2008 is my rear view mirror!

I'm happy that 2008 is over. It was an exciting and crazy and scary year, so I'm looking for 2009 to be a bit smoother for me. Below is my 2008 Christmas letter. I realized that I hadn't written a Christmas letter since 2004 and I know that's because I wasn't that happy in the intervening years. I am happy now and as a red-blooded True American, I demand my right to pursuit Happiness.

What I didn't include in my Christmas letter was:

1. the plague and infestation of rats
2. the plague and infestation of flies (summer was big fun at Dreamland - no money, but plenty of "friends")
   
3. thinking I was going to lose my house, my Dreamland and the stress that caused
4. visiting and calling lawyers and finding out that employees ain't got no rights if some "qfuuz xzsbou" doesn't like you
5. but as is my credo, I used my genius for good and not evil and the people who shall not be named (and you know who you are) will eventually get what they deserve because as we all know, at least those who are watching the "Seven Deadly Sins" series on the History Channel, that the list of sins are: lust, envy, gluttony, sloth, greed, anger and pride. Three of the sins: greed, anger and pride were directed towards me and that sounds bad to me. A triple Whammy, if you will. Better buy some asbestos sandals.
6. I will admit to some passing angry thoughts, but then I just think about the future and I'm using this blog entry partly for expunging the past year's badness.
7. I have one more thing to do before the end of 2008 and nobody will probably see it, but I will know that I did it and it's out there in the ether, which is good enough for me.

Some really good things happened in 2008:

1. I organized the JAB (Just another Birthday) party for my Dad and it was perfect and I got donations for a plaque and a dedicated redwood tree in Big Basin State Park in the Semerviren Fund's Legacy Grove.
2. I found the top expert to rid me of my pestilence.
3. I discovered massive amounts of information about the Coates' Family Tree
4. On Sept. 25th, I had a vision and I went to cash in all my retirement accounts. On Sept. 29th, the Dow Jones dropped 777 points and I felt strangely at peace. Someone was looking out for me.
5. On July 14, 2008, I started working at Wind River. It is so nice to be appreciated for my hard work and dedication. It had been a long time.
   

I wish everyone and I mean everyone, a very Happy 2009!

Christmas 2008 Change, roller coasters, family and how the Monster saved the day.

On the calendar that I have in my office (I always get a movie poster calendar) the month of December is the poster for Godzilla. How perfect is that for symbolism? Godzilla was changed by a catastrophic event and this year has had plenty of big events for everyone that changed things in a big way. But in my story, the Monster also saves the day, but more about that later…

I guess 2008 was always going to be a memorable year. For me it started out by working on my Dad’s JAB (Just Another Birthday) party. I dusted off the old family photographs and found out that online Genealogy had improved massively, so I was able to find a lot more family members and info about them. I discovered Great Uncle James Coates and his family who stayed in England. I cranked up my scanner and got the family photos online, some of them over 100 years old. It was fun to figure out who was who.

To my surprise, I got an email saying: “You’ve got my Grandfather’s photo on your site. It was Barbara Astle, granddaughter of William Coates. She had lots of Coates’ family documents, photos & the family bible. I took a road trip to visit her and her husband David and we were able to figure out who was who in some really old photos. I learned that the ears & chin don’t change much from age 3 to 83. The photo of Crater Lake was taken on that trip.

Then I also found the Silliman family, another cousin, Cliff, who’s the grandson of Jessie Coates. So this was a year to find old and new family and celebrate the family.

The political scene this year was change and life changed for me major league big time. Losing my job after 16 years was a shocking surprise. When you’ve worked with people that long, they are like a 2nd family and now I understand more about dysfunctional families and as I was driving home, I felt strangely happy. I took my unexpected time off to donate about 600 gallons of clothes to the Goodwill, which made me feel good and I know helped lots of people. I also discovered freecycle.org, which let me cull without mercy a bunch of items that I didn’t need, but others did. It was a house cleansing and Dreamland is almost back to its heyday. I got the Fireball pinball machine tuned up, so it’s playing better than ever and I installed the Dreamland Weather Station that’s serving up weather data to the Internet.


The stock market has been like a rollercoaster this year, mostly a long downhill scream ride and I’m feeling blessed and fortunate that the Monster (monster.com) came along, picked out my resume and saved my bacon and my house from a crash and burn. Now things are great with me working at Wind River in Alameda with a great bunch of people and doing enjoyable work again after such a long time.

