All Lost in the Supermarket

Review of Vietnam: A History

2012-02-03T14:02:00.000-08:00

Vietnam: A History by Stanley Karnow

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

An in-depth look at Vietnam's embattled history, lost opportunities by the United States, and the in-fighting that crippled South Vietnam's ability to fight the Viet Cong and increasingly North Vietnam soldiers. Karnow highlights the debates among Washington policymakers and the decision making about combat and diplomacy in great detail. Karnow's background as Time's Southeast Asian Correspondent gives him a great deal of authority to engage a wide range of sources about how the war was fought and the negotiations behind the scenes until the fall of Saigon.
The book is a companion to the PBS series that aired during the early 1980s, which is also required viewing for anyone wanting to learn about the Vietnam War.

View all my reviews

Review of Michael Lewis' "Boomerang"

2012-01-24T08:31:00.000-08:00

Michael Lewis captured many of the elements of the financial crisis and now looming threats to sovereign debt, since nations have decided to socialize the risks taken by reckless banks. His book examines the financial crisis from the viewpoints of Iceland, Ireland, Greece, Germany and the United States. The compelling question he raises is: Left alone in a dark room with a pile of money, what did these people do with it?
While there is a great depth to the reporting and witty writing, there appears to be a lot of missing parts. He didn't look at Asia with Japan's lingering malaise after its bubble burst in the early 1990s or China, the world's second largest economy with an abundance of poor people. However, a lot of eyes are on China to subsidize the folly of relatively affluent Westerners. He also hasn't looked at other emerging markets. In a topsy turvy world, emerging markets are now deemed less risky than many euro-zone nations. His coverage of the U.S. was centered on California, which is a financial basket case. But there is so much more of the story to tell about the financial crisis in the U.S. None of the people who were victims of subprime loan fraud were interviewed. The incomplete feel of the book led to a one star deduction.

Review of "Exile on Wall Street" by Mike Mayo

2012-01-20T21:00:00.001-08:00

Securities analyst Mike Mayo recaps his career on Wall Street, where he covered the banking industry. Mayo outlines where the banks went wrong during the course of his career and what his independence and honesty cost him. As someone who was a financial reporter, I found myself nodding along with many of the points he raised in Exile on Wall Street. Executives and corporations will freeze you out if you don't "play along." Analysts who are on the team get rewarded with access and their banks are the ones who get deals. The financial stakes are much higher in that regard compared with the "media relations people" who will freeze out reporters who are too critical.
the book also included a concise history of Citigroup, a company that represents much of what's wrong with banking. It's too powerful, takes a careless approach to risk and it expects the Fed and government to step in when it runs into trouble. TARP is only one of several bailouts it has received over the years.
It is definitely a worthwhile read if you are interested in a behind the scenes look at finance and corporate management. Some of his recommendations and conclusions shouldn't surprise anyone though, since they are sound calls for smarter regulation, more accountability in management and greater transparency among banks.

Robert Kennedy announces death of Martin Luther King, Jr.

2012-01-16T07:36:00.000-08:00

Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King represented what the United States could have become if they were not cut down by bullets. In their place, we got Nixon, Watergate, the Carter years, and a callousness toward our less fortunate over the past 30 years. RFK and Dr. King battled for what is right to make America realize its potential -- a land of not only the free and the home of the brave -- but also a land that recognizes the dignity of every human being. I would like to say RIP, but I don't think either will until America's dream is realized.

Endorsements

2011-12-01T06:55:00.000-08:00

Endorsements... If Gary Johnson is good enough for Willie Nelson, then he's good enough for me. The guy gets no attention and isn't even invited to the GOP debates. He's very much a libertarian thinker that challenges a lot of the status quo in politics.

RIP Patrice O'Neal

2011-11-29T21:07:00.000-08:00

I am saddened by Patrice O'Neal's death at the age of 41 after a severe stroke. I was a big fan of his from his appearances on the Opie & Anthony show over the years. His comic brilliance elevated the show consistently and his career as a comedian was on the verge of taking off. He recently had a successful Comedy Central appearance and also was featured on the Charlie Sheen roast (check link in at 58 minutes when he eviscerates all the speakers before him). My favorite comedians die too soon. First Sam Kinison and now Patrice. He died just when opportunity was starting to knock.

Comedians and fans have been venting on Twitter and Facebook about Patrice's passing and extending condolences to his family. I would like to extend those condolences as well.

I would like to direct you to some of his work online, but it's not safe for workplace listening. His "Black Phillip Show" on XM was great and captured on this page. Patrice just riffs on a variety of topics for two hours. This is a video that compiles some of his scenes from different TV spots (late night, Tough Crowd, Opie & Anthony, etc.).

Please enjoy this clip and look for others on youtube to appreciate his work...

Shatner shows his comedy skills in Thanksgiving safety video

2011-11-17T07:01:00.001-08:00

This was just too funny not to share.

A $176 Billion Gap for Public Pensions - Graphic - NYTimes.com

2011-06-22T11:17:00.000-07:00

A $176 Billion Gap for Public Pensions - Graphic - NYTimes.com ... This makes the case that New Jersey taxpayers are screwed. There are a lot of people who can't even fully fund their own pensions and retirements, yet we're on the hook to fill a gap of nearly $2,500 per household for the next 30 years to cover our state and local employees?? A special thanks for nothing goes to our politicians who keep kicking this can down the road, which will eventually lead to the state's insolvency. Robert Novy-Marx at the Simon School of Business (a client) and Joshua Rauh helped put together the research cited in the NY Times graphic.

Ryan Dunn, Daredevil Comedian of ‘Jackass,’ Dies at 34 - NYTimes.com

2011-06-21T10:26:00.000-07:00

Ryan Dunn, Daredevil Comedian of ‘Jackass,’ Dies at 34 - NYTimes.com

It's a sad day in entertainment. RIP Ryan. You and your cohorts made me smile.

Technology and the future of jobs and work

2011-06-01T07:30:00.001-07:00

Not many people are shedding tears for lawyers displaced by the software that can search discovery documents, saving clients millions of dollars in billable time for the most complex legal cases. One lawyer at a chemical company told the New York Times about this innovation: “People get bored, people get headaches. Computers don’t.” Technology renders the task of reading rooms full of legal documents into a simple database search. Computers have become more intelligent to incorporate context and use linguistics to help users find and retrieve the veritable “needle in the haystack” from gigabytes and terabytes of storage.

In many respects, this will create upheaval in industries that required many people to search for that needle. It could be in the field of academia, medical research, marketing and other information intensive industries. Our economy has been an information-based economy for the past three decades as manufacturing moved offshore. Now the information business has become hyper-efficient, in large part from smarter computing, and the workforce has to think about how to position itself during this wave of innovation.

From a technological standpoint, companies do not want to be left behind in this capability to automate tasks and bring new efficiencies to benefit customers and improve the bottom line.

This represents a sea-change in work, much like the industrial revolution. If you think about it, Facebook has a $50 billion market valuation and only 2,000 employees. Wal-Mart, the nation's largest private employer, has over 2.1 million employees worldwide and a market valuation of $187 billion. In other words, Facebook is valued at $25 million per employee. Wal-Mart, which has revenue of $420 billion or about the same as the entire output of Sweden's economy, is valued at $89,000 per employee. Valuations are sometimes a dodgy prospect, since there are assumptions about growth rates.

The point that's being made here is that wealth is not necessarily determined by the size of an enterprise. Businesses are doing more with less and we will need to adapt to that new reality. Just as the car rendered horse carriages obsolete, our culture needs to think about what will be valued in the new economy.

What's Financial Armageddon? CNBC Editors Weigh In - CNBC

2011-04-07T14:41:00.000-07:00

What's Financial Armageddon? CNBC Editors Weigh In - CNBC The only opinion that has merit is the guy who thinks canned goods can be currency. If the sh*t goes down, the person with the guns and canned goods has the clout.
Haven't these people ever seen the Road Warrior?

Simple Minds - See the Lights (12" Version)

2010-10-04T04:44:00.000-07:00

Bittersweet -- The Hoodoo Gurus

2010-07-31T05:11:00.000-07:00

What's on my mind...(July 21, 2010 edition)

2010-07-21T16:59:00.000-07:00

Is there a cooler job than working on Mythbusters? They get paid to break stuff and use explosives all in the name of science. Also, Kari Byron's on the set.

My sister came across some videos of Don Kirschner's Rock Concert and put some videos up on her Facebook page of the Ramones blasting through four songs.... I came across this treat by T-Rex.

On a more serious note, NJ Gov. Chris Christie is proposing that the state take over the Atlantic City casino district in an effort to save it. He's also planning to sink more money into the ill-fated mondo-mall by the Meadowlands -- Xanadu. What happened to the magic of the marketplace? Meanwhile he's letting horse racing at the Meadowlands, a big money loser, fall by the wayside. I could see the rationale for ending subsidies for horse racing. The market doesn't support it anymore. But the other two steps defy "conservative," small government. It is essentially broadening government oversight of Atlantic City, the casino business and now is putting the government in the mall business. Xanadu, which shares the name of a lousy Olivia Newton John movie, has cursed any company attempting to complete the $2 billion shopping center. The state is now sinking good money after misspent money. New Jersey has enough difficulty filling the stores in its malls and downtown shopping districts. Xanadu might be best served running as a flea market, since the current economy is not going to support all of these luxury retailers that were originally planned for it.

SNY showed an hour-long documentary celebrating the 1986 New York Mets. I love this team, but it's a grim reminder about how long it has been since the Mets have won a World Series.

