No Flowers or Dinner Necessary

This piece , entitled "Wanted: A Few Good Sperm" in last week's New York Times Magazine comfirms what I've sensed all along for years: Women, deep down, are biologically programmed to want marriage and romance from men ONLY for having babies. and would be all too happy to dispense with them otherwise. The article outlines how ultra-finnicky gals in their 30's and 40's who, in some cases, have had close to "100 dates", and have found something wrong with each of these men, turn to simply purchasing sperm from donors whom they deem to be "appropriate." The clinical coldness with which they evaluate each potential sperm donor's "fitness" is both supremely selfish and chilling, in my view, as well as downright creepy. What do you think?

Pop Hits - From 1909??

This is VERY cool. There are now thousands of "pop hits" from the early 20th century available for free on the web. So, if you've listened enough to your (grossly overwight) Britney, 50 Cent, Nickleback and Destiny's Child tunes and are ready to hear what folks were listening to about 100 or more years ago, check this out.

A Disturbingly Accurate Take on What's Happening

Political pundit Kevin Phillips, in his new book, "American Theocracy", reviewed today in the New York Times, brilliantly lays out where we are as a society right now and it ain't a pretty picture. New York Times reviewer Allan Brinkley does a great job of summing up Phillips' new book, in this review:

...Phillips has created a harrowing picture of national danger that no American reader will welcome, but that none should ignore.

I'm Feeling Better Already

Whewww.... I feel relieved - don't you? Turns out Michael "Brownie" Brown DID know what he was doing when he screwed up the Katrina rescue last summer... He made that announcement today. Glad that's resolved.

Thought while reading story #10,237 on Howard Stern

Man, is he ugly...

Oh, and he's being sued by CBS Radio. Note to CBS: Get over it! He's gone, and you're left with a burned out, has-been David Lee Roth in the morning. Have to admit, though, Roth did have better hair up until recently, when he cut it all off.

The End is Near

Read this - very sad... But, hey, we reap what we sow.

"Only one in four Americans can name more than one of the five freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment (freedom of speech, religion, press, and assembly, and petition for redress of grievances.)

But more than half can name at least two members of the cartoon family, according to a survey."

Photo courtesy of AP/Fox

Coffee, cigarettes, sex and booze

This is a new one... Enjoy, and have a risky/frisky day!

When you're South Dakota.......

....you have to do something to attract attention and fill the time that inevitably fills up while living in a state cut off from any kind of civilization, sophistication, or, in this case, common sense. Let's hope this effort goes nowhere. In the meantime, females who are of childbearing age may want to check out other places to live while this nonsense proceeds.

Why America is Slowly Slipping Away

One of the reasons why America is slowly going down the tubes, and ultimately, in my view, will be overtaken economically and culturally by countries like China and India, long term, is because of our culture, or more specifically, what our culture is becoming.

Our society has become a "whatever feels good" society fed by torrents of media coming at us teaching us to fulfill our every desire no matter when, how or the consequences. We've lost our nerve. We've lost our sense of personal responsibility and shame. We've lost our discipline.

Parents do not know how to parent - they (and I know this is a huge generalization) are so fixated on making sure their careers flourish so that they can have a house with THREE-car (yes, three) garages, 5 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, that they overlook the very things that are the most important: like knowing where their high school age kids are, what they're watching, what they're eating, who they're with, who they're IM'ing. And that's just my diatribe against the well off.

In the inner cities, shootings are rampant, drug use is off the charts and entire areas have been taken hostage by thugs because today's 12 to 17 year olds are being raised essentially by, and I use this term loosely, "adults" (although they're frequently not much older than their kids) who have addiction and other problems. So, problem folks beget problem folks with even deeper problems.

