Let's Debate

It's on for the GOP tonight!

I was thinking, on my way to work this morning, that the whole 2016 Presidential race is in the toilet. No really, I'm so disappointed with all of the candidates. All of them from both parties.

Let's take the Republicans:
Trump: The man with a double digit lead is a bully! I get that he's talking tough and people really like that, but let's talk temperament for a second. This guy continues to insult and belittle his opponents (like a grade school tyrant)-and it seems to be working for him-but can we afford for him to piss off Putin and call him a loser? He can talk the talk, but just because he runs a billion dollar corporation bearing his name does that really mean he can walk the walk on a global level? Politically? He's a loose cannon.

Carson: The media is calling Carson's recent surge in the polls "Trump-esque". Is Ben Carson the kinder, gentler Trump? Or is his recent surge due to the fact that The Donald's name calling game has turned off former supporters who find Ben more presidential? Trump better watch it. Carson's got God on his side, just saying, and if, after a great performance tonight, he emerges as the front runner it would be interesting to see how Trump handles that. Not well is my bet.

Fiorina: Carly, Carly, Carly. I recently read that she compared Trump's inappropriate comment about her face to the grade school bully who is mean and pulls your hair but secretly really likes you. Uh, no Carly. Make no mistake, Trump wanted to insult you and bring you down. I have to give her kudos for turning that ugly comment into political gold. A web new ad by Carly's camp said this about Fiorina:
"Ladies, look at this face and look at all of your faces, the face of leadership," Fiorina says. "This is the face of a 61-year-old woman. I am proud of every year and every wrinkle."

Bush: Ughhh..I seriously think that the ONLY interesting thing about Jeb is that he speaks Spanish. He is so vanilla that I'm asleep already...please somebody wake me because the man has yet to wake any of us up. It's do or die for him tonight. He can't play mediocre or rest on his family's laurels because Trump will squash him. I'm not sure he has the chops to go up against Trump. He is over matched.

Walker, Kasich, Christie, Cruz, Rubio, Huckabee and Paul: The only ones I want to talk about are Christie and Rubio. Christie, I like, but his offensive attack on Paul at the last debate did him no favors. In my opinion it made him look angry instead of strong. And Rubio? He needs to be noticed. He's intelligent and articulate, but if eloquence is his only Presidential attribute he will continue to get lost in the water with these sharks. The rest have no chance. Zero.

As for the Democrats, I'm supremely disappointed in Hillary. She literally had a cake walk back into the White House and now all she has is cake on her face. What the HELL happened? I'm calling that a choke of EPIC proportions. I'm not sure she can come back, but I hope she does because the Dem's are loosing the race against the fiery Republicans.

Tonight should be interesting...I can't wait to see who Trump insults and I'm guessing I'm not the only one. It doesn't make for great politics, but it sure does make for great TV.

WTF?

I'm saddened over yesterday's news of the tragedy in Virginia. Three young people snuffed out because of hatred.

It's unfathomable that a mentally and emotionally disturbed person ONCE AGAIN kills because he/she feels he should, or could. This headline is becoming more and more common in our society. What is this world coming to? This time a young, accomplished duo of journalists and the woman they were interviewing were gunned down. Three lost their lives and the other is fighting for hers. I say three because the shooter killed himself and although it's easy to not care about his life, we must.

Were there warning signs?

Yes, the shooter was fired from jobs multiple times for "disturbing behavior" but how are we to predict he would turn his anger into a deadly tragedy? The Shooter reportedly faxed a 23 page "suicide note" to ABC News two hours after the shooting. In his missive he claimed to be upset over the recent racially charged, deadly church shootings in South Carolina. He said he admired the shooters of Columbine High School and Virginia Tech and called one "my boy right there".

The question we are left with today is how do we prevent this? Can we?

Because a journalist should be able to report from the field without fear, students should be able to learn in a safe environment and church goers should be able to worship in their sacred place without a lock on the door.

And one more deadly shooting headline is one too many.

WTF Wednesday

WTF NFL? ...Can we all please move. the. F. ON?? This whole Deflategate thing has been the most drawn out, over publicized and over analyzed thing EVER. Not sure why the NFL decided it wants to put the screws to Brady and dig it's heels in on this one. Whether he lied or not..it's freaking air pressure in a ball...it's not like he beat his wife or anything.

WTF Apple Watch?...What do you mean you don't work autonomously without the iPhone present? Really? Like you can't do every single thing the iPhone can by yourself? Completely free of one's cellular device? What if I want to run on the treadmill without my phone and listen to my music? What if I want to check an email or text while "unplugging" from my cell? What a rip off.

WTF Windows 10?...What ever happened to 9? I got lost somewhere between 8 and 9.  

WTF Summer Cold?....My Guy and I have a horrid summer cold. Mine is all in my head. Sinus pressure, congestion, runny nose, watery eyes. I have been down for 3 days too!! My guy has it all in his chest. A summer cold is the worst.

WTF Ben Affleck?....Cheated? Seriously? And with the nanny? Ok, everybody knows that Ben is my homeboy and all, being from Boston, but cheating with the nanny is a little too sinister for me. Good for Ben he's adamantly denying it-even threatening legal action.

