meandering views, yet more news and thomas paine tuesdays (clips and a gnob, raw at 5am)
This is the one that hit me…, “Character is much easier kept than recovered.“
Then I thought, what if Thomas Paine was a journalist with attention span issues. Hmm, What would the headline be?
FAT FUCKING AMERICANS!
lede- “That which we obtain too easily, we esteem too lightly. ” Well done, mr. paine.
Thomas Paine is my kind of writer/thinker/pundit/commentator. I don’t always agree with him but I always find it very hard to directly disagree with him. For example…
he said this “These are times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. ” –wikipedia. Now that makes war seems like a good thing. Well, then I think he was fighting for a Revolution he really thought would bring freedoms to the common man. And then, I try to dig him in context… for example
” My country is the world, and my religion is to do good.” Hm…
Fighting between masses is bad period, to me, but to Paine if it involves the common man, just the universal notion of what every man can be in his full powers, then the common man must fight for his own survival. Sounds like justification of many ppl beating the shit out of each other to me, but I see his point. (I would here like to thank professor giovanna of CUNY lore for making me so much Thomas Aquinas… argumentative arguments… and away from the ADD we have…) If it was though, the universal man, overcoming in this fight, then who would fight against it? ooo-WEEE—ooo…
anyhooc… 51 quotes by mr paine his goddamn self below. Shout out to gifted grapher and collaborator Liz Di Nunizio for reminding me of the humble, broke but infintely wise mr paine. i’m one for three, and on my way to a crazy mixed number.
Midterm Elections… I think the Democrats are waiting for one last huge push, probably about a week from now, when they’ll put what they hope will be a chokehold on the Packhies. Maybe they’ll have bush in bed with osame, it’ll be 20x that rumsfeld and saddam video. Which saddam and rumsfeld video?
Wonder what’ll happen to the blogosphere post-Bush. Bush created a need for a grassroots, decentralized movement. The anti-Bush netroots movement has in turn been a pillar of the blogosphere. When this pillar goes, what then?
Sometimes I think Damn it All, I’ll Make Grand Plans and Move to Australia. And then, I see shit like this. 
Sometimes the grass is greener over there cuz you can’t see so good.
Eh, there’s always Canada (the 51st state)
–Rev Manny and ______ (you’re name here, price: one adreno-gland)
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Thomas Payne his goddamn self
A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right.
A thing moderately good is not so good as it ought to be. Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle is always a vice.
An army of principles can penetrate where an army of soldiers cannot.
Arms discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property… Horrid mischief would ensue were the law-abiding deprived of the use of them.
Belief in a cruel God makes a cruel man.
But such is the irresistable nature of truth, that all it asks, and all it wants is the liberty of appearing.
Character is much easier kept than recovered.
Every science has for its basis a system of principles as fixed and unalterable as those by which the universe is regulated and governed. Man cannot make principles; he can only discover them.
From such beginnings of governments, what could be expected, but a continual system of war and extortion?
Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.
He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from opposition; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach himself.
Human nature is not of itself vicious.
I believe in the equality of man; and I believe that religious duties consist in doing justice, loving mercy, and endeavoring to make our fellow-creatures happy.
I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.
If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace.
If we do not hang together, we shall surely hang separately.
It is necessary to the happiness of man that he be mentally faithful to himself. Infidelity does not consist in believing, or in disbelieving, it consists in professing to believe what he does not believe.
It is not a field of a few acres of ground, but a cause, that we are defending, and whether we defeat the enemy in one battle, or by degrees, the consequences will be the same.
It is the direction and not the magnitude which is to be taken into consideration.
Lead, follow, or get out of the way.
Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle is always a vice.
My country is the world, and my religion is to do good.
My mind is my own church.
Reason obeys itself; and ignorance submits to whatever is dictated to it.
Reputation is what men and women think of us; character is what God and angels know of us.
Society in every state is a blessing, but government, even in its best stage, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one.
That government is best which governs least.
That which we obtain too easily, we esteem too lightly.
