Dobermans Are Safer Than Chihuahuas

Anyone that knows me well knows that I am passionate about Doberman's. I am so tired of hearing people that don't know better pontificate about how dangerous Dobies are. Dobies, and all dogs, are only as mean as they are treated. Treat them nice, they are nice.

So, thank God yet again for the British. In today's Daily Mirror, there is a wonderful article discussing how little yappy dogs are so much more dangerous than a Dobie or Rottweiler. Seems that yappy dogs just get tossed out of the way and their attacks are rarely reported. This makes the results of what's really an aggressive dog quite skewed.

So, give your Doberman a hug and a squeaky toy and enjoy reading this article:

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Dogs Rule

In countries like Great Britain and the US of A, we like our dogs. They are always happy to see us and think we can do no wrong. That fun quote comes to mind, "God, let me be the person my dog thinks I am."

So, in my typical fashion of getting my daily fix of the British tabloids, I was peeved to read that Muslims were all wailing and wringing their hands in Scotland because of a picture of a puppy training to be a police dog was advertising the non-emergency number of the local police force.

WTF you say? Me too. Seems Muslims believe that dogs are unclean and were upset that one had been used in this advert.

Here's a solution -- go back to where ever you came from. Hide all photos of dogs. Let those of us in dog happy nations enjoy our doggie images!

And for GOD sake get a bloody life and focus on something more important than a puppy in a photo.

Tests To Delight & Inform

A few weeks ago an acquaintance gave The Illustrious One and I some sort of online tests that were to tell us how to better understand one another. It's a 2-part test and the output is like 40 pages each so between the 2 of us, there was a lot of reading. Evidently these tests are quite popular in the corporate world.

Suffice to say that The Illustrious One's report portrayed him as skipping through life with glee throwing pixie dust into the air.

Moi? The very first friggin sentence started with, and I quote, "Raine can be cold and blunt"......Well fuck all. I'm supposed to read another 79 pages of this like it's news to anyone that knows me?!

Other tidbits were that a person, who values their health, should not repeat themselves around me - evidently according to the test, all you'll end up doing is ticking me off and have me thinking you are a blithering idiot that must think I have no memory recall and curses to you for squandering my time. Strangely enough, it was rather eerie how accurate that was.

Another tidbit is that unless you want me to geld you with a dull spoon, make sure you have all elements of what you need to tell me pulled together, make sure the facts are accurate and by all means keep it short and sweet. Otherwise, I will blow through your loopholes like they were the Holland Tunnel.

The other one that resonated with me was that it may seem like I'm vacillating on a decision, but the reality is that, yes, I do take a longer than normal time to make a decision, but that's because I'm working through every possible outcome and until I decide which way the dice are going roll, you won't be getting an answer - but when I do answer, I'll stick with my decision.

During the reading of all of this, The Illustrious One is sitting there nodding his head in agreement like one of those dogs on a back dashboard. Even though it can look kind of cute when he's doing that, I know that his mind is like a steel trap and he's filing away all that info to use at his discretion.

Of course, since these reports were so long winded, I did a cursory glance through and let Illustrious give me the Cliff's Notes version. Though, because I'm very visual, I did zoom in on the pretty colorful pie charts at the back of the second report. There was a dot and a star and they were both firmly entrenched in orange near the outside perimeter of the circle. "WHY are my dot and star in orange?! I hate orange! Why can't mine be in pretty colors like yours?",

Illustrious informs me that if I would just READ the fine print I would find out that the dot is who I truly am and the star is who I have adapted to be and since they were both practically on top of one another, in my case at least, what you see is what you get.

In other breaking news, Illustrious was reading a book that described personality types - the one that he is classified as, is dangerously accurate. Me? I guess the only saving grace was that it explained to him that as an only child, Yes, I really do think the entire world revolves around me.

Honestly, why wouldn't I?

I Like This Guy...

