BeLOW Me

Tim Tebow, You Had me When that Sailor was on his Knees...

2011-11-18T10:46:00.011-05:00

A couple of weeks ago I was, like so many, really annoyed with the coverage Tim Tebow was receiving from the media. Unlike a certain group of people, namely devout Christians and anyone who attended the University of Florida, I was solidly with the majority of NFL Players who believe (still do, as much as ever) that Tebow will never be a good NFL QB. Nothing has changed in that regard, but my opinion on the whole media matter in general has.

I'm a Raiders fan, so I want Tim Tebow leading the Broncos. This should set them back a good number of years, and I'm all for that. I also hate the Jets, so last night's game was a thing of comedy and beauty, all wrapped up into the perfect burrito.

As the game was coming down to the wire, there were Jets fans saying "Tebow is gonna tie it up..."

I stopped them all and said, "NO CHANCE! TEBOW DOESN'T TIE SHIT UP! HE WINS SHIT!"

Of course he won the game. It had to happen that way. The Messiah vs Jew York. It was too perfect.

Lets put all that aside though, just for a second.

The guy still sucks at playing Quarterback.

I'm not saying he can't run the ball. I'm not saying he can't win a game that's within 4 points late in the game. I'm not saying he's not determined to do well. I'm not saying he can't do any of the things he has recently done. All of THOSE THINGS are within what Tim Tebow can do.

What I am saying is Tim Tebow is not right now, hasn't been in the past, and will not be in the future a successful NFL Quarterback.

It's that simple.

Yes, he has won some games, but more so, his defense has beaten some of the worst offenses in the league, and Tebow has been able to help them win close games late. Congratulations. Feel free to sign the guy for the final drive. But if you actually want your team to be in games that aren't close, get a real quarterback.

He ain't it.

Now I hear people say things like, "I told you he could play in the NFL!"

People, stop. I'm not saying he doesn't know what a football looks like, or that he can't snap the ball from center. That's not the argument here, so please stop lowering the bar. What I am saying is he's not a first round draft pick, and if the Broncos could pick again, despite ALL OF THIS, they wouldn't touch the guy.

He's a guy who can do certain things well. Like Kordell Stewart. Like Ronnie Brown running the "Wild Cat", and like other guys who are limited. But that's not where the bar has been set. It's been LOWERED so much that any success Tebow has is viewed as "told you so." You did tell me, but you're still wrong.

This is why I compare the FEELING of what I see with Tebow with the feeling of how I felt when people told me George Bush was doing well in debates. Those people WANT to believe, and yes, it's pretty much the same people: the believers. In the end, the result will be somewhat the same as well.

A couple of years ago I wrote about how Vince Young would certainly be a NFL Bust. I was spot on then because I saw the games, I knew what he did well, and what he couldn't do. After the National Title game all of the talking heads were saying "This guy has to be number 1..." How'd that work out?

The difference between Vince and Tim though is that Tim is being given the chances Vince was not. The team is catering their offense, for the time being, around what Tim does well. They did NOT do that for Vince Young. They forced him to be a real quarterback, and how did that work out? It didn't. The same way it won't work for Tebow. Ahhh, but Tebow has the supporters. The believers. The people in Kentucky who erect Billboards in his name.

The people Vince never had. Vince Young was FAAAAAAR more talented, but he didn't have the machine. Vince Young wasn't the pretty white kid whose dad was a minister.

Therefore, Vince Young didn't get that chance. And Young was probably smart enough not to want it.

Now Vince Young is an average backup in Philadelphia, and Tim Tebow is enjoying his brief moment in the sun in Denver.

In the end though, Vince Young, a guy who I felt was going to be a complete bum, will have a longer, and more successful career than Tim Tebow.

Mark these words.

People can tell me I'm being a "glass half empty" kind of guy. Well, I think you're drinking a full glass of idiot.

On a side note, the same coach people have been killing for not playing Tim Tebow, has turned this team around with defense. Tebow has been average at best, while John Fox has been amazing the last 5 weeks. Yet the discussion about John Fox has only been how he handles Tim Tebow.

It's truly ridiculous.

The Star Alliance Strikes Again

2011-11-14T13:18:00.003-05:00

So flights out of SFO to EWR were ABSURDLY pricey for our flight back east, just one way. Get this:

To fly from SFO to EWR was $627. So I did a "nearby airport" search with "flexible dates."

It turns up that flying out of Monterey at 9 AM was only $176, but soon jumped to $200. Of course, that flight goes from MRY to SFO, then gets on the same plane that goes to Newark. Same flight in the end. Lucky for us we're leaving our car in MRY so it works out.

However, the "nearby airport" search on both ends created an itinerary of SFO --> PHILLY. Philly is considered a "nearby" airport to Newark, within 150 miles. That flight was also $176. Yet, that flight goes from SFO TO NEWARK, THEN TO PHILLY! SAME PLANE!

We couldn't take that option because we are checking bags, and they'd end up in Philly.

Today I check online, just for kicks, to see what's available. We ended up paying around $480 total, with fees, etc. There's a flight available from SFO to HOU to EWR, for $149 one way. I thought, maybe I'll change it. The change fee to get on THAT flight is $1,369 total for TWO. A flight which costs less than our original ticket.

I called Continental to ask why, and they said there are a lot of reasons, but primarily it's because you're "switching origin." I told her, "not really. I did a SFO search initially, and this was the best option at the time based on your recommended airport. I figured all the airports would fall within SFO - ALL SAN FRANCISCO AIRPORTS, which was the option on your website."

"Yes, I understand, but you're switching origins..."

Even better is how it costs $180 less ($1,197 vs $1,369) to switch to a direct flight from SFO to NYC, which if I purchased that same ticket today would actually cost $300 more!

Are you confused yet?

I'm tempted to add a chart, but what's the point?

The bottom line is: The airline uses a matrix, and it's clearly working...

Penn State

2011-11-11T13:53:00.004-05:00

Just some quick thoughts, summary of it all, etc. etc.

I've been a defender of Paterno only because I just want it to be the case that he didn't know. It's impossible to think that he didn't considering how many people did know, and him being the head coach and all, but I guess there's a chance. If he didn't know, well, he just didn't want to know. And ignorance is surely not bliss.

Everything else has pretty much been said, but there are two things I take issue with.

The first is the NCAA, and the sanctions against Penn State. As it now stands there won't be any, and quite frankly, if the entire story is focused only on Sandusky, etc, then there shouldn't be any. The NCAA isn't the arbiter of morality, and if this case has nothing to do directly with Penn State athletics, they shouldn't be levying any punishment. I don't even think they can, knowing what we know.

BUT!

Penn State has remained free of any sanctions pretty much for the entirety of Joe Paterno's tenure, and they've had some rotten eggs come through that program. I can think of a few off the top of my head, but no reason to drag them into this. If Paterno, and his staff, were able to keep this story under wraps, I can't imagine some of the other things they were able to hold down. Over the past few seasons alone Ohio State, Michigan, Iowa, Oregon, Tennessee, USC, Georgia, Alabama, LSU, all of these schools and so many more, have had run-ins with the NCAA. But not Penn State.

This may blow their cover, and give the NCAA a reason to START looking.

Schools are supposed to self report when they learn of violations, and I'm guessing Penn State didn't do much of that.

You feel me?

The second thing which sticks out to me, is the seemingly unreported/unmentioned (shocking, considering everything else has been) fact that Joe Paterno and Mike Mcqueary did the WRONG thing. And I don't mean in the sense that they didn't call the police, which they should have by law, because I'm not sure how many people actually are aware it's a legal obligation to so. Then there's the whole "moral" question of should Paterno/Mcqueary have called the police. In Paterno's case we can't say for SURE what he knew. If he knew, then yes, goes without saying. But if it was kept from him, and then he believed higher-ups looked into it, then there's a LITTLE gray area.

All this aside though, the reason he did the wrong thing is because contacting superiors/higher-ups is only the "right thing" to do IF it related to your football program. For example, Ohio State's former Coach Jim Tressel (man, that hurts) should have told his Athletic Director, and other higher-ups, about what he knew regarding his football program. However, this case has nothing to do with football, so by contacting his superiors Joe Paterno didn't really do anything at all. That's not the "right thing, legally" at all. That's just telling other people who also worry about the future of the program, who in turn protected the program, and didn't advance the legal case. It's no different if he had told his butcher, except his butcher probably calls the police.

Paterno basically attempted to move the decision off his own plate, for whatever reason. But lets not pretend he did any "right thing" even in a legal sense because clearly he legally did not. As far as the NCAA goes, it's a moot point because they have no jurisdiction here at all!

In essence, Paterno did nothing at all.

If Mike Mcqueary saw Jerry Sandusky murdering someone, and then told Paterno, what would they have done? Told the Athletic Director?

Of course not. If they did would reporters be saying "well, they did the right thing as far as the NCAA would be concerned."

Obviously not.

That's how this should be judged. As a crime equal to murder, and what they did in response to it.

Maybe Alabama Will Show Us

2011-10-27T21:35:00.002-04:00

The toughest in the nation immigration law passed by Alabama is having a serious effect on their ability to farm. Apparently, no one is signing up to do the work the immigrants have abandoned.

This is not a great economy, with nearly 1/4 of every able-bodied person out of work. So it's pretty much going to be proof positive if Americans in the South, especially within Alabama, are going to take these jobs the "illegals" have given up.

We'll find out if farmers can afford to even pay citizens the minimum wage, and if so what will the price increases be on the produce.

Thank you, Alabama. I look forward to the results!

Lets Just Make Some Shit Up...

2011-10-27T16:35:00.002-04:00

Cover of NYTIMES today is an article about Republican Senators moving to the right of President George W. Bush on military tribunals in America.

Congressional Republicans increasingly reject any use of the civilian criminal justice system for handling cases involving Al Qaeda, hardening their stance in a dispute with the Obama administration over whether such suspects should be held and prosecuted exclusively by the military.

Republican senators are pushing to include a provision in a 2012 military authorization bill that would require Qaeda suspects accused of plotting attacks and who are not American citizens to be held in military custody — even people arrested in the United States. The White House opposes such a blanket rule.

Amid negotiations over the bill, Republicans — who see their position as a potent election issue in 2012 — delivered an overwhelming show of unity in support of such ideas late last week, as 45 of the party’s 47 senators voted for a similar proposal to ban civilian trials for such “enemy combatants.” The endorsement highlighted a dramatic shift to the right in the politics of counterterrorism since President Obama succeeded George W. Bush.

In other words, they pretty much have no foreign policy right now, so they figure, "Why not? This seems like something we can at least argue about!"

He captured bin Laden, Quadaffi is out of power, he's drawing down troops, and at home voters are showing contempt for all spending and military action.

So they're just gonna make some shit up. See if they can go FURTHER right...

Oakland PD is Dumb

2011-10-27T16:13:00.004-04:00

Here's why there's an issue, and why there's a dude in critical condition, and why this is now an anti-war protest (it kinda is/always way, regardless), and is a protest for animals rights, women's rights, minority rights, workers rights, every person's rights...

1) Because it's the Bay Area, which is obvious, and you're like 5 miles from Berkeley and San Francisco.

2) The cops are idiots. They decided to clear people out of the square at 4:30 AM on Tuesday. I mean, who likes being woken up at 4:30 AM, and told to go somewhere else? No one does. They seemingly did this to avoid having to deal with the removal of people during the rush hour (which, btw, is limited anyway). They wanted this cleaned up before 8:30 AM.

This was a bad call.

They then told the protestors they could assemble there at 9 AM, during park hours (or whenever the park opened). So, at 9 AM they all came back. BUT...the city had decided they were going to clean up the park first, etc. etc., so when the protestors came back the park wasn't yet opened up. This created the beginning of the conflict. People were aware they were breaking the law, and couldn't be in the park. They all could be arrested if the city wanted to divert it's manpower from the other crime centers in the area, known by most as "most of Oakland."

Had the police come at 9AM on Tuesday morning, the mayor specifically, and spoke to them all, explaining the situation, things may be different. They would have to leave when the park closed, and they could return the next day.

This didn't happen.

Now people are getting shot at.

Awesome.

Don't get me wrong for I am not anti-police in any way. I just think they handled this situation as poorly as possible. If you want proof of this just take a look at every other OW sit-in nationwide.

This isn't happening anywhere else. But when you have a police for that is used to responding with force in most situations, this is what you get.

It's Always a Shit Storm in Oakland

2011-10-26T18:12:00.002-04:00

And it's always sunny too, btw...

Yesterday's non-stop action in downtown Oakland was borderline insanity. I am stationed directly across from the city, and was able to see through buildings. Between the lights, sounds, smoke, helicopters, etc, it looked like a battle was taking place. And yet I can't help but ask myself why is this happening?

Now that it has it strikes me as necessary to point out how terrible a thing it is that it has.

First off, a young man is in critical condition after police fired tear gas canisters into the crowd, and one struck him in the head. Then while people were tending to him an officer fired a flash grenade into their group. Watch it all here.

Oakland cops should know better. If anyone has been to this city they know there's clearly A LOT MORE BAD SHIT GOING DOWN THAN THIS! Just drive around, uhh, anywhere, and you'll find it. Attacking peaceful protestors, is that a good use of resources? I think not.

I have passed by the OW Protest downtown at least 5 times in the last 2 weeks, every time at night, and I've never noticed anything that would concern me, or make me fear for my safety.

And Oakland PD, you're drawing attention to your force, and meanwhile you're under investigation by the FBI for corruption. Good job.

The unfortunate aspect all of this, besides the obvious injuries, etc, is how this protest is now being turned into a battle of people vs police vs Wall St vs other causes vs everything. If you thought Occupy Wall St was a bit misguided at the outset (it wasn't), now it's really going off the rails here in California. Pictures and videos will come across peoples' televisions from coast to coast, and the generally non-violent protest will be made to look horrific.

The unfortunate irony in all of this is how these people are continually compared to the Tea Party, which is so stupid. What, no one in the Tea Party has lost a job? No on in the Tea Party is suffering? Everyone in the Tea Party has health care? No one in the Tea Party is underwater on their mortgage?

Well, if that's the case, when why does anyone give a shit about the TEA PARTY?!?!?

I'll say one thing about the Tea Party, they received tons of positive coverage, and suffered VERY LITTLE. Not at rallies, not at townhalls, now in Washington D.C. did you ever see a Tea Partier living amongst rats in a city park, getting sprayed with hoses, having tear gas launched at them. It seems to me the Tea Partiers are DOING ALRIGHT!

So if the country wants to really pay attention to who is sacrificing their own well-being in order to achieve something better, maybe focus on the people getting the shit kicked out of them in downtown Oakland.

Try not to make them look like the clowns during all of this.

So You Think Your Frat's Alumni Suck?

2011-10-26T13:52:00.001-04:00

Check this out:

SAE Vanderbilt alumni had a hell of a Saturday night. One highlight, "Also of note, on Saturday night an alumni had to be stopped from defecating in the rush chair's refrigerator with a roomful of his contemporaries".

Concerned Alumni,

We appreciate your concern at the state of the house and thank you for coming by this weekend. We agree that the house is currently in the worst state that we have ever seen it and sympathize to a large degree with your concern about a lack of respect for the property. However, we think it is only fair, in the spirit of full disclosure, to let you know a bit more about how the house came to look, and smell, the way that it does.

Our officers and other concerned brothers spent a great deal of time and effort in the two weeks leading up to Homecoming to make sure that the house was presentable and that our alumni would be proud to come back. We had brothers painting, cleaning, repairing dry wall, vacuuming, etc. in order to make sure the house was in good order. We had brothers go to great lengths to get food together for the cooking that they preformed on Saturday - a new addition to homecoming that we hope you all enjoyed. We planned and paid for a cash bar that had been approved through appropriate channels, but the school later reneged and it had to be shut down. All this to say that for a 101 year old house, 2500 Kensington Place was looking as good as I've seen it in my time here. Then our alumni came.

To keep this short we will make a list of a few of the damages done by our alumni over the weekend:

2 4' X 12' sections of dry wall completely destroyed
17 broken windows
2 broken ceiling fans (all blades removed and glass shattered)
Every toilet in the house clogged with various objects including beer cans, toilet paper, etc.
Paint splattered all over the bar room
A slur painted on the basketball goal, which was also broken
Broken porch lights
5 broken door frames and locks
3 broken exit signs
2 discharged fire extinguishers (sprayed into the rooms of officers and onto the cars of active brothers with more slurs and graphic pictures drawn into the chemicals)

Officers rooms:

Treasurer's room:
All furniture broken with over $2000 worth of damage and his ottoman thrown through his window onto the adjacent roof

President's room:
Broken bed
Desk chair thrown through two different windows (incidentally both the chair and the shattered glass hit our president in the face as he was cleaning up beer cans in the front yard after the tailgate)

Rush chair's room:
The entire contents of the rush chairs room were found thrown through a window and onto the roof of the chapter room
Also of note, on Saturday night an alumni had to be stopped from defecating in the rush chair's refrigerator with a roomful of his contemporaries

House manager's room:
Relatively little damage with the only issue being that every window was broken out

Social chair's room:
It is currently impossible to walk into the social chair's room without stepping on glass as 8 Champagne bottles and 7 handles of liquor were smashed on his floor
His bed was also vomited in and had a couch placed upside down in the vomit

Total (Minimum): $12,000
- Taken from the minimum cost for replacing or repairing all issues listed above.
- Costs include labor and materials provided by Vanderbilt Plant Operations

As this kind of destruction has become increasingly commonplace over the past few years, we anticipated some level of mayhem. What we got however was much worse than we expected. There is, without doubt, a very serious issue concerning the lack of respect for the property of SAE. The same can be said for the property of the brothers currently residing in the house. It is interesting to note that all of the destruction done this weekend, and in homecoming weekends past, has come from alumni and not the active brothers. There is a wealth of evidence to back up these claims and we take no issue if anyone would like to discuss the issue further.

The house means a lot to those of us who have enjoyed the opportunities that it affords us. For many, it has been an opportunity to meet lifelong friends and have the time of our lives; we would love to see it return to its former state. However, that process of transformation cannot happen solely through the hard work of current brothers. It will require a serious and concerted effort by both alumni and brothers to raise a good deal of funding in order carry out any kind of renovation plan. In so doing we will be able to create a place that commands respect and that will be much less inviting to the kinds of activities witnessed this weekend. We share your in your vision and in your frustration; there is little that would make us happier than to see the house returned to the majesty apparent in pictures we've seen from the 60's. We welcome any suggestions on how we might make the house a better place and hope that we will be able to use this past weekend as a way to bring us together with the common goal of improving the house for future True Gentlemen. We sincerely appreciate all of the contributions that you have made, past and present, that have made the house what it is today. We along with the actives of TN-Nu sincerely hope that the actions of a few will not sour our relationship in the future.

Please feel free to reach out to either of us with any questions or concerns that you might have.

Yours in the bonds,

Peyton Davis
EA

&

Patterson Fenelon
Alumni Relations Chair

Sports

2011-10-25T20:36:00.003-04:00

I am very excited for this weekend's UFC because without question I know for sure both fighters won't be on steroids. In this case it's BJ Penn and Nick Diaz, two guys who I know to be clear of performance enhancing drugs. It's not that there are no other fighters who are clean because there are certainly some, but rare do you get TWO GUYS fighting in a main event who are.

I've been in touch with BJ, and around people out here in Oakland who know Nick quite well, and both seem to be very ready for this fight. This coming on the heals of the two of them not really wanting to fight each other, but the UFC magically manages to get everyone they need to into that cage. No different this time in that they both want a chance at Georges St-Pierre, who, not surprisingly, has injured himself. I say "not surprisingly" because I don't think he was prepared to fight Carlos Condit, and there's no way a guy like GSP jeopardizes all he has built. If you ever watch the way he fights he rarely puts himself at risk, so he's certainly not going to do that before the fight.

Side story on this few are aware of, there's a little birdie telling me that the UFC, ehh hemm, Dana White, kinda screwed up when he cancelled the Diaz vs St-Pierre fight. Rarely doing something that would affect the company without thinking it through, White did not take into consideration the one thing which guides Las Vegas: The Casinos. They had already collected millions in bets for that fight, and when White called it off the Sports Books went bananas. They forced him to put Diaz back on the card in the hopes the money would stay on the table, one way, or another.

Again, a rare bad call by White when it comes to his product, but that's why Diaz and Penn not only is happening, but HAD TO HAPPEN.

---

Do you ever watch a sporting event and realize a game is over before either team has scored? Well, I sure have, and it has happened to me twice in the last 5 weeks.

The first time was when the Ohio State backup Quarterback Joe Bauserman through a screen pass into the dirt on his first pass against Miami. That's when I new that particular game was over before anyone had scored.

The second time? This past weekend when I watched the Raiders play the Chiefs, and not because Kyle Boller was starting at Quarterback, or Darren McFadden got hurt. It's because on the first series the Raiders came out and moved the ball. Then on 3rd and half a yard, somewhere around midfield, rather than take Boller and push for the first down, they bring in Rookie Terrelle Pryor, who has yet to play a down in the NFL, to do it for him. But they didn't just have him sneak for a first down, no, not at all. They put him at Wide Receiver while Boller was in shotgun, sent him in motion where he then stopped under center, took the snap, and went forward for the yard. Except he didn't wait "one second" under center, and the play was called dead. The Raiders were given a 5 yard penalty. Pryor left the field, and on the next play Boller through a pick-6 on third down. Game. Set. Match.

That's just coaches being stupid.

Rather than one the field position game, maybe get 3 points, who knows? They're down 7 points with a shitty Quarterback.

Nice job, coach.

---

Andrew Luck is not going to the Colts. I don't care if they go 0 and SEVENTEEN. The Colts will not have Andrew Luck. Now, I did predict months ago this was coming, that Manning would miss the season and Luck would be there for the Colts, but even if he is there, he ain't going.

And why should he? Because they drafted him? You know what? Fuck the Colts. That's my take. They're one of the teams that screwed legions of fans when they left Baltimore, so why do I care when a particular player decides not to work for them? I don't blame the kid at all. Indianapolis sucks, and yes, I've been there 4 too many times having been there 4 times.

The thing about Luck too, is like John Elway and Eli Manning before him he has the ability to do what he wants on the field, and OFF THE FIELD. The kid has the leverage, and he can basically tell a team "I'll never play there." And if he wants to, he should. We live in the most me-society at the height of "me." Facebook, twitter, billionaires who want tax cuts, "that's my kid you're talking to!" Everything is me, and if I'm Andrew Luck I'm going full "me."

He's a great kid no matter how yo spin it. Not wanting to be in Indianapolis doesn't make him a jerk. No, it makes him smart.

And the NFL, they want that kid in Miami for sure. Which for me would be great so I can stop hearing Dan Marino talk. I'd love to see that guy knocked down one peg.

Last week he said, "I hope no one breaks my record!" Of course you feel that way because they can't break your championships...

And btw, Luck is FAR AND AWAY the best player in College Football. Watch him for one quarter, and you'll soon realize he's better than Tony Romo, Jay Cutler, Eli Manning, Alex Smith, Carson Palmer, Andy Dalton, Joe Flacco, Mark Sanchez, Josh Freeman, and others RIGHT NOW.

---

Wow, the NBA just cancelled more games. The good part about that is...no shitty games in the ultimate "me" sport.

The bad part...there will be blood. Some NBA player is going to get bored and shoot someone. If we're lucky his target will be David Stern.

He's the Rutgers graduate I'm slowly starting to hate, and it's tough to hate your own.

---

I just heard a Terrell Owens interview where he discussed the "teams" who are interested in him. He said he wants to "play for a contender", and that he's going to make a decision after he "speaks to his agent."

So, I may as well jump to the future and let you know that discussion.

"Hey, Tee Oh, it's me Drew."

"Whassup, my agent?"

"Listen, buddy, I just got a phone call from the..."

"Yes!"

"What?"

"Oh, nothing. Go on..."

"I just got a call from the accountant handling your money, and he says things aren't looking so good."

"...I was hoping this call was about something else. Any good news?"

"Well, I did just save a shit ton of money on my car insurance..."

CNN Debate

2011-10-20T15:45:00.004-04:00

I finally decided to sit through a Republican debate because I felt it was my duty to see how far our country has fallen. It was kind of ridiculous in that they're really attacking each other with a fervency you rarely see amongst those in the same party. I think it is a telling sign because it seems to me the conservatives are just so out there, that it's almost impossible to be a moderate Republican. Of course when the general election rolls around the one who comes out of this shit storm will swing back to the middle. In that case I guess Romney would be best for them since he's been on every side of every issue anyway.

And to that point, is that a bad thing? Isn't a person supposed to change with the times? Granted, I don't buy his conservative position on "life" as it pertains to a woman's choice, but other than that, shouldn't you bend to the wishes of constituents? For example, isn't a pledge to "never raise taxes" a really fucking stupid idea? Never? Really? You're an idiot, Michelle Bachman.

Then there's the whole "Romneycare/Obamacare" thing. I think "Obamacare" is a mess because Republicans forced it to be a mess. There was no way to get a good health care bill passed, so it had to be a piece of shit. Now it's attacked as being a piece of shit. Go figure.

Do you believe Health Care should be supported by our government? I do. The same way I think education should be. Why one and not the other? Is one more important? If you don't feel free to vote Republican. Should work out well for America, especially as costs rise.

As for "Romneycare", so what the guy supported it in Massachusetts! People in his home state wanted it, and it hasn't been disastrous. But he's suggesting people don't want it nationwide, therefore he won't support it. Again, don't you represent your constituents? A governor isn't supposed to pass laws he/she wants to see enacted, but rather is supposed to listen to his constituents. Romney is suggesting he would do that. Is that hard to comprehend?

Sheezush.

Some other great aspects of the debate for me was when Rick Perry consistently called Herman Cain "brother."

"I'm with ya, brother."

"I hear ya, brother."

"I'm picking up what you're puttin' down, brother..."

Okay, maybe the last one didn't happen, but the first two certainly did.

Is Rick Perry calling Newt Gingrich "brother?" Ron Paul? Rick Santorum?

Now I get it that it would be a lot cooler to have Herman Cain as a brother than those other guys, but I don't think that's what Perry's getting at.

