The Reflectory

A place to reflect on a variety of topics.

Shmolnick’s Online Dating Experience

Jan 3

Posted by Shmolnick in The Human Condition | 1 Comment

Happy New Year all! Here’s the story of a fun recent experience I had in the brave new world of online dating.

In an attempt to spice up my non-existent social life, I joined a couple of online dating web sites a few months ago. An exciting and horrific experience all at the same time. Single people in my age group (I’m 50) find it hard to meet similarly single people in real life; we’re all busy and most people have settled into long-established family-oriented social groups. Anyway, I’ve actually done pretty well in terms of phone numbers and dates. It’s a numbers game really; throw everything against the wall and see what sticks. I’d like to share a recent experience that demonstrates both the thrill and horror of online dating.

All’s fair in love and war, I know. But this was downright spooky. Silly me for falling for it. I met this woman on an online dating site, and like most men, I was attracted to her pictures and physical characteristics, but not overly so. She was attractive, but there were some common points of interest (similar cultural background, attitudes, the same age, both like a lot of the same music, etc). Anyway, she contacted me and invited me to chat (online dating sites typically have their own instant messaging systems), so we did.

We had one of those great two hour IM chats and really hit it off. I’m not a fool, and I’m very perceptive about people. I’ve gone on quite a lot of first dates, and even a couple of second dates with women I’ve met online. Anyway, so the IM’s turn into phone calls. You know the drill: excitement on both parts as we discover we have a lot in common and enjoy talking. We set a date for that upcoming Friday nite.

One of the best dates, first or otherwise, that I’ve had. Easy conversation, lots of connection points. And she turned out to be gorgeous. She obviously liked me, because she was open and friendly and started doing the touching thing that women do – she commented on how she liked my nose, ran her fingers through my hair, touched my arm a lot. We met for drinks, and had a few but not enough to be drunk. She had two glasses of wine over a two hour period and I had the equivalent in beer. In the middle of 3-4 hour date, she invited me to her place the following Friday night to make dinner for me, even asking me what I liked to eat. We had a wonderful lingering goodnight kiss.

Well let me tell you that I was amazed! I’m a cynic; this sort of thing doesn’t happen to me. Well perhaps I should have looked closer at that old saw “if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.” We chatted online the following day for a few minutes but she was working so I told her to give me a call later when she had some time, which was not an outrageous request because she had called me before.

I never heard from her again.

I left short emails and one phone message on Sunday, then I knew she was out of town with her children for a couple of days to Vermont (that’s what she told me). I figured I would keep the spirit of the thing going by leaving an email greeting, and then my phone messages were ignored. She even ignored my IM’s. Now I’m not one of those obsessive types, I wasn’t calling several times a day, nothing like that. And I had several other options at the time. I simply needed a resolution.

Finally, I heard from her on the following Thursday, a terse one-line email message that said simply “You’re a nice guy but not for me.” Ouch! I was going to write back and thank her for finally coming clean, but my email address was blocked!!

So after some analysis of the situation, I have determined that either she was a nutjob or married/attached. There were some small number of possible red flags. She claimed to be using her maiden name in some legal situations but professionally went by her married name. She’d been married three times (not twice as she had previously told me), she claimed to have had a monstrously large number of abortions in her youth. I let all that go temporarily. Blinded by beauty and charm, I guess. In retrospect, I think that she either DID like me but on second thought became embarrassed at her overly friendly behavior, she was married and was simply having fun (or getting revenge), or she’s a true nutjob.

Live and learn, eh? Live anyway, I’m STILL meeting women through online dating. And this experience has given me yet another story to tell. Hope you all enjoyed reading it.

LA Dodgers 2007 Recap

Oct 4

Posted by Shmolnick in Sports | No Comments

The baseball season is all but over for this year’s edition of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and once again we are on the outside of the post-season looking in, pressing our dirty hands and tear-stained faces against the glass, wishing that it was our beloved Bums in there playing for a championship in place of our hated NL West division rivals. Alas, it was not to be for this year’s Dodgers. However, for the many suffering and disappointed Dodger fans, it’s never too early to take a critical look back at the season and point a hopeful eye to the future.

