Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Before This Amazing Tide Of "Hope" Envelopes Us All And Like The Waters Of Lourdes Or Saratoga Cures Us Of All Ills...

...here are some impertinent remarks and a glimpse into a very foreign culture.

The impertinent remarks: I was trying to find the proportions of the votes in each of the Middle Atlantic primaries last night and I came upon some odd piece about Obama. An AP writer was explaining why he voted for Obama and the reason he came up with was some quote from Obama that was so convoluted and full of cliches, I started to feel insane, sort of the way I do when I hear Bush speak. Sort of like "am I the only one who doesn't understand a word this man says?" So, I went to an Obama-Issues site and found myself even more befuddled by the lack of specificity and the wholw master-of-the-obvious, the-secret-to-pitching=is-throwing-strikes kind of rhetoric he's famous for. Here's the link.

http://www.ontheissues.org/Senate/Barack_Obama.htm

Here's my favorite: "Stop unscrupulous gun dealers dumping guns in cities. (Jul 2007)" The "scrupulous ones are free to dump, however.

So, I asked a business partner to explain all this to me and he really couldn't. Then he thought about it for a while and sent me this link:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078841/quotes

...with the following note: "He's all things to all people."

OK, that's that for Obama but I'm keeping an IM chat with this business partner in the mix here because there have been a number of posts I've read on coporatism, capitalism, conspiracies, change and so forth. I feel like I've done a very poor job enlightening the progressive community to the fact that Obama is kind of a centrist and not anyone's sort of agent-of-change. He looks a little different than the previous 43 do to be sure but everyone's a snowflake, anyway. I don't think Nixon and Carter for example looked alike. I know I've done a poor job on that, so let me redeem myself by exploding another cherished progressive myth. Straight, White Guys sit around plotting to control everything and ruin everybody's lives and let the cookies get stale and the milk go rotten.

It just isn't like that. Here's what it's like. An unexpurgated IM exchange between two straight white professional gamblers, who are bored and shooting the shit over the telegraph wire. You may seem some familiar names (a disgraced financier, some well-known professional poker players) and I assure you all that no plots were hatched, no minorities oppressed, and no one's surplus value expropriated during this bull session. Some redaction so as not to embarrass anyone.