The welfare system has a lot to do with it. Handouts don't solve anything. In fact, they tend to encourage, or "enable" troubled folks to continue doing what got them to the handout point in the first place. Liberals tend to make excuses on behalf of those who are shooting up (both their veins and at others) in abject poverty - "the tests are too hard", "they're biased culturally or racially", "we need bilingual education", etc. etc. etc... ad nauseum, with an emphasis on the nauseum.

We're enabling troubled folks rather than empowering them with tough, meetable standards in school and in the workplace. We're lowering ourselves to meet everyone's specific needs rather than encouraging them to raise themselves up to meet standards that all need to meet to become good, law abiding, economically self sufficient citizens.

No, folks, we need to stop coddling everyone - tough standards make for a working society as much as it is tempting to relax everything. Relaxed standards, and compassion without any strings attached like personal responsibility are like sugar - they taste and feel good, but in actuality exacerbate societal problems.

True Colors

Was there ever an event (aside from the Katrina mess, the Iraq debacle, the slashing of much needed medical care for poor folks in next year's budget submitted to Congress in favor of more Iraq spending, Cheney accidentally shooting his friend and then running for cover for two days - OK, so there may be a lot more) that shows the Bush administration's true colors as this "let's have a key player in the Arab world run the most crucial ports in the US" incomprehensible decision?

Two excerpts from today's "let's hire Osama to run our ports" coverage sum it up.

After you read these, you'll find there really isn't much else to say, is there? (and I'M a REPUBLICAN, by the way!):

From AP this morning:

"McClellan dismissed any connection between the deal and David Sanborn of Virginia, a former senior DP World executive whom the White House appointed last month to be the new administrator of the Maritime Administration of the Transportation Department. Sanborn worked as DP World's (the company that would take over the ports - Dogged Blogger) director of operations for Europe and Latin America.

“My understanding is that he has assured us that he was not involved in the negotiations to purchase this British company,” McClellan added.

Yeah right, and Dick Cheney has no connection or personal interest in our controlling the oil fields in Iraq.... And I'm a Martian who just landed in the US and have green skin and tiny pointy toes...

The other excerpt, from Reuters, this afternoon:

"U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow said that rejecting an Arab company's takeover of operations at major U.S. ports would have sent a bad signal about investment from "certain parts of the world" in the United States."

Noooooooo...... really??? Who cares? I don't want their money anyway.

So, what Bush is telling us is that 1) He will do anything he can to help the "insiders" and will listen to them no matter what, and 2) That big business drives all decisions.

'Nuff said.

Photo courtesy of amatern and flickr.com

Am I in a Bad Dream, or What???

....and while we're at it, let's hire Osama to be Executive Vice President and COO of these ports, too.

How many more days until this horrid, putrid, imbecilic, disgusting administration leaves office??

Photo courtesy of brucetct and flickr.com

I've Had It... Now You've Got Me Pissed...

Alright - I've had it! This is really starting to get to me. The utter hypocracy and savagery of a supposed "religion." Read this...

Isn't this supposed to be a "faith of peace"? Huh!! The very acts the cartoons depicted are now actually happening! The Danish cartoonist was brilliant (albeit pretty cavalier about his own personal survival). Please - no more "but we need to respect and tolerate." Bullxx##. This is war...

Photo courtesy of katalepsis

They Should be Ashamed of Themselves

Cabelas outdoor store (a favorite of Dick Cheney's according to this column - gee, now that's a surprise!) is nice enough. But they've been mighty successful in shaking down(oops, sorry, I meant "suckering") states for hundreds of millions of dollars in precious tax breaks that they really cannot afford, all so these stores that foster the killing of defenseless cute little wild animals (but I digress) to come to these states and provide a handful of low wage retail jobs. Gee, that sounds neat! The states listed as having given in to this less than vital business should be ashamed of themselves. This money should be going for something else, my friends. Read this....

Photo courtesy of fuzzcat and flickr.com

Wow - Apple Running Windows?

If the thoughts in this piece in PC Magazine ever actually come to pass, it would utterly revolutionize the world of computing. Steve Jobs should have done this a long time ago. I've always wanted an Apple PC, but need Windows. Awesome!