What Went Wrong

Here is my own list of events and decisions that most affected the Dodgers’ year, in order of impact, with the full knowledge that hindsight is always 20-20:

  1. The failure of Ned Colletti to sign or trade for a legitimate middle-of-the-order power hitter. Yes I said this at the start of the season, and I’m repeating it here. It’s the number one reason we failed this year. Kent is no longer the power threat he once was, and we had nobody else playing every day to fill the void. Ned was forced to cobble together a small ball team.
  2. Injuries to Jason Schmidt then Randy Wolf. This basically ruined the starting rotation. I’m not pointing fingers of blame at this time; could Stan Conte done a better job evaluating Schmidt before we signed him? Could anyone have detected Schmidt’s looming problem? If not Schmidt, then who else could Ned have signed? Full disclosure: I cheered this signing like many others. We got some really bad mojo on this one, unfortunately. While Schmidt barely registered a dent on the pitching staff, Randy Wolf had a good first half of the season, then went down. Replacing both of these arms in the rotation proved too difficult for Ned Colletti, whose inability to fill in those holes forced Grady Little to continue to trot Hendrickson and Tomko out there.
  3. Grady Little’s mismanagement. I like Grady. He’s a good guy. But he was bad this year. Bad bad bad. His lineups were terrible and inconsistent. He doesn’t know how to handle in-game pitching decisions. He favored non-producing veterans over better younger players. He rarely played the hot hand. He overused Russell Martin. I do believe Grady’s poor managing was responsible for several games in the loss column.
  4. Not putting Rafael Furcal on the DL at the beginning of the season. Because we had no power, Ned and Grady put together a small-ball team that looked good on paper. The most important player in that strategy is Raffy. Raffy hurt his ankle in ST. He never came out, and as a result had a poor season. Had they put him on the DL in April, the guy would have been fresh and producing in say, AUGUST, when the rest of the team tanked.
  5. Keeping the most talented kids down too long. This is related to Grady’s poor management, but here I’m talking specifically about Billingsley and Loney, and Kemp to a lesser degree. When Schmidt went down, Billz should have immediately gone to the rotation. This is now looking like a kid who will win 15+ games next year. His development would have been helped by starting earlier in the year. Loney is going to be good; hell he’s good now. Imagine a full year of him? Might have helped, huh? Nomar should have gone to third earlier with James taking the starting spot.
  6. Ned’s panic moves. Thank JD Drew for this one I guess. Maybe Ned did the right thing by signing Nomar to a two-year deal, I don’t know. But surely he panicked when he inked Juan Pierre to a multi-year deal. Surely there were better options for left field than Luis Gonzalez. He hamstrung the team and limited his own options by these deals. A more experienced GM might not have panicked; we’ll never know.
  7. The defense, especially in the outfield, was terrible. This is a function of Ned’s panic signings, and once signed, they weren’t gonna sit. Depending on who plays LF next year, this is bound to improve. Also, Kent has no range left at second base. If he retires, defense automatically improves at 2B.

What Went Right

It’s never all bad news. 2007 wasn’t a complete bust for the Dodgers. Some good things happened, and those good things could be good omens for the future.

  1. Russell Martin became an impact player.
  2. Chad Billingsley matured.
  3. James Loney finally won the first base job.
  4. Matt Kemp finally showed us what he could do.
  5. The back end of the bullpen solidified (Broxton’s tired arm at the end of the season notwithstanding).
  6. Luis Gonzalez’ contract was for only one year.
  7. Penny wasn’t as bad in the second half of the season as last year. He’s a keeper.
  8. The personnel picture became clearer as the kids came into their own and our holes were better revealed.

Offseason Moves the Dodgers Must Make

Many of us salivate in anticipation of another offseason. Why? The offseason gives the General Manager a chance for a do-over. Each season is essentially a do-over. Offseason moves excite us, worry us, drive us insane, make us cheer; it’s all we have until the spring comes again. Here’s what I think the Dodgers should do this offseason:

  1. Fire Grady Little. Wrong man for the job. Makes questionable in-game decisions. This doesn’t appear to be happening, as both McCourt and Colletti have pubicly said that Little’s returning in 2008. This is too bad. I have serious doubts about that man’s ability to manage a team to a World Series victory. Part Two of this item is to hire a manager who will be good with the young players. I’d love to see Kirk Gibson come back to LA in this capacity, but at this point, anybody is better than Grady Little.
  2. Sign an impact power hitter in his prime. A REAL power hitter. A 30-35 home runs a year guaranteed at a minimum power hitter. ARod is my first choice. He’s perfect for the Dodgers at this time. If he doesn’t hit the market, Ned needs to trade a couple of kids for a bat, preferably a third baseman. With the depth of young talent the Dodgers have to offer, I have a difficult time understanding how Ned cannot swing a deal for a power hitter. Even if means parting with one or two of our prized kids, he needs to make this deal if ARod doesn’t walk. Mark my words: without that bat in 2008, expect a repeat of 2007, with a possible shot at a wild card placement.
  3. Fire some of the coaching staff. Third base, I’m looking at you. Hire coaches who are better than the ones we had this year.
  4. Get rid of all deadwood. Saenz, Martinez, the detritus picked up in August – all of ‘em must go. Buh bye. But be smart about offering arbitration. Perhaps Sweeney could be useful off the bench, but other than him, these guys are not helping anymore. I wish there was a way for us to deal Nomar, but I see him coming into ’08 as the incumbent third baseman, and LaRoche will have to steal the position from him the way Loney had to steal first base this past season. Hopefully, Nomar is dealt to the American League by mid-season.
  5. Sign position players who will improve both our situational hitting AND our defense. I know, I’m asking for the moon.
  6. Trade Derek Lowe while he still has value. I’m just tired of the constant “gee this guy should be better given his talent” tease that this guy afflicts us with. If we can get something useful back for him, or for somebody like Ethier (who I like but who can be replaced in the outfield by a free agent power hitter or by Delwyn Young) then turn around and deal for somebody like Snell, that would be a good thing. Hey, we have to have something of value to offer potential trading partners, especially since Loney, Kemp, Kershaw, Billz, et al are not going anywhere.

