People watching

It has definitely been a week for people watching. Not people watching in the traditional sense, I am not sitting outside watching all of the pretty girls walk by, but rather people watching via the internet. Sure I have already thrown Sharon Stone and Susan Sarandon on the blog this week, but if only they were the only two worth watching.

First, tonight is Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final and once again the city used Friday as an opportunity to have a Penguins pep rally. Mind you, they did the very same thing last Friday, before the Penguins and the Red Wings played Game 1 in Detroit. I am just curious how many pep rallies are actually needed before the faithful are properly enfrothed. Plus, from, a superstitious point of view, the Penguins had exactly zero pep rallies for the first three rounds of the playoffs and lost a sum total of 2 games (12-2), yet after the first pep rally they promptly went out and lost two consecutive games to trail in the best of seven 2 games to 1. Obviously if the pep rally results in another two game losing streak, this series is over, and if that is the case, I am not blaming the team, I am blaming the pep rallies.

Also of note, Oprah Winfrey has stated that she is going to go vegan for 21 days to see if she feels better on a vegan diet. I know who will feel better, all of the animals who have seen their threat level drop from red to green. Carrots, on the other hand, may become endangered.

Earlier this week, the NY Daily News reported that the British media were ridiculing Princess Beatrice for having, as we in the west might say, a little too much junk in the trunk. I don't know, she looks fine to me, nothing wrong with a few curves on a female, plus she is a red head and any former Dungeons & Dragons player would know, being a redhead is a +2 on the saving throw versus ugly. Of course all of us former Dungeons & Dragons players are also secure enough in our manhood that sometimes we do escape our parent's basements.

A local story that picked up some national coverage (I know I saw it twice Thursday morning on MSNBC, and some national newspapers picked up the story as well that I saw) was the firing of sports talk host Mark Madden from ESPN 1250 here in Pittsburgh. Mark had been warned in the past by ESPN management in Bristol CT that he needed to tone down his act if he was to stay employed by them. In the past he had talked about how he would have sex with callers wives, was critical (and sometimes insulting) of local sports figures here, and during one show said something along the lines of "having sex with a stripper would be like throwing a hot dog down a tunnel". It was an act for acquired tastes to be sure, yet what he said last week led first to an apology on the air and when the suits in Bristol caught wind of it, his dismissal. After word of Sen Ted Kennedy's brain tumor came out last week, Madden went on the air and said that he was sorry to hear about the brain tumor and that he thought the Senator "would live long enough to be assassinated". Mind you, two of the Senators brothers, President John F Kennedy and Robert Kennedy (who was running for President at the time) were both assassinated. The comments are indeed in poor taste, but what does it say of us, in a society where we covet freedom above all else, if the censoring isn't done by the government, but by its own citizenry. Madden has a right to be offensive, and yes, his employer has a right to dismiss him over it, but what does it say about us. Are we so thin skinned that we can't help but be offended to the point of censorship simply because we don't like what we hear. The obvious solution would have simply been not to listen, let Madden offend his audience away if that was the path he chose to take and move on, and find something more agreeable to listen to in his place. I often hear people chatter about the Patriot Act and how Americans are losing their freedoms, trust me, the person next to you will a cell phone camera waiting to take your picture the next time you screw up is a far greater threat to your security than the government is.

The problem with me making lists is that I always forget something that should have went on them. In my last blog I listed the 10 worst TV shows of my lifetime. I can't believe I forgot "America's Funniest Videos" which is about as unfunny as a show that purports to be funny could be. Mind you, it was also one of the first of the "cheap" shows that have come to dominate TV these days. How much does it cost when the public is submitting the video work for you and you are just arbitrarily picking the funniest of teh group, and then giving the winner $10,000. Hell, that is one commercial break, I imagine the profit margin on that show is outstanding, even if the programming was god awful.

Cool, my dinner has arrived. I ordered online while sitting in front of the computer doing this, so my food would get here before the hockey game. No, I am not glogging it, that is too long a project for me this evening, I would rather work on finishing off Kenopop. I got me a steak wedge, fries and onion rings. Indeed a tasty bachelor style treat. I plan on taking it easy tonight because I have a long day tomorrow, as I will probably be overnighting at the radio station. I also have a couple of applications to drop off and some shopping to get out of the way, so I am expecting to leave my apartment tomorrow morning and get back some time Monday afternoon.

Well, I am going to get all settled in, hockey in a bit, for now it is Family Guy and feasting. Nite everyone!

Not dropping any hints or anything.........

but my birthday is fast approaching (June 18th), and while I won't do a list like I do for Christmas, I wouldn't mind this

 

 

Helping the John McCain campaign

Susan Sarandon Somehow Under The Impression That Her Continuing Presence In This Country Is An Incentive To Vote Democratic

"SUSAN SARANDON, who appeared in three films last year and won kudos for her TV movie Bernard and Doris, is still not a contented soul. She says if John McCain gets elected, she will move to Italy or Canada. She adds, 'It's a critical time, but I have faith in the American people.'" Should the American people fail to reward that faith, expect Sarandon to choose Montreal, which will reunite her with husband Tim Robbins, who moved there after George W. Bush was elected in 2000. [Liz Smith]

Another glog, Stanley Cup Finals - Game #3 Pittsburgh vs. Detroit

I am getting a little bit of an early start here, I think I will be glogging Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final this evening. For those not following along on the video, Detroit leads Pittsburgh in the best of 7 series 2-0 and have been every bit as dominating as a 2 game lead could indicate. The Penguins still haven't scored a goal in the finals, losing 4-0 and 3-0 in the first two games of the series. Game three is still a couple of hours off, so for the time being it is just me and my fried potato sandwiches. It is one of those things I grew to like while growing up poor, just sliced potatoes fried in skillet and placed between two slices of bread with butter. Sometimes I will add salt, pepper and maybe a few fried onions, but today it is just potato. They are way cheap to make, which fits my current budget just fine, thank you.

I looked at the Pogo badges this week, they look really easy, so easy in fact that I have already finished the Vaults of Atlantis and need only one more word in Word Jong and then I can pick a personal challenge for myself. I haven't even looked at the ones I haven't done yet, but at this rate I will have plenty of time to finish whatever one I pick.

Is it just me or has Jerry Springer actually gotten worse than it used to be? I realize that it was never Shakespeare, but I saw a few minutes of it today and as bad as it used to be, I just never remembered it being this bad. It is now a coin flip between which show is worse, his or that sorry former security guard of his, Steve, who also has his own show. Worse, locally they run the shows back to back, so if you watch too much of it you can actually feel your brain cells die. I think if I ever were to come up with a list of the worst TV shows during my lifetime, both of those shows would be on it.

Come to think of it, I have some time here, so the worst TV show of my lifetime.....

10) Carson Daley

9) Jackass

8) Cheaters (if you have to hire people because you can't trust your partner, it is already over)

7) Jerry Springer

6) Steve Wilkos

5) Maury Povich (take two people who had sex, one pregancy, and a DNA test,..... wash, rinse and repeat)

4) Murder, She Wrote

3) Matlock (did he ever change clothes? he wore the same suit in every episode)

2) The Nanny (Fran Drescher's nasal voice is reason enough)

1) Mama's Family

I am sure I could have come up with more than 10, but that seems to be a good number when it comes to making lists.

I haven't started looking for a new part time gig yet, I may go out Saturday and do some applications, but for now I am enjoying having some down time to myself so I can do things like eat my fried potato sandwiches. Well that and play baseball on the PS 2, especially after qualifying for the playoffs in my first season in the major leagues. I finished the regular season with 30 HRS and 118 RBIs and now am in the first round of the playoffs, where I have won my first two games, and yes, Joe Random has his first playoff homerun.. Come to think of it, there is still an hour before hockey starts, maybe I can sneak another game in before I start glogging.

Great, I lost in extra innings, which means I may miss the opening minutes of the hockey game. Tonight's game out to piss off a national audience, since NBC has the game in primetime, and the last Pens game they had drew a 1.6 rating nationally (mind you it drew a 26.1 here in Pittsburgh) A quick lesson, which I have done before so for those of you that have read this before, just move along, nothing to see here. The difference between a rating and a share is that ratings include all TVs, where as a share only includes TV's that are turned on. Say there were only 5 TVs in the world and they all were in your home, and of those 5 TVs, one was off, 2 were on Scrubs, 1 was on Animal Planet and 1 was on CSI, then Scrubs would have a 40 rating (2 out of 5 TVs) but a 50 share (2 out of 4 that are on) . Likewise CSI and Animal Planet would both be a 20 rating and a 25 share. What this all means is the last time a game was on NBC involving the Pens, better than one out of every 4 TVs out there in Pittsburgh, even the ones turned off, had the game on. I think John McCain got the memo, one of his campaign commercials just aired and given Pennsylvania is viewed as a swing state and given how poor national ratings are for hockey, he probably got the time cheap, yet he probably did well in hitting western Pennsylvania viewers. Excellent way to spend campaign dollars.

I like campaigns that are smart with their money, like Mike Huckabee in Iowa and his offensive ad that he had, His campaign makes an ad that is he deems is too questionable so he decides to pull it, and calls a news conference to say as much and proceeds to play the ad for the reporters in attendance, The result, the media talks about his ad without him actually buying time on TV stations, free publicity if you will. Sometimes it isn't just having dollars, but spending them wisely.