WTF Weather?....I can't really complain about super hot and humid weather, can I? I'd much rather be complaining about this weather than the polar opposite. So I'm just going to take this hot, sticky and unusually uncomfortable hot weather and shut the F up. Ok?

Oh yeah, and today is National Lipstick Day! So go on over to that sidebar over to the right and click on the link to my store...treat yourself to a celebratory lipstick!

Trending Topics

We here at The Daily Dandy are nothing if not trendy. So today we offer you a minuscule sampling of the topics that we are all talking about:

• #1 Trending Topic on Facebook: "Orange Is The New Black" show writer Lauren Morelli divorces her husband after two years of marriage and reveals that she is dating Samira Wiley, who plays Poussey, a lesbian inmate on the hit show. WOW, this is one hell of a story. Morelli says she realized her first day on the set that indeed, she may be gay and living a life somewhat parallel with the show's lead character, Piper. Months into a new marriage to a man, Morelli finds through the show's story lines that everything she thought to be true about herself now may be wrong. She has since worked through her feelings and came out publicly as gay. 

• #1 Trending Topic on Twitter: "Justin Beiber and Selena Gomez Get Cozy In Las Vegas." This is most unbelievable to me. Of all the things that are going on around the world, Twitter followers want to talk about Justin Beiber and Selena Gomez. Really? The Twitterverse seems far more concerned about the fact that Justin and Selena are back together and that Selena was photographed wearing a bikini.  I'm embarrassed for us all. 

• #1 Trending Topic On Google: "Miss America" The story here is that for the third year in a row New York has been crowned the Miss America winner. 23 year-old Kira Kazantsev's platform was Domestic Violence (how timely) and her talent portion was a rendition of Pharell's "Happy" accompanied by a plastic red Solo cup. Looks like pageants are big business in this part of the world. 

• #1 Trending Topic On ABC.com: "NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell criticized on airplane banners, TV broadcasts." It wasn't any given Sunday for Roger Goodell yesterday. His leadership was questioned by pre-game commentators and banners flew on airplanes over 3 stadiums bearing the message #Goodellmustgo. Goodell will most likey go-due to his dishonest bungling of the Ray Rice debacle. While I don't believe everyone has all the answers on how to handle a messy situation right away, I think lying about how you handled it is worse. 

And some quick hits (most requested) according to Google Trends for the month of August:

Actors: Robin Williams (#2 Arianna Grande)

Authors: William Shakespeare (#2 Martin Luther King, Jr)

Cocktails: Martini (#2 Bloody Mary)

Colleges: Pennsylvania State University (#2 University of Southern California) 

Dog Breed: Bulldog (#2 Pit bull)

Foods: Pizza (#2 Chicken)

Government Bodies: US Senate (#2 FBI)

Movies: Guardians of the Galaxy (#2 Frozen)

Musical artists: Niki Manaj (#2 Beyonce)

Politicians: Barack Obama (#2 John F. Kennedy)

Songs: Happy Birthday to You (#2 Shake it Off)

Sports Teams: Dallas Cowboys (#2 Manchester United FC)

TV Shows: Keeping Up With the Kardashians (#2 Dr. Who)

US Senators: Rick Perry (#2 Arnold Schwarzenegger)

Lost

A major airliner disappears?

Both weird and fascinating. What the heck happened? Is it gone? Blown up into vaporized smithereens, or crashed and plunged deep into the sea off the coast of Malaysia? US spy satellites say they have no evidence of a mid air explosion and no wreckage has been found. The US and a host of other countries have joined the search and a few days later? Nothing...Nada..Zilch.

Is this a case of life imitating art? Share your thoughts.

"Find A Way"

To say that I have thought of Diana Nyad maybe a handful of times in my life would be accurate. I knew that she was once a famed long distance swimmer and I knew that she had attempted some crazy-ass swim across the world a few times and failed. That's about the extent of my Diana Nyad knowledge. Today I think of Diana Nyad as an inspiration and I find myself searching for more information on the 64 year old woman. This new chapter in her story is an example of what can be accomplished if you never give up and recently I've thought of her far more than that handful of times. 

Diana Nyad accomished something she had tried and failed at 4 times before. Diana, this week, became to first person to swim from Cuba to Florida in 110 mile swim in open water, without a shark tank, in 52 hours. Talk about never say never.

Diana was already accomplished.

She spent her younger days swimming under the tutelage of Hall Of Fame coach Jack Nelson and was a decorated swimmer, winning awards and breaking records in both high school and college. In 1986 she was inducted into the United States National Women's Sports Hall of Fame and in 2003 she was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame. She has since parlayed those accomplishments into a career. Nyad is an accomplished author, journalist, entrepreneur and commentator who regularly contributes to CBS Sunday Morning. To some, her career would look to be fulfilling and complete. Another person might have just sailed off into the swimming sunset, so to speak. But Diana wanted to do that one thing she had tried and failed at. In 2011 she began forming her team and training for the 110 mile swim. The odds were stacked against her with her age and history told her the outlook wasn't so good. 

