Friday, February 11, 2005

Legal Help

Here's an area of the law I'm not too familiar with.
A man used an Internet chat room to try to set up a mass suicide on Valentine's Day involving more than two dozen women across the United States and Canada, authorities said.

Gerald Krein, 26, was arrested Wednesday at his mother's mobile home in Klamath Falls and faces charges of solicitation to commit murder, sheriff's deputies said.

I know it's illegal to assist in killing others, but is it actually illegal to try to kill yourself? Is it illegal to jump off a cliff? If you live do you not pass go, and head straight to jail?

Ok, what if I'm walking down the street, and I run into an acquaintance who I really don't care for. She tells me "life is going really bad...my boyfriend just through me out...I lost my gig..." and I say, "Damn, that blows. You should probably kill yourself, like, tomorrow!"

If she does, do I goto jail?

If you want to kill yourself, and you're not all drugged out, I have to give you the nod. It's a pretty bold thing to do, and afterall, I am always hearing how being "bold" is such a good thing.

Still Recovering

AP:
Chicago Police Delay Stun-Gun Plans
Instead they will continue to run clips of Bartman.

52 Warnings?

What a coincidence. That's equal to the number in a deck of cards.

Too bad bin Laden wasn't one of those cards.

For Those Keeping Count

This helps.

The rest of you, there's nothing to see here. Just keep going about your business.
Two roadside bombs tore through Sgt. Todd Domerese's Humvee in Iraq. The blast killed a fellow soldier and wounded two others. Metal chunks are lodged in his lips, jaw, cheeks, ear and forehead. Scars on his skull resemble a thick spider web.

First I Lie

Then I get righteous:
WASHINGTON - President Bush (news - web sites) on Friday threatened to veto any changes Congress tries to make to Medicare's new prescription drug benefit, which takes effect in January 2006.

"I signed Medicare reform proudly and any attempt to limit the choices of our seniors and to take away their prescription drug coverage under Medicare will meet my veto," Bush said at a swearing-in ceremony for Mike O. Leavitt, the new secretary of Health and Human Services (news - web sites).

A new cost estimate for the benefit released by the administration this week showed the first full decade of the program will cost taxpayers $724 billion. That renewed debate in Congress over the benefit's viability. The new figure is must higher than the $534 billion cost calculated by the administration earlier. That's because the previous decade-long projection covered fewer years.

It's the story of my life.

:(

Too bad.
Arthur Miller, one of the great American playwrights, whose work exposed the flaws in the fabric of the American dream, died yesterday at his home in Roxbury, Conn. He was 89. The cause was congestive heart failure, said Julia Bolus, his assistant.
He'd be treated as a communist if he was Michael Moore's age, and not the legend that he was.

Beat It With a Stick

Try! Try to! You just can't do it.
House Democratic leaders yesterday sought the removal of two recently appointed Republicans from the House ethics committee, questioning whether their contributions to Majority Leader Tom DeLay's legal defense fund would color their judgment on issues involving him.

It's like if Trent Lott created the Panel for Racial Harmony and appointed Strom Thurmond.

Affirmative Security!

Here's the compassion I was just looking for!

President Bush is claiming that since the life expectancy for blacks is lower, some may pay into the system of Social Security, and never reap the benefits. How clever!

He is proposing allowing for his investment accounts to be handed down to families after someone dies this way they'd be able to gain something from what they paid in. Well, that sounds all dandy, but can we wake up for two seconds?

Social Security isn't an investment program for FAMILIES! It's a retirement program for the elderly.

Another absurd factor is if the system is being strained to make payments why are families who are not retiring able to keep money?

If he really cared about having those who die younger benefit from the system he wouldn't be raising the age for which you receive benefits, but rather, LOWERING IT!

This guy is the biggest piece of shit to ever be wrapped in skin.

If he REALLY, REALLY, cared about their benefits he'd actually come out and say, "Well, all men apparently weren't CREATED equally, since blacks die younger than whites. Therefore, I propose a system wherein blacks reach the Social Securtiy benefits age younger than whites..." Riiiiiiiight.