I wonder if anyone in the blogging audience is watching the game. I get the feeling most of my viewers don't care for hockey all that much.

And we are underway from Pittsburgh.

One minute and 4 seconds into the game and the Penguins get their first power play, Johan Franzen serving two minutes for holding.

Osgood just made an awesome save on Ryan Malone in front of the net, and the game remains scoreless.

The Pengiins have only registered one shot so far on this power play, but have applied a decent ampunt of pressure, but can they do this 5 on 5? Worse, can they do anything 4 on 5 as the Penguins just took their first penalty, Jordan Stahl 2 minutes for holding.

The game is over 5 minutes old and only three shots to this point, 2 for Detroit and 1 for Pittsburgh. Dang, I need to pee, but I don't want to leave while the game is on.

Not a lot of end to end action, everything is dying at the blue line for both teams to this point, even the early power plays were rather uneventful. Detroit has upped their shot advantage slightly to 4-1, but the game is almost 8 minutes old, so neither team is getting much pressure on the other's goaltender.

Some chippy action taking place, lots of hitting at least since there isn't much shooting. The Penguins still with only that shot by Ryan Malone and the game is now almost a full 10 minutes old.. This is something that Dteroit does extremely well, they just don't give up many opportunities.

Fluery makes a nice save on Brad Stuart in front to keep the game scoreless, but the Penguins subsequently take a penalty, a 2 minute hooking call on Sergei Gonchar and Detroit will enjoy their second power play of the contest.

A couple of big saves by Fluery during the penalty kill, and the only result is that Detroit continues to build their shot advantage, its now 9-1 but the game remains scoreless.

Wait, I think the Penguins might have gotten another shot. That is big news in this contest, even if it didn't result in a goal.

And after some sustained pressure and a rare turnover by Detroit in their own end and the Penguins score their first Stanley Cup Final goal, compliments of Sidney Crosby with an assist to Marian Hossa and the Penguins lead 1-0.

The Penguins have dictated the play for the last 4 to 5 minutes, and the result is first Crosby's goal and now they draw a penalty to get the man advantage as Brian Rafalski takes a 2 minute penalty for tripping, and the penalty will carry over to the second period as the first period comes to a close with the Penguins leading 1-0. The Penguins closed the shot advantage that Detroit had, registering the last 5 shots of the first period to make the shot total 9-6 in favor of Detroit.

Now I can take my pee brake. All I will miss is a Cialis commercial, and really, it has been so long since I used it, I wouldn't know if I need that stuff or not.

Good news while I was peeing, the Pirates are losing again. I keep a radio in the bathroom that comes on whenever I turn on the light. I use it for when I am in the shower and usually keep it tuned into one of the sports talk stations here, and they just updated the Pirates score, they are now trailing the Reds 8-1 and my dream of a losing season lives on. I was getting worried again after they won 2 of three from the Cubs recently, both extra inning games, one because Alfonso Soriano doesn't know how to catch a fly ball, so again they were flirting with the dreaded .500 mark, but they lost yesterday to the Reds and are well on their way to another loss.

While we are in the first intermission, a quick update on my fantasy baseball team. I am still in third place, 3.5 points behind second and 8 points ahead of 4th. The top three teams win money as well as ten dollars for each of the ten category winners, and I lead in batting average, RBIs, and stolen bases, which would be an additional $30, but the season is still very young, I have plenty of time to blow this yet.

Once again we are underway with the second period just starting and the Penguins still on the power play. The Penguins pick up a quick three shots to start the period, but no goals, yet the hard work pays off as they draw another penalty, Niklas Kromwall gets the gate for hooking. Unlike the previous two power plays, the Penguins convert this time, and it's Sidney Crosby with his second goal of the game and the Pens lead 2-0. Hossa and Malone both register assists on the goal.

The Penguins are definitely the team with momentum here early in the second period, the shot advantage that Detroit had is now completely erased, both teams with 11 shots to this point.

Petr Sykora just misses a pass in front from Evgeni Malkin, a really good scoring opportunity there for the Pens but nothing to show for it.

Osgood makes another big save on Sergei Gonchar this time to keep the score at 2-0, but for the first time in this series, the Penguins are looking like the better team on the ice. They have had some opportunities in games 1 and 2 to score, but they haven't had this much sustained pressure in either of the first two contests.

Another scoring chance by Gonchar and his initial shot and rebound shot are both turned away. The Penguns continue to dominate the second period of this contest.

Detroit gets their first break of the second period, as Hal Gill gets called for cross checking and Detroit will enjoy their third power play of the game. The Penguins catch a huge break, as Jordan Stahl breaks his stick on the faceoff, basically giving Detroit a 5 on 3 advatnage but Fluery makes a big save and the net gets knocked off of its moorings before the puck can cross the goal line keeping the game at 2-0.

The Penguins kill the power play and Detroit is now 0-3 with the man advantage, as they could only get one shot on goal during the power play. The Penguins, who at one time trailed in shots 9-1, now actually have a 14-13 lead in that category.

By the way, I did finish the second Pogo badge. Maybe during the second intermission I will pick my personal challenge for the week.

Hal Gill gets called for another penalty, 2 minutes for cross checking again and Detroit gets their 4th power play of the game. Gill has put Tomas Holmstrom twice onto the ice face first by appling the stick to the back this period, both times resulting in penalties.

Finally Detroit converts on the power play, Johan Franzen skates through three guys and scores to cut the lead to 2-1. Niklas Lidstrom gets credit for an assist on the goal, but it was pretty much all Franzen on that effort.

Detroit commits another turnover in their end with a little over 3 minutes remaining in the second period but Osgood makes the save on Malkin's shot, so no harm done as far as Detroit is concerned.

Some end to end action for the first time in this game with 2 minutes remaining in the second period. Both teams getting rushes up the ice but neither team is able to convert and after 2 periods of play the Penguins lead 2-1.

Okay, I picked a Payday Free Cell for my personal challenge and also nuked a couple of burritos to eat during the third period. Yummy!!!! I think I am ready for third period hockey action.

Jason Giambi hit another homerun tonight, the gold thong must be working. Not that that has anything to do with hockey, but I was checking up on my baseball team during the commercial break and happened to notice that. And no, I did not draft Giambi for my fantasy team, we have a policy, "No Thongs Allowed". Also the Pirates did lose, 9-1, they are now 4 games under .500.

Okay, the third period is underway. Since the conference finals (last round), the team that has scored first has won every game.

2 and a half minutes into the third and the only two shots of this period belong to Detroit, both teams now have 19 shots, but no scoring to speak of.

Marian Hossa has a great backhand chance that clangs off of the post and a shot a few second later forces Osgood to scramble to keep it from crossing the goal line.

Fluery makes a save on a Johan Franzen shot to keep the game at 2-1 with just over 15 minutes remaining.

The Penguins notch their third goal, off of a lot of hard work by Adam Hall and he eventually banks it off of the back of Chris Osgood from behind the net. The play was aided by a big hit by Gary Roberts. Maxim Talbot and Roberts get the assists on the goal.

Detroit comes right back and just misses a goal as it glances off the outside of the post, which is immediately followed by Brooks Orpik having a defesemans dream, registering 4 hits in about tens seconds on the Red Wings. The intensity of everything has picked up if that is possible, the hitting is more fierce, the action is more end to end and the scoring chances are coming more frequently right now, but the Penguins still lead 3-1.

Mikael Samuelsson scores for Detroit and all of a sudden the score is now 3-2 with just about 6 minutes remaining. Franzen gets credit for an assist as does Valtteri Filppula. Man, I am never going to get the spelling down on all of the Euorpean and Russian names.

Franzen is denied again by Fleury and Detroit has gotten a jump in their step since scoring their second goal, and they have 5:38 to try to score the tying goal.

Detroit has taken a 32-24 lead in shots now, as they have had the better of the scoring opportunities for the majority of this third period. To make matters worse for the Penguins, they take a penalty with just 4:18 left in the game, Evgeni Malkin will serve 2 minutes for hooking. What a bad time to take a penalty, having just a one goal lead and this late in the game. It will be up to the Penguins penalty killers to maintain this slight advantage.

Detroit is having a hard time getting into the Penguins zone to start this power play. When they do get something going, Fluery makes the save amid a mass of bodies in front of the net. Detroit manages just one shot on the power play, but almost as soon as the penalty ends, Detroit gets a 2 on 2 coming in with Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datysuk but Fluery again makes the save to keep it at 3-2.

The Penguins withstand a late flurry of activity as Detroit pulls their goaltender and the Penguins hold on for the win 3-2. Of course, I will post the video whenever it is available. But for now, I will do a spell check and go ahead and post this.

BFT 6.0 - Just shut up!!!!

A brief disclaimer, those unfamiliar with the Blunt Force Trauma blogs probably need to move along if they are offended easily.  There is nothing good for you to read here.  For those that are familiar, well it is back, not by popular demand, but because something pissed me off, surprise, surprise.

Let's take a trip in the Wayback Machine to 9/11 for just a moment, shall we?  No, I am not going to go off on some rant about fundamentalist Islam, rather I want to focus on the comments on Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, who used the opportunity to place the blame for the attacks that day on every group that they disapprove of, gays, feminists, the ACLU, etc.  Pretty much everyone but the actual perpetrators of the act, and all because this was God's judgement against us.  The comments were widely ridiculed, as well they should have been, the fact either of them has a shred of credibility after such a thing speaks less to the veracity of their argument and more to the stupidity of their followers.