So 2008 has been a year of discovering new family and friends and getting rid of old baggage and I’m sure that 2009 is going to be a fantastic year. I always feel blessed to have a close and supportive family and I couldn’t do it without them.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
TLC

Who is goooooood girl?

I've gotten a couple of comments on my blog from "goooooood girl", just saying: "I like your blog." is "goooooood girl" a real person? If you are a real person, let me know.

Just curious.

Carbubble

I think I've figured out who "gooooooood girl" is: Is that you, Annette Obrestad? I use sitemeter to track how many people view my blog and it also shows the location, so on Jan 1st, someone from Elverum, Norway checked out my blog for 49 seconds and exited on the page where I talked about my WSOP Academy of Poker class in Las Vegas where I met and played against Annette Obrestad. Just a guess.

If it is you, I think it's way cool that you are reading my blog. If I knew I had a fan, I would write more. I haven't had much time to play any poker lately, but so far in 2009, I'm way ahead in wagering on the college bowl games.

My email is: tlcbasebal@yahoo.com if you want to say Hi. Good luck!!

Tire inflation really does make a difference

I have proof that inflating your tires helps gas mileage. check out the graph. the two big spikes upwards are when I got my tires inflated - first was my last oil change and the 2nd was last week when I did it myself, although I guess I didn't get it up to the best pressure, it sure helped a lot on my MPG. I had noticed it was going down, so I figured I should try it and it worked.

On August 4, 2008, tire inflation became the latest goofball political issue in the Obama/McCain campaign - Boston Globe article (including 2 YouTube videos).

Eventually, McCain agreed that proper tire inflation was helpful in improving gas mileage, but not before the McCain's campaign offered "Obama Energy Plan" tire gauges to supporters for a donation of $25 or more, and the Republican National Committee also gave tire gauges to newsrooms in Washington "in celebration" of Obama's birthday.

Open Letter to President Obama

The #1 priority is Energy Independence and Green Economy Because this solves several problems - we have to start now to lower our consumption of oil for our cars - just starting down this road will keep gas prices lower. It will also create new jobs for Americans and finally it will help the environment, which everyone needs.

I heard this morning that a large percentage of the Energy Dept budget just takes care of the nuclear arsenal. That seems like old Cold War thinking. That needs to be changed.

P.S. When Clinton got elected, I sent him a message asking to get rid of the Helium Fund (started about 100 years ago to supply our barrage balloon fleet for WWI) and the Mohair subsidy (which is also a WWI leftover for making sure our pilots had nice warm Mohair flight jackets and that back then people like Sam Donaldson and Charlie Stenholm were taking big tax right offs against). The day after I sent this message back then, I heard someone mention both issues on CNN the very next day and I think for awhile they were cut back, but I think Bush brought them back.

I am hoping that your budget director will find things like the Helium Fund and Mohair subsidy that are relics of a previous era and finally kill them once and for all.

A Thanksgiving Story

A young man named John received a parrot as A gift. The parrot had a bad attitude and an even worse vocabulary. Every word out of the bird's' mouth was rude, obnoxious and laced with profanity. John tried and tried to change the bird's attitude by consistently saying only polite words, playing soft music and anything else he could think of to "clean up" the bird's vocabulary.

Finally, John was fed up and he yelled at the parrot. The parrot yelled back. John shook the parrot and the parrot got angrier and even ruder. John, in desperation, threw up his hand, grabbed the bird and put him in the freezer. For a few minutes the parrot squawked and kicked and screamed. Then suddenly there was total quiet . Not A Peep, was heard.

Fearing that he'd hurt the parrot, John quickly opened the door to the freezer. The parrot calmly stepped out onto John's outstretched arms and said: "I believe I may have offended you with my rude language and actions. I'm sincerely remorseful for my inappropriate transgressions and I fully intend to do everything I can to correct my rude and unforgivable behavior."

John was stunned at the change in the bird's attitude. As he was about to ask the parrot what had made such a dramatic change in his behavior, the bird continued, "May I ask what the turkey did?"

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Carbubble Predicts 2008 Election exactly (almost)

McCain wins Missouri; State's streak over!

(CNN) – It's taken more than two weeks, but we finally have a winner in Missouri.

