Listing

It seems that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology annually asks people what inventions they hate, a riff on my list of things that piss me off. The "winners":

Cell phone - 30%
Alarm clocks - 25%
Television - 23%
Razors - 14%
Also receiving votes: Microwave ovens, computers and answering machines

The only two that make sense are alarm clocks and razors. Who likes waking up in the morning or shaving?

I don't know anyone that hates cell phone. Now, hating people who refuse to turn their phone to vibrate in a movie theater or such place, that I can see.

I love my TV. With young kids, it's almost the only way I ever get to watch a movie. My microwave is huge. Who wants to have your kid scream for 5 mintues while his dinner cooks when it can be nuked ready in 30 seconds? The computer is about the only way I ever communicate with anyone outside of work.

I think MIT needs to rephrase the questions it asks.

New Hampshiring

Given how wrong every pundit has been about the Democratic nomination process, what can it hurt to add my two cents in?

Howard Dean is toast. He's going down as the New Phil Gramm. He's got a lot of money and he's mean. All he has that Gramm didn't have was early support.

The nomination is John Edwards' to lose. I figure all he has to do is crack the top 3 next week to all but seal it (barring gaffes down the road, of course). Figure John Kerry, Howard Dean, and Wesley Clark are right now in the top 3 in NH. Dean has to win or he has to drop out. Kerry needs to be no worse than second or he's toast for losing badly in his backyard AND blowing momentum. Kerry also will get smoked like a cheap bong in South Carolina one week later. He could finish behind Edwards, Dean, Clark AND Al Sharpton down there. Clark needs to finish ahead of Edwards, but probably also needs to be no worse than #2 or he loses the expectations game based on skipping Iowa.

Edwards has a nice SC setup going for him. Loads of Dick "Cardinal Fan" Gephardt endorsers are now free to help him. Money isn;t an issue as trial lawyers have millions to donate to him (Edwards was an early fundraising leader). He also has a positive message. Hell, even Rush-xycotin sounded scared of him yesterday. "Trial lawyers are always the heroes on TV and movies. ... He's Clinton without the baggage."