Why Hollywood has sh*t the bed ...

2010-06-08T17:03:00.000-07:00

Avatar and Alice in Wonderland did big box office late last year and early this year, but the cupboard's running dry for Hollywood. Time.com is noting that May's box office take was 11 percent below a year ago and that is despite higher ticket prices.

It boils down to one thing: There's nothing good on the big screen today. There are only so many sequels that one man can take. I'm not too nostalgic for comic books and old-television shows. That's what TV-Land is for.

Time's critic, Richard Corliss, details some of the reasons why the box office take is lower and nails a lot of the right reasons. However, his reasons could be boiled down to one big one: A lack of good ideas.

But if you are a writer, would you want to write for a film studio?

There's plenty of crap on television. But with the number of channels available, there are outlets for good writing. Shakespeare would be writing for television if he were alive today.

"Breaking Bad", The Wire, Battlestar Galactica and The Sopranos allow long form story telling that is literary. The themes are complex; the characters are engaging and the plots grab you. How often do you see that on the big screen? Even "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" and "Glee" offer more laughs in an episode than a typical film.

Okay, I realize that some nuggets of gold are bound to emerge from the landfill that is on cable and our broadcast networks, but I don't think the batting average is that much better for films. If you are running a movie studio and are committed to spending $50 million to $100 million to produce and promote a movie, wouldn't you demand something resembling quality?

Only three of the top ten grossing films last week had favorable critical appeal, according to Rotten Tomatoes.com, a compiler of movie reviews. Even among those three ("Get Him to the Greek," "Iron Man 2" and "Splice"), they were not resoundingly praised. As you can see from the films that got praise, movie critics are not as elitist as they used to be. They just want to be entertained to like the rest of us.

Is that too much to ask from movie studios? Anyway, what's playing at the cinema?

Nothing worth seeing ...

ADDENDUM 6-20-10

Toy Story 3 -- yep a sequel -- actually was very well done. It lives up to the standard of the other Pixar movies (Finding Nemo and the other Toy Story movies). Oddly enough, a computer-animated movie is more heart felt than 90 percent of what comes from real actors.

Passage from the book of John...

2010-01-30T15:15:00.000-08:00

7:53 And every man went unto his own house. 8:1 Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives. 2 And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them. 3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, 4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? 6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. 7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. 8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. 9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? 11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

Unfortunately, some of the conservatives in our midst think they have the right to throw the stone and forget about the "he that is without sin among you" part.

Team America: Everyone's Got Aids

2010-01-28T09:32:00.000-08:00

The creators of South Park did a great job skewering the broadway show "Rent." I'm a fan of the Tony Award-winning show, but this is a great take on it. If you haven't checked out the movie "Team America: World Police," please do. This movie made me look at marrionettes in a new light. I'm also looking forward to a Broadway musical that's in the works from South Park's creators. All kidding aside, please support Broadway Cares...

formspring.me

2010-01-26T18:37:00.001-08:00

Ask me anything http://formspring.me/billybobdude

Washington Shopping List

2010-01-21T16:21:00.001-08:00

Lists are a lazy man's journalism. They're the equivalent of art in bulletpoints. They're easy to write and easy to read. In my case I have a few unrelated things on my mind. So I'll throw them on the page...

Supreme Court overturns a century's worth of campaign finance law ... The U.S. Supreme Court removed all spending limits for corporations, unions and other organizations for political campaigns. Ed Rollins, a long time GOP strategist and current CNN contributor, says the court ruling made the "irrelevant Federal Election Commission obsolete." Some observers feel this will increase the corrosive and corrupt influence that money has on political campaigns. I'm not terribly concerned that corporations and unions will be using their funds to buy our officials. They already do. However, if I were an investor in a corporation or a member of a labor union, I would be hostile to the leadership if they were frittering away funds on political campaigns. While money can be sunk in political campaigns, the deep pockets do not always win. People still have to vote and I think some politicians (or aspiring politicians) have to be careful about the perception that they are being bought and paid for by special interests. Contributors to political campaigns also need to be wary about how much they donate. What happens if their candidate loses and the winning candidate is vindictive? Politicians have long memories and they know how to reward friends and punish enemies. As much as the political class calls this Supreme Court ruling "a game changer," the notion "to the winner goes the spoils" will always be part of politics.
A Republican Wins the late Ted Kennedy's Senate Seat ... Sen.-elect Scott Brown's making the rounds in D.C. today after he won a senate seat vacated by the death of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, ending the Democratic Party's "filibuster proof" majority in the Senate. There is plenty of blame to be thrown around over this failure to hold a seat that the Democrats have held for 42 years. First and foremost, the Democrats in Congress did this to themselves. They dawdled about delivering a health care reform plan that Americans could live with. The Kaiser Family Foundation's news service detailed the particulars with this piece about health care reform's failure. The Democrats pissed away an opportunity to broaden coverage for millions of Americans and they will pay for it severely in the mid-term elections in November. Congress also failed to deliver President Obama a political victory on this front and made him look ineffectual in this process.
Bringing Back Glass-Steagall... The Obama Administration is proposing separating commercial banking from investment banking, reversing a deregulatory move made during the Clinton Administration that led to a wave of banking mergers that formed giants such as Citigroup, Bank of America, and JP Morgan. This move could lead banks to spin off brokerage and trading operations (i.e. JP Morgan splitting from Chase or Bank of America spinning off Merrill Lynch). The banks nearly sank themselves from their own greed with risky bets. Some of this move is in part to prevent banking giants from becoming "too big to fail" and requiring government bailouts every time they get into trouble. More regulations are not necessarily the solution. The government is afraid of letting the markets work here. If a big bank fails, there is nothing wrong with putting the bank into receivership and busting the shareholders to have nothing and kicking out the management (who would lose their vested equity as well). It happens in plenty of other industries. Banks shouldn't be above this approach.

Vitamin D deficiency

2009-12-23T07:47:00.000-08:00

Doing some client work earlier today gave me a reminder about why I'm taking 4,000 iu of Vitamin D-3 today. It's been an ongoing battle to increase my vitamin d levels due to my lifestyle (sedentary and indoors) and my doctor has been on my case about it for about a year now.
Anyway, these is the clip that gave me the reminder. (click here about kids and vitamin D) This is more pertinent for adults.
My doctor is recommending far more more than what the video suggests. The Mayo Clinic goes into the breakdown of the difference of Vitamin D-3 and D-2 and their benefits.
Have a healthy holiday season!

Why Chris Christie won...

2009-11-04T18:02:00.000-08:00

In a nutshell, this is why Chris Christie defeated N.J. Gov. Jon S. Corzine:

Taxes -- Jon Corzine didn't address the property tax burden during his tenure, even after raising sales and income taxes. New Jersey manages to have high sales, income and property taxes. This is sending the middle class to the exits and has stifled job creation in the state.
Corruption -- If Attorney General Anne Milgram made a significant arrest for municipal corruption outside Atlantic City, Chris Christie's big advantage would have been blunted. Arrests in Atlantic City don't count in this category. Mr. Magoo can spot municipal corruption there. You can set your calendar by elected Atlantic City officials being indicted.

Jon Corzine's a decent man with good intentions. I'd like to have him as an uncle. However, the Star Ledger precisely summed up his role in NJ politics and the state's Democratic Party: "Corzine is the chaplain on a pirate ship, not really its captain." He wasn't beholden to the power brokers in state government, since he paid for his own campaigns. However, the party bosses -- at least the ones out of legal trouble -- still hold a lot of power. Corzine ceded a lot of authority to them.

Chris Christie won a tarnished trophy in this election. He's going into the Governor's office in January with a projected $8 billion budget deficit, a rotten business climate, and Democrats controlling the legislature. Most NJ resident's disagree with Christie's conservative social views (anti-abortion), but this was an electon primarily about pocketbook issues. He's pledged to lower taxes, but has been scant on details about how to pay for tax cuts. The legislature holds the purse strings and I don't see them crafting budgets that will cut urban aid, education or health care. I'm expecting a standoff in the next budget cycle and would not be surprised if there is a government shutdown. Corzine had a standoff against the legislature in 2006 and they're in the same party. Christie has much more different budget priorities that appeal to his suburban backers than the Democrats. His interests might be best served if he provoked a budget fight and shut down state offices. The public might realize that the world won't end just because Trenton is idled for a few weeks.

Trauma Redux, Oct. 26 episode

2009-10-27T10:19:00.000-07:00

It's nice to see "Trauma" share some of the truisms about EMS. My favorite was the scene with "Rabbit" and Marisa, the EMT who was carrying all of the gear, heading to a cardiac call. Marisa had the temerity to ask why her partner, a paramedic, wasn't carrying anything. "ALS stands for 'Aint Lifting Stuff," Rabbit replied. I've heard it phrased with a profanity, but what can you expect from network TV? I thought the interplay between Rabbit and the patient's agitated wife was authentic and very much in line with what EMTs deal with. I thought how he asked for her to hold the door (a subtle way to keep her occupied) is a very good tactic to deal with frantic family members. Make them helpful and then they can focus and not get in the way.
Overall, the Halloween episode was pretty good. It also had shown Rabbit's limits to being a "cowboy" and trouncing on standing orders. He had refrained from administering morphine to a child trauma patient. Other emergencies seemed to be handled well (paramedics or more experienced EMTs may take issue with that assessment).
The preview of an ambulance accident for next week's episode should be interesting, because there are too many ambulance accidents. Some have killed EMTs in the line of duty. My training and experience tell me that most other people on the road are too stupid to watch for ambulances. Assume the worst -- especially in New Jersey -- and don't just think the lights and sirens will keep you safe in the rig.

