three-wheelers shouldn't despair, however, as there are benefits available for them, too.

And then there are these:

$2 billion for a FutureGen near-zero emissions powerplant in Mattoon, Illinois
$2 billion for manufacturing advanced batteries for hybrid cars
$650 million for the digital TV (DTV) transition coupon program
$1.2 billion for summer jobs for youth
$200 million for public computer centers at community colleges and libraries
$750 million earmark for the National Computer Center
$10 million to fight Mexican gun-runners
$850 million for Amtrak (on top of its regular subsidy)
$100 million for lead paint hazard reduction
$275 million for flood prevention
$65 million for watershed rehabilitation
$650 million for abandoned mine sites
$1.3 billion for NASA (including $450 million for "science" at NASA)
$100 million to clean up sites used in early U.S. atomic energy program
$10 million for urban canals
$1.5 billion for carbon capture projects under sec. 703 of P.L. 110-140 (though the original section only authorizes $1 billion for five years)
$500 million for state and local fire stations

I'm in the wrong business

Sports - Why Do the Football Gods Hate Me?

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. I live in a city who has no professional football team to speak of. So I try to support my allegiance to the Michigan Wolverines. However when they play Delaware State...are you kidding me? Come on! Play a team that has BCS potential and will draw fans, not the 2nd rate team from Delaware. Not to mention they play Eastern Michigan too. Come on!

2009 U-M schedule
Date Opponent
Sept. 5 Western Michigan
Sept. 12 Notre Dame
Sept. 19 Eastern Michigan
Sept. 26 Indiana
Oct. 3 at Michigan State
Oct. 10 at Iowa
Oct. 17 Delaware State
Oct. 24 Penn State
Oct. 31 at Illinois
Nov. 7 Purdue
Nov. 14 at Wisconsin
Nov. 21 Ohio State

Looks like they could get 5 wins this year at least.

Truth: Sexist Monday in Review

Monday on my Facebook is Sexist Monday. That's where the girls try to give a good reason why they are allowed to vote and drive. Here's the discussion from this week:

Hockeydino:
I wonder what other sappy useless hallmark holiday women will think of next?

Lisa
Hey mister knock it off, its about Cupid....cmon

Julie
i used to work for hallmark, and they only pimp the holidays, not create them...

Beth
How about" kick your boyfriend anytime he says something sexist day"?

Rina
Screw holidays.
The perfect holiday would be the one where you don't work, get time off, a fat bonus, and are wined, dined and shopped extensively - not on your tab of course!!
And THAT ain't happenin'!!!!

Dina
I like Rina's way of thinking!!!

Vanessa
st. valentine was a male. hmmmm.

HockeyDino
why are women online when they should be in the kitchen or tending to children?

Robb
Mother's Day, Father's Day, Grandparent's Day, National Teacher's Day, Take your Daughter to work day (WHAT A CROCK and what about my son), Boss's Day, Sweetest Day, Valentines Day and the worst of them all is the POLITICAL CORRECTNESS in renaming Secretary's Day to Administrative Professional's Day.

If you pay close enough attention you will notice there is at least 1 Hallmark Holiday per month and you all have been brainwashed to follow these silly things.

I have boycotted these my entire life. Anyone of my past girlfriends will tell you....they never got anything from me on these days (not a single piece of candy, card or gift), nor have I ever taken them out for a "special" dinner, evening or event on those days. Right Ladies?

If you need a hallmark holiday to gain recognition from the ones that love you, you better rethink what love is and who you surround yourself with.

Rina
Why are the men online? Shouldn't they be out there, working to support the families (ie women and children), slaughtering dinosaurs or something????

Rina
BTW Dina - THANK YOU - for appreciating the way I think...

Robb
Men are online because women took our high paying jobs and started working them for 1/2 pay. Scab labor.

Now 50 years later it takes a man and a woman to earn enough to support their family. Before it just took a man (working 1 job).

Women in the workplace is the very idea that has destroyed the modern-day family and made the workplace environment generally unbearable. I'm not one for the good ole boy society but facts are facts.

Similarly, we are now in a global society and India and China's citizens are like women 50 years ago - taking high paying jobs for 1/2 pay.

So in fact, it's not outsourcing that is crushing the american economy, it is women in the workplace.

Monica
Time in a bottle.

Julie
robb, no wonder you're still single...

Julie
rina, couldn't agree more! got off fb and work already guys!

Robb
Still single, no. Resingled and grown up. Working it my way this time, not conforming to woman dribble anymore.