Again, SS isn't an investment program that is passed down to families. If Bush cared to create that he would, but he doesn't. He plans on ending Social Security, the most succesful government run program of all time.

More Compassion

I just can't understand why all these millionaire democrats want to help these people:
Republican leaders in Congress began clearing the way yesterday for swift passage of legislation backed by the credit card industry and opposed by consumer groups that would make it harder for consumers to wipe out debt through bankruptcy.

Congress has tried repeatedly in recent years to pass similar legislation in what would be the most significant change in bankruptcy law in more than a quarter of a century. Twice in the last seven years, bankruptcy bills have passed both the House and Senate, only to face ultimate defeat. In one case, President Bill Clinton refused to sign the legislation, saying it was unfair to consumers. In 2002, House Republicans initially backed the bill but then voted it down after an amendment was attached that sought to prevent individuals from using bankruptcy to shield them from fines imposed for illegal antiabortion protests.

"Our overall concern is that this isn't a balanced bill," said Travis Plunkett, spokesman for the Consumer Federation of America, a nonprofit consumer research and advocacy group. "There isn't a single curb on abusive lending practices by credit card companies in these bills."

The legislation would make it harder for, but would not eliminate the ability of, wealthy people to hide assets during bankruptcy by buying expensive houses in states such as Texas or Florida, which currently provide broad exemptions for homes.

What a coincidence!

I have no problem with a bankruptcy bill, but the last bill Republicans passed (and Democrats, being that only 6 voted against it: Corzine, Clinton, Feingold, Jeffords, Wellstone, Kennedy) made it so individuals had to pay back banks before they paid child support. Isn't that special?

It'd be nice to see which democrats voted for it last time, and not this time simply because they really don't like President Bush, and the Republican Congress, for that would be a joke as well.

Banks are clearly at fault, and so are those in debt, but considering the trend of these republicans I'm sure this bill is a lot friendlier to rich banks and lobbyists than it is to the not-so-rich.

Sheesh

Will he ever go away?
Actor Corey Feldman (news), who says in an interview airing this week that Michael Jackson (news) showed him nude pictures when Feldman was in his early teens, was subpoenaed by prosecutors in the singer's molestation case, the actor's manager said Thursday.

Feldman described the pictures in a new interview with journalist Martin Bashir, who was responsible for the documentary "Living With Michael Jackson." That program, which aired on ABC in February 2003, has footage of Jackson and his accuser holding hands and Jackson defending his practice of sharing his bed with children.

Feldman, 33, said he went to Jackson's home when he was 13 or 14 and saw a book on the coffee table with pictures of naked men and women.
So I took out my coke, and broke it up on top of the book. Then Michael asked me if he could snort some off of my...

Thursday, February 10, 2005

Apparently

Retardo Montelban is the PR guy for the New York Yankees.

Why in the world with the Yankees have Jason Giambi give a press conference, wherein her apologizes 8 times, but doesn't say what it is he did?

Apparently, his agent and the organization assumed the media would think, "Well, we know what he's talking about, so why bother with the semantics of the whole thing..." C'mon, idiots, this is New York! We want BLOOD, even if it is tainted with steroids.

So instead of the Yankees putting this thing to rest before Spring Training they've actually made it worse. First thing tomorrow Don Imus, Sid Rosenberg, Joe Benigno, and Mike and the Mad Dog are going to go bananas about this, and take it to another level.

Pure stupidity.

One last thing, if 'mum' is the word because Giambi is dealing with a grand jury investigation, and doesn't want to tip his hat, I understand where he's coming from. BUT, are you trying to tell me that during this investigation/trial, at no point is he going to admit that he was/is using steroids? I mean, give me a break!

You're apology is an admittance of guilt that you did something wrong! If a jury asks, "Why, on February 10th, 2005, did you apologize to the media in a closed press conference, 8 times? Can you please explain your actions?"