The TV Show 'Trauma'

2009-10-19T20:12:00.000-07:00

I enjoy watching the show "Trauma," not for its portrayal of EMTs. It falls into that realm of entertainment with James Bond movies, disaster films, and "Die Hard." Shut the brain off and enjoy the ride.

As an EMT, many of the things that I see on the show make me chuckle. A lot of these guys forget about scene safety among other basic tasks. One of the first lessons in EMT class is to stay safe so you don't become a patient and burden other first responders. What sometimes passes itself off as emergency medicine on this show would get EMT cards yanked. A paramedic would not fill an IV with ice water to intentionally induce hypothermia on a patient with a spinal injury. There are plenty of other examples cited by people better qualified than me. If you want to learn about EMS, there are plenty of emergency medicine sites and this one is one of my favorites, The EMT Spot. Or even better, get some first aid classes, join a squad and work toward an EMT certificate.

But just take the TV show with a grain of salt and enjoy it for what it's worth: an hour of drama with great production values. Roy and Johnny from "Emergency!" did it better and captured more of the flavor of being an EMT. However, the name of the show is "Trauma" not "80 Year Olds with General Illness." Neither is pretty, but bowel troubles of the elderly don't make good television.

The latest cool stuff...

2009-09-22T22:26:00.000-07:00

This is an adolescent thing to do, but I thought it would be fun to share some things that I like right now. Some of this probably already appeared on my facebook profile. Apologies to those who have seen some of this before. I even liked some TV this week, a rarity:
-- Mad Men's episode "A Guy Walks into an Advertising Agency" shook up some of the listlessness from the first few episodes this season. Matt Weiner shows off his Soprano roots by placing unusually violent action into a plot. The show worked well on an acting and literary level. The title was a nice play on words. The symbol of snakes figured prominently. (Guy being a snake in the grass, Don speaking with Connie Hilton, Pryce's gift) A bit of foreshadowing of the JFK assassination (the tractor ride with the woman riding through the office and Joan looking like Jackie Kennedy) and Vietnam (the boys who never saw combat at sterling cooper covered with blood). Roger Sterling (played by John Slattery) had some great lines in the episode. "It looks like Iwo Jima here" ... "He was just getting his foot in the door."

-- House's premier was exceptional. It was nice to see Hugh Laurie working someone that could dish out as well as him, Andre Braugher (a favorite from Homocide: Life on the Street).

-- The EMT Spot -- I ride for Metuchen EMS. We are not a busy first aid squad. I consider myself fortunate, but it is important to refresh skills or keep certain things in mind when responding to calls. This page and the yahoo bulletin boards for NJ EMTs are very useful. On a related note, Congratulations are in store for Travis Hendon, who delivered a baby on a call at a gas station earlier this week when he was riding for Edison. I managed to get some ambulance driver training in this weekend!
-- Joe Perri, my colleague at Coyne PR, attempted to eat half a sheet cake in 10 minutes. I salute you for the effort! Nice work by Coyne's graphics department with the video footage.
-- Yo La Tengo came out with a new album, Popular Songs.

A workable solution to America's health care troubles...

2009-08-31T18:45:00.000-07:00

Politicians of all stripes have been bickering over health care. Who's going to get health care and how are we going to pay for it? We're already spending $2.3 trillion on health care in this country. That's greater than all the goods and services produced in the United Kingdom, not exactly an economic lightweight.

So what does this spending -- about $7,000 every year -- for each man, woman and child in the United States get? Sub par health care quality with a ranking of 37th worldwide. Woo Hoo! We're number 37!

So we don't do health care very well. As a country, we need to focus on our competitive advantage. At least, that's what Adam Smith tells us to do in "The Wealth of Nations."

As a country, we don't make much of anything anymore. So it is incumbent on our policy makers to focus America's competitive advantage.

We need to abandon health care. We do a crappy job at it. It's a financial sinkhole and we all die in the end anyway. So why bother?

We need to channel our resources where we excel -- entertainment. We don't know the names of the eight chambers of the heart or how the larynx helps us digest our food, but we do know what "Jon & Kate Plus Eight" are having for dinner or Britney Spears' favorite coffee. It's a matter of our priorities.

Policy makers should allocate our resources accordingly. So here's my solution to health care reform: We spend nothing on the sick. We take all that money and dedicate it to fun.

This is how we solve this dilemma:

-- Force every man, woman and child to spend $7,000 a year on entertainment. It can be devoted to consumer electronics, movie tickets, circuses, sporting events, video games, theme park admissions, the theater, and time shares. Not one cent can be spent on health, since it is not economical and doesn't fit with America's competitive advantage.

-- Hospitals will be turned into resorts to reflect our nation's drive to be a fun economy. Hospitals kill more people than theme parks, so theme parks must be better for our nation's health. Society can swap out go the machines that "go ping" in the hospital and replace them with video games. Amusement parks are a better investment than the lousy profit margins offered at health care facilities.

-- This reform will require us to dramatically reshape our workforce. We'll need to retrain our nurses, doctors, pharmacists and other clinicians for new jobs. Our government will have to build a national chain of clown colleges to meet the demands of our new "fun economy." Instead of learning about anatomy & physiology, our clinicians will have to learn how to juggle. Administering an IV becomes a passe' skill, while trapeze work becomes a valued art.

So that leaves us with a dilemma about what do do with the sick. In our new fun economy, sick people won't go the the hospital. They can behave like Super Bowl winners:
They can go to Disney World!
###

Tom Cruise's greatest role!

2009-08-11T13:44:00.000-07:00

Profane, but hysterical!

A day when I wished I was in journalism again...

2009-07-24T10:29:00.000-07:00

New Jersey's air just got a bit cleaner after the FBI's corruption sweep led to 44 arrests two weeks ago. The stench of corruption is a part of life here. Prior the busts, more than 100 elected officials in the state have been arrested since 2001. Unfortunately, nobody is surprised about the arrests, the question is usually a matter of "Who'd they get this time?" The angle about the rabbi charged with selling kidneys on the black market, however, adds a unique twist to the usual garden variety shakedowns and bribery in municipal corruption cases. It was a day that I wished I was in journalism. A newsroom can be an electrifying place when there's a big story to pursue. You always want to know what happens next.

Here are some of the thoughts that I had about the arrests:

-- Kudos to any reporters who worked the organ selling angle into the lede of their stories. Bribery in New Jersey is not too shocking, but black market organ selling is sensational and needed to be high in the story. Yes, 44 people being arrested is a big deal. Yes, the Hudson County political establishment and the Syrian Jews in Monmouth County took a big blow here over these allegations of scuzzy behavior. You have to figure that more than 100 officials have been arrested in recent years. A rabbi dealing kidneys and marking them up by 1500 percent is a shocking charge. The writers of The Sopranos would have been hard pressed to come up with that twist.
-- A lot of the coverage was chasing NJ 101.5 at first, and they were first with the detail about human organ trafficking. Some other news sites were hesitant to run with that detail until after Thursday's press conference when the indictments were made public. I think the station's friendliness to Chris Christie helped their reporters here.
-- It was disconcerting to see that the Asbury Park Press, the hometown paper for Deal, resorting to using the AP to cover "the insular Syrian Jewish community at the New Jersey Shore." Alesha Williams Boyd's article captured the reaction at the temple where Rabbi Edmund Nahum, a rabbi accused of money laundering, worked. It was a missed opportunity for the paper to send a few people from the Neptune office to talk to people at the temples or even the coffee shops on Norwood Ave to provide additional coverage. I used to work in the town, when I was a floor layer. In my observation of Deal, people flashed a lot of money around, drove expensive cars, and put a lot of stock in social status, but I wouldn't call the Syrian Jews insular. It's also one of the most picturesque communities in Monmouth County and probably one of the wealthiest zip codes in the country. Where was the color to really illustrate what happened here? Alesha had two bylines on the web today, so she doesn't deserve any of the blame. Couldn't an editor have picked up the phone or left the office to help out? Could the paper have pulled someone from the other Monmouth bureaus? Why not send the reporters out to gather the information and have a sharp rewrite guy take their notes to make the stories sing? To the Asbury Park Press' credit, they identified Dwek very early in the proceedings as the cooperating witness.
-- Dwek! If this guy was damaged goods to begin with, why were people so eager to do business with him?! Would you want to do business with a guy who tried to pass off a $25 million bad check? There really aren't many IQ tests in politics or wealthy communities?
-- Joe Doria stepped down from Corzine's cabinet after his house was raided. This guy was a long time Democratic staple in state politics-- a former Assembly Speaker! No charges have been filed. Media reports are saying he met with Dwek.
-- "Political Consultant' Jack Shaw died shortly after criminal charges were filed in this case. Authorities haven't made a final determination on the cause of death but they are not ruling out suicide. That definitely will leave many wondering what secrets he kept with him or what secrets he told the authorities. He was also not in good health, according to media reports.
I really hope justice is served here. New Jersey's political culture is a swamp that needs to be drained. We're all paying for it with politicians handing off sweetheart deals to their friends. Sadly, the 44 arrested is probably just the tip of the iceberg. Let's hope the guilty do some real time and wake up the rest of the political establishment to mend their ways.

technorati stuff...

2009-07-15T10:44:00.001-07:00

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A Kennedy gives tips about winning friends in politics

2009-06-09T10:44:00.000-07:00

When a Kennedy gives advice about politics, you have to take notice.