Julie
go robb...hope that works for you...

Sara
Everyday is sexist Monday when you work in the auto industry.

Robb
It works perfectly. I get to make my own decisions and there is nobody there to make me feel bad or nag me about it.

It's not like I'm a misogynist. But I am definitely a misogamist!

Julie
funny, i have the same situation and i'm married! go figure ;)

Teri
I think I can guess why Robb is online so much..... Sara-same with the water quality industry, the hospitality industry and well...anywhere unless your a spinster school teacher :D

Jo
well buy me dinner and flowers, maybe you will get lucky,,,maybe ..

Michael
Thanks Dino for stepping up to the plate and taking the bull by the horns .... it is mushc easier to have "Sexist Monday" than "Mixed Metaphor Monday"

Soleil
kudos to robb g =]

Julie
Oooooooh, sounds like somebody has their knickers in a twist....:)

Robb
Why am I online so much? That's "Tell Me Tuesday." Dino was going to start that post tomorrow.

Julie
Only Dino knows!

Bob
How about Doghouse Day. If you don't give her something, you get to sleep in the doghouse.

Cheri
Valentines Day was started by a man... Sweetest Day is the dumb one. I believe that is the TRUE Hallmark holiday.

Theresa
If the fathers would stop running out on their families, the moms could feel safe to stay home. Every woman should be able to earn a living, support her children, and live independantly. You can't trust a man to do it.
Remember the "good old days"? I remember my aunt crying because her husband left her with 4 kids to raise on her own. Yeah, that was good for the kids.

Robb
And I can go further. Sexist...really? I think Realist would be a better definition. Just because someone doesn't want the truth, doesn't make ME sexist.

I have 2 daughters, I am raising them to be realists. Can a woman be a firefighter? Depends on the woman. Most...no way! I personally don't know one woman who could carry me down a ladder (not saying that there aren't some out there that can). I also know alot of men that couldn't and they shouldn't be firefighters either. That's flat out realism to any man I know but is considered a sexist statement by some women.

Sexist Pig: I don't know about that either. I'm a single-dad. Custodial parent to my children. For them, I do every job a woman does....cook, clean, wipe their noses, make their lunches, drive them to school, drive them to dance classes (which my SON is also in). Yes, my son is in dance and gymnastics, still think I'm sexist?

Robb
Theresa, history has shown that it is more likely for a man to run out on their family but let's flip the scenario: What about the increasing population of women who are running out on the men and leaving the kids? You know Dead-Beat Mothers wasn't something you heard 10 years ago but it's out there now, isn't it?

Kelly
Well well....so much interesting information today! Dan, although I completely agree with the "American Family" philosophy you have so eloquently stated...my issue is with the statement from Robb that the downfall of the economy is from women in the workplace. Wtf?? Do we still live in the 1950's?? This is such an ignorant statement and is very offensive to me! I was forced into going back to work and believe me if I could "stay home where I belong", I would be more than happy too. But, circumstances have forced otherwise. I work very hard and to be paid less money because I am a woman really is unfortunate. I think if the shoe were on the other foot, Robb might be singing a different tune. Of course, this is just my opinion and it probably counts for nothing...cuz, I'm just a woman anyway...what do i know?

Theresa
Yes, women can leave too. That's why men need to know how to change diapers, wash the dishes, and cook a meal. Everybody needs to be able to take care of themselves, so that when the significant other leaves, dies, or is deployed, the kids are taken care of. So men, go to the kitchen! Women, get a job! Kids, do some chores! Everybody do what they can and stop whiney-butting around about who's job is whose. Listen to Darwin: adapt or die out!

Theresa
Dino! Get you butt in the kitchen AND I MEAN NOW young man! It's your turn to do the dishes.

Rina
Gentlemen - don't you have a dinosaur or something to skin?

As far as kids of working mothers being emotionally scarred for life goes - BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! I have ALWAYS worked full-time, my kids are now grown up, VERY well educated, earning high salaries, both in stable loving relationships of long standing. Not only are we a very close knit family, but both kids show signs of starting stable families too.

It isn't a question of women-in-the-workplace-taking-paying-jobs-away-from-men-and- breaking-up-happy-happy-families - it's a question of making right choices and working at doing things right. So stop whining guys!! If the women are taking your status (snicker) in the workplace away from you, stop whining and bust your butts to get it back!!!

Robb
It was a a far-fetching conclusion. Relax.