"Hey brother, why don't you come on down to Niggerhead Ranch, and we can go fishin'!" I don't see that happening. Yes, in case you didn't know, that was the name of Rick Perry's Ranch: Niggerhead.

Now I'm not saying Rick Perry is a racist (although I do think he's gay), nor do I think he named his ranch Niggerhead. I am not saying that. But I feel like somewhere along the way during his political career someone asked, "Hey Rick, is there anything you want to tell us about? Anything at all? Anything that could jump up and bite us in the ass when we least expect it?"

"Nope. Nothing comes to mind."

"Rick, are you sure? Think about your family, history, anything racially insensitive or sexist? Anything?"

"Nope. Sorry, Bob. Nothing comes to mind...Alright, you all have a good weekend. If you need me I'll be down at Niggerhead..."

:(

Michelle Bachman had the finest moment in the entire debate; the least spoken about as well. At one point, in response to whether she would ever cut funding for the military, she said, "No" and that she would "support Israel, our most important ally..." and that she even wants countries like "Iraq to reimburse us for liberating them..."

What. What? Huh? You fucking serious, you whack job? Holy shit, what? You think Iraq should PAY US BACK FOR LIBERATING THEM?

Wow.

Stop talking, please.

Finally, one of the oddest parts of the whole debate/conservative thing is how far we've come from 1995, when Newt Gingrich helped lead our nation's charge to the right. It reminds me of the movie "I Am Legend", where they think they cured cancer only to find out they've destroyed society. Well done, Newt.

Sticking with Newt though, it's scary to me that he's actually the most viable candidate! If I had to list in order who I wanted to come out of the Republican field it would be:

1) Michelle Bachman
2) Herman Cain
3) Rick Perry
4) Rick Santorum
5) Ron Paul
6) Mitt Romney
7) Newt Gingrich

IN THAT ORDER!

There are actually 3 people who I believe are more likely to lose than Rick Santorum! And this is a dude who slept in bed with a dead fetus! And he's running 4th? Holy fucken aye, you have to be shitting me.

So that's right, Newt Gingrich makes the most sense, and straight up against Obama he probably wins. Obama is right now at a 50/50 mark, and that will improve against most of these clowns. But against Gingrich? He was a douchebag in the 90s, but people probably look back fondly on those days now. He wasn't insane.

Put Gingrich against Obama and it becomes the "Newt the moderate" against "Obama the liberal." That's how fucked up shit has become.

That Newt Gingrich is the middle of the road candidate, who would beat Obama, but his party is too stupid to realize that the guy who began so much of this nonsense is someone they don't even want.

Good times.

Alright, I'm off to Niggerhead to relax.

Raiders

2011-10-18T12:17:00.003-04:00

"I can't believe Mike Brown pulled this off! What a steal!"

Yes, believe it, that even Mike Brown, owner of the Bengals, isn't completely inept. That he realized the trade deadline was rapidly approaching, and got a nice sum for oft-injured and possibly weak-armed Carson Palmer.

Btw, everyone should not only thank @JayGlazer, but should follow his twitter as well. ESPN referring to "sources?" Really? Like, sources that don't work for us? If it was the NYTIMES would ESPN call it "sources?" Somehow I doubt that. Give some effing respect and credit already. Moving on...

On it's face this doesn't seem great, but if the Raiders don't win a playoff game then they only lose one first round pick. If they win a playoff game, is it not worth it already? I mean, does that not mean Palmer was successful? Besides, Al Davis just wanted to "win, baby", and to me this is putting it all on the line. Yeah, the deal isn't exactly a thing of beauty for the Raiders, but all anyone around these parts (I live in Oakland) wants is to win NOW. For Al. Today. With this team.

The Raiders really are a built to win team now. Richard Seymour and Tommy Kelly anchor a defense and they're not young. McFadden is hitting is stride, as are some of the WRs. This team isn't rebuilding. AND, if this experiment fails, doesn't the Terrelle Pryor era begin? Had Pryor remained at Ohio State (and played), he'd be a first round draft pick. Would he be great in the NFL? I have no idea. In fact, I think the likelihood is pretty bad, but considering the early success of young QBs around the NFL there's no reason to not roll the dice on him.

Don't forget that NFL First Rounders aren't a lock to be good, and you're more likely going to sign a worthwhile free agent. That could be cash better spent to a team trying to win today.

The Raiders must be feeling the same way, to some extent.

Oh, and btw, Trent Edwards, how bad are you?

It's Not a Smarmy Protest

2011-10-12T20:30:00.003-04:00

Every article I see, television show I watched, or radio program I heard made the same comment, and it basically went, "While the 'Occupy Wall Street' crowds have grown, it doesn't seem they have a clear, and coherent message."

Really? It doesn't seem like it? The name of the protest is called OCCUPY WALL STREET! You didn't have a problem figuring out what the Tea Party was all about, even though it had nothing to do with tea, and the last people on Earth you'd ever want to be at a party with.

The bottom line is when it comes to OWS, it's pretty clear to me that they're disgusted with the fact that while the unemployment rate is really closer to 20% than 10%, and that Wall Street and corporations are making more money than ever, most of America is sinking. And yet so many of the OWS people are upset for themselves, in an equally as large part they're upset for others who don't even have a voice!

When I saw Tea Party rallies it looked like the Klan without the hoods, talking about spending limits, and other disingenuous nonsense. Yet the media had no problem not only giving these people a voice, but it's helped them become a major movement that conservatives are pandering to. Do I think that will happen with Occupy Wall Street?

Not. On. Your. Fucking. Life.

It's Wall Street. They run shit. The media is not going to take them on.

Taking it further, I have a lot of friends who work in finance, and many who were intricately involved in the sub-prime and PRIME mortgage business. The banks ability to make bets without collateral has screwed this economy completely, and we're still feeling the effects. Funny thing is most of the bankers involved in the industry had no idea exactly what was happening, how it happened, or how to fix it! The CEOs had no idea how these Credit Default Swaps worked, and few traders did either. Yet it has RUINED US.

So while the bankers don't understand how it all worked, you expect everyday people to understand how it all worked?

Now you know why they don't have a clear message: because NO ONE KNOWS WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!

All anyone knows is the entire economy is a disaster, and Wall St, as well as major corporations, are doing quite well, and hording money. They're not loaning, they're not spending it, nothing.

They want a new president. One that will take away "regulations." That's all I hear from Tea Party candidates is "too many regulations."

Listen, idiots, it was the LACK OF REGULATION THAT GOT US INTO THIS MESS!

Yep. And they're all making money. They just want to do it again.

Everything is too big fail, except the one thing that matters: This country.

Facesuck, Goog+, The Economy, Fantasy Football

2011-09-21T18:22:00.003-04:00

Last night I noticed the changes Facebook made to the website, and this morning I quickly realized how annoying they actually are. It is not enough I receive updates throughout the day, whenever I sign in, etc. etc., but now I need DOUBLE and TRIPLE updates via the sidebar. I can now find out what my friends think of Ohio State's quarterback troubles (it's not good) WHILE finding out UFC Champion Frankie Edgar has been tagged with another one of my friends.

Did you hear what I just said? I can find this out at the SAME EXACT TIME! That's fucken sick! AND...it's also fucken useless.

When I noticed the changes this morning I said to my girlfriend, "I think it's time for Google Plus...Facebook is overwhelming me..."

Now lets get something straight here. I tweet, I facebook, I email, I text, I talk, I surf the web. Yep. I do all that shit. Do I have to do it? No I do not. Do I enjoy it? I really have no idea. But I do it all, a bit more than some, and a lot less than others. But just because I am doing these things does not need I need all of these things, or that I like all of these things. I just sorta do them.

My HTC phone with Verizon service, operated by Google, makes all these things easy. There's no difference if I send text, update status, or email. It's all just me tapping away on the heat-sensor screen. Surely this will cause some physical problem in the future. Yet again, do I NEED to do this shit?

Which gets me to the point about Facebook changing their software. I get it that there will always be upgrades, always be something better, always be something. There has to be. That's why 1/5 of San Francisco has a job. Someone has to make something better. But I don't NEED it to be better. And I don't NEED it to be simplified. In fact, the less simple option works for me.

As things stand, however Facebook was working was just fine. To make it "better" and "smoother" only makes me use it more, or allows me to waste my time doing something else on their site. Now I can stare at DOUBLE NOTHINGNESS, and operate in that realm. Truth is though, I don't think this is better at all. I think the extra shit-stream down the side bar with more updates is actually annoying. I feel like Dozer staring at the a waterfall of letters and numbers in the Matrix, and I don't want to feel that way AT ALL.

So the new method of making it "better" has made me feel worse about using Facebook, ironically. And by the way, of all your fixes, where's the FUCKING DISLIKE BUTTON!?!?!?!? Seriously? That's the "fix" everyone talks about. Sheezus. You should do what your users want, on some level.

Which gets me to Google+.

Do we all remember why Google is Google?

Is it the Gmail? The Docs? The Calendar? The fact that they own this very blog space I'm working on? Nope. It's none of that.

It's the FACT that it was not intrusive! It's the fact that when you went to Google you saw a search box below the name GOOGLE, and that's it. It was because more was less, and because Yahoo! inundated you with shit you didn't want to see. While AOL, and Lycos, and Metacrawler, and Excite, and WebCrawler, and every other search engine was clobbering you with shit you didn't want, Google didn't do that. And you liked it. It's why BING looks more like Google now even though they are Microsoft, which has MSN.com.

So what does Facebook do? They throw more shit at you. Maybe young kids like having tons of shit on their plate, being bombarded at every angle and all times by shit on top of shit, but I don't, and I invented the goddamn internet. Just like I invented video games.

I was one of the first. I had Pong, and Atari, Bally, Intelvision, Odyssey, Coleco Vision, Sega, and the rest. We were the first.

I was sneaking into the library in 8th grade, and using the modem to dial into ESPN's score update, which printed information on a piece of paper at real time. Yep, I was one of the first users to start trying this shit because I did like it. But now you're pushing me toward the edge, and I'm not sure I do anymore. I highly doubt it's because I'm older...

When I see Eric Schmidt (Google Top Dawg) having to go to Washington DC to speak to Congress about dominance, I actually have to side with him. It's not like when Bill Gates went in 1998, when Microsoft was forcing every computer maker to use their software. Right now Congress is asking Google about why people are CHOOSING Google. Yes, Google algorithms favor those they want favored, no doubt. NO DOUBT. But so what? People can choose NOT TO USE GOOGLE! (This is not my entire argument about this here, so don't accept it as such).

I know why they chose Google, and I know why I'm not choosing Facebook anymore. I am making a choice, simply.

I use these things, I like these things, and on some level they're very necessary. But for a while Facebook was the only game in town, and now that there's another option I'm going to choose it because Facebook has actually become annoying. Hopefully Google+ won't be as annoying in the near future.

On a sidenote, the only reason Congress wants to talk to Schmidt, or anyone else, is because hopeful competitors pay their congressmen off to do just that.

----

Holy shit. I just read that the House of Reps just rejected a spending bill, and now the government may shut down in a week? Is this for real? Didn't this shit just happen like a week ago, for like a fucking year?

Listen, we have the worst politicians in the world. We have the most resources, opportunities, etc, and yet the biggest scumbag politicians. And yes, most of them are Republicans. We have some Democrat assholes, no doubt, but the majority are Republicans. There is no doubt.

Global warming they can't believe in it, with 97% of scientists in the field saying it exists. HPV shots to inoculate girls who could get cervical cancer with a shot which is seemingly harmless, that they can't believe in.

Yet they believe Jesus Christ is against abortions, and that cutting taxes creates jobs. I actually think the Jesus part is more likely, quite frankly. At least there's NO PROOF of that.

And here we are today, with a European Debt crisis, a US financial crisis which has been on-going since 2007, wars which were never accounted for started by the last President and Congress, and we're debating the fucking debt ceiling.

There's no money coming in, so rather than raise taxes, we need to cut programs for the middle class.

Awesome country, seriously.

"Job creators" the rich are being called. When a hedge fund manager makes money, the only money he/she makes, it is taxed at 15%. Yep. The money he/she lives on, 15%. Everyone else, in the 30s. But the RICHEST, the JOB CREATOR, they get taxed less.

Let me explain something about Wall St these days. It's about making money by SQUEEZING profit from corporations, businesses, etc. It's not about CREATING jobs. Banks aren't loaning people money. A person who has a $10 Mill a year income isn't NOT investing in a business because his income tax rate is too high. That shit isn't happening. If someone with money sees a good idea, they SPEND THE MONEY TO MAKE MORE. This is human nature; a fact of fucking life.

Cutting taxes doesn't CREATE IDEAS. Ideas are ideas, and they create jobs. There will always be money to fund good ideas. Just having more of it, and hoping someone spends it is praying this person pisses into the wind.

America lacks great ideas, and not a shortage of cash to fund those ideas.

But go blame Obama, you fucking dolt.

I know it's called a EUROPEAN DEBT CRISIS, but it's a WORLD CRISIS. And AMERICA'S POLITICIANS AREN'T GOING TO STOP IT. ESPECIALLY THE BLACK GUY WHO THE REPUBLICANS ARE HOPING FAILS, AT THE EXPENSE OF THE WORLD.

----

I don't think people give Tony Romo enough credit. Has he been amazing in his career? Uhh, uhhh, YES. He has!

The dude has played about 5 season in total, and prior to that he was an undrafted free agent from Eastern Illinois. Now he's the Cowboys Quarterback, and he was banging Jessica Simpson. Throw in how his passer rating in the NFL, since becoming a full time starter is in the high 90s, the dude's pretty fucking awesome.

Yet it's always "Romo this" and "Romo has to" and "Romo needs to" blah blah blah.

Since taking over the starting job for the Cowboys 5 guys have won the Superbowl: Ben Roethlisberger (twice), Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Drew Brees, and Aaron Rodgers. That's not a lot of dudes, and 4 of the 5 might make the Hall of Fame. In fact, even the LEGENDARY Tom Brady hasn't won a Super Bowl since Romo took over as Cowboys starter. Yep.

Taking it further, the year Eli Manning won the job, Romo made the play to win the game, but unfortunately his teammate didn't. In the playoffs, the year the Giants won the Superbowl, they should have lost to the Cowboys. On 3rd down, back at their own 20, Romo made the perfect play by hitting Crayton on the run over the middle. Had he caught the ball, there was no one on Crayton's side of the field, and he would have been sprinting toward the endzone. Was a perfect play. There'd be no David Tyree, no Ice Bowl for the Giants in Green Bay, no Giants Superbowl. None of that shit. They should have been knocked out by Romo. But Crayton dropped the ball.

It happens.

Now all I hear is Tony Romo is a bum. I hear he's a scratch golfer too!

Tony Romo is one of the best QBs in football; I think people need to relax. Dude just played with a punctured fricken lung last Sunday, and won the game for them.

-----

Fantasy Thoughts after Week 2:

I like Roy Helu. I do. I liked him before the season and I like him now. He's a one cut runner, just like Terrell Davis in Denver. Mike Shanahan will use him. AND, Tim Hightower is an average football player.

Eric Decker is very talented. He was talented at Minnesota, and he's still talented. A bum knee (I think) hurt his draft stock, and now he's tearing it up. You'll be hearing about him for years.

Brandon LaFell is a great sleeper in fantasy leagues. He's the 2nd best WR on the Carolina Panthers, and Steve Smith gets hurt a lot.

Fred Davis is a good TE to have. Cooley isn't as big, fast, or as strong as Davis. he was the top TE coming out of Ohio, went to USC, was overshadowed, and looks great in Washington.

Denarious Moore will be the best Raiders WR because everyone else either sucks, will get hurt, or both.

Diaz, Manning, Fantasies, Reagan Penn, Other Stuff...

2011-09-08T18:34:00.002-04:00

Michigan or Notre Dame? That's like asking me which testicle I want to lose.

I do think Michigan wins, and that will result in ESPN going BANANAS! over them, like they have the last 2 years. Then they'll start losing, again.

---

When Andrew Luck is on the Colts I'm going to be fucking cry. I hate the Colts. More so, I hate their ownership, and their fans; not the actual players. Like, I have nothing against Peyton Manning, other than the fact that his Tennessee team cheated against Ohio State in the Citrus Bowl.

---

The NBA may have a 50 game season? Perfect. Now if we can just shave off like 15-20 more.

---

My fantasy team is solid, not yet spectacular:

Matt Ryan, Matt Stafford

Ray Rice, Felix Jones, Marshawn Lynch, DeMarco Murray, Stevan Ridley

Hakeem Nicks, Brandon Marshall, Jacoby Ford, Nate Burleson, Darius Heyward-Bey, Greg Little

Vernon Davis

These aren't so much my picks as they are actual answers to your problems.

---

Nick Diaz is a shmuck. However, I could see him fighting in a big time blockbuster fight against Reagan Penn. Who, for the record, I think will be making a run very soon.

However, like Diaz, Reagan has his own head issues which could derail a career before it begins. By head issues, I mean, he just is all over the place emotionally. He could quit fighting real soon, or be a champion. His call.

Likelihood is Nick Diaz will NOT be cut, the UFC will hold him under contract til the end, will then take shit out on Nate Diaz, and blah blah blah.

But let ms say this about the Diazes, both of whom I know, and have covered/interviewed.

They are WITHOUT QUESTION THE MOST DIFFICULT PEOPLE TO WORK WITH, BAR NONE! I've worked with nearly EVERY UFC Champion since 2003, and these two make EVERYONE'S LIVES DIFFICULT at Zuffa. They're not bad people at all. In fact, to the contrary, they're both very nice and personable.

BUT...

They are unprofessional, and extremely difficult.

This news doesn't surprise me. However, it's unfortunate because I do believe Nick can beat Georges St-Pierre. No question.

---

That's all for today.

Be Realistic

2011-07-27T02:33:00.003-04:00

For the third time today I've received the 'Obama voted against raising the debt ceiling in 2006' quote.

Really? Is that what you think this is about? Childlike bullshit? "But Mom, HE DID IT FIRST!"

Grow the fuck up, please. Anyone who thinks this is relevant is merely playing games, or an idiot. This shit ain't about games, folks.

When Obama voted against the ceiling it was MERELY POLITICAL. Does that sound awful? Sure, it does. He did it for politics? Yep. That shit happens all the time.

But guess what happened after he did it? If you guessed "nothing", you win.

Why? Because no one had a real clue what it is, or what it does. If they did, they'd never have except the reason it had to be raised in the first place: THE WARS and the BUSH TAX CUTS!

But those were cheered on! We were told the tax cuts would result in surplus. Nope. Didn't happen. Never does. Just lies.

Obama voted against the ceiling AFTER the Democratic House passed the bill, where all bills start, and then it came to the Senate. It was a close vote, and the POLITICAL point was to make the country aware of WHY there's debt. Instead it passed, and everyone went about not giving a shit. HAD IT NOT PASSED, then they'd have to go back to the drawing board and do it again.

However, debt ceiling has been a FORMALITY, especially during the 7 times Bush raised it. It was practically a VOICE VOTE from the floor.

Had people taken notice THEN, and had the POLITICAL MOVE worked, then CNN/FOX/MSNBC talks about it, and maybe people aware.

But Obama and the Democrats were not TAKING THE NATION HOSTAGE. It was to MAKE A POINT. Not to tarnish the nation.

Basically, right now, Republicans are forcing Americans to take huge cuts in Medicare, Social Security, and other programs. They say the debt ceiling is too high. They REFUSE to allow Bush tax cuts to expire, mostly on the wealthy, when in fact THOSE TAX CUTS and the Wars are the REASON FOR the deficit. They're not cutting those things though.

INSTEAD THEY'RE CUTTING THINGS THAT MOST AMERICANS NEED.

That's the difference, CHILDREN.

This ain't pickup sticks, tiddly winks, or political votes. This is the real fucking deal, and they're putting us over a barrel for the FIRST TIME EVER.

We'll Show 'Em!!!

2011-07-26T20:29:00.002-04:00

Upset about jobs, the economy, the nation, Obama's blackness and lack of birth certificate, Republicans got righteous in 2010. They emboldened the Tea Party movement, then propelled young-ish candidates into office to solve the Nation's ills.

These days all you hear about is the pledges they made to "not raise taxes" (which, btw, is the dumbest fucking pledge in ages...) regardless. Now they won't touch the debt ceiling. Cable news repeats, "it's the new members of Congress who refuse to budge on these issues...who were elected on these issues..."

Maybe that's true. Maybe they were elected. And maybe they have quite a few more years before they have to worry about a reelection. Whatever the case may be, knowing the economy was in serious trouble, what do you think these very intelligent, educated, and sensible voters from coast to coast did to turn this ship around?

If you guessed "elected people who don't know shit about Economics", well, consider yourself a winner. Because that's EXACTLY what they did.

I compiled a little list here of all the newly elected Republicans, under the age of 50 (or around), who were recently put in office for a first term. There's a few doctors, a scientist or two, A LOT OF LAWYERS (who they hate), and quite a few farmers. I mean, when I want to know how to fix the economy, I don't ask former CEO of Goldman Sachs Jon Corzine. No, no. I ask former US Attorney with no knowledge of financial matters, Chris Christie. That's what Americans do!

Here's that list (btw, I chose under 50 because it was supposedly a 'new day' and a 'youth movement.' All the others over 50, no economists or anyone who is really versed in business, etc. I think there's 1 financial adviser in the group)

These are the folks STANDING FIRM on debt ceiling because THEY KNOW BETTER!

Just mentioning the people under 55, since it’s supposed to be the “youthful teaparty movement...”

Reid Ribble - Roofer, Bible College, runs dad’s business.
Sean Duffy - lawyer, St. Mary’s college, was on the Real World, Dad’s law office
Jamie Herrera - spent her career as Congressional Aide
Morgan Griffin - career attorney, and local politics
Robert Hunt - lawyer, town council
Scott Rigel - owns car dealership
Blake Farenthold - lawyer
Stephen Fincher - High School graduate. Farmer
Scott Desjarlais - pediatrician, who may have threatened ex-wife...
Chuck Fleischmann - lawyer
Kristi Noem - farmer, rancher, hunting lodge owner
Mick Mulvaney - lawyer, real estate developer
Trey Gowdy - lawyer
Jeff Duncan - real estate
Tim Scott - insurance broker
Michael Fitzpatrick - lawyer
James Lankford - religious youth camp director (please move to norway...)
Bob Gibbs - hog farmer
Steve Stivers - Lobbyist, securities company executive.
Rick Berg - Property developer
Renee Ellmers - Nurse
Tom Reed - real estate lawyer
Chris Gibson - Army Officer
Michael Grimm - FBI Agent, Health Food Store Owner
Jon Runyan - NFL Football player
Vicky Hartzler - farmer, rancher
Steven Palazzo - accountant for defense contractor
Justin Amash - 31, works for marketing company
Bill Huizenga - private school fundraiser
Jeff Landry - lawyer
Kevin Yoder - lawyer
Todd Young - marine corps, congressional aide
Marlin Stutzman - farmer
Raul Labrador - lawyer
Austin Scott - insurance agent, owner
Rob Woodall - congressional aide
David Rivera - hispanic outreach coordinator, career politician
Sandy Adams - deputy sheriff
Cory Gardner - lawyer, congressional aide
Jeff Denham - packing owner
Rick Crawford - Agricultural News Service Owner
Ben Quayle - Dan’s son.
Paul Gosar - Dentist
Martha Roby - lawyer

All believe in God, for sure.

Not saying these aren't bright people, or successful, but I am betting that the majority of them don't know jack-shit about how the economy works, etc.

In other words, when I see them speaking on tv about "spending" etc, it doesn't make me think Tim Geithner and Ben Bernanke are wrong...

Tressel Transcript

2011-07-25T03:27:00.002-04:00

Just read the entire NCAA interview with Tressel, and it's really sad.

A man put in a terrible position by someone who didn't even know what he was doing by sending him an email.

The entire interview is Tressel internally agonizing, knowing he'll likely never coach at OSU again with every word he speaks.

He could have, and should have, notified the correct compliance officers the day he heard Terrelle Pryor was caught up in a bad situation, but he didn't. The pressure of winning beat him in that moment, and it's really too bad.

The man's a legend of a coach, and hopefully that one mistake, later compounded, doesn't define him.

One Part of the Budget

2011-07-24T02:22:00.003-04:00

Ever since this budget "crisis" began I've been paying more attention to politics, and believe you me, not everyone is happy about this.

One of the things I noticed was Land and Water Conservation Fund, how Obama requested full funding, which is $900 Million. These funds are derived from monies made from the sales of US Land (aka, YOUR land), and the subsequent taxes on those lands. Most of the time they're sold to Oil and Gas companies, who make Buh Buh Buh BILLIONS of dollars, they pay taxes, hence the fund.

Only TWICE since the fund began has the funding been met in full. Most of the time it's around half. In the last 10 years on one occasion the allotted monies for the LWCF was $1.2 Billion, and that was in 2001. Don't get crazy and think to yourself, "When Bush was President?" Yes, he may have been, but it was Clinton money, voted when he was in office, and it was because of another program in addition to LWCF.

In case you're wondering how monies were doled out under Bush you can read about it here. But do you really even need to look? Lets just say there's the allotted monies, but there are little ways you can finagle how it is spent. In Bush's last years he made sure some private land owners worked WITH states to maintain properties, parks, etc, relying on the PEOPLE to handle things. In other words, he gave money to individuals, and they're likely large landowners who gave money to him.

BUT THAT'S JUST A GUESS!!!!

Point of all this is simple to me.

California is a huge recipient of these matching funds, and these days states won't be matching anything. Parks, land, recreation, other areas, etc. etc. NEED THE MONIES. Meanwhile, Republicans only want to "make cuts" and not "increase revenues." Basically, cut programs like these, which are built on the monies made by the very people Republicans won't tax, and short change every day people who have less of a country to speak of. Less parks, less wildlife, less nature, less clean water, less clean air. You get the picture. But the people who they WON'T TAX, they don't have these problems. No, no, no.