Photo courtesy of rodolfo novak©

"I KNOW ALREADY - IT'S FREAKIN' SNOWING!!"

If you're looking for proof that we as humans are utterly and irremediably (sorry to use such a big word on a Sunday morning...) dumb and backward, just watch local newscasts when there is a big snowstorm. Each local affiliate has 4 or so correspondents stationed throughout the metropolitan area to report on the fact that "it's snowing." I mean, they spend 30 minutes talking about how "it's snowing." Duhhhhhhhh... I could have looked out the window and told them that. The newscasts frequently sound like this (with some slight exaggeration to help you get the feel for it):

Anchor (Jim): We go now to Worcester where Bill Dandruff is standing by.... Bill, how does it look there?

Bill: Well, Jim, it's snowing and snowing really hard. We expect it to continue snowing until it stops. Back to you, Jim.

Jim: Thanks, Bill. We go now to Juanita, who is on the Cape. Juanita - what's happening there?

Juanita: Well, Jim, it just started to snow, and it looks like it's now snowing. We expect it to continue for a while. It's really coming down. Look at the cars behind me in the snow. It's really snowing. Jim?

Jim: That was Juanita on the Cape reporting that it's just starting to snow and that it will continue for a while, at least until it turns to rain, or it just stops altogether. Liz - you're on the North Shore - let's get an update from you.

Liz: Well, Jim, here it's really coming down. As you can see, I've got a yardstick stuck in the ground here in front of me to measure how much we'll get, and so far, I measure (bending down to read yardstick) about 2 and a half inches. But one thing's for sure, Jim, it's snowing and will continue to snow for a few more hours. That's it from the North Shore, Jim.

Jim: Thanks, Liz. Now we turn to the weather and meteorologist Bruce Backburn. Bruce?

Bruce: Thanks, Jim. It's snowing.....

ENOUGH ALREADY! I KNOW IT'S FREAKIN' SNOWING!! Please, I beg of you, please: All I want is for all of you to walk away sllowly from the cameras, and go out and do some real reporting. Maybe a crime story, a fuzzy kitty story, a rescued baby. Something, anything - just PLEASE: NO MORE "IT's SNOWING" pieces. I can figure that out for myself.

Whewww... I feel better already.

This Bling Bites

Can't really describe this - you have to really check it out for yourself... Either these guys have way too much money, or way too much time on their hands. Be repulsed.... be very repulsed.

"I'm a White, Upper-Middle-Class High School Boy, and I was Discriminated Against"

Thought I had seen it all in this litigious "I won't take responsibility for myself so let's sue the bastards" country, but now this:

A Milton, Massachusetts high school senior has filed a complaint with the US Department of Education Civil Rights Office (yes, kids, I said "Civil Rights" office!) claiming the reason he's doing lousy (a 2.58 GPA) is because the school discriminates against the male students. Click here for story.

He says, among other loony things, that boys are just naturally "more rebellious" than girls, and should not be expected to sit down, behave and take orders all day.

My advice to this poor schmuck: Practice saying "would you like fries with that?" because that's the level he'll reach and remain at for the rest of his poor, sorry, loser, life.

By the way: His dad is a lawyer, and wrote the complaint. That his father encouraged this is just obscene.

Read this piece and feel very, very disappointed in where we're headed in America right now...

Shouldn't They be Learning English?

Front page story today in the Boston Globe about how City Councilors there are taking Spanish lessons because their constituents cannot speak English. Haven't they got it all wrong? Rather than enabling them, shouldn't we be expecting people in America to speak our language, namely English? If I moved to another country, wouldn't I be expected to know the native language? Isn't something wrong here?

Chime in on the Entwistle Case

This excellent, albeit creepy, site/blog is filled with lots of dialogue among and between ordinary folks like you and me about the strange, sad, horrid Entwistle, transatlantic Hopkinton, Mass/Worksop, England murder mystery.