Edward M. Kennedy, Jr., the son of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and president of Marwood Group, gave a primer on how to be a lobbyist/advocate at a health care industry conference in Orlando in mid-May.

Despite the influence of money and high powered lobbyists in today’s politics, Kennedy said a commitment to an issue dispels the need to costly lobbyists to make your case to legislators. That should not be confused with eschewing politics, since any organization should have a political strategy.

“What really matters is authenticity. You can hire a slick consultant, but there is no substitute on being able to speak on your own behalf or for members of your group,” Kennedy said.

A simple letter to your local legislators or an invitation for coffee at your office could be all that is needed to get the ball rolling.

“Politicians love to look like they are doing something,” Kennedy said half in jest. “They love to be seen and they love to have things to do.”

“Having a coffee session with voters or helping them (the official) get a picture in the paper is another way you can be helpful without writing a big check,” added Kennedy, whose brother is a Congressman from Rhode Island.

Ideally, Kennedy said you want to be in the position of becoming your legislator’s unofficial “cabinet” to comment on issues that are of particular interest. Kennedy said it is impossible for legislative offices to become experts on every single issue and it is important to become part of your local office’s rolodex so they call you for input, making it important to become friendly with your local legislators’ staff.

One word of advice Kennedy provided was that you should not be insulted if your legislator has arranged for a bright, 23-year-old legislative aide to listen to your concerns.

“They are the ones really running our government.”

I got schooled...

2009-05-28T05:22:00.000-07:00

I'm down 13 lbs now from my January weight. Last night's martial arts class was a tough one. The last 25 minutes were spent grappling and my final bout was with my instructor, a third degree purple belt (higher than blue and my beginner's belt--white). Needless to say, I ended up tapping out three times in five minutes. He had a counter for every move I made. It's a humbling experience. I feel like I did when I started wrestling in 7th grade. I lost a lot and was tired after every class. It's still fun and eventually I'll get it right. I'm looking forward to the summer tournament:

The New Jersey Brazilian Jui-Jitsu Federation's next event is the Summer Tournament, August 8th, 2009! I believe it is in Bayville (south of Toms River), but I'll need further confirmation. I have about 15 lbs to cut to get to 170, the lightest weight for the over 40 group.

Down 5 lbs!

2009-04-08T06:47:00.000-07:00

I'm making progress! I'm finally seeing some weight loss after three months of martial arts. Darcie noticed that I don't have a gut on my anymore and the scale is starting to show it. I'm beaten up a bit from my martial arts classes (3 hours saturday and an hour and a half on Monday). One half hour was spent treating a classmate with a turned ankle. An EMT's work is never done. I even had to snap into duty with a Jameson's buzz one night at the Pogue's show after a guy fell down some steps and cut his eyebrow. I kept him still and waited for a medic with a kit to help.

Santelli Bailed Out on Daily Show, Stewart Destroys CNBC

2009-03-05T10:56:00.001-08:00

The Daily Show launches a devastating broadside against the cheerleaders on CNBC. Jon Stewart's comedy writers are the best and sharpest in the business!

read more | digg story

Ouch

2009-02-25T18:39:00.000-08:00

Martial arts classes are leaving me a bit achy! Had jiu jistsu class and learned choke holds and counters.

Also had dicey first aid call last night. Lesson to smokers: Quit now! COPD is a bitch. Patient was unresponsive and lung sounds were absent when I first listened even though she was breathing (accessory muscles were working to inhale). We brought her to the hospital alive. It was my scariest call so far as an EMT and I couldn't sleep until 3:30.

Now to leave you with some cool stuff:

Mexico drug gangs threaten cops on radio, kill them

2009-02-09T21:17:00.001-08:00

A real tragedy that reflects a breakdown of law and order in Mexico's border cities. It's affecting not just Tijuana, but cities where drugs are being trafficked into the U.S. Even EMTs in Mexico are not safe (gangsters shooting them while treating patients or threatening them for failing to save patients). It's a sad plight for a country whose people deserve much better. This Reuters story spells out the threats to police.

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A Cultural Treasure -- WWE's Vince McMahon sings

2009-01-30T14:10:00.001-08:00

Sometimes you come across cultural treasures on Youtube that rival anything Donny and Marie had done on their variety show in the 1970s. This is Vince McMahon doing a musical number at the 1987 Slammy pro wrestling awards. I love how the wrestlers are "playing" the instruments. Hulk Hogan is a real bass player, but the other guys?? Honky Tonk Man, Brutus "the Barber" Beefcake, Jake "the Snake" Roberts, Junkyard Dog, et al. playing backup. Vince needs a musical special on prime time network television. The only thing that could improve this is if Rowdy Roddy Piper came out to do a mid-song rap.

This was amended (7-22-10) after you tube pulled down the prior version of the video.

2009-01-30T06:07:00.000-08:00

Michael Lewis (Author of Liar's Poker, Moneyball, The New New Thing, and Panic) offers some conventional wisdom about our culture's obsession with investing. I wish a lot of the bank executives had followed his advice. We'd be a lot richer for it. Some of his advice follows the Warren Buffett adage about investing in only what you understand.

Assessing the Bush Years

2009-01-25T11:21:00.001-08:00

A synopsis of Bush's time in office - what went wrong and why. I love The Economist's headline here: The frat boy ships out ...

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Nationalizing the Banks -- Adopting Sweden's Bailout Plan

2009-01-23T10:08:00.001-08:00

Barry Ritholtz says the banking system may need to be nationalized to save it. It would clear the decks and could help depositors. I disagree. Depositors are insured and the banks could also be converted to mutual banks owned by depositors. It would be a modified form of receivership. Nationalizing the big banks introduces politics and the gov't picking winners and losers. Why should Citigroup or Bank of America get rewarded for mismanagement when the local thrift that prudently managed its business does not get help?

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Why news coverage stinks ...

2009-01-16T06:04:00.000-08:00

Alisa Miller, the head of Public Radio International, shows the shortcomings of U.S. media coverage and how it fails to give a balanced view of the world. By the way, we're coming up on the two-year anniversary of the loss of America's Princess, Anna Nicole Smith. Radio geniuses Ron & Fez set the appropriate tone for coverage here at the time of her death. Part Two can be found at this link. Both are sound files that can be downloaded.

Calvin & Hobbes comic strip captures the truth

2009-01-13T06:23:00.001-08:00

This link says so much about the current business climate. I get more truth from a Calvin & Hobbes strip than an entire month of The Wall Street Journal. This is courtesy of Barry Ritholtz' "The Big Picture" blog.

read more | digg story Click "Read More" to see the strip.

Age, lack of conditioning catch up with me...

2009-01-10T14:44:00.000-08:00

I went to my first martial arts class today at Satori Academy. It's not a good sign when you are sucking wind after the warm-up calisthenics. I had a good time, however. The soreness will be with me a few days after stretching back, shoulder, leg and stomach muscles that are way too accustomed to sitting at a desk all day. The lesson focused on striking combinations, a bit of grappling and some self-defense. I felt comfortable grappling, but I haven't wrestled seriously since coaching the young kids in the town program. The lesson closed out with some conditioning calisthenics that were a challenge. It's nice to shake off some of the rust and struggle a bit.
I'm not doing this class to become a tough guy. I'm way too old for that and I haven't been in a fight since I was 13. I simply need to exercise in a way that interests me. Moving weights around doesn't hold my interest, although it is an effective way to get into shape. It's a fun way to work out with my son.

The 1970s' Little Depression

2009-01-08T08:11:00.001-08:00

A Forbes columnist points out how some great companies were born, despite an awful political and economic climate in the 1970s. I find articles like this encouraging, despite dour sentiment.

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Gaza campaign exposes Middle East policy vacuum

2009-01-02T16:27:00.001-08:00

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Israel's week-old offensive in the Gaza Strip is a violent sequel to a drive led by the United States, with much European and Arab support, to punish Hamas for resisting a largely... Another tale analyzing an endless cycle of violence. Neither side knows when to quit nor has any inclination to. The Israelis and Palestinians are going to need to solve this on their own and no pressure from the international community will get either side to stop.

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The Laundry List of What I Love Right Now

2009-01-01T15:44:00.000-08:00

This is sort of like the laundry list of things or people that I'm thankful for as I start a new year. My family and health are stock answers, but the family keeps my head on straight (especially Darcie). The line from the Beach Boys song definitely applies: "God only knows what I'd be without you." My daughter reminds me of all of youth's possibilities and my son is like having a younger and much more wry version of me around. After seeing my folks and sister on Christmas Eve and my in-laws Christmas weekend, it really helps one take stock of what's important.

During these times, I'm glad I'm gainfully employed. Not just at any job, but I'm employed at Coyne Public Relations, one of the best places to work anywhere. My colleagues are creative, fun, smart and a pleasure to see every day. It's a virtuous cycle of good people creating good work that keeps clients happy and coming back for more. I hope the cycle continues into the new year despite a crappy economy.

Facebook and online media get a bad reputation for being time wasters. However, I've been able to reconnect with a lot of people I haven't seen since 1985. It's a blessing to at least talk online with people. It's not even one of those score keeping exercises that high school reunions can be (who got fat, bald, lost their looks, got rich, got their lives together after a shaky high school experience ... yada yada yada). Sometimes you build connections to people who knew you only peripherally through high school. I've had interesting chats about politics with some classmates and status updates are great conversation starters.