"Well, I just thought it was a shame that all this had to happen, and that they, the fans and the media, deserved better," says a half-retarded Jason Giambi.

That's not happening. If you're going to admit it, and hold a conference, ADMIT IT! You just made it a lot worse.

Sorry for writing the obvious, but I had to.

Now I Can Sleep

With Lynne Stewart busted I can focus my energies on bin Laden.

Read It Again, For the First Time

Liberal Press:
ASHINGTON, Feb. 9 - In the months before the Sept. 11 attacks, federal aviation officials reviewed dozens of intelligence reports that warned about Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda, some of which specifically discussed airline hijackings and suicide operations, according to a previously undisclosed report from the 9/11 commission.

But aviation officials were "lulled into a false sense of security," and "intelligence that indicated a real and growing threat leading up to 9/11 did not stimulate significant increases in security procedures," the commission report concluded.

The report discloses that the Federal Aviation Administration, despite being focused on risks of hijackings overseas, warned airports in the spring of 2001 that if "the intent of the hijacker is not to exchange hostages for prisoners, but to commit suicide in a spectacular explosion, a domestic hijacking would probably be preferable."

The report takes the F.A.A. to task for failing to pursue domestic security measures that could conceivably have altered the events of Sept. 11, 2001, like toughening airport screening procedures for weapons or expanding the use of on-flight air marshals. The report, completed last August, said officials appeared more concerned with reducing airline congestion, lessening delays, and easing airlines' financial woes than deterring a terrorist attack.

The Bush administration has blocked the public release of the full, classified version of the report for more than five months, officials said, much to the frustration of former commission members who say it provides a critical understanding of the failures of the civil aviation system. The administration provided both the classified report and a declassified, 120-page version to the National Archives two weeks ago and, even with heavy redactions in some areas, the declassified version provides the firmest evidence to date about the warnings that aviation officials received concerning the threat of an attack on airliners and the failure to take steps to deter it.
I'll get to this when I get back from my August recess...

I finally agree with Republicans about something. 9/11 could not have been prevented and that's because YOU WERE IN OFFICE.

Read on, for it gets better.

Thank God He Has His Special Ring!

Because the Democrats are now speaking in code:
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate appears ready to give President Bush his first big win of the year by shifting many class action lawsuits from state courtrooms to more restrictive federal courts to curb multimillion-dollar verdicts.

By fighting off Democratic amendments, the GOP-controlled Senate has so far preserved an agreement with the Republican-controlled House to move the legislation through unchanged. Final Senate votes were planned as early as Thursday.

With the Senate having done its part, the House is expected to wrap up the legislation quickly next week and send it to the White House to be signed into law.

``We are, in fact, on the eve of passing class action reform that will restore fairness to the judicial system in this country,'' said Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., on Thursday. ``Our tort system is broken. And without the necessary reforms beginning with class action lawsuits, we deny our nation not only fair and efficient access to justice, but we allow this problem to pull our economy downward.''

Bush urged senators to pass the measure without changing it.

``They're trying to amend the bill,'' Bush said Wednesday of the Democratic efforts. ``That's code word for they're trying to weaken the bill. They're trying to make the bill not effective.''
Hmmm, I wonder why corporate America is so behind this guy?

God forbid a state court should actually hear a case about a corporation committing illegal acts within that state. And hear I always believed Republicans were for states right.

Here's another Amendment, or code if you will: They are for states rights as long as they states right represent big business.

Feign Like We Care

"There's the big question of, 'Is Jason coming back?' " Torre said. "If he does come back, he'll be welcomed with open arms."

Puhhhlease. Of course you'll welcome him back since you're all CLASSLESS!

Jason Giambi is set to give a press conference at 2 PM today to discuss his use of steroids, or so we think. Don't expect much considering the Yankees and his agent, Arn Tellem, are not about to flush $81 Million down the drain, presumably where his needles are.