Worth reading... here it is. Quiz, below...

After reading the posts in the above link, what do you think is the most plausible chain of events?

A) That Neil was living a double-life and that things came crashing down on him - lost all his money, wife found out, and he snapped?

B) Shady characters related to Neil's internet/e-bay dealings who were owed money or other items from Neil killed his wife and daughter, and threatened him and others in his family, and that's why he ran to mom and dad in England?

C) That the Entwistles' idenities were stolen, and that this somehow triggered these sad turn of events?

D) That Neil is a deceitful, low-life, scheming, two-timining sociopath like Charles Stuart, Scott Peterson and OJ Simpson, among others?

Let us here at The Dogged Blogger know.... I'd personally say it's D). But what do I know?

"Intelligent Design", huh....

So the creationists/fundamentalists now call their science-defying "theory" of how we came to be "intelligent-design" theory - that somehow there's no way we could have evolved from monkeys because we are just so "intelligently designed." Well, if we were crafted so cleverly, then please explain to me:

1) Why humans treat each other far more brutally for mere sport than any other living species. Heck, we treat our pets better than we treat other humans. Most of the world spends most of its time trying to destroy, maim or otherwise kill each other. Maybe it's me - but this is intelligent?

2) Why most humans live in abject, miserable, unspeakable poverty, many failing to live past the age of 35, living off table scraps and rice, while there exist in this world enough resources to allow other humans to spend more money on their swimming pools than these other folks earn in 6 months?

3) Why humans cannot, easily, withstand the harsh extremes of the world's climates. I mean, I think we'd all agree that the optimal climate for most humans is sunshine and 75 degrees, yet much of the world either bakes (in abject poverty, I might add) in temperatures averaging 90 to 110 or%2

We're Slowly Killing Ourselves

This piece in the New York Times describes how diabetes is becoming an epidemic in the US - more so than most people assume, and will soon threaten a good many folks.

The culprit: Our absurd diet in America, which rarely consists of anything nutritious anymore. People just can't control themselves, and are getting fatter and fatter by the day. Kids' parents let them eat crap like McDonalds and sugary cereals that are worthless day in and day out, while allowing them to wash it all down with sodas that contain 250 calories of nothing but pure sugar. The result: kids are developing diabetes, which previously was unheard of.

Meanwhile, parents start their day lining up at coffee shops buying muffins and donuts in the mornings to "get themselves going", all the while getting fatter and fatter.

The article outlines how most people think diabetes is just a manageable "sugar" problem, and that it's no big deal. However, it's a huge (no pun intended) deal: it can and does lead to serious kidney problems, amputation of key limbs like feet and legs, total blindness and death.

This is a great example of how humans can be so dumb (of course, there are countless others - smile), led along like meek lambs by whatever tastes good and is "easy", reinforced by avalanches of commercials and mass marketing of just the very things we should not be eating.

Please read this excellent and eye-opening Times article and think about making adjustments in your life, if you haven't already.

They know where you live

Take a look at this New York Times piece on something that at first glance (no pun intended) seems great, but that once you think about it becomes in your mind a real problem: the fact that you can get a pretty revealing and crystal clear satellite, photographic view of every single inch (or centimeter, for those of you on the metric system) of every address, piece of land and building anywhere in the world.

Why doesn't Google - the purveyor of this ingenious feature just gift wrap it and invite all terrorists everywhere to use it?

Man, it's awesome, but scary. I typed in my address, my parents' address, and other addresses, and saw a clear rendition of the buildings, landscaping, roads and anything else in their vicinity from an uncomfortably close angle...

In this day and age, doesn't this give you the willies just a teeny tiny bit? Read the Times piece if it doesn't.

If you haven't tried it, Click here, type in a street address and see what I mean.