It's simple supply and demand priciples. For example if there were only 1 million men to fill 1 million jobs, there would be a price war by business' in favor of the employEE. Yet put 1 million woman into supply and that makes 2 million people bidding for the same job which equals a price war that favors the employER.

That's all I'm saying.

So another far-fetching conclusion would to be to say that the dot.com bust was a simple supply and demand issue too. Once the demand was no longer there (because of too many suppliers and too much inventory) the whole thing went belly up.

Same supply and demand principles in both scenarios.

One makes me look like a sexist, the other makes me look like I listened when they taught me Supply and Demand Principles in grade school.

Robb
I love grocery shopping. There is nothing but me and women all over. The one picking apples is hot!

Barb
I have to agree with you hockeydino...Valentine's day is just another reason to spend money...I don't even acknowledge it.

Robb
I had to stop for a 20 minute break from shopping when I saw the SI Swimsuit Issue on the magazine rack. Wow! Danica Patrick on Page 6 - She is definitely my favoritre Formula 1 driver now [editors note: Indy Car Driver, not Formula One]!!! And the girls of tennis. There's a new Russian makin' my heart go pitter patter....move over Anna.....here comes Maria Sharapova. And the rest of them too. Man I gotta start watching more Tennis!

Linda
where's dino???

Robb
Titus 2:3-5

God is a sexist too!

HockeyDino
Why do men die before their wives?

They want to.

Kimberly
Sexist works both ways - your 2 real purposes - when we need to move and the perfectly obvious.:) btw - it's not a holiday unless it's a paid day off....Christmas, president's day, Martin Luther King day etc.

Vanessa
this is why it costs more to insure an unmarried man over a married one?

A.D.D. Rumblings No. 21609

1. What's the deal when you go over to a person's house for the first time; they feel the need to give you a grand tour. They show you every room, every closet, sometimes even a little history of the room. I've done this, and I don't know why this is done. I suppose if someone asked for a tour, that would be one thing. But if they don't ask, what's the point? A bit home-narcissistic I'd say!

2. According to a recent stat, 3.4 million people have been stalked in any given year in the U.S. They say most go unreported, because people think it's a personal matter and do not want to reveal that it is happening. Freaky, creepy, scary, spooky. Have you ever been stalked?

3. I've never supported the fact that government workers get certain holidays off. President's Day, Veteran's Day, Columbus Day etc. What's the point? That's just millions of people doing nothing, and being unproductive. Not that the government is actually ever productive, but if I'm paying for it...I want them working. You dig?

5. This chick I know, leaves her purse in her car all day long. In the front seat or on the floor. Yeah she thinks locking the door is good enough. She doesn't get it; it's inviting trouble. Out of touch I say. I call this running-with-the-bulls-till- they-gorge-you.

4. The only NASCAR I watch is the first 5 minutes of the Daytona 500. Or actually any race that is on..I'll watch the first lap. I won't go out of my way to watch it, but I'll stop and look. I love the power, the speed, and the first couple of laps no announcer is speaking. After that, NASCAR bores me to death, and I love racing.

6. Ok I've had enough of Tupperware and Gladware. Nothing ever fits, the lids never fit, things break in the freezer. Storing them is impossible. They take on a life of their own. You open a cabinet door and they all start attacking you in a sea of unfitted confusion. I can't take it anymore!

[This blog is brought to you by the word verisimilitude and the number 10]

7. Octo-lady...the lady who had the 8 babies. Who already had 6 kids, and now has 14. She is a certifiable nut job fruitcake. How friggin sad that whole story is. That doctor should be shot for being so friggin stupid. Those poor kids have hell to live with now, because their mother is a fruit loop.

8. I love motorcycles. I love how they look, feel, and ride. I'm not a Harley guy, don't see the lure of that whole get up at all. I like the British bikes, Italian bikes, some crotch rockets, and all dirt bikes. I don't think I'd ever ride one on a busy city road; because I don't trust anyone to watch out for me. I want one, but friends and family said I shouldn't get one. They'd be upset if I did.

9. I keep getting sharp pain in my toes. Not my big toe, but my 3rd and 4th. No particular time. Usually the left foot, but sometimes the right. It's a shooting sharp pain. It lasts a split second, but repeats for several more. I wonder what is going on? Is there a doctor in the house?

10. A guy I know sneezes at least once a day. He's been doing it for about 3 years now. Like clockwork, he sneezes. What a streak. Bless him.



























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Truth: Life Got You Down?