Is he going to throw other players under the bus? No chance. Should he? Well, that's a question more for the ethicist, but in reality, no. What other players did is not his responsibility. He's responsible only to himself (and being an athlete, his "maker"). However, if he truly cared about the game and it's history, and not just himself and his cash, he would spill some beans, but I guess his book will tell all. Afterall, this is America's Pastime, so you have to grab as much money as you can anyway you can.

Note: I mean baseball is America's Pastime, not robbery and lying. Although, I can see where one could get confused.

Many things bother me about the steroid issue, and I didn't just arrive to these thoughts recently.

When Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were 'Roiding' homeruns over fences, one after another, throughout 1998 and on, my emotions were tempered. Being a Cubs fan it was easy to get excited, and on some days I was very much so. Hey, if someone was going to break the record it may as well be my guy. However, I was never not bothered by the reality that Roger Maris would soon be forgotten. Thankfully Billy Crystal kept him memory alive for a few more weeks with his film "61", for that was a story.

In the end, baseball did not care about it's history, and what is baseball without history? The entire sport is based on statistics and legends. Whether it was Ruth, Williams, Mantle, Mays, Aaron, or even Bonds, baseball has always been about the past, and the greatness of those players. Not anymore. Baseball was more than fine watching it's current stars surpass the greats by allowing the balls and players to be 'juiced.' In fact, not only did MLB not care about the past, but neither did some of the networks. For it was FOX who told their announcers to no longer mention names like Ruth, Mantle, Mayes, etc. because they wanted their audience to focus only on the current players, hopefully getting them to watch more, forget the past, and buy new merchandise, since that is really America. Right?

Aside from not caring about history, MLB never exercised a clause in the Collective Bargaining Agreement that allowed the league to randomly test any player they suspected of being on steroids. Are you kidding me? Did you not expect ANY PLAYER to be on steroids? Hello?!?! Have you seen Luis Gonzalez? This guy hit about 10 homeruns in Wrigley Field, and then went on to Arizona to be a prolific power hitter. MLB just never cared, as long as the registers were ringing.

What about the Yankees, are they responsible for Giambi's actions, or is it just the player? I'm sure there are many Yankees fans who are very worked up toward Giambi, but do not hold the team responsible. Please, get down off the horse.

The Yankees, just like MLB, could have called out a player for using juice, but chose not to. Now they engage in the PR campaign to get this thing out of the way before Spring Training begins in a week. I don't blame them for trying to protect their investment, but they're probably more to blame than any other team since the Yankees have profited more by baseball's recent success than any other franchise.

The Yankees continue to dump money and force other teams to do the same. The money has enticed so many of these players to do everything possible to get to the top, and along the way so many of them have cheated, and one, Ken Caminiti, has even died. I really wonder how a salary cap would have affected cheating. It's tough to say, but I could make an argument laying out how a cap would create less greed, less cheating, and fewer problems.

Seriously, they are all to blame.

So what have we, the fans, been doing the last 7-10 years about all of this? Uhh, nothing. We goto the games, we buy beers, pickup a jersey, and of course, when the kids are around, we tell them how bad it is to do drugs. Seriously, we don't care for sports is a vehicle to make us happy. If they die, cheat, whatever, we're not concerned, as long as we're happy. If we cared we wouldn't take the children to see these games, and buy them merchandise. We wouldn't talk about these players like they're gods. What we would do is tell kids what is right, and what is wrong. Of course when we don't have those discussions we become shocked down the road to find out that Jimmy uses steroids in the 11th grade so he can get a scholarship, and that Bobby drinks as much as Jimmy's as Derek Jeter does at Lot 61. We're shocked!!! We're outraged!!! We feign.

Honestly, I don't care if Giambi spills his guts, for I hope he does. Don't expect that since he's not a complete idiot, nor is his agent, or his boss. They are all the same. Play the system, fight the rules, make as much cash as they can now, and then apologize in a closed door press conference on a 36 degree afternoon in February. Eventually, Giambi will write a book just like Jose Canseco just did.