No life says:
8/19/04 was the date of google IPO
No life says:
if k___ was 23, he was born in 1980-81
No life says:
when did u graduate?
DOCKERS says:
83
DOCKERS says:
let's say K___ was a year older than me
No life says:
doesn't compute
DOCKERS says:
in 04 he'd have been 40
No life says:
i think the article said k___ was 24
No life says:
was he married at wes?
DOCKERS says:
no
No life says:
maybe he had an illegitimate kid?
DOCKERS says:
could be
No life says:
this is getting more and more bizarre
DOCKERS says:
or his son was really younger than 24!
No life says:
maybe the kid was 16!
DOCKERS says:
but it's the same d_______that's for sure
DOCKERS says:
no doubt
DOCKERS says:
___ was a cokehead
No life says:
high school kid doing errands for a summer job
No life says:
answering phones, getting lunches, a regular gopher
No life says:
tobias said he had to go to Fla for a couple of days for an emergency
DOCKERS says:
k____ was in the same crowd as t------y, o__n and s______n
No life says:
left the kid in charge
No life says:
kid was bored, went on the computer
No life says:
the rest i shistory
DOCKERS says:
i'm sure he knocked up some woman near the end of his college years
DOCKERS says:
that's exactly what happened
No life says:
tobias is lucky there was anything left when this kid was through
DOCKERS says:
i got to find him
No life says:
kid was probably dealing coke over the summer and tobias was scoring from him
DOCKERS says:
exactly
DOCKERS says:
that not any sort of a stretch to imagine
No life says:
"trade a little to amuse yourself...her's the passwords"
DOCKERS says:
exactly
DOCKERS says:
k___ is not a very volatile guy...he's pretty pleasant and passive actually
No life says:
"i'll be back early part of next week"
DOCKERS says:
he sure liked his drugs though
DOCKERS says:
i really dont know anyone who didnt like him
DOCKERS says:
just a nice guy nothing special
DOCKERS says:
from a rich family in westchester
No life says:
i want john travolta to play the guy who went to work for CHUBB when we do this movie
No life says:
tony
DOCKERS says:
no
DOCKERS says:
bill pullmann
No life says:
i want to go to the next reunion
DOCKERS says:
bill pullman is perfect for tony
No life says:
did i tell u i got friendly with this group from n'western
DOCKERS says:
no
No life says:
george baker was in the frat
DOCKERS says:
broker from denver
No life says:
i got to know ~20 of the members
DOCKERS says:
constance bakers son
No life says:
they started inviting me to every function rafting in colorado
No life says:
jazz fest in n.orleans
No life says:
trip to yucatan
No life says:
si she was a writer for the times i think your mother may have know her
No life says:
anyway..i lost touch because i didn't want to travel to all these functions
No life says:
when they had one in LV i would go
No life says:
what are u doing home tonight?
DOCKERS says:
was working on hockey felt tired
No life says:
k
No life says:
things for u to do tom'w
No life says:
1)call k____
No life says:
2)call KEN
DOCKERS says:
wake up in time to do the hockey
DOCKERS says:
3)
DOCKERS says:
4) find more choice obama quotes
No life says:
find out when next eclectic reunion is
DOCKERS says:
i know when it is
DOCKERS says:
memorial day weekend this year
No life says:
when/where?
No life says:
anniversary of ian's body slam?
DOCKERS says:
25 year anniversary of slam
No life says:
where is it?
No life says:
@ wes?
DOCKERS says:
eclectic
DOCKERS says:
i think my friends are staying at the holiday inn in cromwell
No life says:
ian should body-slam someone every 10 yrs or so to stay in practice
DOCKERS says:
i have all the details on the emails
No life says:
make sure to invite zass' son
No life says:
u think laura fraser will bet here?
No life says:
be
DOCKERS says:
no
DOCKERS says:
her 25th was last year
No life says:
too many skeletons for her?
No life says:
oh
No life says:
i want to go and hang out with that townie who pissed int he girl's drink
No life says:
the mechanic
DOCKERS says:
phil helfer
DOCKERS says:
i'm sure he's still around
No life says:
write and say if phil's not invited u are NOT attending
No life says:
let's see if he can pull off the piss in the wine caper again
DOCKERS says:
tony might know how to get in touch with him
No life says:
will the girl be there?
DOCKERS says:
probably
No life says:
was she in eclectic/
DOCKERS says:
no way
No life says:
or was that a doem thing?
DOCKERS says:
?
No life says:
drom
No life says:
dorm
DOCKERS says:
yeah as freshman in Butterfield6
No life says:
that was before eclectic, right?
DOCKERS says:
y
No life says:
fresh yr
DOCKERS says:
2 years before eclectic
No life says:
phil could say:"i'm sure u remember this VINTAGE"
No life says:
and hand her a wine glass
DOCKERS says:
phil was very clear that it was "not enough so that she'd know but enough so that ID KNOW!"
No life says:
he most have been a realmaster to get get it exactly right
No life says:
not so easy to do
No life says:
without tasting it yourself
DOCKERS says:
i can't swear to this, but i'm pretty sure it wasn't his first time doing it
No life says:
a rare talent really
No life says:
i'd make him a big fav to have done it MULTIPLE times
DOCKERS says:
she dropped a fucking dose on him; i really can't blame the guy
No life says:
uh....did he ever give u any wine?
DOCKERS says:
i don't drink wine
No life says:
good
DOCKERS says:
i drank beer and spirits in college
No life says:
u going to this 25th yr thing?
