Michigan India Community Blog

General Motors YouTube Plea

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 12:56:00 +0000

General Motors takes to YouTube to make its case for a bailout. Looks like they might have to wait after January 20th, 2009.

So what do you think? If Michigan had voted for republicans for last couple of elections would the bailout have come easily for the automakers?

Amma in Michigan

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 05:01:00 +0000

Amma (Mata Amritanandamayi Devi), an Indian spiritual leader revered as a saint by her followers, who also know her as "Amma", "Ammachi" or "Mother" will be in Michigan as part of her 2008 North American Tour from November 30th thru December 4th, 2008.

Amma will be at Hyatt Regency Dearborn, 600 Town Center Drive, Dearborn, Michigan 48126-2793 (Tel: 313.593.1234).

Please visit amma.org for more details.

Motrin faces a backlash from Moms

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 05:58:00 +0000

(cross posted from mibazaar.com)

Motrin came out with a ad targeting babywearing moms with something like "We feel your pain". This did not go well with Moms. Makes you wonder who they consulted before coming up with this ad.

Moms are angry with MOTRIN and they have taken to Twitter and YouTube to express their displeasure. Result: As of this writing Motrin's website was down. They might be taking their ad down.

I quickly put together a page which shows "Mom/Motrin Chatter" on Twitter. In addition I pull in videos related to "Motrin Moms" from YouTube. All this is shown on Google Maps.

Now Motrin is "Feeling the Pain"

Track Flu Trends for Michigan

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 11:50:00 +0000

(cross posted from mibazaar.com)
Google launches "Flu Trends", which will provide up-to-date flu-related activity estimate for all 50 states in the U.S. Quoting from Google Blog

Our team found that certain aggregated search queries tend to be very common during flu season each year. We compared these aggregated queries against data provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and we found that there's a very close relationship between the frequency of these search queries and the number of people who are experiencing flu-like symptoms each week. As a result, if we tally each day's flu-related search queries, we can estimate how many people have a flu-like illness

(Information first found at: http://bit.ly/XTyX)

Vagree.com - a brand new website

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:41:00 +0000

Meet Vikas Gupta, originally from Chandigarh, India and now living in Windsor, Canada. He is a talented software developer. During evenings and weekends he is busy maintaining and enhancing his website - "Vagree.com" which he has just launched.

What is Vagree.com? From vagree.com website:

VAgree provides a platform on internet where people in local communities can interact with each other for reasons like buying/selling goods, sharing view and ideas, personals etc. and say yes "We Agree". VAgree is currently available in USA and Canada.

Michigan India Chamber of Commerce - Meeting on 11/12/2008

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 12:41:00 +0000

Michigan India Chamber of Commerce's monthly meeting is scheduled for Wednesday November 12th, 2008 from 5.30 pm to 8 pm at 39577 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, MI.

The featured speaker at the meeting is Randall Dence, an M&A expert with more than 20years of experience of working with start-ups and established companies.

Register for this meeting by visiting http://miicc.com/event_register.php or call Nipa at 248-470-6299 or send email to nipa@jenesysgroup.com.

The Shanti Project invites you to "Parivaar"

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 06:00:00 +0000

This is back to back post on Domestic Violence Seminars taking place in our area. This after couple of deadly incidents associated with domestic violence in the Indian community (one in California and the other here in Novi, Michigan).

Shanti Project of University of Michigan School of Social Works will be hosting "Parivaar" on November 22nd, 2008 from 3:30-8:00 PM at Southfield Parks & Recreation, 26000 Evergreen Rd., Southfield, MI 48076.

From their event flyer

A Celebration of Pride, Prevention & Peace.

Celebrate the pride we feel in preventing domestic violence and the joy we feel as pioneers in promoting prevention and peace.

Speakers at this event are:
Sen. Hanson Clarke
Mumtaz Haque
Smt Sharada Kumar

Other fun Activities:
- Theater Play
- Garba/Raas
- Door Prizes
- Shanti Talk – fun game

RSVP before November 19, 2008 by calling 1-888-4SHANTI emailing shantiproject@umich.edu

Domestic Violence Seminar

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 16:20:00 +0000

Michigan India Chamber of Commerce is hosting a seminar on Domestic Violence on Tuesday November 18th, 2008 from 5.00 PM - 8.00 PM at Dykema Gossett Law Firm (Merrill Lynch Building), 39577 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, MI.

