Blizzard of 2005

It took me 3 hours yesterday to shovel the snow from our small little driveway, and an additional 30-min-or-so to clear the walkway that leads from the front door to the street. The walkway is as important since the mail has a tendency to never make it to your door when no path is available.

What a snow storm! According to the news, anyone born after 1978 has never–in their life–seen a snowstorm of such enormity.

Rhode Island is still in a “State of Emergency”. It may be just me, but the term “State of Emergency” has always seemed to me a little too dramatic when it’s called upon by something like a snow storm. Although, I won’t deny, snow can be very disabling, and roads can be very slippery, but the snow is still just sitting there. It’s not holding the governor and general assembly hostage (well, for the general assembly it may behoove us to look the other way); it’s not a giant lizard terrorizing providence, belching high piercing moans as dispatched tanks and armored apache helicopters unload futile rounds on an attempt to slow it down; it’s not the hour before an asteroid the size of Brazil, is supposed to directly collide into Kennedy Plaza. What state would we be in then? A “State of Emergency”–does it really hold the same doom-and-gloom connotation in these more dire situations, since we already used it up for the blizzard of 2005?

But, I digress.

Either way, today is a State of Emergency. I have no work. I am probably going to re-watch my season 3 DVDs of Seinfeld, followed by maybe some Madden 2004 on my Xbox. Then maybe I’ll go outside and point and laugh at my neighbors who were lazy and waited till today to shovel their driveway—snow the day after is always twice as hard to shovel, com’on people. And then finally, to fool myself into feeling productive, I will write a post on my website. 😉

Done and Done

Russell Peters

Russell Peters is one of the funniest comedians I know of, and he’s Indian too– who would of thought? Anyway, my friend had sent me this great 45 minute clip of Peters doing his bit, and I promise you, it is the funniest thing you will see all day.

So park yourself down for 45 minutes and watch this clip; I guarantee you’ll love it!

Russel Peters Clip
(oh by the way, it’s a .ram file, meaning you need RealPlayer to view it)

Guilty Until Proven Innocent

Imagine a justice system where every time a crime is committed, you had to gather your things, put your jacket on, drive over to the local police station, and prove your innocence. Sounds like one of those apocalyptical fictional stories found only in Hollywood, or in Orwell novels. In fact, we pride ourselves as models of justice with our hackneyed dictums like �innocent until proven guilty� or �guilty beyond a reasonable doubt�, and of course our enforcement of those inalienable rights that require warrants, and sound reasonable cause before any indictments. But are there exceptions ? If the evidence for a crime was not as forthcoming, and the resulting set of possible suspects included the entire population of a town, or a state, or the entire country, are we still following these creeds? The notion of �innocent until proven guilty� just may be a little to idealistic to be practically applicable.

This question has come up in light of the DNA sweep that is being performed in a town in Cape Cod Massachusetts. In an effort to identity the suspect responsible for the murder of Christa Worthington–an investigation that has been ongoing for 3 years now, investigators have asked all 790 male denizens of the town of Truro, to provide samples of their DNA so that it may be compared with–what forensics believes– is the DNA sample of the suspect. In essence, they�re asking the entire male population of this town to �prove� their innocence�provide a DNA sample to be removed from the list.

fair? Ummm… no.

Here�s the news story if you want to read more.

Bush’s Nominees

You got to give it to him. Dubya has a knack for appointing high-ranking officials. Now that most of the cast involved in Act I of the Bush Administration have pushed and shoved their way in line, handing over papers of resignation, Bush is trying to reshuffle the cards and in the process– spilling the deck all over the table.

First blooper, a replacement for Sec. Tom Ridge of Homeland Security with Bernard Kerik, the former NYC Police commissioner. And of course, turns out this guy has a messy criminal record with indictments of conspiracy, an FBI probe for alleged fraud, and various acts of infidelity not quite the unadulterated record we’re looking for in such a high appointment. Needless to say, Kerik has withdrawn from the nomination.