I'll stop there for the conference has begun.

In the end, everyone mentioned is responsible for this, and it's just another reason why baseball is the weakest sport of modern times.

Send Condi!

After fixing the Middle East and relations with Europe, she now moves on to N. Korea, another part of the world where she has no experience:
North Korea on Thursday declared itself a de facto nuclear power, claiming in its strongest terms to date that it had "manufactured nuclear weapons" to defend itself from the United States and saying it would withdraw indefinitely from international disarmament talks.

Since withdrawing from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and ejecting weapons inspectors in a dispute with the Bush administration in late 2002, North Korea has used less specific language, both publicly and privately, to describe the development of what it has dubbed a "nuclear deterrent." But on Thursday, an official North Korean statement employed wording that analysts and several Asian diplomats saw as a virtual declaration that it has become a nuclear power. "In response to the Bush administration's increasingly hostile policy toward North Korea, we . . . have manufactured nuclear weapons for self-defense," the government said in official statement through the its Korean Central News Agency.

Statement released today: In response to N. Korea's admittance the United States is prepared to declare war on Syria.

Comedy

WaPo:
The conservative reporter who asked President Bush a loaded question at a news conference last month resigned yesterday after liberal bloggers uncovered his real name and raised questions about his background.

Jeff Gannon, who had been writing for the Web sites Talon News and GOPUSA, is actually James Dale Guckert, 47, and has been linked to online domain addresses with sexually provocative names.

He has been under scrutiny since asking Bush how he could work with Senate Democratic leaders "who seem to have divorced themselves from reality." The information about Gannon was posted on the liberal sites Daily Kos, Atrios and World o' Crap.

So many levels...

Shameless

Yes, that is me.

My friend sent me this link to get a free iPod. Of course I thought it was bogus, but it's not.

If 5 people complete the process I will get it.

They give you a host of businesses to choose from like Columbia House, BMG, RealRhapsody, etc. I chose RealRhapsody free for 14 days since it's the only thing I was truly interested in, and hey, it's free!

So, if you want to help me get an iPod, or get yourself one, all you need do is follow this link.

This is a legit offer.

I also chose the 4 gig, blue mini for working out.

Wednesday, February 09, 2005

Azzhole

ETA did it.:
Madrid - A car bomb blamed on Basque separatists exploded in a Madrid office park Wednesday near where King Juan Carlos later appeared, injuring at least 43 people in the worst terrorist attack in the Spanish capital since last year's bombing of commuter trains.

The bomb exploded at about 9:30 a.m., less than an hour after a warning call purportedly made by the Basque separatist group ETA. It shattered thick panes of glass in buildings — spraying shards over a wide area — and damaged cars.
Now's probably a good time to run that television special on them.

Just the Jams!

Set 1
mix 1: 11/27/98 buried > 12/14/95 halley's jam > 6/14/00 2001 > 9/14/00 suzy jam > 7/16/94 dwd > 11/27/98 h20 > some horn jam > 12/14/95 Slave > 12/14/95 tweezer jam > 11/27/98 vultures jam > 7/16/94 lizards jam > 7/10/99 circus > 11/27/98 wading solo > keyboard cav 12/14/95 > 6/14/00 squirming coil > silent in the morning (?) > 9/14/00 Reba


Set 2
mix 2: 7/29/98 gin > 6/14/00 twist > fuckerpants (?) > 10/31/94 simple (?) > 12/14/94 Tela > glide drum tease > guyute (10/31/95?) > 7/10/99 chalkdust jam > 7/10/99 roggae > 8/13/96 fefy > 3/1/97? taste > 11/27/98 farmhouse > 2/14/03 gin
If you ever wondered what makes people live for Phish, this is why.

Pretty Much So

This column is, but you may want to point out how the rich are getting away with tax murder under Bush, and how the poor continue to get killed.

I think columnists need to realize many educated Americans are not rationale people, but rather selfish people.

