New York New York

This is a very short blog, so I'm sorry to disappoint my followers, but I was listening to the news yesterday morning, and I thought I misheard something.  Now, for my American followers, Ireland is most likely a few days behind the actual news story, so this is probably old news.

Did they actually say that, "The Naked Cowboy"who is playing his guitar in only his briefs on Times Square, entered the race to become the next mayor of New York?  Brilliant!

I quickly searched the Internet and found the news story, and behold, he had.  This could only happen in New York, the city that never sleeps.  And, to make things even better, his slogan was "Nobody has done more with less".  Here was a politician with a sense of humour.  Not like Arnie's slogan "I'll be back!" - back to do what?  Sign more police motorcycles to raise money, paying for debt in California?

But, the Naked Cowboy has actually, in his defense, a degree in political science. He's educated as a minister and he holds a certificate allowing him to marry people.  Why the latter, I do not know - and probably don't want to know.  But, some weird couple probably asked him if he could marry them on Times Square.

Unfortunately he withdrew his name from the race to become New York's next mayor - total letdown!  There was apparently too much red tape in the process - perhaps it was just a matter of the dresscode, mate?

But, you can still show him your support and you can find him on Facebook.  Loads of people claim they have been inspired by him, at least according to his Facebook page.  So lets hope he sticks with what he's good at -  entertaining.

So, to all people hoping to visit New York, the Naked Cowboy still shows off and plays his instrument on Times Square...:-)

Regards, The Naked Writer

Go Obama!

It was a pleasure to wake up Wednesday morning after the US presidential elections, to discover that Obama had won - most people had predicted this already, but there was always an outside, even remote, chance that McCain would win. Imagine Palin as vice president, for the most powerful nation in the World. Just the picture of her trying to negotiate with hostile leaders, e.g. North Korea.

Obama has spread joy around the Globe and has rock star status. Countries around the World celebrated the election results, and Kenya even made the 4th November a National Bank Holiday.

What impresses me, is that he seems to be honest in his communication and he has some realistic aspirations for the US. He uses the technology available to people, such as Facebook, which he will further explorer to make it easier for citizens to keep linked in. It’s about time that a Government uses the technology, which every citizen in the World has access too.

Who cares if his middle name is Hussein and does it matter if he was a registered Muslim? This just makes him a n even better candidate to tackle the foreign policy of the US - which Bush completely destroyed (don't even get me started on the devastating impact of the Bush era).

Obama has a vision of how to bring the US forward, create jobs and provide for it’s citizens. Today we are all a little bit African-American.

- by the way, I'm sure the Irish claim Obama has Irish roots too, just like Grace Kelly, Muhammad Ali and JFK.