In fact, they don't worry about clean air, because they can buy it. They don't worry about clean water because they could afford to refill their pools every day with Evian. They don't worry about protected land because there are gates on the golfcourses. And when people are literally DYING IN CITIES FROM EXTREME HEAT, they have a park to go to, it's called their BACKYARD, and their BEACHFRONT PROPERTY.

I don't mind that these people have all these things. I want these things. But I sure as hell think it's pretty ridiculous to be discussing cutting money for public land use, and not asking the wealthy to pay more. Republicans want CUTS ONLY.

Seriously?

The Republican budget requests $63 Million dollars of the $900 Million allotted for the program. That's a 93% cut. That's just over a $1 Million per state. That's NOTHING.

There was a time in 1964 when the government made a deal, signed a law, and promised Americans that while we're giving away these lands, and allowing these enormous companies and individuals to profit, they will be giving back to you. President Eisenhower signed this law. He was a Republican. Nixon was his Vice President.

These men wouldn't even be allowed in the room to negotiate a budget ceiling with today's Republicans. And yet at the time, they weren't liberal enough! The nation then chose Kennedy.

This is who we are today.

Fun.

And that's just ONE PART of the budget. The part where you suffer, but the wealthiest will not.

Fear not, Romney will fix it........

Oh, Journalists. Wait, I meant ESPN, not Journalists...

2011-07-23T21:23:00.004-04:00

For months I've heard from people in the sorta know that Ohio State won't be facing any death penalty-like sentences, lose bowl games, etc. etc. That the worst of it was going to be self-imposed, for a variety of reasons.

Yet at the same time it was hard for me to actually believe this because on a near weekly basis all I ever read was "Ohio State is going to going to be punished...killed...banned...penalized severely..." Every adjective to describe death was levied upon the program. Pundits who hate the school waxed about it in every college football column, with a how-could-it-be-otherwise point of view. ESPN, the most influential cable network on the planet created their own cottage industry around the issue. It was impossible to really believe they wouldn't be "killed" because the PERCEPTION was horrendous.

Just so happens the PERCEPTION was created from nothingness. And now that the NCAA has in fact ruled correctly all of the haters have just yawned, or maybe wrote "the NCAA is corrupt as well."

It's all nonsense.

ESPN ran these stories EVERY SINGLE DAY on their front page, and since the story broke yesterday it's ALREADY OFF their front page. Stories of Jim Tressel, cars, Terrelle Pryor, the 5 suspended players, the Sugar Bowl, those stories went on for DAYS. But the near exoneration, that barely warrants 24 hours of coverage. In fact, not only was the story not big enough to run on a weekend where NOTHING is going on, but ESPN created from whole cloth their own version of the story.

College football writer Joe Schad, who was recently caught up in the Mike Leach story, was reported on ESPN last night to have said, "a lawyer close to the case claims that Ohio State apparently has an 'ally' on the NCAA committee." This is the story they ran with.

Really? An unnamed lawyer, and an ally? Well that sounds just about as corrupt as you could imagine, and for all we know, he did imagine it!

Who is this lawyer? Who is this ally? What exactly is an ally? Is an ally someone who agrees with the case presented, and rules in your favor, or is that person someone who lobbies in your favor to make sure you don't suffer consequences? I guess it could be both, but if it were the latter then ESPN would have reported THAT. They didn't. They just said "ally." Guess who recently had 12 allies? Casey Anthony. It was called the jury.

ESPN created the drama of this story. I'm not suggesting the story was a good one, or that players didn't do bad things, or that the coach didn't do something worse by covering it up, but the "they have to fall" attitude prevalent throughout the media and sports world was created by them. On the inside they had former Buckeye player Chris Spielman as their cover. I don't hate Spielman for it. He loves his school. He was miserable about what transpired, but they used him to say, "Look, one of your own is doing it." Yeah, he had an opinion, and he turned out wrong, but regardless of what happened he was used as cover, whether he knew it or not. And again, I don't blame him for being upset. And while all of this happened, losing a legendary coach, a Heisman Trophy candidate, and 4 other players suspended 5 games WAS NOT ENOUGH!

What people don't understand is it WASN'T INSTITUTIONAL. Even if EVERY KID ON THE TEAM SOLD HIS GEAR FOR CASH, that's STILL NOT INSTITUTIONAL. It was players acting on their own.

If just ONE COACH on the staff gave a player $500 on a recruiting trip that in fact would be worse. That would be paying a kid to come to your school, and the kid expecting there would be more where that came from. Ohio State didn't do that, AS AN INSTITUTION. The man who made the mistake, he has paid a fatal price on his career.

THIS WASN'T ENOUGH?!?

And Michigan fans, seriously? Just the scandal alone has given you hope! You ended up with players who were going to Ohio State, and we lost even more to other Big Ten schools. Did you want MORE HELP?

Please. It's embarrassing. Yesterday felt like you lost another game, yet you weren't even on the field, nor were you a participant! So seriously, PLEASE.

Your program sucks not because Ohio State's doesn't. It's all on you. You're the type of people who clap for unforced errors, apparently. Not for winners. Focus on yourself.

And all these things like cars, and kids selling stuff, and blah blah blah, trust me, YOU DO IT TOO! THEY ALL DO!

So this entire clusterfuck has been ugly from the start, and rightfully so, but the media has made so much more of it than ever should have been made. For weeks I have had multiple people who work at ESPN and went to Michigan sending me emails, telling me what was going to happen. They drank the Kool Aid. They WANTED IT to happen. And did everything in their power to MAKE IT happen.

But it didn't.

And the funniest part of it all, ESPN/ABC actually broadcasts Big Ten games. CBS doesn't. But at least CBS Sportsline and CNNSI have the decency to leave the good story up on their front pages without unprovable speculation about why it happened.

About Some Shit

2011-07-15T01:45:00.003-04:00

Figured it's that time of the month, again.

1) This Rupert Murdoch Media Empire Scandal taking place in Europe. Yes, this concerns you. I know, I know, it's all the way over there! I get that. But trust me, this matters to you, especially if you hate FOX News, the NY Post, and douchebags.

This is about a man who has so much power, and believes capitalism triumphs over every other "ism" on the planet.

Quick version of the story for those of you who hate the news, the media, and words in general.

Murdoch owns some newspapers in England/London. People working there were hacking the phones of very important people, including police officers, and others who were investigating this very issue. Some of those people got fired, some went to jail, and others ended up WORKING FOR THE PAPERS.

They used methods only known by high level law enforcement, and may have even broken into homes of politicians and other famous people to get scoops on stories. One story involved Prime Minister Gordon Brown, whose 5 month old son had cystic fibrosis. They threatened his family with the information in an effort to obtain more, and then ran the story publicly. All information received through tapping phones, etc.

Classy people.

Point being is there has been a coverup lasting over 6 years, probably more. The real issue here is the people who did these things, and more importantly, those in charge of overseeing these stories, were actually promoted to the TOP of the media outlets, namely a woman named Rebekah Brooks. She was in charge of many outlets over a decade where hacking was used to obtain very private information, which was use in many different ways.

So why does this matter to you?

Well, Ruport Murdoch owns a lot of shit, and I use the word "shit" as an accurate description of the products he owns, minus his soccer coverage.

If you think what his outlets do overseas is just limited to that part of the Europe you're a fool. That's what I'm saying. In his world capitalism trumps all, and a whatever-it-takes to be number one attitude, even if you're corrupt, is what dominates. That's why FOX News is what it is here in America, and that is why their European counterparts are caught doing the things they've been doing.

Murdoch was in the process of buying the largest Satellite TV company in England, but it now looks as if that deal will be put on hold. Hopefully for good. This is the first takeover bid in his company's history that has failed. And not a moment too soon.

I say this because America is not "fair and balanced" by FOX News, and the concept of capitalism as an orthodoxy is appalling. People like Murdoch want it to be this way, and it has already divided this nation in ways which we may never recover. I don't view the American left as a strong enough group to counter the hardcore capitalist of this nation. But I have always viewed Europe, namely England, France, and Spain to be the world balance. With people like Murdoch trying to take over news and media outlets overseas it only furthers the problems we are expehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifriencing here in the good 'ole USA.

So I say, Fuck you, Murdoch, you piece of shit.

2) UFC President Dana White's moms has written a book basically calling her own son a douchebag.

I mean, that's not good.
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Yeah, Dana White did have me fired and all, but truth is it was completely justified. I wouldn't want a guy working behind the scenes for my company writing books about my company, and I was doing that. HOWEVER, I would have done it differently, and would have acknowledged that THOSE WEREN'T MY WORDS.

What I would have done is said exactly what I just said, "Can't have a guy working 'Behind the Scenes' writing books about our company. He did good work while he was here, and we appreciate it."

That would have been just fine.

Meanwhile, back to his mom. Sheezus.

I'm sure she has an axe to grind for whatever reason, but c'mon, YOU'RE HIS MOM! Whatever he is, he's that way because YOU RAISED HIM!

I really hope he invites me to Thanksgiving.

3) Man oh Man, it sucks to be Michigan Fan.

I have received so many texts, emails, and just absurd comments from Michigan fans the last few weeks it's nauseating.

They are celebrating that Ohio State might get in trouble because kids sold merch for tattoos, and when the coach found out he didn't tell the compliance department, and/or the athletic director.

Therefore, they cheated. I get it.

Listen, lets not put all "cheating" into one category, and then treat them all the same, or call them the same names. It's fucking stupid.

The same way Ohio State fans have rose-colored glasses regarding former coach Jim Tressel (who I believe got what he deserved, and not soon enough), all the haters, especially Michigan fans need to adjust their lenses as well.

Your team sucks at football not because we're great, but simply because you suck at football. It's the same reason you suck at basketball. You just suck. You have shitty coaches. Your school is boring. There's no one in the state of Michigan.

Has nothing to do with Ohio State.

As for cheating, it's not like you didn't recruit the same kids and whiff. And it's not like they came to Ohio State because they had call girls waiting, or players were paid off, or any of that shit. To assume that Ohio State was doing it differently than the majority of other programs is retarded. Michigan fan has to assume Ohio State recruits knew they'd get some real good stuff by beating teams like Michigan, and then there'd be a tattoo parlor owner willing to buy their stuff, and then there'd be a booster taking a kid to play golf, and then Ohio State kids would be getting special car deals no other athletes get, etc, etc.

Just stop.

Famous kids without money sold things, and Jim Tressel then caved to pressure because he wanted to win. Yeah, that's cheating, but if kids don't sell their items then we're still kicking your ass every year. Has nothing to do with how we recruit, how the program treats kids, the advantages or disadvantages which come from going to one school, or the other. As far as being a player on OSU, how you arrived, and how you leave, Ohio State and Jim Tressel did that as fairly as any school in the country, if not better.

One mistake by kids. One mistake by a coach. Whatever.

It's going to be so much better when we're smashing Michigan. A few years ago I was rooting for them to be better, come back, maybe a stand. Now I root for their school to look like Dresden in the 1940s.

Act like you been there. I know it seems like a long time ago...because it was.

But they do have footage from those years.

4) Obama is dealing with this whole budget crisis, but Wall St isn't yet worried. Truth is America is the best place for nations to invest their money. In a sea of shitty options our ship is the won who will likely stay afloat.

Have you seen the news in Europe? It's not good...

Republicans are going to hold the debt ceiling hostage until the last minute which will create RED-LETTER-NEWS about possible financial turmoil/default. It won't happen, but it will be NEGATIVE news, with the aim of taking another chunk out of Obama, albeit slightly.

See, there's no use in Republicans settling today because then Obama looks good. If you wait a few more weeks until the very end there will be near hysteria! In the end they'll settle, and maybe Obama gets a better deal out of it after all, but it will SEEM worse. And that's why it's happening. They need to paint Obama as having done bad even if he did right. Because they are all just a little bit of Ruport Murdoch's anus.

Fun country.

5) Oh, and Ohio State will rebound BIG from all of this because Ohio kids must hate how the school, and with it, the state is being treated by the media. Oncehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif the nonsense passes it will be harder than ever for other states to poach Ohio kids.

They will want to raise the flag, and they will.

Enjoy the short time of our supposed demise.

6) I miss John Hartford, and yet I never even saw the guy perform. In fact, he died 6 months after I started listening to the guy.

Been listening to his music all night.

6) Right now I'm deciding what to have for snack. I have fruit and beer. You might say "have both", but the truth is I'm only going to have one.

And we all know it's not gonna be fruit...

Unless it's a fruit that fits nicely into the top of a beer.

Things

2011-07-06T01:12:00.005-04:00

Going back to NJ/NY this past week for a couple of days was once again strange because I find myself missing San Francisco. Yet at the same time I feel like I'm not going to stay here. Maybe when we leave we'll end up coming right back. Who knows?

---

Casey Anthony. I really don't give a shit. It's hard for me to even feel bad for a child I have no connection to when I know there are children dying everywhere as I type this.

This entire case does make me appreciate the city of SF though because I didn't even know this was a case until less than 2 weeks ago. And I read the NYTIMES and SF Chron every day. Btw, a letter made it!

---

There must be a better way to get old pictures off of a previous facebook account other than having to log in, retrieve, deactivate. Must be.

---

With all of the books I can possibly write I wonder if any of them will actually satisfy me in the end. Being "successful", as far as book sales are concerned, won't make me happy. However, being unsuccessful will certainly make me unhappy.

I think I'm going to write a novel in addition to the other stuff I'm working on, which is something I didn't think I could do. I'm realizing I actually can do it, which is good to know.

---

I'm in love with their music right now. They played in my friend's living room 2 weekends ago and I can't stop thinking about their songs.

Especially "Home."

---

This continues to bother me because it was I who thought of it over 2 years ago. It doesn't bother me that someone else did it, and probably read my proposal, but rather that I didn't do it.

I never had the drive to be in that game, but seeing how much cash is on the line, I probably should have.

Never should have listened to certain friends when my gut told me it was the right idea.

In the end, I'll think of another thing. I usually do.

So that's Ebay, Save-able ads, and scanning businesses/barcodes with your PDAs, all ideas I had well in advance. Such a dick I am.

---

Urijah Faber beat Dominic Cruz. I know it was close, but Faber won. It's rare I'm against judges decisions, but I cannot understand how dancing, and inflicting little damage matters. Faber DROPPED HIM 3 times.

I asked a friend who won, and he said, "Not the fans..." So true.

I am happy for Tito Ortiz though, and trainer Jason Parillo. Although Tito is a bit of a douche, you have to pull for the guy. Unfortunately, he did beat one of the nicest guys in the sport.

---

The UFC will love me again comes October.

---

Never thought the best shot of any East Brunswick Soccer Player would come from a girl, but it sure as hell did.

One of the best I've ever seen.

Go Heather!!!!!!

I've never loved a sport as much as I love soccer right now. It's consuming me.

Forced to Post...

2011-06-10T00:50:00.007-04:00

You people, forcing this one. Ohio State football has kept me from writing, but there's just too much other stuff I need to get off my chest.

First bit of business, as of today, I'm part of the Ryan Vogelsong fan club. I still don't give two shits about the Giants, but after reading his story in the SF Chronicle today it's hard not to like the guy.

---

Speaking of the chronicle, I was in it last week for a moment. A "letter to editor", if you will. Seriously, I cannot stand Lance Armstrong. Yes, he had cancer, but I'll take a little cancer if the prize at the end is the ability to lie, cheat, and steal and yet be loved by all. Guy is a farce.

---

"Is he new?" This is what the person next to me said, a man, while watching the Giants/Reds game tonight. He was talking about Johnny Cueto.

Is. He. New.

What does that even mean? I could not even answer the question and be confident what I was saying was the answer he was looking for. Instead, I just looked over at him, and his table, rolled my eyes and sighed. Praying one of them said, "What's your problem?"

Well, being that you asked, "You're my problem, Giants fan. Yes, you." Guy who became Giants fan sometime around September of last year, and now intensly watches the last 2 innings of games as long as they're close when he tunes in.

Listen, I get it, people like to root for teams in the cities they live in, etc. etc. It makes sense. But San Francisco is different because most of the people rooting wouldn't know the difference between a baseball bat and a pogo stick. The ultimate fair-weather fans.

"Is he new?"

That's a question asked by someone who doesn't know ANYTHING about sports.

Are you asking if the Reds traded for him earlier in the day? Or if he's a rookie? Maybe you're wondering if they took him out of some packaging this morning after Fed Ex shipped him over from some Spanish speaking country?

Well no, he's not new. He's not "new" like you're new. He's been playing baseball in the major leagues for more total years than games you've watched prior to the Giants winning a championship.

In any other city I could understand people rooting for the home team. But in this city the uber-hipsters are so clueless about sports it pains me to see them in the sparkling new SF Giants hats.

And it pains my cousin as well, who the other night walked into Nickie's Bar and said, "If I walked in here on this day last year I'd have to ask them to turn the game on. Now there's a crowd of people watching on every TV! It makes me nauseous."

Ftr, he's a lifer, and it makes him sick as well.

"Did you hear what happened to Buster? What are we gonna do?!?"

Uhh, do what you did the first 30 years of your life. Not care.

---

Holy shit, Lebron, you are such a fucking pussy it pains me to even watch you play basketball.

You force me to drop F-Bombs. That's what you do.

There's 3 minutes to go in the game, you're down 5-6 pts. Your team is outscoring the opponent 21-4 in the paint in the second half. You get the ball on the left side, and Jason Kidd is guarding you. Recently, Kidd received mail from AARP, and you have him defending you one on one. There's no one under the basket, as it's basically a clear out. You back into him, he backs off of you, and you take a jump shot. Of course, you missed. I knew it was over.

Now let me remind you, douchebag, that you're 6'8", 245lbs, and can grab a quarter off the top of the backboard. He's older than me, and about as quick.

And you settled for a jumper? From 18 feet? With no rebounder? This after you guys are throwing down dunks and getting easy looks just by driving?

Yeah, you're an idiot. A clown of a player. You've been given more physical gifts than probably any player in the history of sports. What you've accomplished with them is embarrassing. You could still win a title as the second best guy on your team, maybe even the third when the pressure is on, but you're sort of a joke.

For all those people comparing him to Michael Jordan, just stop it. Please stop embarrassing Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Clyde Drexler, and so many others. This guy is still a loser. Again, he may very well win the next 2 games, but this guy plays so soft they should remove the name "James" from the top of his Jersey, and add the word "Ply" under the number "6."

Maybe he wins a title and takes his game to another level, but it's hard for me to believe.

Put 28 year old Kobe Bryant on the Heat, add a primed Dan Majerle, Tom Chambers, or Scottie Pippen. Maybe even Anthony Mason! Take off Wade and James, and this series is already over. Over.

Jordan? Stop it. Yeah, Lebron's a physical freak, a regular season stat buster, etc. etc.

He doesn't know how to win basketball games, and doesn't have the balls to either.

Fuck you, Lebron James.

---

When I think about Newt Gingrich today all I can think about is this scene.

Alonzo in Training Day.

You think this guy is going quietly into the night? Wrong!

Here's my Newt prediction for 2011-12.

Obviously, he doesn't run for President. How can he? His own team has left him. It takes a lot of money to run, and he's not going to spend what he has, nor will he be able to solicit enough.

Maybe he stays in the race long enough to be part of a debate? Maybe.

Truth is though, this country has moved so far to the right since Newt's big moment that he's now a relative moderate! This guy calls out Paul Ryan's nonsense and the tea party is all over his ass! He helped begin the hard movement right, but unfortunately for many of us he was part of the group who pushed a glacier down the side of a mountain.

Now you can't stop it. Not even you, Newt.

You wanted the power, and you fucked us all to get it, but now they're out of control. To them you are nobody.

Republican politics is all about the moment, the now, never the future, never the past. You, my friend, are the past. They've moved on you.

But deep down in your wife-cheating soul you are pissed off. You're thinking, "I started this. I'm the piece up in this bitch." You're not going quietly, no way.

You will do what any good Republican would do, and you will fuck someone else so you can look good in the end.

What I mean by that is, you will either join those debates and take the now-sensical moderate approach, OR, you will join CNN as a commentator throughout the campaigns, and you will rip the shit out of these people. Why CNN? Well, CNN is in the South where you're from, and they're moderate. Putting you on there, crushing Republicans, is the perfect audience for you to get your pound of flesh.

Why? Because they forgot about you, and they will pay.

Thing is, Newt is probably more right these days than he has ever been in his entire political life. He left office, he recognizes the problems, he knows America needs a middle ground. He came back thinking he could deliver that, near-third party style. Nuh-uhh. Not these conservatives. You don't even recognize them anymore. You thought wrong.

But Newt still has clout because a lot more Americans know who he is than they do Paul Ryan, John Boehner, or any other Republican House member. And if he starts speaking as an outsider, as someone who was has been there, and remembers better times, Republican moderates are going to listen to him, and so will some blue-dog Democrats.

Newt Gingrich may not be President, or even run for President, but I'm telling you right now this guy is going to ram it up the assholes of every Tea Party Candidate.

He will help Obama win again.

---

Goodnight.

(not editing)

Been Laden

2011-05-06T15:37:00.002-04:00

The amount of nonsense I've read this week regarding the killing of bin Laden has been nothing short of ridiculous.

I often read message boards of all kinds, and the responses have been typically epic.

My favorite right now is the simple oSama/oBama post by my friend Justin McCully, on his Facebook page. McCully is attempting to make the case the two men are somehow linked. Reading the comments others have made in response are pretty hilarious as well, but again, expected.

Then there's Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall, and his poorly timed twitter comments, etc. etc.

“What kind of person celebrates death? It’s amazing how people can HATE a man they have never even heard speak. We’ve only heard one side…” In another tweet in response to University of Illinois basketball player Dominique Keller, Mendenhall implied a 9/11 conspiracy, writing: “I just have a hard time believing a plane could take a skyscraper down demolition style.”

And of course we can't leave out California's own Rep. Duncan Hunter, who insists in seeing the photos of the dead bin Laden.

Arguing for making the pictures public, Rep. Duncan Hunter said "it's not about a conspiracy theory. It's about closure." Appearing with Weiner Thursday on a network morning show, Hunter said the U.S. "should not curb our First Amendment rights because of what some crazy people might do."

Someone should ask Hunter about how we never see US caskets coming home because of how it will affect our collective psyche. Idiot.

It's all just so ridiculous already, but what could I really expect?

Here are my points.

First off, it's fair to ask the question if "an eye for an eye" is a legitimate government stance. Do we have the right to kill this man, especially if he wasn't armed?

But it's only fair to ask that question if you assume he wasn't armed, and in my opinion, I assume he was armed, even if he wasn't. Huh? Yeah, what I mean is if you're a soldier breaking into this guys compound, and even one single bullet was fired during the process, it's fair to assume he, and anyone else in the compound is armed and dangerous. It's fair to assume someone could be wearing a bomb on their body. It's fair to assume the whole fucking house is rigged!

So shooting bin Laden, or anyone else, is fair game.

It's not an "eye for an eye" situation.

Furthermore, I don't think that was the policy handed down, that killing him makes up for what he has done, or caused. Simply, killing him is beneficial because in no way does capturing, interrogating, or trying him help us in any way. In fact, it causes many more problems, and would be quite costly.

Killing him is, and should have been the policy for countless reasons, all having to do with common sense.

This does not mean that people who ask these questions similar to "is it right?" are wrong for doing so. In fact, it's a question of morality. The Christian Right should be the first group asking that question, and yet in America, they're probably the last to even consider it.

It's called "irony", you fucking dolts. Actually, it's really called "hypocrisy."

I'm not religious. So I say "shoot the motherfucker", and do so with a clear conscience.

But if you are of the mind that "an eye for an eye" is fair public policy, or at least fair in regards to Usama bin Laden (UBL), stretch it out a bit. Look at the numbers.

UBL is deemed responsible for an estimated 3,000 deaths on 9/11. If you want to add to that number consider all of the Coalition Forces deceased in Afghanistan AND Iraq. The number comes to 1,571 US /2,445 Total - Afghanistan, and 4,452 US/4,770 Total - Iraq, bringing the totals to 6,023 US and 7,215 overall.

Blaming UBL, the number is the last: 7,215 US and Coalition forces killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

That's your "eye for an eye" fatalities total for the Good guys.

On the other side of things we have the number of people killed in Afghanistan and Iraq, both enemies and innocents.

There have been an estimated 8,813 Afghan CIVILIANS killed, and another 8,857 Afghan troops killed.

In Iraq there has been an estimated 30,000 Iraqi Troops killed, and then there's this one. The big one...get ready for it...

An estimated 864,531 CIVILIANS KILLED! Injured brings us close to 2,000,000.

Now the US government supposedly doesn't "tally" the number killed, etc. because as Former General Tommy Franks put it so eloquently, "We're not in the business of counting dead people..." Unless, of course, they're our dead people. Then you hear those numbers every fucking day of your life for the entirety of the Bush Administration.

"On 9/11, Osama Bin Laden and his terrorist organization, killed..." Yeah, heard that once, or twice.

Don't get me wrong because I know some of you morons out there certainly will, but if you're really big on the whole "eye for an eye" thing, I think enough eyes of have been gouged on both sides to satisfy anyone's particular craving.

And with the number of unfortunately deceased in the Arab world around 2,000,000 and the US and Coalition forces around 10,000, I think someone has clearly taken the lead.

I think it's fair for someone with a moral conscience to ask, "Should we be killing" ANYONE.

I have no problem killing bin Laden, and would frankly be more than happy to do it myself. But lets lay off the moral equivalence thing for a bit, and get back to just being idiots...in silence.

NFL Tonight Clueless?

2011-05-05T23:42:00.003-04:00

I'm watching this show, and Trey Wingo is discussing with Marcellus Wiley and Mark Schlereth about how "effective are these voluntary workouts" being conducted by certain NFL players, namely Eli Manning, Drew Brees, and their teammates.

Schlereth joked about players doing poorly synchronized jumping jacks, and Wiley made mention of the players "not having insurance." Yet no one seems to mention why they are doing it, and only that it seems pointless to do so.

Wingo finished up with a comment about how Manning said, "we want these practices to be private...I'm not doing interviews until the Lockout is over..."

It's so obvious what's going on here it's almost absurd they don't mention it, or don't actually know.

