Thursday, June 30, 2011

"Love" In The Wild

Last Night's premiere of "Love In The Wild" had everything you need for a horrible tacky show:
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Women with chest implants in all colors of the rainbow, from Beige to White to Oriental - check.
Men with designer teeth in all colors of the rainbow from Light Beige to White (no Oriental) - check
Cut away shots of crocodiles - but never seen near the contestants - check.
Chessey host with British accent to bring a touch of dignity to the pig slop - check (well Irish, but whatevs)
Playground pic-em sides where the beautiful people show how heinously insecure they are - double check!
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It was slow mo CGI Car crash fun... but I will let Television Without Pity do the opening honors...
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Two planes fly through some lush mountains. Is this Alive? Are they going to crash and then eat someone? Because I would watch the SHIT out of that show. Oh, no. One plane has ten men and one plane has ten women and they are all looking for love. That's a lot more boring than my idea. The host, who reminds me of Charlie from Lost, all manic energy and accent, explains that these people have tried all kinds of dating: internet dating, blind dating. ALL KINDS. One lady has always dated bad boys and thinks she can change that now without massive therapy. One dude had his engagement "unravel" four months before the wedding. Really? Unravel? I feel like there is more backstory there. But MOVING ON. Another lady claims that there are no single men in San Francisco. I doubt that. Anyway, they're all headed to Costa Rica to do high-adrenaline adventures and fall in love. Well, definitely the former and maybe the latter. All of these women look the same to me: long wavy hair and lots of mascara. I hope they start putting chyrons on with names because I'm never going to be able to keep these people straight

NOOOOooooo - Death of the Oxford Comma

Are you kidding me.  Oxford killed the Oxford Comma.  What the hell?
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Look, I know I can't spell, but I love - absolutely love - punctuation.  Punctuation, used correctly, makes thoughts more manageable, expressions clearer, and meanings concise.  NOT thoughts more manageable, expressions clearer and meanings concise!
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Good God man, whats next a world wout apostrophes and commas where Cindys shoes and Cindies shoes are synonymous?
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Heresy from the Oxford Style Guide:

The comma

As a general rule, do not use the serial/Oxford comma: so write ‘a, b and c’ not ‘a, b, and c’. But when a comma would assist in the meaning of the sentence or helps to resolve ambiguity, it can be used – especially where one of the items in the list is already joined by ‘and’:


Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Obama follows Bush into the underbrush of lying

Today President Obama followed the path of President Bush and President Clinton before him.  Lying for no reason.
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From a Reuters Page

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The War Powers act is simple and clear.  You have 60 days after hostilities start to get approval from Congress.  Not "consult" with them,  not "infom" them.  You get approval.  The Constitution gives Congress the exclusive power to declare war.  I'm not saying we shouldn't be bombing Libya (we shouldn't, but I'm not saying that), but you have to get Congressional approval. That's the rules.
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As for Libya, if we are bombing a government  to protect civilians from the despot -great.  Why aren't we doing it in Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Belarus, and Burma?  It's a big ugly world out there...

Poor Toto

So, I commented on the new Andrew Lloyd Weber version of the Wizard of Oz in England.  Well a friend noted the reviews were so-so.  So I checked - he's right.  PS - Ed and Lisa - it has a rotating stage, I almost want to see it just to watch Ed squirm.
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But what I find hilarious are the pictures with the forced smiles.  Everyone is trying to look truly happy.  Everyone but Toto.  Toto looks embarrassed by the whole shenanigans.
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This is the worst for poor Toto ("Let go of my foot!") - but he looks uncomfortable in the show too!
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"Good God, where's my agent?"