DOCKERS says:
depends
No life says:
i'd guess these typ of things could be gawd-awful
DOCKERS says:
there would have to be a critical mass of my friends going
No life says:
u're the only one prob having any REAL fun anymore
No life says:
well let me put it this way..
DOCKERS says:
in the sense that i have a crazier life now than i did when i was an undergrad, i'd say that was a safe bet
No life says:
no one is having the KIND of fun u are having
No life says:
and if they are....they're not ahving as MUCH of it as u r
No life says:
guarantee
No life says:
BTW....i had these fried oreo cookies at RUB
No life says:
best part of the meal
No life says:
theyw ere great
DOCKERS says:
u have the pulled pork and smoked turkey?
No life says:
u ever have them?
DOCKERS says:
yes
DOCKERS says:
excellent
No life says:
pulled pork and brisket
DOCKERS says:
also good
DOCKERS says:
i forgot about the brisket
DOCKERS says:
i get the full monty
No life says:
i got some ribs too
DOCKERS says:
i like the pastrami, ribs and ham also
No life says:
i had a slice of pastramai...very good
No life says:
were giving samples at the bar
DOCKERS says:
i'm getting nostalgic for the old chelsea and RUB
No life says:
let me tell u the CHIP food story
No life says:
he goes to paris to play poker about 10 yrs ago
No life says:
this very wealthy frenchman used to come ehre and plat once or twice a yr
No life says:
guy owned 97 mcdonalds, banks, etc
No life says:
serial
DOCKERS says:
97?
DOCKERS says:
those things are gold mines
No life says:
@80K
No life says:
earlier
No life says:
93
DOCKERS says:
fuck
No life says:
i had 1% of stuey in one game and got 7800
DOCKERS says:
shit
No life says:
he was being staked
No life says:
anyway...the guy is dying and he calls up doyle and invites all the guys he played with to fly to paris to play one last poker game with him ....wanted to play every day for a week or so
No life says:
they axed stuey from the trip for some reason
No life says:
he aid they didn't want him ther because he was the best player
No life says:
anyway, chan, doyle, chip and a few others went over...mayby 6-7 guys
No life says:
the frenchman sent a plane for them
No life says:
guy liked to play omaha split...he wouldwin occasionally too
No life says:
he had a friend over there that also played in the game
No life says:
so the go to paris and the game is going on...every day at noon or so they meet in the guy's townhouse
No life says:
he's hooked up to tubes, etc
No life says:
he caters the game every day from one of the best resaurants in paris
No life says:
retaurants
No life says:
guy couldn't play a long session...they'd play until he got tired
No life says:
his family was hanging around also....was worried he lose millions
No life says:
but this is what he wanted to do
No life says:
he looked like the frenchman in "the french connection"....the gray-haired dsitinguihed guy
No life says:
distinguished
No life says:
u remember him?
DOCKERS says:
y
No life says:
jonny chan was on the trip so the game would cease each day around 5-6 p.m. or so
No life says:
should be a pause there after "chan was on the trip"
No life says:
he had nothing to do with it ending @ 5 each day
No life says:
depended when the guy got tired
No life says:
so now doyle and chip ahve nothing to do each night
No life says:
ther is no other gambling they can do
No life says:
so they start playing chinese poker or backgammon with each other
No life says:
and they're sick of the french food too
No life says:
so about 10 p.m. one night chan goes out and buy 4 BIG MACS and on the way back to his room stops by to see CHIP and DOYLE
DOCKERS says:
chinese poker is liek making the best bridge hands, right?
No life says:
not sure
DOCKERS says:
13 cards
No life says:
si
No life says:
so CHAN goes in the room and they are playing backgammon
DOCKERS says:
i think it roughly follows goren's point count to determine winner
No life says:
and DOYLE smells the BIG mACS
No life says:
his mouth starts watering
No life says:
he says.."John what ahve u got there?"
No life says:
chan says:"4 Big MACS"
No life says:
Doyle says:"i'm so sick of this French food...i'll give u $500 for the 4 burgers"
DOCKERS says:
awesome
No life says:
and CHIP butts in:"I'll give u $700"
DOCKERS says:
better still
No life says:
Chan says; "SOLD"
No life says:
and hands CHIP the BIG MACS
DOCKERS says:
and to think those 4 big macs might have save all of the zen macrobiotic kids who ate the apricot pit paste
No life says:
the amazing thing is ...CHIP didn't go to $600 he went RIGHT to $700!
DOCKERS says:
he knew his pre-emptive bidding strategy
No life says:
poor DYLE
No life says:
DOYLE
No life says:
the guy they were playing with had 97 mcdonald franchises
No life says:
all over france
DOCKERS says:
at UCLA b-school it's so finance oriented that after 2nd quarter when you're done with most of your core and can choose electives, you get these points to bid for the classes you want depending on whether you're a first year or a second year
DOCKERS says:
you can trade them
DOCKERS says:
i think as a 3rd quarter first year you get 500 point to allocate among 3 classes
DOCKERS says:
you have 1 core course remaining
No life says:
i'd just take whatever u were taking and hope for the same resolution as the "finance of film" class!
DOCKERS says:
i traded 494 of them
DOCKERS says:
for cash
DOCKERS says:
because my add-ons that quarter were not popular classes
No life says:
did the school or the profs have any idea that was going on? for cash i mean?
No life says:
they would ahve stopped it, no?
DOCKERS says:
game theory, a night class in investment management and morrison's intro phd stats class
No life says:
if it became widespread
DOCKERS says:
they didn't care--they encouraged it
No life says:
i had no idea u ahd this kind of math background when we started
No life says:
i only knew that u did the fantasy bb
DOCKERS says:
so how the fuck you think i came up with the bb futures?
No life says:
which i intuitively knew included some math or mathability
DOCKERS says:
how do you think i got so good so quick making variants?
No life says:
i knew about the variants too
No life says:
but i didn't know i was striking the motherlode
DOCKERS says:
you did, of course you did
DOCKERS says:
you invited me out to LV after my 2nd qtr of my first yr of b-school and we had dinner w chuck and jimmy and the idea was floated of me doing their modelling
DOCKERS says:
anyway, i became famous for a quip about the elective class bidding system
No life says:
i heard CHUCK started betting nba earlier this yr but quit
No life says:
too much competition and the hrs living in thailand didn't jive very well
DOCKERS says:
the computer rooms were full to bursting as everybody was getting their bids in before the close
No life says:
he surely doesn't need the money...don't know why he started
DOCKERS says:
i had already traded mine for like $75
No life says:
was anyone else trading for cash?
DOCKERS says:
and had put in winning bids of 2 pts each for the game theory, morrison's class and the night class
DOCKERS says:
yes
No life says:
was it widespread?
DOCKERS says:
yes
No life says:
u got those classes for 2 pts each?
DOCKERS says:
y
DOCKERS says:
i could have gotten them for 1
DOCKERS says:
but i wanted to play it safe
No life says:
i'd think gametheory would be a hot topic
DOCKERS says:
no
DOCKERS says:
game theory and morrison's class each had 8 students
DOCKERS says:
way too hard for most
No life says:
how many crossed-over?
DOCKERS says:
3
DOCKERS says:
myself, venkat ramdev, and tyrone callaghan
No life says:
i know the "prisoners' dilemma"!
DOCKERS says:
we did that
DOCKERS says:
.the investment management class had like 40 students but the room held over 80 and it was a night class...i knew i was safe
DOCKERS says:
ok, so i was all set but i had to check out the common computer rooms -- one for pcs and the other for macs -- to see all the craziness before the "close"
DOCKERS says:
i love that shit just like i loved seeing all the psychos in the 5-10 at the Wynn
DOCKERS says:
so there was like maybe 15 minutes left and if you missed out you'd just have to take spots in whatever classes were still open
DOCKERS says:
so i waited and waited and waited until the stress level was really high
DOCKERS says:
i strode up to the front of the PC room and screamed out "fuck it, everybody, i'm really stressing...do you think 497 is too much to bid for that INVENTORY CONTROL class?"
DOCKERS says:
of course, if that class got 5 students it would be a lot!
No life says:
this is fucking great
DOCKERS says:
some people called me "bidding genius" or "497" after that
No life says:
this is as good as the SPICE fRAUD story
DOCKERS says:
it really broke the tension and everybody laughed their asses off
No life says:
how many people in the room knew u?
DOCKERS says:
everybody
No life says:
hilarious
DOCKERS says:
90%
No life says:
i can't stop laughing at this
DOCKERS says:
i do have my moments
DOCKERS says:
i have to say i've tried to find humor in most things ive been involved in
No life says:
may well be your "finest hour"
DOCKERS says:
i think it was up there
DOCKERS says:
you know that british phrase about WWII "he had a 'good' war"?
DOCKERS says:
i'd say i had a "good" MBA, given the "bidding genius" thing, the final exam of the Movie Distribution And Exhibition Class
DOCKERS says:
oh, shit, there was another good bust i got off
DOCKERS says:
u there?
No life says:
si
DOCKERS says:
it was 1st qtr 2nd year in CORPORATE STRATEGY class, the last remaining core class
DOCKERS says:
tio, this fuckin class was BRUTALLY boring
DOCKERS says:
the only elements of the class i remember had to do with this story
DOCKERS says:
not only was it boring but there was a ton of reading
No life says:
sounds awful
DOCKERS says:
and the class only met twice a week so each class was 1 hour 40 minutes long mondays and wednesdays 3-5pm
DOCKERS says:
brutal
DOCKERS says:
and i had some super high gpa going in like 3.9 and change so i slacked off pretty good
DOCKERS says:
i never cut class but i did none of the reading and i didn't particpate at all and the one time i got called on about a case, i exercised my right to "PASS" one cold-call
DOCKERS says:
then i started cutting so i wouldn't get called on
No life says:
good move
No life says:
agree with strategy
DOCKERS says:
i had absolutely no idea how to prepare for the midterm, so i did nothing just hoped my synesthesia would give me enough to be able to pass
No life says:
but u read nothing
DOCKERS says:
no
No life says:
how could u possible pass this?
DOCKERS says:
and we'd had no papers to write either
No life says:
y
DOCKERS says:
i would have been in fine shape if we'd had a couple of term papers
DOCKERS says:
i would have done them and done them well
DOCKERS says:
so, i was plainly fucked
DOCKERS says:
i sat down to take that exam and there was maybe 1 question i could answer