James T. Harris, a Milwaukee radio talk show host and public speaker, said he opposes Obama "with love in my heart."

"We are of the same generation. He's African American and I'm an American of African descent. We both have lovely wives and beautiful children," Harris said. "Other than that, we've got nothing in common. I hope he loses every state."

With that sentiment being said, it makes me think of the lovely quote from Teddy Roosevelt: ...

There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism. When I refer to hyphenated Americans, I do not refer to naturalized Americans. Some of the very best Americans I have ever known were naturalized Americans, Americans born abroad. But a hyphenated American is not an American at all. This is just as true of the man who puts "native" before the hyphen as of the man who puts German or Irish or English or French before the hyphen. Americanism is a matter of the spirit and of the soul. Our allegiance must be purely to the United States. We must unsparingly condemn any man who holds any other allegiance. But if he is heartily and singly loyal to this Republic, then no matter where he was born, he is just as good an American as any one else.

The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities, an intricate knot of German-Americans, Irish-Americans, English-Americans, French-Americans, Scandinavian-Americans or Italian-Americans, each preserving its separate nationality, each at heart feeling more sympathy with Europeans of that nationality, than with the other citizens of the American Republic. The men who do not become Americans and nothing else are hyphenated Americans; and there ought to be no room for them in this country. The man who calls himself an American citizen and who yet shows by his actions that he is primarily the citizen of a foreign land, plays a thoroughly mischievous part in the life of our body politic. He has no place here; and the sooner he returns to the land to which he feels his real heart-allegiance, the better it will be for every good American. There is no such thing as a hyphenated American who is a good American. The only man who is a good American is the man who is an American and nothing else.

BO's Minions Think They Are Too Good For Media Protocol?

Interesting video to watch -- so the novice to politics fancies they can rewrite the rules? Watch the video to see how BO's lackey giggled and acted like a buffoon with a press corps that was essentially hijacked.

Watch the video by clicking here.


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Yet More Feedback From The British Press

This is taken from The Daily Mail:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1024792/Charismatic-yes-But-I-fear-Obamas-new-JFK.html


Charismatic, yes. But I fear Obama's not a new JFK

Last updated at 10:54 PM on 06th June 2008

Before we get carried away on a tidal wave of Obama-mania, let's look behind the extraordinary charisma of America's first black Presidential candidate.

Undoubtedly, Barack Obama is an inspirational figure. But for all his sheer magnetism and his huge gifts as an orator, there are some uncomfortable truths about the man whom many have dubbed 'the new JFK.'

Obama has the second most liberal voting record in the Senate. He plans to raise capital gains and corporate taxes, hitting the professional and middle classes who are the engine of enterprise.

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Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama

He wants every American to have the same healthcare as congressmen - a nice idea in theory but, hopelessly naive in reality, I suspect.

Equally misguided are his plans to meet - in person, if necessary - the leaders of Iran, Cuba and North Korea, who do not deserve to be dignified with a place at any negotiating table.

And then there's his support for an amnesty for the U.S.'s 11 million illegal immigrants - although a similar scheme in the Eighties showed it only encourages greater illegal immigration.

Finally, there is his unflinching support for the U.S.'s abortion laws, which allow terminations up to 26 weeks - despite the wealth of evidence which shows that babies born at 20 weeks stand a good chance of survival.

Far from heralding progress, I fear that Obama is the very embodiment of the same failed Leftish experiment that has blighted Britain throughout ten years of Labour rule.

Beneath the magic - and the man has oddles of it - Obama is an East Coast cosmopolitan bien pensant. He is as ideologically distanced from Middle America as he is from the Moon.

And that has grave implications not just for the U.S., but for all those of us who look to America to be united and strong, the last remaining Western superpower and the proud standardbearer for free market democracy.

And then, of course, there's the race issue. In an ideal world, the colour of a presidential candidate's skin ought not to matter. But this is not an ideal world - and the fact is, for understandable reasons, Obama has played up his ethnic heritage to an uncomfortable degree.