This site has boosted my self-esteem. Colorful language, so check it out at home...

http://www.fmylife.com/







(Thanks Nico)

Liberty: Only You May Ask

At a recent White House press conference, Obama preselected his questioners and the questions that he was asked at the press conference. Not a big deal? Probably not..but if it were Bush this would be all over Saturday Night Live.

The WSJ reports:
Obama's Press List

About half-way through President Obama's press conference Monday night, he had an unscripted question of his own. "All, Chuck Todd," the President said, referring to NBC's White House correspondent. "Where's Chuck?" He had the same strange question about Fox News's Major Garrett: "Where's Major?"

The problem wasn't the lighting in the East Room. The President was running down a list of reporters preselected to ask questions. The White House had decided in advance who would be allowed to question the President and who was left out.

Presidents are free to conduct press conferences however they like, but the decision to preselect questioners is an odd one, especially for a White House famously pledged to openness. We doubt that President Bush, who was notorious for being parsimonious with follow-ups, would have gotten away with prescreening his interlocutors. Mr. Obama can more than handle his own, so our guess is that this is an attempt to discipline reporters who aren't White House favorites.

Few accounts of Monday night's event even mentioned the curious fact that the White House had picked its speakers in advance. We hope that omission wasn't out of fear of being left off the list the next time.

Truth: Greed is Good

On my social network profiles I always have this statement: Greed is good.

People think I'm a jerk for saying that, that I'm a selfish non-caring bastard. Well I am, but what does that have to do with anything? It's hard to explain that greed makes the world go round, because people think I support the criminal acts of CEOs or Wall Street morons. I don't. That is not greed. They may be greedy of course. Hopefull this article can better support what I'm trying to say. You dig?



http://townhall.com/columnists/JohnStossel/2006/04/26/greed_is_good


Greed is good
by John Stossel

"Who's John Stossel?"

That was Virgil Rosanke's reaction when "20/20" interviewed him for one of my TV specials. Without Rosanke and others like him, I couldn't have a steak dinner tonight, but I and most of the people he makes dinners possible for are unknown to him. He makes our dinners possible anyway.

Is Virgil Rosanke a philanthropist? No. Is he a government worker? Not that either. He's just a guy who delivers propane to heat water for cattle to drink. Why does he do it? To make money.

If pursuing profit is greed, economist Walter Williams told me, then greed is good, because it drives us to do many good things. "Those areas where people are motivated the most by greed are the areas that we're the most satisfied with: supermarkets, computers, FedEx." By contrast, areas "where people say we're motivated by 'caring'" -- public education, public housing etc. -- "are the areas of disaster in our country. . . . How much would get done," Williams wondered, "if it all depended on human love and kindness?"

Greed gets people to cooperate. If you want to benefit from other greedy people, you have to make sure they benefit from you. Consider one of the wonders of our age, the supermarket. There are thousands of products on the shelves. How'd they get there?

When I posed that question about just one of those thousands of products -- a piece of beef I bought for my dinner -- I found a trail back to an Iowa farm. That's how I learned about Virgil Rosanke, and how he learned about me.

We taped David Wiese and his family, farmers in Manning, Iowa, as they put in 14-hour days fixing fences, digging ditches, harvesting hay, and feeding the cattle. They don't do it for me and my neighbors -- but I'm glad they do it.

"Do you think it's because they love people in New York?" Williams asked. "No, they love themselves. And by promoting their own self-interest, they make sure New Yorkers have beef."

The Wieses are just the first in a long series of people who, by caring about themselves, make sure I get my steak. Wanda Nelson keeps the packing house clean. Rosanke delivers propane. Other people slaughter the cattle and butcher the beef; they rely on people who make their knives, their overalls and their protective gear. Then there are the people who make the plastic that seals the meat, who run the machines that do the sealing, who pack the meat in boxes, make the boxes, inspect the boxes, and run the freezer facilities. Still other people track orders by bar code, which means they need the people who make the bar code machines. Eventually, packed steak is delivered to Randall Gilbert, a truck driver, who hauls it to New York.

No one person made my dinner possible. It took thousands of people to get me the food. And none of them did it for me. As economist Adam Smith put it, "It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest."

Rosanke and the others don't particularly care if some TV correspondent gets his steak, yet they cooperate to make it happen, motivated by self-interest -- what many call greed. Think about that next time you listen to my colleagues sneer at the "greed" and "selfishness" of private business. They don't realize that the institution they celebrate, government, is far less effective at serving humanity.

