Some of you were stunned by McCain’s choice for his running mate and asked how Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin can bring anything positive to the ticket. Well, it’s going to have to play out some before we know for sure. I have to say, though, I’m impressed that McCain pushed away from the recommendations of his party (to choose a more seasoned old school lawyer-politician) and chose instead a Washington outsider.

But McCain isn’t a cookie-cutter politician. In that respect, he’s exactly what the country needs. He’s gone against the grain to pick a running mate he thinks will help him fight (and a fight it will be!) to fix our broken political system and hopefully restore public trust in government. I for one would love to see that happen. But McCain’s choice brings with it some obvious risks and some perhaps less obvious benefits.

For example, Palin has served less than two years as Governor of Alaska which tends to eat into the experience message on which McCain has so far relied. At 44, she’s three years younger than Obama. She’s served as a mayor and as the Ethics Commissioner on the state board regulating oil and natural gas for a total of eight years political experience before her election as governor. That’s slightly less than Obama with seven years in the Illinois legislature and three in the US Senate.

But let’s take a look at the positives she brings to the ticket:

Click to read more ...

John McCain picked Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, a conservative who shares his maverick streak, as his vice presidential running mate this morning in what some are calling a “startling” selection on the eve of the Republican National Convention. In doing so, he surprised the media and “insiders” by passing over “more prominent” contenders like Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge.

McCain said that Palin is “exactly who I need. She’s exactly who this country needs to help us fight the same old Washington politics of me first and country second.”

Personally, I like his choice. In fact, I said so back in January before I think she was even a blip on McCain’s radar, and again in a comment reply in June (Embrace the Suck). Maybe McCain reads this blog…. Yeah, right!

Anyway, ever the maverick, McCain picked another maverick. He’s shown that he’ll take on either side of the aisle, which I find refreshing, and he’s chosen a running mate who’s done the same. In that respect, I think they would make a great team in Washington, one that would actually seek “change” and really mean it. Story

Sen. Barack Obama will portray himself tonight as an agent of change for mainstream America, but his eight-year voting record in the Illinois Senate shows the Democrat was on occasion an agent of isolation who took stands — particularly on anti-crime legislation — that put him to the left of his own party.

He was the only member of the state Senate to vote against a bill to prohibit the early release of convicted criminal sexual abusers; was among only four who voted against bills to toughen criminal sentences and to increase penalties for “gangbangers” and dealers of Ecstasy; and voted “present” on a bill making it harder for abusive parents to regain custody of their children, a Washington Times review of Illinois legislative records shows.

The pattern has continued since Mr. Obama joined the U.S. Senate, according to National Journal magazine. Its respected legislative scorecard rated the Illinois Democrat, based on his 2007 voting record, as the most liberal member of the Senate, even more liberal than Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont, a self-described “democratic socialist.” Mr. Obama ranked No. 16 and No. 10 in the previous two years. His running mate, Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, ranked third in the 2007 National Journal survey, with only Sen. Edward M. Kennedy between him and Mr. Obama.

Left of the most liberal member of the U.S. Senate, an admitted socialist? Is that possible? Isn’t Obama being packaged and marketed as a moderate? I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: No. Hell no!

Should you care, or are you just enjoying the party atmosphere? Of course you should! At least be informed for crissake! Read the man’s voting record, some of which is spelled out for you in the Washington Times article. Then, if you really want to drink the KoolAid and vote for an empty suit socialist, go ahead. Just don’t whine when your liberal Congress and liberal President work hand in hand to turn the country into the United Socialist Republic.

It must be time for the annual email recirculation of “Instructions for Life” in one version or another. They’re almost always an abridgment lifted from Life’s Little Instruction Book by Jackson Brown and H. Jackson Brown, Jr. and incorrectly attributed to the Dalai Lama among others, but a few are unique.

For example, today’s email brought this little graphic gem from James that begs to be shared. I still recommend you read the book, but adopting this advise is a good start toward living a good life:

We lost our dear friend, Dave Robinson, Wednesday and we’re dealing with it, as friends do, by struggling to understand and accept, and then sharing fond memories. Last night some of us gathered to celebrate a life well lived and to remember all the delightful, whimsical, beautiful ways he touched and enriched our lives. We shared anecdotes and remembered his quiet modesty, his intelligence, his deep sensitivity, his humor and his gentile kindness. And in the process, we stepped a little closer toward acceptance and, slowly, let the healing begin.

I’m reminded of something Jack Foley said a few years ago about Kevin Reilly’s last poem, Coupled Again Across the Yearling Skies. In the poem, Reilly seems to be facing — and facing up to — the possibility of his own death. The poem plays the idea of the “yearling” — something new, only a year old — against “the age of fear” which, like a feeble old person, “trembles and dies.” The age of fear is also perhaps the fear of age or the age at which fear begins, with death a “mocking adieu.”

      ”…Come softly again behind angel eyes,
      Rest warm drift, dream, the light day bows to you,
      Coupled again across the yearling skies,
      See how the age of fear trembles and dies.”

