mr. blackandwhite


I don’t know what to write about

Well, here I am. It's Sunday night, the designated 'blawggin' night, my Wife's watching her Home Makeover show, but I don't have anything to write about. So this will be a scintillating post as I'm sure you can guess, right off the bat.

I guess I'll just run through a few things..

- Please bug the crap out of your congressperson/man/woman and tell him, her or it to support H.R. 1207, a bill introduced by Congressman Ron Paul to audit the Federal Reserve. All it takes is a second to e-mail these people, when they don't turn off the e-mail server because too many people are e-mailing that is.. but, anyway, I hope you will take action, bug your congressman and help spread the word!!

- The Pats.. It's the lull before the draft. Not much to say, really. In Bill We Trust.

- The B's.. The B's seem to be losing a lot of games lately, but they are pretty much a lock for the playoffs, so I am wondering if maybe they are just cruising on in. Hopefully they get that chip back on their shoulder for the playoffs. I'd like to see them make it past the first round this year.

- Spring is almost here. The snow is almost gone from my yard. I can't wait till it is all melted. This has been, unquestionably, the worst Winter I have ever had to endure. It's been frikkin' 10 degrees since November, then the ice-storm in December, that sucked.. It didn't crack 20 degrees for four months and we've had like six feet of snow. So, I'm pretty much ready for Spring. Really ready.

- The Sox.. I don't really get into Spring Training that much, I just kinda watch from afar, but I do like to hear the sound of Jerry Remy calling a game, even if it is a game that doesn't count. It reminds me of the fact that warm days are ahead. I watched some of the Sox / MFY game the other night. What was with those MFY uni's with the shinny shinny 'New York' and the weird letters.. [insert derogatory remark here]

Aright, they are movin the bus out of the way on my Wife's show. And I am outta here for this post. See ya!


The dirty little bailout secret
November 4, 2008, 12:30 pm
Filed under: Current Affairs,Don't Tread on Me,Life in General

Sorry but I just had to post this. I can't let it go and I will continue to put this stuff up here and try to help make people aware of this f-ing SHAM that has been perpetrated on us.

From The New York Times story So When Will Banks Give Loans:

"…the dirty little secret of the banking industry is that it has no
intention of using the money to make new loans. But this executive was
the first insider who’s been indiscreet enough to say it within earshot
of a journalist.

(He didn’t mean to, of course, but I obtained the call-in number and listened to a recording.)

"Twenty-five
billion dollars is obviously going to help the folks who are struggling
more than Chase," he began. "What we do think it will help us do is
perhaps be a little bit more active on the acquisition side or
opportunistic side for some banks who are still struggling. And I would
not assume that we are done on the acquisition side just because of the Washington Mutual and Bear Stearns mergers. I think there are going to be some great opportunities for us
to grow in this environment, and I think we have an opportunity to use
that $25 billion in that way and obviously depending on whether
recession turns into depression or what happens in the future, you
know, we have that as a backstop."

Please click on the link above to read the whole story if you think you can stomach it.

I would encourage you to look into your representatives' voting record. By the way, my rep, who voted for the bailout twice, even though he was instructed not to by the majority of his constituents, (before they turned off the web server that lets you e-mail your rep that is,) is running un-opposed. That really pisses me off. Unfortunately I learned about this too late this time around. I admit it, I was not paying close enough attention before. But they have my attention now and this situation needs to change in 2010.

Have a great day!

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All over the place..
October 1, 2008, 1:20 pm
Filed under: Current Affairs,Don't Tread on Me,Life in General,The Pats,The Sox

It's October? I am completely blown away at how fast the month of September went by. It was probably the busiest month we've ever had since the kids were born. There were weeks when we had something going on every single night; soccer, cub-scouts, brownies… stuff I don't even remember. Things will start to calm down in October. There will be a brief lull for a few weeks near the end of the month for us to catch our breath before things gear up again for the crazy holiday time of year. My Wife is already buying X-Mas presents!

I don't know if anybody cared about the posts I had written about the economic bailout recently. I'm just going to say that this issue is being voted on in the U.S. Senate today and I would urge you to contact your Senators and let them know your thoughts about it. I would also urge you to contact your U.S. Representative as well and tell him or her what you think about the bailout plan, as well as anything else you have on your mind! THEY WORK FOR US.