No life says:
surprised u showed for the exam
No life says:
u could really embarrass yourself here
DOCKERS says:
i made half assed efforts at the others, realized it was futile gave the professor my incomplete exam and said "sorry"
DOCKERS says:
he tried to convince me to finish it and i said i reaaly couldn't
No life says:
did u turn it in early?
DOCKERS says:
y
DOCKERS says:
a week later we got them back and i got a "16" out of "100"
No life says:
the other students must have been stratled since u had a 3.9
DOCKERS says:
they were
DOCKERS says:
i had better than a 3.9
No life says:
u just walked up as everyone was still immersed in the exam?
DOCKERS says:
i was honor society and dean's list 3 qrts running
No life says:
didn't the prof ask waht had happened later?
DOCKERS says:
he didn'
DOCKERS says:
he didn't know me from adam
No life says:
why didn't ua t least do some of the reading?
No life says:
doesn't sound like u at all
DOCKERS says:
i tried it was too boring
DOCKERS says:
kept falling asleep
No life says:
u should ahve put that on the exam..."i found the reading TOO boring to have done any of it"
DOCKERS says:
the exam was 3 hours long and i left maybe after 45 minutes
No life says:
wow
No life says:
were u bummed over this?
DOCKERS says:
a little
DOCKERS says:
but i held out some hopes
No life says:
u must ahve been compulsive about ahving a 3.9+
DOCKERS says:
that maybe i could creamthe final and get a B- for the course
No life says:
i can't beleive u let this happen
No life says:
did us tart doing the reading after that?
DOCKERS says:
no, but wait
DOCKERS says:
finally, i got a shot to put some points on the board
No life says:
fuck..u had a 2nd chance, how could u not take it?
No life says:
did u resume going to class?
DOCKERS says:
wait man, it has a happy ending
DOCKERS says:
yes i started to go to class and take notes
No life says:
16 was the lowest grade on the midterm i gather
DOCKERS says:
believe it or not the answer's NO
No life says:
but if u were going to class, why not do the reading
No life says:
hard to follow a class w/out the reading
DOCKERS says:
i had the 3rd lowest grade out of 70
No life says:
i'd like to know the other 2's stories
DOCKERS says:
i read some of the end of chapter summaries
DOCKERS says:
so, it wasn't like i did no reading at all
DOCKERS says:
ok, so i got a chance to get back in the guy's good graces...every study group had to do a presentation
DOCKERS says:
my group had a case of an entire senior management group at motorola in the midwest somewhere getting fired and replaced
DOCKERS says:
you had to do a paper suggesting what changes the new group should make and why and present your paper to the class
DOCKERS says:
i told my group that i really needed to write the whole paper myself and do the lion's share of the presentation because i had fucked the exam up so bad
DOCKERS says:
and that they had all gotten 85 or better
DOCKERS says:
they were only too happy to oblige obviously
DOCKERS says:
so, i busted my ass onthis paper and really worked hard practicing my presentation
DOCKERS says:
i met with my group the sunday before, gave them copies of the paper and scripts for them to read from
DOCKERS says:
for thepresentation
No life says:
u told the group that because u felt u could get a better grade yourself than they could jointly?
No life says:
quite an insult to them actually
DOCKERS says:
no, i said that i had to SEEM to the PROFESSOR like the group LEADER to claw back some respect for my awful performance
No life says:
like MJ not wanting to pass to his teammates
DOCKERS says:
not like that at all
No life says:
ok
DOCKERS says:
all of them could have done as good or better a job
DOCKERS says:
but they knew me well and trusted me because i had gotten them through stats first quarter of the first year
No life says:
like "narrator" of "our town"
DOCKERS says:
more or less
No life says:
k
DOCKERS says:
they weren't insulted at all
No life says:
u ahd the central role at any rate
DOCKERS says:
they knew that i'd do a good job and they were happy not to do the work
DOCKERS says:
ok, so i really busted ass
DOCKERS says:
and we got an A+
DOCKERS says:
on the paper and the presentation
DOCKERS says:
collectively
No life says:
were any of these people in the film class too?
DOCKERS says:
so, i was now a big favorite to pass and they were all big favorites to get an A - or an A
DOCKERS says:
no
No life says:
waht about the final?
DOCKERS says:
ok, so about two weeks before the final, the professor started soliciting some comments from the class about the final and its format and how much it should be weighted etc
DOCKERS says:
people talked and talked and talked
DOCKERS says:
i said nothing
No life says:
they were all locked in, your group was
DOCKERS says:
y
No life says:
they should ahve wanted the final to count as little as possible
DOCKERS says:
my paper and presentation and their grades on the mid term locked themin
No life says:
u needed it to count more than the midterm
No life says:
as much more as possible
DOCKERS says:
ok, so i said nothing until we came back from the coffee break
DOCKERS says:
the professor, Robert Spich was his name announced this: "the final will be similar to the mid-term and will cover only the 2nd half material"...if you liked your grade on the midterm you can pass the final and take your midterm grade and the paper and presentation marks as your final grade