Manning is pretending to workout, and acting as if they don't want the publicity. Why? Because there's a legal case going on, and the players want to put on the best face possible. The NFLPA lawyers are going to tell a judge, "listen, our guys are working out because they love the game, and they're doing it without insurance, or any protections at all. That's how committed they are to their profession..."

With players like Manning pretending to do it on their own, knowing full well it will be covered, yet not making a stink about the lockout itself, it plays perfectly in favor of the players.

Drew Brees spent his own money for voluntary practices? $50,000? Yeah, because he's so committed, and such a great guy.

No. Because it helps their case.

Which, btw, I'm fine with.

Playoffs?

2011-05-05T03:00:00.003-04:00

Members of the US Senate, namely Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, are pushing for a college football playoff system. He's of the belief teams like the University of Utah are unfairly treated because they don't have the same opportunity as other "bigger" schools do to play for the National Championship.

Never mind the fact Utah has joined the Pac-10 (Pac-12), and if they were to go undefeated before bowl season they would certainly be able to play for the title. That's just a fact.

So it makes me wonder why in the world Orrin Hatch still gives a shit.

I've never been one to care about this issue, and even a playoff doesn't rectify the "fairness" issue which is being brought up members of the Justice Department. I mean, lets say 8 teams make a playoff, doesn't teams 9, 10, 11, whatever, still suffer the same injustice in not making the playoffs?

Congress should be paying much less attention to this issue, and if they feel the need to really focus on college sports I'd prefer they push NCAA Schools to start paying athletes on some level.

That's what I'm looking for.

I say this because if you truly care about educating athletes then you should start paying them to stay in school.

As for the playoff issue, there's something else going on here. Someone's campaign is getting a lot of money to talk about this pointless issue. That's my thought.

I'm Talking to You!

2011-04-30T03:40:00.002-04:00

Grizzly Fan.

Yeah, you, Mike Conley's dad.

Congratulations.

No, I'm not talking to all you as-of-last-week Grizz-fans.

I'm talking to their one fan.

7

2011-04-30T03:37:00.002-04:00

There were 7 QBs drafted in the first 3 rounds of the NFL Draft.

Other than Cam Newton who are you betting on?

Jake Locker?

Christian Ponder?

Colin Kaepernick?

Andy Dalton?

Blaine Gabbert?

I'm sorry. Ryan Mallett is better than all of those guys. That's just reality right there.

And I think Mallett is a douchebag. But he's better than those guys, maybe even Newton.

the Goddamn Patriots, Again...

2011-04-30T02:18:00.005-04:00

Honestly, it really is hard not to want to grab that silver spoon attached to Robert Kraft's anus, and ram it all the way up his body until it comes out one of his eyes. It really is hard.

And no, it's not because his mother obviously married Dr. Manhattan and that the spoon flows through his rectum like a hot knife through pork belly fat. No, that's not it at all.

I'm serious! Just because he grew up a Giants fan, and wanted to own a team; now he does because that's what Ricky Schroeder wanted from a dad like Kraft. Not at all.

No.

It's because this prick drafted Tom Brady in the 6th round, and ever since he made those 5 prior mistakes he has been blessed by the football Gods in ways which are unfair. Clearly.

Part of me wants to believe the 31 other football owners are the biggest collection of douchebags to ever walk the Earth, so Kraft has been given up a leg-up. I want to believe this because in this alternate universe it all makes sense to me. It does. How this smarmy little troll can keep winning, getting all the cash, and then ending up with all these great draft picks is beyond me. The others must suck so much more royally in proportion to Kraft, I should almost be thanking him for the simple way in which he did it: go to good college, marry rich, own companies, buy team, draft Tom Brady, don't cheat on your wife.

That's it.

Man oh man, I hope I have a son.

In other news...

Did you see the Patriots draft picks? If you haven't, let me break it down for you. I watch more college football than any man should, and my girlfriend will attest to this. I mean, she could be spend her time getting laid on Saturday (if she wasn't yelling at Coach Richt), but instead, I'm watching ball...all day...every Saturday (and Thursday...yes, ACC, C-USA, and Big East, I watch you too).

From the top:

Nate Solder. I'll admit, I saw the Colorado Buffaloes play once, and they got CRUSHED by Oklahoma. There was no talk of Nate Solder, or Jimmy Smith, or anyone else but Ryan Broyles. Ryan Broyles. Ryan Broyles. Landry Jones. Ryan Broyles. Ryan Broyles. Landry Jones. Ryan Broyles.

So I have no idea if Nate Solder is good, or if Jimmy Smith is good. I don't. I don't remember Cody Hawkins getting sacked much, but I also don't remember him on the field much. And I have a good memory.

As far as the Patriots first pick, their 6'10" OT, I have no idea. But I'm gonna GUESS he'll be good.

Moving on...

...to the OTHER first round pick the Patriots had.

They trade it, for more picks...

So in the second round they took Ras-I Dowling.

Yes, that is his name. Read it again, Ras-I, and yes, that's still his name.

He can play football. I'm a Giants fan. We took Prince Amukamara, on the day of the Royal Wedding, yet I'd still rather have Ras-I.

Why?

Cause he's lean. He's a lanky, fast, athletic CB, who can make plays, and is fast. He's not lean like Antonio Cromartie, but he moves as fast because he's not carrying 8 unnamed children.

Dowling can ball.

My best friend's father played football at UVA, and every summer before the season starts, and right around that first game, I am forced to talk Cavalier football. So I make sure I'm prepared.

Virgina has athletes. Hampton Roads kids. The roads that produced Iverson and Vick, etc. They just happen to suck at football because the school gets all Thomas Jefferson on your ass, and wants to be all smart.

Ras-I Dowling will win a Superbowl, for the Patriots. Snagged.

Shane Vereen.

Have you seen him play football?

He played for Cal. "Cal" is short for University of California. That's short for the University of Brazil. Why? Because Brazil is ginormous, filled with the most athletes on the planet, and yet the economy of California is bigger than Brazil.

Does this mean anything? Not really. Only to say that California is HUGE, and all of the kids playing football in that state. At USC, UCLA, Fresno, SDSU, San Jose State, Stanford, , everywhere..Cal's starting running back is Shane Vereen.

Previously they had Jahvid Best, Justin Forsett, and Marshawn Lynch. All at worst serviceable backs in the NFL, and at best, real talents. Serious ballers.

And yes, Vereen is smaller than all of them, but he has great hands, great feet, great vision, and is tough. Reminiscent of?

Uh huh. Kevin Faulk. He went to school where Stevan Ridley did. But we'll get to that.

Vereen is not an "every down back", but he will play more downs than half the RBs picked before him. He runs hard, he can catch, he's shifty, and can make plays on 3rd down. Another great Patriots pick.

Not picking for potential, but picking for what works. Vereen will work.

Then there's Stevan Ridley. I mentioned him a moment ago.

I fell in love with Ridley sometime during the last game of his sophomore year. LSU was playing Arkansas, and for whatever reason he was in the game.

The kid ran like an animal. Then I watched him early in the 2010 season, when he became the starter, and it was no different. He ran into holes like a fucking cannonball...yet he had good feet and decent vision. I thought of OJ Anderson of the Giants.

I remember thinking, "I love him. Why is he a no name from LSU?"

Now he's on the Patriots.

And then, just to be huge douchebags. Just to be the team that bothers you that much more. Just to make you suffer every second, if you're a player waiting to be picked; without consideration for your family, yourself, anything. Just to piss you off to no end, what do the Patriots go and do?

They take Ryan Mallett, Quarterback, Arkansas, ONE PICK after taking Stevan Ridley.

Who is Stevan Ridley?

Who fucking cares?!?!?

No one cares about Ridley! He's not relevant (even though he'll have a solid NFL career)!

No one cares!

But?...

They make Ryan Mallett sit there and listen to the analyst douchebags talk about Stevan Ridley to the Patriots. They make him wait a couple more minutes. "Just sit there, son, and wait for it...wait for it...No. Wait for it..."

"Now we're ready..."

"With the 9,431,55second pick, the New England Patriots select..."

"...Ryan Mallett...quarterback, Arkansas..."

In his mind he's already thinking, "they don't want me. How could they want me?"

And yet the do. They want you. To learn behind Tom Brady. To take that cannon of yours into the Foxboro wind, and learn behind Tom Brady. They want you.

And there he is Ryan Mallett, the guy with the best arm IN THE NFL. Totally bummed.

Until he realizes, "I'm gonna learn from Tom Brady, and then I'm gonna fuck shit up. You'll regret passing on me."

Yep, he's in the NFL, and has the BEST ARM in the NFL.

I know people criticize Mallett's mobility. I know they question his attitude. I know all that.

But the attitude thing is now done. He's on Brady's team.

Give the kid a couple of salsa lessons and he's good to go with the feet.

Ryan Mallett is a NFL QB, period.

He has a rocket arm.

He's not Dam McGuire.

He was the best pocket passer in the NFL-Minors, aka, the SEC.

At Michigan he learned the offense in a second. He did the same thing at Arkansas with an average team and carried them to the Sugar Bowl.

Does he have some douche in his blood? No Doubt. But doesn't every NFL QB? I mean, I've met Jim Kelly. That guy's a huge douchebag. Ever look at Brett Favre? How is Mallett different than Favre? NFL QB is often the Douche.

The goddamn Patriots.

Remember this draft.

Remember that Bob Kraft banged a rich girl, got married, luckily drafted Tom Brady, and then woke up on the bottom of a rainbow.

Mock Draft Mastery

2011-04-29T17:22:00.004-04:00

Round 2 begins today, but just wanted to throw out some things.

I did a Mock-off with some other guys for a little cash. Nothing serious. We also compared against Kiper, McShay, Mayock, etc.

I did not fair well, but here's how the experts did against the guy I know.

3 = right pick
2 = right spot/team
1 = chose right position

MIKE MAYOCK

1. Carolina Panthers: Cam Newton, QB Auburn 3
2. Denver Broncos: Von Miller, LB Texas A&M 3
3. Buffalo Bills: Marcel Dareus, DT Alabama 3
4. Cincinnati Bengals: A.J. Green, WR Georgia 3
5. Arizona Cardinals: Patrick Peterson, CB LSU 3
6. Cleveland Browns: Julio Jones, WR Alabama 2
7. San Francisco 49ers: Blaine Gabbert, QB Missouri
8. Tennessee Titans: Nick Fairley, DT Auburn
9. Dallas Cowboys: Tyron Smith, OT USC 3
10. Washington Redskins: Prince Amukamara, CB Nebraska
11. Houston Texans: Robert Quinn, DE North Carolina
12. Minnesota Vikings: Aldon Smith, DE Missouri
13. Detroit Lions: Anthony Castonzo, OL Boston College
14. St. Louis Rams: Corey Liuget, DT Illinois
15. Miami Dolphins: Mike Pouncey, OL Florida 3
16. Jacksonville Jaguars: Ryan Kerrigan, DE Purdue 2
17. New England Patriots: Cameron Jordan, DE California
18. San Diego Chargers: J.J. Watt, DE Wisconsin
19. New York Giants: Mark Ingram, RB Alabama
20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Da'Quan Bowers, DE Clemson 1
21. Kansas City Chiefs: Danny Watkins, OL Baylor
22. Indianapolis Colts: Nate Solder, OL Colorado 1
23. Philadelphia Eagles: Gabe Carimi, OL Wisconsin 1
24. New Orleans Saints: Phil Taylor, DT Baylor
25. Seattle Seahawks: Marvin Austin, DT North Carolina
26. Baltimore Ravens: Jimmy Smith, CB Colorado 3
27. Atlanta Falcons: Adrian Clayborn, DE Iowa
28. *(Patriots trade pick): Jake Locker, QB Washington
29. Chicago Bears: Jonathan Baldwin, WR Pittsburgh
30. New York Jets: Akeem Ayers, LB UCLA
31. Pittsburgh Steelers: Aaron Williams, CB Texas
32. *(Packers trade pick): Andy Dalton, QB TCU

* Mayock predicts another team will trade into these slots to take a QB

KIPER

1. Newton 3
2. Denver - Von Miller 3
3. Buffalo - Marcel Dareus 3
4. Cincy - AJ Green 3
5. Arizona - Peterson 3
6. Cleveland - Julio 2
7. 49ers - Gabbert
8. Tenn - Fairley
9. Dallas - Cam Jordan
10. Redskins - Robert Quinn
11. Houston - Aldon Smith
12. Minnesota - Jake Locker
13. Lions - Tyron Smith
14. Rams - Corey Liuget
15. Miami - Mike Pouncey 3
16. Jacksonville - Ryan Kerrigan 2
17. Patriots - Muh. Wiklerson
18. San Diego - JJ Watt
19. Giants - Anthony Castonzo
20. Tampa - Prince Amukamara
21. Kansas City - Gabe Carimi
22. Indy Colts - Jake Solder 1
23. Eagles - Jimmy Smith
24. Saints - Da'Quan Bowers 1
25. Seahawks - Andy Dalton
26. Ravens - Akeem Ayers
27. Falcons - Adrian Clayborn
28. Patriots - Mark Ingram 2
29. Bears - Derek Sherrod 1
30. Jets - Phil Taylor
31. Pittsburgh - Aaron Williams
32. Green Bay - Danny Watkins 1

MCSHAY

1. Carolina - Newton 3
2. Denver - Miller 3
3. Buffalo - Dareus 3
4. Cincinnati - AJ Green 3
5. Arizona - Aldon Smith
6. Cleveland - Julio Jones 2
7. San Francisco - Blaine Gabbert
8. Tennessee - Fairley
9. Dallas - JJ Watt
10. Washington - Robert Quinn
11. Houston - Patrick Peterson
12. Minnesota - Tony Castonzo
13. Detroit - Tyron Smith
14. St. Louis - Corey Liuget
15. Miami - Mike Pouncey
16. Jacksonville - Ryan Kerrigan 2
17. New England (from Oakland) - Cameron Jordan
18. San Diego - Muh Wilkerson
19. New York Giants - Mark Ingram
20. Tampa Bay - Prince Amukamara
21. Kansas City - Nate Solder
22. Indianapolis - Gabe Carimi 1
23. Philadelphia - Jimmy Smith
24. New Orleans - Phil Taylor
25. Seattle - Danny Watkins 1
26. Baltimore - Adrian Clayborn
27. Atlanta - Daquan Bowers
28. New England - Brooks Reed
29. Chicago - Derek Sherrod 1
30. New York Jets - Akeem Ayers
31. Pittsburgh - Cameron Heyward 3
32. Green Bay - Aaron Williams

STOLLMYMONEY

1. Carolina - Cam Newton - QB, Aub 3
2. Denver - Marcell Dareus - DL, Bama
3. Buffalo - Von Miller - OLB, TAMU
4. Cincinnati - AJ Green - WR, UGa 3
5. Arizona - Patrick Peterson - CB, LSU 3
6. Cleveland - Julio Jones - WR, Bama 2
7. San Francisco - Prince Amakumara - CB, Neb
8. Tennessee - Nick Fairly - DT, Aub
9. Dallas - Tyron Smith - OT, USC 3
10. Washington - Blaine Gabbert - QB, Mizzou 2
11. Houston - JJ Watt - DE, Wisc 3
12. Minnesota - Jake Locker - QB, Wash 1
13. Detroit - Anthony Costanzo - OT, BC
14. St. Louis - Robert Quinn - DE, UNC 3
15. Miami - Mikel LeShoure - RB, Ill
16. Jacksonville - Christian Ponder - QB, FSU 1
17. New England (from Oakland) - Corey Liuget - DT, Ill
18. San Diego - Cameron Heyward - DL, tOSU
19. New York Giants - Gabe Carimi - OT, Wisc
20. Tampa Bay - Da'Quan Bowers - DE, Clem 1
21. Kansas City - Jimmy Smith - CB, Col
22. Indianapolis - Muhammed Wilkerson - DT, Temple
23. Philadelphia - Cameron Jordan - DE, Cal
24. New Orleans - Aldon Smith - DE, Mizzou 1
25. Seattle - Andy Dalton - QB, TCU
26. Baltimore - Aaron Williams - CB, Texas 1
27. Atlanta - Adrian Clayborne - DE, Iowa
28. New England - Brooks Reed - OLB, AZ
29. Chicago - Jonathan Baldwinn - WR, Pitt
30. New York Jets - PhilTaylor - NT, Baylor
31. Pittsburgh - Mike Pouncey - OG, UF 3
32. Green Bay - Derek Sherrod - OT, Miss St.

Vittorio Tafur - SF Chron

1. Panthers - Newtown 3
2. Redskins - Gabbert (via trade)
3. Bills - Dareus 3
4. Bengals - Green 3
5. Arizona - Von Miller
6. Cleveland - Julio Jones 2
7. San Francisco - Patrick Peterson
8. Tennessee - Nick Fairley
9. Dallas - Tyron Smith 3
10. Broncos - Robert Quinn (trade)
11. Houston - Prince Amukamara
12. Minnesota - Jake Locker 1
13. Detroit - Aldon Smith
14. St. Louis - Corey Liuget
15. Miami - Cameron Jordan
16. Jacksonville - Ryan Kerrigan 2
17. New England (from Oakland) - JJ Watt
18. San Diego - DaQuan Bowers
19. New York Giants - Anthony Castonzo
20. Tampa Bay - Adrian Clayborn 3
21. Kansas City - Mike Pouncey
22. Indianapolis - Gabe Carimi 1
23. Philadelphia - Danny Watkins 3
24. New Orleans - Akeem Ayers
25. Seattle - Muhammed Wilkerson
26. Baltimore - Jimmy Smith 3
27. Atlanta - Cam Heyward
28. New England - Team X - Dalton
29. Chicago - Team X - Ponder
30. New York Jets - Phil Taylor
31. Pittsburgh - Aaron Williams
32. Green Bay - Ryan Mallett

Ranks
1. Mayock 31
2. StollmyMoney 30
3. Kiper 28
4. Tafur 27
5. McShay 22

Putting aside the fact that these "insiders" pretty much knew the first 4 picks, my buddy was 1 off beating Mayock. Stoll flipped Dareus and Miller, and would have 6 more point, blowing away the field.

In other words, regular guy defeats paid experts.

We discussed revisiting this draft next season to discuss who was "right", in essence, not what teams did do, but what they should have done.

Is the point of the mock to predict what teams will do, or what they should do? I feel like no one really knows since Kiper has famously argued with GMs on the air about what he believed was the "wrong pick" (Trent Dilfer).

I'd love to revisit this next year to see who was accurate in assessing what player should be picked, when, and where.

As of now though, there are always busts. Always.

Someone has to be the guy(s). In the top 10 I'm sensing Aldon Smith, Tyron Smith and most likely Gabbert will all be average.

For the record, McShay is the only "guru" who didn't have a first rounder, top ten pick, Jack Locker selected in the FIRST ROUND!

Good work, son!

Easy to Hate THE...

2011-04-29T03:05:00.003-04:00

Ohio State University.

I get it. They're huge. They lost in the national title game twice, and that upset people for some reason. Then they lost in basketball too, and so they're hated for it.

Oh, wait, the coach too. He wears a sweater vest, and that's just wrong. I get that. Don't think I don't get that. Cause I do. Sweater vests are wrong.

But do you know why he wears that sweater vest? Do you? I do. I know why. Because he cheats, that's why. And people who cheat have to wear sweater vests to cover up all that cheating.

Sweater vest means conservative, and conservative means you pretend not to cheat. That's what I'm guessing everyone thinks.

But prior to 5 of his players selling some of their own items for cash he was wearing the vest because he knew one day he'd have to cheat. The vest provided future cover.

Then it didn't.

Then he actually did cheat. Then he actually didn't notify the authorities about infractions committed by his players. He cheated.

So everyone who thought he was a cheater initially was proven right when he finally did cheat. Even though there's no proof he ever did anything wrong prior, this was the proof that he COULD cheat. And since he did he's now a cheater.

Well, I'm not really in THAT camp.

Let me first say I'm a Buckeye fan, through and through. And I think he should be fired, or severely punished. Just because he has raised the graduation rate tremendously, and that most of his players end up being pretty good people in the end, that's not enough.

No, I think he should be fired because he really did raise the bar, and set a higher standard. That's why I like him so much. But then he let us all down by being like the rest. He likely put winning ahead of all the other things he believed. And even though it happened in an instant, and that he figured he could get away with it, he did. Even though the thing he was covering up is in and of itself absurd, and hardly a crime compared to so many other infractions, it's the cover-up. It always is.

His cover-up resulted in lost revenue for other schools that trickles all the way through college sports. That's just a fact.

So because he didn't hold himself to the standards he set for himself I am totally cool with him being let go.

The problem I have with it all is people equating his "cheating" with that of others.

He's not paying kids to come play. I know this because is STARS are selling items for cash! Unlike the NFL's #1 pick, Cam Newton, whose family fleeced the SEC, and then had their son deny knowing about it. Seriously?

Tressel isn't oversigning kids like Nick Saban is, and then cutting them because a better play has come along.

He's not lowering the admissions bar for half his squad to field a better team.

No, he's not doing these things. He's not in essence creating an unethical, and at times immoral environment, top down, emanating from himself, and seeping through the entire program. Nope. Not doing that.

In a moment he made a bad decision. That's what he did. In the heat of high stakes college football he made a bad decision; the wrong decision. A decision he will now be paying for the rest of his life.

With all of this said, it doesn't make the haters right, and it doesn't make his defenders wrong.

Regardless, hello Urban Meyer...

----

Sidenote: Kirk Herbstreit is officially a douchebag.

I've defended him for a long time, saying he's a Buckeye through and through, especially after his tear-ridden plea to the Ohio State football team to be accepted by then(yes, this happened). But his comments the past few weeks regarding the program are over the top, and ridiculous.

He basically said Ohio State shouldn't recruit "guys like" Clarett and Terrelle Pryor. Really? Ohio State is different from USC, Miami, Michigan, and Florida, all the schools who recruited these same guys, but they chose OSU?

As if somehow in teh 80s, when there was less oversight, it was different when he played?

I know Herbstreit is hated in Columbus, so much so that he moved to Nashville to escape the town, but when you start allowing your personal hate into it all you become less objective. Herbstreit is less objective. And not just on the negative side.

When OSU won the title on the back of Maurice Clarett in 2003, Herbsteit could be seen here, on the back of their former running back:

Ever since that time he has done everything to make himself seem like he's not a "homer." Well, it has backfired. He has had to leave the state, and now he just talks complete nonsense.

Yes, he's right in saying Ohio State fans blindly follow Tressel because he wins games, but that's the nature of all fan/team relationships. However, when you start talking nonsense about "types of players", and things of that nature solely because you're bitter, then you've ceased being a professional.

Other than sell his own stuff for cash, which seems absurd to be penalized 5 games for, what has Pryor ever done wrong?

And Clarett, the story is documented, but in truth no one has really read the "why" he did what he did. It's a sad story. Not one people should be laughing at. Herbstreit knows the story, and should be better than that.

Patriots

2011-04-28T23:31:00.002-04:00

Are they really getting DaQuan Bowers in Round 2? Can this be happening right now???

(we wait for it)

Yes, I know...

2011-04-28T22:53:00.002-04:00

I was wrong, Facebookers. Cam Newton went first.

I guess the old man figures, I may as well roll the dice before I die.

I never said Cam would suck though. I'm in the camp that thinks he'll be very good.

Man, Mark Ingram, rock and a hard place because even if he stayed in school he still had to deal with a slew of running backs at Alabama.

He's a playuh.

Jon Gruden

2011-04-28T22:48:00.004-04:00

"I really love this guy. He just loves football...ain't this awesome...man this is an impressive kid...gotta like this guy...he makes plays...he's a football player..."

yes, jon, he's definitely a football player, and clearly you have a lot of like in your heart.

how is it possible that Mel Kiper has become THE LEAST ANNOYING guy for ESPN?

HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?!?!?

Nick Fairley

2011-04-28T21:24:00.002-04:00

Can thanks 12 teams for making him a great NFL Player.

No one has ever looked less happy to be picked in the first round...other than Eli Manning, of course.

Speaking of which, isn't Eli pretty inaccurate...like Cam? Anyway...

Fairley is better than Glenn Dorsey, and played a similar game in the SEC. Next to Suh? I smell playoffs soon for the Lions, assuming the city of Detroit doesn't completely implode and come to resemble NYC from I am Legend.

So...

2011-04-28T21:17:00.002-04:00

Do you know whose mom just woke him up?

Christian Ponder.

Really?

Wow, Jon Gruden, is there a pair of balls you won't put in your mouth? Every player is a STAR.

Mel Kiper was just staring through Ponder wondering, "What can I say to not embarrass myself with this pick?"

"He's not Chad Pennington-like, but close enough...can move the chains with his legs...very underrated talent...wasn't 100%...numbers overall, not great..." Sounds like a star...

49ers Fans

2011-04-28T21:14:00.003-04:00

I want to know, RIGHT NOW...

...

Are you GETTING READY TO BUY YOUR....

ALDON SMITH JERSEY?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Manny Lawson Part Deux.

---

Sidenote;

Chris Berman...SHUT UP. It's like the same bad joke over and over and over...

Fairley looks fairly pissed off. All these teams passing on him are just making him a better player. It's like Warren Sapp...part deux...

Like, do I think Aldon Smith will be better than Nick Fairley? C'mon. No, I don't.

And With the First Pick...

2011-04-23T03:02:00.002-04:00

in the 2011 NFL Draft, the Carolina Panthers...

MAKE THE DRAFT INTERESTING!!!

YAAAAAAY!!!

I say this because I cannot see the Panthers taking Quarterbacks Cam Newton, or Blaine Gabbert.

I read the other day what Head Coach Ron Rivera thinks about Newton, saying he's "worthy" of the first pick. Well, you know who isn't worthy of the first pick? Ron Rivera.

This guy has been passed over for more jobs than any coach I've ever remembered. Do you think for a second the owner of the Carolina Panthers, Jerry Richardson, is going to let Ron Rivera make the pick? Or even the GM? While I'm not going to call him "cheap", even though it has been said, Richardson is OLD SCHOOL. He played in the NFL. He's going to make a very SMART pick.

