North Shore Dad

Mitt, Newt, a Lamp Post...or Colbert, Hmmmm?

Brian Dann — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:15:56 -0600

The clear message is that there is no one running on the republican ticket that anyone really and truly wants as their candidate. Santorum is to way too religious right wing, Paul wants to end paper money, he wants to remove all foreign aid, and is basically wackadoodle, Newt wants children to work as Janitors, and his name is Newt, (really, president Newt?) and Romney basically has nothing going for him except that he’s not Obama, and looks like a Hollywood TV version of what a president should look like It’s like if you were a fan of rap music, and you won free tickets to any rap concert coming to town over the next two months but the only rap artists you could choose from were Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, Ice Tea, or Al Gore doing his tribute to NWA, and you choose Stephen Colbert… rapping! Voters cannot even bring themselves to get excited about the candidate they do vote for. Overwhelmingly the best reason that voters can give for supporting Romney is that he’s not Obama. So basically they would vote for a lamp post before they would vote for Obama in November...

What I Have Learned From Kim Kardashian

Brian Dann — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 01:58:17 -0600

Yesterday morning on the way to work I was listening to the left wing liberal progressive radio talk show host Bill Press, as I tend to do most mornings on the way to work and he asked the question, jokingly, “what do you think Kim Kardashian thinks about politics?” My first thought was I wanted to call in and say, I don’t think Kim Kardashian can spell politics. I do have to admit though, I have actually watched the voyeuristic candy shop known as “Keeping Up With The Kardhasians” and “Kourtney and Kim Take New York” but I have sadly missed “Khloe and Lamar”. Hopefully they will release a collector’s box set soon that I can place under my rear tire and run over. Now just so that I can get my Man Card back (which I somehow misplaced when I scored that trip down under with Oprah, yes it was me who wrote in, not my wife), I do have to say that I have never actually turned on a Kardashian show but instead have been maniacally sucked in to watching them when my wife has made the unfortunate choice to “Keep Up.” There is definitely a higher power at work here when it comes to the Kardashian franchise, a

The Great Republican Lie To The 100%

Brian Dann — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 16:26:57 -0600

The most effective way to seize power and ruin other people’s lives, is to convince the people whose lives you are going to ruin, that your enemy is also theirs, that their downfall is the fault of others, and that their passion comes from within and not the rhetoric that you feed them, systematically, on a daily basis. Then they will hand you the power, with no fight, and defend your right to have it before they ever realize the mistake they have made. In 1932 Adolf Hitler’s Socialist party took power in Germany. But it wasn’t until 1939, seven years later, that the Nazi’s invaded Poland. It was during those seven years that Hitler, slowly and systematically, put in place his “Final Solution” and convinced that German people that all the social and economic ills of their time, that were a part of everyday German life at that point, were the fault of the Jews, with the help of the blacks, the gays, and the Gypsies. And even though all of this was categorically false and...

Steve Jobs - You May Say He's a Dreamer

Brian Dann — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 01:47:37 -0500

By Brian Dann I remember the day John Lennon died. December 8th 1980, I was watching Johnny Carson and in the middle of his monologue NBC news broke in with a special report. It was at a time when Lennon...

Don't Imagine President Obama In His Underwear

Brian Dann — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 00:54:14 -0600

I think most people get it. I really do. It comes down to this. Be nice to each other. It’s that simple. We all just need to be nicer to each other. We can disagree. We can be angry. We can be passionate about this issue or that issue. We can be grateful as I am that President Obama is now our President, or we can even be disgusted by the thought for whatever reasons we have, whether it is the fact that he is a democrat and you are a republican, or even if it is because you are a racist and the President is black, but in the process, in our discourse, we can be respectful to each other, but what we can’t do is be so mean spirited that it fuels a culture of hate so venomous that it is both scary and appalling all at the same time. But before I go on, I want to try something. First, clear your head of any thoughts you may be having at this very moment, I’ll wait… Now that you have done that, I want you to think of President Barack Obama, bowling, wearing nothing but his under wear. Take a minute if you need to, to really picture...