Mission 11W: The '08 version. It's kicking off tonight in Anaheim. I expect this will be a good series. The Angels pretty much owned the Red Sox during the regular season and the Sox will come into the series with some key players dealing with some nagging injuries. In the end, as always, it will come down to pitching and with Jon Lester, a.k.a. Red Sox Ace 1A, taking the mound tonight, I think the Sox are in a good position to come out of the gate strong. A Game 1 win for the Sox would be huge and would mean there would be at least 2 home games at Fenway. Mission: 11W. GO SOX.

The Patriots week off is over and there's thirteen games left to play. The Pats will start October off with two back-to-back West Coast games, starting in San Francisco this weekend. San Fran lost to the Saints last week but have shown that they are a team that can move the ball down the field. I think this upcoming game may show us a lot about the '08 Patriots as we start the 2nd quarter of the season. Lets hope that the week off did the team some good. Time to get down to business. GO PATS



Oh it’s really a ‘Rescue Plan’ not a bailout? Whew! I feel so much better now.
September 26, 2008, 12:50 pm
Filed under: Current Affairs,Don't Tread on Me

Guys and ladies, I know it's Friday and I know you when you come here you are probably not expecting to read about this kind of stuff, especially on a Friday, so I'll keep this short.. Just keep in mind that I wouldn't be posting about this topic if I didn't feel it's extreme importance.

Here are a couple links for you to read, watch or ignore, if you want to. Then take it from there.

An answer to the President from Ron Paul

U.S. Representative Marcy Kaptur: "They want Mama to bail us out."

Forbes: Bad News For The Bailout

The very fact that the 'bailout' was re-branded as a 'Rescue Plan' should clue you in to the tactics being used.. against you.

You may also be interested to know that 700 billion amount they've come up with?

"It's not based on any
particular data point," a Treasury spokeswoman told Forbes.com Tuesday.
"We just wanted to choose a really large number."

Here are some links to let you easily look up and contact your representatives in the U.S. Congress. Contact them and tell them your thoughts. Thanks.

Find your U.S. Representative

Find your U.S. Senator

Other useful sites: Gov Track, Congress.org

THEY WORK FOR US

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Ron Paul: Time is running out
September 24, 2008, 3:00 pm
Filed under: Current Affairs,Don't Tread on Me

Hey all, I know I don't usually delve into this kind of stuff here, so maybe that will tell you how important I think this is. Take a few minutes out of your day to read the link I posted below and then take it from there. Thanks.

Letter from Ron: Time is running out

Additional usefulness:
Write to congress, write your senators and keep track of them.



Ka-Ching!

Dear Bank of America,

Fantastic news! As a taxpaying U.S. citizen, I recently had a major windfall occur and I became a part owner of not only an investment firm, a bank AND a mortgage company, but now I'm a part owner of an insurance company as well! Isn't that awesome??

Ok, enough about me, here's where it all comes together: I couldn't help but notice that you're in a buying mood lately, and I was wondering if you'd be interested in my newly acquired shares of these fine financial institutions as well. I'll trade ya what I've got in Fannie, Freddie and AIG straight up for the remaining balance of my mortgage. Heck, I'll throw in what I've got in Bear Stearns too.

What do you say?? It's a win win win for everybody all around! Let's make a deal baby!!

Just between you and me, I gotta tell ya, I think the poop's well on it's way towards the fan and I'd really like to get rid of this thing before something really bad happens, ya know? hahaha ;-)

Ok, thanks BOA!

Chat ya soon!



I often wonder, where is my mind, but then I remember it is way out in the water, swimming.
June 23, 2008, 12:32 pm
Filed under: Current Affairs,Life in General,The Sox

Ok. Happy Monday. Not. Nobody likes Monday. Unless it's a day off, then it's a different story.

I've got 10 minutes here because the skies are clearing and I'm going to try and get some fresh air. So let's see what kind of nonsense I can spew out here in 10 min..

Last weekend was cool. Me and the two older kids set up a tent and had our first ever back yard camp-out. I dug a fire pit and we had a small camp fire with toasted marshmallows and smores while we watched for bats in the sky and looked for fireflies.