I'm a bit of a media and entertainment omnivore. The Apple TV has gotten a lot of use lately. My daughter and her friends are watching "The Shining" now.
Music I've been listening to lately: Yo La Tengo, Sonic Youth, and Prince. The embedded video is Yo La Tengo doing Cherry Chapstick -- a playful, noisy tune. Yo La Tengo is really the successor to the Velvet Underground. REM wanted to be the Velvet Underground in their early days and the Feelies came close, but I think Yo La Tengo captures the range and depth of the Velvet Underground's sound. They can sound extremely dissonant and another song can create a soothing aural landscape. I'm also happy with WRXP 101.9. The station really does a nice job of mixing new and old music. It captures a lot of the vibe of 106.3 when it was a good station.

I'm looking forward to taking my EMT state test so I could finish "Homocide: A Year on the Killing Streets" and then start Malcolm Gladwell's "Outliers." (Thanks Linda!)

I've been evangelizing about The Wire's brilliance all year. It's sort of like "Pulp Fiction" and "Homicide: Life on the Street" rolled into a 60 episode series. I haven't been terribly excited about TV. "Mad Men" was extremely literate and well acted in its second season. My Name is Earl and 30 Rock continue to entertain me. I have really grown to care less and less about television. Hulu.com is a great site to catch up on shows that I used to enjoy.

Anyway Happy New Year! I have a lot to be thankful for.

Drug Dealers Talk About Chicken McNuggets...

2008-12-26T05:56:00.000-08:00

An education about the way big business works...

Bit by the Christmas Bug

2008-12-19T19:08:00.000-08:00

I usually am the last person to get excited about Christmas in my house. But the Christmas bug finally bit me. Yes, it's less than a week before Christmas. I went through the mall tonight to run errands. I always manage to ignore the decorations and music. That stuff's been up since Halloween. So the lights and garland are just part of the background, generating the same feeling as furniture being in the same place too long.

I went to stores to drop off payments for a few charge cards and still avoided doing any shopping for people on my list. A snowstorm sent me home from work and I ended up missing our company's Christmas party, casting an additional bit of disappointment upon my mood. The mall looked even kind of grim, with the Christmas music belying an empty mall from the nasty weather and consumers fatigued from a weak economy.

After parting with my cash to Verizon and being in a somewhat foul mood over the inflation of the family's cell phone bill, the Christmas finally bug sank its fangs into me. The Salvation Army kettle was gone, but the tree with the names of kids needing gifts was there. My kids were already taken care of this Christmas and they're too old to believe in Santa anymore. The tag immediately erased my disappointment and renewed my spirits.

An 8-old-boy named Elvin needed a Santa to get him a Laser Tag set and the Salvation Army puts the kid's sizes on the tags. I've never met Elvin and I don't plan on meeting him. His tag is the first one I saw.

It soon dawned on me eight is a crucial age in the Christmas lexicon. That's when a lot of kids start becoming Christmas agnostics when it comes to Santa Claus. The kids start talking about spying on where parents hide the gifts or start expressing disappointment about what they didn't get. I hope this year he still keeps his belief a little big longer. Elvin, I hope the Laser Tag set brings you the same joy that I had when I got my Star Trek walkie talkies. Merry Christmas Elvin, you brought some joy to a 41-year-old man's heart.

We can't let this bank fail ...

2008-12-16T05:52:00.000-08:00

If Bruce Springsteen can lend his image to an advertisement for a foodbank, I can lend some real estate on this sacred bit of cyberspace to support the Community Food Bank of New Jersey. The recession has placed heightened demands on the foodbank, while contributions through retailers (the slips at supermarket checkout counters) are down 17 percent. This organization deserves your support. The FoodBank distributes over 21 million pounds of food and groceries a year, ultimately serving 1,656 non-profit programs including 436 programs served by its Partner Distribution Organizations (PDOs). Through their combined efforts, they assist three-quarters of a million low-income people in 18 of New Jersey’s 21 counties. So instead of buying that Michael Vick jersey for the animal lover in your life, kick over some cash to the foodbank. Click here and do something right during the holidays. The Michael Vick bobblehead doll or Topps card is cheaper than the jersey anyway. It will still elicit that same reaction from the animal lover in your life and your donation will give you the sense that your heart is in the right place.

Metuchen EMS Breakfast with Santa

2008-12-15T05:36:00.000-08:00

Many thanks to the people in the Metuchen area who made Metuchen EMS' Breakfast with Santa a resounding success. Photos from Metuchen Matters , where more photos are available.

Disney rightfully renames its park

2008-12-10T07:00:00.000-08:00

We do some pretty mindblowing stuff at work...

The Wire: Snoop buys a nail gun

2008-12-06T23:01:00.001-08:00

Snoop, one of Marlo's assassins, buys a nail gun for some contract work. It's one of The Wire's quirkier moments.

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Hardball and Kingman

2008-12-06T14:48:00.001-08:00

Dave Kingman, a New York Met during the 1970s and early 80s, could have been a great ball player, but was relatively disinterested in hitting for average or defense. This blog entry captures a lot about "Sky King." He had an anemic batting average, but heaven help the pitcher that slights him.

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As per ...

2008-12-01T05:53:00.000-08:00

Language pet peeve: The use of "as per our conversation (meeting or whatever)" in business communications. Doesn't it make more sense to say "regarding"? Anybody else besides broadcaster Edwin Newman have pet peeves about language?

More Clips of The Wire

2008-11-26T23:05:00.000-08:00

Love Bunk's interrogation technique here.

Here, Bodie buys flowers to D's funeral...

Bailouts: Where's all this cash coming from?

2008-11-25T18:43:00.000-08:00

A couple hundred billion here and a couple hundred billion there. What's a few billion between friends? The government is spending hundreds of billions of dollars to sustain banks, AIG and the big mortgage aggregators, Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac. Is it really clear what we're buying as taxpayers? The money's being used to buy "toxic assets" but there is no clarity about what prices we're paying for subprime mortgages or other assets from banks to keep them solvent.
Citigroup's pricetag for a bailout grew by another $20 billion from the original $25 billion. The government also agreed to shoulder another $300 billion in losses from bad assets. How did Citigroup and the government come up with this figure? Do they just pull these numbers out of a hat? As a taxpayer, do I really want to own a business whose mismanagement makes GM look like a beacon of efficiency? Would it make more sense for the government to pay $30 billion to acquire all of Citigroup and close its doors? Taxpayers might be better off given the rising price tag for this mess.

Barry Ritholtz, who writes "The Big Picture" blog and is an investment strategist for Fusion IQ, says the bailout pricetag now exceeds $4.6 trillion. It is more than the combined cost of the Marshall Plan, NASA, the New Deal, the Louisiana Purchase, the Korean and Vietnam Wars, and the Iraq invasion. Bloomberg did some calculations and said the overall package is over $7 trillion. In other words, this is $24,000 for every American. I think the economy would have been a lot better off if The Fed and the Treasury just cut each person the checks. A $96,000 check for my household would eliminate my debts, pay a few years of tuition at a state college for my daughter and still leave enough for me to buy a car (effectively helping Detroit's autoworkers). Is that any less worthwhile than giving it to some poorly managed banks?

Instead, the Federal Reserve and the Treasury are keeping the printing press going and for no certain benefit, for ill defined objectives and for assets that do not have a clear market value. Our economy will be that like a South American banana republic when this is all done. We'll be begging the Chinese to lend our government more money and the dollar won't be worth much of anything. To top it off, President Bush and his Treasury Secretary have been absent in terms of providing leadership during this economic crisis. Could we just accelerate the Obama inauguration and evict Bush from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave?

Casting A 'Safety Net' For The Homeless

2008-11-23T18:49:00.001-08:00

Dr. Jim Withers founded Operation Safety Net after he began making "house calls" under bridges in Pittsburgh, Pa. Now it's one of the nation's first full-time street medicine programs. Could we make this guy a saint? Click on the link to listen to the NPR program.

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New Star Trek movie trailer

2008-11-18T18:21:00.000-08:00

"Casino Royale" opening scene

2008-11-17T19:54:00.000-08:00

I enjoyed the opening scene of Casino Royale a great deal. It was one of the best stunt sequences captured on film.

Don't bail out the carmakers: The Economist

2008-11-15T06:46:00.001-08:00

Politicians, business and the unions all want a bail-out of Ford and General Motors. That would be a mistake. Chapter 11 was made for situations like this. As article says: Bailing out Detroit would be a bad use of public money. It would be bad in principle, because it would be an open invitation to companies everywhere to apply for aid to survive the recession. Banks qualify for help because the entire economy depends upon their services. They are vulnerable to sudden collapses in confidence that can spread to other banks that are perfectly solvent. A good car company does not face the same threat. And although Detroit employs a network of suppliers, which would suffer if production shuts down, nothing would sap a recovery and job-creating enterprise like locking up badly used resources in poorly performing companies.

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Uh, These Are the Five Most Popular Music Videos on MTV.com?

2008-11-15T06:30:00.001-08:00

Esquire's take on the MTV.com archives...

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New Star Trek Movie

2008-11-15T05:56:00.000-08:00

My son and I caught the trailer before the James Bond movie. It looks extremely cool and is the top of my list for movies to see in 2009! This is not as cool as the trailer I caught in the movies, but it gives a hint about what's to come. http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/startrek/medium_trailer.html

"The Big Picture" economics blog -- Bailouts and Handouts

2008-11-13T13:56:00.001-08:00

Barry Ritholtz explains why businesses are claiming to need government bailouts: "Free Money!" All of these bailouts have turned into a corporate welfare free for all. Too bad this is going to devalue the dollar and still will not really help consumers. If former Goldman Sachs CEO is correct, it could be grim. Check this out: http://www.reuters.com/article/Finance08/idUSTRE4AB7HT20081112

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Freerunning

2008-11-11T12:20:00.000-08:00

This is that guy from the opening scene of "Casino Royale" and one of the most fearless natural athletes I've ever seen.