Arizona, "What Is The Government Going To Do?"

Brian Dann — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 03:17:20 -0600

From 1999 through 2007, in Great Britain, 473 individuals were killed by firearms. During that same time period in the United States, 106,125 individuals were killed by firearms. What is the difference? In 1997 it was made illegal for a civilian to own an assault weapon in Great Britain. No one owns guns, except for firearms that fall into the category used for hunting, and so far the government has not taken over. There has been no need for their citizens to rise up against a government trying to oppress them, and the argument that now only the criminals will be the ones with guns, simply has not come true. In 2008, gun related deaths in Britain dropped 18% to 42, from 51 the year before, and no, that’s not 42 per 100 people, or 42 per 100,000 people. That’s 42 people total! In 1997 Britain disarmed. They disarmed because of a massacre that occurred in their country. Their politicians took charge, passed legislation and

Arizona, A Senseless Shooting, Again, and Again, and Again, and...

Brian Dann — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 02:07:26 -0600

I don’t often feature other writers on NorthShoreDad.com, but once in a great while I come across an article written so well and so powerful that I realize that there is no way I could have said it better myself. The shootings in Arizona of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords her staff members, a nine year old girl, and others, defies understanding and deserves only outrage. I applaud the members of the house from both parties for coming together in the most bi-partisan way to support this senator, her aids and the others that were mortally wounded. I only hope that this same spirit, that we are more than just party members, we are humans, and that we can accomplish more as friends then we can as enemies, will be remembered in the days and weeks to come when these legislators debate the issues at hand. Speaker of the House, John Boehner said of Rep. Giffords,

The Most Important News Story of 2010 - NOT!

Brian Dann — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 12:22:04 -0600

Looking back at 2010, ask yourself what do you think the single most important news story was of this year? That is exactly what the Associated Press asked 180 of the top U.S. editors and news directors in their annual poll. Without telling you what I think the single most important news story was of 2010, I will tell you that I believe that all 180 of these editors and news directors got it wrong. The reason I believe this is because from looking at their answers, what I really believe they answered was, what do you think the most “popular” news story was of 2010, and there is a vast difference between what was the most popular news story and what was the most important news story. Now don’t get me wrong, all of the stories that were chosen were news worthy stories and deserved the attention that they received. All of these stories had a vast impact on the world, the environment, and politics. They kept us interested, engaged us, angered us, and often shocked and sometimes awed us. But I still don’t believe that any of them were the most important. The winning story of this poll was...

Seasons Of My Father

Brian Dann — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 01:33:21 -0600

One year ago my father passed away from biliary duct cancer. He was seventy-five years old. This video is for him. Please watch...

Red Carpets, Champagne, and No Worries!

Brian Dann — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 00:22:25 -0600

There are few times in this life when we can share a singular commonality, a shared experience, an extraordinary moment, that in ways that you never expect, fills you with awe, joins you together and humbles you and all around you. Only a small number of events have occurred in my life that have given me this feeling. Watching an African-American being sworn in as president, something that I thought I would never see in my lifetime, seeing the U.S hockey team defeat the Russians in the ’84 Olympics, watching our country come together as one after the tragedy of 9/11, all of these things collectively filled us with a feeling that extraordinary things are possible. An experience that goes way beyond the generous gift I was given, way beyond the sights and sound that we all were fortunate enough to share, way beyond anything I could ever imagine, has taught me lessons that will stay with me for the rest of my life. I was with 301 individuals who were handpicked by the queen of daytime talk herself, Oprah Winfrey, to receive the trip of a life time to Australia. My wife and I were lucky enough to be In the studio audience for her 25th season premier and while that experience of...