Second blooper, the replacement of Attorney General John Ashcroft; you may remember him from such works as “The Patriot Act” and “Liar Liar”. And for this replacement, the Bush administration nominates Alberto Gonzales, a former White House council that has been intimately tied to prisoner abuse scandals in Abu Garib. Another Swing and a miss.

Well, so far he’s 0-2. My question is: how much longer till a Supreme Court Justice appointment?

Election Recounts

Let the recounts begin!

Although recounting the votes will never change the results of the past presidential election, certification of the election results is absolutely necessary. It may seem fitting for the sore loser to wallow over the final score, fret over the bad call, ostracize the interfering fan, and churn up a deluge of “what if’s” and “should of’s”, and although the timing of the situation may seem to be in favor of this assessment, I don’t feel this is the motivating factor behind these recounts. Even if things miraculously turn up different during this recount, if we find that John Kerry may have actually won Ohio, there is no way an ostensibly disinterested and republican-owned congress would certify any one less than George Bush as President; and I think many wrongly consider the re-counts as a ray of hope in such an abdication. John Kerry formally stated that he was not participating in the recount, not to be misunderstood as deprecation, but done primarily to discredit this misinterpretation that democrats have called for this action as a last ditch efforts to usurp Dubya.

The acutal goal of the recount is to bring to light a clear problem in our election process, particularly with the shortage of voting machines and of miscounted absentee ballots, both happening to appear in Ohio, a critical state in this election. I think the goal is that in going forward, for future elections, if these issues in our election process are not addressed now, we may run into the dire predicament where the wrong candidate comes out winning the election. Take election 2000 (Gore/Bush) for example (I’m not bitter–okay, maybe a little).

Stern No More

Seeing that I am knee-deep in winter vacation, rare are the mornings that I’m up early enough to listen to one of my favorite morning radio programs, Howard Stern. But those days are now behind me, but not by choice. Citadel Broadcasting, the media conglomerate that owns the RI stations that air Howard Stern (106.3,102.7,103.7) have pulled the plug on Howard’s 4 hour morning show.

As sad as it is, there is some sense in this decision. Howard certainly does plug his scheduled move to Sirrus Satellite radio quite frequently, and if these radio listeners start purchasing satellite radios, they would probally never listen to regular radio ever again. Also, the timing is right, if we in providence don’t hear Stern, we may eventually forget about the show and forget about his move to satellite radio, and may just continue to live life as before, somewhat-satisfied with our AM-FM receivers–and continue to daze through the bromide of overplayed and tired commercials indicative of damn terrestrial radios. It is the right move for Citadel, but it is still a sad thing for Howard Stern fans.

This is just one of those instances where the decision of a company runs contrary to the wishes of their consumers.

Flirting with the Yellow Line

Guest Blogist: Joyce Satgunam

For the past week I have experienced the fast-paced life of NYC. Financial consultants, brokers, lawyers, and other city workers rush to the subway to make it to work on time. I have an idea….why don’t they leave their apartments 10 minutes earlier? Just a thought.

They all arrive at the subway station and if they’re lucky wait for the subway to arrive. If you’ve taken the subway, you know about the 2-foot wide yellow line bordering the waiting area. The purpose of this line is to warn people to keep their distance from a moving train. Why when there is so much room to wait for the subway do people feel the need to stand in this caution area? Do they have some need to flirt with danger because of the high stress in their life?

Today I was taking the subway and noticed several people flirting with the yellow line. Some looked as if they were doing the hokey-pokey with one foot in the area and one foot out. Others would walk along the yellow line as if it were a pier and the surrounding area the deep, blue ocean while others would waver between being completely on the line and in the regular waiting area. There was even one guy I saw who walked up to the very edge of the yellow line and peered over into the tracks. It seemed that a simple startle would have made him fall into the track pit.

What the significance of all this is, I don’t have a clue, but something tells me that some people get some kind of satisfaction by flirting with the yellow line.