What to Look for in 2008

Really, we need ARod to walk away from New York so the Dodgers can sign him. The Dodger lineup looks downright scary with ARod in the four hole. Without ARod, or a slightly lesser version of ARod (power hitter), the Dodgers will once again be at the mercy of Ned, Grady, the kids, and more small ball. Of course it’s all guesswork right now, but I think we can count on a couple of things next year, barring injury.

  1. Grady Little’s managerial moves will infuriate us on a daily basis.
  2. Rafael Furcal will have a career year or close to it. His ankle will be healthy and don’t contract years do wonders for a player’s performance?
  3. Nomar will open the season as the starting third baseman. Unless he’s traded (please please please).
  4. Loney and Kemp will get better. 20 home runs apiece if they play every day is not unreasonable.
  5. Billingsley will get better and finish the season as the recognized staff ace or close to it, barring injury.
  6. A key Dodger will get hurt for a large part of the season. This ALWAYS happens to our Bums. Every goddamned year. And it will happen next year too.
  7. Juan Pierre will remain on the team, will start every day, and will have similar stats as this season.
  8. The outfield defense will improve with the departure of Luis Gonzelez. Slightly.
  9. Ned’s last opportunity to make the playoffs. If the Dodgers fail next year, I’m certain Ned will be shown the door after the season. I think McCourt gives him one more year to prove himself.

Anyway, those are my thoughts right now. It always feels good to purge, especially at the end of another poor Dodger finish.

Driving Mysteries Revealed!

Apr 17

Posted by Shmolnick in The Human Condition, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Ahh, the joys and mysteries of driving in Connecticut.

The highways are crowded and constantly under construction, secondary roads are filled with potholes this time of year, and Connecticut drivers continue to behave as if they’re all under some mass hypnotic spell that makes them do stupid and careless things with their vehicles.

I drive to work every day. It’s an easy commute, about 25 minutes at most, with only one slow spot and that’s only in the morning. So I can’t complain about my daily drive to work. However, the rest of the time, and especially on weekends, I do have to drive to get around. And that’s when I’m forced to ask myself this question – why do people drive the way they do?

Read on to learn more about these mysteries and their probably causes.

The Mystery of the Now In A Hurry – Now Not In A Hurry Driver

Here’s one of my favorites.

You’re driving along, keeping pace with traffic, which is light to moderate. There’s a big gap behind you; the closest vehicle to your rear is far away. Now here come Mr.I’mInAHurry. He’s waiting to turn into traffic. He clearly sees the huge gap behind you, yet chooses to pull in in front of you VERY SUDDENLY, forcing you to put on your brakes. And utter a string of obscenities that would shock a sailor.

But now Mr.I’mInAHurry has decided he’s no longer in such a hurry. In fact, he’s apparently decided that now that he’s cut you off, he wants to drive as S L O W L Y as possible. But I can’t help but wonder, why was he in such a hurry to cut me off when there was ample room for him to pull safely behind me, yet now he appears to be moving in slow motion?

I have determined that this mysterious behavior must be caused by one of two things:

  • Like a wild beast acting purely on instinct, Mr.I’mInAHurry’s unevolved DNA still retains the urge to compete for rare food supplies. This forces him to cut me off in an attempt to “win” the competition.
  • He’s stupid.

Additional note: Mr.I’mInAHurry also makes frequent appearance merging onto highways.

The Mystery of the Rebel Without a Cause

You know this person. He’s the guy next to you in the right lane at a two-lane traffic light. The big black and white sign directly on the right IN CLEAR VIEW OF EVEN A BLIND PERSON indicates that vehicles in the right lane MUST turn right. You know the sign, the one with the straight up and down arrow pictured next to an arrow pointing to the right. Now, you’re in the correct lane for going straight, the left lane. The road ahead narrows to a single lane. There may even be a sign indicating such.

Yet when the light changes, the Rebel Without a Cause goes straight, cutting you off. He’s such a rebel! Yeah man, he’s rebelling against the system. He’s sticking it to the man. Actually, he just stuck it to you and me by cutting us off.