Silly Citi

As you know, I was part of the Citi Bank layoff a few years ago (yes I got a raise and 9 months pay after being laid off, so I am not too bitter - in the big scheme of things).
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Well Citi didn't like their shares in the single digit range (plus they hovered on being taken out of indexes) so they did a 10 for 1 reverse split.  Because I have a lot of semi-worthless Citi shares, I was cashed out for some of my "rounded" shares.
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A few weeks- ago, I got a few hundred out of the whole shin-ding.  Returning from vacation, I found 2 more checks from Citibank with regards to this.  Horray - free money.  1 for $0.16 and 1 for $0.31.  Yes 2 checks for a total of 47 cents.  I am sure it cost more to cut the checks than 47 cents.  And, since I bank at Citi, they have to process it.  And, for some odd reason Citibank puts a hold on all Citibank checks.
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Silly Citi.

Random Gay Marriage Thoughts (contented)

So I have some random, contented Gay Marriage thoughts.  Simple things - really.
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1. It's a non-event now.  Unlike California or Maine, which whipped up anger and frustration and horror after stripping marriage from us, winning produces a nice warm glow.  As an aside,I kind of think the anger and hate on the other side are maybe politically motivated, because once their side lost - they stopped.  When our side lost on this we were hurt, crushed and felt as if we were thought of as less than others.  It was a refutation of us as people.  Passing gay marriage is a confirmation that we want to be part society - so less anger is generated on the other side.  Only really angry people don't want to let others join society.
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2. For the first time, I feel happy to be a New Yorker.  Just like after Prop 8, for the first time, I was embarrassed to be a Californian.  (But I'll always be an Angelino!).
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3. It is kind of funny (okay - make that hilarious) to see the the conservative press fight within itself, and point out the hypocrisy of Cardinal Dolan at the same time.  Witness below...
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Potemra made mocking reference in his Stonewall story to Archbishop Timothy Dolan's glib invocation of North Korea in an anti-gay marriage blog post earlier this month. That set off Kathryn Jean Lopez, the fragile, abortion-hating, anti-sex former editor of the National Review Online, whom I generally tend to imagine scribbling "Mrs. Kathryn Ratzinger" in her Lisa Frank journals.
Do not be so quick to dismiss the North Korea comparison, Mike. We are witnessing tyranny today that is fostered by a false sense of freedom, a tyranny that faux tolerance ferments.
More Monday.
Tyranny! North Korean-style!
Jason Lee Steorts, the managing editor of the National Review, then decimated K-Lo's (and the archbishop's) non-argument in a devastatingly sarcastic post that went up about 45 minutes later:
So it is your view, Kathryn, that the action of democratically elected representatives, who are accountable to the citizens of the State of New York, is tyrannical in a way that justifies comparison to North Korea, a state in which an absolute ruler has burned people alive in a stadium. Okay. But now I want a new word for what "tyranny" used to mean.
I would like to see the reaction of a North Korean refugee to your claim.
It would also be nice if you troubled yourself to make an argument.
There follow four separate updates in which Steorts apologizes for his tone but continues to criticize Lopez for defending a claim that he finds "absurd and offensive to North Koreans":
It will be good to find out whether Kathryn thinks the procedure of enactment is tyrannical, the substance, or both. I hope, in offering an exegesis of the context of the Dolan quote, she will say what she understands by "dictate," and how the process of enactment constituted dictatorial tyranny of a kind specifically similar to the North Korean or Chinese (as opposed to, say, the Canadian), and how what has happened here is that the state has presumed omnipotence in a North Korean or Chinese fashion rather than the people’s having wickedly done this through their elected representatives, through whom they may also change their minds — a process not commonly witnessed, I do believe, in North Korea or China. All this if the point is that the procedure of enactment is tyrannical. If the substance, I suppose she can just mention the famous North Korean and Chinese tendency to redefine civil marriage as New York has done, and we will grant its deviance from her understanding of natural law, and the equivalence of this with tyranny, without requiring her here to defend all that.
All of this is terribly entertaining -- like watching Mom and Dad fight, if you didn't like your parents, and one of them was kind of dumb. (emphasis mine - Scott)

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

So here is a short compilation of our Safari videos

Today's Safari Pictures

Eddie took all of these on our vacation last week...  I am posting a few until he gets back with the camera.
Just a high old time at the Watering Hole - big zoom lense

Two Young Bull Elephants Goofing Off - Small Zoom

A Leopard crosses in front of the Rover (mirror on left) - Hardly any zoom at all