Fifteen days after Election Day, Republican Sen. John McCain has narrowly edged out President-elect Barack Obama in the state, according to CNN's review of the latest unofficial vote totals from the Missouri Secretary of State. This resolves the final outstanding contest of the 2008 presidential race.

According to the unofficial results, McCain won the state by 3,632 votes . The unofficial count shows McCain with 1,445,812 votes, or 49.4 percent, and Obama with 1,442,180 votes, or 49.3 percent.

With Missouri's 11 electoral votes in Senator McCain's column, the final count is 365 for Obama and 173 for McCain.

********************************************************

I predicted every single state correctly and I only missed that Obama would carry Omaha's 1 electoral vote. Not bad!

More Presidential Predictions 2008

Cha-Ching! Gimme dat dollar!

No congrats on predicting every single state correctly? Not even a "Not bad"? Oh well...

Here are my new predictions:

Sec. of State - Hillary Clinton
Sec. of Defense Chuck Hagel (ex GOP senator)
Sec. of Treasury - John Corzine (Gov of NJ and ex Goldman Sachs)
Sec. of Homeland Security - Tim Roemer - Wrong
Sec. of Energy - Steve Westly (eBay founder)
Attorney General - Janet Napolitano (AZ Gov) - Wrong, going to be Homeland Security
Sec. of Education - Caroline Kennedy

Bizzaro Predictions:

Sec. of State - Andrew "Dice" Clay (least diplomatic)
Sec. of Defense (after Gates leaves) - Sarah Silverman (most offensive)
Sec. of Treasury - Paris Hilton (knows all about spending $$$)
Sec. of Homeland Security - Macaulay Culkin (Home Alone kid)
Sec. of Energy - Sarah Palin (Drill, Baby, Drill)
Attorney General - Adam "Pacman" Jones (Make it Rain)

Election Day 2008 - Morning

I slept really well last night, so my confidence is high for today's vote. I repeat, Confidence is High!

This has been a very long election. It all started for me in June 2006 when I bet Ken a dollar that neither McCain or Hillary would be the next Prez.

I had no idea that I would become emotionally involved with this election. Even Dan Rather said that 2008 is the most important and exciting election he's seen and he started covering elections in 1952 when I was just barely born.

I've made a lot of predictions about this election, so we'll see in about 6 hours if I've been right. My newest predictions is that at least one state back east will have such overwhelming turnout and/or problems that they will have to delay the polls closing.

My final prediction is 364 Obama to 174 McCain.

I had a couple of other thoughts lately about Gov. Sarah Palin, but now they seem trivial. I did like that McCain's boys are calling her a "whack job", a "diva", an "unscripted robot" or a "scripted ignoramus". She's just a Mavericky Rogue. Let Sarah be Sarah in 2012! Like she said: "What do I have to lose?"

I used the excellent internet tools that the Obama campaign had and personally raised over $1000 for the campaign and I made phone calls to undecided voters in New Mexico. I sent out a lot of information to my co-workers at Wind River about the debates and how to register. I inspired someone to vote early and last weekend he drove to Reno NV and knocked on 100 doors canvasing in a latino neighborhood and found that a lot of the undecided people just didn't know where their polling place was and how to vote because it was their first time.

I feel really good about the contribution I played and I'm very hopeful for the future. That's all for now.

2008 Election Results

Batman vs. The Penguin: The Debate

McCain (played by Penguin): Friends and fellow citizens, there will be no mudslinging in this campaign. I intend to stick to the issues. What are the issues? There is only one! Obama. Who is he? I suggest that he is dangerous. Why else does he conceal his past? Would you think about that for a moment, my friends? Who is he with? Criminals, that's who! Hobnobbing with crooks.

Spin room: McCain is as crooked as a warped Shillelagh

More advice for Barack Obama & Joe Biden

I think that Senator McCain is chicken and now he's hiding behind his wife's & running mate's skirts while they spout disgraceful statements.

I think you should add disgraceful & dishonorable to erratic as a constant theme.

I think that Senators Biden & Obama should do back to back "full ginsburgs" and talk on all 5 sunday morning news shows and challenge the opponents. Answer all the questions and then ask why McCain & Palin are too scared to answer questions. Why would a fighter pilot and moose hunter be scared?