I’m always left shaking my head in bewilderment at the Rebel Without a Cause. Why the blatant disregard for clearly posted rules, rules that even an anarchist like me can easily observe?

Once again, I have determined one of two causes of this mysterious behavior:

  • The guy really DOES have issues with authority and goes out of his way to flout the rules of the road to “stick it to the man.”
  • He’s stupid.

The Mystery of the Long Line of Cars at a Green Light

Red means stop. Green means go. Red means stop. Green means go. Got it?

Apparently not everyone gets that most basic rule of driving. In fact, it’s often one of the very first things we learn when we take driver’s education. Yet where I live, when a traffic light turns green, nobody moves. They sit. They stare. They pick their noses. They think about I don’t know what. But they do not move.

What’s the delay anyway? If you drive in a place like Manhattan, when that light changes to green, EVERYONE goes immediately. There’s no delay. There’s no dreamland. People actually know what a green light means. Not here. Here, people simply aren’t paying attention. And yes, I know that when there’s a long line at a traffic light, one might expect a second or two of delay as you wait for the cars ahead of you to get going. But seriously, around where I live, in Connecticut, often you end up stuck at the light for a second cycle because the people ahead of you at the front of the line don’t move right away.

There can really only be one cause of this most aggravating of driving mysteries:

  • People are stupid.

The Mystery of the Stubborn Slow Driver in the Passing Lane on the Highway

Of course, driving mysteries are hardly confined to suburban and urban driving. Take for example the case of the stubborn driver in the left-most lane on the highway. She refuses to increase speed above the posted speed limit. There’s a growing line of cars building up behind her, and there’s plenty of room in the middle lane for her to safely move over and let the cars behind her pass. Yet she absolutely won’t speed up or move over. Angry drivers behind her beep their horn, they tailgate out of sheer frustration, they flash their headlights, all to no avail. Ms. Stubborn ain’t movin’.

I mean, what’s it to her anyway? It IS the passing lane, after all. Why stay where she’s neither wanted or needed? Is she totally unaware that she is single-handedly creating a traffic jam?

This mystery can have only of the following causes:

  • She’s a stubborn cunt.
  • She’s stupid.

The Cop-Giving-a-Ticket-to-a-Car-on-the-Side-of-the-Road-Yet-Everyone-Slows-Down-Anyway Mystery

Here’s a driving mystery we’ve all encountered. You’re driving on the highway, minding your own business, grooving to some good music, enjoying the open road. Then all of a sudden, you run into heavy traffic. You’re at a standstill for miles and you don’t know why.

Then you pass the source of the traffic jam – a cop is giving somebody a ticket on the side of the highway. And EVERYONE is slowing down.

Why are they slowing down? Do they actually believe that the cop is going to stop what he’s doing, jump into his car and chase after some OTHER speeder? Of COURSE he’s not. He’s BUSY! In fact, this is the BEST time to speed up – the cop is BUSY!!! He’s giving somebody else a ticket! Yet all the drivers slow down out of fear of the cop’s authority.

There really can be only one of two reasons this mysterious behavior continues:

  • People are trained from a very young age to fear and obey authority no matter what. Their hard-wired fear of authority causes them to slow down, even in situations in which there is no chance of getting a speeding ticket.
  • People are stupid.

The Mystery of Rubbernecking

Ooh look, an accident! Ooh look, a dead animal on the side of the road! Ooh look, a cop is giving some poor guy a ticket! Ooh look, a construction crew!

More like, “Ooh look, the assholes in front of me aren’t paying attention!!!”

Why do we care so much about what’s going on at the side of the road when our attention should be on the road ahead of us? Is there something intriguing about some other guy’s traffic plight? Are we simply craning our necks to get a look at an injured or dead body? Do we want see a severed head? What gives? Really, I want to know.

This mystery has been the cause of millions of highway traffic jams. And all it takes it one person to slow down and sneak a peak at the exciting action on the side of the road to delay everyone else. I say, who cares? I have no desire to ogle some dead or injured bodies, or delight in some big shiny ambulence, fire truck or cop collecting fees for the state by writing tickets. Who gives a shit anyway? I’m not five years old anymore. I want to get to where I’m going. I don’t want to sit in traffic.

Again, the causes of this are most likely one of the following:

  • People’s lives are so empty and meaningless that any distraction is welcome.
  • People are stupid.

The Mystery of the SUV

Okay I’ll admit it – I hate SUV’s. They get awful gas mileage, they’re unsafe (just look at the fatality numbers in rollovers, the most frequent type of SUV accident), and they block my view of the road ahead.