The abilities of man must fall short on one side or the other, like too scanty a blanket when you are abed. If you pull it upon your shoulders, your feet are left bare; if you thrust it down to your feet, your shoulders are uncovered.
The greatest remedy for anger is delay.
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.
The instant formal government is abolished, society begins to act. A general association takes place, and common interest produces common security.
The most formidable weapon against errors of every kind is reason.
The Vatican is a dagger in the heart of Italy.
The whole religious complexion of the modern world is due to the absence from Jerusalem of a lunatic asylum.
The World is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion.
There are two distinct classes of what are called thoughts: those that we produce in ourselves by reflection and the act of thinking and those that bolt into the mind of their own accord.
These are times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.
Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.
Time makes more converts than reason.
‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.
Titles are but nicknames, and every nickname is a title.
To establish any mode to abolish war, however advantageous it might be to Nations, would be to take from such Government the most lucrative of its branches.
To say that any people are not fit for freedom, is to make poverty their choice, and to say they had rather be loaded with taxes than not.
Virtues are acquired through endeavor, Which rests wholly upon yourself. So, to praise others for their virtues Can but encourage one’s own efforts.
War involves in its progress such a train of unforeseen and unsupposed circumstances that no human wisdom can calculate the end. It has but one thing certain, and that is to increase taxes.
We can only reason from what is; we can reason on actualities, but not on possibilities.
We have it in our power to begin the world over again.
What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value.
When men yield up the privilege of thinking, the last shadow of liberty quits the horizon.
When we are planning for posterity, we ought to remember that virtue is not hereditary.
ok, now let’s kill our guys (definitely rated MA like all other entries herein) if you read that is, or: The Pat Tillman Story + news + “arrogance and stupidity”
Somebody told me I’m way funnier in person, and doom-bound in print or electric excess. On that note.
funny right? btw, it really pisses me off when they don’t open in the window, but open a whole new window instead? I can’t afford that sorta memor! Do you know how many vidoes i have on here!!? For, er, firm i mean er, interactive journalism class of course.
what were we picking our brains about?
Bush? hmmm… some subtlty and rage at 241 am? what say we?
no shelter (as my own official legal term) as of right here_
You know, at least here in America, we stand by those recognized as heroes. Let’s read, shall we: Pat Tillman, hyper-patriot, wasted by overzealous comrades (unpolite version: Pat Tillman, who left his NFL Career behind to join the Army’s elite unit, the Rangers, was shot in the back by “friendly fire” in an attempt to murder-squash “terr’ists” that it turns out WEREN’T THERE! … incident, btw, was then used by Bush & Cronies Brain-Hump Inc as martyr freakshow…. turns out PTill stomped by fellow goons… possibly b.c. of his view that the war in Iraq was a terrible and immoral view by the US)
Or for the shorter version go here. His brother recently released an Anti War Blog (the NYTimes calls it a message… w/e happened to specificis and details in journalism? unfair criticism or mindless tangent? both?)
There’s something truly revulsing about gross and mass ignorance. HEY AMERICA, YOUR KITCHEN’S ON FIRE!!!!
Catch up on politics with the good rev…
Obama might run for President. Here’s the AP Story.
An increase of independent voters. Excellent New York Times piece here.
North Korea has the nuke, and the US contemplates action. Here’s an interesting blog from OH MY NEWS out of South Korea. A Korean pleads for the US not to attack.
I think he does a good job of explaining what’s going on in general.
Read here about the end of Alberto Fernandez, director of public diplomacy in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs at the State Department.
Is it the end of a foolish mentality. Is it the End of Alberto Fernandez? Or is it a way of releasing some pressure off the valve to make things more pallatable for the election at home? Personally, I think its the second.
But the third… idk… have you noticed the price of gas lately? How come its gotten some 50 cents cheaper? Was it the oil-well they found in Mexico? I doubt it. That won’t be tapped for years.Could it be the release of the national oil reserves? Maybe, but I don’t know if we have enough to sustain this much of a drop for this long. And if OPEC isn’t behind this drop (they called an emergency meeting a full two months before their next scheduled gathering) then who is?