DOCKERS says:
if you didn't like your midterm grade you can either take the final or write a 15-page paper on one of these topics and he handed out a sheet with about 10 topics and suggested reading
No life says:
must have been some great topic for u on the lsit
DOCKERS says:
this guy glenn oratz from lehigh started screaming blue murder about how unfair it was and how he studied so hard for the midterm and yadda yadda
No life says:
what would be unfai if he ahd already studied for the final
DOCKERS says:
professor spich got really pissed off at him and said something like "glenn, i don't like your attitude; i'm thinking of making everybody take the final and write me a paper"
No life says:
glenn life would ahve been in danger
DOCKERS says:
so, my hand shot up like a dart and he called on me
No life says:
u said u'd take the final for everyone?
DOCKERS says:
i said "listen, dr spich, i don't mind if you get mad at glenn but please LET ME LOCK YOUR DEAL IN RIGHT NOW and then you can do whatever you want to Glenn!"
No life says:
then waht happened?
DOCKERS says:
everybody even spich fell out laughing and he said "fine, back to what i initially proposed and not another word out of you, glenn"
DOCKERS says:
so, now i realized i had a shot at an A or A+
DOCKERS says:
i didnt want to do all that reading and i dont mind writing papers
No life says:
u mean u could replace the midterm with the final?
DOCKERS says:
better than that...with a TERM PAPER
No life says:
si
No life says:
u played the thing better than anyone
No life says:
did NO work for 1st half
DOCKERS says:
so, i picked a thing about corporate culture and cognitive dissonance based upon a study by a professor named daniel pascale
No life says:
only downside was u had to work harder than anyone on that project
DOCKERS says:
i even managed to get some examples from ragozin's office into the paper
DOCKERS says:
i really wanted to throw a TD pass
No life says:
u got A or A+ in course?
DOCKERS says:
A FUCKING PLUS!
No life says:
"comeback kid"
No life says:
and u did NONE of the reading
DOCKERS says:
none
No life says:
both halves
No life says:
brilliant
DOCKERS says:
and i cut a third of the classes because i didn't want to get cold-called a 2nd time
No life says:
i'm going to try and go to bed
DOCKERS says:
ok
DOCKERS says:
glad i was of some entertainment value
No life says:
i have to go to the gym
No life says:
like a job
DOCKERS says:
i certainly enjoyed the MCDONALD
DOCKERS says:
story
No life says:
mcdonalds' should ahve made a commercial about it
No life says:
in the heart of probably the gastronomic universe
DOCKERS says:
amazing
No life says:
$700 for 4 bIG mACS
DOCKERS says:
as i told u those 4 big macs would have saved the lives of those kids who lived on that zen commune!
No life says:
thsi was back in 95 too
No life says:
before dot.com
No life says:
later
DOCKERS says:
c ya