I once saw a TV program about defensive and smart driving. They interviewed a professional race car driver, whose expertise behind the wheel I wouldn’t challenge. This guy said he NEVER lets himself get stuck behind a large vehicle because it obscures his vision, making driving that much more hazardous. Visibility is important in driving; you really need to see where you’re going so you can anticipate what’s up ahead. It’s just common sense.

Yet everyone goes out to buy these big useless tanks. Why? Because they’re advertised on TV, that’s why. People like to be seen in these big metal beasts because it makes them feel successful, and we all know that in a consumer economy, our success as individuals is measured in what kind of stuff we can buy and show off. “Oh look at me, I’m driving a big SUV. I’m a member of the club, I’m successful!! Just like those actors in the TV commercial!” Please, spare me your low self-esteem. I can’t see past your truck, dammit!!

The automobile manufacturers have a lot of responsibility for this problem, as they have continually marketed SUVs because they’re profitable. Forget that they guzzle too much gas, a commodity that the planet is running low on. Forget that they’re inherently unsafe, especially to smaller vehicles. Forget that you can’t see past them.

Now, I can understand it when a person who has a business needs a big vehicle with a lot of storage space. Or a family that goes camping every weekend. Stuff like that, okay, I can accept those as legitimate reasons for needing a large vehicle. But what’s everyone else’s excuse?

I have narrowed down the reasons for this mystery to the following:

  • People are inherently gullible and easily manipulated by television commercials.
  • People have low self-esteem and need to feel important and successful.
  • People are stupid.

The Great Cell Phone Mystery

Repeat after me – when you talk on the phone while you’re driving, your attention is diverted from driving.

Why all this telephone activity in the car? What’s so goddamned important that it can’t wait until you stop or arrive at your destination? People survived for decades without the need to call others on the phone while in transit. Why did this change? Why don’t people realize that it’s dangerous to let your attention be called away from driving?

I hate this because when the person in front of me is talking on the phone, they inherently know that their attention is diverted from driving, so they slow down to a crawl. So now I have to slow down because some idiotic soccer mom needs to gab to her friends? I don’t think so.

Also, whatever happened to privacy? Since when do we need to be connected all the time?

Yeah, I have a cell phone. Yeah I have it with me when I drive. And yeah, I let people leave messages for me so I can get back to them, WHEN I’M NO LONGER BEHIND THE WHEEL OF THE CAR!!!!

I’m all for laws banning cell phone use while driving. And I’m all for the vigorous prosecution of drivers who violate those laws. Forget speed traps, there’s millions to be made pulling people over for talking on their cell phone!

This mystery has only one possible cause:

  • People. Are. Stupid.

Conclusions

So there you have it. These are some of the driving mysteries that drive ME crazy when I’m on the road. After careful examination of all of these mysteries, I can come to only one conclusion:

PEOPLE ARE STUPID!

Thanks for reading, and be careful out there.

Why I Can’t Support Hillary Clinton for President

Feb 25

Posted by Shmolnick in Politics | 1 Comment

Senator Hillary Clinton

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is the obvious front-runner for the Democratic nomination for President of United States. Her campaign is run by experienced professionals. She continues to amass large amounts of money with which to campaign. The media is already portraying her as the presumptive nominee. She is very smart and I have no doubt that she would be a reasonably competent steward of the Executive Branch of our government, unlike the present gang of incompetent criminals.

Yet I can never support her. And here’s why.