Now let's come to present day and a more recent tragedy, the earthquake in China, where aftershocks are still being felt and bodies are still being pulled out of the rubble.  Sharon Stone uses the opportunity to say that maybe the tragedy is karma for the Chinese treatment of Tibet.  Just how the hell is this any different than the above statement?  Tens of thousands of people are dead, most of which had little or nothing to do with Chinese government policy toward Tibet, yet Sharon believes this is some sort of cosmic justice?  Is it really any better to attribute a tragedy to karma than the idiocy spewed forth by Robertson and Falwell?

This is the type of stuff that just pisses me off and makes me wish for bad things to happen to these people.  Like maybe hearing Sharon Stone was sodomized with a Coke bottle and rubber mallet, and when she went to report the attack to the police, the officer looks her in the eye and says. "Well, that's just kismet for not shutting your fucking pie hole."

It's not the Catholic Church, it's the UN

Charity: Aid workers raping, abusing children

• Story Highlights
• Aid workers and UN peacekeepers are sexually abusing vulnerable children
  
• Children as young as 6 have been forced to trade food for sex and raped
  
• Charity: A grotesque abuse of authority and violation of children's rights
  

By Stephanie Busari
For CNN

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Humanitarian aid workers and United Nation peacekeepers are sexually abusing small children in several war-ravaged and food-poor countries, a leading European charity has said.

Children as young as 6 have been forced to have sex with aid workers and peacekeepers in return for food and money, Save the Children UK said in a report released Tuesday.

After interviewing hundreds of children, the charity said it found instances of rape, child prostitution, pornography, indecent sexual assault and trafficking of children for sex.

"It is hard to imagine a more grotesque abuse of authority or flagrant violation of children's rights," said Jasmine Whitbread, chief executive of Save the Children UK.

In the report, "No One To Turn To" a 15-year-old girl from Haiti told researchers: "My friends and I were walking by the National Palace one evening when we encountered a couple of humanitarian men. The men called us over and showed us their penises.

"They offered us 100 Haitian gourdes ($2.80) and some chocolate if we would suck them. I said, 'No,' but some of the girls did it and got the money."

Save the Children says that almost as shocking as the abuse itself is the "chronic under-reporting" of the abuses. It believes that thousands more children around the world could be suffering in silence.

According to the charity, children told researchers they were too frightened to report the abuse, fearful that the abuser would come back to hurt them and that they would stop receiving aid from agencies, or even be punished by their family or community.

"People don't report it because they are worried that the agency will stop working here, and we need them," a teenage boy in southern Sudan told Save the Children.

The charity's research was centered on Ivory Coast, southern Sudan and Haiti, but Save the Children said the perpetrators of sexual abuse of children could be found in every type of humanitarian organization at all levels.

Save the Children is calling for a global watchdog to tackle the problem and said it was working with the U.N. to establish local mechanisms that will allow victims to easily report abuse.

"We are glad that Save the Children continues to shed a light on this problem. It actually follows up on a report that we did in 2002 with Save the Children. I think every population in the world has to confront this problem of exploitation and abuse of children," said Ron Redmond, chief spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva, Switzerland.

"The United Nations has a zero-tolerance policy. It's one that UNHCR takes very, very seriously. In refugee camps, we have implemented very strong reporting mechanisms so that refugees can come forward to report any abuses or alleged abuses."

In 2003, U.N. Nepalese troops were accused of sexual abuse while serving in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Six soldiers were jailed.

A year later, two U.N. peacekeepers were repatriated after being accused of abuse in Burundi, and U.N. troops were accused of rape and sexual abuse in Sudan.

Last year, the U.N. launched an investigation into sexual abuse claims in Ivory Coast.

The vast majority of aid workers were not involved in any form of abuse or exploitation but in "life-saving essential humanitarian work," Save the Children's Whitbread said.

But humanitarian and peacekeeping agencies working in emergency situations "must own up to the fact that they are vulnerable to this problem and tackle it head on," she said.

The aid agency said it had fired three workers for breaching its codes and called on others to do the same. The three men were dismissed in the past year for having had sex with girls aged 17, which the charity said is not illegal but is cause for loss of employment.

Other UK charities said they supported Save the Children's call for a global watchdog.

"Oxfam takes a zero-tolerance approach to sexual misconduct by its aid workers. All our staff across the world are held accountable by a robust code of conduct," said Jane Cocking, Oxfam charity's humanitarian director.

"We support Save the Children's calls for a global watchdog. We will do all we can to stamp out this intolerable abuse."

Enter freakiness

Freakishness abound, a mere day after catching the latest Asshat award, what should pop up in my email today, but this interview request.

Dear Matt, Todd Davis, the CEO of the identity-theft protection service LifeLock is available for interview (defending his company's services). Davis is best known for publicly posting his social security number: daring hackers to steal his identity. The latest news on Davis:  he became a victim of identity theft himself. This has brought a tremendous amount of scrutiny to LifeLock and now there's  a handful of lawsuits still pending with accusations of false and misleading advertising. After becoming a victim to identity theft, Davis is still very confident in his service. Davis said that for the one instance that his identity has been stolen, there's been 87 other attempts to steal his identity that LifeLock protected. INTERVIEWS ARE THIS THURSDAY, MAY 29 FROM 6:30AM TO NOON EASTERN TIME. (We've done some pre-booking with TV stations so I only have a few windows left). Here a link to Lifelock's website: http://www.lifelock.com/ Talk to you soon, Karen Engler 206 xxx xxxx

LIFELOCK CEO FINDS IDENTITY UNDER ATTACK FROM LAWYERS   TALK TO LIFELOCK CEO TODD DAVIS THIS THURSDAY, MAY 29th ABOUT THE RECENT CLASS ACTION LAWSUITS FILED AGAINST LIFELOCK LifeLock, a proactive identity theft protection service, aims to protect members' identities and promises to guarantee your good name. LifeLock CEO Todd Davis has become famous for his commercials where he offers his social security number to demonstrate how confident he is in his company's identity theft protection program.  But recently, lawsuits filed against the company allege that the company's claims are deceptive and that its services may actually not do what they say.   It is even alleged that LifeLock CEO, Todd Davis¹ identity was stolen while he was a customer and is, upon information and belief, presently being misappropriated by at least 20 identity thieves. But Davis says that his financial information has only been compromised once and that the LifeLock system has shut out more than 100 other identity theft attempts.   "My identity has been completely protected by LifeLock and I am as confident as ever about the LifeLock service", says Todd Davis, CEO of LifeLock.  "It is shocking that completely untrue statements about our company, the protection we provide and my personal identity are being repeated from a trial lawyer looking to create a case that clearly is not in the best interest of consumers." Join Todd Davis on Thursday, May 29 for his side of the story.    These interviews are being sponsored by LifeLock

Karen Engler Bookmark Communications 206 xxx xxxx

Dualing Asshats

We will start with the missing Asshat on this particular entry. Don't worry, it's not like "Where's Waldo?", you don't have to pick a face out of the crowd, I am fully prepared to tell you exactly who the winner is without you going out seeking them yourself. Enter Jason Giambi. Giambi is a first baseman/designated hitter for the New York Yankees, and so far this season, his numbers have been mediocre to say the least. Sure he has 9 homeruns, but he is batting a paltry .230 and his Yankees currently reside in last place in the American League East, 5.5 games in back of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (yes I still call them the Devil Rays as opposed to just Rays) . All of that is nice background information, but that doesn't explain why Mr. Giambi gets the Asshat. In an interview Giambi revealed that in order to break out of hitting slumps he wears a gold lame thong with flame line waistband. Again, lots of players do stupid things to change their mojo, but what makes Giambi's slump busting bothersome is that he will share his thong with his teammates. Maybe this works, maybe his teammates start hitting just so they can get out of Giambi's underpants, I don't know, but anyone who drops their drawers in another man's gym locker hoping they will wear them is indeed an Asshat.

With that out of the way, time to get to the rest of the blog. I continue to scoop up Pepsi and Coke caps whenever I can. I redeemed another three songs from Pepsi and the freebie list on Imeem is now up to an even 30 songs. I also cashed in some Coke points and have 30 free digital prints from Snapfish coming. I just have to pick the pictures out of the ones that I have on my computer and get them printed up. I just haven't decided which pics to get printed, probably some of my Christmas ones that are on ye olde computer in digital form still.

I have been pretty lazy this week/weekend. I did manage to get a few things done Saturday.. I have been using a beat up backpack for about 7 months now, and I finally got up the gumption to go and replace it. I figured I would go to Big Lots and see if they had any bags, figuring they would be cheaper than anyone else. No such luck, the only bags they had were the ones with handles and wheels. When did we get so lazy that backpacks are no longer carried on the back, but wheeled around so that we don't just drag them on the ground? I get that some luggage may need wheels, but freaking backpacks? And I am supposed to pay more money for this Cadillac feature? Fuck, it's like putting rims on a Yugo. Needless to say, I passed on the few bags they had there, tried Family Dollar and they had absolutely nothing, which meant that I had to go to Target at the Waterfront. Mind you, the Waterfront isn't that far away from where I was, just a few blocks, but there are about 4 sets of railroad tracks between those stores and the ones at the Waterfront, and only the entrance is not really a direct line, so I opted to hop the fence and take a trail that runs through the tracks to the Waterfront instead. Me being me, I managed to smash my testicles on the fence, proving once again that my skill set leaves a lot to be desired in things of a physical nature. Luckily I don't plan on using them any time soon, so all is well there.