On Monday, September 2, 2013, her body dehydrated and slowly breaking down, Diana walked out from the vast ocean she had swam 110 miles in unassisted, as the person who never gave up and beat the odds. Her 64 year-old self beat her 28 year-old self in what has to be the most satisfying career highlight ever. 

Diana Nyad is an inspiration. Diana Niad is a role model. Diana Nyad is a never say never believer.

Diana Nyad is someone whom I will think about as a shining example of what can be accomplished with determination and belief. And she is someone who has moved on from a handful to going viral in my mind.

Moments Of Madness

This story is very sad. It's not reported  here to gossip or point a finger at anyone. I share it becausre maybe someone will learn something. Maybe this madness will stop. Maybe no but maybe yes and that one maybe makes it all worthwhile.

Jared Remy, son of beloved Red Sox announcer and former player Jerry Remy, murdered his girlfriend in cold blood last Thursday. An enraged Jared stabbed Jennifer Martel several times in a struggle that went from inside the apartment they shared to the outdoor patio. Two of their neighbors tried to stop Jared from stabbing her to death outside their Waltham, MA apartment. Sources say they punched, kicked and screamed for him to stop, but his fury continued and didn't stop until she was dead.

Their 4 year old daughter was in the house at the time.

Herein lies the caveat:
Jared was arrested for assault and battery the Tuesday before the slaying,  for smashing Jennifer's head into a mirror. The DA released Jared Remy on his own recognizance. Today the fingers are pointing all over the Middlesex DA's office and they are firmly denying any wrong doing. The facts of this case are blinding: Jared has a long rap sheet filled with violence. Since 1998 Remy has 15 counts of violence, six if them assault and battery on three different women.

Now the community wants to know how this happened. Middlesex DA, Marian Ryan, is attempting to explain this away by saying the victim herself is the best judge of saftey.

“Everything we know, both from the research and from 
experience in doing these cases, is in the 
majority of these cases, the best assessor of safety is the victim herself,” Ryan told the Herald, referring to Jennifer Martel, the mother of Remy’s 4-year-old daughter. “Miss Martel was declining to extend the restraining order that had been issued the night before.” Ryan said.


I'm not a DA and I don't play one on TV, but I'm thinking this monster slipped through the cracks somehow. I understand that Jennifer didn't want to extend the restraining order, even I can see that she was scared. LOOK AT THE GUY!!! He looks like a bad guy and I don't say that to make you giggle. There is nothing funny about him or this. It's obvious to me that his guy has a roid/rage problem. He looks terrifying and most certainly is terrifying, but why did it take the senseless death of a young woman to solidify that?

Lots of people are saying lots of things about Jerry Remy, his father who is a very public figure here in Boston. Things like that's why Jared got away with it so many times before. If that is true then we all share in the blame for Jennifer's death. I find it hard to believe that Jerry Remy's name carries that much weight in the court system or that we hero worship ourselves into looking the other way, but the facts here are the facts. There is no way that monster should have been alowed to live with a woman, let alone a woman and a child. Their village failed. No one saw this coming? Maybe they were afraid of him too but this family breakdown is a cautionary tale.

Bottom line: If it looks like a bad guy, talks like a bad guy and walks like a bad guy, then it's a bad guy.
If only it were that simple. Jennifer would be alive today.

Luck Be A Lady

This is Jessica Buchanan. Jessica could be considered one lucky American.

In the fall of 2011, Jessica and a Danish citizen Poul Hagen Thisted were working with children on a demining project in the Somali town of Adow, when they were kidnapped by Somali Pirates. Held for ransom for over three months, the Somali's nearly killed their golden goose, Jessica.

Apparently, the Somali's refused a 1.5 million dollar ransom offer and many attempts to free the hostages by the Danish Refugee Council were unsuccessful. Sick, half starved and beginning to give up hope, Jessica was recorded explaining that she thought she had what was a serious kidney infection, and feared that she would soon die.

For Jessica, luck soon intervened.

On January 25, 2012 a group of United States Navy Seals, late one night raided the compound where the hostages were being held, killed nine pirates and rescued Jessica and Poul. They brought medicine for a sick and weak Jessica and incredibly, as they carried her to the location where they waited for the helicopter to lift them away, the navy seals delicately placed Jessica on the ground then the entire navy seal team gently laid down on top of her to protect her from danger.

They laid down on top of her...They placed their lives before hers and ensured that Jessica would get back to the US safely.

Was it luck?

Some say Jessica placed herself in a dangerous situation that she could have avoided. That being where she was increased her chances of danger dramatically and that the US should not negotiate with terrorists. Personally, I feel that's an argument for another day. What I think the most incredible thing in this story is this:

They laid down on top of her.....

Was it luck that a Navy Seal Team rescued her that night when time was running out for her?
Was she in the wrong place at the wrong time or was she at the right place at the right time?
Maybe luck had nothing to do with it, but Poul Hagen Thisted reportedly said, in his interview after their rescue, he considered himself "lucky" to have been held hostage with an American.

I Was Just Thinking: A Cleansing Of The Mind

I did it and I survived!
It was no big deal really, the best part of the one-day Detox cleanse is the way I feel today. Beside a splitting headache at 4am, I would have to say the cleanse was a success. It gives me renewed energy and lots of Mojo. It feels good to clean out the brain and body cobwebs.