Alex Pettyfer must be a difficult person

So... Alex Pettyfer has kind of a bad rap.  He is, supposedly, arrogant, rude and narcissistic.  He must be truly worse in person.
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Because, clearly it has affected the reviews of his movies.  I watched "I Am Number Four" on the plane, and kind of liked it.  I have talked to other people who liked it as well.
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I mean it's no war and peace, but for a teen coming-of-age, sci-fi action romance, it was more than acceptable.  Granted it opened with a lot (a LOT) of gratuitous Pettyfer skin shots - but if you are aiming at teen-age girls (and lecherous old guys) then that's not normally a problem for reviewers.
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But it got HORRIBLE reviews.  I mean kiss of death dreadful reviews.  I kind of have to assume that he rubbed everyone the wrong way.  Particularly after I read one of his gracious interviews.  Really, if you want to read a PRETENTIOUS interview, read this from the I Am Number Four press tour.
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I think he must be a tool.  Plus, Dianna Agron dumped his ass, and she is sweet (Quin from Glee) - so I blame him.  And - perhaps worse of all from my point of view, he lives in LA and hates it, loudly and often in interviews - so he should take his annoying little ass back to England.  I mean a lot of people hate LA - but you have to underplay it a little.
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Even amazing 21 year old abs don't make up for trashing my town.

Ed's At Wimbledon: "Site Check"

Site Check's ass.
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This is Andy Murray, John McEnroe and someone I should know, but I can't remember.
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Part of Ed's "Site Visit" - tough life.

South Africa is World Cup Crazy Ready

World Cup Rugby this year is at a fever pitch in South Africa.  All the little shops have Rugby T-Shirts (I did not purchase one - I have a little Rugby Gut I need to get rid of first)..
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You would think it is in South Africa, but actually it is in New Zealand and doesn't start until September.  They are RED- eee!
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So the whole country gets behind the national team on things like this, but there is a big divide over the local sport.
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In England the division between Rugby and Soccer is (dare I say it), kind of a class / economic station thing.  The rabble and rabble rousers like Soccer and the more polite (and middle class) are fans of Rugby.
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In South Africa, it is much the same with a little dash of racial overtones mixed in.  While everyone roots for the national teams, in general, the sport watched by whites is Rugby, the sport watched by blacks is Soccer.  It is an interesting dynamic.

Monday, June 27, 2011

Kind of Love This T-Shirt

It is a response to President Obama's flaky answer to "Do you support Gay Marriage?"
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In 2006 he supported Same Sex Marriage (per questionnaire)
In 2008 he opposed Same Sex Marriage (per questionnaire)
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In 2010 he position is "still evolving".
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This shirt makes the point better than saying, Shit or Get Off The Pot.

So This is My Penguin Friend in Cape Town

I had a good long discussion with this Penguin (I call him Henry).  It was goofy fun.




After our tete a tete, we all went to the Boulder Beach where Sean, Susie and Eddie had their own little encounter as this fella marched right up to them and past them.  Susie was a little concerned about the penguin "attack", while Sean just fired off pictures.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Coast South of Cape Town

 So, I am in London, awaiting my flight to New York - and I realize a small problem - it is Gay Pride Day - the day after Gay Marriage wins.  There is no way I am getting cross town.
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Oh well.
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This is the coast south of Cape Town.  All the other pictures are on real cameras I haven't downloaded yet  - this was on my iPhone. And yes, it looks amazingly like Highway 1 in Sunny California.
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The Safari was tons of fun.  There were 2 amazing moments which I will share with pictures later, but right now you just have to imagine.
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First, we followed a female leopard through the bush as she marked her territory with scent.  I was kind of amazed on who we annoyed her, but didn't scare her away.  And I was surprised as we drove through the bush, going over the occasional bush and small tree.  But it was amazing!
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Second, one afternoon we watched a herd of elephants eating  on our right.  We turned off the car, and they continued to munch away, including 2 young elephants and a very young calf.  Well, they walked and ate, and at one point surrounded the rover.  So we were literally sitting amoungst all these feeding elephants - who obviously kept an eye on us, but none the less seemed unfazed by our being there.
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Great day!