McCain keeps asking "who is the real Obama?". If he knew how to use a computer, he could Google "obama" and discover that he's been running for President for 20 months, talking to 100's of thousands of American citizens (not prisoners) and most people do know who Barack Obama is. I'll bet that McCain has a VCR in each of his many houses and they all blink 12:00.

Open Letter to Senator Obama - Debate ideas

My Presidential prediction of Obama getting 300+ electoral votes still stands and it's getting better and better every day.

Here is some advice I've sent to the Obama campaign:

1. Senator Obama, I noticed that you did mention McCain not wanting to talk with the PM of Spain, but you didn't press it and let him off the hook. I think you should make him answer that question personally and find out why he would blow off a member of NATO, who's suffered a lot at the hand of terrorists.
2. At the next debate, I think you should bring up this - at the Friday debate, McCain said many times how he was a fighter, fighting for this and fighting for that, but every example he named, he didn't win or persuade anybody, just like when he suspended his campaign and claimed to convince the House GOP to pass the $700 Billion bailout bill.... He is not a winner, he just likes to fight.
3. When he starts up again with his "Senator Obama doesn't understand", you should throw that back in his face also. Say, the American people can see me in the last debate and this debate understanding all the issues we've been discussing and because I don't agree with your position doesn't mean I don't understand it and reject it as being wrong, wrong, wrong. (remember the rule of 3 - if you say something 3 times, people will really hear it and remember it - never go over 3)...
4. If you really want to get under his skin, ask him why he considers himself a Maverick. When he starts talking about all the issues he's disagreed on with his party, ask him if the Republicans are just plain wrong that often? If he's working with Democrats so much, then it's a matter of fact that the Democrats have the better ideas on these issues.

As they said in the olde days: "Nail him to the hull".

P.S. My personal opinion: Americans are not going to elect a grumpy, cranky, dice-throwing, erratic 72 year old fighter pilot to be the next President. When I heard about him being a big gambler at the Indian casino craps table and that he crashed at least 2 planes before he was shot down, that explains a lot.

DIRECTV is messing up my enjoyment of the NFL Season

September 11, 2008
Chase Carey
DIRECTV
P.O. Box 6550
Greenwood Village, CO 80155-6550

Dear Mr. Carey,

I've been a DIRECTV customer since 2001. In the last seven years, I’ve just gotten the NFL Sunday Ticket package by itself, without any base package. My house is wired so the satellite dish feed only goes to the living room and the rest of my house is wired for cable TV, which I get from Comcast. Every year, I’ve gotten automatically renewed with no problems. I really enjoy watching all the different games.

When I got my first NFL bill this year, which was over 2 months before the NFL season starts, I was out of work and thought I was going to lose my house and paying for the NFL package 2 months in the future just didn't seem like a good idea when I wouldn't have any satellite dish in my future. As you can imagine, I was under a lot of stress. When I cancelled, I wasn’t told that there were any consequences if I wanted to sign up again the future. When I called ADT about cancelling my alarm service, they told me there was going to be a new start up fee and they gave me an option for a lower price, which I could afford.

About a week after I canceled, I got a new job and I won't be losing my house and I'm really going to miss watching all the NFL games, but I'm not going to pay for a 200% increase over what I've been paying in the past, which is what it works out to if I have to get a base package along with the NFL Sunday Ticket.

I was told there is no way to go back to my NFL Sunday Ticket only plan. I find it hard to believe that DIRECTV would treat a long time loyal customer this way. I even found out by checking online that if you complain to the right customer service agent, you can get the SUPERFAN package added for free and that the price had gone down. I paid 5 payments of $45.80 last year and apparently it’s down to $41 something.

I would like to complain directly about Natalie D. #400866. She emailed me on 9/6 and asked for my phone number and said she would call me, but I was never called.

I’m going to cc the NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell and ask him to not renew your exclusive contract when it expires. Maybe he can find a company that treats its customers better. I don’t expect anything, but maybe you’ll treat the next customer in a similar situation with a better understanding.

McCain & Palin are no "Mavericks"

A Straw Man Argument is an informal fallacy based on misrepresentation of an opponent's position. To "set up a straw man" or "set up a straw man argument" is to describe a position that superficially resembles an opponent's actual view but is easier to refute, then attribute that position to the opponent (for example, deliberately overstating the opponent's position).