Having said that, I was just thinking:

• I'm not sure if it's the one day cleanse or the season, but suddenly I want to clean out EVERYTHING! Purge the crap and make clean, tidy room for new space and new ideas and things. 

• What's all the hub bub about Beyonce and Jay-Z going to Cuba? Are we, Americans. still prohibited from travelling to Cuba, “unless authorized by a general or specific license,”  Bey and Jay were never going to face the possible $250,000.00 fine or 10 year jail sentence that could be imposed by traveling to that specific locale. Reportedly the Treasury department approved the trip as an "educational exchange". Hopefully that exchange is about music education.

• When I was in graduate school, we were required to read all three newspapers daily; The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald and The New York Times. I will never forget being lambasted, in front of my classmates,  for naming the Herald as my go to new source in class. "Your tastes in journalistic content leave much to be desired,"scolded my professor, to which my peers seemed to laugh and point their fingers. Well, some 12 years later who has egg on their face now???  The Boston Herald was just voted one of the Unites States "Ten papers who do it right" by Editor and Publisher magazine. Not that I 'm gloating, (but I am), the Herald is not only thriving but  expanding. While the Boston Globe faces extinction,  ironically now owned by the New York Times. Not me, no egg here. 

• Frack has entered into the dating game. I couldn't be more thrilled for him. He has been invited to dinner with his gal pal's family tonite and he's looking forward to it. She's adorable and I think it's nice at his age to have someone special. They grow up so fast....

Up In a Puff Of Smoke

I feel like we are living in a bad Dan Brown novel.

Could it be that twice in my lifetime I will witness the Papal Conclave? It's fascinating. On Feb 28, 2013 Pope Benedict XVI resigned officially as the Pope, leader of the Roman Catholics of the world. This was seen as a dramatic turn of events since he is the first Pope to do so on his own initiative since Pope Celestine V in 1294.

History in the making, but I have to wonder why? I'm not sure we will ever know the answer to that. Since John Paul's death in 2005, I have witnessed the Papal process twice. It's the stuff of DaVinci Code makings, and like the book, I'm not quite sure there aren't any sinister doings going  behind closed doors. How could there not be? It is the Catholic Church we are talking about here. God forgive me....

Today it is expected the Vatican will announce the date of the 2013 Papal conclave, and lets hope it happens soon. The Catholic Church has a holy opportunity to make a statement here, and try to pick a Pope for the people. A Pope who is modern and yet understands the rich traditions that are at the basis of our faith and will help us to heal the deep wounds from the scandal. Because let's not kid ourselves, Roman Catholics across the world have been steeped in shame for quite some time. We have lost our faith in our faith and the time has come for Vatican penance.

Here's one Catholic who will be watching with interest, excitement and yes, reservations and caution. I pray for a modern leader that will save face for us so that we can move forward and hold our religious heads high.

Otherwise it will all just go up in a puff of smoke.

He Said/She Said

Interesting stuff going on here in MA.

Convicted killer Michelle Kosilek, who at one time was Robert Kosliek, an MCI Norfolk inmate serving life for the 1992 strangling of his wife and disposing of her body in a North Attleboro mall, has spent many years waging a legal battle with the state to pay for a sex change operation. Kosilek's doctors have diagnosed the inmate with gender-identity disorder and say that his "mental illness" has caused him to attempt suicide and self castration. Those same doctors have prescribed gender reassignment surgery.

Yesterday, Kosilek scored a victory when US District Judge Mark Wolf ruled  that denying the surgery violates his Eight Amendment rights against cruel and unusual punishment and his/her right to adequate medical care.

"She really appreciates the careful consideration of the court and the respectful decision," said Kosilek attorney Frances S. Cohen.

But there are those who don't share in that appreciation.

State Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr said following the controversial ruling that it sets a bad precedent for future cases and is, "well beyond the scope of reason, and an unjustifiable expansion of the requirements of the Eight Amendment." Senator Scott Brown was more to the point calling it "an outrageous waste of taxpayers dollars." 

So the question lies in what constitutes "cruel and unusual punishment". Is it cruel to expect an inmate to serve his/her time trapped in the body of someone they are not? Or unusual for a "woman" to serve her time in the "male" inmate population when a 2009 University of California, Irvine study found that a transgendered inmate is 13 times more likely to be sexually assaulted.? Yet is it cruel and unusual to deny proper medical treatment to any inmate; transgendered or not?

Yesterday Kosilek scored a legal victory but I'm thinking this war is not over. Wether he gets his surgery or not,  20 years ago his wife Cheryl had no legal recourse when he chose to end her life. There was no appeal to Kosilek's ruling that he was going to kill her. No "careful consideration" to strangling her and dumping her body in a mall.

And all because he chose to utilize cruel and unusual punishment and murder her.

Uni-boob

So there's a big  Beantown bru ha ha in the paper today about how the notorious Unibomber, Ted Kaczynski was the talk of his Harvard University's 50th reunion yesterday. Apparently the Harvard Alumni Directory, the "Red Book" allowed Kaczynski, a Harvard Alum Class of 62, to post an updated entry with his personal stats. 

