The last 2.75 days have been hell. My iPhone 3G “upgrade” turned it into a brick. And as digitally dependent as I am- it was a crisis.
I spent over 6 hours on the phone with Apple- to no avail. The upgrade was supposedly unreversable- and it even trashed the backup.
Luckily- I back things up in multiple places- and, did a whole bunch of searching- to find a solution- which I posted here: http://www.websitetology.com/?p=711 [1]
Helping people across the globe get their phones back from the brickyard.
But- now- I need your help. 2 ways:
I have to take a 150-word endorsement essay to the DDN on Monday. Be it one of Ice Bandit’s poems, one of Jstults astute references to Wikipedia and other arcane sources, Larkin’s Pulitzer worthy prose- or one of PizzaBill’s tongue in cheek responses- I don’t care.
Give it a shot in comments- and we’ll vote and see who gets to give the DDN the reason why I’m the best to go up against Turner in the fall.
The second part is- I need to see some more money in the donation kitty. Please consider $5 a week- or even one time. If you’ve read this site, and get some entertainment value at the least- it’s gotta be worth a few greenbacks.
And just remember- it all gets a lot more interesting if:
1) I’m debating Turner or
2) I’m writing from the floor of the House of Representatives.
It’s up to you. Thanks.
If I donate money, will you stop hating on Tech Town? I’ll donate even more money if you promise that once elected, you’ll find us as many handouts as possible. Oh wait, I meant that for the other guy, nevermind.
The most arcane one I could find:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Esrati
Steve makes a good point, it’s fine to argue against pork in theory (or for those hillbillies in that other state), it’s quite another thing to actually vote against getting some of your own…
Go for maximum handouts and get as much pork as humanly possible into every bill for our area………….and then argue against it and vote no. That way if it passes, pork for us, yay! If it fails, pork for no one, yay!
Obviously, I prefer pork for no one and an astute, moral and financially responsible congress………….but I also think Dragons are really cool too.
What happened to the Mob O’Meter? I miss the accolades of my deploring public.
@Donald- thanks for the heads up- something went wonky with the plugin update
Back to normal.
Here’s an old one from the references on the wiki page as an example:
I like the “closed-door, back-room, old-school system…’ part, almost lyrical, I can hear the back beat now…
Thanks for the reminder Jstults- that was written for the paper last time.
still was hoping for some new material- esp. from IceBandit. Such is life.
Need 150 words? Take the short trip to the Old Bandito’s “150 word endorsements ‘r us.”
Everyone wants to bask in the sunshine of freedom, but few will actively fight for it. David Esrati is one of those exceptions. When a bit of bad guerilla theatre landed him in handcuffs, Esrati was convinced the bust was a violation of his rights of free speech and petitioning the government. So he took the government to court and won. And won. And won. Six trips to courtrooms yielded six vindications and more of the inevitable lawyers bills. Against the behemoth of goverment, a guilty plea and a fine would have been the avenue of the lazy and the cheap. But freedom was not won or preserved by the lazy nor the cheap. And as a former Special Forces paratrooper, Esrati knows freedom will always be under assault. This is the metal of which David Esrati was forged; a conviction of what is right and the backbone to see that it through. Can Esrati beat Mike Turner? Since Turner, as Mayor of Dayton, was Esrati’s bully in court, he already has. And as a sidebar, the Dayton Daily News absolutely hates David Esrati, which means he must be doing something right……
Edited out an lede which commented on southwestern Ohio Democrats bi-annual barbeque favorite being sacrificial lamb. Took out a reference to the Democrats offering a Joe Louis type “bum of the month” club. Edited out a question “why would a libertarian firebrand endorse David Esrati? Because he actually did what libertarians say the want but lack the cajones to try; he took on the government and won.”
David, here is my response, I posted at DaytonOS:
Our democracy is in trouble. Our system is failing us. A Congressional election is an opportunity to choose a leader — not a bureaucrat, a party man, or a politician — a leader, one who will work to bring out the best in individuals, one who will inspire and empower common problem solving.
I am known as the “Dayton blogger” and over the last few years, I’ve dedicated myself to researching and writing about the issues of our day. As representative, I would have the resources to fully develop an internet community and, I would promise to dedicate myself to using every possible opportunity to communicate with and to educate the public.
This campaign should be all about vitalizing our democracy through effective leadership. I have a specific plan and vision of leadership that is in marked contrast to the present void.
Mike- I need an endorsement- from someone- not from myself.
And while Yvan was nice- there was no emotion in it.
I’m in favor of the ‘ole Bandito’s version- however, the DDN, while they’ll allow any anonymous slob to comment on their site- they won’t allow an unsigned letter.
I think it’s a travesty- there is no question the “bandito is in fact the ‘bandito- since only he writes like a cross between Stan Lee and the Libertarian party’s PR flack-
It’s what I’ll turn in- thanks to their lax online policy.
Howver- if anyone else want’s to sign their real name along with it- as a group thing- speak now.