There’s less talk about the gas crisis on the news isn’t there? Go ahead, take a look at CNN, MSNBC, ABC, and two of your picking. I challenge you to find an article on the gas crisis within the last seven days. You may find a few that say that gas has gotten cheaper. What about this insane winter we’re about to have and how that’s gonna flush money out of the economy? Idk…
Idk, i’m no tim russert, and tim russert is the freaking man, but in my little hyphen-american skull the little bullshit light keeps going off …
The Mets lost and they’re gone, but the Yankees only got to the first round of the playoffs. The Jets won, the Giants beat up the Cowboys (human statue Drew Bledsoe was subbed for an equally worthless fleshbag).
Hmm… what else…
Here’s a pretty opinionated but sound piece about the israeli invasion of Lebanon in pursuit of hezbollah.
Well…on that note… i’m off to seek a deep cup of coffee and someplace without the sound of whirring motors or screeching tires….
oh and BUCK FUSH
==Reverend Manny and the Psylloci-Bites (adding value to news since 1880)
Poppy-pumping like its crack again.
been kinda quiet around here, no?
Ok, that’s more than enough of the small talk. If there is a god, what’s the deal with his sense of humor? i.e. does he have one and is he currently exercising it? Or is it like when President Bush (helpfully elected by Dumbfuckistan) starts talking his jibber jabber and i both laugh and cry at the same time?
Like, when Bush said “I don’t really think about him anymore” in reference to Bin Laden. At first I’m like, “Of course not, you did all that blow college, how the fuck can you remember anything?” but then I’m like, holy shit, this dude and his cronies really don’t give two flying fucks about what goes down in Afghanistan.
BTW, news on the street is that heroine has gotten cheaper and more accessible. Hm. Wonder if these two paragraphs are related at all. It could very well be.
Dear Moralizing Fuckers. I am one of you. However, I have taken off my Moralizing Fucker outfit and am now just one plain ass naked human. Listen to me. This human says by fucking up so grandly in Afghanistan we have set back the progress for ALL MANKIND in way we will never be able to calculate much less control.
When heroin was unleashed (with US Support) on the USSR, its effects were disastrous. And you know what, heroin is about to hit the USSR and Western Europe again.
Ho hum. G’ahead. I’m a loon. You got it. And the US (incl. the father of our current Klutz in Chief) had NOTHING to do with crack hitting New York. Which was IN NO WAY connected to COINTELPRO. Nope not at all. Not trying to break up grassroots organizations. That would be so un-American, no?
Let’s take a look at the crackpots that believe the US government was out to destroy a series of grassroots networks. These crackpots over here. Damn those crackpots ath the “Senate Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respects to Intelligence.” What sorta authority do they have, anyway? And what’s with this malarky, “Under COINTELPRO certain techniques the Bureau had used against hostile foreign agents were adopted for use against perceived domestic threats to the established political and social order. The formal programs which incorporated these techniques were, therefore, also called “counterintelligence.” “ ” Ever wonder why they make the print so small? Domestic threats to the established political and social order? You’re telling me the government would dare interfere with the people in their making or breaking of political and social structures? That would be so undemocratic!!
Surely those fools at the “Senate” were mistaken. What the hell is this “Senate” anyway? Does it still exist? Oh yeah?? Well then why didn’t they do something about our invasion of Iraq if they know so goddamn much? Nah, I don’t buy their insane ideas. What year was the report written in 1976? What?! Fucking disco-hippies, they were probably all doped on that marihuana. Fucking hippies.
Nah… not in America.
NOT MY JSCHOOL BLOG!! plane hits building, mild paranoia strikes new york (WWJLD)…. a slow about me …. caffeinated senseless ramblings…
desperate for a nicotine fix, i reach for a dried up packet of loose tobacco, drum. You can almost hear the grim reaper’s percussion section. Light up, sucker, sweet 1:30am rube. The stuff is dry and awful and it becomes mostly a game of chicken with cancer. I’m proving a point.