Once it got to be late enough we got into the tent and went to 'sleep'. My daughter commented that the tent smelled like 'cow-poop'. I had no explanation for this phenomena, except that it wasn't me.

Around 1/2 past dark, my son woke us all up, yelling loudly, 'I need to open it! I need to open it!!'

Thinking he was having a bad-dream I asked him, 'open what??'

'The tent!! I need to open it!'

Trying to calm him down, I told him, 'We can't open the tent up because it will get all damp in here.'

'I NEED TO OPEN IT!!'

'Do you need to go to the bathroom??' I asked.

'YES!!!'

'Well why don't you just say that?' I said as I unzipped the tent.

He came back a few minutes later to tell me he was sleeping inside the rest of the night.

'Ok,' I said, 'You don't have to sleep in the tent if you don't want to.'

With that, my daughter sat up.

'Do you want to sleep inside too?' I asked.

She hesitantly said, 'Yeeesss.'

'Ok lets all go in then.'

So much for our first back yard camp out. It was fun, but A/C, lullaby CD's and electric night-lights are better.

-
4 min..
-

George Carlin passed away this weekend. RIP. Carlin was one of my all-time favorite comedians. I first heard him on the Dr. Demento Show as a kid. All I can say is he will be missed. George Carlin was tremendously funny, at all times. The man never failed to make me laugh, plus he was Rufus in 'Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure' and he did voice overs for 'Thomas the Tank Engine'.

'The Hippy-dippy Weather Man', 'The 7 Dirty Words', 'Baseball vs Football' and of course, 'Could be meat, could be cake. Meat-Cake!'

-
Time!
-

The Sox win after 13 innings yesterday. Now that there's no Football till Training Camp and the NHL and NBA are over, The Red Sox have my full sports-attention.

-
Two min over. Time to burn some fat.
-

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These cars come with the pussy magnet, standard.
November 7, 2007, 8:00 am
Filed under: Current Affairs,Life in General,Nerdery

The SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) auto show was recently held out in Fabulous Las Vegas. This car show features some of the most tricked out, drool-inducing autos you’re ever going to see, anywhere.

I was recently contacted by SEMA Insider to see if I’d be interested in sharing some exclusive photos from the show on this here website. Um, YEAH!

Here you go! Check out these awesome pics from the show and head over to SEMA Insider.com for more great content from the SEMA auto show!

Chevy Bel Air. Please try not to drool on the car. Thank you.

Wow. Nice Scion. That thing is cool. Maybe there is hope for my RAV-4 after all..

Mopar. {Swoon} I love car porn.

I wish I had been there for the show. Vegas baby. I could have done some gamblin’, checked out the cars and maybe I could have gotten Chip Foose to Overhaul my RAV-4 and turn it into a Dodge Challenger. We could have called it the Challenger-4 or, even better, the RAVenger. That would have ruled. (Sigh.)



Thoughts of the day…
September 11, 2007, 10:50 pm
Filed under: Current Affairs,The Pats

Like many other people I spent a lot of time today thinking about where I was and what I was doing on the morning of Sept 11, 2001. I spent time thinking about that day and it’s aftermath.. Six years later the final outcome after the horrible events of that day is yet to be determined.

My thoughts and prayers have been with injured Bills tight end Kevin Everett who sustained a spinal cord injury in last Sunday’s game vs The Broncos. Initially the prognosis was bleak, but ESPN is reporting that Everett now has ‘voluntary movement’ of his arms and legs and as a result his doctors are optimistic that he will walk again. That is great news and I hope he is able to fully recover from his injury.

One thing I never like to see is a player getting hurt, even if it’s the opposition’s player. I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard Jets ‘fans’ actually cheering after their starting QB, Chad Pennington, was injured in Sunday’s game vs. The Patriots. Nice way to support your team and let the players know you care Jets fans..

Meanwhile, my team, The Patriots, seem to have some splainin’ to do regarding this whole drama surrounding the supposed videotaping of The Jets defensive signals on Sunday. This was a story that I initially blew off as nonsense, and I fully expected it to be yet another case of the media over-blowing a whole lot of nothing way out of proportion, but now ESPN has a report out that NFL Commish Roger Goodell has found that The Pats did indeed do the dirty deed. According to the report, there is ‘visual evidence’ to support this.