Tool

Newsday:
Republican Bret Schundler has raised more than $500,000 for his second try at the governor's chair, but the former Jersey City mayor is also carrying a quarter-million dollars in debt from his failed 2001 gubernatorial run.

Schundler disclosed the red ink in a January filing with the state, indicating he had raised enough to qualify for state matching campaign funds for 2005 but also had $253,000 in lingering debt from the loss to former Gov. James E. McGreevey, a Democrat.
I guess he took Cheney's advice that deficits don't matter.

I bet his friends rag on him and chant, "You lost to a gaaaay guy...You lost to a gaaaay guy..."

Let the Heineken Spill

Sucks:
Jazz organist Jimmy Smith passed away Tuesday at the age of 76, apparently having died in his sleep during an afternoon nap.

The legendary musician was a hugely influential figure in music, whose style of play affected not only his own genre but others, including hip-hop. DJs and producers often sample his soulful riffs; among the songs on which Smith's music appears are the Beastie Boys' "Root Down" and A Tribe Called Quest's "Push It Along."
Here's a little taste of Jimmy back at the Chicken Shack and with his Satin Doll.

More Shocking News

They lie:
The White House released budget figures yesterday indicating that the new Medicare prescription drug benefit will cost more than $1.2 trillion in the coming decade, a much higher price tag than President Bush suggested when he narrowly won passage of the law in late 2003.

The projections represent the most complete picture to date of how much the program will cost after it begins next year. The expense of the new drug benefit has been a source of much controversy since the day Congress approved it, with Democrats and some Republicans complaining that the White House has consistently low-balled the expected cost to the government.

Maybe the Prez can use this as another excuse for why he needs to cutback farm aid, education, and Social Security?

Tuesday, February 08, 2005

More of the Same

USNEWS:
While Fox News Channel remains the favorite network of Republican lawmakers, NBC's new anchor, Brian Williams, is the one turning GOP heads. Message guru and former MSNBC contributor Frank Luntz says in a confidential memo to Hill leaders that Williams has emerged as the "go-to network anchor" because of his brains and "lack of detectable ideological bias." Luntz credits NBC Executive Producer Steve Capus for "a flawless transition to a new generation of news anchor." Still, Fox and CNN lead the nets when it comes to GOP loyalty.

Whatever

I've just read a few takes on how poorly the Eagles/Andy Reid managed the clock in the Superbowl.

The way I see it is had the Eagles managed the clock better it would have led to them losing faster.

For Sometime Now

AP:
Canseco also said President Bush the Rangers' general managing partner at the time, must have known about the steroid use.

White House spokesman Trent Duffy did not specifically address Canseco's assertion, but said Sunday that Bush's position on steroids "has been known for some time," noting that he condemned the drugs in his 2004 State of the Union address.

Waaaay back in '04? Damn that's a long time ago.

Then again, I don't expect much from a guy who blows lines at Camp David. Then again, camp was a time to experiment.

Condi's Mind

This seems easy!

First I goto the Middle East and now there's peace, and then I shoot over to Europe and mend all the fences. Damn I'm good.

--I'm not sure if this is exactly what happened, but if you read the papers and watch t.v. you'd have to believe it!

Monday, February 07, 2005

It's a Coin Flip

Between "Compassionate" and "Conservative" and looks like "Conservative" won this one:
The Bush administration's spending plan for 2006 would more than double the co-payment many veterans pay for prescriptions drugs, The New York Times reported Monday. It would also impose a new annual $250 fee on some veterans for access to a government-sponsored health plan, the newspaper said.

The co-pay would rise to $15 from the current $7. This and the $250 "user fee" would apply mostly to veterans with higher incomes who don't have service-related disabilities, the newspaper said, citing unnamed administration sources.

While the administration didn't provide an estimate of how many former service men and women would be affected, veterans' groups said the changes would affect hundreds of thousands of people, the newspaper reported.

The budget also includes previously announced plans to close or scale back the operations of some veterans hospitals. The Department of Veterans Affairs expects to serve some 5 million people at its health-care facilities this year, the Times said.