This seminar will provide employers with strategies for implementing a program on workplace violence prevention and will offer solutions for responding to domestic violence and offering assistance to employees.

The speakers include:
Cheryl Rogers, JD - MI Coalition Against Domestic & Sexual Violence (MCADSV)
Yolanda Royall - Verizon Wireless

To register please visit miicc.com or call 248-470-6299

Host of Indian Radio personalities to appear together on Stage - November 15th, 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 00:07:00 +0000

Musical Charity Event - "The Musical Odyssey" which is scheduled for November 15th, 2008 at the Seaholm High School Auditorium in Birmingham will feature leading Indian Radio Hosts from Michigan.

Rajiv Sanghvi - host/producer of Swar Bahar (heard every Sunday from 11 AM - 12 noon on WNZK 690 AM) will appear on stage along with Amin Sayani of Michigan Indian Radio - Dr. Subhash Kelkar. Subhash Kelkar is host/producer of Geetanjali (heard every Saturday from 9 AM - 10 AM on WPON 1460 AM).

Along with Rajiv Sanghvi and Subhash Kelkar the community will get to witness legendary Michigan Indian Radio Host - Narendra Sheth. Narendra Sheth is host/producer of Geetmala (heard every Saturday from 11 AM - 1 PM on WPON 690 AM).

Musical Odyssey is a program of old melodious and new Bollywood songs. This event will include a multi-media live musical program with 15 singers and 30 musicians of International Repute including the Plymouth Symphony Orchestra.

This event is supported by Michigan Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (MAPI). The Funds raised from this event will support MAPI charitable medical clinics.

Check out more details at detroitindia.com.

Live 2008 Elections Results

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 11:51:00 +0000

Folks at Google have come up with a Google Election Results widget which can be embedded in your website or Blog. Click here to get the widget. For a timetable of expected results check out GoogleMapsMania. Here's what it looks like:

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back!

vbajmani@gmail.com (Vivek Ajmani) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 23:02:00 +0000

(In light of the recent events in Maharashtra)

My batch mates and good friends from the Institute of Hotel & Restaurant Management in Mumbai, India are planning a 2010, 25th year graduation reunion party. Yes, folks, it’s been almost 25 years since I graduated from this highly regarded and reputed institute. It’s also been about 22 years since I left India. A trip to India, therefore, poses some dilemma.

Will India recognize me? Will I recognize India? Bombay to Mumbai!, Bangalore to Bengalooru!, Calcutta to Kolkota!, and Madras to Chennai! “Yeh, Kya Kar Daala Tum Saalo Ne Mere Desh Ka?” The mind can’t help but wonder. Is this the country of my birth? If I visit Maharashtra, will I need to change my name to Vivek Bharve? Will I have to take a crash course in Marathi? In Karnataka or Tamil Nadu, will I be better off being Vivek Reddy? Will I need a tutor to teach me Tamil or Telegu? Will West Bengal be fine with my name being Vivek Ajmani? Or, should I call myself Vivek Chakraborty? Will my Hindi help me survive? Or, must I learn Bengali? In Mumbai, will they embrace me as their “Manoos”? Or, will they butcher me thinking I am an “Uttar Pradeshiya Ka Bhaiyya?”

There are too many questions and hardly any answers. There are far too many problems created by a handful of “Netas” and no solutions from the “Junta” who are content to stand at the sidelines to watch the “Tamasha” but do nothing. It’s the same old story about the same old Bharat: It’s one step forward and two steps back.

KILX TV 10 - Lansing, MI

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 16:48:00 +0000

Going through my website Traffic stats I noticed that there were quite a few TV Stations which have embedded my Obama, Mccain, Biden and Palin Journey of Life maps on Google Maps. One of the TV station is from Lansing, MI - KILX TV 10.

Here are some of the other TV Stations which have embedded my Presidential Journey Maps:

Tragedy in Novi, Mi - Domestic Violence and Support needed by the Michigan Indian Community

noreply@blogger.com (Nipa Shah) — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 03:02:00 +0000

It is Diwali season and celebration of the beginning of a Hindu New Year. And yet in the midst of all the revelry came news of a tragedy; a woman and her two kids were murdered in their home, and the police are looking for the husband and father as a person of interest.

More relevant to this discussion is that this tragedy has befallen an Asian Indian family in Novi, Michigan.