Why do I think this way? Well, it's because he's made some very BAD picks over the years, and more recently they've become conservative in the first round.

Early on he picked Biakabatuka, Rae Carruth, and Jason Peter in 3 of the first 4 seasons.

Since then it's been character and safe, for the most part.

They are not taking Cam Newton, and for a guy who some call "cheap", they are also not taking Blaine Gabbert.

Yes, Jimmy Clausen isn't great, but he was a rookie. They'll find out what they have first before they throw money at a guy who won't even play his rookie season.

The Panthers are a bad football team, and need an upgrade almost everywhere.

I suspect they'll be taking Marcel Dareus or Patrick Peterson with the first pick. Both safe, both solid, both guys you can build a team around. If they're gonna risk it they'll take AJ Green, a star wide-receiver who helps your young QB.

I'd be shocked if they take either of the QBs.

And assuming they don't it will be more fun to watch them slip.

Leave a Few Pages in the Back...

2011-04-18T23:26:00.001-04:00

so we can squeeze this into the Reagan Biography:

Mr. Corr, the former ambassador, is expected to testify that as defense minister, General Vides worked with United States officials to curb abuses by his forces. General Vides was awarded the Legion of Merit, a high military honor, by President Ronald Reagan.

This part sounds all good and stuff, but the rest of it is mostly about how he pretty much killed people...

How did Kemba do it?

2011-04-18T15:37:00.002-04:00

People are wondering how it's possible Kemba Walker graduated college having never read a book cover to cover.

Walker took schoolwork with him throughout the Big East and NCAA tournaments, completing short required papers while postponing tests until after the season. He met with his campus tutor on Skype. And in his travel pack is a copy of New York Times columnist William C. Rhoden's Forty Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Black Athlete, a book that Crump encouraged Walker to read as part of an independent study class on racism in sports. Before the Final Four, Crump suggested that Rhoden's book would be the first that Walker had ever made it through cover-to-cover. After the win over Kentucky, Walker confirmed this. "That's true," he said. "You can write that. It is the first book I've ever read."

If you want to know how he did just ask me. Cause I managed to do it as well. And now I write books.

NJ's Awesome Governor Guy...

2011-04-18T14:53:00.003-04:00

Shocking news!

But the last few months have revealed a governor whose conservatism is not just economic. In his statements, budget moves and quiet administrative actions, Mr. Christie has taken strong positions on abortion and medical marijuana; while his positions on these issues had been clear, he had said or done little about them. And he has spoken up on matters he had previously not addressed at all, like family planning and global warming — suggesting that human activity may not be causing the planet to heat up.

“He is absolutely the most conservative governor we have had in the modern history of the state,” said Ben Dworkin, director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University. “Christie has revealed a number of views that we didn’t see before, or barely saw, on things that were not on anybody’s radar screen in the 2009 election or his first months in office.”

In other news, water is still wet...

Sounds of the Earth

2011-04-15T02:27:00.001-04:00

Here's what the Earthquake in Japan sounded like 900 miles away in the ocean.

SF Parking Peoples

2011-04-12T16:18:00.002-04:00

I noticed there was no more chalk on the tires of cars who were parked in hourly zones. This was the method of marking cars to see how long they had remained, without permit, in a particular area.

Having lived amongst the parking Gestapo in Jersey City I've become used to moving the car quite a bit, until I learned the trick (a trick I will not be divulging). I'm always looking to get as much info from police, city workers, etc, as possible.

Today I didn't learn a trick, but I realized why the chalk is gone.

The city has moved to the handheld computer meters, which gives the officer every bit of information about the car in question. They not only know the plate, but the type of car, where exactly it is located, how often it parks in the area, and on and on and on. Once you are "tagged", they only need a small amount of information to follow up on the same car. Almost like with your email account just by putting in the beginning of someone's name all the information pops up. One of the parking authority peeps let me see the entire thing in action. She was super nice. If I saw anyone yelling at her in my neighborhood I'd probably be forced to step in at this point. Don't mess with Lorraine!

If you move your car up the street, down it, across, they will know. So you don't have to be very fearful of remaining on the same street if you are moving your car to avoid a ticket (btw, I won't pay your ticket if this turns out false).

Finally, the reason the chalk thing was done away, and the handhelds introduced is not to be efficient, etc., although they are more so. And not because people could erase the chalk (they did). It's because of injury in the workplace!

When the workers had to lean over all the time and chalk the tires they started developing muscle pains in their necks, backs, arms, and sides. The city did away with that method because to avoid workplace injury! Who knew?

So that's some SF news of the day.

The Daily Show and Colbert Report

2011-04-12T02:38:00.003-04:00

Both recognized so clearly how big a lie John Kyl told on the Senate floor yesterday that they both basically had to do the same exact show!

Stewart / Colbert

Kyl went on the Senate floor and announced that over 90% of Planned Parenthood's services are to provide abortion, when in truth it's actually 3%.

As Colbert pointed out he was merely "rounding up to the nearest 90."

For Senators to just lie so brazenly about issues like this one is really such an embarrassment for the country. But don't think for a second this would in any way budge a single Kyl supporter.

Really, buddy?

2011-04-11T23:04:00.003-04:00

"Somehow I'm not surprised that Democrats are sitting around eating cake while 14 million unemployed Americans are struggling to put food on their table," Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom told CNN.

In response to:

On Tuesday, Democrats in New Hampshire and Massachusetts will gather to fete the anniversary by publicly thanking Romney for putting his signature on the Bay State law. Both states will serve health care law "birthday cakes" baked in Romney's honor.

I'm sure Mitt ate just fine tonight. There's his house:Looks pretty nice.

Mitt Romney was worth close to a half a billion dollars. Totally the regular guy, who never eats cake. He has a real connection to the every day man.

Legal Like Beer?

2011-04-08T22:13:00.004-04:00

If you walk the streets of San Francisco for an afternoon it's almost impossible to not have the smell of marijuana waft into your face, at least anywhere south of Market, up through Haight, and throughout the Mission. It's more common than cigarettes, which, btw, are legal. Although those who do smoke "smokes" get dirtier looks than the weed tokers. There's this sense that one kills, and the other saves. Lets not get into that debate, but I'd like to say, both kill...

Anyway...

There's an article in the most recent SF Weekly calling out Obama for basically "flip-flopping" on the issue. The sticking point is Californians are told something is legal, even filling out paperwork, getting permits, paying state taxes, etc. for the operation of a Marijuana Dispensary, but then they are arrested by the Feds, who don't care what California law is. Made more confusing is the Obama Administration's half-ass stance on the matter, most notably the words of Attorney General Eric Holder and Deputy AG David Ogden, who left people with the false assumption that operating a dispensary was pseudo-legal, and at the very least, federal resources would not be used to shut them down.

There are a couple of people with ankle bracelets, others behind bars, and some in limbo who would like to tell you this hasn't been the case.

People within the AG's office are suggesting those are anomalies, or mistakes, if you will. Yet that doesn't really seem to be the case, or put peoples' fears to rest regarding the law(s).

As an outsider looking in, a few things jump out at me regarding this issue.

First, if you smoke weed, sell weed, regardless of a license to do so, you know it's against the law. If you believe anything else other than that fact you are only lying to yourself. If you think I'm wrong then you should ask yourself what it is you wanted Obama to "change", if things were legal already. You can't be jailed by California law, but being that the state is the 8th largest economy in the world, there are a lot of federal workers here. They can jail you, will, and have.

By engaging in the selling, growing, etc., anyone who does this is well aware they are towing the line.

The idea of state's rights Republicans speak of? That's nonsense. Politicians only speak about things that help them when it applies to them. State's rights regarding taxes? Sure, they're for that. State's rights regarding drugs? Nah. Not really.

So first point here is anyone engaging in these acts has to know he/she is violating the law of the United States, regardless of how extra-legal you think it may be.

Second point about marijuana that bothers me is the assumption it's not even a drug. Yep. Not a drug.

People don't just want it legalized because it helps cancer patients, those with glaucoma, digestive problems, etc. They want it legal because it's "not worse for you than alcohol", a statement I actually do agree with.

Yet as far as state legalization goes, citizens don't just view marijuana as something for medical purposes, but rather for recreational purposes! That's the kicker!

To me, It would be one thing if an individual needed a real prescription to get it; from a doctor who would lose his license if he overprescribed it. It's another thing completely how nearly ANYONE can get as prescription for what seems to be ANY ailment at all.

Now I'll admit, I have smoked weed quite a bit in my day, and rarely if ever do now, and that certain types of Marijuana completely ease nauseous symptoms I have from certain problems with my diet. Often works better than any pill I can possibly take, but I still don't use it because I don't like being "high." But I do know for certain it helps my digestive system. Not all strands, but certain ones for sure.

I'm not arguing that it's not highly effective, or that smoking is not the best vehicle to take the drug. I believe it is. However, I am arguing that I would only use it because I have a real ailment that it does help.

The things I hear other people claim to have in order to get a prescription are ridiculous, flat out. Not even going to name them all, but I will say I hear "anxiety" a lot. Truth is, it CAUSES anxiety in more people than it cures, but anyway...

It would be one thing to say it should be legal, studied, heavily monitored, recommended on some legitimate level as far as consumption goes, and all the other things which apply to every other drug individuals use for various ailments, but that's not what people seem to be pining for. To me they make all these claims, but then want to use it for partying, or general relaxation. Which is also fine, if that's what you're really asking for. If that's your goal, MAKE THAT YOUR GOAL! Stop with bullshit about glaucoma, and nausea, and all the other jazz. Yes, I know it works, but most people here in San Francisco/Bay Area, at least a legitimate voting bloc, want it for themselves, and not the random person who unfortunately suffers an ailment. It's all about recreation but using "cancer" as cover.

If you want it legal, say that, and why you want it legal. Stop beating around the bullshit bush.

The government thinks it is a harmful drug that shouldn't be legal. Common users think they can use it, and drive a car around. There's a HUGE divide between those two sides. Huge.

I have no problem with it being "legal" in a medical sense, and used to treat people who need it. I do have a problem with it's leisurely usage amongst people in vehicles, on bikes, and just on the street. Would you drive a car after having consumed random amounts of Codeine, without knowing the correct dosage? I would hope not. People around here seem to think that would be okay. Heck, their drug of choice can be used infinitum!

Now I know I can drive a car having smoked, for a fact. I did it in college quite a bit. On some level I felt I was a better driver. But there are a lot of BAD drivers out there, and not only that, but bad walkers! Bad bikers! Bad at waiting on the grocery store line! And these people are lit up on really potent weed. To me there's a level of unsafe there which goes undiscussed.

If you can't be tested for weed like alcohol, and it's legal to smoke in California, is it legal to smoke and drive?

Moving on...

Before anyone continues to say "the government this" and the "government that", start thinking about what this fight is really about. Who it really helps, who it hurts, and what the laws should really be regarding marijuana, which CAN BE, not always, but CAN BE a VERY SERIOUS DRUG.

I'm not even against social legalization, but is that what the debate is?

------
Sidenote:

The US Attorney's office in the Bay Area who is going after users, dealers, growers, etc (as he should, it's his job), is Joseph Russoniello. Appointed by Reagan, and served in the area during Bush's last year in office.

Do you think for a second this guy is going to listen to Attorney General Eric Holder about government resources? Trust me, he isn't. He's protected. He's following THE LAW. No one can blame him for that, and HE KNOWS who butters his bread at the end of the day.

If this guy can cause problems amongst liberals, weaken Obama's base, or attack him in any way he most likely will. He's a Republican appointed, Bush/Bush/Reagan serving US Attorney. He has an agenda.

If you trust him that means you would also trust Chris Christie. He was placed in New Jersey by Bush solely to change the politics in the state. That idiot came in and went after "corruption." Really? Corruption? In Jersey? It was a joke issue (yes, serious issue) in that no one could blame in. Everyone is against corruption, right?

Christie is now the Governor of New Jersey, having never won elected office previously. It wasn't an accident.

So you think the US Attorney in California is going to stand down to Eric Holder?

He basically just gave Holder and Obama the finger and said, "What are you going to do about?"

Now you know. Nothing.

Some Questions...

2011-04-08T00:13:00.002-04:00

As I mentioned the other day about this guy Rep. Paul Ryan from Wisconsin leading the budget battle charge, Rachel Maddow is making a good point as well. Of course, it's similar to mine, which is why it's good, and it's actually so legit of a point that I'm actually stomaching her practically unwatchable show.

Who are the people going to blame if there's a shutdown?

John Boehner? Paul Ryan? Michele Bachman? No one knows who these people are!

They know who Obama is though, so in all likelihood he's going to take a larger part of the blame.

Granted, it could hurt the entire Republican party as a whole, but more likely it hurts CONGRESS as a whole AND the President.

Meanwhile, none of this House members are running for President, nor could they. In essence, the Republicans have managed to attack Obama while remaining faceless. Somewhat impressive, and as mentioned in previous post, taking it for the team, so to speak. So happens that those who are taking it, like Ryan, will only gain favor with his base. Nationally, the guy has no career, but in Wisconsin, the way that state is going, he could end up with a monument.

Sidenote: it's so painful having to watch news about this shutdown. It's so rendered itself unreadable because of the dryness of it all, so instead I have to actually watch these idiots talk about.

So wrong.

Lets keep the government open, and instead have a cable shutdown!

Wait, that's crazy. Americans are fine with a government shutdown, but CABLE?!?!?!?

Now you've gone toooooo far!!!!!!!!!

Cheers, Lawrence O'Donnell

2011-04-07T23:56:00.002-04:00

For calling out NBC and Donald Trump, and their ploy to get ratings for his TV show by pretending to run for President.

As you may, or may not know, Trump has joined the "birther" movement, and has been blatantly lying and negligent about the issue. It's an issue that hurts the country, but Trump won't let that stop him in his quest for ratings.

For O'Donnell, and NBC employee, to call this out on his own MSNBC show is actually great.

Yet at the same it probably increases his ratings too!

Hmmm....

Jonathon Capehart has the right take.

Hey, Let Ryan Do It!!!

2011-04-06T16:50:00.001-04:00

I really am loving this Ryan guy from Wisconsin, the one who is seemingly in control of Congress after deciding one day that he's gonna be different. After years of being an obscure House Republican, and after voting for the TARP program, which Tea Baggers found to be a terrible idea, he got all uppity about things.

So there's now...

He has crafted this incredible budget which should limit the deficit sometime around 2371, which if all things go according to plan, will place him on the face of the $10 bill (which will be worth about 10 cents in today's market).

Lets follow his progression to super-stardom from relative obscurity.

Runs for Congress again, wins, wins, wins, wins, wins, does nothing most of the time, then realizes he can become more famous by doing some outlandish shit. In this case it is proposing an unrealistic budget which will never pass the Senate, and of course has tax cuts for wealthy earners.

I know! Sounds crazy. But that's what he's done.

Meanwhile, Republican leadership, knowing full well they want his budget plan to broad up don't want anything to do with having their names on it. They're basically saying, "Dudes, listen, this guy is gonna do it for us. Let him!" That's why you'll always see a crew of older dudes BEHIND him.

As for Ryan and his absurd plan, there's a reason he's doing it.

Obviously Republican voters don't care about what you did, only about what you say you're going to do...to Barack Obama...he knows this.

He knows seniors aren't voting for him en masse anyway, and neither are poor people, if they vote. This is clearly about self preservation of the party, and not the self-preservation of the country.

Cutting taxes always sounds good, so they do it. It's a GLARING factor in his budget that in the midst of FIXING THE DEFICIT he's CUTTING TAXES for the rich. That's the ole "get me elected" maneuver, and the economics of it are based on FANTASY. Old school supply side economics, never proven to have worked. The Laffer curve was laughed out of politics.

But the REAL REASON for this is simple...

Over the last 15 years or so, since the last government shutdown, at least, the country has moved right. Actually, it's HURLED itself to the right. From the Supreme Court, to bullshit social issues, to tax issues, etc. President Clinton partly to blame for economic reasons as well, I know. Republicans never viewed Clinton's centrism as settled negotiation, balancing the right and left. They viewed the new place the country landed as the point of which they would bring it FURTHER to the right. Hence, this budget.

Things were going wildly right for so long they were a bit shaken by Barack Obama's election, and the changing mood of the country. Now Republicans are acting as if 2000-2008 didn't happen, they played no role, and it has no effect. Everyone should just forget about it and pretend we're at the end of the Clinton years. Obama-ism has shaken them, as did the health care effort, so rather negotiate reasonably from a point where most Americans sit right now they have chosen to DRAG the country back to the right, to avoid losing all their gains!

Yes, that is it.

This bill will never pass, but this is the Conservatives saying, "we will kill a few of our own before we cede anything back to Democrats."

It's a big play. It could cost them the election, but in the eyes of Boehner and McConnell they're thinking, "lets let Ryan do it...he's totally expendable..."

As for Ryan, check his history. Career politician, family businesses, private school educated, no connection to all of the Americans he plans to ram in the ass.

He's just a soldier in the Conservative ideological war, evident by his complete dismissal of the bipartisan committee he rejected.

Jammed Up

2011-04-01T01:51:00.005-04:00

Some of the strangest thoughts come to me while jogging, and for many different reasons.

As I was heading up an enormous hill today, westbound through the Mission and onward toward Noe, I was fiddling with my iPod (which I wondered if it was outdated) trying to get to the right song, which was not Phish. I could have toggled through most of the rune until the right motivating moment arrived, but that really just distracts me from the workout. Other problems associated with this move are: 1) when you don't pay attention to your workout you actually get less out of it. That's a fact. 2) I have this thing I do where at the end of my run, rather than just look at the clock on my device I cycle back through all the songs I heard, add them up, and calculate how long I was active for.

It's my thing; I like it. I'm well aware there's an App called a stopwatch which would more easily handle this for me, but as I said, it's my thing. I walk, breathe heavy, sweat, and....do the math. Seconds later I tell myself, "Should've ran longer..."

Half way through today's jog, once I rounded the park and headed back across the Mission is when I had this moment of clarity: "jam music is so dead...and has been."

When I chose to listen to "Like Humans Do" and "Like, Like, The, The, The Death..." over Reba, I knew something was up. Those songs are mellow by comparison yet even I, an expat 'jammer' wanted the "to the point" track.

This isn't to say I don't like some of it, depending on what qualifies as "jam music", cause I most certainly do. I am patient with music, so I can wait for it. But others, in this day and age? Not really.

Here's what happened to long-form jam music, in my opinion.

At one point in the 60's, 70s, 80s, and part of the 90s there were many bands who jammed a lot, some still playing today. Bands like Grateful Dead, The Allman Brothers Band, Jimi Hendrix, and on and on and on, all jammed, and were all amazing. Then there were many bands in between with the final super successful band being Phish, who artfully mastered it, on certain levels.

There were a lot of kids, children of Baby Boomers who grew up on the classic rock/jam band types, many of which came to like Phish, Widespread Panic, various Grateful Dead offshoots, etc. These kids had a great base of music to start from, and then had their own. When it came to music the kids born in the 70s, and early 80s, still had the patience of mind to know a good thing when they heard it because as they went to high school, and aged, there was still no internet. It wasn't an immediate society, like it is today. The music we're talking about takes a certain patience, one which has by and large vanished.

These kids were basically the last ones holding the torch for the long form jamming community, and some of them still are. Now of course there are young kids today who hear a Who song, or a number of Woodstock era bands, and really like the songs they hear. It just so happens that all of those bands actually performed singles and hits! The more modern jam bands focused on the jam itself, not so much the song. Some may have had more talent on the latter than they did the former. Actually, that's a fact. But the kids who are now youngest, around 28, they are the last ones carrying the flame (yes, there are always a few outliers).

Then came the internet, and everything in life was immediate. The thought of a young kid having the patience to listen to a song for 7, 10 or 20 minutes seems ANCIENT! And on some level if you consider the speed at which we're moving, it is. The last of the patient audience is in their 30s. The kids in their 20s? They want the Strokes, Modest Mouse, and Arcade Fire. They're not waiting for something. They want something yesterday, and in the broadband world they can get it.

With the growth of the internet world so went the growth of jam music. It pretty much died. The marketability of long-form in a day and age when we're so concerned with FAST FAST FAST is hardly existent.

"Yeah, these guys are great! Just wait, listen to this song. Like 7 minutes into this tune, right after the drum solo, the guitarist is going to play this riff, which will then become the basis of the next song! Which is also an awesome song, but you really have to get the first song to appreciate the song. It's a deeply profound album..."

"NEXT!"

I was told today by this guy that Phish has less than half a million Facebook "fans." Really? And 1/5 of them were at Big Cypress? I didn't believe him so I checked. It's true, the number is: 421,058. That's not a lot relative to their fame. To give you an idea of where they stand, Jack Johnson has like 3.4 million. Yep. Jack Johnson. Ironically, Phish was the first band to really capitalize on the internet, and take the music sharing experience to another level. Then again, tripod was gonna be myspace, and myspace was once gonna be facebook, soooo...who has a sick idea?!?!? facespace? No, I checked, it's taken...

The death of jam music comes in a couple of parts, but the biggest slice is the way we are as a society: impatient. There are many reasons the level of music produced by most so-called "jam bands" is average at best, but that's a different story altogether, and one I am well versed at telling. Regardless though, the modern "jam band" era has largely ended. The bands which built the foundation for the current bands, they'll still continue to thrive for reasons mentioned. They are all-timers.

In the end it's unfortunate to see it happen because the level of musicianship achieved by some of these bands was often phenomenal. Few will get to enjoy it live as we move forward, which was the best part of the music experience for many of us (can still be). I fear few have much to build on looking back, and realize "there's no market" for it...unless...

Unless we become a society bent on slowing down, being patient, savoring the moment, shit like that.

Stop. That's not happening.

But it could!

No, it can't!

I know, it totally can't.

But it should!

Yes, you're right, it should. But why?

Because an impatient society like ours should be relaxing in its down-time, settling, and learning how to slow our minds down. This music actually provides that; rewards the patient listener in a big way!

Yeah, whatever. Shut the fuck up. I'm trying to workout here, bro. Goto the next song already!!!!

Over There...

2011-03-30T12:41:00.003-04:00

When the Middle East became once-again inflamed a couple weeks ago (months?) with the initial Egyptian revolts I started wondering "Could this be?"

What began in Tunisia suddenly was in Egypt, is now in Syria, and obviously Libya.

Day after day as uprisings were happening I was waiting for that one sentence to sum up the whole thing. One sentence that would put this thing into perspective. That ONE SENTENCE that I always hear when I'm hearing about Iraq, Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan...

"It's Israel's fault!"

And holyfuckingshit, there's nary been a word about Israel. Yeah, there were some early rumblings from leaders in Egypt and Libya (btw, I refuse to try and spell the Leader Of Libya's name until some news organization can establish the actual spelling, so for now it's the LOL), but those claims were suppressed, which was incredibly shocking!

It was like, "Yeah, we know, we know, the Jews, they did it, but lets talk about who ALSO did it!"

Progress!

So now things are going crazy everywhere, and people are getting uppity back here in the US for a host of different bullshit reasons.

Lets start with Congressional leaders, who are about as valuable as a fly on a horse's ass in these times.

In the beginning of this the Republican leadership was saying, "We need to do something!" Seeing it was a crisis, yes, something needed to be done. Things weren't being done fast enough, for "the President needs to act!"

They were all for a RUSH into the region. Until he did something. Then it's like, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow it down there, lead foot. Lets talk about this for a minute before we put US soldiers in harm's way..."

Laughable.

After we're in it was all, "Wait, what? Obamacare didn't seek Congressional approval!"

Really? Congressional approval? Is that what we're talking about here?

Congress is a leviathan, and is completely inept at getting anything done, ever. Approval ratings are lower than the President's, who they claim has poor approval ratings. You wanted him to go to Congress while people were systematically being DESTROYED?

Soon after the President acted the FRENCH were bombing. Yep, the French. I mean, what more information do you need as to whether action is required than the FRENCH BOMBING?!? Did you want the Swiss to get involved? How about the Jamaicans?

Congress is a long-standing joke at this point, doing very little for the country. The last time we trusted Congress regarding decisions to go to war they didn't do their job, took the bait hook line and sinker, and embroiled our nation in what was probably the worst decision the country has ever made in modern history. Yes, worse than Vietnam regardless of the body count.

Does President Obama have the authority to take military action in a foreign land without the approval of Congress? Uhh, no. Do I give a shit? Uhh, no. Why don't I give a shit? Because I've seen Congress, and I've seen that a humanitarian situation has been turned into an American political situation which is solely being used to gain favor with voters. I'm not into that.

He felt it was time to act. The world community felt it was time to act. We are supposedly leaders, or at least we were prior to Iraq, and I think we should lead. Congress doesn't care about that.

In the President's eyes the situation required immediate action, and in the eyes of current coalition leaders.

This doesn't mean I agree with the decision, but I'll get to that...

As for the media, I get your whole thing about this. You have a show to do, and this is the big topic of the day.

Do I have complete faith in Laura Ingraham's ability to dissect what's going down on the ground in Libya? I mean, don't you?!?! I actually heard this idiot arguing with Bill O'Reilly (who agreed with the strikes) last week about "tactical" errors. Seriously, tactical errors on FOX News.

Then of course the whole, "have to goto Congress" first thing.

Anything to win favor, and undermine the goal's in Libya by undermining the President.

Why? Because the left undermined a war sold on lies, but once we were in the war we needed to just blindly support. It's the ole adage, 'do what we say, not what we do' thing-majiggy.

Just because the war in Iraq was a poor decision does not mean this is a poor decision. They're not the same things. In fact, the Iraq conflict, as sold to the American public, IS THE LIBYAN CONFLICT!

That whole "he's killing his own people", and "he's a threat to the region" thing. This guy was currently killing his own people, and is a threat to the region. Pay attention here, folks.

"But is he a direct threat to us?"

Yes! LOL is a direct threat to us! No doubt!

How can I say this? Let me break it down for you as simply as I can.

The REGION is of strategic interest to us, which is why we went to Iraq, etc., in the first place. No nukes, no threat to other countries, none of it. President Bush and his douchebag minions wanted a war to change the region because Iraq has oil. The country seemed ripe for the TAKING. The hope was democracy would come about, the region would settle down, markets would open up, etc. etc.