Saturday, June 25, 2011

I am on my way home and thrilled

Gay marriage passed in New York. Yay!!!!!!
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More on Africa later but my marriage is legal at home.
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Sniff

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

So we went to the shark dive

Well, we went out to the Shark Dive and had a great, if scary time.
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Yes. the brown rocks ar seals - look close
Technically Sarkius-BigAssius
The way out we swung by the seal island (McDonald's for the sharks).  Look at them all.  Even the rocks are seals if you look close.

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Our rental in Capetown - apt on 2nd for, not yacht

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We are on floor 2, view of the V & A waterfront. Right above us is table mountain. It is all good. Sean and sue arrive tonight. (Sorry about typos, doing this on iPhone from football bar)

Friday, June 17, 2011

Isn't This Backwards?

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So we had / are having a huge layover in London before heading off to Cape Town. We decided to go bumble around London (which ended up being Nando's for lunch and then a bumble cut short by rain). As we get off the train in Paddington, we see the Mind The Gap signs on most tracks. But track 7 for some odd reason has this signage; Gap The Mind.
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I don't know if it was a mistake or clever word play - of the Brit variety.

Worst Idea Evea?Andrew Llyod Weber does Wizard of Oz

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Well, as we were walking around London for lunch, I saw this. Andrew Lloyd Weber's Wizard of Oz. Maybe he isn't changing it, say you. Bullshit, say I.
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Michael Crawford is the Wizard!
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Michael Man-In-The-Phantom-Mask Crawford! (Last see in Hello Dolly clips in WallE). The mind reels.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Book Of Mormon Two: Some thoughts about the creators

I have to say, the three guys that did Book of Mormon (the South Park guys, and 1 musical writer from Bigger, Longer, Uncut) are pretty amazing.  They have crafted a great show, but one that only would work on stage.  I mean, it is a stage show - where disbelief is suspended more easily and humans breaking into song makes sense.
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It is easy to forget what a difficult thing this is.  Damn few shows are created out of thin air.  Catch Me If You Can, Addams Family, Producers, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Lion King - all from movies.  Wicked from a book.  Scottsboro Boys, Assassins - from actual events.  But Book of Mormon is created out of whole cloth.
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Amazing.  And, in a light hearted (and crude :-) , but none the less honest fashion,  addresses the healing power of faith.
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And it made me laugh my ass off.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Saw Book of Mormon Tonight

It was great.  Great.  Irreverent, but very sweet and positive..  I mean kind of trashed the Mormons, but only by explaining some of their beliefs - literally.  They sound goofy to be honest (Jesus spent the 3 days between cruxifiction and resurection in America talking to the Jews that sailed to America before Christ was born?  Really?)
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But, by the same token, the play shows Mormon Missionaries are people who really care about others.
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And funny as hell!

This is Republican Roy J. MacDonald - We Like Him

This is Republican Roy J. MacDonald.  He is the first heterosexual Republican in the Senate that has come out for same sex marriage and a vote.  I love his quote (below).  If the marriage act comes up for a vote, win or lose, we are supporting Senator MacDonald, with donations and support, as long as he is running.
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Thank you Sir.
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(the quote).
“I’m tired of Republican, Democrat politics; I’m tired of blowhard radio people, blowhard television people, blowhard newspapers,” he said. “They can take the job and shove it. I come from a blue-collar background, I’m trying to do the right thing, and that’s where I’m going with this.”

Get Out, Get Out, Now Damn It

HP Main - Bin Laden Raid Compound
Getty Images
In the U.S., they’d get a medal. Pakistan’s top spy agency has arrested five informants who fed information to the American CIA and helped bring down Osama bin Laden. The five detainees, including one man who wrote down license plate numbers of cars entering bin Laden’s compound, were key in helping U.S. intelligence gather enough information to storm the late al Qaeda chief’s home. The arrests are further evidence of the weak ties between the two countries; the U.S. would rather see Pakistan detain al Qaeda operatives as opposed to those who help bring them down.