"In a free market, you get more for yourself by serving your fellow man," said economist Williams. "You don't have to care about him, just serve him. I'd feel sorry for New Yorkers in terms of beef. If it all depended on human love and kindness, I doubt whether you would have one cow in New York."

Does anything get done based on "human love and kindness"? Well, a nonprofit group called City Harvest collects donations of restaurants' surplus food for the poor. But where does that food come from? Greedy people like Virgil Rosanke produce it, and greedy restaurateurs buy it. Kindness can only give away the goods self-love provides.

Truth: Lidstrom, Meatballs, and now this!

Those wacky Swedes have done it again.


Stealth bombers are cool and all, but they've been flying for 20 years and are a little old hat. The world hungers for new stealth tech, and Sweden just served up tasty morsel: the world's first stealth warship.

Scheduled to put to sea later this year, the Visby class corvette is designed to be electronically undetectable at distances more than 8.1 miles in rough seas and 13.8 miles in calm seas. The ship stays off radar or sonar screens thanks to its non-magnetic plastic/carbon-fiber composite hull, which has the trademark flat surfaces and sharp edges of stealth tech.

On top of that, the Visby uses watejet propulsion — most commonly found in jetskis — instead of propellers. Used as the technological basis of the stealth submarine in The Hunt for Red October, waterjet drives, while less efficient than propeller tech, are much harder to detect, particularly by submarines.

http://dvice.com/archives/2009/02/sweden_creates.php

Truth: If You Fall Asleep At Your Desk

If You Fall Asleep At Your Desk




FIVE BEST THINGS TO SAY IF YOU GET CAUGHT SLEEPING AT YOUR DESK:


NUMBER 5: They told me at the Blood Bank this might happen.

NUMBER 4: 'This is just a 15 minute power nap like they raved about in the time-management course you sent me to.

NUMBER 3: 'Whew! Guess I left the top off the White-out. You probably got here just in time!

NUMBER 2: Did you ever notice sound coming out of these keyboards when you put your ear down real close?

Number 1 And MY all time Favorite: best thing to say if you get caught sleeping at your desk: (Raising your head slowly) '... in Jesus' name, Amen

Liberty: This Warms The Heart...

I'm ignorant, I'm clueless, I'm an idiot. I must be because I don't - can't understand the powers at be and how they operate. This makes no sense to me. None. Notta. Someone smack some sense into me.




General Motors to Invest $1 Billion in Brazil Operations -- Money to Come from U.S. Rescue Program

By Russ Dallen
Latin American Herald Tribune staff

SAO PAULO -- General Motors plans to invest $1 billion in Brazil to avoid the kind of problems the U.S. automaker is facing in its home market, said the beleaguered car maker.

According to the president of GM Brazil-Mercosur, Jaime Ardila, the funding will come from the package of financial aid that the manufacturer will receive from the U.S. government and will be used to "complete the renovation of the line of products up to 2012."

"It wouldn't be logical to withdraw the investment from where we're growing, and our goal is to protect investments in emerging markets," he said in a statement published by the business daily Gazeta Mercantil.

Meanwhile, he cut the company's revenue forecast for this year by 14% to $9.5 billion from $11 billion, as the economic crisis began to cause rapid slowdowns in sales.

GM already announced three programs of paid leave, and Ardila added that GM Brazil "is going to wait and see how the market behaves in order to know what decision to take" with regard to possible layoffs.

For Ardila, the injection in Brazil's automobile sector of 8 billion reais ($3.51 billion) recently announced by the federal and state governments of Sao Paulo "has already begun to revive sales," which fell by 12% in October.

The executive said that the company will operate a "conservative" scenario in 2009 with an estimated production of 2.6 million units, and another more "optimistic" that contemplates sales of 2.9 million.

This year sales will reach 2.85 million vehicles, which represents a growth of 15% over last year.

Liberty: Tresspassers Will Sue

Are you freaking kidding me? How do the attorneys for these illegal immigrants sleep at night? I just don't get it. Don't you have a right to protect your property, especially against those who shouldnt even be here?





16 illegals sue Arizona rancher
An Arizona man who has waged a 10-year campaign to stop a flood of illegal immigrants from crossing his property is being sued by 16 Mexican nationals who accuse him of conspiring to violate their civil rights when he stopped them at gunpoint on his ranch on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Roger Barnett, 64, began rounding up illegal immigrants in 1998 and turning them over to the U.S. Border Patrol, he said, after they destroyed his property, killed his calves and broke into his home.

