Democracy on the March

Watching the protests in Iran on the news this morning I am struck by two things. How passionately some people in the world will fight for a right that many American's take for granted and how some governments think they can steal elections and then intimidate their own people into not only accepting the results, but doing so with a smile on their faces. Had Iran's president, whose name I can not be bothered to spell, had won by 52 to 48 percent I doubt there would have been much of a stink. But like Putin or Hugo Chavez, they insist on winning by these huge margins that show that the ballots were fixed. I think the people who protest are incredibly brave and here we sit 20 years on from Tienanmen Square and I hope we have learned that crushing protest is something that is un-American.

On the local level, my business process keeps on trucking. Right now it's web site hell. I can't get over the people who advertise that they want to work with you and can do so inexpensively. They agree a quid-pro-quo to get the process started but then decide they really need market rates in order to proceed. I have to say that if I am going to pay market rates well then I want someone with a lot more experience then you.

It is ironic how much we rely on web sites these days. With my business we may not need a physical office for a year or more but we need a web site yesterday to get started. Not only is the web site a key part of our marketing message and essential to communicating with our customers, it serves as an essential part of our company's operations. So it is both the window dressing and the back room sewing part to use an analogy from days gone by.

I was upset to see the hated Lakers win the NBA Championship the other night. Of course the saddest fact is that the Celtics have become more like the Lakers at least when it comes to attending their games where one can hardly see the game through the cheerleaders, roving cameras and other stupid stuts. I actually would like to see a basketball game when I buy a basketball ticket? Go figure huh?

Forgive my tanget but the other point I hated to see was the knuckleheads who always crawl out of the sewers and set things on fire and turn over cars when their team wins a championship. I think that instead of just treating these people for being disorderly in public, we should treat them as the rioters that they are and make sure that they do some hard time. Put their stupid faces in the local papers and make them pay to be tested for drugs and alcohol so that they understand how stupid they are. Oh and while we are at it, in these tight economic times, trash barrells in schools and parks need to be emptied and dog parks need to be cleaned, why not let these bozo's do it?

I am pleased to see two good ideas come from Beacon Hill in one week never mind one year. One is to test older drivers which I believe is long over due. The data is well established that most accidents are caused by drivers under age 18 and over age 75. There are laws for those under 18, which are just and fair, we now need to balance the scales for those over 75. Second, there is a proposal for a law that requires smokers to smoke 25 feet from the front doors of state buildings. I think it is a great start but I would say make it in front of any building!

Speaking the name whose name I shall not mention

When I am thinking of the current starter at short stop for the Red Sox I am reminding of the hysterical scene from Scary Movie 4 where in the spoof of the Village they ask, if we speak of those to whom we do not mention then aren't we discussing those to whom we do not speak about? I feel that way about a certain shortstop that the Red Sox were stupid enough to offer a big fat contract too prior to 2007. Needless to say, he is terrible beyond words and yet again his poor baseball playing cost the Red Sox another game last night. Why do the Red Sox think that any player who plays well AGAINST them will play well FOR them? This is a tired old routine which has been proven oh so wrong over the years.

I am glad to see that the crooks on Beacon Hill are trying to get rid of two of the hack holiday's, Bunker Hill Day and Evacuation Day. Now I am a history lover and have no doubt of the importance of these days but understand that fat cat politicians want to make sure that their idiot cousins, who could not work as greeters at Wal-Mart get more for less than those of us idiots who support their quasi-welfare lifestyle. If anyone wants to see what a Socialist state looks like, check out Beacon Hill. Except in Europe, I think they might want you to actually put in some work? But I do have an idea. Any state work who wants the day off must be able to answer two questions 1) Where was the Battle of Bunker Hill Fought on? 2) Why did the British evacuation Boston on March 17?

Today looks like laundry and maybe a Sox game. I am keeping my fingers crossed. Of course if he whose name we can not mention is playing I may end up incarcerated after the game!

A Great Game For Beckett but another win for the faux fans

OK before I lavish praise on Josh Becket I need to comment on how appalling it is to see that the fake Red Sox fan's have made another inroad into their attempt to pass for real Red Sox fans. Sorry but if you wear a pink Red Sox hat your a poser! If you wear a pink hat with scratch and sniff watermelon accents not only are you a poser but you should be taken out and shot. This is the baseball equivalent of sacrilege.