I feel in the twisted mood to suggest something like, we’re all winners in this game, or, light up, let’s really find out about this after life shit… but things move on…. the yellow hiss of my moribund lighter flashes the only light in the room besides this laptop… jesus fucking christ, no wonder i’ve been dreamin in times new roman
Its almost cliche already to mention thesmall plane that crashed into the Upper East side. John, a super at a number of buildings around the city, showed no signs of perplexion and worry when i spoke to hime today. Just when do you know you’re in a police state or better yet, a war state? The50 story condo is less than 3 blocks from his home. Its uncouth to wonder aloud about things like, “is everything ok?” Ppl like this will gut you. If they don’t seem concerned, you’re not concerned.
i’ve been watching Bob Woodward suck up new acolades like a fat kid running amuck of some recently deceased candyman. Why won’t anyone fry his ass over his silence for all these years? Is he suddenly the cool kid, whose words determind the acceptance of the truth? This is all too high school and stupid. As vapid as my own observations may be, at least I don’t have a hard-on for myself.
What would the good doctor do. Or better yet. What Would Jack London Do? He’d sick some rabid starved wolves on these bastards. Jesus maybe that’s why hunter bunkered down in the mountains and good old JL broke for Alaska. They smelled the decay and mold creeping at the edges already.
Argh, if there were only a liberal spartan america. Is that an oxymoron? It shouldn’t be.
Pat Buchanan is my favorite conservative. He’s a loon in a house of thieves. Loons have a better chance at nailing the Truth. Oh no, the Thieves know all about the truth. You have to know it to obfuscate it with this level of deftness. These bastasrds, the thieves will never step on a Truth mine. They have the shit mapped out. The rest is as easy as plugging pipes into the sand.
The American population takes in news in highlighter form. This is a problem.
Watch CNN for one hour and you’ll see the same exact clips three times. How is this better than the net? (This is not a rhetorical question). If you’re out for pure information, it’s not. To be on the net is an action. You get on, check, search, scroll around what you wanna read. It’s like reading itself, there’s pieces of your mind at work. idk… Watching TV is different. It’s on, images and sounds play, but you’re not retrieving them, they just present themselves (actually, and here’s the trip, they’re presented to you by the collective will of some 30odd ppl). You do have to pay attention to catch things ( its not all meaningless and annoying or you wouldn’t have it on).
But ppl watch TV in highlighter format. look at that last paragraph. The prose is all over the place, wtf… What’s the information there? If you read a bunch (and all the time), you’ll get through it and even if you don’t you get a sense pretty easy. But if I would’ve put two phrases in green and had them playing in the background or something, what memories would most likely remain with you?
So, a little eff CNN here. Now that this isn’t my *=***ool blog I think I can say that. Maybe it brings me down a level. Very well could be. But honestly, you should take a look around where I am. Things are pretty, er, “low” and “down ” already. Look at that “er,” pretty simplistic, no? Idk, i’ve heard alot of brilliant things from dudes that couldn’t keep a gf or pay their bills on time or show up at their own child’s birth on time. Things here, down here, are not so copy edited and perfect.
A huge part of blogs are their conversational tone. You can talk about even the most complex things as you would in a conversation. Perhaps between two field specialists that conversation is of a certain caliber. Actually scratch that, I meant to say, it’s of a certain lexicon. But other ppl speak, or talk, or bullshit, in many different ways. This is not a novel, and this is not my official entry for the Pulitzer. This is a different kind of medium, some percentage of which is based on a conversational comfort.
And that comfort is very important. Part of what makes digesting information in the real world and digesting information in the theoretical plane so different is the very particular and subjective environment in which the information is received. In our rush to become effective, we’ve over stterilized ourselves. FUCK. just threw it in there. I have a terrible personality trait. So this is gonna stop sounding official and its gonna get personal. Not stupid, personal. When I write about Iraq, it won’t just be from an analytical point, it’ll also be through my own voice. I’m borderline pissed that I ahve to explain this as some sort of disclaimer. But fine, here it it. So, that’s cool. I don’t need to be that elevated here.