His Cross Rail Ranch near Douglas, Ariz., is known by federal and county law enforcement authorities as "the avenue of choice" for immigrants seeking to enter the United States illegally.

Trial continues Monday in the federal lawsuit, which seeks $32 million in actual and punitive damages for civil rights violations, the infliction of emotional distress and other crimes. Also named are Mr. Barnett's wife, Barbara, his brother, Donald, and Larry Dever, sheriff in Cochise County, Ariz., where the Barnetts live. The civil trial is expected to continue until Friday.

The lawsuit is based on a March 7, 2004, incident in a dry wash on the 22,000-acre ranch, when he approached a group of illegal immigrants while carrying a gun and accompanied by a large dog.

Attorneys for the immigrants - five women and 11 men who were trying to cross illegally into the United States - have accused Mr. Barnett of holding the group captive at gunpoint, threatening to turn his dog loose on them and saying he would shoot anyone who tried to escape.

The immigrants are represented at trial by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), which also charged that Sheriff Dever did nothing to prevent Mr. Barnett from holding their clients at "gunpoint, yelling obscenities at them and kicking one of the women."

In the lawsuit, MALDEF said Mr. Barnett approached the group as the immigrants moved through his property, and that he was carrying a pistol and threatening them in English and Spanish. At one point, it said, Mr. Barnett's dog barked at several of the women and he yelled at them in Spanish, "My dog is hungry and he's hungry for buttocks."

The lawsuit said he then called his wife and two Border Patrol agents arrived at the site. It also said Mr. Barnett acknowledged that he had turned over 12,000 illegal immigrants to the Border Patrol since 1998.

In March, U.S. District Judge John Roll rejected a motion by Mr. Barnett to have the charges dropped, ruling there was sufficient evidence to allow the matter to be presented to a jury. Mr. Barnett's attorney, David Hardy, had argued that illegal immigrants did not have the same rights as U.S. citizens.

Mr. Barnett told The Washington Times in a 2002 interview that he began rounding up illegal immigrants after they started to vandalize his property, northeast of Douglas along Arizona Highway 80. He said the immigrants tore up water pumps, killed calves, destroyed fences and gates, stole trucks and broke into his home.

Some of his cattle died from ingesting the plastic bottles left behind by the immigrants, he said, adding that he installed a faucet on an 8,000-gallon water tank so the immigrants would stop damaging the tank to get water.

Mr. Barnett said some of the ranch´s established immigrant trails were littered with trash 10 inches deep, including human waste, used toilet paper, soiled diapers, cigarette packs, clothes, backpacks, empty 1-gallon water bottles, chewing-gum wrappers and aluminum foil - which supposedly is used to pack the drugs the immigrant smugglers give their "clients" to keep them running.

He said he carried a pistol during his searches for the immigrants and had a rifle in his truck "for protection" against immigrant and drug smugglers, who often are armed.

A former Cochise County sheriff´s deputy who later was successful in the towing and propane business, Mr. Barnett spent $30,000 on electronic sensors, which he has hidden along established trails on his ranch. He searches the ranch for illegal immigrants in a pickup truck, dressed in a green shirt and camouflage hat, with his handgun and rifle, high-powered binoculars and a walkie-talkie.

His sprawling ranch became an illegal-immigration highway when the Border Patrol diverted its attention to several border towns in an effort to take control of the established ports of entry. That effort moved the illegal immigrants to the remote areas of the border, including the Cross Rail Ranch.

"This is my land. I´m the victim here," Mr. Barnett said. "When someone´s home and loved ones are in jeopardy and the government seemingly can´t do anything about it, I feel justified in taking matters into my own hands. And I always watch my back."

(thanks Ed)

A.D.D. Rumblings No. 21009

1. Somewhere down the line, I wouldn't mind running for some sort of political office. I want to be in the position to actually make a difference. Is this just a pipe dream, or would I just get sucked into a useless political machine that goes through the motions getting handcuffed at the same time? No I'm not on drugs. Although I don't trust most of you to not sell me out on something I said or did from the past!

2. OK I don't get The Bachelor. Would any of you in real life sit there and watch some guy deal on another chick right in front of you? Then you'd have to do the same thing wondering if he'd pick you? Not to mention the camera's that were on you all of the time. That's the things about reality tv. It's never reality, and people fall for it like it's gold. I just don't get it.