After some searching at Target, I managed to find a bag without wheels and then it was off to grocery shop, because I saw that a three pound bag of boneless, skinless chicken breasts was 5.99, which will get me in the store most anytime, because I use those for my spicy chicken sandwiches. So I meandered through the store and ended up getting some stuff to cook so I am not always ordering food in. Don't worry, I have no intention of poisoning myself, after all, if I did that, who would type the mind numbing entries into my blog.

I guess I should do a Joe Random update, since when last we heard from poor Joe, he was having a decent rookie season, and the Devil Rays did have a one game lead in their division. Not too bad of a place to be in, but nothing was guaranteed, I could still just as easily miss the playoffs entirely, or lose the Rookie of the Year award that Joe was frontrunner for, or worst of all, both. Then came September, the last full month of the baseball season (there are a handful of games the first week of October). All I did was hit .483 for the month with 12 HRs and 40 RBI, so my season numbers are now .435 av, 29 HRs and 115 RBIs, which I imagine will be good enough for the Rookie of the Year award, since the next closest guy has hit 2 fewer homeruns, driven in 34 fewer runs and his average is only .266. I still have a few games left in the regular season, but I have clinched the division title, so it is on to the post season for Joe. As an added bonus, the 115 RBIs are good for 4th in the league, and I have also hit 44 doubles, good for 6th. My batting average would be first if I had enough plate appearances to qualify in that category, but because I was called up after the season started and was originally being rotated in at third base (I now play every day either at 1B or DH) I just don't have the official at bats to qualify for batting average.

I should note that the Penguins lost their first game of the Stanley Cup final, 4-0 to the Detroit Red Wings. I will post the video as soon as the league makes it available, I am assuming that they are running slow because the first game was played on a weekend night, and with Monday being a holiday, I don't now if anyone works in their editing offices. Game 2 is scheduled for tonight, I may chime in from time to time if I check the score. I don't have cable TV at home, so I can't watch the game, though they did allow people to go down to the Civic Arena to watch the game inside on the big screen for $5 with proceeds going to the Mario Lemieux Cancer Institute, and game 1 drew 14,000+ people to watch the game on TV.

Part of the reason I haven't been blogging as much recently is that I have been trying to catch up on West Wing episodes on Surf The Channel. I have made my way through most of season 5, which is good, because I started watching the show early on, missed some of the stuff in the middle, and then came back to the show in it's last season or two. This internet viewing is allowing me to fill in some gaps that I originally missed. No problem with that as far as I am concerned.

I did manage to go Pogo wild this weekend, getting all three badges that were offered, plus the bonus Spring badge for completing 5 challenges, and three game award badges, the second game award badge offered in Sweet Tooth, Golf Solitaire and Spades, for a grand total of 7 badges so far, plus I am getting closer to finishing off Kenopop, I am now up to level 43.

Well, hey hey hey, it looks like they finally got around to posting the video from game one, so a break in the action while I go post it.

And while I am posting said video, Detroit scores twice in game 2 and already the Penguins trail again.

I have Antiques Roadshow on, and I have to wonder why every item they show is something of considerable value. Just once I would love to see the appraiser go off because someone brought them an item that wasn't worth shit. That would be cool and would make public broadcasting far more enjoyable.

I am making some progress in the most current read, I have knocked off the first couple of hundred pages, but because it is a history book, a couple of hundred pages really isn't all that much, but since most of my reading has been confined to riding the bus to and from work, I am not complaining all that much. I already have the next book picked out for the neverending blog, but I will save it until I finish the current one.

Something I failed to mention is that while I added the three songs to my freebie list on Imeem, I actually got my first comment on a song that I uploaded, which was nice. I really spend very little time on Imeem, I don't use the video or blogging services at all, about all I do there is upload music, audio and photos, so the idea that someone who actually stop by the page and comment on something was kind off cool.

Yikes, I just changed the channel on the TV and American Gladiators is on and some Gladiator named Helga looks and sounds a helluva lot like a guy. They claim she is a woman, but after hearing her say "Ready", I got even money that she pees standing up.

Well, before I go, lets get the Asshat thing up to date shall we, as I still need to post one from this past week, and besides, this will be the first time ever that I have bookended a blog with Asshats. The winner of the coveted Asshat title is Todd Davis. For those of you who do not know who Todd is, he runs a company called Lifelock, it is an identity security company, they are supposed to keep other people from using your personal information in applying for fraudulent credit cards and the like. Some of you may have heard the commercial on the radio or TV, where Todd starts off by blabbing his social security number and saying that since he has Lifelock, he is pretty much unworried because his identity can't be stolen. Except it can and it has, Lifelock is now being sued because by giving away his SS# over the air, people have used it to apply for such things as driver's licenses and cash advances under a false name, namely his. If Lifelock can't even protect the owner of the company, really how good of a service is it? At ten dollars a month to the consumer ($120 a year for the math majors out there), Mr. Davis certainly has himself quite the racket and with that racket we would like to add one Asshat as well.

He's back, sort of

Some of you know that I am a Chad Vader fan, and I will admit that I have been anxiously awaiting Season 2 of that fine drama.  It is another reason why I like stuff on the internet versus that which is on TV by and large.  Anyway, I did my normal search last night looking for some sort of Vader update, and apparently Season 2 is on hiatus because they are trying to work out a TV deal, though I don't know who they are in negotiations with. 

In any event, to help lessen the pain of no Chad vader Season 2 for the forseeable future, we get this instead.....

 

 

 

Unintended consequences

Increase In Drunk Driving Fatalities Followed Ban On Smoking In Bars

ScienceDaily (May 21, 2008) — A ban on cigarette smoking in bars is meant to save lives by reducing patrons’ exposure to secondhand smoke. But it may actually be having an unintended consequence, according to a study done at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM).

By comparing data from a variety of locations around the United States where laws requiring smoke-free bars exist with locations without bans, economists Scott Adams and Chad Cotti found a relative increase in fatalities caused by drunk driving following ban enactment.

The results of their study appear in the June issue of the Journal of Public Economics and have also been reported in the May issue of The Economist.

While the results at first seemed surprising to Adams, a UWM assistant professor of economics, and Cotti, now at the University of South Carolina, literature on consumer behavior suggests an explanation: Smokers are willing to drive longer distances to an establishment that allows smoking.

“Like they would to buy fireworks, lotto tickets or, in some cases, alcohol, people will often go to a neighboring jurisdiction that doesn’t have a ban,” says Adams. The number of smokers willing to drive extra distances offsets any reduction in driving from smokers choosing to stay home following a ban, he adds.

Using fatalities as a gauge in the study is more accurate than using data on DUIs, since drunk-driving laws are not uniformly enforced, he says.

The study’s evidence suggests that consumers are driving longer distances to smoke and drink, but this does not exclude other potential explanations.

“We can’t rule out the explanation that smoking bans might reduce the propensity to drink in moderation,” Adams says, “But in each and every instance of ‘border shopping’ we found, the increase in fatalities was true.”

The study is the second on the topic of smoking bans for the pair of economists. The first study focused on whether smoking bans have an effect on bar employment. Results from that study showed that restaurants were helped by smoking bans, especially in warmer climates and in warmer months. But bar employment fell.

They then decided to examine the effect of the bans on drunk driving, says Adams. “The thinking was that the bans might have additional health benefits if there’s a reduction in driving associated with it.”

It still appears that the positive health effects of smoking bans outweigh the negative, he says, but the real conclusion is that a universal smoking ban would eliminate the danger of people trying to avoid the individual bans.

Twenty states have universal bans, and Gov. Jim Doyle has proposed one for Wisconsin.

Adams and Cotti have begun a new study to see if smoke-free bars are associated with evidence of a reduction in heart disease. Preliminary evidence strongly suggests it does.

“I view economics very much as a social science – the costs associated with people’s behavior,” says Adams, who specializes in health and labor economics. “Public economists are concerned with the externalities and whether what affects you also has an impact on others – without those costs being accounted for.”

This is CNN

Watch the video here then answer me one simple question.  Is this an example of

a) Hard hitting news, the type of which we all hope to see on CNN, or

b) Three items likely to be found on the menu of a Korean restaurant?

A quiz to get the week started

Just something to start the week

 

http://www.liquidgeneration.com/Media/Movies/Movie_Quizzes/All_Movie_Quizzes/Indy_Artifact_or_Pier_1_Imports/

It's like a penis on Viagra

The free music list just gets bigger and bigger, now up to 27 songs

 

 

2 Asshats, 1 glog and 0 global warming references

Excuse me, but I feel like glogging, so you will just have to deal or ignore this post altogether. And get this, I am not even glogging the Penguins game, which is tomorrow, instead I am opting for the Dallas-Detroit hockey game, the Western Conference Final in which Detroit leads 3 games to 1. The game is just about to get underway, so I have no time to prattle on, unfortuneately for me, because there is a lot in which I could prattle. Maybe as the game progresses.

First things first however, I need to log onto campusfood.com and place an order for lunch/dinner.

A great save by Marty Turco early keeps Detroit from taking an early lead in the game, less than 2 minutes in. That is what I get for thinking food after the action in today's hockey game has begun, I miss some fine hockey action.