My friends in Cutlass play fast, loud and still have fun...

2008-11-10T18:47:00.000-08:00

I went to high school with these guys. The video is a clip of them opening for Stone Temple Pilots. I can't do much about the camera work. When you are in the Point Pleasant area, please see them. This is their myspace page. These guys have the energy of Iggy Pop in his Raw Power days.

Fox News: Palin didn't know Africa was a continent

2008-11-07T06:26:00.001-08:00

Republicans are sharpening the knives and chop blocking any chance of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin from running for president in 2012. Unnamed sources go to Fox News, the outlet of choice among Republicans, and release damaging details about tantrums and her being ignorant about basic civics and geography (Is Africa a country?). It's scapegoating at its finest. It also shows something about the lack of vetting within the McCain campaign. She was not ready to be a heartbeat away from the presidency and that became clear to many conservatives. That's obvious enough, but the folks in the McCain campaign were thinking of a short term pop in the polls regardless of long-term consequences. I think Gov. Palin is a gifted politician who knows how to engage a conservative audience. I don't think she's stupid and she could have spent the next three years brushing up on her glaring weaknesses before running in 2012. Even before I heard this report, I thought Sarah Palin should study to gain a firmer grasp about foreign policy, health care, economics, defense, law enforcement and other weighty issues. As governor, she could work toward testing conservative solutions that could be used for national problems. I didn't and still don't think her political career is over. However, she has to do more than offer a beauty queen wave to the crowd and some stock lines to get conservatives excited. But the McCain campaign is going into ass covering mode. His handlers are trying to save their own necks and blame the running mate they actually helped select. The same conservatives that propelled her and demonized the "liberal media" for questioning her qualifications are now the ones most aggressively carving her up. Politics is a deceitful business.

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Look at who is scapegoating Sarah Palin

2008-11-07T06:13:00.001-08:00

Top McCain advisers who once defended Gov. Sarah Palin are now criticizing her. CNN's Campbell Brown shows where the real blame lies -- on Sen. McCain's campaign advisers who are now in "cover your ass" mode.

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Twelve:01 I Will Find

2008-11-06T16:35:00.001-08:00

A great band and one I've known for a long time. Time Flies. It's been a long short life!I'm sad that I will miss another of Simo's birthday bashes at John & Peters in New Hope. It usually turns into a boozy, chaotic night.

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How Bush Destroyed the Republican Party

2008-11-05T21:27:00.001-08:00

A president driven by ideology. A Congress rife with corruption. A political party hellbent on a "permanent majority." A leading scholar examines the radicals who hijacked the GOP — and wrecked the longest conservative ascendancy in American history.

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New Springsteen album due in January: report

2008-11-05T21:09:00.001-08:00

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Bruce Springsteen's next album is expected for release around the time of Barack Obama's presidential inauguration in January, according to the fan Web site Backstreets.com (http://www.backstreets.com). The follow-up to 2007's...

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The many faces of Jocelyn Wildenstein

2008-11-04T06:08:00.001-08:00

AAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!

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Trenton's a swamp that needs to be drained

2008-11-04T05:27:00.000-08:00

Ballot questions in N.J. are often overlooked when people vote. Most of the time nobody pounds the pavement about them or advertises a point of view on tv (except in California where many things go on the ballot). However, their impact ends up being felt years later when people wonder "How the hell did we get into this mess?" This year, New Jersey had two ballot questions and they were ingeniously unclear. Here's Question 1:

QUESTION
Do you approve the proposed amendment to the State Constitution which
provides that, after this amendment becomes part of the Constitution, a law
enacted thereafter that authorizes State debt created through the sale of bonds
by any autonomous public corporate entity, established either as an
instrumentality of the State or otherwise exercising public and essential
governmental functions, such as an independent State authority, which debt or
liability has a pledge of an annual appropriation as the ways and means to pay
the interest of such debt or liability as it falls due and pay and discharge the
principal of such debt, will be subject to voter approval, unless the payment of the
debt is made subject to appropriations of an independent non-State source of
revenue paid by third persons for the use of the object or work bonded for, or are
from a source of State revenue otherwise required to be appropriated pursuant to
another provision of the Constitution?

Yep, that's what we were able to vote on. Believe it or not, it can impact our states finances, which are a mess from all the debt on its books ($3 billion a year in debt service). The newspapers also didn't have much to say about it either. Therefore, I had to go to the League of Women Voters to get a true interpretation. See page 3 for the implications. Where are the reporters in New Jersey to write about this stuff? Isn't it their role to interpret complex material and improve voter understanding?

Unfortunately, our politicians are not being held accountable either. This is an act of intellectual dishonesty. If our politicians cannot be up front with the public, what good are they. It just leads me to say, Trenton is a swamp that needs to be drained.

More cool stuff

2008-10-31T21:04:00.000-07:00

George Best was like the fifth Beatle. The guy had tremendous footwork and could score goals from just about any angle.

Another great scene from the wire...

By the end of five seasons, each one of these "pawns" is dead.

The Economist: It's time (Endorses Obama)

2008-10-31T08:14:00.001-07:00

The Economist says America should take a chance and make Barack Obama the next leader of the free world. A strongly written and reasonable endorsement that makes the case, while slapping how McCain ran this year..

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A few of my favorite things

2008-10-30T16:53:00.000-07:00

Everybody knows how I like to preach the gospel about The Wire. Here's some other stuff that I like:
www.accuradio.com Listening Post and Future Perfect Radio

How can you hate Robert Duvall's performance here. It's inspired lunacy. "You either surf or fight...If I say it's safe to surf this beach, it's safe to surf this beach." Apocalypse Now Redux (a longer version) has more footage about him pursuing Capt. Willard and Lance for stealing his surfboard.

Does God really protect the stupid? Watch this video:

Some people go out of their way to prove Darwin right.

Yeah, I'm voting for Obama. I want us out of Iraq. I tend to agree more with the Libertarians. Take a look at its platform here. Zimmer and Lautenberg are not getting my vote for Senate -- Jason Scheurer is.

I like news shows that take the piss out of Bush. See Keith Olbermann's Countdown.

--30--

More cool stuff about the wire

2008-10-29T19:58:00.000-07:00

Omar testifies in court against Bird, who is accused of killing a court witness in a murder trial, and manages to upstage Bird's lawyer. More about Omar here. My favorite characters are Det. Lester Freamon, Bunny Colvin, and Stringer Bell.

Cool stuff

2008-10-29T18:53:00.000-07:00

One of the many reasons why "The Wire" is better than the "Sopranos" or "Mad Men."

Financial crisis heralds era of ''new seriousness''

2008-10-29T07:21:00.001-07:00

A down market and people start eschewing all the status symbols and bling ... This article points out slowing sales for Porsches and how some execs think it would be bad form to flaunt status in the current marketplace. Remember, this is what people were saying after 9-11. I'll give this trend a year and then we'll resume our conspicuous consumption again.

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Joining a first aid squad

2008-10-28T14:38:00.000-07:00

When I was younger, I had a very weak stomach. Many of my car trips were spent with my head out the window splashing what I ate for breakfast down the side of my parents' orange '72 Chevy Nova as we drove from Point Pleasant to Red Bank. Seasickness was an element of every fishing trip when I was 8 or 9. My breakfasts often served as chum for the fish. After emptying my stomach, I would have to rest inside the party boat's cabin. Even into early adulthood, changing diapers sometimes would test my stomach. When I joined Metuchen EMS, my family was stunned. They weren't stunned by my willingness to volunteer for an organization or that I wanted to help sick people. They were stunned that I was willing to test a weak stomach in such a fashion.

I wanted to do something involving health care. I like the intellectual challenge, but I didn't have the grades for medical school. I did better in my English classes than my science classes, however, and started a career in journalism, eventually becoming a health care reporter. I also worked as a copy editor at the Daily Record. As the slot editor, I had to edit the obituary page. You can take stock of one's life and commitments when they try to boil it down to a few paragraphs. When it comes time to write mine after I'm in my 80s, I don't want it only to say "Bill thought South Park really kicked ass." I also don't want it to serve as some simple regurgitation of my resume. When the kids get older, you need to do other stuff to keep you busy. Those commitments outside the job may as well be worthwhile -- whether it's community service or just doing stuff that makes you happy.

This is ultimately about karma. Give and expect nothing in return except the feeling that you helped someone at their moment of greatest need. I'm not independently wealthy where I could do this full time, since EMTs make less per hour than an average Costco worker. I'm not one of those starry-eyed idealists who think they can save the world and cure hunger, fight disease and right all of the world's wrongs. I'm too old for that idealism and I have to cut the grass. However, I can get off the couch one night a week and the occasional weekend to ride on an ambulance. Metuchen is not as busy as some of the Edison squads, but there are still calls in the middle of the night.

I've been taking EMT classes since early September. Every weekend I spend 8 hours learning about how to respond to diabetes emergencies, cardiac, and respiratory emergencies. We take exams every few weeks. In a few weeks, I'll be doing clinical time at an emergency room in Perth Amboy on a Friday and again on a Saturday. It should be a real test and a definite change of pace from Metuchen.