3. This blows my mind. Husbands and wives who have a facebook or myspace account, and talk to each other there. They have little conversations to each other on their respective sites. They leave little notes and comments. Why would they do this? I'm not getting it..don't understand. I've seen it several times and it makes me wonder if they even talk to each other at home? And it's usually stupid stuff too, like "you know the trash is your job" or "I'm very loyal to you" or " I guess when we see them for dinner we can ask them...". Stupid stuff!

5. So Olympic champion swimmer Michael Phelps gets photographed smoking weed. I think this answers why this guy could eat 10,000 calories a day. He had the munchies! Oh and I love what his coach said: "Everybody loves Michael. We all want to see him get through this. This is a time when he needs support." Support? No he needs some Cheeto's asap!

4. In the county where I live there are 85 single women for every man. That's pretty good odds I guess right? The way I see it...It's also 85 times more you'll have in potentially landing a psycho. I'm a glass half empty kinda guy as you can see.

6. Platonic friends? What does that means platonic friends? Just friends with no benefits...with no romance...with no what exactly? Is that even possible to occur? Not to mention are their different levels of being platonic? Lucy you got some esplainin to do.

[ This blog brought to you by the word wonderment and the number 34 ]

7. Did you know that every puff on a cigarette contains hydrogen cyanide, arsenic, benzene and radioactive plutonium 210? It's no wonder secondhand smoke causes more than 1,700 deaths annually in the state of Michigan alone. Remember that when your kid coughs.






8. The NFL Pro Bowl has to be the most useless professional sporting event there is. Watching Curling is more fun and interesting than this. I can't stomach watching such a waste of time, and rarely ever do. Baseball has the only All-Star game worth watching; partly because if you take it easy you could get plunked by a 99mph fastball in the noggin. Do we really even need All-Star games? I'd rather see skills competitions where talents are showcased better.

9. The Grammys are the same show every year. Obscure artists, and lame pop songs that make you want to pierce your ear with an ice pick. You also get your unknown rap artists, throw an orchestra behind them, and everyone thinks they are the friggin Beatles or something. It's tiring and boring watching and listening to the Hollywood elite tell us what is good for us and what we should like. They are out of touch.

10. I remember sitting in 5th grade staring out the classroom window. Then the teacher calling my name to snap me out of my daydream. I did this often. I realized today, nothing has changed. I do this often. I need to stop doing this while I drive. Stupid A.D.D. . Now where was I? Oh yeah, so there are 85 chicks for every guy where I live. That's pretty good odds I guess right? The way I see it...It's also 85 times more you'll have in potentially landing a psycho. I'm a glass half empty kinda guy as you can see.

Truth: FB over MyS

Facebook is 20 percent bigger now than Myspace. Facebook grew another 14.9% from December to January. The site now reaches 68.5 million people each month, versus 58.5 million for MySpace. Nielsen Online’s year-end numbers put Facebook’s domestic traffic within 3 million of MySpace, while comScore still has MySpace with a significant but shrinking lead.

I know several people who are deleting their myspace accounts, and heading over to facebook, where you can really utilize social media to the fullest. Myspace is just a playground, but Facebook has more to offer, and really gets it.

Liberty: Stab Us Now!

Is this really fair?

Sen. Stabenow (Also known on this blog as Stab Us Now) wants hearings on radio 'accountability'; talks fairness doctrine. Radio host Bill Press brought up the recent closing of liberal station Obama 1260 when speaking with Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow.

BILL PRESS: Yeah, I mean, look: They have a right to say that. They’ve got a right to express that. But, they should not be the only voices heard. So, is it time to bring back the Fairness Doctrine?

SENATOR DEBBIE STABENOW (D-MI): I think it’s absolutely time to pass a standard. Now, whether it’s called the Fairness Standard, whether it’s called something else — I absolutely think it’s time to be bringing accountability to the airwaves. I mean, our new president has talked rightly about accountability and transparency. You know, that we all have to step up and be responsible. And, I think in this case, there needs to be some accountability and standards put in place.

BILL PRESS: Can we count on you to push for some hearings in the United States Senate this year, to bring these owners in and hold them accountable?

SENATOR DEBBIE STABENOW (D-MI): I have already had some discussions with colleagues and, you know, I feel like that’s gonna happen. Yep.
Although Obama has been publicly opposed to reinstating the fairness doctrine, conservative radio has talked nonstop about the fear of it returning (or perhaps something like it with another name) while there's a Democrat in the White House and a Democratic majority in Congress.