Didn't happen. Then they lied about why.

Well, now you have your "why." Humanitarian crisis, dictator, democracy, freedom, all that bullshit.

"Well why not Africa," asks Liberal hippie (Republicans don't now where Africa is, so they don't ask)?

"Because Africa isn't a strategic interest to us. When we find useful natural resources there then we'll go to Africa. One region at at time. Show some patience, for crying out loud!"

So this whole region starts to see largely peaceful protest, some turned violent because of the actions of certain rulers.

Now here comes the free and democratic world, watching from a far, wondering what to do in the face of all of this. The United States completely stained because of it's involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. We're viewed skeptically at home and abroad because any mistake made could turn out to be tremendously costly because of our previous mistakes. The mistake in Iraq lingers, and that has to be considered.

Does anyone think for a SECOND if this had happened under George W. Bush, a year or two after 9/11 that people would be asking for "Congressional approval?" If this had, and it turned right for Bush, he'd be in my pocket already, pictured on every bill and coin I own!!!

But it didn't. It's happening now, in the face of the mistakes already made.

And not for a second can someone speaking with anyone intellectual honesty say, "Without Iraq we may not have seen these uprisings." Yes, I actually heard that in Florida, which is the dumbest thing that's been said.

Without Iraq this situation would be UNBELIEVABLY beneficial to the world. It's because of Iraq that it's a risk.

Now take a step back for a second and think about this situation in contrast to Iraq and Afghanistan. When the US unilaterally acted in Iraq we weren't viewed as "liberators" by the Arab world at all. Most of the world saw it as an act of aggression. Since acting in Libya this week, and in the face of all of these other uprisings hardly a word against the US is being spoken by proponents of democracy in the Middle East.

Shouldn't that be our standard? What the PEOPLE IN THE REGION THINK?

Other than some celebrating Iraqis who hated Saddam, the Iraq War was viewed negatively by Arabs everywhere, and again it was considered a war by the United States and....AND...wait for it....WAIT FOR IT.........ISRAEL!

Yep. Those two places, again.

This time, hardly a word. Hardly a word in the streets. American flags not being burned. American troops not being killed. None of it. Rather clean, and necessary. A limited strike aimed at leveling the playing field between LOL's loyalists and supposed rebels.

Now again, why does this matter to us, and how is it a direct threat?

Because the region's stability, which already made more unstable by the Iraq War, has presented the World Community with an opportunity to make things better, safer, and possibly beneficial to everyone on the planet. What skipped from Tunisia, to Egypt, to Syria, to Libya, and elsewhere can easily SKIP BACKWARD, a force moving against these champions of democracy. To even suggest we have no "direct" interest in Libya, yes, from a theoretical perspective maybe that's true. But from a realistic perspective? Not on your life.

An opportunity to help those asking for help, in the Muslim world has presented itself, and President Obama took it.

Whether you think that will work out is your call. I for one would have chosen otherwise.

But to sit here and try to score political points with it is absurd. To claim he didn't have a "right" to do so, also absurd. He has the right derived from common sense, which should be the standard by which Presidents act.

As for my personal opinion, I do not think that acting on behalf of the Libyans is going to work out in the end. When I think about that region as a whole I fall back on my favorite quote, "that place is a fucking mess. Nothing's gonna change." And I believe that. So in my opinion, acting on behalf of any country there (sans-Israel, where it's only a mess because of everyone else) is usually a bad idea, and a waste of time and money.

I am not suggesting the Libyans are not dying, or being killed in large numbers, but lets be honest here: does it matter? Over 60% of the Middle East and North Africans are under the age of 30! Apparently, killing people, death, etc, is more the norm than anything. I'm not suggesting I want to see these people killed, or dying in any way because I don't. I am just wondering if it MATTERS TO THEM!?!?

Clearly it matters to people who value every day they get to spend on this planet, but judging the number it seems "life" is considerably less valuable to a region of the world with seemingly little to be happy about.

My opinion on not going there rests on the belief that we are not going to change what happens in the end. They have to change it. It's the theory that something has to get markedly worse before it gets better. Yes, we are helping stave off the deaths of people in Libya and elsewhere, but our actions haven't scared people who are oppressive not to act. Had our actions ever worked in the first place you wouldn't have dictators in the region!

The only way things will change is if we let them take a natural course, and by that I mean allowing people to be killed. Pushing the region to it's true boiling point. Allowing the situation to fester nearly into chaos without our involvement.

If oil prices rise, so be it. If more people are killed, so be it. It's all part of a sacrifice to the region which has never been able to work itself out.

Yet it seems there are younger forces in action there, connected to the rest of rest of the world through technology, hence the start of these revolts in the first place. It all happened so quickly, and as soon as it did we jumped on the opportunity to help. We shouldn't have. It should be allowed to continue uninterrupted for an extended period of time. If things get worse, they get worse. Clearly the people there are unhappy, and it's a growing movement against dictatorships. The offering of help is not making them stronger, but on some level weakening them by letting them believe help is around the corner.

Help should not be around the corner. This thing should play itself out on it's own. And if no change comes of it, then no change comes of it. Same shit, different day, different year.

From an American perspective, the only real effect of the Iraq War regarding this conflict is people actually believe "democracy" and "freedom" are possible. It become such a talking point for years; part of the rationale for "why"; part of the lexicon, that it may have become something people believe is realistic.

I'm not of that mind, not until I see some real gains. Not just a revolt, a gathering, or something similar. I'd like to see tangible results, something you can point a finger at. When I see that I'll start to believe in this momentum. As of now, and based on history, it seems to me it'll be more of a fad. But who knows? Technology has changed the world in so many ways, and it has made a huge splash in that part of the world. Maybe it continues to, and maybe change really takes hold.

I'm hopeful it does.

But I'm certainly not going to sit here and argue the merits of "if he was allowed to." For that's just fucking ridiculous.

We Saved the Country!!!

2011-03-25T01:32:00.001-04:00

Wait, no. Did we?

No.

We saved Wall Street:

While Wall Street was at the center of the credit crisis that began in August 2007, the New York economy has recovered faster than much of the nation as the city benefited disproportionately from the government bailout of the financial system. Jobs in the finance industry grew 1.5 percent in New York in December from the year-ago period, compared with a 0.8 percent loss across the U.S., according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Sweeeet.

They needed it.

Where's the Money

2011-03-22T01:22:00.002-04:00

I was talking to a guy I know who's a firefighter in Jersey City, and he told me they haven't had a new class of recruits since 2007. There's one scheduled for 2011. In 1980 there were 600 on the force, and today there are about 300. In 1980 when someone was a millionaire that person was considered rich. There were few of those in Jersey City, I'd guess. Today there's probably MANY in Jersey City, and a millionaire seems to be almost run of the mill. Yet we don't seem to have the money...is what I always hear...Strange.

Then there's the issue of teachers and unions and police officers and on and on and on...

I can't even guess what a firefighter makes, full-time, but it's somewhere between $31-55,000 here in the US, depending on where you live.

Even in 1980 $55,000 wasn't considered a boatload of money; today it's clearly less. Yet the amount of money people seem to make in so many other walks of life has increased tremendously since that time.

I just don't get it, where's the money going?

I do know that what we are great at paying is one thing, which is truly American: lip service. The amount we pay to cops, fire fighters, and teachers has increased at a faster rate than any banker's salary...

Aaaaye, You're the Number One Seed...

2011-03-14T03:31:00.004-04:00

So guess what? Here's a huge fat cock in your ass. Seriously, here it is. Enjoy it.

Why do I say this? Because Ohio State is the number one team in college basketball, so instead of getting the easiest draw, they get the hardest draw!

Why? Reverse favoritism!!! Yeah, it's like reverse racism, but this time it's a black guy fucking his own team. That guy would be Gene Smith, the Ohio State Athletic Director, and head of the Tournament Selection Committee.

Lets take a peak about what the fuck I'm talking about. Below I'm going to list for you the Top 4 teams from each bracket in the NCAA Tournament, and then give you a little thought.

East: 1 - Ohio State 2 - North Carolina 3 - Syracuse 4 - Kentucky
West: 1 - Duke 2 - San Diego State 3 - Connecticut 4 - Texas
SEast 1 - Pitt 2 - Florida 3 - BYU 4 - Wisconsin
SWest 1 - Kansas 2 - Notre Dame 3 - Purdue 4 - Louisville

Okay, with that said, if there was a tournament of 2 seeds it'd be North Carolina, San Diego State, Florida, and Notre Dame.

North Carolina would be the favorite.

If there was a tournament of 3 seeds it'd be Syracuse, UConn, BYU, and Purdue.
Yes, I know UConn just ESCAPED Syracuse in the Garden, but Syracuse blasted UConn in Connecticut earlier in the season. It took a miracle for UConn to beat Syracuse in the Big East Tournament, and in a tournament of these teams, Syracuse is a likely favorite. If you're Ohio State you'd rather see UConn, no doubt.

If there was a tournament of 4 seeds it'd be Kentucky, Texas, Wisconsin and Louisville.
Okay, first off, Louisville sucks. Yeah, the went to the finals of the Big East, but they don't have a single guy who's going to receive a paycheck from a NBA team. Wisconsin? Yeah, they WERE good, but they just scored 30 against Penn State. Yeah, THIRTY FUCKING POINTS IN A BASKETBALL GAME.

What happened to, "how well you play at the end of the season?"

Well, speaking of that theory, KENTUCKY IS ON FIRE, and in a tournament of these 4 teams, Kentucky would be the likely favorite TODAY.

So Ohio State basically draws the best team on every line, 2 through 4. That's what the number one seed gets?

Yep, analism.

Lets take it further. All 3 of the teams Ohio State may have to play are LEGENDARY programs, who have all won titles, and all who have coaches who have been in the dance. Is that not enough for you? Let me take it further.

If Ohio State wins its first round game, their second round game is against Villanova or George Mason! Both those teams have been to the final four RECENTLY. That's no joke. RECENTLY. I'm not talking UNLV from the 90s, or even Illinois with Deron Williams. I'm talking like, you remember these teams being in the Four because their coaches are STILL THERE.

So I'm just saying, yes, I think Ohio State is the best team in the country, but I also think they received the most ABSURD draw of all the #1 teams in the dance. I mean seriously, Pitt gets BYU and Wisconsin? C'mon. COME ON!

Notre Dame as a #2? Yeah, they've been great, I get it. But literally, for Christ's sake, is that a joke? It's Notre Dame basketball.

Anyway...let the games begin.

(Btw, I've been drinking)

Response Time!

2011-03-05T11:33:00.001-05:00

ESPN changed their schedule to reflect games on ESPN. How nice.

See what a few "fucken assholes" will do for ya?

ESPN Can be So Weak

2011-03-01T20:12:00.002-05:00

I was looking to see what channel #1 Ranked Ohio State was playing on tonight, so I went to ESPN.com thinking I could get that information there. After all, they refer to themselves as "the total sports network."

Unfortunately, that information wasn't available. In fact, it was less than not available. If you searched the ESPN.com schedule you'd guess Ohio State wasn't even on television tonight.

See here

Then I thought to myself, "Nah. That's gotta be some typical ESPN bullshit. I bet the game is on."

I tried CBS Sportsline next, and low and behold, THEY ARE ON TELEVISION TONIGHT!

CBS was kind enough to list what channel the NUMBER ONE TEAM IN THE NATION was playing on even though it was not being broadcast by CBS, or one of its affiliates. ESPN can't seem to do this. Under the "TV" column they just leave it blank. CBS even lists games on ESPN.

Other than the times my games are on ESPN, where I'm forced to watch it, I will do everything else to avoid ESPN, starting with ESPN.com.

Seriously, fuck you, ESPN.

What's Jon Fitch Trying to Prove?

2011-02-26T18:12:00.002-05:00

The rare MMA post, and here it is.

W'e're about 6 hours away from BJ Penn vs Jon Fitch from Sydney, Australia.

I've been getting texts from a lot of people, asking me about "inside" info regarding the fight. Straight up, I have no more information than anyone else. In fact my information is probably less useful because of what I know, in that I am probably over-thinking the entire thing.

I have received a few "Why is BJ fighting Fitch?" texts, and even saw Nate Quarry ask the same question on a television show yesterday.

Here's my thoughts about every aspect of this fight.

First off, BJ will fight anyone and the UFC knows it. On some level BJ is becoming a gatekeeper for the welterweight division, since he is more "naturally" a lightweight. I still wish they had weigh-ins the day of to make it truly more NATURAL, but based on the situation, he's a lightweight under these rules.

I don't believe the UFC is giving Penn another shot at GSP, nor do I have a clue if he would even want one (knowing him, in the back of his mind, he probably does...but anyway...). However, Jon Fitch will certainly get another shot at GSP, assuming he can win this fight, hence Penn being the "gatekeeper" for this division.

Penn helps the UFC by fighting guys like Fitch, or Koscheck, or Alves because they are high profile fights that will do a relatively good draw for non-title events. The UFC also doesn't want Koscheck, Alves, or Fitch (and others) knocking off sexy newcomers. So fights with Penn provide them all with a little something.

The same goes for lightweight in Penn's case. They don't want BJ beating all of their contenders, or champions, and with Anthony Pettis almost guaranteed a shot, they have to buy some time. It doesn't help the UFC at all to have Penn beating Henderson, Pettis, Maynard, or even fighting Edgar again right now. There's no doubt he can beat these guys, but how does that help the UFC? It doesn't.

Right now BJ is helping the UFC buy some time in two divisions.

I'll say this, if Sotiroplous were to lose tonight, or even win, UFC will be thinking Penn at 155.

As for Fitch, he claims he has "something to prove." Well, what is it he wants to prove? That he can defeat Penn? I don't deny he can, for he's a great fighter, and the MUCH larger man. If that's what he's trying to prove he can prove it. But if he's REALLY trying to prove something he won't do what everyone expects him to do, and that is take Penn down and try to grind out a boring decision. Maybe if he's lucky, get a mount on Penn and hope he gets a stoppage.

But would that PROVE anything to me?

Not at all.

A win is a win in this sport, and a win over Penn by Fitch is impressive. But how he goes about it is more telling than anything.

St-Pierre was clever in beating Penn the second time. He took him down, grinded on him, and wore him out. Then he was willing to stand after Penn was running on empty. On some level it seemed St-Pierre was better at all aspects, but on his feet he's really not. It was a clever plan.

As for Fitch, this is a 3 round fight, so he doesn't have the time to wear Penn, then stand late to show off hand skills.

In order to prove something to me, the bigger man would have to beat Penn on his feet from the get go. If the fight is close late, go for the takedown and use the size advantage. But if Fitch comes at from the opening bell and tries to win this fight sheerly by using his size advantage, that to me proves absolutely nothing. It would be no different to me if BJ fought Rashad Evans, who decided to hold him down and grind. It wouldn't "prove" anything, except that there's a reason we have weight classes.

My expectation is Fitch will go for the win by attempting take downs, and keeping their bodies close. If BJ avoids this I expect he will finish Fitch. If he can't avoid it my expectation is I'll fall asleep before the fight even ends, so I won't know what happens anyway...

My message to Jon Fitch: If you want to PROVE something, show us you can stand and bang with a smaller opponent. After all, you're the #1 contender in a higher weight class.

Hey Ted Williams, Good Luck With All That...

2011-02-25T21:17:00.002-05:00

Seriously, America, we are awesome. Not so much for our alliance with Qadafi during the war on terror, but more so because we were celebrating the "golden voice" of radio, Ted Williams only a few months ago, and now? Now we shit on his head.

Yep. That's how we do:

After getting into an altercation with his daughter, an altercation for which he was not arrested, Williams was pressured into going into rehab for alcohol addiction by TV psychologist Dr. Phil McGraw. He then left almost immediately, saying he felt rushed and that the process (i.e. being broadcast on Dr. Phil live from rehab) felt "scripted." Williams then checked himself into a sober living house for voiceover actors in Los Angeles, where he could come and go as he pleased, but where he still needed to submit to drug tests and promise to remain clean.

Eventually came word that Williams had long ago abandoned his nine children. And then The Smoking Gun released his rap sheet...Kraft hasn't brought him back, his TV ads have been pulled, and the Cavaliers' job offer has been reneged. He's been abandoned almost as quickly as he was embraced, and for nothing more egregious than any other common celebrity infraction.

Well, eff you Kraft cheese, I don't eat your trash anyway.

The Cavs? Well, there's really nothing more I can do to you. Lord knows you've gotten the shit punished out of you.

But to us, Americans, who cared so much for the man on the side of a Columbus highway, do we even care anymore? Do you really thing that an argument with his daughter, or the fact that he's trying to get remain clean is reason enough to dump this guy?

We feel so good about pretending we're doing good by celebrating in this guy's rebound, but if we allow what's now taking place to continue as it is, he'll be dead real soon. And while we can blame him for his drug use, we'd be just as responsible in this case for having lifted him up on our shoulders and then dropping him on his head.

There's no better truly American drug than the way we make ourselves for having done something great, which is often pure bullshit. Like in this case.

I Hate the Star Alliance

2011-02-24T03:29:00.002-05:00

I'm not sure how many of you know about my issues with Continental and United, but there seems to be a new one every time I fly.

Just last week I was flying to Florida for a special occasion and sometime around 10 PM I received an email saying my flight was cancelled. I happened to notice this late at night, and it was disturbing since my flight from SFO to IAH to PBI was scheduled at like 6 AM. There was a lot of late night scrambling, but eventually I got it done, or I should say, they got it done (credit to the Continental service rep who stayed on the phone with me for over an hour. As she put it, "if I'm not talking to you I'm talking to someone else.").

The thing about that flight which bothered me so much is Continental claimed there was a problem with the in-bound flight, so they had to cancel. Basically, a plane was supposed to come in the night before, and wasn't going to make it, so they had to cancel the morning flight. Seriously? Should I buy that Continental/United cannot FIND A PLANE in 6 hours to take it's place?

It was bullshit.

The real reason is the plane from SFO to Houston was hardly sold, and since the service reps are already working, we may as well cancel the flight, put all the people on other planes, make our reps work, and save the airline some cash. This happens.

I noticed the day before how empty the flight was, so when this happened I wasn't that surprised. The service rep couldn't even lie on behalf of the airline and claim I was mistake. She basically just said, "How can I help?"

Tonight I just scheduled another flight from NYC to SFO for March 23rd. When I started my search at 11:50 PM there were MANY options for $170. I could fly on Friday, Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. When I tried purchasing the ticket I was continually told there was an error. Eventually there were no seats available at that price until Wednesday. Miraculously, in a span of 15 minutes Friday, Monday and Tuesday had gone up over $100. Go figure.

Add to it, when Continental was not with United I could fly into Newark for a reasonable price. Right now the flight from Newark to SFO on Continental is over $650 one way. Out of JFK the flight is $170. For real?

For real.

Couple all of this with the fact I was assaulted on a Continental flight, and nothing was ever done. They supposedly investigated the matter, but claimed there was no harm. I kid you not, I have not been comfortable on an airplane since that time. Never in my life did I have a problem flying, but since that day, never been the same.

There have been other things as well, like recently I was told that I had no status at all (I'm platinum) because even though I purchased the flight through Continental's website, it was a United flight, yet operated by USAIR! Therefore I get no status, nothing, zero, zilch. Like I've never flown with either airline before.

I'm seriously fed up with flying, fed up with these airlines, and most of all, fed up with Continental.

They don't care about their customers, and in fact, have changed my emotional state regarding flying 180 degrees.

I am in the market for a new airline; not that I expect things to be different. I just can't imagine they'll be any worse.

knicks

2011-02-22T15:59:00.002-05:00

wow. the knicks actually got it done! shocking :-)

who knows if it makes them better, but it definitely sells more jerseys and makes them more exciting to the media.

can we bring back a reincarnation of derek harper? oh, right, chauncey billups.

Reload

2011-02-08T17:34:00.002-05:00

I was thinking to myself a few weeks ago how the Kobe era is coming to a close, and how there aren't many superstars out there the Lakers could snag going forward. Then it occurred to me there was one: Carmelo Anthony.

And it seems they are now making moves to acquire him, which would crush the Knicks.

Melo's wife may want to be in New York, but I'm sure the two of them will be just fine in Los Angeles.

The Lakers always find a way to get these deals done, and I'm assuming they will manage to get it done again, or will at least force the Knicks to give away much more than they wanted to.

Health Care Battle

2011-02-02T19:28:00.002-05:00

Who knew it would last the entirety of the Obama presidency?

Uhh...me? Yeah, me, and every other person who realized the Republicans are more heavily backed by big business, big pharma, and insurance companies, so this had to fail. No different than when Hillary Clinton tried to do this from the Oval Office.

Obviously the Supreme Court will strike this law down, which is why judges matter most. And there are people on both sides saying the law is unconstitutional.

Whether it is, or isn't, or is so convoluted and fucked up as to be as confusing as every other government related health initiative is beside the point. The real point is any bill put forward has to be ALL OF THESE THINGS BECAUSE OF THE REPUBLICANS. They don't want health care! So any bill will be made to fail, as this one seemingly will.

However, the reality is Americans DO WANT HEALTH CARE when asked straight up and down.

In the end, Obama is going to have another chance to run against Republicans on this very bill, and it's going to be the reason he ends up in the White House for another 4 years.

If he drops the ball on this, well, he's a fool.

Ask Yourself

2011-02-01T01:01:00.002-05:00

When the financial crisis was going down there was a mix of opinions from all sides. Notably was Senator Jim Bunning of the Capitalist Party, who charged Secretary Henry Paulson we were engaging in "communism." Paulson was the head of a small Socialist enterprise earlier in his career called Goldman Sachs. I was always surprised Paulson didn't arrive to the Senate wearing a red suit...

Anyway...there's an article in the times from Sunday about who did what, why, and when, and all I can think about is how Treasury changed the laws to allow banks the ability, or should I say, the motivation to buy other troubled banks. People like Bunning didn't want a government bailout, so instead, Treasury usurped the Constitution and made laws (Congress does that) to help out. In other words, it's more preferable for the "free market" bank to look take over another institution based on a quasi-legal activity, than it would be the government to legally step in and make sure a bank doesn't fail.

America. Awesome.

My Favorite Comment

2011-01-30T20:47:00.001-05:00

" Delete
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey cocksucker
I know who you are...you that little faggot from Jersey City that lived next door to claude. Let me clue you in on something...everybody in the band thinks you're a douchebag.

I've known these guys for over 25 years....you don't have a clue pal."

My reply:

Everybody in the band?:
Claude - we're friends, helps me out, gets me tickets. Must hate me.
Dave - same.
Glenn - never met.
Mickey - don't know well at all, and doesn't know me.
Aaron - total drunk, druggie, relationship cheat who's a blatant idiot, so why would i care (i'd be impressed if he remembered me!)?

Next...

Aaron Freeman Treats Gene Ween Like Shit

2011-01-26T16:05:00.003-05:00

Due to request...this has been removed.

Ween fans who use the message boards, etc, have always been tools, but I appreciate you reading.

Take care.

Just Passing the Time

2011-01-22T01:09:00.002-05:00

You know the morons who spend all their time claiming President Obama wasn't born in the United States, and all the media morons who lend some credence to the claim by bring it up? You do. Good.

Well the reason they bring it up, and continue to make it an issue in the face of the evidence which refutes their claim, is because they really have nothing else to beat on him with. Sure there's the economy, but that wasn't his. And the wars, but those weren't his. And there's health care, etc., but that's just absurd. Most everything else is really just inherited issues. It's hard to REALLY kill him for policy issues (unless you're someone who voted for him) since you never agreed with anything he believed in from the start.

So the reason they go with the whole "birther" issue is because they are just passing the time, filling the air space, creating a negative campaign against him so if/when there is something really negative they can just turn into that. They need to keep the minions working in the anti-Obama realm because of those who actually push this shit have nothing to go with they will lose support for their retarded causes.

Yep.

Americans Are All For It!!!!

2011-01-21T02:41:00.001-05:00

Until you tell them what "it" is.

As President Obama and Congress brace to battle over how to reduce chronic annual budget deficits, Americans overwhelmingly say that in general they prefer cutting government spending to paying higher taxes, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

Yet their preference for spending cuts, even in programs that benefit them, dissolves when they are presented with specific options related to Medicare and Social Security, the programs that directly touch the most people and also are the biggest drivers of the government’s projected long-term debt.

Nearly two-thirds of Americans choose higher payroll taxes for Medicare and Social Security over reduced benefits in either program. And asked to choose among cuts to Medicare, Social Security or the nation’s third-largest spending program — the military — a majority by a large margin said cut the Pentagon.

By the way...we're dumb.

The Crap Alliance Strikes Again

2011-01-12T01:51:00.003-05:00

Do you know what a "code share" flight is?

You don't? Oh, in that case, you must work for either Continental, United, or US Airways, which together form the Star Alliance. Known by others, like myself, as the Shit Alliance.

What happens when 3 airlines, 2 with pretty decent Mileage programs, come together to "give you more?" You'll never guess. Do you think that's what happens, that you get more? Or, do you think that just maybe you'll get less? Do not think too much on the matter because in truth you may get both, more and less, depending on who you are dealing with and the randomness of how it works. However, in the end, regardless, you will get frustration. I know this because ever since the merger took place I have been effed in some fashion, almost every single time.

So a "code share" flight is when one airline sells you the ticket, in my case it was Continental, which is part of United now, but the plane is operated by another airline, which in this case was US Air, an airline which had already partnered up with United as well. In other words, it's one huge airline, right?

WRONG. It's one huge pain in the ass, with no rhyme or reason.

What does this merger/alliance mean to me, a man of Platinum/Gold Status in the Shit Alliance? It means that even though I purchased a ticket under the auspices of said alliance, I was not added to the upgrade list of my most recent flight because? Yes, correct if you answered "sir, it's a code share flight...we don't upgrade on those."

"Why not? It's the same Mileage program. I'm a Platinum member"

"Sir, I don't know how to answer that. We just don't."

"How convenient for you, and inconvenient, for me."

"I"m sorry, sir."

"You sound sincere..."