  • She contributes a divisive presence to the national political scene. Roughly half of all Americans dislike her – they’ve already made up their minds. I don’t see her able to bring those people together in an honest and courageous way. The right-wing noise machine will continue to harass her from the sidelines, making it difficult for her to focus on the tasks at hand. Sure, they’ll harass any democrat, but they’ve already got a full arsenal of weapons at the ready for Hillary.
  • She lacked the courage to vote against the Iraq War Resolution and now stubbornly refuses to admit her mistake. So much has been said about this that I cannot add anything else, except to say that if a third of Americans and the Senate knew well enough to vote against the IWR, why did she not do so? I’m an average citizen and I knew not to trust Bush’s word – you mean I have better judgment than Senator Clinton? Sorry, I want my president to be SMARTER and have better judgment than me.
  • She does not inspire in me hope for the future. She brings with her all the baggage of the past – the same advisors, the same DC insiders, the same addiction to big corporate money, the same fear of challenging the status quo. I find her decidedly uninspiring.
  • She tries too hard to appear “tough.” Stand up for what you believe with courage and you won’t have to TRY to appear tough. I have never the doubted the ability of a woman to be commander in chief of the military, and I think many people hold the same belief. I naturally distrust anyone who tries too hard to convince me of something. Tough would be facing down Pakistan and Saudi Arabia for their tacit (or worse) support of Islamic extremism.
  • I cannot determine what she truly believes in, other than her own ambition to be president. Seriously, what are her core beliefs?
  • She did not oppose the Bankruptcy Bill, which made it more difficult for the average citizen to declare bankruptcy. She conveniently did not vote at all, which to me looks like the action of a coward. Also, her failure to vigorously oppose such an obvious anti-consumer law makes me worried about which side of OTHER consumer issues she’ll come down on – will she favor other policies that help big corporations at the expense of consumers?
  • She voted for the USA Patriot Act. Then she voted for the continuation of the Act. Her support of this bill further reinforces my view of her unwillingness to stand up and challenge the prevailing political winds of the day.
  • I don’t want America to fall into a dynastic habit in the election of presidents. Clinton, Bush, Clinton…..Bush? Enough with the elite ruling families – we need fresh faces in the government to help bring new solutions to rapidly growing problems. Each ruling family brings with it the White House the same old gaggle of political professionals, whose past actions have helped take us to where we are now – the precipice of disaster.
  • Her pandering to social conservatives by supporting flag-burning legislation and speaking out against violent video games. I believe these actions are her attempts to make herself appear less liberal and more moderate and therefore, more palatable to voters in a national election. This doesn’t say “leadership” to me. Rather it says “political calculation.” We’ve had enough of that, haven’t we?
  • The Bubba distraction. Like it or not, Bill Clinton is a larger than life figure. He will continue to be a distraction from Hillary’s presidency.
  • I know this may not be her own fault, but Hillary Clinton frequently uses a shrill tone when she speaks. It is off-putting to say the least. At LEAST as offensive as President George W. Bush’s inability to craft a coherent sentence.
  • I don’t know where she stands on these issues, which are very important to me:
    • If elected, when and how will she end our involvement in the Iraq Civil War?
    • Will she push for Universal Health Care, which we desperately need, or will she support smaller, safer reforms that simply cover more uninsured Americans under the current broken system?
    • Will she continue to base our foreign policy on oil security or will she use the bully pulpit of the presidency to push significant investment in alternate fuels so we remove foreign oil, and by extension the Middle East, from our foreign policy calculations?
    • What specific steps will she take to fight global warming?
    • How will she global terrorism? Will she continue the Bush war on terror or will she challenge Pakistan and other Middle Eastern countries to do more to fight Islamic terrorism and, if they fail to do so, will she pledge to take strong action regardless?
    • How does she intend to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of rogue nations?
    • Will she support the rights of average citizens to challenge the power of big corporations, through the formation of labor unions and in the courts?
    • Does she support continued consolidation of the media?
    • Where does she stand on immigration reform, which is a HUGE issue for many Americans and presents a real opportunity to bring people together?

I believe many if not all of these issues are at the point of crisis and demand bold action, creative new thinking, and a national leader who can bring Americans together to support dramatic change. Senator Clinton’s divisive presence will prevent Americans from coming together. She seems more determined to act on political calculation than on serious core beliefs. Her reluctance to challenge the conventional Washington DC wisdom is alarming. It tells me that she will NOT propose and fight for bold policy changes but will tinker safely on the edges of national policy just enough to please the Democratic base and gain re-election, but the large problems facing us and our children will remain unsolved.

THAT is why I cannot support Hillary Clinton for president. Not now. Not tomorrow. Not ever. She represents the flip side of the Republican/Democratic coin – the elites who run the government and the country and couldn’t care less about the real needs of the average American. Sure she’ll be better than the current president. I’m certain she’ll eventually pull our troops out of Iraq (but whoever is elected President in 2008 will do this). I’m sure our allies around the world will look more favorably upon us if she is president (but again, anybody elected in 2008 will enjoy this response). But our problems cry out for more than just competency-by-comparison.

This is why people are supporting Barack Obama. He represents to them a fresh face, the HOPE that maybe, just maybe, here’s somebody who will at least be willing to stand and fight for the bold policy changes that we need in this country.

Cold Weather Miscellany

Feb 6

Posted by Shmolnick in Uncategorized | No Comments

As I write this, it’s a balmy 13 degrees out this morning. However, it feels like about 5 degrees. Wow, chucking polite society and escaping to Tahiti to paint native girls sounds awfully good about now.

The best show on television right now is “Rome” on HBO. Okay, they sometimes play fast and loose with historical details, but hey, they don’t hundreds of years to depict the story of Julius Caesar’s rise and fall and Octavian’s subsequent grab for power. I forgive them. It’s basically a buddy story played out amidst the sweep of Roman history. Good stuff.

I don’t like Hillary Clinton. Now I loathe the Republican party more, but Hillary is just another mainstream DC power-grabbing egomaniacal politician whose only vision for the country is the one in which she is sitting in the White House as President. No offense, Senator, but you show me nothing. I’ll write more about my Hillary dislike on a later date.