Click on the link below for the new Obama ad countering the McCain ad that called him & Gov. Palin so-called "Mavericks". The GOP is running a straw man campaign where they avoid the issues (McCain's campaign manager declared the election won't be about the issues) and use sarcasm and false claims to move the polls. McCain has moved ahead in some polls, but still all the polls are within the margin of error.

No Mavericks Video

So far, I've raised $500 for Obama. My personal goal is $1000 before my Birthday on October 15th, which is the date of the final Presidential Debate.

September 26, 2008: Presidential debate with domestic policy focus, University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS
October 2, 2008: Vice Presidential debate, Washington University, St. Louis, MO
October 7, 2008: Presidential debate in a town hall format, Belmont University, Nashville, TN
October 15, 2008:Presidential debate with foreign policy focus, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY

Please donate if you can and pass this onto to your friends.

TLC's Obama Fundraising Page

Thanks to everyone.

P.S. Here is the real Maverick.

Why pick Palin?

Why not pick Palin? As Flush Lintball said: "She's a babe." That's a good a reason as any, I suppose.

McLame realized that he was going to lose big by picking boring losers like Pawlenty or Mitt and he want to shake things up by picking Liebermann, but Flush Lintball and other big shot right wingers told him he couldn't be that much of a Maverick, so he was stuck with Palin as the only big deal that would satisfy his masters.

Maybe their thinking was that picking a woman would help, but remember that Mondale tried this same gambit and look what happened to him.

Palin seems like a very fine woman, mother and Governor for Alaska, but when the flacks start saying that she's got foreign policy experience because Alaska is next to Russia and that she's tough because she sold the state plane on eBay and that she's a big reformer because she said no to the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere", when in 2006 when she was running for Governor, she was for it and all the other millions of dollars of earmarks that Alaska loves (Alaska gets $300 in earmark cash for each person because the state is so big, but with a population of a congressional district in a more populous state), it just becomes silly.

Watch this CNN interview with McCain spokesman, Tucker "Mr. Talking Points" Bounds and watch how silly it gets the harder he tries not to answer any of the actual questions. This interview caused McCain to cancel an appearance on the Larry King show.

In the end, picking Palin won't make any difference in the 2008 election and my prediction of Obama winning 300+ electoral votes still stands.

Zeppelin Rides again

My Great Grandfather, Carl Jansen, was born in Frederickshafen Germany, home of Count von Zeppelin and I thought I was going to have to travel to Germany to take a Zeppelin ride and I just found out that a Zeppelin is coming to the Bay Area and be ready to take tourist rides in Fall 2008. I am ready to go!

The fourth and latest model of Zeppelin is now in London, captivating tourists with a bird’s eye view of the city before the airship begins a slow journey on a cargo ship to its future home in the San Francisco Bay Area. There, its new owners, Airship Ventures, intend for it to ferry tourists.

Oxen, Rats & Paris Hilton

McCain - Aug 29, 1936 - Year of the Rat: Manipulative, vindictive, mendacious, venal, selfish, obstinate, critical, over-ambitious, ruthless, intolerant, scheming.

Obama - Aug 4, 1961 - Year of the Ox: Dependable, calm, methodical, patient, hardworking, ambitious, conventional, steady, modest, logical, resolute, tenacious.

Why does Paris Hilton make so much sense? "Thanks for the endorsement, white haired dude."

See more Paris Hilton videos at Funny or Die

McToast - 2008 Presidential Prediction Update

On April 12, 2007, I predicted that Mitt Romney was "toast" and today I'm predicting that the tipping point in the 2008 Presidential Election has happened.

Check out the photo of McCain & Prez Bush 41 in the old folks home golf cart. The two old geezers are heading for the early bird dinner at 4:30. I predict that McCain will carry the Boca Raton crowd. He's their kind of guy!

While Barack Obama draws 200,000 Germans for a speech in Berlin, old man McCain visits Schmidt's Sausage Haus and gums some brautwurst. Located in the German Village section of Columbus, Ohio, the classic restaurant is owned by 58-year-old Geoff Schmidt, the fourth Schmidt to offer what his to go menu claims is "The Best of the Wurst!"


McCain's campaign has "Jumped The Shark" and as VP Deadeye Dick Cheney would say: "Major league big time!".