Chris Osgood makes a decent save for Detroit less than a minute after Turco's save and the score remains tied at 0-0, though both teams have had early scoring chances.

Early on, Dallas gets the game's first power play on a tripping call that could have probably went either way, either a power play or a penalty shot, but the referee made the call for a 2 minute minor for tripping and for the next 2 minutes Dallas will have the man advantage.

Detroit makes an early clear on the Dallas attack and the Stars will have to regroup with a little more than a minute left in the 2 minute advantage. They do so and get a couple of quality shots off on Chris Osgood, but Osgood is up to the task and the game remains scoreless.

Detroit kills off the penalty and Dallas continues the pressure, a long pass by Turco finds Niklas Hagman who can't convert on the shot as once again Osgood is up to the task and 7 minutes in, the game is still scoreless with lots of end to end action, though it is Dallas getting the better scoring chaces early.

Commercial break, maybe now I can send my order in online and relax a little.

Okay, the order is in, and we get back on hockey action and Pavel Datysuk's shot is turned away by Marty Turco, lots of end to end action at this point, but the game remains scoreless.

As soon as I type that, Dallas gets the first goal of today's contest, Trevor Dailey gets his first goal of the playoffs, with assists to Brad Richards and Niklas Hagman, and the score is 1-0. Shortly after the goal, Dallas again dictates momentum of the contest, controlling the puck in Detroit's end of the rink and managing a couple of shots, but nothing comes of it and the contest remains 1-0.

A commercial for the Preakness Stakes, is there any sport as boring as horse racing. Hours of hype for a 2 minute event and it usually ends in no horse winning the heralded Triple Crown anyway, so really, what is the point?

We come back to hockey action and Dallas takes an interference call and they will be short handed for the next two minutes. Maybe this is what Dteroit needs to match Dallas's energy level early in this contest.

Dallas kills the penalty and a shot immediately thereafter by Detroit is also turned away by Marty Turco, so it is still 1-0 Dallas to this point. Marty Turco has looked very sharp to this point, not just in his goaltending but in his handling of the puck as well, as it was a pass by him that started the rush for Dallas's first goal.

Trevor Dailey gets called for interference, so shortly after his first playoff goal, he sends his team once again back into penalty kill mode, with a little over 6 minutes remaining in the first period.

Detroit has taken advantage of their second power play to get some quality shots off, but again Turco is up to the task, until later in the penalty when Jiri Hudler converts a rebound off of Turco and the game is tied 1-1.

You bored yet? Only two plus periods to go, so settle in, it is going to be a long one.

Assists on Hudler's power play goal go to Niklas Kronwall and Valtteri Filppula for those keeping score at home and for me to be accurate as far as the scoring goes.

I do have a lot to get out of the way at some point in this blog, after all I am now down two Asshats, though one of which will go to the Reverend Jeremiah Wright and his less than spectacular performance before the National Press Club a couple of weeks back. Cool, now I only have one to go, I am indeed making progress, thank god for commercials.

Back to live hockey action, and Turco turns away a soft back hand, wrap around attempt. Nicholas Lidstrom fires a shot on Turco as well, he turns that shot aside and while Dallas may have dictated the early action, Detroit has more than returned the favor the last 6 to 7 minutes as Detroit has a 12-10 advantage in shots to this point.

The hitting in the contest has picked up, and one such hit results in a scoring chance for Nicholas Lidstrom again as he fires on goal but Turco holds on to the shot and makes his 12 save of the first period.

4-4 hockey as Daley takes his second penalty of the first period and Kirk Maltby joins him in the penalty box for Detroit, both guys serving 2 minute roughing minor penalties, and the first period will close on such a note, with the score tied at 1 and two men remaining in the penalty box. This is a prime time for a pee break.

While we are in our first period intermission, I can get other business out of the way. For instance, those who read my blog more than on brief occasion, you know the incident last Saturday at my part time gig. Well,as can be expected, I received the call Monday morning that I had to go in to talk about what happened. I figure the punishment can go anywhere from a tongue lashing to a susupension to a firing, but since I was asked to come in and talk about what happened I figured what the hell, might as well see what's up. I get there and I am told that I am being let go, insubordination I believe it was called, and the only thing I am thinking is, why call me in for this? You could have just told me I was fired in the phone message you left, no need to call me in to talk about something, when you don't want me to talk at all, that is just a waste of everyone's time. Not saying they weren't justified in firing me, just that if you want to talk about something, I assume I will at least be able to present my side of everthying, if you don't want to talk, then just say so, that is fine. Mind you, last I checked, I still hadn't been replaced, and somebody did call a few times without leaving a message, so it could have been them to see if I wanted to come in, but even if they did, it is questionable at best I would have went back after Monday. Just means I have to find a part time gig, which I will probably start doing on Monday, for the time being I am enjoying the fact that today is my first day off of work in the last 20.

Second period is underway and the two minor penalties are burnt off with no more tallies to the scoreboard and Dallas follows that off with taking another penalty, Mattias Nordstrom gets 2 minutes for intereference and Dallas is penalized for 5th time in today's contest. The power play doesn't result in a goal for Detroit however, and once again we skate 5-5 and the score tied at 1. Meanwhile, lunch/dinner has arrived, so excuse me if I eat while I type.

Perhaps at some point someone could tell me why french fries are now being called steak fries by some establishments. They aren't made of beef, so the meat reference is lost on me, but in any regard, they are still quite tasty.

Joe Lunqvist catches Detroit in a line change and leads a two on one break in on Chris Osgood and rather than pasing, opts to shoot and he scores, so Dallas has again taken the lead, it is now 2-1. Marty Turco, who I mentioned earlier is doing a very good job not just in goal, but in moving the puck, gets credit for the only assist on the goal.

Turco makes another spectacular save on a give away in Dallas's own end and shortly thereafter, Detroit gets called for cross checking, Tomas Holmstrom the guilty party and Dallas gets a power play here 8 or so minutes into the second period.

The power play results in nothing for Dallas, so we go back to 5 on 5 hockey with Dallas holding a 2-1 lead.

Of note is that Dallas is playing very sloppy in their own end this period, at least on three occasions they have turned the puck over without even getting it beyond their own blue line, resulting in potential scoring chances for Detroit, only Turco has managed to turn those shots away and keep the game at 2-1.

At the 8:08 mark, the puck is shot out of play, but while trailing 2-1, Detroit has definitely had the better scoring chances this period, they have run their shot advantage to 22-14 to this point of today's contest.

Finished the steak fries, though they were definitely potato and not meat, damn it, good thing I ordered a buffalo chicken pocket to go with them or this would be a meat free meal and who wants that.

I just thought of something, if this game goes to overtime, will NBC dump the game and go to horse racing? They have done it in the past, last year in fact, I hope the NHL has gotten some sort of concession that it would never happen again, but the NHL is very bad at making TV deals, that is why they are on Versus now during the regular season, where a large portion of the public can't even watch.

Detroit takes another penalty and Dallas will once again skate with the man advantage, thanks to a Juri Hudler slash. Maybe this is what Dallas needs to match Detroit's momentum right now. Osgood makes a save and turns away a rebound shot as well before covering the puck, and Dallas is denied again on the power play.

The power play is over and again skating 5 on 5 Detroit is dictating play, but not getting anything for their effort thanks to Marty Turco.

A little over a minute left in the second period and a shot by Dallas Drake goes just wide of the goal, and then Nicholas lidstrom fires one form out front but Turco makes a glove save and holds on. Finally all of the hard work by Detroit pays off, they get a penalty and faceoff in Dallas's end with 30 seconds left in the second period. Nothing happens in the final 30 seconds, so the period ends with Dallas leading 2-1, though Detroit will have about a minute and a half of power play time to start the third period. Detroit outshot Dallas 13-6 in the second period, thus aiding to my claim that they were in control of the second period, but that one Dallas goal in the second is the difference.

While we are in the second intermission I will feast on my buffalo chicken pocket, which is quite good I might add, and also ammend the change meter total a little bit, adding another .27 to the kitty, the new total is $36.67, though for some reason that doesn't seem right. Almost like I am missing a number somewhere. Oh well, I will leave that project for another time, all looks good as far as I can tell.

Okay, let's get settled in for the third period, only 20 minutes of hockey left here. I will admit that I dread proofreading this blog, I know the number of typos that I have found without even trying, I can't imagine the number that I have missed.

Maybe after the game I will take a blog break and go fetch the Sunday paper. I know it isn't Sunday yet, but the early edition of the paper comes out Saturday and since I am getting it primarily for the classified ads, those will not change between today and tomorrow, that section is printed in advance so no need for me to wait.

The third period starts and Detroit controls the puck in the Dallas end for the first full minute of action, but again nothing comes of it, and Dallas kills the careover penalty from the second period.

Dallas comes back after the penalty kill and for the next couple of minutes it is Dallas controlling the play, forcing Osgood to make a few saves in order to keep the score at just 2-1.

4 minutes in and Dallas has seen their play improve, limiting the chances that Detroit has gotten to tie the game. Just as I type that, Tomas Holmstrom fires a one timer on Turco, but Turco is again equal to the challenge, as he has been for most of this contest.

After watching playoff games on both NBC and Versus this year, I think I prefer the announcers on NBC, but the camera work on Versus. Maybe that is because there have been two camera glitches in this game on NBC, but it just seems like the Versus cameramen follow the action better and are better at getting go close up shots on replays.