(and btw- I went to court 5 times- the City had the option to appeal to the US Supreme Court- which would have been 6- but, finally backed down- when the DDN said enough was enough at year 2.5).
and btw- interesting to see that in the last endorsement round for Congress- Charles Sanders had an endorsement from Raleigh Trammell. http://www.daytondailynews.com/o/content/oh/story/opinions/editorial/2008/01/29/ddn013008esratirec.html
And- even tho Jane got the nod- she got beat like a wet blanket…
David, I think the Ice Bandit’s approach will not gain you much support. It’s too anchored in the past and sounds like you can’t leave behind the rancor and conflict of those past events. Rancor and conflict is not a winning message. You need to anchor your endorsement in the skills you possess and in a vision of how you will use those skills to vitalize our democracy.
Here is my second version:
…there is no question the “bandito is in fact the ‘bandito- since only he writes like a cross between Stan Lee and the Libertarian party’s PR flack (David Esrati)
As Groucho Marx was fond of saying, “I resemble those remarks.” If the aforementioned endorsement is the one you have chosen, and a name is required, please feel free to put the handle of anyone that will claim that particular bit of prose. The Old Bandito has done a lot of ghost-writing. However, it could stand a bit of polishing, like changing the number of trips to court from a half-dozen to five and editing the couple of errant articles that appear. That was written in a time span of about five minutes, and haste sometimes makes one appear el stupido….
Mike- If you think the DDN board will do anything other than trash me- your approach might work.
The reality is- of the three candidates, I’m the only one who has gone mano-mano with Mike. That’s the gist of what the ol’ bandito is saying. There is no better candidate to go into the ring- to get slaughtered- as the pollsters and conventional forces would predict.
I look forward to the ‘banditos second revision. Comments from all are welcome- however, if you look back to Yvan’s endorsement- it covered all the bases as well- and didn’t do squat.
The readership of the DDN will appreciate the last line of the ‘bandito’s prose better than any laundry list of skills or accomplishments. But- feel free to try to write something that appeals more to emotion than intellect- because that’s all political campaigns are about anymore.
David,
I’d be happy to come up with a dozen 150-words endorsements for you. I can make them march, or fly or sing out loud while doing a tap dance.
However, as you know, we are up against a terrible, terrible deadline.
But I’ll see what I can do.
Larkin
@Larkin- just one would be wonderful. Thank you.
David, here is a edited and cleaned up version should you choose to use this endorsement…
Everyone wants to bask in the light of freedom, but few will actively fight for it. David Esrati is one of those exceptions. When a bit of guerrilla theater landed him in handcuffs, Esrati was convinced the bust was a violation of his rights of free speech and petitioning the government. So he took the government to court and won. And won. And won. Five trips to courtrooms yielded five vindications and a mountain of legal bills. Against the behemoth of government, a guilty plea and a fine would have been the avenue of the lazy and the cheap. But freedom was not won or preserved by the indolent nor the frugal. And as a former Special Forces paratrooper, Esrati knows freedom will always be under assault. This is the metal from which David Esrati was forged; a conviction of what is right and the backbone to see it through. Can Esrati beat Mike Turner? He already has five times, since Turner, as Mayor of Dayton and financed by taxpayer money, was Esrati’s vindictive courtroom bully. As a sidebar, the Dayton Daily News absolutely hates David Esrati, which means he must be doing something right…..
I suggest here that the endorsement would be improved if the word, “freedom,” was replaced with the word, “justice.”
DDN ran the ol’ bandito’s endorsement letter- http://www.daytondailynews.com/opinion/letters-in-support-of-david-esrati-guy-fogle-and-joe-roberts-3rd-district-democratic-primary-787788.html
How ’bout them apples.
I just checked weather.com and hell didn’t freeze over yet so something like the end of the world must be near if they ran the anonymous letter! Congrats David and even a bigger congratulations to the ol’ Bandito!! Is this your first published piece, Bandito? I’m betting that a Pulitzer isn’t far off! :)
In all honesty though, they pretty much had to publish your anonymous letter since they accepted one from Guy Fogle that was written by his sons. And sadly, the letter for Joe Roberts is just more of the same ol’, same ol’. I’ll paraphrase as “Let’s send Joe to DC and he’ll send the pork back home!!” Yeah, great.
Good luck on this race, David. I’m going to give you a bit of advice for this one – bite your tongue sometimes!! I’m not saying that you should compromise your principles – I’m just saying to make sure your brain is engaged before your mouth is. Don’t call anyone an idiot or imply that your opponents or the constituents are less than intelligent. This race is yours to lose. I’m guessing that neither of your opponents have huge sums of cash to spend and you probably have enough name recognition (good or bad!) to counteract Fogle’s name recognition. Play it smart, BE NICE and you’ve got a chance. Be careful that you don’t cross the line from being “The Political Maverick” to become “The Arrogant Ass”. You know that’s what the DDN and probably the Montgomery County Democratic Party wants you to do. Again, good luck.
@Bubba- I’m glad there are three choices on the ballot. Really. I think voters deserve choices.
I’ve never been good at biting my tongue- except when playing hockey. I’m doing my best.
My analysis of the DDN meeting wasn’t meant to be condescending – it was just my attempt to report on what happened.
Elections have become political theater- I’m just hoping to give everyone a good show.