Now, whenever I read the poem, I’ll picture Davey, a rubber band looped on his finger in the special way he challenged me to duplicate, making me an origami elephant from a crisp new dollar bill. Godspeed, my friend. We’ll miss you. You were an inspiration in more ways than you ever knew.

I know Michael won’t mind if I share something he wrote yesterday. He knew Dave better than any of us and his words express our shared sorrow.

William David Robinson - July 29th, 1930 - August 20th, 2008

This morning the air is a little thicker, the noise a little more noticeable and the minutes a little less tolerable. There’s a little less “magic” in the world today.

It’s been said that you can pick your friends, but not your family. Dave Robinson proved that to be incorrect. Through the years, he has been a source of wisdom, joy, support and unwavering friendship to our entire family. He has been our family’s adviser, teacher, counselor, prophet, patriarch and most assuredly, trusted and loved friend.

Through holidays, family events, quiet evenings of reflection, trials and tribulations and more sushi restaurants than we’ll ever be able to remember, our friend was there for every one of us. He was a source of comfort and advice and support to both of us as we raised our kids, as well as a sounding board and advice for our kids as they grew up. There was an endless source of “tests” to see if we were paying attention to him, hours in the air flying his beloved “Cosmic Trigger” and witness to constant challenges to all around him to see if they could see his “magic.”

Those that did were rewarded with a smile that could light up a room, a child-like innocence that captured and carried you along with him, touches of deep wisdom brought on by a wealth of lifetime experiences and his own unique perspective on life. And then inevitably, a little origami gift left to remember him by if he felt you worthy.

As he grew older, he reached out to his peers as a counselor to help guide them along the path to aging, constantly challenging them to reach beyond their expectations and see that life is still worth living. Through the years, he has touched countless lives, hearts and souls and changed them for the better.

No one that ever met Dave Robinson forgot him. Even as his own body aged and began to fail, he remained a singular source of support for all that were around him, defiant to the end that his life would be on his terms and that he would never be a burden to his family or his friends. He never was.

He was the sad happy clown in any situation, forever trying to make you “see him, so that he could entertain you, enthrall you and touch your mind and soul. He was a master of his trade.

The gifts Dave Robinson leaves us are an appreciation of what unselfish love and friendship can mean. We are left with a memory of wonderful irreverence and joy that placed an indelible mark on those he touched through the years and a strange sense of emptiness and loss, unable to be filled by any other.

Our dear friend, William David Robinson.

Goodbye Magic Man, thanks for the show. We’ll miss you.

Here are some loose ends that somehow manage to keep falling through the cracks (probably because I haven’t made the time to expand upon them:

$10,000 Safari flaw fixed. A recent security conference offered a $10,000 prize for an immediate successful hack. It was won by a hack of Safari using a MacBook Air by means of a Java script error. Apple sent out a fix that also covered a few other flaws. If you use the Net, you should check the Apple site regularly for fixes just to be safe. Hackers do, looking for open “doors” they can exploit before you close them…

House of Hackers is the name of a new “ethical” hacker association that attracted 1,100 new members within a week of its formation. They assume that “…all express admiration for the work of the most skilled, clever, unique, provocative, intelligent, intense, intriguing and interesting people in the human society.” They left out “modest”, “humble” and “egotistical”. Theoretically, they cooperate with security to ensure that “open doors” are discovered and closed before “evil” hackers discover and exploit them. Working so far…

Click to read more ...

Wifey sometimes clips articles for me and recently left this one on my desk. I finally read it and have to share it with those of you that might have missed it in your local papers. It’s sweet. So sweet, it just may give you a cavity or two…

Back in 1996, during a middle school field trip to Washington, D.C., Matt Whitmer and Leigh Lacy snuck away for a brief moment in the National Archives building while their 8th grade classmates clustered around the Bill of Rights. They grabbed hands and searched for a little privacy.

They found a nook near the original Declaration of Independence and there, on marble floors, they kissed — ever so quickly — before rejoining the group. But, of course, the puppy love didn’t last; they were fickle and, being in middle school, not quite ready to commit to a lifetime together.

But they both ended up at Miami University of Ohio and, as freshmen, flirted over texts and eventually began dating for real. After college, they moved to Atlanta together where Whitmer got a job with an ad agency and Lacy started teaching 7th grade math at Snellville Middle School.

Recently, they returned to the site of that middle school field trip – the National Archives. This time, at the Declaration of Independence, Whitmer got down on one knee. …

Click to read more ...

Have you ever wondered what becomes of old phones when they’re replaced by newer technology? Sure, most end up in the proverbial scrap heap and become land fill. But some, perhaps the lucky ones, are given a new lease on life…

When client Delena emailed some of these photos to our office last week, I thought, “Grazing sheep made of old rotary telephones, how novel!” Then I wondered who, when, where…why? Well, I gathered a little information. But first, meet the rest of the herd…

Click to read more ...