Tea Party Summer Camp (Really!)

Don't let the lame stream media indoctrinate your kids - let us.  (From the Saint Petersberg Times).
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This is great.  The have a new summer camp for kids to counter what they learn in public school - even though they don't know what they learn in public school....


He said he was not familiar with public school curriculum, but, "I do know they have a lot of political correctness. We are a faithful people, and when you talk about natural law, you have to talk about God. When you take that out of the discussion, you miss the whole thing.".

What will they learn?  Phrases like...
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The organization, which falls under the tea party umbrella, hopes to introduce kids ages 8 to 12 to principles that include "America is good," "I believe in God," and "I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable."
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By the by - think that when your mom says, "Share that with your little brother" and you answer " I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to!" Mom might not be so tea-party charitable.
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And fun activities... they got 'em!
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One example at Liberty: Children will win hard, wrapped candies to use as currency for a store, symbolizing thegold standard. On the second day, the "banker" will issue paper money instead. Over time, students will realize their paper money buys less and less, while the candies retain their value.
"Some of the kids will fall for it," Lukens said. "Others kids will wise up."
Another example: Starting in an austere room where they are made to sit quietly, symbolizing Europe, the children will pass through an obstacle course to arrive at a brightly decorated party room (the New World).
Red-white-and-blue confetti will be thrown. But afterward the kids will have to clean up the confetti, learning that with freedom comes responsibility.
Still another example: Children will blow bubbles from a single container of soapy solution, and then pop each other's bubbles with squirt guns in an arrangement that mimicssocialism. They are to count how many bubbles they pop. Then they will work with individual bottles of solution and pop their own bubbles.
"What they will find out is that you can do a lot more with individual freedom," Lukens said.
Whoopie.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

I am trying to find the Republican's Plan to Create Jobs - It is as missing as the Democrat's

So, I listened to the Republican Debate last night.  Instead of taking cheap shots, I was truly interested in seeing what they proposed as a soltuion to create jobs.
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They have no plan... but to reduce Government and cut taxes.  Kids, taxes at the federal level are as low as anytime in 60 years.  Bush cut taxes and reduced government oversight and kicked off the recession we are in.
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The only thing they agreed on is that saving the auto industry was bad and Obamacare will kill women and children (that isn't hyperbole by the way, they really did say it would start cutting medical aid to women and children in 2014)).
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Honestly - I am willing to listen to a reasonable plan by Republicans or Democrats.  There isn't one.  What the hell?

Tracy Morgan: Working Hard to Save His Job

Tracy Morgan today:
""The truth is if I had a gay son, I would love him just as much as if he was straight ... I might have to try to love even more because I know of the difficulty that he would have in society…. Of all the sicknesses, there is probably none more abusive than homophobia."


Tracy Morgan two weeks ago
he declared "that 'Born This Way' is bullshit, gay is a choice," and that his son "better talk to me like a man and not in a gay voice or I’ll pull out a knife and stab that little nigger to death."
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Of course, he said that it was all a joke.  You know, stabbing his son to death if he choose to be gay.

My Boss Has Questions About this and my trip this week-end

After Grimstoven in Iceland (and my 2 day extension of a 1 week-end vacation) my boss has questions about my destinations.
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story.
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I would love to slag this off as idiotic, but if goes bad I will be well and truly pissed off

In the Prop 8 trial - which is trying to find the constitutionality of the anti-gay marriage proposition in California - the litigants have filed late that the Judge himself was gay and should have disqualified himself.  They found out this Republican appointed Judge (appointed by President Reagan by the way), confirmed it after he retired.
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He didn't try to get this case, he was the senior Judge of the District when it came to him.
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In their arguments, the whiners did concede that an African American Judge is capable of ruling on civil rights, a woman is capable of ruling on women's rights, but a single gay Judge doesn't have the capability to rule on the constitutionality of gay marriage in California.
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These same people have argued that gay marriage will hurt traditional marriage, so, one must assume, that a married person (straight or gay) couldn't rule on it either.  Neither could one contemplating marriage.  So we are left with trying to find a eunuch I suppose.
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You see, we gay people are so obsessed with hurting traditional marriage, that even a long, distinguished career in private law practice and an unblemished Judicial background - all of this is some sleeper cell plan we put in place under Ronald Reagan to destroy traditional marriage.  But you caught us.  Dang it.  No toaster for you Judge Walker.
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By the way, if we were that devious, wouldn't he have just lied to the question after he left the bench?