 According to today's Boston Herald:

" Kaczynski’s posting lists his occupation as “prisoner” and his home address as the federal penitentiary in Florence, Colo. Under awards, Kaczynski snidely cited, “Eight life sentences, issued by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, 1998.” Under publications, he lists a 2010 manifesto, “Technological Slavery,” published by “Feral House.”

Sources say the Yard at Harvard was divided over this controversial addition to the Alumni directory. While some defended his right to be included others, like one of his victims, a Yale professor who lost his eye and hand from a Unibomber bomb, found his entry "chilling".

“It’s very chilling,” David Gelernter said. “He’s an unrepentant terrorist murderer who cut people, and slashed people to death in their kitchens, leaving them to bleed, while he hid in a shack somewhere in the West. So for some institution to lend authority to him, well, I can’t believe such things happen in the United States.”

Kaczynski, one of the world's most elusive and notorious criminals, kept authorities at bay for nearly 20 years as he terrorized the country with his mail bombing campaigns. Arrested in 1996, the Unibomber is responsible for 3 deaths and 23 injuries. He was found in a remote cabin outside Lincoln, Montana, in a disheveled and unkempt state. In his cabin authorities found multiple bomb making materials and over 40, 000 hand written journals detailing bomb making experiments. 

While the climate at Harvard yesterday was divided, some felt uneasy but justified about the controversy.

“One way or another, he has just as much right to be in there as I do. He is a Harvard graduate,” said classmate Richard Tucker, a retired investment manager from Newton. Tucker said he thought Kaczynski’s submission was “a little bit brave.”

Class of 1962 secretary Chris Wadsworth confirmed that the information came directly from Kaczynski and added that, "he has a sense of humor in spite of everything." Yale Professor David Gelernter finds nothing funny about it. 

“The new criminals here are the publishers of this ‘Red Book,’ for their passive collusion with this murderer,” Gelernter said.

Candy Makes A Dandy Swami

So, I have to have the world's WORST newspaper delivery guy. Seriously, the guy delivers the paper whenever he feels like it, wherever he feels like it, and on Sunday morning, my newspaper arrives around 10 am. Long story short, he didn't deliver it today early enough for my schedule, so I had to use my iPad to get my morning news. (oh the horror! I roll old school on very few things, but my morning newspaper is one of them)

Anyway, I caught this site that had some useless, celebrity news videos and I saw a couple of people making predictions for the 2012 year. I decided to try my hand at Swami, and make some Dandy predictions of my own. I never claimed to be clairvoyant or even close, so someday I'll have to check back to see how I did. Here they are in no particular order:

Candy's Dandy 2012 Predictions:

1. Mitt Romney will defeat Barak Obama for the Presidency of the United States. Yup, I just see it, like you know how you visualize winning a race or scoring a goal? I just see Mitt as our next leader of the free world. This is by no means an endorsement of any candidate or political party by Candy's Daily Dandy. This is just a feeling, a hunch and I could totally be wrong.


2. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie will get married. This one's kind of a no brainer. I'm not the smartest or most incredible swami for making this prediction, I'm just a mother and a woman and right around, kind of, the same, not exactly but sort of the same age as the Hollywood power couple. Since they have 6 kids together and family is their number one priority, the next logical and romantic step is to make it legal. Really, who are they going to move onto? Both are the top of their demographic when it comes to picking a partner of the opposite sex, so it only makes sense. Plus, there is nothing more romantic or fulfilling. Again, just my opinion.


3. Over sized glasses will be all the rage. Take my advice here, and buy a pair of over sized sun glasses, but the real fire will spread with over sized reading and eye glasses. The bigger the better. Geek is chic and big, geeky, nerdy glasses will make a huge fashion statement in 2012. You know how I know? They are hot all over Europe in 2011 and we follow suit.


4. Robert DeNiro will make a huge Hollywood comeback as Bernie Madoff. DeNiro's Production company, Tribeca Films, will produce the film as HBO bought the rights to the Madoff Family's Book, "Truth and Consequences: Life Inside The Madoff Family". Written by Ruth Madoff, Andrew Madoff and Andrew's fiancee, Catherine Hooper. I venture to guess that there isn't a person out there who isn't curious about this story, and this predictions about DeNiro. It should be released by year's end, so DeNiro will have at Oscar in 2013.


5. Ok, so I'm going out on a limb here, but it's no fun otherwise. AND you know that I truly believe this: The New England Patriots will defeat The New Orleans Saints to win Super Bowl XLVI in 2012. Yup, they just may be on their way to peaking right now, and just in the nick of time. I may be off about the Super Bowl opponent, so if it's not the Saints, it's going to be the Packers. Even though the Pats have serious, serious issues on defense, and they can't afford to fall behind more than two scores with either of these teams in the beginning of the game, we have Tommy. He's the best in the business and he knows how to get it done. And he will. Also, My Tommy is the MVP of Super Bowl XLVI.

So there you have it bloggers!

Not a big stretch of the imagination, but my predictions nonetheless. I guess you could say I have now gone on record.