Gonna get a new PC soon. Woo hoo! My current computer, nicknamed “Hoss,” is five years old and slowing down. It’ll be a pain to transfer five years of data and re-install all my apps but it’ll be worth it to get a new Hoss. Old Hoss is being donated to my teenager. Sniff sniff, gettin’ all misty over ol’ Hoss. Nah, not really.

Finally, pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training soon. Enough with all these lesser sports, baseball is the national pasttime for me.

Oh and I got a new job in mid-December. More of the same, but this one has a variety of tasks to keep my ADD at bay.

Stay warm.

Dec 8

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Merry Whatever

Dec 8

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Santa on a bender

Greetings all, Shmolnick here. Some recent news to report:

  • I got laid off from my job a few weeks ago. I was working for a small software firm, a great job and a great bunch of people to work with, but we made online poker software. When outgoing Tennessee Senator/corrupt prick Bill Frist snuck a ban on all financial transactions for online betting into a Port Security bill, my company was all set to lose up to 60% of their revenue from the loss of US-based players. So the owner quickly sold out to a European firm and everyone got laid off. Can’t complain about the severance package, but still – legislate morality AND cost me a good job? It sucks, to be sure.
  • I had to pass up on a sweet gig in NYC because the cost of medical insurance premiums were prohibitively expensive. I just couldn’t make it work financially. Yeah, we don’t need universal health care in this country. Sigh.
  • Today is the first genuinely frigid cold day here in southern CT. Have I mentioned that I hate winter? Yeah yeah, snow LOOKS cool, but cold = physical pain. And I’m not into physical pain.
  • I finally got a new scanner! WOO HOO! A whole bunch of new/old cartoons will be appearing on shmolnick.com very soon.
  • I follow politics pretty closely and it really offends me that a person such as Hillary Clinton is the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, even though that event is a good year and a half in the future. What is it with this woman? I can’t identify any core beliefs that she may have, aside from her desire to be the first woman president. Plus she voted for the Iraq war and has yet to come clean on that, and she has attempted to make nicey-nice with the right-wing crazies by backing legislation to ban flag-burning. Please. Ever hear of free speech, lady? And on the Republican side, the choice will appear to be between former “straight-talker” John sellout McCain and Nazi Rudy Giuliani. Talk to anybody who lives in NYC about Rudy’s tenure as Mayor; they’ll set you straight on this phony. So I may be forced to either not vote (an option I detest) or vote for a third-party candidate as a protest. I will not vote for Hillary Clinton under any circumstance. Al Gore, where the hell are you?
  • Do you like live music? Well, some friends of mine have directed me to an excellent web site that has streaming audio from many classic live concerts from a variety of artists. It’s
    The Concert Vault. Go check it out.

That’s it for now. Go enjoy something.

Miscellany

Nov 6

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Greetings sports fans, Shmolnick here, back after a short intermission. I haven’t done anything on my web site lately as I have been busy doing nothing in between recording more music and thinking about writing some new stories. So it’s high time that I added a post here to try to catch up on things.

Dodgers Make Playoffs, Get Blown Out
Well, my beloved Dodgers made the National League playoffs as the wild card team, then promptly got blown out by the Mets in Round One. Oh well, at least they had a successful season and are poised, with the addition, hopefully, of a couple of key missing pieces, to do even better next year. All in all, I’m satisfied with this past baseball season and I’m looking forward to the offseason to see who the Dodgers add in trade and/or free agency.

Mid-term Elections
It’s election time! Woo hoo! And unless the Republicans commit election fraud (which they’ve been known to do in the past, ahem), it looks like the Democrats will win back the House of Representatives at least, with a slim chance of winning the Senate too. I’ll take the House and be happy because hopefully, that will end Bush’s legislative reign of terror. Too bad that traitorous scumbag Joe Lieberman will end up winning in my home state of Connecticut. Now what kind of stupid and misinformed voters would actually put this guy back in the Senate after all the bullshit he’s pulled? I don’t know. Plus I can’t wait for all the “oversight” hearings to commence so the average joe and jane voter will finally see the underhanded crap that the Bush misadministration has foisted onto the country, to ill effect in all policy areas.

Not that I love the Democrats so much. They’re largely spineless and have clue zero on how to present an appealing vision to the country, plus they’re just as jacked up on big corporate campaign donations as the Republicans. Fortunately for them, the GOP is SO bad and incompetent and corrupt that a majority of people are willing to give the Dems a chance. But at least the Democrats will try to pass some laws that help people out of plain common decency. And that’s enough for me, for now.

Damned Scanners

I’m still looking for a USB 1.0 scanner. My computer is nearly five years old, and ol’ Hoss is showing his age. I don’t have any more available ports to get a USB 2.0 adapter, so I’m stuck looking for a scanner with both protocols (I’m replacing Hoss at tax refund time). In the meantime, I have no way to scan my latest dopey cartoons and drawings. I guess I’ll have to look on eBay for a proper and inexpensive scanner.