On the real baseball front, Josh Beckett pitched one hell of a game last night. He reminds me of the 2007 Beckett the one who was robbed of the Cy Young Award. And yes I know the vote is taken before the playoff which is really stupid if you ask me. The Tigers were almost clueless against him and were swinging at his pitches way outside of the strike zone or frozen like wax figures at the ones just over the plate. His command was incredible. Nice to see Julio Lugo riding the pine and with Jeb Lowerie coming back from the DL Lugo will join that long list of signing mistakes the Red Sox committed at short.

I do see that the saintly crooks on Beacon Hill are railing against getting rid of their hack holiday's. Of course we need to raise taxes and cut essential services but heaven forbid we not have St. Patrick's Day ( I mean Evacuation Day) or Bunker Hill Day off. Hey if these days are so critical why not take them off with pay? Sorry it took me five minutes of laughing before I realized what I had said. Now granted the dumbest Wal-Mart greeter has more job skills than any state employee ( I can't bring myself to call them workers since no one has ever broken a sweat up there), but given that corporations are cutting back on workers to ease the pain is it too insane to ask the recipients of the Commonwealth's largest welfare pool to take a hit, or at the very least to do some work?

Well the dreary days of June are here. We have had a nice run so I will not spend much time complaining but let's not make a habit of it. In other news, the company keeps moving forward but these things are slow going sometimes and I think the one thing you have to realize is that your clock is not always other people's clock. So last game for the Sox and Tigers today. God I wish they could play them every game. Oh well as long as we don't have to play the Angels in the regular season. They are unbeatable them. A pushover in the playoffs but bears in the regular season. Oh and tell your friends to vote for Jason Bay for the All Star team. It would so rock if he made it and Manny did not!

Oh it is nice to see BC reached the goal for the stupid Neenan thing which I boycotted. If they only put as much effort into promoting a real BC institution like Cleansweep we could feel proud. Sadly those of us who take pride in the institutional goals of one of the premeire Jesuit Universities can't help but notice that fattening up the endowment and fielding a Top 25 football team seem to be all that matter.

The More Things Change,,,,Yada Yada

So was anyone really surprised to see speaker Sal indicted yesterday for corruption? I for one would love to see the job description for Speaker, Massachusetts House of Representatives. Does it say, Ensure House Runs Smoothly, Be House Counter to Governor's Power, Be Hopelessly and Blatantly Corrupt. To call Massachusetts politics a cesspool is to not even come close to the nature of the nature of the corruption at the fetid dump that passes for the Massachusetts State House. While we know there is a dire need for some type of reform we all saw how when this was attempted the legislature thought that the best way to improve ethics was to eliminate the ethics commission. I can't help but think of the child sticking their fingers in their ears saying loudly that they can't hear you and if they can't hear you it's not true!

The trial of Cuckoo Clark Rockefeller goes on and on. He's done a very good act of looking like he is crazy but the guy is just a sleazy operator who found not one, but two gullible women, who did exactly what he wanted. I don't know which one was more naive, the one who married him for his green card and who he left the day after, but then didn't divorce him until 10 years later, or the one who was making a million dollars a year while he wasn't working and let him manage the money. Is she still single???

Oh I heard a good story from a friend interviewing for a PR position. He met with a SVP who told him that their image was bad and they didn't have good relationships with their news media. When asked why he thought this was the SVP said that it probably had something to do with the fact they didn't tell the news media anything and communicated only via news release. But that was OK since that was how the news media want to communicate.

On more friendly front it is a good thing that with Dice K pitching the Sox have a deep bulletin. I mean the guy must have had two men on in each inning and got out of it each and every time. Big Papi is slowly wearing out what ever good will there was for him. I think the Sox need to put him on the DL and figure out what to do with him. Jason Bay continues to show he was more than just a throw in for Manny the Cheat. Add together Bay's stats subtract what Manny might have done over the same time and then add in the 20 homers and 75 RBI's you can add in when you take into account not having to deal with Manny's BS and you have what someone like Jason Bay who just does his job is worth.

The word is out that Rodney Harrison is going to retire. I will always remember in the Super Bowl against the Panthers when he broke his arm and did not come out for something like 3 plays. He was and is a warrior and helped the Pats win 2 Super Bowls. Appropo of nothing, some 93 year old guy crashed his car into the Wal Mart in Danvers, MA. I am amazed he was able to do it. I don't think that if you tried to do it you would be able to!