Photo Source: Stewart Maxwell

Ted Kennedy's "Love Child" Apparently Outed, According to NY Daily News via National Enquirer

Am I the only one who saw this from the NY Daily News and this in the National Enquirer? Haven't heard nor seen anything else about it.

If true, it firmly cements in my mind the utter hypocracy among liberal Democratic women in supporting for so many years two huge philanderers, Bill Clinton and Kennedy.

Very simply, so many women have sold their soul to two men, among many, who treated women like dirt throughout their lives, but who championed the "politically correct" and, in many cases, admirable, policies and protections (and, in Kennedy's and Clinton's cases, I use that term loosely) women sought and still seek. Here's the Daily News piece:

"TEDDY, UNPROTECTED: Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), whose alleged 21-year-old love child was just outed by The National Enquirer, probably wishes he still had the secret back-channel relationship he once enjoyed with the supermarket tabloid. According to L.A. investigator Paul Barresi, who's writing "Bless Me Father, For I Have Sinned," an account of his life and times in the tabloid-celebrity underbelly, The Enquirer used to soften scandalous Kennedy items in return for access and info. Says a tabloid insider familiar with The Enquirer: "Back in the old days, Kennedy's brother-in-law Steve Smith [who died in 1990] used to be The Enquirer's contact with the Kennedy family. He worked out a pragmatic compromise in which he agreed to provide information, as long as the paper backed away from the more lurid speculation. Alas, no more."

Sat radio is the real deal...

In October, I'm hearing "Howard Stern this and Howard Stern that"... "SIRIUS this and XM that"... "satellite radio this and satellite radio that".... "yada yada yada"....

I'm thinking "why would I spend $12.95 a month for radio?" What a ridiculous waste of money!

Well, that was before I received a SIRIUS package for my birthday. Since then, I can't imagine life with out it! www.Sirius.com

I am completely and totally addicted - there is every genre of music ever recorded - from the 40's through today. There's bluegrass, soul, music for TRUCKERS (yup...), all types of country and rock, as well as OPERA!!!

Believe it or not, I listen to Opera for at least of some of each week - something I NEVER did pre-satellite. I thought Opera was weird before SIRIUS.

Source: Sirius.com

The talk stations are awesome too --- all kinds of political talk from the left and right, as well as comedy that gets me in a great mood after a long day at the office.

The satellite services also carry play-by-play of every game in every league there is. I know I sound like a shill but I'm 100% sincere - it's a great deal.

Consumer Reports recently reviewed satellite radio and found that most subscribers surveyed found it to be well worth the money. http://www.wral.com/money/5554671/detail.html
"About 70 percent of the respondents were very happy with Sirius and XM, and that's better than most services we cover," said Mark Kotkin, of Consumer Reports.

I urge, plead and beg each and every one of you to consider getting satellite radio if you can work it into your budget. If you like music, sports, comedy and talk, the $12.95 per month is a relative bargain.

Let me know how you make out and what you think...

Stupidity of Playing the Slots

It seems so obvious, but if you're even the least bit inclined to play slots when you're in Vegas, Atlantic City, or even Foxwoods, please take a listen to my commentary on slot machines - based on a recent piece in the Atlantic Monthly... Listen here...

http://www.archive.org/details/Playing_the_Slots

Sunday "mourning" ...

It's Sunday morning, and I'm mourning the end of my beloved Patriots reign as world champs. If they had just plain been outplayed by a better team, fair and square, I'd be better able to accept it. But, jeez, give me a break: Denver stunk. 5 horrendously sloppy turnovers by the Pats did 'em in, as did two stupid calls by the refs.

Had trouble sleeping after the game - Denver did nothing last night except hang around and scoop the Pats' fumbles up, move a few yards, and score.

This excellent Bob Ryan column sums up this tale of woe....

It was just plain shocking: The Pats have been, this century, a team that was computer-like in taking advantage of OTHER teams' turnovers. This time, we got a taste of our own medicine... Oh well - when do pitchers and catchers report again???