Niiiiice.

Pffff

He is the president, I swear:
Q -- really understand how is it the new plan is going to fix that problem?

THE PRESIDENT: Because the -- all which is on the table begins to address the big cost drivers. For example, how benefits are calculate, for example, is on the table; whether or not benefits rise based upon wage increases or price increases. There's a series of parts of the formula that are being considered. And when you couple that, those different cost drivers, affecting those -- changing those with personal accounts, the idea is to get what has been promised more likely to be -- or closer delivered to what has been promised.

Does that make any sense to you? It's kind of muddled. Look, there's a series of things that cause the -- like, for example, benefits are calculated based upon the increase of wages, as opposed to the increase of prices. Some have suggested that we calculate -- the benefits will rise based upon inflation, as opposed to wage increases. There is a reform that would help solve the red if that were put into effect. In other words, how fast benefits grow, how fast the promised benefits grow, if those -- if that growth is affected, it will help on the red.

Thanks to Atrios for the tip.

I just read most of this, and one has to wonder has there ever been a dumber leader of ANY country? Name the person.

What's He Smoking?

Too much:
In all of the hubbub over federal public relations contracts, at least one agency has gotten a bad rap, says Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.), chairman of the House Committee on Government Reform.

Davis said yesterday that the Government Accountability Office was wrong Jan. 4 when it ruled that the Office of National Drug Control Policy broke federal law last year by preparing prepackaged news stories that did not disclose to television viewers that the government had produced them.

The video news releases, which featured narrators "reporting" on the Bush administration's anti-drug campaign, constituted "covert propaganda" and violated a ban against publicity and propaganda, the GAO found.

Davis disagreed, saying in an interview that if anyone had a duty to disclose that the videos were government-produced, it was the news organizations that put them on the air. Davis noted that the external packaging clearly labeled the videos as government products.

"I don't think there's any legal violation," he said. "I would not want to start muzzling government organizations on this because of the way that this stuff is handled by the media."

In other words, the government should try to trick you, and the "liberal media" should have to edit the ONDCP's campaigns so they jive with the law? Also, after the government pays their dicounted rates for spots, the news orgs should spend their own time and money fixing the spots?

I'm confused here. Someone clarify.

Like He Said

Agent Hynd has been calling Don McNabb the most overrated player in the game for a while. I think he might be onto something.

I thought the Eagles would win based on a good Don performance, but it wasn't so. This cat underthrew EVERY pass except the three TDs he actually put some mustard on.

The Eagles WRs were open all day, and yet Don couldn't hit them in stride. The one acrobatic catch Todd Pinkston made over the middle should have at least been caught on the run and turned into something close to a touchdown. If not for Pinkston's generally great playing McNabb really would have sucked.

The first two TDs he threw were close to being batted away, if not picked off. No joke, he was worst then Kerry Collins against the Ravens three years ago. Collins certainly sucked, and had poor numbers, but no one on the Giants was every open. If Collins, who was HORRIBLE this year for the Raiders, was the the QB last night the game would have been closer, at least in my mind. Terrell Owens was thrown to 12 times, and caught 10! The other two were uncatchable balls. Almost any other QB with a brain would have worked that angle all night in order to pull Rodney Harrison away from the middle of the field. McNabb also missed Westbrook all alone up the sideline for a sure TD.

All this said, if the Eagles had any type of inside running game it would have been a different game. It'd be nice if they called Don's # once on a sneak. Btw, has this guy ever seen the shotgun?

The Patriots played a boring game, but made plays when they had to. The Eagles defense did a decent job of keeping the game tight. It would have been nice if they held ground after their first score, but you can't ask for too much.

Last thing, as Cris Collinsworth noted, Brady changed up the snap count all night to get the Eagles into their blitz. He called out almost every blitz and yet the Eagles never audibled out of a blitz. It seemed Brady rarely got pressured. Why McNabb couldn't so something so simple like change up the count to get an idea of what blitz was coming is beyond my comprehension because he was getting swamped. On one play he got sacked by all 5 guys!