As a Pats fan, I think this video-taping story sucks. It is an embarrassment to the team and by extension to myself as a fan. Not only that, it is a distraction to the team as they prepare for another important game this Sunday vs San Diego, a game that, while only the second game of the year, could have reprecussions at the end of the season with playoff scenarios and potential tie-breakers on the line. I’m sure this is not what Bill Belichick wants to be dealing with right now.

It is unbelievable to me that Belichick could willingly allow something so stupid to take place during a game. Then again, I still find myself shaking my head in amazement over the Rodney Harrison HGH situation as well, so who knows what to think. Harrison and Belichick are men that I admire, or have admired, for their intelligence and their no-nonsense approach to playing pro football. These are not the guys that I would expect this kind of thing from. This is the kind of thing that other teams have to deal with, not The Patriots.

I guess this serves as an unpleasant reminder that nobody and nothing is perfect and I find myself shaking my head and wondering what’s the next bad news story going to be and who’s it going to involve? We’re not The Cincinnati Bengals.. yet.

Regardless of Belichick’s direct or indirect involvement in this video-taping shenanigan, something that as of now has yet to be determined, as The Pats top man, he will still bear the responsibility of violating league rules, should it turn out that is the outcome of this whole thing.

Call me crazy, stubborn or just stupid, but I am still holding out a dim hope that it will turn out that there is no truth to this video-taping matter, or that at least there is a reasonable explanation to the whole thing. I’m still not jumping to conclusions. So far all we’ve heard are reports from the media based on ‘league sources’ and more often than not these anonymous sources turn out to be wrong.

The Pats have yet to tell their side of the story and I am anxious to hear what they have to say about this situation. According to the ESPN report, The Patriots have not even been notified of Goodell’s decision, but yet here is ‘a league source’ telling all on ESPN.com. How lame is that? Don’t you think the team should be notified before ESPN? To me that is very lame and makes me slightly dubious about the accuracy of this report. The media is more worried about getting the story out first, not getting it right. Innacurate, blatantly incorrect reporting happens all the time, then there is some small retraction stuck in a corner as the last sentence in an article somewhere, once the whole story comes out.

Hopefully that will be the case in this instance.

Regardless of what happens, I’ll still be a Pats fan and if this video-taping situation really does turn out to be true, I’ll shake my head, take my lumps, be embarrassed and move on. We’ve still got a game to play on Sunday.

GO PATS

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Shilling starts blog. Old Media dies a little more…
March 8, 2007, 12:30 pm
Filed under: Current Affairs,The Sox,Weblogs

With Curt Shilling recently unveiling his own personal blawg*, 38 Pitches, we are are once again presented with another example of the continuing erosion of ‘the old media’. I’m talking specifically about news outlets, print, television and radio, whose reporters and columnists make a living by twisting people’s words and injecting their own bias into everything they write.

The old media is becoming a dinosaur and it is happening right before our eyes.

Sites like Shilling’s are rare these days. Not too many athletes have the inclination or the interest to start up their own interactive website, where they share their personal thoughts with the world and trade comments with their readers, but I have to believe that there are other athletes and public figures out there who are tired of having their words and ideas re-interpreted and re-purposed by reporters and newspaper columnists. Once those people learn that they can talk directly to the rest of us without having to go though the dirty filter of the main stream press, sites like Shilling’s will become more and more numerous.

As personal websites like 38 Pitches become more and more predominant, people will no longer need to rely on the the likes of The Boston Globe, whose columnists can’t even be bothered to write an original article, for their insight into what athletes, politicians and other public persona’s are thinking.

Why read some newspaper or magazine columnist’s edited and biased interpretation of what a public figure has said when you can go right to their blog-site and get it straight from the source?

The filters are coming off and the walls of the old school media are crumbling. Enjoy.

On a side note, I would love to see someone like Shilling keep their own recordings of their interactions with the press and then post the unedited version after the reporter’s version has been published. I’m sure it would very interesting to compare the two versions of the same story.

*PS> I still hate the word ‘blog’.