Frankly, I doubt this is gonna get above a very gritty and possibly unpleasant level.
As a matter of fact, here, we’re gonna be okay with low. If you’re not okay with the occasional low DO NOT READ MY USELESS SHIT. I will apologize when I’m wrong. Apologizing for the nature of my commentary, on the other hand is not likely. To be honest, I wanna selfcensor (HOLY CRAP!) in the following way, specifically, some time in the future. I’d like to make it so that no random 11 year old can run up on terrible narratives of twisted nights in unholy places…. fsuhcikt… cough…. we’ll see….
Don’t read this. Here we will be okay with it. You wanna get into this, let’s talk. Til then, I’ll be honestly posting my best possible thoughts on a number of items including, …. blhah blah blah…. but no talk of cheese.
Except for van halen, which i consider to be one of the most overrated turds in the maggot-riddled pile that is the last three decades of the american music scene. (ADD says what?)
I’ m even gona fuck up my spelling sometimes. Bil Vlinton. Alfred Bitchcock. I wish we were in the cafeteria together right now I’d try to make the milk bust out of your nose.
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215
terrible buggery…. professional sports are a horrifying reflection of our american selves… we don’t say it overtly, but these huge fucks are a version of our most athletic, hard-working, physically-intellectual selves. Accordingly, we are drugged up, lazy, pampered a__holes. (editor’s note: the cursing gets worse) We need a dose of humility and some god damn stability.
pill of the week (the final segment of a short-running skit which is debuting 2day)…. oxicontin… however the fuck you spell it… wow, it took rush limbaugh down… after the next ice age, perhaps there will be deities named vicodin, oil, Screech…
FBI lacks Arab speakers
This is a commonly known fact among intelligence and foreign policy experts. If it wasn’t 3:07am, I’d dig those articles out, but as it is, read this.
I’ve had it… blunter than northern lights
the only reason this has been deleted is for concerns about the name of the school. i’m feeling the blow-back already. It’d be nice if among this blowback would be
a)a dialogue about what it takes to get hired as a modern, flexible journalist
b)an agenda for our student council that is set by us
c) ************* edited *************************
d) a news service (is there anyone here who didn’t drink that kool-aid?)
e)a workshop for clip-gathering in preparation for the highly competitive internship application season (btw, google around to see what those columbia kids are doing)
There are quite a few awesome things about our program. As a CUNY graduate, though, I have to say that I am painfully aware of how quickly standards can drop. I’ve seen many a failure excused with a, “oh well, its just CUNY.” I picked this school over columbia and I did it for a reason.
I will not be cheated.
All I need is one Mic: Sunday Reading/Viewing/Foreboding
“I never let on, that I was on a sinking ship.” Smashing Pumpkins, “Zero”
Let’s begin with Bob Woodward. I hear that way back when, Mr Woodward was a journalist. I’m going to keep my opinion of his lazy ass to myself, but nontheless, he is widely respected as a voice of seasoned wisdom in Washington. (Once again, I’m keeping my opinion of his last two decades to myself).
Well anyways, the big news is that he’s coming out with a book, called State of Denial, which lambasts the bush administration. While I may wish that he would’ve come out with all this recently discovered brilliance a while ago, I have to admit, this book proves that even the mainstream now recognizes the terrible failures of the Bush Administration, especially as pertains to the Invasion of Iraq. So, without further ado, here are the Washington Post’s lengthy excerpts from Bob Woodward’s book. Take your time, it’s a long read.
If George W. Bush is not impeached, it will mark a serious failure in the history of American Democracy. Simply stated, no president should be allow to lie with such hubris to his own ppl. No president should be allow to use lies to send 150,000 americans to war. No president should be allowed to use faulty intelligence (which his OWN ADMINISTRATION edited and hence, MADE faulty) to drag our military from all over the world into this post-apocalyptic vietnam. Fuck the Lusitania and Fuck the Gulf of Tonkin resolution.