"Sir, it doesn't matter anyway because the flight is full. Even if I put you on the upgrade list now, it wouldn't make a difference."

"Yes, I get that, it's 7:10, and the flight was supposed to leave at 7:15, so I get that everyone has ALREADY been upgraded. I want to know why I wasn't on the list."

"Sir, it won't make a difference because it's a full flight. There are no more seats available."

Yes, I GET THAT. MAYBE I WOULD HAVE BEEN UPGRADED YESTERDAY. DO YOU GET THAT?!?"

"Sir, but there are no more seats to upgrade you to."

"Please transfer me to someone who's not retarded. Please!"

This, of course, after being transferred 2 times earlier, and no one having a clue about what my complaint was, or how to resolve it. I had to repeat the entire story...you guessed it again...4 times in total. Later I learned, "we don't upgrade code-shares..."

When I called Continental/United to ask, "Why am I not on the upgrade list?" it took 3 people to transfer me to an someone who had a clue. This is how clueless all of the operators are regarding matters like these. The ALLIANCE.

One woman said, "Well, you must have booked it through a third party, like a travel site, or agency..."

"Yeah, I did. Maybe you heard of it. It's called Continental dot com. You familiar with that agency?"

"Sir, I'm sorry, but that doesn't make sense."

"Yeah. Totally. It really doesn't. Sorta like you not having a clue about why this is happening, when you work for Continental."

"Sir, can you hold. I'm going to look into this right now."

(Holds...transferred...NEXT!...Repeat...)

Today...

I am in the process of booking a flight from San Francisco to Florida to see my parents, and I immediately noticed this "code share" agreement on the website. In fact, every flight I've looked at being sold by Continental/United/US Air is a code-share flight. SO WHY AM I EVEN USING YOU?

It makes me think I want to try a new airline, like Virgin America, which has few upgrades, but better comfort, planes, and amenities. I'd rather sit in a VA middle seat than a US AIr first class, no joke.

Digress...

The airline industry blows, and everyone knows it, but when you actually have had to fly a ton, like I have, and are part of a rewards program, you hope you're treated well. You expect that just because an ALLIANCE has happened you won't be treated as if the airlines are not aligned at all, and you're a first time flyer on a new carrier. You want to be treated as if it's the same airline, which you assume is the case because when you reach 15,000 feet the CEO is telling you "how this merger is going to make your time with Continental/United more enjoyable."

Dear Jeff Smisek,

BLoW Me.

Right now, all I can say to CO/UN is fuck you, fuck your program, and again, blow me. I'm thinking Delta, Jet Blue, Virgin America from here on out.

If any of these airlines let me roll my status, I'll do it in a heartbeat. I'm becoming an airline Free Agent, and I will take my status to any airline which offers me equal status, and continue spending my money with them instead.

Thoughts Before Departure...(and in the sky)

2011-01-09T14:15:00.003-05:00

Well, I'll be back, so it's really not for good. Too much stuff to bring, and it's actually cheaper for me to fly back to NJ, get stuff, and then bring it back on plane. This is because I can check 5 bags for free on Continental. A move in 2 parts, I guess.

I'm looking forward to the beautiful 45 degree weather in San Francisco...

---

Just noticed the Raiders allowed Nnamdi Asomugha to become a free agent, arguably the best defensive player in the NFL.

It's funny this is happening because I was just thinking about the moves they'll make before next year's draft. Not this year's, where they already gave New England their pick, but the following year.

Last week they fired Head Coach Tom Cable, who basically did an excellent job this season. If not for a meltdown in Jacksonville, and 25 yard field goal missed by Janikowski, this Raiders team is in the playoffs. They went undefeated in the AFC West. That's ridiculous.

Cable was left to use Jason Campbell, Bruce Gradkowski, and Kyle Boller as Quarterbacks. They're all awful. Yet they were able to run on everyone when teams knew they couldn't pass.

So What. Bye bye, Tom.

Now Asomugha will be gone. Why you ask? I'll answer that in one second.

What I assumed the Raiders were going to do this off-season is make a trade for Philadelphia Eagles backup QB Kevin Kolb, who has been pretty good in games he has played. His in the other conference, on another coast. It was an ideal trade.

Not anymore.

Here's what I expect they'll do, starting with Nnamdi...

Cut every player they can, and attempt to lose every game in an effort to get Andrew Luck.

Yep. I believe this. I believe few organizations would actually make this move, lose every game, but if anyone will try it you have to think Al Davis is the guy.

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe they'll make a serious effort to win. But when you sign the best cornerback in the league to a huge deal, and let him walk at the height of his stardom, you are not trying to win.

I look forward to attending some Raiders games live :-)

---

Sarah Palin is a moron.

Even if it's not meant to be used in a serious way, any time you're using "crosshairs" on your website you are trying to gain political favor with those who believe in "being tough" and guns.

Palin has to paint herself as this outdoors, gun-loving type in order to curry favor with hardcore conservatives.

This is the price you pay for stupidity.

And we all know, she's as dumb as they come.

She wants to represent the gun culture. She wants to fight against Health Care in America. This is who she is. And we see the results of an extremist who believes the same. Not saying Palin is at fault, but her words, and the words of so many others like her, have led people to believe this is acceptable behavior.

The right's rhetoric, the vitriol, etc., has inspired someone to take action.

We see the results.

Sorry. But this is the reality.

---

I wanna give credit to the actor Jesse Eisenberg (from my home town) for his portrayal of Marc Zuckerberg in the Social Network.

The movie is on in front of me on the airplane right now, and while I haven't seen it, I give him credit for maintaining that same stupid face for hours and hours during the filming. It's somewhere between, "Why are you asking me that?", "What's it made of?" and "I kind of have to take a huge dump."

I'd consider an Oscar just for that.

---

Anyway, see you on the west side.

Didn't/Don't Have the Heart

2010-12-31T13:16:00.002-05:00

Last night I was standing in front of Madison Square Garden with my friend Alan, who handed me a Phish ticket in section 75, Row 4, Seat 1. Great seat. I had no interest in going, but here was a free ticket, in hand, and I was at the building.

I started to make my way into the building, when at the last second I chose not to go in (Alan doesn't know). I did not have the heart, or the stomach, to walk in there and not enjoy myself. Or to have some guy stand out in the cold begging for a ticket not enjoy the show.

As quickly as I was walking one way, I did a small half circle, almost like a an airplane floating on a turn, changed direction, and found the guy.

Hopefully he enjoyed the show.

Tonight, for the first time probably in my life, I will spend NYE at home, alone, watching college football and Buckeye Hoops.

A decision I'm fine with...

I also rejected an offer to see the Phish tonight. Rather stay home. :(

Just don't have it in me...

So Much, So Much, So Much...

2010-12-21T12:10:00.003-05:00

It's been a bit, and so much has happened since I last posted. I know the 7 of you who may read this have been waiting on the edge of your seats for another post, so here goes.

Where to begin...

Well, lets begin with my favorite topic. Me.

I've been in San Francisco a lot, have a book deal signed, maybe another on the way, but most important to the cause of bettering my life, a possible job at an amazing radio station. Hopefully it turns my way. If it doesn't I will surely survive.

Now on to topics people other than me care about.

I want to start off with a special holiday season, with extra umph, "Go Fuck Yourself, Republicans!" That's the cheer I'm spreading.

First we have the possible Health Care unraveling. It was only a matter of time before the this happened, and by this I mean that the monied interests in the country would push some fringe fuck to do everything possible to challenge the legality of the Health Care Bill. Lucky for us, they found a judge, recently appointed by George W. Bush, willing to work his magic.

What's going to happen? Well, it's going to be hung up in the courts for a long while, and I predict now, just before the bill is going to go into effect the Supreme Court will be forced to hear the case because it will be viewed as a sort of "State of Emergency" situation. What I mean by that is the political chorus will grow so loud in 2 years, just before the law is enacted, in the middle of a presidential election, blah blah blah, and they will act.

Maybe, just maybe, a circuit court will shoot them down, but it will still rise to the top. The cream always seems to, except of course, if you're referring to Clarence Thomas. He's not the cream. For he just fondles women.

Thank goodness for WHITE SENATORS helping out the black man...

Going out on a limb here, but I'm sensing a 5-4 decision on this here case.

Wait, what's that? You're wondering maybe we can pass another Health Care law to replace this one? As Clarence Thomas might say to Obama, "Niggah please!"

This is the only one which will pass for YEARS, so if it doesn't stick, say goodbye to a little something I like to call, "Doing What is Right for America."

Well, it was fun to dream about Health Care for all citizens of America, but did you really think it was going to pass? I seriously always thought this would inevitably happen, one way or another, because America is based on greed and capitalism, and those who benefit from this the most will never stop spending, and never quit, until this law is NOT passed. That's the REAL America.

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Sticking with this thread, yesterday I read in the NYTIMES a little story about how full time hiring has faltered, and more temporary jobs are coming into play.

Despite a surge this year in short-term hiring, many American businesses are still skittish about making those jobs permanent, raising concerns among workers and some labor experts that temporary employees will become a larger, more entrenched part of the work force.

This is bad news for the nation’s workers, who are already facing one of the bleakest labor markets in recent history. Temporary employees generally receive fewer benefits or none at all, and have virtually no job security. It is harder for them to save. And it is much more difficult for them to develop a career arc while hopping from boss to boss.

Sweet.

So while more Americans won't be able to afford Health Care, and Republicans are cutting taxes for those who do not need tax cuts, we're doing our bestest to make sure the Health Care Law is repealed.

Seriously. Awesome.

The revolt is going to be so epic in this country, and I'm really hopeful Glen Beck's children get raped in the process when it does happen, especially any boys he may have.

If we had a health care bill, insuring all Americans, having temporary jobs (the future of American jobs) wouldn't be so bad. How come this argument isn't front and center?

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And who can forget the tax cut of 10 years ago. I remember when it happened the first time around telling myself how there was no way it would be repealed.

The Tax Cutters are just awesome at mental gymnastics. When times are bad, you need to cut taxes to spur growth. When times are good, you need to keep the tax cuts which helped the economy grow, and you want to avoid slowing it down. It's really one of those win/win situations where in the end everyone just...well...loses.

I think it's important to read David Leonhardt's column from last week wherein he really lays out how wrong Republicans usually are, but more importantly to me, how no one notices.

“We are against forcing all citizens, regardless of need, into a compulsory government program,” said one prominent critic of the new health care law. It is socialized medicine, he argued. If it stands, he said, “one of these days, you and I are going to spend our sunset years telling our children, and our children’s children, what it once was like in America when men were free.” - Actor, Ronald Reagan

I could go on, but is there a point?

Leonhardt's piece really capture it all.

But if his piece doesn't work for you maybe you'd be better served reading Larry David's

THERE is a God! It passed! The Bush tax cuts have been extended two years for the upper bracketeers, of which I am a proud member, thank you very much. I’m the last person in the world I’d want to be beside, but I am beside myself! This is a life changer, I tell you. A life changer!

The one thing I will say about Tax cuts, and the bullshit rhetoric attached to it every time some wealthy White Senator wants to enact one, is that while they do put a lot of money in peoples' pockets, they don't actually create IDEAS. And that's the fucking problem.

Yes, I said "fucking." Again. And Again...and again...

Motherfuckers.

What I mean by that is there's this bullshit cockamamey concept you often hear that "tax cuts ignite the economy", and while this might be true in some regard, it's certainly not true that these tax cuts will in any way help the economy.

Here are the reasons why, the way I see it.

This tax cut bill extends the cuts for 2 years, and really benefits some rich people. The Estate Tax portion is really the biggest joke, but if you want to look into that battle this is a good start. How "Giving Up" that battle is the way to go. You can't really defeat the rich when they're buying congressmen.

So...the tax cuts go for 2 more years, but the benefits to the unemployed, and not-well-off people only go for 1. Isn't that nice? In one year's time the economy won't be fixed, and these people still won't have jobs. If they do, they'll be temporary, and as far as health insurance, well...we discussed this.

When you cut taxes for really wealthy people in a bad economy they don't go out and start building warehouses, buildings, and randomly investing in new businesses. They don't do this because it would be illogical if they did. If really wealthy people saw an opportunity to make money, to invest in some business, etc., then they would do so regardless of whether someone handed them MORE money. It's not like some rich person is sitting around thinking, "Okay, well, I have $38 million in the bank right now, and i really do want to invest in Steve's awesome internet idea. Man, oh man. If I just had an extra $4 million, then I could do it! I never like my account to go below $40 million... Sorry Steve, I'm going to pass on your awesome idea which will certainly make me even more money. Talk to me after the tax cut gets extended, and maybe I'll be more willing..."

If there is an idea for a business, or a chance to make money, people with money will go out there and take those risks. But if there are no ideas, and no areas to make money, people will put their money in a real safe place, or take few risks. Giving extremely wealthy people tax cuts at a time when they are seemingly sitting on the sideline already isn't going to do jack shit.

If the idea is they will go out and spend money on cars and luxury items, which in turn will help the economy grow, well that's just about the dumbest fucken thing I've ever heard.

However, the people who will do that are the ones who need food, toilet paper, cars repaired, clothing for their children, and on and on and on. Rich people who are not spending will not start spending because of a tax cut. That's a fact.

This tax cut is merely a Republican give back so when the elections come back around they can say, "Hey, pal, remember who gave you all that money? Yeah, I did. So give some back to me so I can keep doing that!"

So that's that.

In the end, as the economy suffers, unemployment benefits extend for a year, and the rich get richer, what will happen is States and the Federal government will reign in spending elsewhere, and in turn this will sap any benefit President Obama believed he was giving to those out of work.

It's a zero-sum game for those who need it the most, and a windfall for those who do not.

----

As for Obama himself, he's really the clown in this mess, and he's more so running for the next election than he is worrying about fixing the country now.

When he came into office with his big ideas, he went right after them hard, and in many ways this damaged him tremendously.

Pushing the Health Care bill, and basically deferring to Congress and creating a shit bill crushed him. He also did little about the wars, even if we're supposedly out of Iraq. Afghanistan has been no different, maybe worse (we'll get to that), and has done nothing on alternative energy and stuff of this nature.

I will give him credit for staving off a much worse economy because his spending plans to help fix the nation's infrastructure have created many jobs, short term, or not, and helped us fix what needed to be fixed, which is a benefit for when things do turn around.

Those who suggest the economy is bad. It would be a lot worse, that's for sure.

However, right now, this compromise with Republicans on taxes is a joke. If he was the man I hoped he'd be he would fight it tooth and nail. The poor and unemployed are suffering as is, and this bill won't change too much. Worst case scenario if you didn't extend benefits you would push people to the brink, who in turn might force the nation to recognize how bad things are. Placing a band-aid over it will not help. People have to suffer in this country for real change to occur, and papering over this fact only kicks the can down the road.

Obama should have said "NO DEAL", and risked his presidency on this tax cut. If he loses in 2 years because the country suffered, so be it. At some point people would see the real writing on the wall, and years later he'd be championed for having done the right thing. After all, the only positive about George W. Bush is how "we'll see one day how right he was." That's what people say about Bush now! They're willing to wait to prove us wrong some day in the future, that the wars were correct. I mean, it's a fucking joke of a rationale, but it is said all the time.

Obama should have drawn a line in the sand, and run the country now, not an election in 2012, which he'll certainly lose anyway because of this (unless the economy miraculously turns).

It's upsetting to see this pass, and to witness how a Democrat in office, with the Senate on his side, still manages to lose, even at a time when Republicans still don't have numbers.

Unreal.

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Finally, the war in Afghanistan. What a fucking disaster.

The other day I read about our "new strategy"
There are so many places to go with this one, but I'll try to keep it short.

The new strategy blows. It's different from old strategies, but at the same time we will reach the inevitable place of having accomplished nothing.

It blows because the new strategy is based on training Afghanistan forces to stand on their own, so we can eventually draw down. Like that's going to work? No, it won't work.

Any troops we train, or are even seemingly a part of the coalition will be targets of militia groups forever. Right now there are 100,000 trained Afghani troops, and I'd be willing to bet less than half are capable without our help, and that's being nice. The people in Afghanistan who hate the United States will forever attack us, and by extension, these troops. Any troop who signs on to be a solider, to fight the religious groups, will be targeted FOREVER, as will their families.

When the United States does pull out, and we will, these soldiers are royally fucked. So don't expect any loyalty on that end, nor should you expect a real army who can defend the nation. 100,000 troops? Really? 100,000 well trained American troops couldn't even put a dent in the place, and we had billions of dollars supporting us. Afghani troops? Come on.

Just yesterday there was an article about how the Sadrists are already making political moves, and becoming a major factor again.

Now, the winds are shifting again, and the area has become a stage for Mr. Sadr’s remarkable political resurgence in Iraq after years of schism, military defeats and Mr. Sadr’s own flight to Iran.

Mr. Sadr’s followers are pushing for control of the governor’s seat here in Maysan Province again, one of several positions they hope to gain as rewards for joining the political coalition that will keep their onetime enemy, Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, in office after the months of wrangling that followed March’s inconclusive elections.

That the party, still Iraq’s most fiercely populist and anti-American bloc, has come this far is a reflection of the Sadrists’ efforts in recent years to recast themselves as maturing politicians who can actually govern and deliver badly needed services.

So not only are the militant groups making strides, but our forces don't even have to leave the country before the Afghani forces are attacked, as was the case yesterday.

What will the US do in the long run? Not much.

We'll provide assistance, and attack Afghanis with drones. But we'll stop getting our soldiers killed. And drones are awful because they kill without any of our soldiers risking a life. They inflict untold damage, which in turn creates enemies, while being operated far away from the harm. We don't even recognize, or see first hand, the misery we can cause, so we don't have a real grasp on the hatred as it grows.

This will be our future involvement.

When we finally do draw down, do you think we're going to provide money, arms, assistance to Afghanistan? No chance. We didn't do it when we helped them fight the Russians, and we're certainly not going to do it when a civil war is going on.

If we cannot find a tangible benefit in Afghanistan, and we can't, the money will dry up.

This is a fact.

This war will have been for nothing, so there's no reason not to just pull out now, and deal with whatever consequences are going to come anyway.

Problem is, this President doesn't have the balls to do that yet. However, he'll do it in about a year when he realizes the consequences cannot get bad enough before his reelection campaign.

That's enough for today.

(not editing, of course)

Just in the Nick of Time

2010-12-10T13:24:00.001-05:00

Sarah Palin visits Haiti and brings God too:

US celebrity conservative Sarah Palin will visit cholera-ravaged Haiti this weekend with an evangelical Christian relief organization despite days of post-election violence, the group said Friday.

The former Alaska governor was expected to arrive on Saturday with a delegation from Franklin Graham's Samaritan Purse, but the plans could change according to the security situation in the country, a spokesperson said.

"I am pleased that governor Palin will accompany us on a brief trip to Haiti this weekend and I appreciate her willingness to visit Haiti during such troubled times," said Graham, son of the famed pastor Billy Graham.

"I believe governor Palin will be a great encouragement to the people of Haiti and to the organizations, both government and private, working so hard to provide desperately needed relief."

Unfortunate Oden

2010-11-18T11:04:00.003-05:00

The sad news again that Greg Oden will not play a single game this NBA season is, well, just that, sad.

The former No. 1 draft pick whose short career has been marred by injuries, will have microfracture surgery on his left knee and will not play this season.

Oden hasn't played since last December because he needed surgery to repair a fractured left patella. The Blazers say this microfracture surgery, announced Wednesday night, will repair damaged cartilage and is unrelated to the patella injury.

Putting aside all the "Oden is such a good kid" stuff (he is), I think it's fair to say the word "bust" is misplaced when discussing him, and yet I keep seeing it written on various blogs, etc.

Greg Oden is NOT a bust. You see that? He's NOT A BUST.

What he seemingly is though is an oversized person whose body hasn't developed fast enough to deal with the enormous pressure and weight to handle the rigors of being a NBA player. Now I'm no doctor, but it seems to me this huge person seems to get hurt all of the time, no different in college. Things break on him, and that's just the way it is.

I'm a believer, based on no scientific evidence, he has physically developed in a way most people have not and his body has yet to be come strong enough to withstand the pounding necessary to be a high level basketball player. I'm also of the opinion he WILL develop over the next 2-3 years, but unfortunately it may be too late for him by then.

However, again, he's not a bust.

In order for Oden to be a "bust" he would have to be playing poorly on the court, which he really wasn't. If there were people who were predicting before he was drafted first overall 3 years ago that "Greg Oden will always be hurt. He has history of getting hurt, and he's not developed enough. It's a bad pick." If there were people saying this, then I'd say, "Yeah, he's a bust." But no one was saying this. No one at all.

A bust is someone who cannot perform to the level expected of them because they don't have the skill-set, work ethic, or ability to do so. This is not Greg Oden's problem. The same way it was not KiJana Carter's problem as a Cincinnati Bengal. They are just kids who injured themselves and never had a chance to achieve. There's a difference. So lets just avoid the stupid-talk right now, please.

Whatever the case, Greg Oden will forever be the poster-child for the reason kids SHOULD go to the NBA early, when they have the chance. His name will now be heard every single time any future professional basketball, or football, player decides to leave school early. "Look what happened to Greg Oden..."

Greg Oden will always be a rich man because of this decision, but I'm sure in his heart he'd rather just be a great basketball player. Hopefully both will happen.

It's Been A While

2010-11-10T21:30:00.004-05:00

Just seeing George W. Bush's face all over the television the last few days has really made me reflect on just how fucking dumb this country really is to have voted for that guy...twice.

On Oprah Winfrey's show, promoting his new book "Decision Points", he refuses to "wade" back into the "swamp" regarding Palin, and he doesn't want to talk about President Obama because that's the way he wanted to be treated. Blah blah blah, shut the fuck up...I can't believe this guy is really being taken seriously on any level.

This country is in shambles, and you can point the finger squarely at him if you're looking for culprit number 1. it's not even a debate, unless you're a moron, then it's a debate.

Apparently though, America has forgotten, and these midterm elections are Exhibits A, B, C, D, E, to Fuck Yourselves as proof. People really turned the House back over to the Republicans because CLEARLY they can handle things.

This is not the point of this post, and I'm already too far off track from where I wanted to be, so I'm now going to right the ship. This post is a discussion of what this country wants to believe, what it does believe, and then what actually is, which are two very very different things.

Anyway, fuck all this, for here is my point:

We're a really dumb country. The individuals aren't that dumb, but as a whole we're pretty much as bad as it gets. We have access to nearly everything, can solve so many problems, and yet we lag behind many in education, have so many under/unemployed people, don't have health care for all citizens, don't spread wealth in a much more equitable way, and on and on and on.

I had a conversation with my "manager" about this country, and he is a staunch-idiot. The discussion started when we were marveling about how the owners of the UFC were worth a certain amount of money, how they tanked their casino businesses, etc. In the course of this conversation I asked him, "What do you think is better: having 1 man with 5 billion dollars, or 5 men with a billion dollars?"

His response, "What's the difference?"

The differences are obvious, but basically, a man with 5 doesn't buy nearly as many things as the 5 other men with 1 billion each. Whether it's houses, cars, hookers, drugs, box seats, companies, or lap dances, in the end, having 5 men with a billion is clearly preferable. When I talk about the distribution of wealth, this is where it starts for me. I'm not talking about a person with 50 million greenbacks. I'm talking about absurd wealth.

The fact this country cannot even have a discussion about something like this tells me all I need to know. When you have media moguls with millions convincing the out of work that this is akin to Communism, well then, we have a really dumb country.

To put aside what's going to happen with taxes, the deficit, etc., liberals and like-minded people cannot even have a discussion about wealth distribution.

We're fucking retarded.

10 years ago we elected the dumbest motherfucker to ever buy a custom suit, and now he's back. People are even selling shirts in Washington DC with the slogan, "Miss me yet?" Miss you? For real? You're not even gone! The economy is still on YOUR watch. Kids are still dying on YOUR watch. Education is still in shambles, even worse, on YOUR WATCH.

Shit doesn't change in 2 years. In fact, Republicans have argued endlessly that Reagan created the great economy which followed 10 years later, that Bush's legacy will be a Middle East changed in 20 years. Miss you yet? Please, the only reason it's a joke is because people are so tired of politics altogether, and that's why the country created this stupid tea party nonsense, and while everyone seemingly was up in arms.

Miss you yet? Motherfucker, I never want to see your face again. A car wreck off a cliff would be too kind for you.

Here is the common sense reality of why are where we are at today, and again, it is Republicans fault.

First off, you stole an election. Call it what you will, you came into office on the back of a Republican Supreme Court, and people were pissed. But it wasn't only that. You came in claiming you were going to be a unifier, compassionate, etc. People gave you a second to see if this was true, but it wasn't. People voted for Republicans, and backed up the bullshit that things would be different, when the truth is these same people didn't really care if things would be different! They just wanted to win. They just wanted their supposed tax cut. They just wanted to force women who were pregnant into having children they may not want. That's all it is. The rhetoric was just bullshit. It was a means to an end.

Then 9/11 happened, and everyone said "unite." What happened. We divided more than ever, and caused wars.

All the while Democrats were saying, "we told you motherfuckers that these guys were clowns, and liars." They kept saying it over and over and over. As the wars got worse, as they economy shrank, as jobs were lost, as crime rose, as education didn't advance, and as Republicans spent spent spent, we told you. But you didn't care. You didn't say, "yeah, you were right." No, you didn't do that. You never do that. What you did was get pissed. As soon as you lost Congress for 2 years you said, "Look, what have you done?!?!?"

It was a bogus fucking argument, but you didn't care. You were so pissed off because we all called you out for being selfish fucking morons. As soon as you get a chance to fire back, you did.

Then came Obama, and Hope, and all the shit. Yeah, it was hype, but Americans wanted ANYTHING. John Kerry would have won. Al Gore would have won. Hillary Clinton would have won. Fuck, Jimmy Fucking Carter may have won! I'll throw a Gary Hart in there for good measure. But no, it was the young Obama, and his ability to give great speeches. He was channeling America to be great, to return to something (what, I have no idea). Blah blah blah. It was hope, and people were excited.