Sidenote: Terrell Owens is king.

That performance was greater than Willis Reid's, which in all honestly wasn't really that great.

For Owens to sacrfice his career for that win is something incredible. I cannot think of a player in the NFL I'd rather have on my team.

Best Commercial: Budweiser - Skydiving: When the pilot jumped out of the plane for the beer I pissed myself.

Early prediction for next year: Colts vs. Panthers

More Cluelessness

The true President Bush will come out in the second term.

It makes me laugh out loud when I read about Bush's proposed budget. Of course, money for the military (althought not budgeted) and Homeland Security will rise, but cash for most other things will certainly fall as he tries to rein in the budget his Vice President never worried about.

While reining in this budget he is bent on changing Social Security by borrowing. Go figure?!?!?

After reading the "9/11 Report" I was amazed at just how close a clueless FAA and military were to stopping the attacks, or at least some of them. Just the fact the events took place has made everyone more aware, and the likelihood of a plane style attack ever happening again miniscule. I don't see a lot of other ways to pull off such a grandiose attack ever again. It is possible terrorists can get their hands on loose nuclear material, but the likelihood of that is not great.

Point being is we increase federal spending on HSA, and give cash to states that really don't need it. We increase spending on a military that wastes more money than any government program ever, and of course they get more. But when it comes to federal spending on farms, education, health care, scientific research, and on and on, here is where you find your cuts in spending.

President Bush operates on simple assumptions: The government shouldn't spend monies it received via taxation, but it should give it back to the people to spend on their own. In order to make sure you can do this safely I will fight wars around the world, and increase the national security blanket at home so you can all keep spending and earning. Always pray, for that helps.

This fool doesn't realize how much more important spending on farms, health, education, etc. are to the lives of people than his absurd outlook on their lives is.

Conservativism used to be about dollars spent, and reining in government. Not anymore. Now it means moral values. The Red Staters and Republicans elsewhere will want the cash they've been receiving from the Blues for years, and they will take on Bush and his budget. Hence why moral values has to be their newest/highest principle since withholding spending is something they cannot do.

Recently in Florida the court overturned Governor Jeb Bush's decision to keep Terry Schiavo alive. Her situation is a perfect microcosm of the Bush world: Keep someone helpless alive. President Bush's heavy military spending while cutting needs domestically is too similar. Throw in the morality question and you have their entire worldview in one case.

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Sidenote:

I read some of the comments made on this page while I was away, and this is truly a gem:
Jenny, Bush is saving millions of lives by spreading democracy. A long time ago, Democrats used to care about things like freedom, now all they care about is regaining power. They are so pathetic, I almost feel sorry for them.
I'm not sure how good you are at math, but I'll say Bush is saving Millions minus the 100,000 he just killed in Iraq plus the 1000 + US troops he had killed in Iraq.

He's spreading democracy? Really? Around the world? Really? They're going to continuing pouring money into Iraq as it never works out? Really? This is something you support?

When was this "long time ago" that you speak of? When did the Republicans embrace it? I remember in 2000 Bush was not a "nation-builder." Do you remember that? Wait, wait, let me guess, "everything changed after 9/11" including our ability to lie and smear to no end.

Lets get one thing straight here about Bush and the Republicans that some readers think remarkable: President Bush beat John Kerry nationally, and gained seats mostly in places that are as seemingly as clueless as him. Sure, many of these places are growing in size, but not so overwhelmingly that the makeup of the country's population is going to shift dramatically.

President Bush will now embark on cutting programs for many of these places, and these people, in due time, will realize how for them he's not.

In the end one should realize not that Republican ideas are winners, but that Bush beat Kerry via marketing and presentation. Had President Clinton run against Bush it wouldn't have been close.

It was a race between two lackluster politicians in a country almost as clueless as it's leader, and the bigger fool one. It's nothing more.