One of my favorite blog reads has been The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs penned by Forbes’ Dan Lyons, known to most of us as Fake Steve Jobs or FSJ. So, like many regular readers, I wondered what was going on when last month he wrote that he was “sailing away” and would be writing as “Real Dan” instead of “Fake Steve”.

Well, here’s what happened. After 10 years, Dan is leaving (or has already left) Forbes to fill the vacancy at Newsweek left by Steven Levy, who is moving on to Wired. Dan’s new blog, Real Dan, is up and running. Check it out. If “Dan” evolves as did “Fake Steve”, it’ll be a fun read.

Another Cam Cardow political cartoon. And don’t pretend you didn’t wonder about the potential risk (heh)…

If you’ve been following recent press coverage of Obama’s “energy plan”, you’re probably left with the same impression I was - that it’s a utopian generalization that, like much of what he says, sounds nice, yet on closer examination, offers few specifics.

Aside from the fact that a sitting president lacks the power to implement the steps conceivably needed to accomplish the “plan’s” stated goals, it doesn’t even include sufficient specifics to be called a “plan”. Maybe a list of lofty sounding “wishes”, but hardly a “plan” any more than the one proposed by Dilbert’s PHB in one of my recent posts.

That’s not to say that the one actual “plan” he has put forward - inflate our tires - isn’t a real plan. It is. But, like Obama himself, it won’t solve much.

Mike sent this…

Chuck moved to Texas and bought a donkey from a farmer for $100.00. The farmer agreed to deliver the donkey the next day.

When he arrived the next day, the farmer announced, “Sorry son, but I have some bad news; the donkey died.”

Chuck replied, “Well, then just give me my money back.”

“Can’t do that. I went and spent it already.”

“Ok, then, just bring me the dead donkey.”

“What ya gonna do with him?”

“I’m going to raffle him off.”

“You can’t raffle off a dead donkey!”

“Sure I can. I just won’t tell anybody he’s dead.”

A month later, the farmer met up with Chuck and asked, “What ever happened with that dead donkey?”

Chuck replied, “I raffled him off. I sold 500 tickets at two dollars a piece and made a profit of $898.00.”

“Didn’t anyone complain?”

“Just the guy who won. So I gave him his two dollars back…”

Chuck did so well screwing folks in Texas, he moved to California where he became a member of the Legislature..!

This Sunday marks the 58th anniversary of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance – the world’s premier celebration of the automobile. It’s held each August at the Lodge, on what is often called the best finishing hole in golf, the 18th green at Pebble Beach overlooking Monterey Bay. I haven’t been the last few years, but this used to be an event I rarely missed.

Only 175 of the most prized collector cars in the world are invited to participate in this very competitive event, and to win in its class is an affirmation that the car is the best example of its breed.

The featured marques for the 2008 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance will be the Lancia, Lamborghini and the General Motors centennial. Of special interest will be the return of a 1934 Packard V12 Convertible Victoria. In 1955, San Francisco police officer Marvin Zukor drove the car 100 miles down the California coast to participate in the third Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. On August 17th, fifty three years later, Zukor and his Packard will compete again in the Concours!

Tickets and information about the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance - and the events leading up to it - are available here and on their website. To buy one of these rare automobiles, start here. I like the 2009 Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport. (Hey, window shopping is free!)

Today commemorates the 63rd anniversary of VJ Day. At 6:10 p.m. EDT on August 14, 1945, the United States received word of Emperor Hirohito’s surrender and declared Victory in Japan - VJ Day - effectively ending WWII. As the news spread, celebrations began throughout the world.

One of the most famous photographs ever published by Life - VJ Day in Times Square - was shot on August 14th, 1945. Alfred Eisenstaedt was in the square taking candids when he spotted a sailor “running along the street grabbing any and every girl in sight,” he later explained. “I was running ahead of him with my Leica looking back over my shoulder… Then suddenly, in a flash, I saw something white being grabbed. I turned around and clicked the moment the sailor kissed the nurse.”

The participants in the kiss were never confirmed by Eisenstaedt, whose notes on the photo were not found until after his death in 1995. Life, however, accepted nurse Edith Cullen Shain’s claim to the honor in a handwritten letter to Eisenstaedt 35 years later. Shain was 27 on VJ Day.

Over 20 men have claimed to be the sailor but none has been positively identified. In August 2005, a team of volunteers at the Naval War College claimed the sailor was George Mendonça of Newport, Rhode Island. And Shain once said she believed the man to be former New York City police detective Carl Muscarello, although she later recanted that statement.

But Houston Police biometrics expert Lois Gibson pegged the sailor in the picture as Glenn McDuffie after conducting a thorough forensic analysis in which she conclusively identified McDuffie and excluded Mendonça and Muscarello.

According to the official Dilbert website, this is Scott Adams’ most popular Dilbert cartoon strip…ever. I’m not saying it should or shouldn’t be, but there have been some pretty great Dilbert strips over the years. This might have been the case during the go-go 80s when managers were ruthless, but in today’s more highly regulated, “we care” business environment, not so much. Anyway, I thought I’d put it out there to see what you think…