The story as reported by the local news is that the family had recently moved to Novi, husband had lost his job, their car was repossessed, and basically they had fallen into hard times. The father and husband, Lakshminivasa Rao Nerasu, appears to have fled to India and there is an international manhunt underway to locate him.

So what's my point?

If Lakshminivasa is indeed the person who killed his family, questions that come to my mind are:

Did anyone in the Nerasu extended family (like the brother who notified the police) know Lakshminivasa was approaching breaking point?
Did the family suffer any kind of domestic violence before the day when they were killed?
Did the father suffer from depression that went untreated?
Did the wife and kids tell anyone of the situation at home that may have caused this ultimate tragedy?

It is impossible perhaps to know what may be happening in someone's home. But by raising awareness about available support and by letting people know about the Michigan Asian Indian Family Services (MAIFS.org) we can perhaps avert such tragedies. The MAIFS has professionals who can help provide counseling and guidance in domestic violence situations. If you know of someone facing tough times, let us all encourage them to contact MAIFS. The MAIFS is known for maintaining absolute confidence when working with people facing such situations.

We don't know what led to the Nerasu family tragedy. We can only speculate that hard times led to such a tragedy. But domestic violence happens in various different situations. Even though we all live busy lives, let us all go an extra mile to offer support and a lending hand to those who may need it. And let us raise awareness about available resources such as the MAIFS so that we can help a family in need.

All my best....
Nipa

Happy Diwali and Prosperous New Year

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 05:45:00 +0000

Wishing everyone a very Happy Diwali and a Prosperous New Year.

Joe Barone for 35th District Court JUDGE

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 16:39:00 +0000

Received a mailer from one of our community members - Maria Kanjuparamban Barone of Plymouth Township (incidentally my home town too). Thought I should share it with Michigan Indian Community. Here it is

My parents came to the United States from India in 1969 in pursuit of the American Dream. My father is a medical doctor. He taught me to value education, hard work, perseverance and commitment to family. My husband Joe encompasses the same values that my parents taught me. That is why his is running for judge. Please vote for my husband, Joe Barone, for 35th District Court Judge on Tuesday, November 4th

Check out Joe Barone's website for more on Joe Barone.

Image: Offering at Bombay Stock Exchange

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 14:47:00 +0000

A woman makes flower offerings before the statue of a bull outside the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on 22 October 2008. Indian shares have lost nearly half their value this year as the global financial crisis has rippled around the world. (submitted by Dave Mallya)

Diwali Celebrations in our Community

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 06:33:00 +0000

Diwali will be celebrated this year on October 28th. Number of Indian Community Groups in our area have planned Diwali events/celebrations. Here are some of them. If you know of more then please do send us a note or add comments:

(UPAD) Uttar Pradesh Association of Detroit: (website)
Saturday November 8th, 2008
(5:30 PM - 11.30 PM)
Costick Activity Center - Door A
28600 Eleven Mile Road, Farmington Hills, MI
(248) 473-1816

(IACA) Indian American Cultural Association (website)
Saturday November 1st, 2008 (5.30 PM - 10.30 PM)
Costick Activity Center
28600 Eleven Mile Road, Farmington Hills, MI

(GSOD) Gujarati Samaj of Greater Detroit (website)
Sunday November 9th, 2008 (5.00 PM)
Ford Community & Performing Arts Center
15801 Michigan Avenue, Dearborn, MI 48126

(DTA) Detroit Telugu Association (website)
Sunday November 8th, 2008 (5.30 PM - 11.00 PM)
Walled Lake Northern High School
6000 Boogie lake Road, Commerce Township, MI

Andy Meisner for Oakland County Treasurer

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 06:10:00 +0000

State Representative Andy Meisner (D) a third term representative from District 27 in the Michigan House of Representatives is a candidate for Oakland County Treasurer. On November 4th you get to decide if Andy Meisner will be the next Oakland County Treasurer.

With property prices tanking and foreclosure rates soaring one would like to know what would Andy Meisner be able to do to bring relief to the homeowners. Also with so many jobs being lost, will Andy be able to do anything to bring jobs back to Oakland County.

So I sent a email to Andy with a couple of questions and Andy was kind enough to respond. Here it is:

1. Why do you want to be Oakland County Treasurer.

In neighboring counties, the county treasurer is acting locally to help their communities weather the storm of the national financial crisis by protecting property values, preventing foreclosures and working to minimize the harm of foreclosed properties.