Monday, June 13, 2011

So.. yesterday we visited a lot of things

Yesterday Eddie and I went with my cousin Elise and her boyfriend Nile on a trip around New York.
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We started on the new section of the Highline park.  Most of the new section is straight and less interesting than the old section, but there is a really cool "flyover" where the magnolia trees are going to grow up high later.  It is fun.
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After that we took them to Chinese foot massage - which they needed for their aching feet anyway.  Then we had a little dim sum lunch and walked around Chinatown.
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It was a good day.  They then meet up with his relatives for dinner.
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Eddie and I watched the Tonys and finally had to breakdown and buy expensive tickets for Book of Mormon - because normal tickets are frozen until October.  Dang it.
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So it was a nice day yesterday.
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Short week for us as we leave Thursday night for Africa for 10 days.

Friday, June 10, 2011

I am surprised at the anger everyone has against LaBron

So, last night my Cousin Elise was in town with her boyfriend, boyfriend's brother and sister-in-law and Kiki.  So..  Eddie, myself and the 5 of them we all went to dinner.  We decided to go to Dalton's a nice sports bar / pub where Eddie and watch college football in the fall, because "the game" was on. (Yes - if you hate sports, your right, "the" game is always on...)
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Now they are from Albuquerque and we are from New York, and none of us are big Pro Basketball fans.  But we, and most people in the bar, found ourselves actively rooting against LaBron James and the Miami Heat in the Pro Basketball Championships.
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For those of you that don't know, LaBron is a fantastic player, who broke Cleveland's heart when we left the home-town team , where he was an idol, for a bigger payday and joined a team already heavy with talent in Miami. Miami went out and purchased a championship team, all that was left was the hand-clapping.
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And the playoff's.
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Turns out, Dallas - who no one really likes, is giving Miami a run for their money.  They may or may not win - but it was shocking to hear so many people actively cheering against the guy we had all be cheering for when he was propping up the Cleveland Cavilers (are they still the Cavilers?  I know everyone calls them the Cav's now).

Why Can't they Do this In Neuva Yorka

Heyzus Lopez, why can't any Mexican heritage cooks get to New York!?
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You can go into any restaurant in LA - or any city west of the Rockies - and ask for a Breakfast Burrito.  Any Mexican guy working  in the back, or American guy that has worked a grill with Mexican guys, can make one.
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On the big grill you..
1. Put two dollops of the scrambled egg stuff and let it spread out
2. Throw the big-ass tortilla on the opposite side of the grill.
3.Next to the eggs, you put ham or bacon (or if you are lucky, chorizo,) and use the big spatula to chop it up.
4. Between the meat and the tortilla, you put a little hash browns and raw onions.  Again use the big side of the spatula to chop it up.
5. So your back at the tortilla.  Press it down with the flat part of the spatula for 10 seconds and then toss it over to the other side.
..pause and admire the spread before you.  Soon it will be in your belly....

6. Walk back to the eggs, chop and flip.
7. Turn the meat over - chopping as you do.  Immediately mix with the chopped up scrambled eggs and chop together.
8. Turn hash browns and onions, mix and cop with egg mixture.  Create a mixture approximately as wide and long as your big spatula.
8. Pic up egg mixture, layer into tortilla.
9 Add scoop of nice salsa, fold tortilla over and put it in ...
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a. White foam core if at institutional restaurant
b  Wax paper and foil if at roach coach
c Plate with re fried beans if you want to get all fancy.
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COME ON NEW YORK.  How tough  is that damn-it!
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sign me -> hungry for home

Thursday, June 09, 2011

NEWSIES in New Jersey?

