Eric M Zimmermann,
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I have been terrible as far as updating this site. I think one of the things that I have been mulling over in my head as far as having a direction and a purpose for this other than just a “Personal Blog”. I have an R.E.M. site that everyone is probably aware of that does have a purpose – and lately it has also taken much more of my time up, which is not a complaint whatsoever. However, saying things like “My Life Sucks” seems quite ridiculous. So much has gone on and there is so much to talk about. I promise to be better and brilliant at the same time.
Michael Moore is an idiot. I applaud him for attacking the healthcare industry but all too much he likes to package healthcare into a neat package that is seemingly easy for good ole Americans to understand.
Michael Moore was on Larry King tonight debating with Dr. Sanjay Gupta, the medical correspondent for CNN over some of the facts and figures that Michael Moore claimed that CNN had ambushed over a piece that Gupta ran on Sicko.
I admire Michael Moore for standing up for what he believes but arguing with individuals such as Gupta is just pointless. The argument over Cuba is ridiculous. Sure Cubans don’t have to pay that much for healthcare and it doesn’t really matter what statistics that Gupta or Moore were bringing up. The fact is that due to Fidel Castro’s policies of preventing Cubans from leaving the country, there would be no way that Cuban doctors could survive with that cheap of healthcare without Communist policies. Once they open the borders, Cuban physicians would flee and the result would be inflation.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta clearly beat up Michael Moore in their war of words, flustering Michael Moore on several points such as his belief that countries that have government sponsored healthcare get it for free.
I think that Michael Moore has a way of making things look black and white.
Gupta agreed with Michael Moore’s belief that ther are problems with healthcare. Working in the healthcare industry myself I am inclined to believe both of them but I also caution that healthcare is not an easy switch that we can turn on and off. It’s a very complex issue that goes way beyond just the issue of commercial vs. social medicine.
I was watching Larry King tonight as they had a special on the Beatles. There is obviously no doubt in my mind that their music stands on their own and nobody can argue the success that they have received.
Tomorrow night, Larry Kings guest is Paris Hilton. There is obviously no doubt in my mind that her lack of talent stands on her own and nobody can argue that she has no talents whatsoever.
You have to love the individual that schedules these interviews back to back and you have to worry if more people care to watch the Paris Hilton interview over the Beatles one.
Living in the Lakeview Chicago neighborhood for pretty much the last 10 years has prepared me for the last weekend in June which is pretty much always the Gay Pride Parade and for that time I have always been within an earshot of viewing it.
As the Gay and Lesbian community has made inroads in becoming more mainstream in our society, my impressions of the parade has gone from being eclectic to being irresponsible.
Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong in my opinion with Gays, or should I say I do not discriminate against them in any way, however, even minorities have their problems or issues that I do think deserve some commentary.
I think at the onset the Gay Pride Parade represented people finally “Coming Out of the Closet” and walking proudly down a street. For many years and years, their secret had to be kept hidden from the mainstream society as it was just not acceptable to be gay.
I think that the first steps have been taken to allow for Gays and Lesbians to not receive outward discrimination in a professional and personal environment. No, I am not saying that it is perfect and every minority will always receive some form of discrimination, however, I do think it is better than it was 10 years ago and in 10 more years it will even be better.
But the image of the homosexuals needs to reflect the idea that they are the same as everyone else and in order to move forward more responsibility among the gay community must be in order for there to be political changes.
I support the idea of gays to be able to marry, but it is not me that you have to convince but the conservative that watches images of the flambouyancy of Gays and this event. America has always been very conservative when it comes to values and thus images need to reflect more of Gays being the suburban neighbor couple rather than the bathhouse buddies.
The Gay Pride Parade has changed over time. While it still flaunts it’s sexuality, political responsibility has begun to take over. One of the areas that was very apparent were the number of religious institutions that marched in this years parade. While I have not been keeping count from previous years it just seemed, “Imagewise” that more churches are making it an important part of their ritual in inviting people of all colors, creeds, orientations and sizes.
Christianity has received a bad rap from those that are not Christian or European in seeing some of the stories that make headlines in America and what needs to be remembered is that some of the more evangelical churches take the teachings of the Old Testament too literally. More liberal churches have mainly relied on the teachings of Jesus and the ideas or thoughts of how Jesus led his life. This might be a blatant overgeneralization on my part, however, I do believe that different sects of Christianity take different aspects of its teachings as well as the vision of God and we see that commentary on news programs, talk shows, blogs, etc.
On top of this we have had the rapid politicization of Religion. Hot topic issues such as abortion and homosexuality have defined the Christian Right and I cannot believe that these are the only two topics Evangelicals discuss.
We fear what we do not understand especially if someone else tells us that we should.
Back to the Gay Pride parade. I think that overall they seem to be getting tamer rather than wilder. And given the current political climate I believe that Gays will one day get that equality. I know that there is a level of impatience by some homosexuals however, public opinion will change as our times change. Our youth are much more willing and open to these ideas than our seniors and that is basically out of knowledge. They are on the right track, just don’t rock the boat too much!