Gawker's proto-feminist take on Mad Men finale

2008-10-27T09:54:00.001-07:00

Gawker notes a maturation of the women characters in Mad Men's Season 2 finale. The show is a character-driven examination of life at an advertising agency in the 1960s that serves as much as a time capsule of that era in terms of appearance and mores. Season one examined who is Don Draper, the head creative executive at Sterling & Cooper, with only moderate attention devoted to other characters on the show. Gawker noted how the power of the show shifted to women in the second season finale, which was set against the Cuban Missile Crisis as the backdrop. Betty Draper, Don's wife who was child-like in the first season, went through a painful adolescence/early adulthood this year as she separated from her husband. Peggy, the young, talented copywriter, has started to assert herself more in the workplace with her own office, winning the Popsicle account, and dropping the bomb on Peter about their child. The only real extension of season 1's storyline about Don Draper's identity, which was stolen from another man during the Korean War, into season 2 came during a trip to California. His trip to California was to attract defense clients, but he met with the widow of the man whose identity he stole. The show overall is paced more like a novel than most other shows and admittedly lagged during the first five episodes during the second season, but the characters are drawn with fine lines and are very much human and a reflection of that era. I'm looking forward to season three.

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Fortune calls Medco Health one of the most innovative companies

2008-10-24T08:48:00.001-07:00

Yep -- Medco's a client, but it's pretty cool to see some of your efforts recognized. It also helps when a company is looking at advancing a science and having an eye on what will happen in the world in five years. Too many companies manage quarter-to-quarter and they end up getting slammed (as our banking system proves).

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Greenspan ''shocked'' at credit system breakdown

2008-10-23T09:20:00.001-07:00

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told Congress on Thursday he is ''shocked'' at the breakdown in U.S. credit markets and said he was ''partially'' wrong to resist regulation of some...The House is trying to pin blame. It's politically convenient to lay the blame on Greenspan, but his primary responsibilities as Fed Chairman were price stability and money supply. The rate at which the fed sets interest rates is only a tool to exercise its role. Shouldn't the banks that used crappy underwriting standards and rewarded short term commissions (paying mortage brokers fat commissions on toxic loans) bear most of the blame?

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So, how do you know if you're a socialist?

2008-10-23T06:01:00.001-07:00

Gee, didn't a Republican administration approve direct government investment of billions in our banking system? Government ownership of industries is socialism and the Republicans foist it upon us. McCain has the nerve to call Obama a socialist after that stunt??!!

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Entertainment Weekly rates 15 great moments of The Wire

2008-10-19T18:41:00.001-07:00

Entertainment Weekly captured a lot of the essence of the greatest show on TV. It was too smart for networks and they're best seen in order. It's like a novel transferred to video. The characters are complex, the setting is gritty and the writing is crisp. These 15 highlights capture a lot about the show.

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Laid Off By Lehman: One Broker's Story

2008-10-17T10:48:00.001-07:00

What does a Lehman Brothers' broker do with his days now? Untucked Films found out. Directed by Chuck Divak and Jonathan Emmerling. Hilarious and captures Wall Street's clueless arrogance in brilliant fashion.

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McCain-Obama debate -- McCain overplays his hand

2008-10-16T10:18:00.000-07:00

Debate 3 Observations...
-- Sen. McCain gave his best performance and actually won the first half hour of the debate.
-- Sen. Obama remained cool. A CNN commentator said Obama's performance reminded him of a boxer who was ahead on points in the 15th round. He didn't allow himself to take many risks, because he knows he's ahead. He went in low key and stayed Presidential.
-- Sen. McCain is not terribly convincing when he tries to go negative. My college roommate, a Pat Buchanan fan, is more convincing and cutting the way he criticizes Obama. Attack ads are a Bush strategy and reflect the Bush-Rove-Atwater way of doing things. McCain built a career fighting politics as usual. Unfortunately, he wedded himself to them during this campaign. He's a lousy actor when he tries to use them. I wish the McCain of eight years ago was running against Obama. He went negative and played stuff that resonated with the Fox News and talk radio crowd, but Obama's connections with Acorn and Ayers were adroitly deflected as non-issues.
-- Joe the Plumber fell flat. Sen. McCain tried to play that card and it didn't resonate with regular folks. It created a bit of a media stir, but there's not a lot to it. I'm not surprised by a plumber making $250K a year, because there's plenty of work there. However, someone making that much money is not going to generate a lot of sympathy. Obama is addressing health insurance, the economy, and the financial crisis as his issues. McCain tried to pull the Reaganesque approach to connect with folks by personalizing an issue to justify reducing taxes. However, reducing taxes is not necessarily the solution to our nation's financial problems.
-- Sen. McCain was way too callous when he dismissed the "health" of women as a factor in the abortion debate. He probably alienated a lot of independent women voters with his air quotes gesture. He's playing to his base, but that's not going to win him this election.
-- Bob Schieffer did a great job with the questions asked and threw in enough tough ones to keep me happy. He had the sense to ask about the growth of deficits under both candidates' plans. CNN posted the actual question that was asked to show when the candidates were drifting off topic.

That's all for now. My favorite candidate was Ron Paul, but it's a shame he's not running. He would have generated a real debate on the issues and the role of government and taxes.

Marcia, Marcia, Marcia

2008-10-14T18:12:00.000-07:00

Tabloids had field day reporting how Maureen McCormick (aka Marcia Brady) traded sex for drugs. My favorite reader response of this news appeared on the New York Post's page:

Uncle Louie wrote:
I wonder what I could get for a 6-pack of Old Bohemian and bottle of Boones Farm.
10/14/2008 8:17 AM EDT

Maureen is promoting a tell-all book. She must have felt a need to one-up her older TV brother, Barry Williams, who wrote his tell all more than a decade ago. I'm waiting for one of the siblings to come out with a tell-all the Brady bestiality tale to trump all of the TV clan's tell all books. Bobby! Cindy! Tiger! The world is waiting!

Metuchen 4, Middlesex 1

2008-10-12T12:07:00.001-07:00

An opportunity to share one of my daughter's sports scores...

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'I have had a million pages of crap written about me.'

2008-10-10T20:09:00.001-07:00

Joe Kinnear's first Newcastle United interview. Insults fly!!! This is the greatest press conference in history. I wish I was the one covering it. He makes Parcells look humble and congenial to reporters.

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Treasury says it can buy bank shares

2008-10-09T06:16:00.001-07:00

Welcome to France. The government will be able to buy interests in banks, essentially rigging who wins and who loses in the marketplace. Republicans are now proving themselves worse than Democrats when it comes to free enterprise. By Glenn Somerville WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Wednesday a recently approved financial bailout bill gives him wide authority to inject capital into the banking system and would not rule out having Treasury...

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Market nervously eyes return of short sellers

2008-10-08T19:06:00.001-07:00

YAY!! Time to unleash the sharks. Short sellers keep the market honest! You have to be skeptical of a market full of cheerleaders...By Rachelle Younglai and Kristina Cooke - Analysis WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - At midnight on Wednesday, U.S. regulators will restore investors' rights to make bearish bets on financial stocks but few expect it to put an end to wild swings in...

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Fed Cuts Rates

2008-10-08T05:39:00.000-07:00

Econ 502:
If the Fed starts buying treasury bonds to put even more downward pressure on interest rates, we might work our way through this. Also, less cash will be in the fed's hands and more will be in the hands of investors. I'm still expecting a recession, but at least its severity can be kept in check.
The banks still have to work their way through some crappy mortgages on their books and the appetite for risk is probably not there in the near term. With lower interest rates, at least more sound projects and investments (or even home mortgages that make sense) will get bank funding.

By Keith Weir and Daniel Trotta
LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Central banks around the world cut interest rates in unison on Wednesday in a joint response to the global financial crisis, giving a boost to battered stock markets.

The Fed said it was cutting its key federal funds rate by 50 basis points to 1.5 percent. China, the European Central Bank (ECB) and central banks in Britain, Canada, Sweden and Switzerland also cut rates in the coordinated response which analysts had been demanding.

U.S. stock index futures leapt on the news and world stock markets trimmed their losses.
Before the rate cut, stock markets across the world had continued their downward spiral amid the worst financial crisis in nearly 80 years and fears of a global recession.

"The fact that we have got them coming across the board suggests that this is the end game," said Peter Dixon, an economist at Commerzbank in London. "Will it help the markets? Questionable in the short term."

The cuts followed days of calls for concerted action by economists and world leaders after repeated attempts by central banks to inject liquidity into world markets failed to halt a crisis of confidence.

Future Grandmother, Gov. Sarah Palin

2008-10-07T12:32:00.000-07:00

Originally posted Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Gov. Sarah Palin is bound to get bruised in this process of running for national office, since every move will be scrutinized. The issue with her daughter's pregnancy is the news du jour. Another 48 hours it will be another issue. It's unfortunate Sarah's daughter and the dad-to-be got dragged into the spotlight.
The boy in this matter was not smart enough to realize that parents, who are lifetime members of the NRA, take the notion of shotgun marriages to a literal meaning. He might be fortunate that one of them is running for national office. I wish those two good luck — they'll need it as teenage parents.
The right -- including Gov. Palin -- is blind to a lot of realities. One of them is that young people have sex and unplanned pregnancy is one of the consequences. That might account for the tone from many commentators, which has ranged from smug moral superiority ("my child would never get knocked up") to shrill accusations of hypocrisy ("a lot of good that abstinence teaching did ya"). Those commentators fail to recognize that families don't always fit neatly into ideological beliefs and those who are too critical are just being cheap shot artists.
I wish no ill will toward the Palins and the young man. I only hope the Palins remain in Alaska and Sen. McCain enjoys a dignified retirement. I disagree with many of Gov. Palin's ideas and those in her party. However, the Palins don't deserve any scorn. They're very much a typical American family.