Sure, I like me some bad musicals - I LOVE From Justin to Kelly - for example.  But my honey has himself a favorite bad musical too.  NEWSIES.

And NEWSIES is coming to Jersey.
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Oh MY!

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Those who can't teach. Those that can't drive... Beat Formula 1 Racers at Mario Cart

I work with Jenine.. and I find this a crack up.
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Today is a historic day as on the 30th floor of our Times Square building as Rubens Barrichello (for Formula 1 racing fans the most experienced driver on the F1 circuit) was defeated by our team’s own Janine Petrowski at Mario Kart!  Earlier Janine beat all fellow competitors in New York at Mario Kart  and then today she got to race Rubens and defeat him!  The Q&A session and race should be shown on the Link sometime soon.  In the mean time attached is a photo below just after the win! Congratulations Janine!

Wednesday, June 08, 2011

Too Much Today Scott........

I know, last post.  This is from Huffington Post and is Funny!
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How Conservatives Are Responding to Weiner-gate.

How Liberals Responding to Weiner-gate

But if you can't trust him to tell the truth - then you can't trust him.

Here is the thing.  Part of me (the liberal lover) wants Weiner to make it out of this alive.
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He didn't break the law (unlike Sen. Ensign or John Edwards), he isn't a "family values" hypocrite (unlike Mark Foley or the Toe-Tapper), so what's the big deal?
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I mean, if I am his wife, I see the big deal, but otherwise, so what.
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Then Eddie, my conscious, pointed out the obvious.  He lied to cover his ass.  And he only told the truth when he got caught.  And, if you can't trust him to tell the truth, you can't trust him at all.
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So hit the road Jack.

If you have an iPhone - the Smithsonian Leaf Ap

This is cool..  A free application that lets you identify trees AND helps build a national database of trees.  Coolness.

(story)

Happy Tenth Birthday Bush Tax Cuts...

(Details and citations included from fact check)

Bush Tax Cuts: A Decade Of Failure

June 07, 2011 10:01 am ET
Today marks the 10th anniversary of the first of the two massive tax cuts signed by President George W. Bush and is yet another great opportunity to illustrate that both tax packages failed to deliver on their promised results. Bush told the country that the tax cuts would result in economic growth and sustained prosperity, but the economy got neither. In fact, from 2001 to 2007, the economy experienced the weakest job growth since the end of World War II. While the nation's millionaires and billionaires were enriched, average household income fell for the first time on record. Worse, since the Bush tax cuts did not pay for themselves — as many conservatives claimed they would — the two tax packages added trillions to the nation's deficit. During the current debate on deficits and debt, it's important to remember just how much the Bush tax cuts accelerated the fiscal troubles we're now facing.