Will that come back to haunt him as he seeks to extend his appeal beyond committed Democrat voters?

Obama will need to be a truly great leader if he does win the White House, for he will need to assuage the anxiety of that minority of the U.S. public who, openly or not, remain deeply uneasy about a non-white running their country.

Equally, if he doesn't win, his supporters will claim that racism was to blame, leading to spiralling tensions among the U.S.'s ethnic communities.

It is not impossible that far from being the 'new JFK' heralding a fresh age of optimism, Obama may yet prove the most divisive U.S. president in history. I just hope I'm wrong.

What's The Truth to BO?

So BO "theoretically" has the nomination? And there are people that think he can win?

I find it interesting how the American press is saying the world is rejoicing with BO's apparent win of the Democratic nomination, yet if you actually read what the discussions are in other countries, people aren't overwhelmingly impressed with BO.

Here are some examples of comments from persons across The Pond:

"....what Mr. Obama must do in order to win the election is let down his guard and tell us who he is. Americans do not know him. He has allowed others to define him. He gives flowery speeches, but little substance. And he has dubious associations (Reverend Wright, ex-terrorist William Ayers, etc.) He tells us not to fear -- not to question. Listen to his wife. She says, "Don't listen to that voice in the back of your head." What? Don't question? Don't listen to your own instincts?

Mr. Obama scares us while he sweeps the rest of the world off its feet."

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not an issue obama is just not up for the job end of story!

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He has allready proved hes moraly bankrupt, By ecepting an endorsement from an equaly bankrupt Kennedy

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again, the approval rating doesnt mean much now....and now is when it counts.....but i do agree that hillary was the best bet.....oh well...........

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why because shes "conservative" but a democrat which appeals to voters who may vote republican or may vote democrat.... shes got experince she isnt likely to do something drastic and rash with the country all of these things cant be said for obarma Hence why she was front runner as she was the most realistic candidate to beat McCain Obama may have "just" got the democrat candidate but he hasnt a chance of winning the main election.

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Last night I listened as a scooter guy I know pontificated on how he would love to kick BO's ass if he ever saw him walking down the street -- is the the appropriate time to mention that the man speaking is black?

He had about a 10 minute monologue on how jacked up this nomination was, what he perceives will really happen, what's being said in the US press, how it's being worded, etc. Amazingly insightful comments that I don't dare paraphrase but do wish I had on tape!

It'll be amusing to watch how this plays out.

InterNations - A Community for Ex-Pats

For those of of you that are living in Dallas from other countries, or you’re from Dallas and currently in another country, you need to check out www.InterNations.org.

InterNations is a great online community to help ex-pats meet one another and/or make your transition to another city easier.

BUT…it’s by invitiation only! So if you want an invite, leave your email address in the comment box.

InterNations will also be starting events in the Dallas area to help bring the international community together - film screenings, wine tastings, happy hours, car & motorcycle enthusiasts, and much more!

Ozzfest ONLY in Dallas this Year!

That’s right boys and girls, the Ozzfest tour that has been a staple for so many summers is no more. Instead, this year, Ozzfest will ONLY be held in Dallas!

Ms. Sharon Osbourne is aiming to have this be a one-day mega event and it will take place at Pizza Hut Park on Saturday, August 9th.

The headliners include Metallica, and - of course - Ozzy Osbourne.

Sharon says, “This is just the beginning. Ozzy has great relationships with all of the bands that have played Ozzfest. We’re the only real festival for harder-edge bands and these artists have been very loyal to us — there is lots of love on this lineup.”

Ozzfest tickets go on sale Saturday, May 31.

BUT…is that the biggest news about this event? Could it be that an annual motorcycle ride that is typically held in August celebrating a certain well known Dallas guitarist who was gunned down a few years ago might somehow be incorporated?