Wall Street's Arrogance is Confounding

2008-10-07T12:28:00.000-07:00

Originally published: Sunday, March 09, 2008

As I walked through Fortunoff's in the Woodbridge Mall today, I was amazed that the department store chain was bankrupt. It had great looking merchandise and customers. By those standards alone, any retailer would be successful. Yet the company is reorganizing under Chapter 11. This is not really surprising when you consider that a private equity firm bought control of it from the founding family.
Many of the people on Wall Street think they are smarter than people who work in other industries. This is despite the fact that these Wall Street gurus never really operated anything and their real world business experiences constitutes looking at a spreadsheet. In a perfect world for private equity firms, they buy a company from pooling together a portion of the purchase price from institutional investors (pension funds, hedge funds, investment banks) and borrowing the rest to seal a deal. They collect a fee from completing a deal. The private equity firm and its partners own the business, but plan to cash out at some point for more money when they list the company on a stock exchange.
However, the business world is rarely that smooth. Risk is sometimes mispriced; consumer tastes change; companies borrow too much; and sometimes the wrong people are left in charge. Eddie Lampert took over Sears and brought Kmart out of bankruptcy. Now he's finding out how hard it is to compete against Wal-Mart. He might end up tarnishing his legendary status on Wall Street because of the struggles at the retailer. Will Sears go bankrupt? I doubt it, but their Sears Essentials store in my area looks like its having a tougher time than Fortunoff. It's surrounded by a Target, a Wal-Mart, Lowe's, Home Depot and a Macy's. I'm sure South Plainfield is not that much different than the rest of America's retailing climate. Trimaran Capital Partners and the Kier Group bought a majority stake in Fortunoff from the founding family in 2004. The Fortunoffs hoped that the firm would turn them into a national department store and still held a stake. Published reports listed Fortunoff's debts exceeding $300 million in November and assets of $268 million. This indicates risky capital structure that is vulnerable to downturns in consumer demand. A bankruptcy court and a new owner could give the company a chance to create a better capital structure. Trimaran and Kier Group's troubles with Fortunoff are not that unique in retailing. Levitz filed for bankruptcy again. Catalog retailer Lillian Vernon and gadget seller Sharper Image recently filed.
Wall Street firms have a pretty good history of mismanaging retailers. Macy's was taken private in a leveraged buyout in the late 1980s and that led to a bankruptcy. You might be impressed with some of the big salaries these private equity types collect. If they start prowling around your company, be very afraid. The pedigree of a Harvard MBA associated with these Wall Street gurus is not a guarantee that they know how to keep retail customers happy or the shelves of these stores well stocked.

Potter Author Buys Buckingham Palace, Evicts Tenants

2008-10-07T12:21:00.000-07:00

Originally published Jan. 15, 2007

LONDON -- Billionaire Harry Potter author, J. K. Rowling, acquired Buckingham Palace and evicted the royal family, calling them "ungrateful tenants who were defiling the neighborhood."
"They're hillbillies with money," Rowling said of the royals. "If they didn't have the family jewels, they'd be watching 'Big Brother' on the telly and cheering on Milwall with the other racist football hooligans. Instead, they go hunting and play polo."
Rowling accidentally acquired the property from an obscure bank trust that had owned the palace instead of the royals.A legal scholar had found that the Royals had mortgaged the property to finance the Napoleonic Wars, the loan was never repaid to the mortgage holder.
Rowling discovered the defaulted mortgage by accident and immediately foreclosed on the property.
"We're talking about 200 years of uncollected interest those swine owe my bank," Rowling said. "They're a bunch of ungrateful tenants who were defiling the neighborhood with their tawdry affairs and surly fights. In any other neighborhood, they would have been locked up.
"They even had the nerve to try to take the jewels with them," said Rowling, who built a billion-sterling media empire of movies, films and merchandise on the tales of a boy wizard. "I'll probably melt down some of the gaudier stuff."
A shaking Queen Elizabeth II was seen at the curb of the property crying.When asked for comment, she replied, "F--- off! You wanker."

Big Plans for 'Potterland'
Rowling plans to bulldoze the palace to build a real life Hogwarts theme park, called Potterland.
"If Walt Disney can build a theme park with the flimsy premise of an animated mouse, I could turn most of London into my own playland," Rowling said. "I really just need to keep up with the Oprahs."
Rowling's accidental acquisition came after she was nervous about big banks being stuck with bad debts. This would have left her deposits vulnerable, she said.
Also, big banks were unable to meet some of her specific needs."My bank has a swimming pool filled with my money, so I could take a dip whenever I feel a little blue," Rowling said.
-- 30 --

The NFL Blows and Call Me when the Election's Over

2008-10-07T12:18:00.000-07:00

Originally posted Nov. 30, 2007

The NFL blows and call me when the election is over... Current mood: tired Category: News and Politics

I'm tired of the 2008 election and it's not even 2008 yet. I like Ron Paul the most of the bunch, but nobody takes him seriously and I won't join the Republican party to vote for him in the primary. After that, I'd vote for either Obama or Edwards. Yeah, there isn't much in common between Paul or the two democrats. But I tend to side with libertarians on social issues and the democrats are the lesser of two evils when it comes to the major parties on social issues.

... The McGreeveys deserve each other. I think the family court judge should find away to confine our former governor and his estranged wife to a cell together. I can't believe our former Gov. took up court time over a kid's birthday party. We wonder why our legal system is so screwed up, but it's because we get the government we deserve. In this case, we go to court over the slimmest disagreements or when we face the slightest hardships. The judge should also sanction the attorneys involved for allowing it to degenerate to this point. If you have courts in a better position to threaten attorneys for frivolous cases, attorneys will find themselves to be in a better position to say "You're wasting your time, your money and the court's time" to a client. At least the judge was sensible enough to ridicule the parents.

...The NFL in its infinite wisdom took one of the best games of the year and reserved it for their own TV network despite the billions they get from their TV partners at ESPN, Fox, NBC and CBS. The NFL is overplaying its hand. It's bad enough that they stretch 1 hour of playing time into three and a half hours of TV time filled with commercials. Now the NFL is actually hoping to aggravate its fans into complaining to their cable operators so the public will pay for their channel. Screw the NFL. They're as bad as the Yankees. The masters at the NFL should learn the lessons from boxing. A sport that once showed title fights on Wide World of Sports on Saturdays took more and more of their fights to pay-per-view -- effectively narrowing their audience to the highest bidder. Now nobody cares about boxing. I can't name one title holder. The coverage is relegated to inside the sports section -- somewhere after high school sports and before equestrian events. The NFL should watch its step here, because their long term interest should be focused on the product on the field -- not the pipeline of delivery to the fan's home ...

Now that the Mets traded Lastings Milledge, what's the over/under in the number of seasons it takes for him to become an All-Star? I'm figuring the 2010 season. The Mets inevitably find a way to do this.

That's all for now. Just some rambling before I call it a night...

Random Thoughts on a Saturday night

2008-10-07T12:11:00.000-07:00

Originally Posted Sept. 1, 2007:

I'm just hanging around on a Saturday night. I haven't written a blog in months and I don't feel like writing the book that's been in my head for years. My brain comes up with a lot of random useless ideas, but it's nice to share. Here they are:

I miss the Uncle Floyd show. It used to be on NJ Network in the 1980s and it was way ahead of its time. It influenced Howard Stern's channel 9 show with its low budget production values and crew members cracking up off stage. It's an iconoclast among tv variety shows with its great piano playing, campy skits, satire -- making it unlike any network comedy/variety shows.

This month and next month baseball will be on the brain. God, please get the Mets into the post season! Why can't Chipper Jones go 0-for-12 in a four game series against the Mets? He's dashed the hopes of Met fans for over a decade with clutch hitting. God likes to test the faith of Met fans. Yankee fans don't get tested this way because God doesn't care about them.

Does anybody really care about politics? I don't like anybody running for president in 2008. Does anybody know what we're voting on in November? Maybe it's a good thing the campaign this year is limited to after Labor Day.

Is there a more annoying song than "Safety Dance" by Men Without Hats?

Van Halen and Bruce are on the road again... Both are on tour. Van Halen is looking for a payday by bringing back David Lee Roth with tix selling for $50-$150 (Washington DC show). Bruce tix are going on sale for different spots starting September 8. I've always been less satisfied with big arena shows than catching a band in a club like the Stone Pony, the long gone Green Parrot in Neptune, and last but not least City Gardens in Trenton.

Arena shows with big bands are predictable, right down to the encores. I get more satisfaction watching the Stone Pony cutting the electric on Graham Parker after he played two encores at 2:45 a.m. That was pretty cool for $10 at the door for a spot 15 feet from the stage. How can the energy from the stage diving at a Fishbone show(performers included) be replicated by anything Bruce, Van Halen, or U2 in a big arena? What about the Vans Warped Tour with its 5 stages and 50 bands for less than $30. The musicians will even meet the crowd at their booths after their performance. When's the last time Mick Jagger spent time with fans? I'll probably pick up Bruce's new album (the first single reminded me of something The Smithereenswould do).

Good nite for now... Feel free to post equally random thoughts.