Back In Business

Just got the power back, literally moments ago...

I'll come back when I thaw out with a proper blog post.

Oprah's Half $ister

I'm watching the evening news last night and I see this piece on how Oprah revealed yesterday that she has just learned and recently met a half sister she never knew she had. Story has it that this woman, a single mom of two, learned the truth from a televised interview with Oprah's mom a few years back. She matched some of the information she learned with the the information in her birth records and contacted Oprah's mom, only to be denied a meeting two or three times.



She then tirelessly tried to reach out to Oprah, to no avail. She finally got in touch with Oprah's niece, the daughter of one of two deceased siblings of Oprah, and was able to score some DNA and take a test that proves that she is indeed Oprah's half sister. They met for the first time at Thanksgiving and the entire story was filmed for TV which aired yesterday. I couldn't get it out of my mind. All night I kept thinking about the way the news anchors kept referring to this woman as, "Cashing in on her DNA" and how she "won the genetic lottery." And I thought for a moment about the tragedy in all of this.



Is this all we think of as a society? Oprah=money and lots of it? I was embarrassed to think this is all we could think of. Granted, Oprah is a billionaire. Fact, yes. But she is also a human and must be thrilled at the prospect of having a half sister to call her own. I must admit to even letting my mind go to that place where Oprah's money solves all of this woman's financial issues, but if only for a moment. Wasn't it Oprah herself who, back in the days when she had to work for a living, invented the televised secret family reunion? Didn't she herself make lots of people happy on the backs of unknowing siblings being reunited in the world? The irony is not lost here.



The broadcast went on to say that Oprah decided to reveal the news herself, on her own show, so that her viewers would hear it from her and not some tabloid, therefore making it less newsworthy. Yes Oprah's a savvy broadcaster and a media mogul, and now she's found out that she's a sister too. Personally, I don't think that there is any price tag you could put on that. So what if she is the richest woman in the world? This fact has nothing to do with this story, for she now has found something that her billions of dollars cannot buy.



Why do we need to cheapen it? This is most likely the reason that Oprah decided to handle the announcement. Because our world is a cynical place. We couldn't possibly think for one moment that Oprah's half sister's motives were pure. No, we had to go to that place that says she did it for the money. I hope God blesses them both with a wonderful and fulfilling relationship and if Oprah decides to give her half her fortune...SO WHAT? If Oprah decides to give her NOT one penny...SO WHAT? I think it's more about non-monetary things that these two can give to each other. It's now up to both women to write their own script to this screenplay.



I can only imagine the horrible can of worms the world has opened up on this woman. Her only consolation should be building a relationship with her sister.


Off camera.

Moss Grows On A Rolling Stone

So you might have heard that Randy Moss was traded a few days ago to the Minnesota Vikings.

Boo Fricken Hoo.

It's not a great thing for my hometown team, per say, but it's not really a bad thing. You see, Randy is what you would call a "coddled" NFL football player. In the two years that Randy has played for the Pats, he's done some amazing things on the field. He's broken records and given Tommy a deep field threat that an unnamed NFL coach yesterday said, "Every defensive game plan against the Patriots starts with the question, 'How are you going to handle Randy Moss?'. You got to deal with Moss before you think about anything else."

That kind of thinking is what stalled Moss' on-field production last year. Now just into the 2010-2011 season, has Belichick thrown away the brass ring? Only time will tell. For now, the Pats decided that Randy had crossed over into the point of no return with his,"I'm not getting no respect" stance and successfully put the last nail in his New England Patriots coffin. He pissed off Kraft.

Story has it that back in February, at a charity event, Moss told a reporter that "the Patriots don't really pay". Not a smart move, to bite the hand that feeds you during a contract year. Mr. Kraft, a proud man, responded in the media with, "Do you know how much Randy has made over the last two years? Over 20 million, so I don't think we don't pay for quality." That was the beginning of the end for Randy and the Pats. Moss then went on to act disrespectful and make his unhappiness known to anyone who would listen. Including an assembled media after a big win. He began a recent post-win press conference with immature babble about feeling unwanted due to the lack of contract negotiations.

It was even more evident when last Monday night, Moss put up a no-catch game and had words with the offensive coordinator during half-time of the Pats/Dolphins Monday night game. Randy was the rolling stone, on a fast track to the bottom of the hill. Now back with Minnesota, Moss is with another star quarter back, hoping to get some love. We are left with not much of anything. Right now. Sure, Tommy has lots of other offensive weapons at his disposal. The question is will they be as effective as Moss. And why now? Is it business or is it football?

Belichick says that he makes decisions based on what's best for the team. Is this really the time to trade a marquis receiver, a future hall-of-famer, because he's being a brat? The Pats are defense-challenged this year and must rely on offensive to win games. Did Kraft and Bill make a big blunder to save face here? I some how feel like a Moss-y stone rolls just as fast as one without. Couldn't we have waited till the end of the season to wipe that stone clean?

*quotes from this report can be attributed to yesterday's Boston Herald*

See You In The Funny Pages

Just thought I'd share with you some of the unBELIEVABLE crap that I read about in my morning paper today. Some of this stuff makes life much stranger than fiction, for sure.