At Least WikiLeaks Didn't Find Any Bestiality

Brian Dann — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 20:23:28 -0600

In 2001, a network administrator who I worked with at one of the largest, most prestigious law firms in the United States, and whose headquarters was located in Chicago decided to do a search of all of the employee folders on one of the main servers where each employee saved their “personal” files, for any file that ended in JPG, MOV, or AVI, or in other words, any photo or video files. He was not looking for anything in particular, but instead just to see what types of things the partners and associates at this firm were looking at. Like almost every employee in that I.T. department he had full access to every file, every piece of information, no matter how mundane or sensitive that information was to the person or the firm. Major case files, major pieces of discovery, major evidence that could easily be copied on to a DVD and passed along to the opposing council, were all available to every person in that I.T. Department, completely unrestricted in any way. The only thing stopping anyone in that department from stealing any data they wanted to and passing it along to anyone they wanted to was the confidentiality agreement each employee signed, and a certain level of blind trust, not any real network security or restrictions to data, just trust. What was most interesting about what that network administrator found that day...

A Republican Guide to Handing the President His Ass

Brian Dann — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 04:32:25 -0500

So, how do I put this tactfully? Awe forget it, there is no way to put this tactfully. Obama got his ass handed to him on a silver platter Tuesday. At his news conference the next day he looked like a wet puppy dog standing in the rain that just got struck by lightning. The correspondent from Fox News looked happier then Glenn Beck does after he pleasures himself to a photo of Sarah Palin. The Republicans, the Tea Party, Fox News, they did it, so go ahead guys gloat, no really it’s ok, I understand. After all you did get your asses handed to you two years ago and we did plenty of gloating at that time, so go ahead, I’ll wait………Are you done? Good, now shut the...

This Is Who You Should Vote For.

Brian Dann — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 18:04:03 -0500

This is who you should vote for. Oh, I already know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that I’m going to tell you to vote Democrat. You’re thinking, why am I even bothering, after all Brian Dann is about as far left as Glenn Beck is right. You may even be thinking, who the hell is Brian Dann to be telling me who I should vote for. Some of you may even be thinking, who the hell is Brian Dann. And if that is what you’re thinking, you’re right. So, this is who you should vote for. But before I get to that let me just ask you this. Is there really anything that I can write at this moment that could make you change who you are going to vote for? Haven’t you by this point really made up your mind, and isn’t it true that over the next two days, no matter how many negative political ads that you see on the TV, or hear on the radio, you are not going to change what you are going to do when you step into that voting booth on November 2nd? Isn’t it true that by this time you have mostly tuned out those political ads narrated by...

Bullying To Death

Brian Dann — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 16:59:02 -0500

Recently somebody asked me why I keep writing articles about issues related to the rights of homosexuals. After all, I’m not gay and no one in my family that I know of at least is gay. I do have friends who are gay and have known many people over the years who are gay, but so have a lot of other people. So why is it that this one issue I have written four separate articles about? I have written articles supporting the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, about if being gay is a choice or a trait that a person is born with, and about supporting same-sex marriage. I write about many issues but this issue for some reason really gets to me. The reasons that I keep writing about these issues is twofold. The first reason is simple. No person for any reason what so ever in this country should ever be discriminated against and whether that reason is because of their sex, or their skin color, their religion, or their age, a disability or their sexual preference, the fact remains, it is wrong. This issue goes way beyond what group is being discriminated against, this is an issue of common decency...

Now That's Huge!...That's What She Said,..or He Said, Your Choice.

Brian Dann — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 03:27:24 -0500

If you were given a choice to be straight or to be gay, what would you choose? For arguments sake, let’s forget about the debate for a minute of whether homosexuality is a choice or not. Just think about the question. Assume for a moment that you actually could choose. I’m not talking about choosing whether you would have sex with a person of the same sex as you. You could do that regardless if you are gay or not. I’m talking about making a choice to love, have feelings, a relationship with a same sex partner just as you would with an opposite sex partner. Think about all the implications surrounding that decision, if it was truly possible to choose one lifestyle over the other, and the implications it would have not only on your life but on the friends and family around you as well. Forget for a moment about your own personal feelings and prejudices or lack thereof about homosexuality and just focus on society and how your life would...