Note: Stabenow is married to Tom Athans, a talk radio executive.

(from Mike Calderone)

Truth: Stuff White People Like?

This is a very amusing site. Devoted to stuff that white people like.

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/full-list-of-stuff-white-people-like/

Here is the listL
#120 Taking a Year Off
#119 Sea Salt
#118 Ugly Sweater Parties
#117 Political Prisoners
#116 Black Music that Black People Don’t Listen to Anymore
#115 Promising to Learn a New Language
#114 America
#113 Halloween
#112 Hummus
#111 Pea Coats
#110 Frisbee Sports
#109 The Onion
#108 Appearing to Enjoy Classical Music
#107 Self Aware Hip Hop References
#106 Facebook
#105 Unpaid Internships
#104 Girls with Bangs
#103 Sweaters
#102 Children’s Games as Adults
#101 Being Offended
#100 Bumper Stickers
#99 Grammar
#98 The Ivy League
#97 Scarves
#96 New Balance Shoes
#95 Rugby
#94 Free Healthcare
#93 Music Piracy
#92 Book Deals
#91 San Francisco
#90 Dinner Parties
#89 St. Patrick’s Day
#88 Having Gay Friends
#87 Outdoor Performance Clothes
#86 Shorts
#85 The Wire
#84 T-Shirts
#83 Bad Memories of High School
#82 Hating Corporations
#81 Graduate School
#80 The Idea of Soccer
#79 Modern Furniture
#78 Multilingual Children
#77 Musical Comedy
#76 Bottles of Water
#75 Threatening to Move to Canada
#74 Oscar Parties
#73 Gentrification
#72 Study Abroad
#71 Being the only white person around
#70 Difficult Breakups
#69 Mos Def
#68 Michel Gondry
#67 Standing Still at Concerts
#66 Divorce
#65 Co-Ed Sports
#64 Recycling
#63 Expensive Sandwiches
#62 Knowing What’s Best for Poor People
#61 Bicycles
#60 Toyota Prius
#59 Natural Medicine
#58 Japan
#57 Juno
#56 Lawyers
#55 Apologies
#54 Kitchen Gadgets
#53 Dogs
#52 Sarah Silverman
#51 Living by the Water
#50 Irony
#49 Vintage
#48 Whole Foods and Grocery Co-ops
#47 Arts Degrees
#46 The Sunday New York Times
#45 Asian Fusion Food
#44 Public Radio
#43 Plays
#42 Sushi
#41 Indie Music
#40 Apple Products
#39 Netflix
#38 Arrested Development
#37 Renovations
#36 Breakfast Places
#35 The Daily Show/Colbert Report
#34 Architecture
#33 Marijuana
#32 Vegan/Vegetarianism
#31 Snowboarding
#30 Wrigley Field
#29 80s Night
#28 Not having a TV
#27 Marathons
#26 Manhattan (now Brooklyn too!)
#25 David Sedaris
#24 Wine
#23 Microbreweries
#22 Having Two Last Names
#21 Writers Workshops
#20 Being an expert on YOUR culture
#19 Traveling
#18 Awareness
#17 Hating their Parents
#16 Gifted Children
#15 Yoga
#14 Having Black Friends
#13 Tea
#12 Non-Profit Organizations
#11 Asian Girls
#10 Wes Anderson Movies
#9 Making you feel bad about not going outside
#8 Barack Obama
#7 Diversity
#6 Organic Food
#5 Farmer’s Markets
#4 Assists
#3 Film Festivals
#2 Religions their parents don’t belong to
#1 Coffee


(thanks Mike)

Liberty - Sell Your Gold?

Anyone see this commericial during the Super Bowl? Urging you to sell your gold.



Companies like this pay a fraction of what the gold is actually worth - one article estimated about $300 / oz. But what does the average American know or care? They're just happy to get the spendable cash, and shops like this are popping up even in malls across the country. Need your cash for smokes and your latte!

This is what happens during an economic crisis: Real money - gold - passes from weak hands to the strong. Millions of Americans need to raise cash, and as the commercial shows, they'll sell anything to do it, even gold toilets!(what?). What differentiates gold from paper assets is that it has no counter party, and therefore no counter party risk. Any other paper asset like stocks, bonds, even the dollar is just the liability of some other party. If that counter party weakens, the asset you hold becomes worth less, or even worthless at some point. Not so with gold, because. gold just is.

Don't sell your gold kids!


(thank you Michael Nystrom)