Maybe…maybe not. But should the very well placed rumors be true, we’ll be among the first to let you know!

BaBa WaWa

Today's rant is on Barbara Walters. So she felt the need to be like her many interview subjects and write a tell all book. However, the highlights of this book in the press junket have not been about her yelping about what amazing people she has interviewed, but about her many sexual liasions.

The woman is 78 years old and dosen't have history of being a sex symbol. Ava Gardner, she was a sex symbol and so her tell all book made sense. Not so much with BaBa.

Seems like she needs to reconsider her publicist and editors because this might have a way of backfiring.

Department of Peace

This is a kewl concept that hasn't received enough attention yet: A call to have the U.S. Government begin a Department of Peace.

Read more about this proposed action by clicking on this link.

Woman Returns Bible Filled With Money

Here is a great, positive story from WFAA Channel 8:

DALLAS — What would you do if you found a bible on the street, with thousands of dollars inside? Would you keep it? It was never really a question for one Dallas woman.

There’s not just one church on 56th Street on South Oak Cliff, there are five. So when Dallas fourth grade school teacher, Berda Mabury, found a Bible on the sidewalk, she wasn’t surprised. That is, until she looked inside and found several thousand dollars.

“It was church money, tithes and offerings, cash money, personal checks,” said Mabury.

The bible was blue, just like her personal one. The one she has carried until it’s all worn out. But the one she found is leather, with a message embossed in gold.

“The line at the bottom said: ‘I carried you.’ And I think it’s the thing that pricked my heart so, because I remember the times when I couldn’t carry myself, and it was God that just carried me along,” said Mabury.

So the school teacher became a detective looking for clues. “So I saw on one of the corners of the envelopes: Bread of Life Church. It seemed like I’d seen that somewhere before on 56th,” said Mabury.

Soon she started canvassing her neighborhood. “Because there’s a lot of churches,” said Mabury.

Of course it’s the smallest church, the one that looks like an old house, the one that probably needs its’ money the most. At the door she found the deacon who had lost the cash. “He said: ‘I probably laid it on top of the car and it was so heavy, that when he got to the point where he had to turn, it fell off. Because it was heavy,” said Mabury.

The man gave her a small cash reward. As the handwritten note on her own Bible explains she already got a bigger one, when God changed her life.

“Lord it’s me. Mold me. Make me. Break me. Draw us near to you,” said Mabury reading from the note.

Bread of Life may be a small church, but it’s one with a great deal to be thankful for. Berda says once she realized that it was church money, there was not even any point in counting it. But judging from the deposit slips she saw, there could have been several thousand dollars zipped up in the bible.

If you also would like to have the media give us, the viewers, more positive news stories, please take a few seconds and let the reporters know that you appreciate this. . For this story, you can email Gary Reaves at: greaves@wfaa.com

As someone that handles the Dallas blogs for a number of national & international sites, I always walk a fine line about posting things of interest and keeping my opinionated Texas mouth shut. That's why I have this personal blog where I can spout off such wisdoms as "American by birth, Texan by the grace of God."

Today's featured rant is: Barak Obama.

Would somebody please explain to me why the national media has got such a fixation with this character?! I've had a weird vibe about that guy since he first got in front of the cameras....and I've learned from experience to always go with my vibes.

Before his big pep rally at Dallas' Reunion Arena this past February, a girl I know canceled a networking event so that she could attend. I asked her, "Would you please explain to me the appeal of Obama?"

Her reply, "Ohhhhhh, I just loooooove Obahhhhmahhh."

Why?

Well...ummmm...he would be our first black president.

His mama's white.

Well his wife is black.

She isn't running plus she's already let the world know she doesn't think highly of the U.S.

Oh, I don't know...I just love him.

Oh well fiddle dee dee, ain't that just a stellar reason to vote someone into one of the most powerful positions in the world.