These things, that I will do as Oakland County Treasurer, are best practices that must be implemented immediately.

2. What differentiates you with your opponent

The key difference between my opponent and I is that I want the Treasurer to do everything within his power to protect property values and prevent foreclosures, while my opponent insists doing so is not his job. His contention is hard to substantiate when you review the work of neighboring county treasurers who are tackling the foreclosure and property value crisis, and fighting the blight and copper theft of their neighborhoods.

3. What are your major accomplishments while at the state house.

As a legislator, I have championed the causes of entrepreneurship, foreclosure prevention, stem cell research and tax incentives that have lured $373 million in investments to our state over the last 6 months.

I am also fighting for the right of Hindus to engage in proper burial rituals in designated waters, since current law prohibits this practice.

I chair the House Commerce Committee where I have passed legislation to fight copper theft, cut the property tax "pop-up" and ban smoking in workplaces.

I am the former Minority Leader of the House Democratic Caucus, and current chair of a Judiciary Subcommittee on Mental Health.

4. If elected do you have any power or can you do anything to bring relief to the housing situation and also can you do anything to improve/preserve jobs in oakland county.

There are many tools at the disposal of county treasurers, including starting a land bank to incubate "sick" real estate back to health and mortgage and tax foreclosure prevention. As treasurer I'll be on the board of Oakland County's Economic Development Corporation, where I will continue my work on behalf of job creation and entrepreneurship.

Musical Event - "The Musical Odyssey"

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 15:09:00 +0000

"The Musical Odyssey" is scheduled at the Seaholm High School Auditorium in Birmingham on November 15, 2008 at 6:30pm. This event will include a multi-media live musical program with 15 singers and 30 musicians of International Repute including the Plymouth Symphony Orchestra.

This event is supported by Michigan Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (MAPI). The Funds raised from this event will support MAPI charitable medical clinics.

The brochure I came across at detroitindia.com shows quite a few talented singers. One of them mentioned is Darshana Menon - the winner of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa USA 2009. BUMMER!! those wanting to see the extremely talented "DARSHANA MENON" will be disappointed because, I just got word that DARSHANA MENON will not be in the show.

Here's what Darshana sounds like: (write to the organizers of the show to get Darshana!!)

Treasures in Town

noreply@blogger.com (Snazzy) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 17:22:00 +0000

If you are not planning to go anywhere this weekend but, want to have a nice time in town, here is a recommended destination. I discovered it just last weekend and thought it may interest some of you.

We started driving East on M-59 and ended up in Jefferson road almost at the end of M-59. Just south of 23 mile road, on Jefferson, the drive was scenic with lake shore on the right hand side, marinas and boat views.

We ended up in a small park named Brandenburg Memorial Park situated at 50000 Jefferson Ave., just South of 23 Mile Rd., New Baltimore, MI, 48047. The nice thing about this park other than the fact that it has all the goodies for the kids like the play area, picnic tables etc, is the long fishing pier built into the water.

The lake provides an excellent opportunity for fishing Bass, Catfish etc. The Pier is a perfect relaxing place to go with family or read a book and enjoy the view of open sky and blue water all across like Vinny is doing in here.

The park has nice fall color and it had 50-60% color development last week which means that this week, the color would be peak. Enjoy a great weekend.

Sign of the coming times in India?

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 22:44:00 +0000

Did anyone see this coming? BBC is reporting that

India's largest private airline Jet Airways has laid off 800 employees as it cuts flights amid soaring costs.

The company said cabin crew hired for a planned expansion programme which had been suspended would lose their jobs.

Hundreds of members of staff gathered in the city of Mumbai (Bombay) to protest at the move.

Jet says it plans to cut more jobs. Its announcement follows a recent cost-cutting alliance with India's second largest private airline, Kingfisher. According to reports, Kingfisher Airlines is also considering laying off some of its staff

Ronen Sen - India's Ambassador to United States comes to Michigan

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 15:19:00 +0000

The Center for South Asian Studies at the University of Michigan is pleased to announce an October 22, 2008 visit and public lecture by Indian Ambassador to the United States Ronen Sen. Ambassador Sen will speak on US/India foreign relations at 6:00 PM at the Alumni Center, located at 200 Fletcher Street. An open reception will follow the talk. Ambassador Sen’s visit helps inaugurate a major new three-year initiative of scholarly programs focused on contemporary South Asia, entitled “The Trehan India Initiative at the University of Michigan.” The initiative is made possible by a generous grant from Ranvir and Adarsh Trehan and the Trehan Foundation.