• Mitt Romney's Hair: Our very own former Governor, on a "Fox & Friends" interview to air this morning, talks about a possible 2010 Presidential bid, Sarah Palin AND his hair?? Romney is quoted in today's Boston Herald saying that if people used "enough glue, every body's hair could be perfect." He also talked about the direction of his perfect coif's growth. "It grows down the middle of my face unless I stick it back there." Well, I'm glad we straightened that out. I really feel like I can now make a more informed decision about Mitt's Presidential candidacy. Whew.

• Mount Vernon New Hampshire killer admits regret: But not the regret one would hope for. Christopher Gribble, one of the four horrid youths who broke into Kimberly Cates Mount Vernon home, killed her in her bed then severely maimed her 11 year old daughter Jamie and left her for dead on Oct 4th told police "he was disappointed he didn't feel any emotion following the killing." He also stated that "his only regret was that he didn't kill the child because she now had to live with this." He also said, "if he realized she was alive he would have killed her." The words "an eye for an eye" keep popping into my head for some reason... but death would be too easy for him.

• Springfield, MA mother of nine receives public backlash over story: Tessa Savicki, a 35 year old single mom, was highlighted recently in a Boston Herald article about her lawsuit against Baystate Medical Center, two nurses and three doctors, who she claimed performed a tubal ligation without her written consent on Dec 19, 2006, immediately after the delivery of her ninth child. In the suit, Savicki claims that doctors were supposed to insert an IUD device but instead performed a tubal ligation, preventing her from bearing any more children.....and a reality TV show in the process. OH, I'm sorry, did I write that last part out loud?? My bad. Rest assured, Savicki says in the paper she's been unfairly judged. "She had eight of her nine children while in committed relationships."

• New Bedford Cop suspended for posting photo of dead body on Facebook: Do I really need to go on here?? Crime scene photos are always great to share on any social networking site.

• Charlie Sheen's wife, Brooke Mueller was reportedly in rehab while 5 months pregnant with twins: RadarOnline.com reported that Brooke was confronted about her alcoholism while pregnant after bottles of booze were found in her car. To make matters worse, one of the twins was born with a heart problem, and Charlie and Brooke fought bitterly over it, Charlie blaming Brooke's drinking for the baby's heart troubles. It's no secret that Sheen spent Christmas night in a Colorado jail after his wife accused him of "holding a knife to her throat." A source claims, "they both have drinking problems and neither one of them should be drinking." Sounds like they are perfect for each other.

• Rite Aid Pharmacy Game Card Promotion imitates "The Game Of Life": I think this was my favorite article today. Seems Rite Aid Pharmacy is offering to "pay off the mortgages of two lucky customers and is also giving away 10 'Mega-Kitchen Makeovers' as well as six Infinity convertible sports cars" in a promotion centered around Hasbro's classic "The Game of Life". The author goes on to talk about how he had become re-acquainted with Life over the holiday season, as his 7 year-old-son, received the game for Christmas. What he found was horrifying. If you remember, immediately you must choose your track: college or career. And if you choose College, you immediately go into $100k in debt. Lest we not forget the rent, car repairs, taxes, medical expenses and child care. True to life, the person who has the most money at the end of their Life "wins". The author goes on to describe another game he is well acquainted with; "Cash Flow". "The players are immediately issued income statements and balance sheets to fudge when the IRS comes calling," he writes. Somehow I never manage to win at THAT game.

Things Are Getting Weird Around Here

So I woke up at 4am this morning and I couldn't get back to sleep. Why? Cuz I'm thinking about Roman Polanski. So weird, I know.

I can't quite figure out why I'm thinking about this guy, but I am. It's not like his story of extradition has been headline news recently. That story has to be at least 2 or 3 weeks old, but there it is; keeping me awake. Weird.

Seems Roman, pled guilty in 1977 to having sex with a minor, a 13 year-old girl, who he allegedly drugged with quaaludes and Champagne then had sex with at a party at Jack's house (of all places) in LA. On the eve of his 1978 sentencing he fled the country because he was afraid of being put away for 50 years. He has been in France ever since. On Sept 26th, 2009, he was arrested, at the request of the United States, as he flew into Switzerland to receive a lifetime achievement award at a film festival.

What's even weirder is that I really have no opinion on this, yet I'm thinking about it in the dark and quiet of 4 am.

Well, maybe I do. I'm thinking that this Polanski guy is somewhat of a tragic figure and a bit of a coward to boot. I'm thinking that you can't run away from your demons without facing them and that eventually they will come back to haunt you. Even when you're in you're 70's and still directing Oscar winning movies and getting lifetime achievement awards. You know dude, don't do the crime if you can't do the time. And I'm thinking about the brutal murder of his beautiful, pregnant wife, Sharon Tate by a bunch of worthless, brainwashed, drug-crazed hippies. Maybe the rape wouldn't have happened if Sharon Tate had lived to give birth to the Polanski child. They say she was the love of his life and that he worshiped her. Maybe, but it doesn't mitigate his actions at Jack's house in '77.