Detroit one again pushing the attack, primarily on some fine work by Pavel Datsyuk, yet with less than 12 and half minutes to play, the Stars are holding on to a 2-1 lead.

Commercial break, and it is that stupid Heineken commercial I bitched about a few glogs ago. where nobody actually wants to drink the beer, they just keep giving it to someone else. Fine marketing there Pedro!!!

A commercial for the Preakness Stakes, the horse race immediately follwing the hockey game, provided there is no overtime action. They are calling it the "Gateway to the Triple Crown". I suppose that it the case if the winner of the Kenrtucky Derby also wins the Preakness, otherwise it is just another boring horse race of little or no interest.

We are back to live action and Detroit is again dictating the pace of the contest. If Dallas wins this game, Marty Turco is by far the game's #1 star. Tomas Holmstrom takes a stupid penalty, whacking at a guy while he isn't even on the ice, giving Dallas a power play with less than 8 minutes to play.

Kirk Maltby gets a shorthanded chance off, but his shot is stopped by Turco, meanwhile at the other end, Osgood makes a stop on a shot that almost looked like it would be chipped in at the far post. Much like last period, Detroit is again leading in shots to this point, 8-4 here in the third period, but nothing still to show for it.

Brendan Morrow makes a rush in on Osgood, but his shot hits the crossbar on the goal and flies out of play.  The game was mere inches of becoming 3-1 and Tomas Holmstrom should be breathing a big sigh of relief as his stupid penalty allowed that to happen.

Detroit kills off the Dallas power play, Dallas has yet to convert with the man advantage today, and with a little over 4 minutes left in the game, it reamins Dallas 2 Detroit 1.

Turtco with another save with 3 and a half minutes to play and the rebound on the shot trickles wide of the net. Detroit continues to press the attack, pretty soon I would imagine Osgood will be pulled for the extra attacker as Detroit looks for the tying goal and just under 2 minutes remaining. Detroit howver, has iced the puck twice here, the resulting faceoffs coming back in the Detroit zone next to Osgood and keeping Osgood squarely in the net.

One minute left and Osgood is still trapped in his own net, but Dallas ices the puck, so the faceoff will be in Dallas's zone next to Turco, so Osgood may be out here with less than a minute to play. Osgood is indeed out, but Dallas plays well despite the 6 on 5 advantage of Detroit, and with 10 seconds left, Detroit ices the puck, forcing the faceoff back in the Detroit zone and Osgood back in the net and a drop of the puck later and this game is a final, Dallas winning 2-1 despite being outshot 39-21.

On that note, I think I will sneak in a game of baseball on the PS2 before venturing out to get my newspaper. I have been playing well recently, I have the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in first place now, 2.5 games ahead of Toronto, and I am in the midst of a 4 game series with Boston, where I have won the first three with walkoff homeruns in extra innings, including a three run shot by Joe Random in the first game of the 4 game set. Joe continues to be the leading candidate for Rookie of the Year, with a .422 average, 19 HRs and 82 RBIs in 86 games. I think if I would have been called up to the majors sooner, maybe we would have this division wrapped up already.

 

Here it is, I played a game of baseball (I won 6-4), went out and bought a pack of smokes a newspaper and a coffee, settled back in here and this stupid horse race still hasn't started yet. This is like 3 hours of prerace coverage for a 2 minute event, and provided the Kentucky Derby winner doesn't win here, all of this is moot because no one will give a rat's ass about horse racing for another year, save for a handful of gamblers who prefer this over scratch off lottery tickets.

Good god, now they are discussing the mood of the horses. Mind you, they still haven't even come close to starting yet, which makes me thankful the hockey game didn't go into overtime, I would have hated to break away from a nice fast paced sport for this incessant garbage. Well Big Brown won, finally they ran this damn thing and now if Big Brown wins the Belmont he wins the Triple Crown, which means we will be suffering through another 3 or 4 hours of prerace coverage in three weeks for another 2 minute event.

Okay, I'm back, had to post a Foamy blog and get about doing nothing, which I am doing quite well I might add. Actually, I am flipping back and forth between watching an episode of West Wing on Surf The Channel and doing other web browsing. Someone was kind enough to post most of the 5th season online, but for some reason my computer isn't pulling in the episodes very quickly, that could either be a me problem or a Chinese server problem, in any event, the episode will upload a litte bit, but if watching it, the viewer will catch up to the amount uploaded and then stop, so I usually take a break and let more of the episode become available. It isn't the quickest way to watch TV, but since I am all caught up on Deadliest Catch and nothing of merit is on TV, it is the method I am stuck with.

I am thinking that I am going to have to go into work early tomorrow, just so I can be home for the Pens game at 3pm. I hope we close out the Flyers tomorrow, especially with Detroit failing to end their series today, that is more rest time for us to heal bumps and bruises before the Stanley Cup Final.

Well lookie there, more of the episode is available for me to watch, so I think I will make myself scarce again.

Okay, another lag in the episode. I suppose I could prattle on on this entry for a while, but I have some updating to do to the neverending blog entry, as I polished off another book, which means I have to find some more reading material, which thankfully I did do, compliments of another publisher who sent the station a free book.

Okay, that is out f the way, as well as commenting on a couple of blogs so I guess I can go back to some internet TV viewing. It is either that or work on my Pogo badges, I just have one game of Spades left and the week is complete. The other two badges weren't that bad, Addiction Solitaire was okay, but the game itself sucks, certainly not as cool as the recently added Golf Solitaire, and I did a Word Jong (find 100 5 letter or more words) which wasn't that difficult either. I usually play Word Jong on hard, just because I find the game pretty easy for the most part. I have picked up a couple of levels in Spades, going from 11 to 15 so far, but that is because I am terrible at bidding and usually get stuck with the overbid penalty at least twice a game.

Well I tried another game of spades, my computer partner blew his last two bids and it cost us the game, though I did move up a level to 16 now. I may make a spades badge my personal next week if I think I have a shot at level 20 and a game award badge. I am a badge hog, the more badges I can get the happier I am.

Sunday

This is turning into another two day blog, and as I get in the door from work the Pens Flyers game is just about to get underway. I don't think I will glog this one, I may make mention of it from time to time, but I want to finish that dumb Pogo badge while the game is on, so I pass on the glogging opportunity. Besides, this blog is long enough already without adding a second glog to the proceedings.

I just need my cigarettes and beverage and I am good to go here, I may make some lunch during the first intermission, I haven't decided yet. I am not particularly hungry, even though all I have had today is two pieces of toast and three cups of coffee.

I just saw Sidney Crosby's playoff beard, it is actually funny because he can't grow one. It is tradition in hockey that once the playoffs start, none of the players shave until their team is eliminated, but for some of the younger guys, well, lets just say, it is comical to watch them try to grow a beard.

We have an early goal, Ryan Malone on the power play, Sidney Crosby gets an asist, he leads the NHl in assists in the playoffs and Pittsburgh has an early 1-0 lead just 2 and a half minute into the contest.

Evgeni Malkin pokes in a puck and it is now 2-0 Penguins and I am liking the looks of things while I work on this Spades badge, both from a hockey and badge perspective.

Okay, first period is over and the Penguins lead 2-0, they are 40 minutes from going to the Stanley Cup Final, meanwhile in my 1000 point spades game, I lead 725-672. Go me!!!

Woohoo, I finished off the Spades badge during the first intermission, and I managed to pick up another level, I am now 17 in there. I have no more badges to do this week, which is fine with me. I would play some baseball now, but with the hockey game on, I think the TV is currently occupied. Maybe I will work on that lunch thing I was talking about.

My dream of another Pirates losing season may be in jeopardy. they have actually been playing decent baseball of late and have managed to get their record to 21-22, just one game under .500 to this point. They are losing today, which is good, but they only trail the Cubs 4-3 at this point. I would be happier if it was something like 10-3. Hopefully they can fall into something resembling a funk before too long.

At least they waited until I started my lunch before scoring again, this time Marion Hossa tallies the goal and Pittsburgh leads 3-0. Crosby gets his second assist of the contest and of the three goals scored so far, Malone (1G, 1A), Hossa (1G, 1A) and Crosby (2A) have all registered 2 points so far.

While the game is on, maybe I will try to get an episode of West Wing ready to fire off. Given how slow some of the servers are, maybe it will be ready to watch by the end of the hockey game.

That is if this game isn't already over, Ryan Malone again on the power play and it is 4-0 Pittsburgh. 27 minutes and 34 seconds from now, the Penguins may find themselves winners of the Eastern Conference.

At least my lunch is done, just some egg noodles with chicken ala king form the can tossed in for good measure. I don't know why I like that stuff so much, but it is way yummy. And easy to boot.

And while I am eating and trying to get that West Wing episode you can make it 5-0 compliments of Jordan Stahl and with one minute left in the second period this is getting well out of hand for Philadelphia. Philadelphia puts the puck in the net just before the end of the second period, but it is ruled no goal, if I had to guess I would say that they ruled either that the player interferred with the goaltender when he crashed into him, or the referee just lost sight of the puck, either way, they disallowed the goal and after 2 periods it remains Pittsburgh 5-0.

Well, I have my show episode uploading and I have the classified ads from the Sunday paper and food and cigarettes and beverage, I can't think of anything else I could possibly need.