Ambassador Sen is one of India’s most distinguished senior diplomats. As such, he has lived and served in interesting times. Sen was India’s first Ambassador to a newly configured Russia following the demise of the former Soviet Union (1992-1998), and also served as ambassador to Germany during that country’s tumultuous reunification (1998-2002). Sen’s service in Moscow helped reestablish a longstanding friendship between India and Russia at a time when relations between the two countries were at a low ebb. He helped build a lasting partnership with Russia in part by underscoring a perennially valid set of shared interests between the two—not least among them a fervent Russian appreciation for Bollywood actor Raj Kapoor!

Please mark your calendars for October 22nd and welcome Ambassador Sen to the University of Michigan!

GM's Rick Wagoner takes his message of hope to YouTube

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 23:12:00 +0000

Trying to calm fears about GM's future Rick Wagoner CEO of GM took his message of hope to YouTube. Here's the video from YouTube. For details on this story check out CNBC

Resorting to this method of communication is great, it is though puzzling as to why GM has disabled comments for this video on YouTube.

Michigan India Chamber of Commerce selected as "A Diversity Champion"

noreply@blogger.com (Virender Ajmani) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 22:23:00 +0000

Corp! Magazine, Michigan's largest business magazine and a long-time supporter of diversity and multiculturalism in business, has announced the companies, organizations and individuals that will be recognized in its annual Salute to Diversity issue.

"The Michigan India Chamber of Commerce (www.miicc.com) is honored to be selected as a Diversity Champion by Corp! This award is special as it will coincide with our first anniversary in October 2008," said Nipa Shah, founder of the Michigan India Chamber of Commerce.

Corp! will host "A Salute to Diversity" awards breakfast on Tuesday, October 14, 2008, at the Troy Marriott, to honor the award recipients.

About Michigan India Chamber of Commerce (MIICC): Michigan India Chamber of Commerce’s mission is to promote professional and business networking with and within the Asian Indian community. The Michigan India Chamber of Commerce holds its meetings on the 2nd Wednesday of each month at the Dykema Gossett law office located at 39577 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, Mi. The October meeting has been moved to Monday October 13th due to the MIICC supporting a full day entrepreneurial event, E2Detroit.

Visit www.miicc.com,email info@miicc.com or call 248-470-6299 to learn more about the Michigan India Chamber of Commerce

Presidential Debate - 10/07/2008

noreply@blogger.com (Aditya) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 01:11:00 +0000

Am I the only one that is sick of John McCain taking credit for everything positive that happens in the World? It's getting to the point where he might even take credit for the firing of Matt Millen.

Kudos to Obama for bringing up regulation. Biden hit Palin hard during his debate, to a great response. It's time for Obama to lose the hesitancy that he displays, and start using his strength-oratory.

McCain just described American workers as "the best exporters, the best importers.."

What? It's too late in the election to still be using empty dialogs...I, for one, would like to hear some specifics, from both candidates.

More.....
McCain has now used the phrase "across the aisle" three times..in twenty minutes. Just an observation.

Again, I agree with Obama (surprise). We do need to prioritize, and energy should take precedence. It's no secret that the energy crisis is responsible for a large amount of the economic hardships today, and a solid solution that can be implemented quickly can no doubt spark a turnaround.

Debate: a formal contest in which the affirmative and negative sides of a proposition are advocated by opposing speakers. (Thank you dictionary.com)

Now, waddling around a town hall, ending up talking to a person from a very intimate distance, is not included anywhere in the definition. Neither is taking questions from the internet.

In case it wasn't clear, I don't like the format.

I like Obama's point about the young people looking for ways to make a difference. A lot of kids I meet have great ideas, and just need an outlet to start making changes. Increasing the peace core is a great idea, as is the idea of Domestic Renewal.

Best analogy so far: "Nailing down Obama's tax cuts are like nailing jell-o to the wall." VERY classy.

A close second: "Instead of using a hatchet on the budget, I would like to use a scalpel."

I think it's clear who really won.

More...

I don't understand why it's so hard for people to understand Obama's tax policy. NINETY-FIVE PERCENT!! Yet McCain always responds with the dependable "Obama will increase taxes" monologue. Please don't fall for that America.