Pennant Fever

Sep 9

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Is there anything more fun than watching a mid-term congressional election in which the opposition party has a real chance to seize political power from the evil party currently holding the reins of government?

Yes.

It’s called a pennant race, and my beloved Los Angeles Dodgers are in the thick of one.

LA Dodgers!

I live in the northeast and I’m regularly inundated with the same tired old refrain on “Yankees! Red Sox! Mets! Yankees! Red Sox! Mets! Yankees! Red Sox! Mets!” So it’s especially gratifying when I get to watch my Bums whoop some Met butt on television.

The Dodgers have been one of the streakiest teams in Major League baseball this season, and find themselves holding onto first place in the National League West division by a thread. Sudden holes in their starting pitching (thanks to hotheaded ace wanna-be Brad Penny’s second half meltdown and a sudden injury to promising rookie Chad Billingsley) is forcing Manager Grady Little to improvise with only a few weeks to go in the season.

Last night rookie Hong Chi-Kuo, in his first major league start ever, pitched a marvelous six shutout innings over the resurgent New York Mets in front of hostile Shea Stadium crowd. Aided by three additional shutout innings from the bullpen, the Dodgers banged out five runs to defeat the Mets and cling to a game and a half lead over the hated rival San Diego Padres. Even the slumping Nomah hit a home run, although lackadaisical and overpaid outfielder JD Drew was a nonfactor (again).
Of course if you read the New York sports pages, you could hardly guess who the Mets were playing. But the damage has been done – the Mets can be beaten. And if the Dodgers can hold onto the NL West title, perhaps this bodes well for the playoffs.

Of course, the rollercoaster ride that has been the Dodgers’ season is surely not over, and like any good Dodger fan, I am holding my breath in preparation for the inevitable collapse. After all, they still have to play second-place San Diego, and the Padres (or “Madres” as they are derisively called by some Dodger fans) have positively owned the Dodgers all year.

Some keys to a successfull conclusion to this Dodger season:

  • Grady Little has to stop resting his best players. I read in the LA Times the other day that manager Little likes to rest his top ballplayers after a good day. Uh Grady, that’s real nice of you but we’re in a pennant race.
  • JD Drew, who mysteriously leads the team in RBI’s in spite of a dramatic loss in power and a seemingly lazy attitude toward the game, must wake up and contribute some clutch at-bats.
  • Nomah! I like this guy, and I’ll bet that he won’t be on the team next year, but his home run last night must be a harbinger of things to come. I agree with the ESPN broadcasters who said during last night’s game that if Nomar gets hot, he can carry a team.
  • Brad (or is that Bad) Penny needs to figure out how to win ballgames again. The guy was lights out during the first half of the season, but has something like a 6.09 ERA during his last ten starts (so I read but not confirmed). With the holes in the rotation, the Bums need Brad to find his pitching arm again. Come on Brad, you can do it!
  • Jeff Kent, ahhh poor Jeff Kent. I think that age has finally caught up to the venerable second basemen. That and nagging injuries have robbed Kent of his former ability to provide consistent power in the lineup. Maybe the prospect of post-season play will allow him to dig deep and find a little more of what made him the Dodgers’ best offensive player last season. I feel badly for the guy, it must be tough knowing you can’t do the job physically anymore.
  • The mood of the baseball gods. They are notoriously fickle, and haven’t looked favorably on the Dodgers. At least not since 1988.

Yes, pennant fever is in the air. And when the Dodgers are knocked out, I’ll put my sports fandom on hold until spring training 2007.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Holy Joe Lieberman

Aug 21

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I wish ol’ Holy Joe would simply go away. Just go away. Like the old cartoons – “Don’t go away mad – just go away.”

But Joe is not going away. Gee what a good loyal Democrat. I am disappointed that my aging parents voted for him in the primary (out of some misguided loyalty, despite my lecturing), but now they are angry at him for running as an independent. They are good old Democrats, and disloyalty betrays a lack of integrity to them.

Now he is the Bush White House’s candidate in the CT senatorial election. I’ve read in other places (TomPaine.com, davidsirota.com) that perhaps Karl Rove and Dick “Satan’s my butt boy” Cheney offered Holy Joe the plum job of Defense Secretary after somehow forcing Rumsfeld to leave the post. Not sure if I agree with this conspiracy theory (even though I tend to think JFK was the target of a conspiracy and hey, whatever DID happen to the wings on the jet airplane that crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11 and how come there was no evidence of wings crashing into the building and why did the FBI abscond with all locally-shot videos of the event, but I digress.)

I am a glass-half-empty kind of person. I don’t feel good right now about the CT race for senator. I think Joe Lieberman can still win. Groan.