The Pirates did lose, 4-3, so this day is just getting better. The only way it could get better from a sports perspective is if I were to move up in the fantasy baseball league, as I am in third place right now.

Hey they started the third period with an explanation for why the goal at the end of the second didn't count and guess what? I was right, but then I always am, they ruled a Flyer crashed into the Pens goaltender, keeping him from making a play on the puck. I am so good at this it is scary.

Here I thought the Penguins would play it conservative in the third period with a 5 goal lead, but you can tack on #6 now, as Pasqual Dupruis scores . Now there are less than 14 minutes to the Stanley Cup Final. I hope no one in the neighborhood gets all stupid and starts buring shit in the streets. If that is going to happen, I would like to think they would wait until after the Finals, but I know the idiots in my neighborhood, they burnt shit simply for the Pitt football team beating West Virginia. Nevermind that the team still had a losing record, that win was accomplishment enough around these parts. The Pens winning the Eastern Conference and the Prince of Wales Trophy might be enough as well.

5 minutes left and I found some job prospects, though usually the way I find my part time gigs is just putting foot to pavement, still if I can get a little bit of help from the paper I am all for it. Fed Ex is looking for part time package handlers, I figure I am qualified because I handle my package on a part time basis.The game is still 6-0, just incase you were wondering.

I have to admit, I am going to so look forward to posting this video tomorrow on the blog page. 27 seconds left, and another clear by the Penguins and this game is all but over. Final Penguin 6 Flyers 0 and we await the winner of the Dallas-Detroit series (Detroit leads 3-2) to find out who the Stanley Cup Final opponent is.

I guess before I call this a blog, I should do the other Asshat, just so I am caught up again, save for the one from this past week. Actually we have two winners and rather than bore you with my details, I will let the story speak for itself.....

 

 

Police: 2-month-old left in car while parents watch Derby

Sunday, May 4, 2008

(05-04) 06:43 PDT Southampton, N.Y. (AP) --

Police say two new parents left their baby alone in a car while they went to watch the Kentucky Derby at a New York off-track betting parlor.

Southampton Town police say the 2-month-old was left unattended for more than 20 minutes during Saturday's race.

Police say the mother later told officers she thought the infant was safe enough because the car's heat was on.

The car was left running in a busy parking lot outside the Suffolk Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. branch in Southampton, on Long Island.

Parents Krystal Rose Downes and Jhimy Alban Vintimilla were arrested on misdemeanor child-endangerment charges. No telephone number could be found for the couple, and police weren't sure whether the two had a lawyer.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/05/04/national/a064308D60.DTL

I told you horse racing sucked. Anyway, I think I will do a quick proofread and call it a night.

Stolen content time.....I am blaming global warming for this article

Posted on Sat, May. 10, 2008

False prophets of doom

WALTER WILLIAMS

Now that another Earth Day has come and gone, let's look at some environmentalist predictions that they would prefer we forget.

At the first Earth Day celebration, in 1969, environmentalist Nigel Calder warned, "The threat of a new ice age must now stand alongside nuclear war as a likely source of wholesale death and misery for mankind." C.C. Wallen of the World Meteorological Organization said, "The cooling since 1940 has been large enough and consistent enough that it will not soon be reversed."

In 1968, Paul Ehrlich, Vice President Gore's hero and mentor, predicted there would be a major food shortage in the U.S. and "in the 1970s ... hundreds of millions of people are going to starve to death." Ehrlich said 65 million Americans would die of starvation between 1980 and 1989, and by 1999 the U.S. population would have declined to 22.6 million. Ehrlich's predictions about England were gloomier: "If I were a gambler, I would take even money that England will not exist in the year 2000."

World `likely to be ruined' by 2000

In 1972, a report was written for the Club of Rome warning the world would run out of gold by 1981, mercury and silver by 1985, tin by 1987 and petroleum, copper, lead and natural gas by 1992. Gordon Taylor, in his 1970 work "The Doomsday Book," said Americans were using 50 percent of the world's resources and "by 2000 they [Americans] will, if permitted, be using all of them." In 1975, the Environmental Fund took out full-page ads warning, "The World as we know it will likely be ruined by the year 2000."Harvard University biologist George Wald in 1970 warned, "... civilization will end within 15 or 30 years unless immediate action is taken against problems facing mankind." That was the same year that Sen. Gaylord Nelson warned, in Look Magazine, that by 1995 "... somewhere between 75 and 85 percent of all the species of living animals will be extinct."

It's not just latter-day doomsayers who have been wrong; doomsayers have always been wrong. In 1885, the U.S. Geological Survey announced there was "little or no chance" of oil being discovered in California, and a few years later they said the same about Kansas and Texas. In 1939, the U.S. Department of the Interior said American oil supplies would last only another 13 years. In 1949, the Secretary of the Interior said the end of U.S. oil supplies was in sight. Having learned nothing from its earlier erroneous claims, in 1974 the U.S. Geological Survey advised us that the U.S. had only a 10-year supply of natural gas. According to the American Gas Association, there's a 1,000 to 2,500 year supply.

Here are my questions: In 1970, when environmentalists were making predictions of manmade global cooling and the threat of an ice age and millions of Americans starving to death, what kind of government policy should we have undertaken to prevent such a calamity?

When Ehrlich predicted that England would not exist in the year 2000, what steps should the British Parliament have taken in 1970 to prevent such a dire outcome?

In 1939, when the U.S. Department of the Interior warned that we only had oil supplies for another 13 years, what actions should President Roosevelt have taken?

Why believe them this time?

Finally, what makes us think that environmental alarmism is any more correct now that they have switched their tune to manmade global warming?

A few facts: Over 95 percent of the greenhouse effect is the result of water vapor in Earth's atmosphere. Without the greenhouse effect, Earth's average temperature would be zero degrees Fahrenheit. Most climate change is a result of the orbital eccentricities of Earth and variations in the sun's output. And natural wetlands produce more greenhouse gas annually than all human sources combined.

Walter

Williams

Could your Senator be the next Vice President?

Thankfully, someone asked them.......

Senators say whether they’d agree to be vice president

By The Hill Staff

Posted: 05/12/08 05:21 PM [ET]

