Quote Of The Day: Barack Obama

Definitely the quote of the day by far. Barack Obama speaking to a South-Asian community and hauling in a record $7.8 million in one fundraiser in San Francisco, California.

“Not only do I think I’m a desi, but I’m a desi,” he said, using a colloquial term that describes South Asian immigrants. The remark was greeted with laughs. “I’m a homeboy.”

He said that when he went to Occidental College, his first roommate was Pakistani. And in his dorm, he said with a laugh, “Indians and Pakistanis came together under one roof … to cause havoc in the university.”

To applause, he said he became an expert at cooking dal and other ethnic dishes, though “somebody else made the naan,” the trademark Indian bread.

As if he didn’t already have a huge advantage within the community, I am sure he certainly picked up several more points with this record fundraising and that quote up there.

[Source: San Francisco Chronicle: Shakil Bhai to Summaiyah to Me]

Re: Mike And The Mad Dog

I still can’t believe their show is over… anyways, this is a great piece that describe the sentiments of probably a majority of their listeners right now.

Sadly on Thursday August 14th, 2008 my childhood came to an end. A part of me has died. My life will never, ever be the same.

Mike and the Mad Dog, the long time afternoon drive show on WFAN in New York came to an end as Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo decided to leave the station for good.

Ever since 1989 my life has been based around that show. I didn’t exaggerate that statement. My schedule on a day to day basis was based on the fact that I had to be near a radio at 1pm in order to hear the “Aaaaaaaaaannnnndddd good afternoon everybody how are you today”. They were it for me, what they said was absolute gospel. When I say my life has been based around the show, I mean my life has been based around the show:

– I had / have friendships that are purely based on the mutual affection of Mike and the Mad Dog.
– My sister can recite the entire open to their show and she couldn’t even name five players in the NFL
– I have Tivo’d there show on YES every single day since 2002..-I bought my house based on the idea that I could get Direct TV so I can watch Mike and the Mad Dog on YES every single day

– I could tell you each of their kid’s name and I know that Dog’s dog is named Jordan

– I have read both of Mad Dog’s books and have had people mail me video tapes of “Mike’D Up”, Francessa’s Sunday night TV show on NBC in NY.
– I have been imitating them for the majority of my life both on air and off air…”Say something funny”… “I knew you would say something funny, Bill told me.”
– I have a picture in my room in NY of Dog and I from his old SportsChannel TV show when I was 8 years old.
– I force the Mike and the Mad Dog language “Oh is that all?” upon almost everyone at the station.
– I am so obsessed with them that my mom said to me tonight that its like my version of the Beatles breaking up.

They just did it better than everyone else. They would say things that others wouldn’t.

– Asking former Islanders GM Mike Milbury “How do you have a job”
– Telling Roger Gooddell to “show some guts” and “kick him out of the league” referring to Pac Man Jones
– Screaming and yelling at Joe Torre for taking too many Yankees to the All-Star Game a few years back
– Dog willing to give up kids to get a SF Giants post season series win.

They were absolutely fearless. There is nothing they wouldn’t ask a guest. They have been instrumental in major moves in NY Sports.
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– Got Jeff Torborg fired from the Mets
– Got Mike Piazza traded to the Mets

Most kids grow up with athletes as their sports idols. My dad grew up as a Yankee fan loving Mickey Mantle and he like most kids in NY had their favorite players, I had Mike and the Mad Dog. There was no player on any team that even held a candle to those two. If there was a such thing as a Mike and the Mad Dog jersey I would have been wearing it, I would have been trading their “baseball cards” if they existed.

In conclusion, I do what I do because of them. They were the pioneers of sports talk radio and I only wish that one day I can affect someone the way they have affected me. I will miss them more than anyone could possibly imagine. They are everything to me, they are my vice. I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I use them and listening to them as my fallback to everything in life. There has been truly no moment over their almost 19 years on the air that listening to them has not made me happier than I was prior to tuning in. I am going to miss them and I thank them for being there for me for almost 19 years and giving me a direction in my professional life. Thank you both for everything.

[Source: ESPN 760 – Have You Seen My Childhood?]

Pervez Musharraf Resigns As Pakistan’s President

President Pervez Musharraf began his address to the nation at 13.13 PST at the President’s House in Islamabad, saying “Today is a day of an important decision for me.” Proceedings began with recitation from the Holy Quran at 13.10 pm. President Pervez Musharraf said the nation is aware of the crisis it is going through. He said ‘when I assumed charge nine years ago the country was about to be branded a failed state and a terrorist state. He asid assumed charge with the aim of rescuing the country. In the last nine years I have tried my best to serve the country to the best of my ability… during confrontation with India, 9/11 and its aftermath and the devastating earthquake.’

‘In all these crises we stood up thanks to the Grace of Almighty Allah and saved Pakistan from the crises. In handling the problems the sole aim was the well-being of the people and the safety and security of Pakistan. I have taken part in two wars which Pakistan fought… [The coalition government] They deceived the people. Never did they realize that they may win against me but how adversely the contry was affected did not concern them. Economic decline and energy crisis we’re experiencing is being attributed to my policies. I would like to put some facts before the nation, especially the economy. The economy was doing well, in fact very well before Deb 2007. he GDP growth was 7 percent. Revenue collection had reached $1 trillion. The KSE index was around 15,000 points. All these indicators are of reight months ago. Pakistans economy was poised to take off. How did the economic probkem start all of a sudden? Why has the stock exchange lost 5,000 points. Why has the rupee lost almost 30 percent of its value?

Surely, the present economic crisis is owing to rising oil prices and similar other developments on a global basis. But it is wholly incorrect to put blame on these global factors alone. It is our own failures during the last 8 months. Power Sector: We were producing 14,000 MW in June 2007 but are now producing just about 10,000 MW. Why? In a nutshell, the people are being fooled. Let us now look forward to find solutions to take the country out of the woods. During the past nine years, we addressed all sectors and accelerated development in the country. In these 9 years , we constructed several roads and bypasses and worked on several other developmental projects. You can see for yourself how much we have done including all the dams that have been constructed (such as the Mirani Dam). Several canals are also being constructed. These developments will help irrigate 3 million acre fields in the country.

There was massive industrialisation during the last nine years. There was a lot done for higher education. Nice universities from different foreign countries had agreed to set up campuses in the country. In the health sector primary and secondary healthcare was given priority. Safe drinking water was a sector that was addressed on priority and 6000 water purification plants were set up. Women were given political empowerment and now you see a lot more women in eh assemblies. Honour killing was discouraged and Hudood Ordinance laws were revamped. The minorities were given opportunities and culture and heritage was given due importance.

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