People liken Obama to Kennedy. Kennedy was a president with a dismal success record and low approval ratings....until he visited Dallas and we all know from history how that played out.

So then a couple months ago, the ever enlightening Dallas Observer did a lovely article on Obama infroming us that when he was a state senator in Illinois, all his amazing legislation was actually tossed onto his desk for him to present by some grandaddy senator that wanted to see Obama run on the national stage. Obama didn't author jack and all these bills were submitted in the last year of his term.

So now we have him as a real bona fide senator in big ol Washington DC. He shows up - on occasion - but he doesn't seem to vote often.

You know, one of the big boy jobs a president needs to do is to make a decision and stick with it. Obama can't handle that task as he's proven by his voting record.

And now, he's all in a huff about his former Bible thumping minister. Seems this minister was good enough to marry him to his anti-American wife, to baptize their kids and to preach his sermons to Obama's willing ears for 20 years. But God have mercy when the text of these sermons start making the rounds of the media that is not sucker punched and starry eyed over Obama.

Now all of a sudden Obama is back pedaling faster than Lance Armstrong downhill the Pyrenees with a bunch of French drug testers after him.


It's nice to know I'm now the only one with this mindset -- read what CNN's Glenn Beck has to say about it: http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/05/05/beck.obamawright/index.html

Recognizing Happiness

There's a site called www.DailyOm.com that sends out a daily email about things to think about. This one was excellent:

Recognizing Happiness

Those of us on the path of personal and spiritual growth have a tendency to analyze our unhappiness in order to find the causes and make improvements. But it is just as important, if not more so, to analyze our happiness. Since we have the ability to rise above and observe our emotions, we can recognize when we are feeling joyful and content. Then we can harness the power of the moment by savoring our feelings and taking time to be grateful for them.

Recognition is the first step in creating change, therefore recognizing what it feels like to be happy is the first step toward sustaining happiness in our lives. We can examine how joy feels in our bodies and what thoughts run through our minds in times of bliss. Without diminishing its power, we can retrace our steps to discover what may have put us in this frame of mind, and then we can take note of the choices we’ve made while there. We might realize that we are generally more giving and forgiving when there’s a smile on our face, or that we are more likely to laugh off small annoyances and the actions of others when they don’t resonate with our light mood.

Once we know what it feels like and can identify some of the triggers and are aware of our actions, we can recreate that happiness when we are feeling low. Knowing that like attracts like, we can pull ourselves out of a blue mood by focusing on joy. We might find that forcing ourselves to be giving and forgiving, even when it doesn’t seem to come naturally, helps us to reconnect with the joy that usually precedes it. If we can identify a song, a picture, or a pet as a happiness trigger, we can use them as tools to recapture joy if we are having trouble finding it. By focusing our energy on analyzing happiness and all that it encompasses, we feed, nurture, and attract more of it into our lives, eventually making a habit of happiness.

A big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Harley Amadeus who is 7 years old. This is a gift that one of his friends at Dogster sent to him today:

You can see Harley's profile here: http://www.dogster.com/dogs/698451

An acquaintance of mine went on 2 retreats in the past week. The first retreat was an overnighter to work on a client's book. The second, to someone's ranch for what purpose I have no idea.

When I heard about the first retreat, I didn't think that much about it; the second one made me pause for consideration.

I could see something along the lines of, "Hey, we're going to a lake cabin to work on Michele's book," or "I'm off to Donna's ranch for some R&R".

When did any adventure outside the city limits start being classified as a "retreat"?

I suppose what struck a chord with me is that I've never heard of a biker going on a retreat. We have motorcycles...we don't need retreats! We get on the bike and embrace the aromas of spring wildflowers, we feel the temperature cool as the road takes us into a lower section, we strike up camaraderie in the most unusual of places like when a couple in their 80's approaches you at a country gas station to tell you about their biking days back in the 1950's!

Ditch the retreats...get a motorcycle!