There's a story in yesterday's LA Times that reports that Polanski's victim, Samantha Geimer, now 46 years old, and her attorney have asked the appellate court to drop the charges against Polaski because "the unceasing publicity has disrupted her family, job and health." Seems Samantha's boss in "understandably displeased" with her and there is a real possibility that she may loose her job.

Picture this: Rich director messes up, runs away, gets away with it, and keeps winning Oscars while living large in France for years and years. Yet the victim gets the shaft back home because the LA crime fighters, who let him slip away, decide to finally grab this brass ring, some thirty years later. Hollywood couldn't produce a better script. Maybe Polanski should direct it. He could possibly win another Oscar for his efforts, heck, he's doing whatever he wants anyway.

Or maybe we should just tack another life sentence onto Manson's sentence. It's his fault anyway.

Moe, Larry, And Dr. Phil, The Stooges Of The News

So I'm watching TV the other night, flipping through the channels and I stumble upon that old fossil of the media, Larry King. Larry's always good for some, red hot topic fun, but it was the headline that caught my attention. It said, "Did Kanye go too far?"......

Ummm, ya think, Lar?

AND, dude, that was sooo last weeks, old, regurgitated, played-out story. Must have been a slow news day because THEN, he pulls out good old Dr. Phil to have a round table about this boorish behavior. Phil seems to have the inside track on the Kanye/Taylor Swift thing because he talked to Taylor and her mom after a taping of The View on Friday. I used to love Dr Phil, now I'm not sure what he has become, as every appearance he makes as a psychological expert, deciphering bad celebrity behavior knocks him down a notch on the credibility scale. He's become like the ambulance chaser of the celebrity psycosis realm.

THIS IS HEADLINE NEWS?? What gives?

I was under the impression that the Larry King Live show was a legit, hard news forum for the discussion of newsworthy topics. Topics that may or may not have an impact on society and discussions where the consitutional freedoms to voice opinions are invited and encouraged. What happened to Larry? Is he getting soft in his old age? I'm not saying the whole "Kanye/Taylor" thing did not have it's place in a media forum, but more than a week later and do we really need Dr Phil's opinion??

I will admit to not being a Larry King Live regular viewer, but I think Larry's just reached his expiry date. For more than a few months after Michael Jackson died, it was all Michael all the time on Larry and he was having in depth discussions with Michael's trash man and his gardener. I realize, even on this forum, how hard it is to be topical, witty and interesting on a daily basis. Really I do. Everyone scrambles for material sometimes, big and small. But CNN???These are big salaried, teams of professional producers, news breakers and expert news people and the best they cam come up with is "the dumbing down" of the news??

The oversaturated news channels have been churning out "dead horse" topics for a while now. I think Larry, Moe and Curley were better in their day. At least they knew how to take a slap upside the head for their stupidity.

RANTalicious

Get ready for a rant, because nothing pisses me off more than wasted real estate in my morning paper.

That there's Daphne Zuniga, of "Melrose Place" fame with her 8 year-old niece, who is serving up ice cream right here in my very home town. Seems she is family of the owners of Cedar Hill Dairy Joy where I live and stopped bye yesterday to work at the Dairy Joy, as it's known here by the locals.

Now I ask you, WHO CARES???

Who is this woman and what has she done since the mid-90's in the world? Yet she still gets credited with the of "Melrose Place" fame tag. She gets a headline story in the local papers and a mention and photo in the Boston papers in the gossip column. WHAT GIVES??

Why is this crap important?? It's not like she donated her day's earnings to a local food shelter or handed out free cones to underprivileged kiddies. Does her presence at the Dairy Joy make the world a better place? Does this use her pseudo-"celebrity" to bring attention to worthy cause or equate with some fun community service?

NO.

The only service she is doing here is for herself and her family, which is fine by me, but does it have to be in my news paper? The thing is, The Dairy Joy does not NEED any charity from "pseudo-celebs" because everything there is RIDICULOUSLY priced, even if it is ridiculously good. They have some seriously good fried clams, and ouch, at $15 bucks for a small box, you somehow justify the price for the deliciousness. For around $20 bucks you can get a lobster roll and cones run from about $4 bucks to $6 bucks, depending on the size. The big joke in town is that you had better bring your wallet if you are eating at Dairy Joy.

Couldn't Ms. Zuniga's "photo-op" have been better served if she partnered with Dairy Joy to bring some charity to the community. Lord knows this town does not need it, but a large, neighboring city, which has lots of shelters and agencies for less fortunate people, could have been better served by a little press and a feel good ice cream-op to bring it's issue into the spotlight. In all fairness, Zuniga did talk about her involvement with Communities for a Better Environment which is an organization committed to "environmental health and justice by building grassroots power in and with communities of color and working-class communities." But where is the action I speak about? It would seem this was more about Zuniga promoting her return to CW's new Melrose Place and her reprising of her role of Jo Reynolds on said show, which premiers Sept 8.

I don't get why this is newsworthy. Does one or two Lifetime movies in the past ten years get the public all lathered up to go out and spend AT LEAST $30 bucks at the local ice cream joint for a peek at fame?

Rant over.

Now I got a hankering for some fried clams.

Seriously.