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Terribly sorry to burst everyone's bubble. There are no conspiracies to suppress wages or to prevent anyone from achieving their "hopes." Just chaps writing shit and killing time. OK, we didn't save the world either but to Right who hates us because of the betting and to the Left who hates us because we're White guys and have a couple of pennies, here's your glimpse at the inner sanctum. It is boring and completely un-threatening.

Kelso's Nuts love you

9 comments:

Joe said...

As someone who watched Obama's rise in the Illinois legislature, and his easy victory over crackpot Alan Keyes to get into the Senate, I've also been surprised by the adulation I've seen directed at him. He is, at heart, a Cook County Democratic machine politician--albeit a very charismatic and charming one. One of his key sponsors, Tony Rezko (who set up a sweetheart real estate deal for him to buy his dream home) is locked up awaiting trial on various corruption charges. I don't think any of it's going to stick to Obama, but it illustrates that he is not the transcendent progressive he's taken for.

I think that a key to his success is that he provides a welcome alternative to anyone suffering from Clinton fatigue.

David B. Dancy said...

Black guys with money are boring too..but yes, we are trying to take over the world

David B. Dancy said...

Black guys with money are boring too..but yes, we are trying to take over the world

David B. Dancy said...

I meant they...i'm rich but i don't have any money.

KELSO'S NUTS said...

Bubs: Welcome back. I know Jewgirl thinks so highly of you that I take any visit of yours as a great compliment. Yeah, having grown up in lower Manhattan in the 60s and 70s, I'm well-acquainted with urban machine poltiics. And I really don't see what's so bad about them. One man's bribery is another man's "constituent services." So, I really wouldn't like any of Obama's "bare-knuckle" stuff to "stick to him," because I would quite frankly like to see MORE of the the Chicago machine pol out of him and a little less of the Jesus' Baby Brother-meets-Chauncey Gardner.

Dave:

I love it that my sense of humor isn't lost on you.

From a Jew conspiring to take over the world to a Black guy consipiring to take over the world, I offer this compromise, I'll back Obama strong if you can promise that HE'LL STAY THE FUCK OUT OF SOUTH AMERICA. I do NOT want his buddy Pat Robertson to convince him to "deal" with Chavez. That would fuck me up on so many levels even though I have no opinion about Chavez one way or the other. Deal?

Suzi Riot said...

Kelso, I just saw a quick blip on BBC World about protests and riots down your way, and the police shooting and killing one of the protesters. The BBC World story on the TV said it was over rising food prices, but the only news sources I could find online said it was union related. I can't seem to find much, but just wanted to check in and get the scoop from you.

KELSO'S NUTS said...

SuziRiot:

Here's the link to the La Prensa story.

http://www.prensa.com/

You can read Spanish. It gives the fullest explanation of everything.

I have opinions of course but I'm going to keep them to myself.

Suzi Riot said...

Thanks, I read a few of the stories on the website. Good thing that my Spanish reading skills are so much better than my writing. I got the basics of it. Interesting stuff, but I guess I can't really offer much of an opinion on any of it without more background and context. In any case, stay out of those streets and stay safe.

KELSO'S NUTS said...

SuziRiot:

The streets are safe. Unions, collective-bargaining, general strkes, and the ubiquitous overzealous cop and indifferent pol are part and parcel of any democracy.

I know a lot more than what was in that story but it was told to me in confidence. All I'll say is that the issues are eminently solvable, the government did not WANT to be an impediment to the settlement of the dispute and that things got back to normal pretty quickly.

The is a tragedy for the dead man and his family and is needless discomfort for those hurt and imprisoned and those whose property was damaged. These episodes pop up all the time, all over the world.

That the M. Torrijos years have been so devoid of this type of public disorder has been a big factor in making the people here ASHAMED more than anything else. At least in the capital, people like to see themselves as cosmopolitan, South American and somewhat European and Mediterranean. They really resent being shown to the world as a banana republic because it isn't so. They take a lot of pride in what's happened here over the last five years. And I found, anecdotally, a lot of resentment in all socio-economic strata the idea that CNN was kind of making fun of Panama.

Torrijos has been a good President for rich and poor. Think of him kind of like a more liberal Bill Clinton on social issues, and a more pro-business Bill Clinton on economic issues. Given the way modern South America has oriented itself, you could well say that Torrijos is ALSO more pro-labor than Bill Clinton, but you get the idea. Center-Left.

I think it's a testament to how Torrijos and Moscoso before him have governed that Panama is in the news so rarely.