Jumping the shark is a colloquialism used by U.S. TV critics and fans to denote the point in a TV or movie series at which the characters or plot veer into a ridiculous, out-of-the-ordinary storyline. Shows that have "jumped the shark" are typically deemed to have passed their peak, since they have undergone too many changes to retain their original appeal, and after this point critical fans often sense a noticeable decline in the show's quality.

That exactly describes John McCain and his chances to become the 44th US President. He's making all kinds of mistakes, which people keep glossing over, but I'm positive that the American people will reject him.

I liked him in 2000 and I might have voted for him if he had been running vs. Al Gore, but the 2008 version has gone beyond his shelf life. The expiration date is long gone and if he was a can of pineapple, he would be ready to blow (I had that happen a few months ago and it's nasty) and leak all over the shelf.

John, my advice is to head back to Arizona and enjoy life with Cindy and have a beer before the Belgians mess it up.

Finding lost relatives

I've been doing a lot of Genealogy work and finding more about the Coates Family Tree lately. My Dad's 90th birthday is this year and we went over a whole bunch of old family photos that had no labels and put names to everyone.

Here is a link to the Coates/Bertelsen/Jansen family photo album.

This photo is of Thomas Coates b. 1847 in England taken in Oakland in 1885.

The most exciting thing is that I've found two "lost" 2nd cousins recently. I just got in contact with Barbara Astle, who is William Henry Coates' granddaughter. She's got a treasure trove of Coates family historical documents, including the family bible.

Landslide - 2008 Presidential Prediction

This 2008 Presidential election is going to be a landslide. No doubt with Obama at the top of the hill and McCain at the bottom in the debris pile.

All the current polls saying that it's a virtual tie between the two candidates is a bunch of baloney. Pollsters base their polls, questions and voter pool on the last election and that model is way whack!

I predict on June 9, 2008 that Obama will get at least 300 Electoral College votes and probably more like the 370 that Bill Clinton got in 1992.

All the talking heads on the cable news keep talking about "Will the Hillary voters vote for Obama?". They should be paying attention to the facts that 3 months after McCain wrapped up the GOP nomination, that Ron Paul was getting 20% plus in the primaries.

You've got a well known and respected Libertarian Party nominee in Bob Barr, ex-Congressman from Georgia and you are putting your head in the sand if you don't think that McCain is going to be losing votes to him in southern states like North Carolina and Georgia.

I heard that there are 600,000 unregistered African-American voters in Georgia and the Obama campaign has plenty of moola to get a big percentage of them as new voters in November. In 2004, John Kerry got 1.3 million votes in Georgia vs. Bush 1.8MM and in the 2008 Georgia primary, the total Democratic vote was over 1 million. I predict that Obama will get Georgia's 15 Electoral votes and if that happens, it's going to be a landslide.

I can't wait to see the Obama vs. McCain townhall debates. Watch them both speak. Obama is serious and McCain makes those weird sarcastic remarks and so-called jokes and gives us his crystal skull grin. It looks freaky. There is no way America is going to elect a skull as President.

Lemons

I thought up a new saying today: When you are given lemons, make lemonade and then take the rest of the lemons and squirt the juice into the eyes of the person who gave you the lemons and see how they like them apples. Then just move on and don't look back.

On the Road

Just a couple of strange items while driving around.

I know it's hard to believe, but I was actually driving behind a bright canary yellow Ford Pinto and it wasn't blown up. I was kind of worried, because you never know when it might suddenly shift into reverse and blow up. Surprisingly, it looked to be in pretty good shape, although I'm sure because of it's blowupability, everyone, like me, stays far away.

Then on the way to work, I ran into a Chinese Fire Drill. But this one was special because it was real Chinese people. A very large Cadillac backed out of a driveway in front of me, blocking the whole road since it's so long. I stopped and it stopped and the husband got out of the driver's seat and changed places in the front passenger seat with his wife. As they swapped seats, they smiled and waved at me while I was stuck waiting. All I can figure is that the wife doesn't like backing the car out and the husband doesn't want to drive.

2008 NCAA Final Four

For the third year in a row, I will predict the outcome of the NCAA March Madness tournament by using my Mascot theory.

We've got University of North Carolina Tarheels vs. the Kansas Jayhawks and everyone knows once a Jayhawk lands in tar, they are history and also on the UNC logo, they've got a Ram, so that would butt the hell out of a bird, no matter how crazy the bird is. A Jayhawk wearing sneakers isn't going to scare anybody.

Tarheels stick all over Jayhawks.