The Hill asked all 97 senators who are not running for president the same question: “If you were asked, would you accept an offer to be the VP nominee?” Some senators laughed, but others took the question seriously. A story about these responses appears in the May 13 print edition of The Hill and at thehill.com. Here, verbatim, are the 97 responses. [Note to news editors: If you cite these responses, cite The Hill newspaper.] Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) “No. I think there are so many others who represent us so well. Coming from Hawaii, I’m here 30 years already, and I’d rather give the opportunity to somebody else.” Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) “I know already who it will be: the man in charge of the search. There’s no need for me to respond. That’s how you get to be vice president.” Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.) “You got your answer — a laugh. The president’s going to make that choice. You can see how much I’ve thought about it.” Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) “We already have a vice president from Wyoming. So we’ll have to see if Sen. McCain asks me to chair his selection committee. That seems to work well. It certainly seemed to work well for the last guy from Wyoming.” Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) “No. I love my job. I’ve got the best job in the world, representing Montana in the U.S. Senate. It doesn’t get any better than that.” Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) “It’s presumptuous to even speculate about that kind of thing. But I suspect that’s not the sort of thing you say no to.” Sen. Bob Bennett (R-Utah) “Of course. Big house, big car, not much to do. Why not?” Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.) “I’m happy being called ‘Mr. Chairman.’ ” Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) “I don’t expect to be asked. That’s one advantage of being from a small state. I would doubt that’s in the cards. And I’ve got a day job already.” Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.) “Obviously, anybody who’s asked would consider it very seriously, but I’m not worried about it. I had the pleasure of being on Gerald Ford’s short list in ’76, but a lot of things have changed since then.” Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) “I’m not the right choice for the Democrats because they’re going to carry California. So they should really look elsewhere. And I can really help them right here in the Senate as chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee.” Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) “No, I want to continue serving the people of Ohio as their senator for as long as I’m able.” Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) “I would be honored to be asked. I’ve got to appraise the position in considering it. But I haven’t gone to the step of saying whether I would or wouldn’t at this point … I’d probably take away from the ticket, too. There’s always pros and cons. I’m strong pro-life, pro-marriage, and some people would say, ‘Well, I don’t like that.’ But really, people vote for president. Not vice president. I think vice president can hurt you more than it can help you. I can’t remember any time in my lifetime where I voted for a president because of the vice presidential nominee.” Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) “No comment.” Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) “I don’t answer that question anymore. I answered it one time and it got me in tremendous trouble. I’ve got a job I enjoy and I’m not in search of a new job. Period.” Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) “No, I can already preside over the Senate, and I do not enjoy spending a lot of time at ‘undisclosed locations.’ ” Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) “Does that include any sports picks or anything like that? … I would certainly consider it.” Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) “Other than you and my wife, I’m not sure anyone else has asked me. Obviously, it’s a position that I think is critically important, that the right person who can lead the nation be selected as vice president, someone who’s compatible with the president, and someone who can add balance to the ticket. So I’m not going to presume to answer that as far as any specific people, including myself. But I’m in the United States Senate. To be president of the Senate would be a great honor.” Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) “Yes. Sign me up. I’ve been kidding people for years: The hours are better, the wages are just as good — whoever heard of a vice president getting shot at? — and it’s a great opportunity to travel. And actually since time has gone by, the job is robust … So sure. Anybody here would, if they’re going to be honest. The chances are slim to none. But I promise you, I would deliver all three of Delaware’s electoral votes.” Sen. Bob Casey Jr. (D-Pa.) “I think the Democratic Party is full of strong candidates for vice president. But I don’t think I’ll be on that list.” Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) “It hasn’t crossed my mind. I’ve got a lot of friends that would make good nominees and I’m out promoting them. I’m busy running for reelection.” Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) “If I were asked I’d probably have to get a divorce, so the answer would probably be no. But I won’t be asked if he [McCain] wants to win.” Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) “When I was much younger I would have probably said, ‘Sure, I’ll be glad to accept it,’ but I’m 70 years [old] and they need a younger person for the job. I would probably tell them, ‘Look for somebody else.’ ” Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) “No. I’m up for reelection and I’ve got the guy who should be vice president. He’s my governor [Tim Pawlenty (R)]. My governor is my candidate.” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) “I’m not going to be asked, so I’m not going to speculate. It’s not going to happen.” Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) “No. It’s never been my ambition. The only thing I ever wanted to be was a senator from North Dakota. Really.” Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) “There is no way a 15-month senator is going to be asked. So in deference, to make sure whoever asks would be successful, I would say no.” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) “I’m running for reelection to the United States Senate … Is anybody saying no? If asked, I would have to respectfully consider it. How’s that?” Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) “I would say ‘No, Hillary.’ ” Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) “No. I like serving in the Senate and I have no aspirations to be vice president. Hasn’t crossed my mind. Never really thought about it.” Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) “I’d have to ask my wife. It would be an honor to be asked, and I would have to seriously consider it. But I like being a senator.” Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) “Never say no. You always have to give it some thought. It depends who asks you, too.” Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.) “I’m running for reelection to the United States Senate and that’s what I’m totally focused on. I’m running a strong campaign for the Senate. That’s my answer.” Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) “No. I’m too old.” Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) “Are you kidding? Every senator would accept that offer. My guess is that almost every senator looks at themselves in the mirror in the morning and sees either a future president or vice president.” Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) “I’ve decided not to run. No. … And I already have a day job.” Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) “It’s so much a hypothetical it’s not even worth answering.” Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) “I like my current job and I don’t care for that one.” Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) “If a candidate literally says, ‘You’re the person,’ I’d have to consider it, but I prefer to do what I’m doing.” Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) “Of course. I think anybody would.” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) “I have said that John needs to pick someone that he feels comfortable with and will help him win in the fall. I like him and I feel comfortable with him. But I think there are other portfolios that help more than I do. There are people that would bring a different portfolio to the table than I would and that would help us win in the fall.” Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) “I’m too old to be vice president. But I am young enough to be reelected to the Senate.” Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) “No. I don’t like going to funerals.” Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) “I’m not here to talk about that.” Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) “No, I’d have Jon Stewart stand in for me. Jon Stewart. That’s my guy.” Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) “Not on your life. I would not be asked anyway. I don’t know anybody who wouldn’t do whatever’s best for the country, but in my case it’s just not going to happen.” Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) “I just really don’t have any comment beyond what I’ve said about that, that I don’t want to go in that direction at all.” Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) “No. I enjoy life too much.” Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) “If I were asked, I would say, ‘You’re out of your mind.’ ” Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) “I would not be so presumptuous as to think I’d even thought about that. And I’d have to talk to my wife. Hey, that’s an honest answer.” Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) “Nope.” Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) “I plan to stick with my current job until I get the hang of it.” Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) “I don’t get into hypotheticals. No, I haven’t considered it. I don’t have a clue, honestly.” Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) “No. I’m focused on being a senator from Minnesota.” Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) “No. Never thought about it.” Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) “No, and in my case it’s obvious: There’s not going to be two candidates from Arizona.” Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) “It’s highly unlikely, and I would say that Louisiana needs a senator and that’s what I’m running for.” Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) “I’ve been waiting for someone to come up and propose it. I already told my wife to get ready to move. It has a beautiful living facility. But I like what I do. Frankly, it’s a more important job. You’re asked to respond to things in a more basic way than defending bad policy. I don’t like defending bad policy.” Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) “No. I’d like to see somebody from a large, diverse state.” Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) “I haven’t considered it and I don’t expect to be asked, so I wouldn’t spend any time even thinking about it.” Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) “Once is enough. I already have the T-shirt and I’m proud of it. I yield to my colleagues.” Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) “I have not considered it. It’s a hypothetical I don’t need to answer. I’m not going to play ‘What if.’ ” Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) “No, that’s not going to happen.” Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) “I’d say, ‘Please read the Constitution.’ I wasn’t born in America; I can’t be VP.” Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) “If I were asked, I would ask some mental health professionals to visit Barack Obama. I just think Sen. Obama is way too smart to pick me. I’m not a good pick, and he’s smarter than that. That’s why he’s going to make such a good president.” Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) “No.” Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) “I love representing the people of New Jersey. I am immensely proud of the opportunity to represent the people of New Jersey and that’s what I want to continue to do.” Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) “Absolutely. Absolutely. I think I would be great. First of all, I know how to behave at weddings and funerals. And I know how to be commander in chief. I’d bring a lot of fun to the job. We would rock the Naval Observatory.” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) “My name has been discussed partly because I’m a female and it’s always nice to balance things in gender … I’ve discussed it with my kids. My 16-year-old thinks it’s a fabulous idea because he thinks we probably couldn’t find any better residence in Washington, D.C., than the Naval Observatory. That’s the fun part of the question, but I think anybody, if you were seriously asked, I think you have to give it very real and genuine consideration. I don’t expect to be asked, but if I were I would give it real and genuine consideration.” Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) “Any American citizen, large or small, would be honored to be asked. But I totally expect any of our candidates to have a tremendous list of people. I don’t expect to be asked. Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) “It would be flattering, but I don’t see how it’s going to happen and I don’t see how I would accept.” Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) “If Hillary’s the nominee, Barack will be the running mate. If Barack’s the nominee, Hillary will be the running mate. That’s my answer.” Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) “They can do a lot better than me. I just don’t see it happening. I don’t know what I’d bring to the ticket. I’d have to think about it. I don’t see how I would add much to the ticket. To give you an honest answer, I don’t know what I’d do. Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) “No. I have a fabulous job representing people that I admire immensely in Rhode Island and I think I can do this job better here.” Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) “I’m looking forward to serving the people of Nevada and leading an expanded majority in the U.S. Senate well into the future.” Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) “No. I don’t cut ribbons well or give eulogies at funerals.” Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) “No. I’m too deeply ingrained in the culture of the people of West Virginia. It wouldn’t even be a choice for me. I want to stay where I am and do what I do. That’s non-debatable.” Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.) “Of course. Everybody in here would do it if asked. But it’s a very speculative question and I don’t expect it’ll happen in my case.” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) “I have not yet been asked. Furthermore, I expect I will not be asked.” Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) “Me being asked is so unlikely I don’t even have to waste my breath on the question.” Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) “I would ask, ‘Are you serious?’ I have friends who sometimes say it, but it’s not a practical thing, I don’t think.” Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) “First of all, I wouldn’t be interested and I haven’t been asked. I think McCain ought to choose whoever he’s comfortable with and could help him win.” Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) “Let me put it this way: I’m not on the list, so it’s a hypothetical question.” Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) “I like where I am in the United States Senate. Obviously, you would always consider something like that, but I’m happy where I am.” Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) “Absolutely not.” Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) “I don’t believe that’s going to happen, but certainly it’s something that anybody would be honored to talk about.” Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) “No. I’ve got too many things that I still want to do as a senator. And I don’t like the idea of a job where you sit around and wait for someone to die.” Sen. John Sununu (R-N.H.) “I am focused on my election. And frankly, I don’t think John McCain should pick any member of Congress or the United States Senate.” Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) “I’m more focused on doing my job as a senator, truthfully. You’d have a lot of ability to push your things, but I like the position I’m in right now. I’m happy with it. This position suits me better at this point in time.” Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) “That won’t happen, so I won’t have to worry about it. Obviously it’s an honor. Anybody would look at it that way, but I just don’t see that happening.” Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) “My favorite is our new governor [Former Rep. Bobby Jindal (R-La.)]. I don’t think I’m in the realm of possibility in any way, so I haven’t given it any thought.” Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) “Honestly, if John McCain came to me and said, ‘George, I think that you would help me and should be part of my team,’ I’d have to say, ‘Yes, I’d be glad to help.’ The fact of the matter is, I’m worried about our country. I’m really worried. And I want to run again for only one reason, that things are so screwed up, I’m just worried about my kids. So if somebody came to me and said, ‘We really think you could help us do this,’ I couldn’t say no because maybe it’s another way of serving my country and it’s maybe even more important than being a senator. The first question I’d ask is, ‘What role would you want me to play? If you want me to give a bunch of speeches, I’m not the guy. Get somebody else. If you want me to roll up the shirtsleeves, get up early in the morning, dot the I’s and cross the T’s, do substantive stuff? OK.’ ” Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) “No, I’m not getting into that. I’m happily in the twilight of my retirement.” Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) “I’m not really interested. That’s all I want to say.” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) “No. I love what I’m doing here. I’m a junior senator from Rhode Island. It hasn’t crossed anybody’s mind.” Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) “The chances of that are so remote that I’m more likely to be hit by an asteroid.” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) “I have a unique perspective on this. I am the only senator to have announced I am not running for president because there should be someone here to serve as the Senate’s designated driver. I intend to stay in that position. The Senate needs a designated driver to stay behind and work on healthcare.”