It’s just a different generation of petulent lying assholes. (btw, Dems and the rest of these Mayflower inbred clusterfucks that represent “our” government also fall into the same category)
But let’s talk of a Dem that I’m ok with. I’m sure everyone’s heard of one William Jefferson Clinton and his whacky, mildly overweight adventures. Well the Yale graduate and former leader of the free world was on Fox, propaganda station of the stars. My god man, did Clinton grow a pair or is it that he’s now safe from election politics so he’s willing to spill the beans from the obvious can?
Here he is on Fox News Sunday with neocon Chris Wallace (no, not biggie… the OTHER chris wallace, the spineless one, one of the murdoch minions). He roasts this bastard.
here’s part 1
and part 2
Why aren’t more journalists talking like Clinton? The most failing of all the branches of our gov’t is the press. How incredibly flacid it’s all been. Fucking pigeon journalists, PR chasers and cable careerists. ARGH! Here’s the CNN lineup of news when I just checked on it.
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- GOP leaders slam Foley amid criticism | Video
- Man arrested in slaying of 5, including 4 children
- Time.com: What makes us human?
- UN peacekeepers: Israeli troops still in Lebanon
- Churchgoers give God credit at kiosk
- Searchers scour wreckage of jetliner | Gallery
- Polls point to narrowing race in big Brazil vote
- Fairway fox tees off golfers
- Former Thai army chief sworn in as interim PM
- Michigan State coach slaps own face
- At least 4 killed in overpass collapse | Video
- Iraq: We’ll get al Qaeda leader, dead or alive
- CNN Wire: Latest updates on world’s top stories
Now that all looks good, no? Out of those dozen or so articles, how many required actual shoe-leather reporting? Who actually went out there to get stories out of all those? Truly, in my opinion, fucking pathetic. If America is yet a democracy it is with little help of the press. Cmon, y’all. You know what it takes to hunt down a story. How many of those stories were “hunted down.” Their lead piece is a tape of 9/11 hijackers laughing in Afghanistan. Do you think they “hunted” that down? or, is it possible, that this too was given them. Our industry is dying.
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14 and a half hours into my shift, I stink like mopwater and elevator polish. Ever bead of sweat that rolls down the premature creases on my forehead, rolling passed my brow and sinking into that hole on the side of my eye, stings like a karmic papercut. At this point I wish I’d really let loose on that blog about the J-School but I’m good. All I need is one mic.
38 hours into a wide-eyed weekend, memories of a hangover foretold
memories/notes of tuan’s house party…
last nite i was standing by a keg, staring down at the slow cold stream of yellow beer filling up my dixie cup, when a rambling conversation alla battle royal wafted over into my inebriated stream of consciousness
“…so i flipped out, and carved a *********************** into their muth!@#$! ********”
“… really, if they don’t start *******************, and soon, i’m gonna be like WTF?…”
sometime around 4, the hardcore crowd heads for the @#$# which by mere serendipidity happens to also be in Astoria… the umpa lumpas are everywhere and i see one of them rolling up and down on the slope where the corner of the room should be…. by the backroom, a teenage wigger sits next to me, I hear things are getting crazy next door, but it’s the line of freaks streaming down the stairs that frazzles my scattered brains…… he’s got a million tiny little tommy hil logos all over his XXXL shirt… his arms are thin and bony and his head has got to be causing him neck problems… i sit observing his eyes, rolled back and unresponsive, when a thick chunky stew of once masticated plain cheese pizza slowly starts to bubble out of his mouth…. this scene is too much….
back by the dancing wonkas two *$*%# girls come out … they have huge glow in the dark chains they skilfully juggle, turn, flip and dance with…. the hours move on…. the watch says 615 but lord knows it could be noon or midnite
everybody i know is gone now… its just me and the freaks, the freaks and i…. i’m over by the dj booth hand-styling at 7am when it occurs to me i need to get to fucking work in 60 mins…..
“nice hand style, dude,” i hear on the rusted red metal stairs…
“thanks man, I-”
“HOLY SHIT! Manny is that you?!”