Then we've got the UCLA Bruins vs. Memphis Tigers (who've only lost one game all year). I could use the baby bruin photo again. But I'll put in the actual logos for both teams.



That Memphis Tiger is going to bounce all over the Bruin. Remember, never let a cat of any size get behind you. You are history.

Tigers Eat Bruins

The Tiger can leap over any tar and would chew up that Ram with no problem, so I predict:

The Memphis Tigers chew up and spit out the North Carolina Tarheels.

New 2008 Presidential Prediction

Most elections are about pocketbook issues. it's not McCain's fault that the greedy wall street and mortgage company sponges gave out loans to so many people who couldn't afford it, but he might pay for it in November because it's still going to be affecting the overall economy.

We've gone from $25/barrel to $100/barrel oil because of 9/11 and other conflicts, which again has nothing to do with McCain. Also, it's very rare to have 12 years of one party as Prez because a lot of people are just tired and want something new. McCain is never going to be shiny & new.

He's very gloomy and if he's going to use the anti-hope argument - "Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate", or "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here", I don't think he's got much of a chance.

2008 Presidential Candidates - Do they support poker?

Do the major 2008 Presidential Candidates support poker? Check it out for yourself and then let your favorite candidate know what you think!

Join the PPA - Poker Players Alliance.

Don't let Mitt Romney (and his henchman, my evil twin, Evil Tom Coates) become President. Sign the ABM Treaty - Anybody but Mitt.


The Democratic Frontrunners:

Hillary Clinton:

The two-term senator from New York won the New Hampshire Democratic primary. She has recently expressed that she supports the industry’s position: to study Internet gambling to see whether it can be fairly regulated so that individuals can safely participate in it and American businesses can compete in the international market (Las Vegas Sun, 01/18/08). When contacting the campaign, be sure to let them know you are an undecided voter and a proud poker player.

http://www.hillaryclinton.com/help/contact/


Barack Obama:

The senator is from Illinois and winner of the Iowa Democratic caucus. Obama has recently expressed that he worries that the Internet is "a Wild West of illegal activity", and supports a study of Internet gambling and supports regulation to address the worst abuses (Las Vegas Sun, 01/18/08). He is reputed to be a good player, and doesn't mind letting it be known that he enjoys playing poker for money. These stories are even on his own website. When contacting the campaign, be sure to let them know you are an undecided voter and a proud poker player.

http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/contact/

The Republican Frontrunners:

Mike Huckabee:

Republican Iowa caucus winner and former Arkansas governor, Mike Huckabee does have a clear position OPPOSING Internet Poker. Mike Huckabee responded to the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling's questionnaire (the only candidate to respond, by the way). In it, he promised to veto any legislation repealing UIGEA or otherwise clearly legalizing online gaming.

Here is the question he was asked, complete with its bias and inaccuracies:

1) Last year, Congress voted overwhelming to criminalize most forms of Internet gambling. This year some members of Congress are promoting legislation to legalize Internet gambling. If such legislation passed, would you veto it? Huckabee answered "yes". That's about as clear as it gets.


John McCain:

The New Hampshire Republican primary winner does not have a specific position on Internet poker, but does appear to have been influenced by his fellow Arizona Senator Jon Kyl, who is a vigorous opponent of our rights. McCain, however, has always been willing to consider both sides of an issue and may simply need to know how strongly PPA members feel about this issue. We encourage you to contact his campaign and ask whether he has a specific position, and of course, to let them know you are an undecided voter and a proud poker player.

http://www.johnmccain.com/Contact/


Ron Paul:

In keeping with his Libertarian philosophy, Congressman Paul is a proud supporter of our cause. Rep. Paul has supported and sponsored pro-poker legislation, and has also made time to visit with PPA grassroots members, poker celebrities, and citizens lobbyists every time we have asked. His credentials on allowing adults the freedom to play poker are unblemished.