I like McCain's response to the question about acting on Environmental Issues. Nuclear power should be factored into our energy plans, but we need to expand our outlook. I was disappointed by how the environment took a backseat during the election. I'm no tree-hugger, but when working on the environment can result in so man new fields of technology, it's SO related to everything else we're talking about!!

I love how the woman in the front row looks kind of scared, like she regrets paying the extra money to sit there when McCain stands a foot away from her going "We must drill, My friends..."

The biggest positive of Obama's health care plan is the fact that people with preexisting conditions will not be denied fair treatment. If you recall from the primary, John Edwards (gasp!) used to always give a speech about a woman who had a preexisting condition, and couldn't get health care...and she died. It's a sick part of our current process.

Don't you think it's time the government begins to take care of Americans? While they're running after Iraqis, and Israel, Americans are stuck at home without a job. Americans are begin denied health care, left on their own to survive. Americans are homeless, with that dreaded sign in their front yard. Americans are hanging pink ribbons on their door, and mourning the loss of loved ones. When is it our turn?

More...
"We don't have the time for on the job training, my friends." - John McCain, 10/7/08

"I can learn on the job, just like Ronald Reagan." - Sarah Palin, 10/2/08

I think many Americans are laboring under the delusion that all of our problems our separate. If our economy is bad, we can't just pile our might into foreign policy. The importance of the election lies in the delicacy of the situation: The new President will have to untie a tangled knot of :
a.) A demolished image in the view of the world
b.) A decimated economy
c.) A money sucking war in Iraq
d.) a threat of attack from terrorists

not to mention the picking of the outfit for the State of the Union...

Barack seems a lot more comfortable answering questions on foreign policy, and the difference between the first debate and now is very noticeable. McCain's policy on Pakistan is ridiculous. "Obama likes to talk loudly.." Does the song "Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran" ring any bells?

His admirable "carry a big stick" speech had zero effect on the uncommitted Ohio voters that I'm tracking at the bottom of the screen.

It appears that there is a new phrase in McCain's top three phrases:
1. "My friends..."
2. MAVERICK
3. "across the aisle"
4. "General Petraeus (is/has/says)...

oh wait...those were always there.

Is there anything more pointless that the "rhetoric vs. record" debate? They both agree with each other. It makes for the most redundant conversation ever.
"WE should look at the record, Senator Obama"
"No, I think we should compare our record line by line John"
"I disagree. We should go over our records." I'm waiting for the first-ever rhetoric about records.

More...

How does Obama plan on "financially assisting" former Soviet satellites? We should back off from making any promises. Russia will remain a mystery until the seond they return to full power. They are like Voldemort post-first encounter with Harry Potter: They run around, hiding in forests and attacking weak enemies, but they will eventually return to full power, and then a clash with Harry (or the US) is inevitable. Excuse my geeking out there. (If anyone understood that analogy, please let me know.)

I don't understand what is bad about meeting without preconditions. Nothing terrible could happen if the talks didn't work, but if they do work, then it's a job well done!

The number one spot on my list of "Top Ten Most Useless TV inventions" is occupied by the "analysts scorecard" on CNN. I personally think it is just the "best political team on television" jealous at Wolf Blitzer for monopolizing the attention during the post-game analysis. I don't see a scorecard with "Blitzer" on it...
There's always an ADD analyst that gives out points for seemingly just putting together a coherent sentence. And then there is the analyst that gives out ten points the entire time, insisting that he's "hard to please".

It seems to me that Wolf Blitzer's sole aim in life is to be praised by Anderson Cooper. Every other sentence is ended with "right, Anderson?" He's like Plainview's son in "There Will Be Blood" following his dad around doing little things. And then, when he tries to become a good host, Anderson disowns him and Wolf is sent out on his own.

Final Debate Grades:

McCain: C+ - seemed effective this week, looking at home in the town hall format. There was no game-changing idea, but no real screw-ups either. McCain did seem a little snarky towards Obama, but held his own in the economy section. He definitely didn't make enough of a difference to change the polls.

Obama: B+ - A couple of well articulated arguments, including prioritizing health care, energy, and education, as well as the sacrifice question. There was no huge negative in his performance, and was very polite towards McCain. The constant comparisons to Bush grew tiresome, though no doubt effective. His lead is safe.

Overall - B. Not the most interesting debate. Very choppy, and the rules got in the way a lot. Brokaw was a nice host, who kept the candidates in line. NO real race-changing revelations occurred today.

Good Night everyone!