Even Mr. Steve Jobs probably didn’t think that a MacBook Pro could be used in this fashion.
So Burglar has a tendency to like to crack her neck and any other joint that is possible on her body. The sounds of joints cracking seems to soothe her inner soul. For those of you that are not into joint cracking it is the process of stretching your body in directions it should probably not be stretched to reach the desired effect of the loud cracking sound.
You can read more at the internet’s most famous encyclopedia.
So in her infinite wisdom of trying to get the most beneficial cracking she decided to use her MacBook as leverage on her skull to crack her neck and in the process has sprained her neck.
The MacBook seems to have held up to the pressure and runs fine. I would be curious if a PC Laptop would have been as successful.
At any rate, I should be posting soon my Consumer Guide on what products work best on a sprained neck.
As for the Burglar, she has assured me that she is never cracking her neck again. To Mr. Jobs, we will not be suing you. . . at least not yet!
As Summer begins and the city of Chicago becomes notoriously busy I am finding myself hating driving around more than ever. In trying to exit the city, it took me an hour to get the car filled out and outside of the city. A simple accident stops traffic forever and I find walking is much more pleasurable.
And it’s a shame because there is so much that I would love to do, however, my impatience bekons me more than ever.
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I have been looking forward to the new show on HBO, “Flight of the Conchords”, a parody on the hipster music community that we love. I have been somewhat disappointed lately with the output from HBO, on the lack of good output. Sure, Bill Maher is classic as has the Ricky Gervais and Larry David’s shows but other than that its been instead offered consumers elements that cannot be offered on regular television without the aspect of it being a great drama or comedy. Let’s hope that this is better.
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Anyone else getting into the iPhone hype? I have to say that I am. I love my iPod and will give the mass public time to consume and rip apart the iPhone. Anything that is loved by many will ultimately be loathed by others, especially when it comes to Apple products. I can only say that I have been particularly impressed with Apple products in the past. I find a Mac far superior than a PC in terms of ease of use as well as reliability. I have cut down my rebooting ten-fold.
The buzz that the iPhone has caused is enough to warrant attention. Sometimes products or services come around where a company does not have to market it. I think that this is the biggest thing since the Wii. I am not sure if Apple is any more cutting edge than Microsoft, but I think that it’s the perception that they are that is more telling among consumers. Microsoft in effect has become big blue while Apple sits on the fringe offering its customers a unique product and an image that is Anti-Windows. While still promoting that image they create a unique buzz among Macaholics.
I still remember going home the day that the Apple Store opened on Michigan Ave. and saw fans lined up around the block just to enter the store. As the bloggers fight it out, I will sit in the background and mind my own business but if anyone wants to give this lowly boy an iPhone I will take it with open arms.
It’s time for a well thought out couple of days off. I hate talking about myself but my book on Michelangelo has only been given a couple scratches to and those tennis ladies I keep running into on Nintendo Wii are just becoming tiresome. I want new opponents! However, I am convinced the game learns from my strategy. Mr. Zampano is in love with the Wii and loves watching the tennis ball and the mini wii’s dance across the screen. He sits there and then puts his paws on the screen. Sorry to disappoint my little furry companion but you got brushed today and I hate to mess up your do.
I have not given the Art Institute of Chicago a good run for it’s money in years. I think it might have to do with the book I am reading however there is something ultimately romantic about some of the great works of art in there. I tend to prefer the classics over the modern era works. It could be that circles and squares show less emotion than an old peasant women looking her 200 years, or pretending what Van Goghs bad side looks like.
Thursday it will be listening to Patrick Ryan who is helping the bid for the 2016 Chicago Olympics. Here is hoping that the second city has what it takes.
Friday I might be seeing a ballgame if the Sox stop blowing.
And tonight it is just me, a blank computer screen, my muse, and a lot of music.
You have to love the National Spelling Bee if only for the commentators pretty much all being sports figures/commentators from ESPN.
A canadiac has never won a National Spelling Bee and I could only imagine the digust in the United States if this were to ever happen. However, I think that today should be a National Holiday to celebrate United States pride.
The winning word was serrefine which is no ursprache the winning word in last years competition.
I think what should be next is extreme spelling where these kids have to spell while swimming in a pool filled with barracudas or better yet, have Dubya be the joker that is pronouncing the words. I am not complaining. I am just happy that I did not pick Samir Patel on my Spelling Bee Fantasy Team.
Well what is The Zimmermann Note all about? The actual Zimmermann Note or Zimmermann Telegram was written by Arthur Zimmermann to the Mexican Government back around WWI trying to get their alliance against the United States of America. However, the British Goverment was able to break the code on this transcription and find out the contents of this very important telegram. In retrospect it seemed perfectly amusing to me to use this as the name of the site.
The Zimmermann Note is also the name of a Heavy Metal Band, so for all you headbangers out there beware.