I don't know if this is true but it's what I heard from a very well placed source yesterday afternoon.

Westdale, who recently bought 3 residential properties from Henry S. Miller has decided to NOT develop the 3200 block of Elm/Main where The Door used to be.

As most of you know in this area, those buildings were torn down a few weeks ago and many have been speculating that it would be developed into a quasi West Village complex.

Now, however, that Westdale owns pretty much all the residence lofts in this area, as of yesterday (supposedly) they have decided to make that block into parking to accommodate the tenants.

I can't speak for the other buildings, but for Continental Lofts which has 61 units - almost 40 parking spaces in the back secured area were commandeered by DART for the light rail tracks. Right now, it is challenging to find parking on the streets especially when Sons of Herman Hall has an event going on and the fact that there's to be no parking in front of CL on M-F from 7a - 9a to keep the DART bus stop clear.

It will be interesting to see how this progresses.

There's a kewl site called Dogster. If you are a Dog fan, you should check it out and get your canine companion their own page.

Since our company is named after our Doberman, we really like the site! Check out his personal page here: Harley Amadeus

Santa Monica Pier

Today was odd.

Went down to the Santa Monica Pier to get some shots and saw.....

• The brass plaque at the end of Santa Monica Boulevard pinpointing the official end of Route 66.
• Cops climbing onto the roof of a senior citizens facility obviously searching for something as the coroner's team pushed a body past us.
• Tons of homeless people in picturesque surroundings curled up with their belongings as celebrities lunched across the street at Ivy at the Shore.
• After finally migrating this gauntlet of visuals and making it to the pier, we descend to the beach and into a sea of white crosses signifying each military person killed in Iraq.

I stood on the sand covered boards amidst these crosses and protestors and watched as people lay on the shore laughing, kids playing in the Pacific surf and in the background the carousel and roller coaster on the Pier continued non-stop.

Death & despair in a setting of carnival overpriced real estate.

Sometimes, it's necessary to be confronted with such sights to really value everything you have.



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Indian Customer Service

I was reading the feedback on a recent www.ABCNews.com story about Dell being sued by the NY attorney general for their less than stellar customer service. A lot of people are more than pissed that for the home computers you have to deal with some outsourced Indian service......and I'm not talking about Apache or Commanche Indians either.

Dayum...you'd think by reading that feedback that all those pissed off people were Texans by the way they are venting. But they aren't. So why don't American companies realize how badly that are enraging their own customers by makeing us deal with thick, heavy Indian accents? We have enough trouble just understanding one another on either side of the Mason Dixon line so how the hell can we understand someone in Bombay/Mumbai?

My only experience with that was when I had moved 3 years ago and I had called SBC about my DSL service. I somehow got bebopped over to India where this male yahoo was trying to tell me to reinstall my operating system. When I commented that the operating system had nothing to do with the issue, this guy was adamant..."You MUST reinstall the opreating system in order for your connection to work."

The hell I do.

So my gentile, Southern girl reply was: "Look Steve - and we all know your name is NOT Steve - my operating system has jack to do with this situation. So just because I am a girl and this is about technology do not assume that I don't know anything. The ONLY variable that changed was the DSL phone line the computer is attached to and the ONLY thing reinstalling my operating system will do is waste my time and give you a chance to get off work before I call in again."

He went on to jabber about something tech related - I guess to give his flaccid ego a boost - and I hung up the phone. I called SBC back and told them that I would only speak to someone currently in the United States of America and if I got transfered back over to India, within 24 hours their CEO would have a very detailed letter overnighted to him.

So what was the issue?

SBC's work order hadn't made it all the way through the system. Some yahoo along the way dropped the ball and didn't process one of the features.

Yes...that's right, there was no issue whatsoever with my operating system or anything else on my computer.

So just because someone says they are "tech support"....don't just blindly believe everything they tell you to do unless you want to find yourself taking a very big step off a very tall bridge.


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