Bush Tax Cuts Failed To Deliver

During Bush Years, Household Income Declined For First Time On Record. According to a report by the Center for American Progress: "The Bush economic cycle saw the first decline in median household incomes of any cycle since 1967, when the Census Bureau began tracking household data."
Household Incomes
[Center for American Progress, February 2009]
Bush Tax Cuts Inefficient, Didn't Stimulate The Economy. According to the Tax Policy Center's William Gale: "Economic research over the past decade can explain why extending the original Bush tax cuts is not good stimulus policy. After the tax rebates in 2001, 2003, and 2008, households appear to have spent in relatively short order somewhere between 25 and 67 cents more for each dollar of tax cut. This makes tax cuts in general - even the parts of those tax bills that were intended to stimulate - a relatively weak way to help the economy compared to increases in government purchases, for which each dollar of increased deficit turns into an additional dollar of spending." [Tax Policy Center, 9/30/10]
Bush Tax Cuts Followed By Weakest Jobs And Income Growth In Post-War Period. According to a report by the Center for American Progress, the Bush tax cuts failed to deliver jobs and income growth: "This period registered the weakest jobs and income growth in the post-war period. Overall monthly job growth was the worst of any cycle since at least February 1945, and household income growth was negative for the first cycle since tracking began in 1967. Women reversed employment gains of previous cycles. And for African Americans, the worst job growth on record was matched by an unprecedented increase in poverty." [Center for American Progress, February 2009]
Bush Tax Cuts Followed By "The Slowest Average Annual Growth Since World War II." As theNew York Times' David Leonhardt explains:
Those tax cuts passed in 2001 amid big promises about what they would do for the economy. What followed? The decade with the slowest average annual growth since World War II. Amazingly, that statement is true even if you forget about the Great Recession and simply look at 2001-7.
The competition for slowest growth is not even close, either. Growth from 2001 to 2007 averaged 2.39 percent a year (and growth from 2001 through the third quarter of 2010 averaged 1.66 percent). The decade with the second-worst showing for growth was 1971 to 1980 - the dreaded 1970s - but it still had 3.21 percent average growth.
The picture does not change if you instead look at five-year periods. Here's a chart ranking five-year periods over the past 50 years, in descending order of average annual growth:
[...]
Is there good evidence the tax cuts persuaded more people to join the work force (because they would be able to keep more of their income)? Not really. The labor-force participation rate fell in the years after 2001 and has never again approached its record in the year 2000.
Is there evidence that the tax cuts led to a lot of entrepreneurship and innovation? Again, no. The rate at which start-up businesses created jobs fell during the past decade.
[New York Times11/18/10]
Heritage Foundation Budget Guru: Bush Tax Cuts Played Some Role In Lower Revenues. As the Heritage Foundation's Brian Riedl admits: "the 2001/2003 tax cuts played some role in keeping revenues below their historical average for most of the 2000s, but the country was also recovering from a recession at that time, too." [Heritage Foundation, 7/29/10]
Bush Cuts Followed By Slowest Jobs Growth Since The End Of World War II. According to a report by the Center for American Progress, "from March 2001 to December 2007 the economy added 1.8 million jobs for workers aged 25 to 54, only 22,000 per month. That translates to an average annualized growth rate of only 0.3 percent per month-the slowest of any cycle on record since the end of World War II and one-fifth the growth rate during the 1990s."
Job Growth
[Center for American Progress, February 2009]

Bush Tax Cuts Are Costly, Add To Deficit And Debt

The Bush Tax Cuts Are The Primary Driver Of Federal Budget Deficits Over The Next Decade.Below is a chart from CBPP showing the deficit impacts of war spending, financial recovery spending, the recession itself, and the Bush tax cuts:
[CBPP.org, 6/28/10]
Continuing Bush Tax Cuts Doom The Long-Term Fiscal Picture. As the Tax Policy Center's William Gale has explained: "The deficits we face over the next decade reflect a fundamental imbalance between spending and revenue, one that goes beyond entitlements. Based on projections by the CBO, Alan Auerbach of the University of California at Berkeley and myself, among others, even if the economy returns to full employment by 2014 and stays there for the rest of the decade, the continuation of current fiscal policies, including the Bush tax cuts, would lead to a national debt in the range of 90 percent of GDP by 2020. That's already the highest rate since just after World War II -- and Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security aren't expected to hit their steepest spending increases until after 2020." [Washington Post8/1/10]
Extending Bush Tax Cuts "Would Increase The Debt By An Amount Roughly Equal To The Size Of The Economy." As the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities points out, tax cuts do not pay for themselves. In fact, if an unpaid-for extension is enacted, by 2050, the national debt "would increase the debt by an amount roughly equal to the size of the economy."
[CBPP, 11/16/10]
Present "Huge Deficits" Partly Due To Bush Tax Cuts. As the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities explains: "If not for the Bush tax cuts, the deficit-financed wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the effects of the worst recession since the Great Depression (including the cost of policymakers' actions to combat it), we would not be facing these huge deficits in the near term." [CBPP.org, 5/10/11]
The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities prepared the following graphic showing that the Bush tax cuts and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will account for nearly half of public debt by 2019:
[CPBB.org, 5/20/11]