Tsunami

Never has a tragedy hit home so personally as the earthquake and tsunami of this week. The home my family and I left 19 years ago, Sri Lanka, has been singled out as having been significantly affected. To all those that have asked and expressed concern regarding the condition of my family members still residing in Sri Lanka, I’d like to inform you that they are safe and have, by God’s mercy, survived the devastation.

But, as you all know, there are tens of thousands that were not as fortunate. Our prayers and condolences go out to all the victims of this tragedy. If you�d like to help out in someway, please follow the links below. Sri Lanka, as well as most of the countries there in southern Asia are desperately poor, even before the Tsunami, and any bit of support–I am sure–will go a long way.

Sri Lanka Relief
Red Cross Resonse Fund (Thanks Dave)

Insidious Boardgames

Guest Blogist: Roshani Ariyam

You may be wondering, “Am I reading this title right”? insidious and boardgame on the same line? Aren’t board games just a fun piece of recreation among family and friends an interactive way of sharing the warmth of each others company? Well, it is quite the contrary with my family. Oh by the way, this is Derick’s sister Roshani, guest-blogging for today. I am honored Derick!

So here I go. It is has come to my understanding, through some keen covert observation this year at the annual Christmas gathering, that boardgames bring out the worst in people, especially family.

Take for example the innocuous game of Monopoly. One would think, ahh a classic family game filed with mindless hours of convivial fun and laughter. However, this description of Monopoly, especially with our family, is best left on the back of the box, in all its euphemistic glory. In reality it is quite the contrary; the game has become taboo (no pun intended)–its mention is forbidden. Who would have thought cousins seemingly noble benign souls, were actually viscous loan sharks and cutthroat business moguls in heart with bribing tactics that would make Enron execs look like Alan Shawn Feinstein (yes Gloria, I know I still owe you a years rent for Park Place). Regardless, it’s quite amazing; the gross mutation that a simple boardgame can do to an individual. Moving on to Poker this was top on this year’s list of fun games to play at family gatherings. Pc games are really fun to and there are multiplayer games on it. Get a computer with a good motherboard, so your gaming experience is the best it can be. Shall I spit out the word umm..fascist tyrant. The way people start getting so serious about this game is almost comical. Let me put this into context for you, it was Texas Holdem, just chips, no money involved. However, we had this one cousin, who for some unfair reason, banked a lot of chips on one game, refused to share the wealth, and decided to up the ante during every round, trying to eliminate players as quickly as possible. Why do you want to produce such feeling of unhealthy competition on such a joyous occasion? Is there an award for Best Board Game Board player� that I am unaware of Regardless this is an observation that I thought I would write down. I’m sure you can all relate.

Thanks for letting me rant on about nothing.

-Roshani

Person Of the Year

Every Tuesday afternoon, at about 1:30, I can usually crack open my front door, stick my arm out and feel for the latest TIME magazine. And, of course being that time-of-year, specifically the week before the New Year, TIME does its “Person of the Year” and guess who is smack dab on the cover–Dubya!

Yes, President Bush is Person of the Year, according to TIME. But, no need to cancel your subscription just yet. The way they figure out who is person of the year, isn’t entirely subjective, and it’s not always meant for accolades, although you could look at that way. It’s determined by who has been in the News the most the past year, the famous and infamous, and you can’t deny the fact that Dubya has had a headline or two pretty persistently, and not always for honorary reasons. And to any liberals out there, you may take comfort in the fact that 4 years ago, when TIME was to determine, Person of the Century, they were actually considering Hitler. But, in keeping with political correctness, and staying off their own covers, they went with the more Innocuous Einstein instead– a reasonable choice.

But this year, with Dubya, and keeping with my suspicious nature, I think there could have been a splash of agenda involved with this final decision. This year’s election has been said to have two big losers, Democrats and the Media. Democrats for obvious reasons, and the Media, since some bias reports put their objectivity into question. Perhaps TIME was hoping for a way to absolve themselves from this stigma? Perhaps.

Either way, Person of the Year, I can understand it.

Dubya!