Mitt Romney:

The former governor of Massachusetts has no formal position on internet poker. However, he - like Giuliani - has contorted his issue positions wildly in a bid to gain support from social conservatives. As part of that effort, Romney tapped Tom Coates, Vice President, Truth About Gambling, Iowa, to his "Faith and Values Steering Committee." Coates, in turn, is vigorously opposed to gaming of any sort. We urge you to contact the Romney campaign, and ask whether the candidate has a specific position. As always, be sure to tell them you're an undecided voter and a proud poker player.

http://www.mittromney.com/ContactUs

GOP Veep

I predict that no matter who's the GOP nominee, it will be Fred Thompson as Veep. he's perfect for the job. it's not too much work if you don't want it to be, he'd be good as a one VP debate hammer because those writers are not on strike, you get to travel around the world with your hot wife in a fancy plane visiting live or dead dignitaries and if you don't shoot anybody, the late night comics won't make fun of you.

2008 Political Thoughts and Bon Mots

I watch Meet the Press, Face the Nation, McLaughlin Group and The News Hour on Friday just for Shields & Brooks every week. I TiVo everything, so I zoom ahead of the boring stuff. I watch Hardball sometimes (always on Friday), but I can't always take Chris Mathews - I like listening to Pat Buchanan's opinions - he's funny. on the radio coming into work, I often listen to Flush Lintball and on the way home, I listen to Sean Hannity. I always watch Countdown with Olbermann and Daily Show. I think I get a pretty broad spectrum of ideas and opinions. I'm still a Tom Clancy Democrat.

I had a new thought. If McCain wins NH, that's the worst scenario for Rudy because McCain will still be in on Feb 5th and Romney with his big $$ won't drop out before then either, so there will still be 4 candidates and the true conservatives don't like McCain because of Immigration and voting against the Bush Tax Cuts and McCain-Feingold campaign finance reforms, they don't like Rudy because of his liberal social stances and they don't like Romney because he's a weasly flip-flopper plus 25% who don't like Mormons, so that leaves Huckleberry to pick up a plurality of the votes and win a bunch on Feb 5th.

My previous predictions are looking good so far. April 12, 2007 - "Romney is toast" and November 14, 2006 - "A Stone Cold Lock that the next President won't be Hillary or McCain." You can look it up.

My Career Personality Type

Your Career Personality Type

We've already discussed your Right Job and your Wrong Job, but you still might be wondering, more specifically, how we found them. While you were taking the test, we determined your scores on six different personality dimensions. No one dimension is any better or worse than the others, but each one is quite distinct and offers insights into your unique combination of attributes, outlooks, and sensibilities.

Your Right Job is what fell out of the equation when we looked at a couple different aspects of your career personality — more specifically, your primary and secondary personality types. Your Wrong Job is what fell out of the inverse equation, what resulted from your lowest scores on the personality dimensions. But for now, let's focus on your Right Job that was determined by your career personality.

Based on the way you answered the test questions, your primary personality type is Analytical, while your secondary personality type is Creative.

Knowing your type is important for a number of reasons: it will help bring to light aspects of your personality you hadn't thought about before, it will raise issues about matching your personality to a career that you might not have previously considered.

Here's an explanation of what that code and what your primary and secondary personalities mean.


Primary Classification

-Analytical-

As an Analytical type, your inquisitive nature helps you enjoy the complexities of life. You understand that sometimes there are no clear right and wrong answers, and that's okay with you because you tolerate gray areas better than most. In fact, pondering potential outcomes can sometimes be more interesting than coming up with the definitive solution for you. You march to your own drum and enjoy being in charge more than working and compromising with others. Nothing escapes your keen observational skills, and thinking is your idea of fun.


Secondary Classification

-Creative-

As a Creative type, your ability to look at the world with a fresh perspective keeps life interesting for you and those around you. Instead of following the trends, you want to set them yourself. Establishing a routine is not your goal; you would rather go with the flow and see where your mood takes you that day. You love seeking new experiences and sensations. Your sensitive nature is often turned inward, but your passionate nature also means that you are prone to be impulsive at times.

Happy New Year 2008

There once was a year, 2007
Started out like hell, ended up like Heaven
From too much candy
To not enough lettuce
I had to deal with bad momamptum
And plenty of nomamptum
2007 was a year I hope to forget
I'd predicted that it would be a year of big change
I just didn't realize how painful it would be
Personal losery
Malicious Accusery
When someone be lyin'
You can't go on cryin'
You must always remember
When it gets to September
There is still time
To turn things around
The Union of LONO
Look Out for Number One
The lies fade away
And you can make your way
Always end up on a high note
That way you forget all the bad singing
Live life with confidence
And be a good person
As a famous novelist once said
Everyone gets what they deserve in the end
And that's the truth.