Unfortunately, the reality is different from the dream, and Hope didn't change the nation in 2 years. In that time the angry Republicans realized they can't trust their own, so they made this right wing tea party thing. Which wasn't initially even that right wing, but the media wingers got on board because they needed a cause too. They so want to be a voice of the people they decided to co-opt the movement, define, and use it to oust Democrats. Not to say the majority of these right-libertarians weren't bent in that direction, but it didn't start off in the place it is today. In these 2 years it was created, and used to bludgeon Democrats, when in truth the movement was created out of nation's hatred of the past 10 years, the majority of which is Bush, Cheney, and the other Republicans' fault.

That's a fact.

While it's true Democrats in Congress, and elsewhere, need to look over their collective shoulders because of the movement, it will certainly fade. I don't think people are going to suddenly become rationale and say, "Okay, things were getting crazy. Lets all settle down here and really figure out who's at fault." This does not happen. We're American. We believe in the narrative of America, which is being changed every day, and not the real America, which changes for the worse due to the bullshit narrative we create for ourselves. Unfortunately the Democrats are the ones holding the hot potato when it really started to boil.

However, even if they weren't holding it, and Republicans were, the Democrats would probably still take the brunt of the criticism because Republicans are so much better at lying, and falling back on their #1 talking point, "We're gonna give you money..." That's the big one. Tax cuts, American's money, blahblahbullshit. See Democrats can lie, but just not as well as the Republicans, and don't nearly have the willingness to do it. When things are really bad a Democrat can sweep into office and promise "change", which happened. But it's much harder. The Democrats' solutions usually involve pain. Republicans only involve giving you more shit, and blowing shit up. The fun stuff.

So even in the face of a disastrous situation, which will get progressively worse, the reality is if the country is looking for new and simple solutions, magic wands, and dream potions, we're never really going to fix anything. In the face of a country which is angry we have proof things are actually slowly coming back together. But no one is happy. Nothing is happening fast enough, and Republicans have made sure of it for 2 years.

Don't listen to anyone who tells you it's about the last 2 years, and that Obama is a joke, and "where's the change." The change is there. There would be fewer jobs without a stimulus. Government help in the financial sector did not bankrupt us. Things would likely be worse without these things. Again though, none of this has been fast enough, and that's the problem. Americans are dumb, and they want everything for themselves, and they wanted it last week. When it didn't arrive in the mail, the Republicans promised them a check.

We'll be repeating this again, and this country is seriously fucking doomed.

Cheers.

Not rereading and I'm sure there's a shit ton of typos and grammatical errors. To that I say, blow me.

My Thoughts Exactly

2010-11-04T10:46:00.002-04:00

I'm sure Maureen and I are not the only two people thinking about this, but this is the first thing which popped into my head upon seeing the news yesterday:

Republican Party Time
By MAUREEN DOWD

WASHINGTON

Talk about fired up and ready to go.

At a Republican victory party suffused with vengeful glee, the man who body-surfed the anti-establishment wave to become the next Speaker of the House was looking very establishment.

Even though it was predicted, it was still a shock to see voters humiliate a brilliant and spellbinding young president, who’d had such a Kennedy-like beginning, while electing a lot of conservative nuts and promoting this central-casting congressman as the face of the future: a Republican who had vowed in a written pledge to restore America to old-fashioned values, returning to a gauzy “Leave It to Beaver” image that never existed even on the set of “Leave It to Beaver.”

Republicans outcommunicated a silver-tongued president who was supposed to be Ronald Reagan’s heir in the communications department.

They were able to persuade a lot of Americans that the couple in the White House was not American enough, not quite “normal,” too Communist, too radical, too Great Society. All that Ivy League schooling had made them think they knew better than average American folks, not to mention the founding fathers.

The Speaker-in-waiting sounded the alarm: the elites in the White House were snuffing out the America he grew up in. It only took two years to realize that their direction for the country was simply, as he put it, “a contradiction with the vast majority of Americans.”

No one gets to take America away from Americans — not even the American president!

“What the American people were saying is ‘Enough!’ ” the Speaker-to-be told me, as he savored his own win and his party’s landslide, which he said was “a historical tide, not just a partisan election.”

Washington had not been listening. Washington had been scorning the deepest beliefs of Americans. And now that would have to change.

“American people are clearly fed up with what they see as the decay of American society,” he declared.

The new leader of the House took a more black-and-white approach than the nuanced president. It’s enshrined in the Declaration of Independence that you need the consent of the governed and the governed did not consent.

Ascending to third in the line of succession for the presidency: a working-class kid who rose in the House as a rabble-rouser willing to throw bombs to score points against powerful Democrats.

Now he’d be helping to run the country, saving it from what he regarded as an arrogant and out-of-touch clique of elites.

In the revolutionary flush of the electoral map glowing red, he was floating, working hard to avoid gloating (even though Sean Hannity was around, gloating about the pain about to befall the Democratic president).

But he could not resist taking a few jabs at the “liberal media elite” distorting things, and a few more at a puffed-up White House that got punished for not paying enough attention to people’s anxieties.

“They had an enormous opportunity to bring about change and they failed, and I don’t say that harshly,” he said, adding: “They really are left-wing elitists and they really thought the country didn’t get it, and, therefore, it was their job to give the country the government that they thought the country needed, even if they didn’t want it. That’s the whole history of the health plan.”

There was a lot of talk, as in the campaign, about the misbegotten health care plan, about balancing the budget, about lowering the deficit and taxes, about doing something on abortion and bloated government. Meanwhile, bloated fat-cat lobbyists were dancing down K Street.

The next Speaker felt that the humbled president should take the election as a cue to be conciliatory, and he proposed they talk in the next few days. He offered to reach out to Democrats who wanted to work with his side, but also noted that the president would not be wise to stand in the way of the conservative agenda.

“I prefer to believe that this president, who is clearly very smart, is quite capable of thinking clearly about a message sent by the American people,” he said.

He said that, contrary to what the media elite had been jabbering about, he would not use his subpoena power to rain down a series of investigations on the Democratic administration.

No “witch hunts,” he said. Only “legitimate” investigations.

Yeah, that all worked out for Newt Gingrich. He really came through. The quotes above came from Gingrich, when I covered his heady victory in Marietta, Ga., in the 1994 Republican landslide that made him Speaker.

And, obviously, the Republican House only pursued “legitimate” investigations of Bill Clinton. Sixteen years later, as a weeping John Boehner extolled the American values he learned at his father’s bar — in the moment he dethroned Nancy Pelosi — the new crop of anarchic conservatives are saying all the same things.

God help the Republic. And, Mr. Speaker, in the immortal words of Sharron Angle, man up!

Same as the old boss...

I've always wanted to bang Maureen Dowd except I think she'd be annoying to talk to.

Phinding Yourselves

2010-11-02T10:07:00.005-04:00

Having spent a good amount of time giving Phish the business since their return over a year ago, it is time to give them a pat on the proverbial back after this recent Halloween performance. It was quite possibly their finest performance in over a decade, and in many ways the best "costume" album they've ever done.

I want to say at the outset, the problems affecting the band are still quite prevalent. Trey's inability to play with the same fluidity as he once did, especially at high speeds is clearly evident, yet it often doesn't stop him from trying. It is most glaring when the band is playing one of their own songs, like the Stash during the first set on Halloween night. As the song neared its crescendo, Trey once again, as I assumed he would, lost his way. It's not as obvious as it was when they first started playing again in 2009, but it's there. My friend turned to me toward the end of the song and took the words out of my mouth, "That last 15 seconds was the worst Phish I've heard."

"Yeah, that's pretty much what I was trying to explain, but avoided doing so as not to taint the situation." She had not seen Phish since 2004, and that was Coventry.

Even with this lingering issue (it will never go away), the band still managed to play a VERY fun, upbeat, and exciting first set. It was a perfect precursor for what was to come in the second, which was Little Feat's "Waiting for Columbus."

When we entered the venue I immediately looked for the PHISHBILL to find out what was going to be played. My two friends thought it was a joke, not realizing the band hands out these pamphlets. Once I saw the cover I thought to myself, "this could be interesting." Then I texted my man Guy S., and he gave me the digital thumbs up. I was excited.

So after hearing the first set, and recognizing the vibe they were going for, I had no doubt in my mind it was going to be fantastic, and it was. From the moment the first song began they never let up.

When Phish adds extra musicians to the band, especially a power horn section, they can literally do no wrong. I'm not going to pick out parts which were amazing/best, etc., but again just to reiterate, it was a near flawless performance.

---

As for what made this album better than previous Halloweens, the band has seemingly acknowledged their limitations, and embraced what they do best. They chose the perfect type of album to put on display the best of their abilities. "Waiting for Columbus" allowed them to play relaxed, and have a good time. It is not a highly technical album, and it does not require any member, especially Trey, to be the best musician in the world from a technical level. Having chosen Zappa's "Joe's Garage" or anything extremely technical, which people yearn for, and the show would be half as good.

In choosing this album the band is able to do the things they now do best, and play at their highest level without missing a beat. For the most part, my feeling was relayed back to my friend during the show when I told her, "They're basically the best band you'll ever hear at Jazzfest." And in truth, what could possibly be better than that?

When you consider the types of bands who excel playing funk, and do play events like Jazzfest, you realize they're not all the most technically unbelievable, but they understand the audience in front of them. I would argue no band in history has understood their audience like Phish. With that being said, playing an upbeat, fun, funky album like this was completely different from what they've tried in the past, and yet so much more perfect because the timing of it completely relates to who they are today.

Looking backward and forward, the only previous album which had a profound effect on who they were as a band was "Remain in Light", played in 1996. The Talking Heads album completely changed the way the band would perform for the next 14 years. Standing inside Boardwalk Hall I started thinking about the effect this album would/could have on them going forward.

---

The days of me looking for epic moments from this band have passed. And while they may not have played at the technically high level they have in previous years, they played with a maturity, understanding, and energy they may never have before. The band made a conscious decision to choose a piece they could play best. They did not play the greatest album in the world, and that does not matter. It's not so much what they play, but how they play. There are clearly better album options, but it comes down to what album can this band play best. This is one of those albums. Without having to look for it, or even caring to, an epic moment did happen, and I was very happy to have witnessed it.

I'm not delusional to think this is going to be consistent, or that we've returned to the level of years ago, but if the band is self-reflective and inward looking as they go forward I expect they will be playing amazing music for many years to come. It won't always be music I always want to hear or a performance I want to see, but as long as it's forward looking with regard to their own capabilities, it will be great in its own way.

Phish has always been a band that looked forward, and changed as they grew. These days it would seem to me the growth is one of maturity, and not physicality/skill. Having seemingly recognized this they have proven to me that once again they can completely surprise me.

And that's always been the best part of this band...at least for me.

---

I still don't care about the lights. Never have. Never will. Sorry :-(

I Didn't Want to say my Name was "Dave"...

2010-10-27T09:51:00.003-04:00

to a motherfucker named Running Coyote.

So I'm going to Atlantic City to see Phish on Halloween, and I'm really struggling to come up with a costume idea.

It has to be something Jersey.

Initially I wanted to be be "Bruuuuuuce", but then I realized I'd be one of many Bruces. It'd be like going as Elvis in Vegas, or Memphis, or at a buffet. Then I thought to myself, "Hmmm. Maybe Jon Bon Jovi is a good call." I quickly realized Jon Bon Jovi is never a good call, regardless of the situation.

And then it occurred to me last night after going through every possibly idea from Frank Sinatra to Queen Latifa to the Situation to Jack Nicholson all the way to Abbott and Costello...no one really knows who is from New Jersey, nor does anyone care. Except me.

Truth be told I'm really really thinking about being Juan Epstein, the Puerto Rican Jew, who is from Jersey and neither Rican nor Jew in reality.

Ahhhh...but then it dawned on me, the costume i was meant to be, except the character I'm basing it off isn't actually from Jersey.

Instead of Jay-Z I decided I want to be Jer-Z, which would basically be me dressed as Jay-Z in all his hip-hopped glory, etc. etc. However, I don't think anyone would really get it unless I did the (un)thinkable, and that is paint my face black. Which of course is the dilemma.

A few black friends of mine have said the same thing, almost verbatim, that "it's fine with me because I know you, but it's Atlantic City...and you'll probably get your ass kicked pretty good." Not really looking for that, but something is telling me this is the costume I was born to be.

I am left wondering if painting your face black for Halloween is actually racist? And then I have been asking myself the follow-up question of whether black people ever go "white-face" for Halloween? I've never seen it. Then I realized he/she would probably just end up looking like a mime.

Now I'm thinking maybe I should just be a mime, but the only problem is I don't shut the fuck up, so that would be really hard for me, especially drunk in Atlantic City.

Uhhh, No.

2010-10-21T17:05:00.002-04:00

The AP ran a story in most papers yesterday about liberals having to defend former strongholds throughout the country. The "tea party" impact, as it is better known.

I read this article with excitement as I was looking forward to becoming just a little dumber by the end of it. See, that's my new thing, dumbing myself down (insert joke) because I figure if I can really get down to a level I'm going to call "mid-American", I think I'll become a lot happier.

The quote from the article which really jumped out at me was this one:

In Hyannis Port, someone swiped a pair of "Jeff Perry for Congress" signs from the front of chiropractor Kristin Weber's heavily trafficked office, so she drove to her mother's house on a side street and grabbed one to replace it.

"I think people are fed up with the government," said Weber, 41. "They're fed up with the overspending. They're fed up with the bailouts. It has not helped the economy, whatsoever. And we really do need change we can believe in."

I hear Kristin Weber loud and clear, for I too am fed up. My advice to her, and every other tea party idiot would be to start reading the same paper which quoted you. Because like "off-track betting in the Himalayas" there is a "smaller story" that I've been following:

TARP bailout has earned U.S. $25 billion

Yalman Onaran,Alexis Leondis, Bloomberg News

Thursday, October 21, 2010

The U.S. government's bailout of financial firms through the Troubled Asset Relief Program provided taxpayers with higher returns than yields paid on 30-year Treasury bonds - enough money to fund the Securities and Exchange Commission for the next two decades.

The government has earned $25.2 billion on its investment of $309 billion in banks and insurance companies, an 8.2 percent return over two years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That beat U.S. Treasurys, high-yield savings accounts, money-market funds and certificates of deposit. Investing in the stock market or gold would have paid off better.

When the government announced its intention to plow funds into the banks in October 2008 to resuscitate the financial system, many expected it to lose hundreds of billions of dollars. Two years later, TARP's bank and insurance investments have made money, and about two-thirds of the funds have been paid back.

Banks benefited from dozens of other programs instituted by the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury Department, from the purchase of mortgage-backed securities to the bailout of home-lending giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The suppression of interest rates at close to zero for most of the last two years has also boosted banks' income, enabling them to borrow money at almost no cost and lend at higher rates.

Those low rates drove down yields on instruments used by American savers. U.S. Treasury 30-year bonds yielded an average of 4.1 percent from Oct. 20, 2008, through Tuesday, according to Bloomberg data. When the price appreciation of the bonds is taken into account, the return for the two years is 13.9 percent.

The $25 billion TARP return could fund the SEC for more than 20 years, based on the agency's proposed 2011 fiscal year budget. It could pay for all farm subsidies in the United States for more than two years.

But don't let the facts distract you.

It's Your World

2010-10-21T16:41:00.002-04:00

I spent the early morning reading the San Francisco Gate, and I happened across an article about unlimited contributions on behalf of corporations. A reader weighed in basically saying what everyone else already realizes:

This week a Montana state judge dismissed a 1912 ban on corporate political spending, following the January 2010 Supreme Court ruling, Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission, which did the same on the grounds that corporations have the right to free speech.

I am a person with the right to free speech, yet how can I compete? Corporations have irrefutable advantages over people, such as limited liability and perpetual life. In addition, the amassed wealth of corporations (in 2005, post-tax corporate profits were almost $1 trillion) is too much money for individuals and non-corporate associations of people to compete with.

Rep. Donna Edwards, D.-Md., recently introduced an amendment to the Constitution to allow the government to regulate political corporate expenditures. How else can we restore the rights of actual people and take back our democracy?

When I imagine a United States that I would be proud to live in, it is a place where the citizenry can engage in the political process in a meaningful way, a not a place where corporations will always be able to buy elections no matter the needs and desires of actual people.

Clearly a Supreme Court representing the interests of the people.

Later in the day I picked up the NYTIMES and read through about the difficulties facing the US Justice Department in prosecuting Blackwater employees who murdered people in Iraq. As it stands right now, most of them are getting off.

I could go on for hours about the problems caused by using private soldiers, but that's not pertinent to my point.

What does bother me is right-leaning corporations like Blackwater (now called Xe Services) can fund candidates, or issues, without limitations. They can basically outspend politicians who don't choose war, and support candidates who do. Meanwhile, they're being paid by our government in the first place, then funneling that money back with the hopes they get hired.

What happens next is one of Blackwater's employees guns someone down, which reverberates through the Muslim world, but then that "soldier" isn't even charged! Then the US State Department sends a letter to the grieving family telling them the results of the case, which they have to do.

So lets just say that our country is really fucked up for allowing this to happen, and that conservative justices on the Supreme Court are actually green-lighting this process, against the will of congress (I wrote more about this below).

There are many other factors involved, surely, but without a doubt the fact that money used to influence politicians leads to certain corporations profiting on war, which in turn completely fucks the United States over, and every other country in the world.

Yes, that's FREE SPEECH talking, Motherfuckers!

The Roberts Court

2010-10-14T23:59:00.003-04:00

Instead of going out with my friends tonight I've decided to sit here and go through cases the Roberts Court has presided over the last 5 years. I was egged on after having watched Christine O'Donnell's performance last night on CNN.

The one which sticks with me most recently, aside from all the absurd cases since 2000, is the corporate funding case, aka Citizens United.

I started doing some searching, and came across this NYTIMES Book Review article, which reviews Professor Ronald Dworkin's "Decision That Threatens Democracy." For the record, of all the professors I ever learned about when it came to law, Dworkin was always the most impressive.

Anyway, I'd suggest reading the article if you have a moment. Really sheds light on what this court, and largely, what many citizens in this country believe in.

In Citizens United, the Court imposed a heavy burden of justification on the government, and required solid evidentiary support for all justifications that the government offered. For example, the Court rejected as insufficiently supported by evidence the government’s argument that unrestricted corporate expenditures could lead to corruption of politicians, despite extensive congressional findings and evidence documenting precisely such corruption.

By contrast, in Humanitarian Law Project, the Court upheld the material support law based on justifications that were unsupported by evidence—and in some instances were not even advanced by the government. The Court reasoned that speech advocating peace and human rights might “legitimate” a designated terrorist group, thereby interfering with US foreign policy. And even though neither Congress nor the administration ever suggested as much, Chief Justice Roberts speculated that advising an organization on how to file human rights complaints with the United Nations might permit the group to use the law to “threaten, manipulate, and disrupt,” and that helping a group pursue peace might give it cover to prepare for its next attack.

It gets better...

Professor Dworkin's take.

Because

2010-10-12T19:11:00.003-04:00

Because they're the Jets, and they consistently act stupid, sign problematic players, and seemingly make negative headlines, they hired Jenn Sterger.

I first heard of Sterger years ago when she was the FSU Girl, blah blah. The writing was on the wall then, this girl was going to do whatever it takes to become well known. Wasn't it? So the Jets hired her because that's what they do too.

Because he's Brett Favre, a guy who is much more myth than legend when you consider the whole package, he had to go after Sterger. Of all the strippers, sluts, hosts, models, and fan-whores who are out there, this is the one this genius decided to send cock-shots to.

Why would he do this? Because he's Brett Favre. Nothing more. He wears Wranglers, and has a set of goalposts in his backyard made from 1,000 year old Oak trees. He maintains the Southern drawl years after living as close to Canada as an American can. He tells you when he's coming to practice. He bangs chicks during golf outings in a golf cart on the 14th hole. Oh, you didn't know about that one? Yeah, well that happened. I know this because someone I trust enormously witnessed it.

Like Bill Clinton before him, he did it because he could. Except at least Bill used his sweet southern charm to go after the ugliest girl in the room. He didn't even know she's save the dress. But Brett? You didn't think she's save cock-shots and voicemails? Come on you fucken idiot, how could you not?

So this is how Favre's career will end, and of course the whole thing was brought to us via the NY Jets. That consistently special franchise.

Yeah, this girl:

And truth be told, she's not even that hot. She's stripper-hot, and stripper hot is really synonymous with trash.

I guess in the end it makes sense since the two of them are basically the same: trash.

Confessions

2010-10-12T14:38:00.003-04:00

There's a story running in Sports Illustrated right now about former sports agent Josh Luchs, and his life in the business. It's an interesting read, but nothing earth-moving.

In sum, Luchs basically throws every single college athlete he ever came in contact with under the bus, and then trashed every person he ever worked for, or with, at the same time. He seems upset about the way he was dismissed as an agent, as if somehow he was treated unfairly by a former boss.

In other words, Luchs basically lied, cheated, and broke rules his entire career, but now is surprised he was mistreated by others who did the same thing.

He claims to be writing this story because he doesn't want his young daughters to one day search his name on the internet, and think to themselves, "Is that my daddy everyone thinks is a piece of shit?"

Guess what, kids, yes, your dad is a piece of shit.

There's nothing quite as beautiful as when a man wraps up his selfish motives, in order to profit, in the blanket that is family and love.

Let me tell you what he's really doing, kids.

He's writing this story in the hope a book publisher offers him a deal because that's how the industry works. Magazines gives stories life, and then publishers came along and hand someone more money to expand, assuming there's enough interest.

I want to do Josh Luchs a favor, right now, by helping his daughters understand what they will inevitably learn about Pop.

Your dad is trash.

And probably cheats on your mom.

Good luck with him.

And to Luchs, just be glad CNN/SI gave you a platform to whore yourself out one more time.

We Are!

2010-10-12T13:50:00.005-04:00

In Trouble...

This is now FOURTH hand material, but the person I received it from is pretty solid. I never post this stuff, but it's too interesting not to.

Regarding Joe Paterno and the Penn State Football Program

The last two home games we've been lucky enough to tailgate with a member of the coaching staffs family before the games. We asked one of the coaches wives what was going on with the program and the staff and the answers were disturbing to say the least. She said.........

1. Joe is not at practice more than an hour a day. He also rarely if ever attends any of the coaching or game prep meetings. She said people don't know how sick he was in the offseason implying that he went through a serious medical issue that has not been publicly reported. He has absolutely zero input into the gameplanning, and doesn't even know what it is until Friday night.

2. The dissention amongst the staff is at an all-time high. When Joe is not there, it's a contest to see who can act like they are in charge. There have been verbal arguments in front of the team in the middle of practice sessions between assistant coaches yelling at each other that they are in charge and are going to do what they want at that point of practice.

3. Multiple coaches on the staff have been reaching out to gauge interest from other programs as they are worried about their future in the program. One "high profile" coach on the staff actually reached out to the head coach of another PA school over the summer saying he was worried about his future at PSU and laying the groundwork for a possible move in the future.

4. There is a process in place amongst the staff to determine if a high school prospect should get an offer. Some of the coaches will vote against offering or recruiting certain kids just to spite the coaches who want them offered or are their primary recruiters. Whether this is actually going on or not I do not know, but at least one coach on the staff feels that way. For this reason, the coaches who actually do recruit have basically thrown their hands in the air and almost stopped recruiting all together.

5. "If Tom Bradley is the next head coach, the real coaches will leave in about 30 seconds."

I realized things were bad for Coach Paterno when he shit himself on the sideline of the Ohio State game in 2008. That was not one of those situations where someone trips and breaks the arm, but it's so funny you can't help but laugh.

This past summer he was interviewed during the Big Ten Coaches meetings by members of the media, and you could tell the man had no idea where he was, or why he was even there. His jokes no longer resonated, and I think he even referenced a player from the late 90s when referring to the current team.

It's over for Coach Paterno. I'd be surprised if he finished the season.

"Coach Schiano's office."

"Hi, this is Tim Curley, Athletic Director from Penn State. Is Coach Schiano in?"

"Hold one second please."

...

"Hey, Greg, Tim here. Are you free Saturday?"

"Uhh, hey Tim. Which Saturday?"

"All of them?"

Not So Folksy

2010-10-07T13:53:00.001-04:00

Love it:

A folksy anti-Obama campaign ad produced on behalf of John Raese, the Republican Senate candidate in West Virginia, may stop running soon after reports surfaced that the regular people featured in it were actually out-of-state actors. (The ad was pulled from YouTube late Thursday morning.)

What's the difference? They're all of one mind anyway.

Enthusiasm Gap

2010-10-06T01:35:00.003-04:00

David Axelrod said that this week, regarding the difference between Republicans and Democrats in the upcoming elections.

If people are going to sit out, blame President Obama, and not show up at the polls then the country deserves what it gets.

You cannot expect a man who has a completely defiant Congress to unravel in 2 years a disaster which was created the previous 8. You cannot expect a man at the same time tocreate new government programs, like a health care bill, in the midst of it all, and ask him to get it done immediately, again with a defiant Congress. You cannot expect a man who has massive budget shortfalls to be able to openly campaign for higher taxes, be successful at doing it, while there's a machine working against that mantra; a machine which is run by extremely wealthy Americans.

You cannot expect any of this in 2 years.

It is much easier to destroy than it is to build. Think about that when you're giving a man 2 years to fix so much that has been broken during the hardest time to quite possibly ever be President.

Anyone who is checking out on election day is a useless fucking clown, period.

Buckeye Fan :-)

2010-10-05T12:21:00.003-04:00

Mark Rea has written a book titled The Die-Hard Fan's Guide to Buckeye Football, and inside the book is a story I told him about my experience on November 22, 2002, the day Ohio State beat Michigan and later went on to win the National Championship.

I had to pick my poison that year: attend "The Game" or goto Tempe. Still glad I made the choice I did.

Rather than give it away now I'll just link Buckeye fans to the book for now, so Mark can get some love for all his hard work.

Lets just say it was another typical story which could only happen to me :-)

Montreal

2010-10-04T00:48:00.017-04:00

Went to Montreal for Ross "The Boss" Lipdawg's bachelor party this weekend, and I must say that of all the BP's I've been to it was one of the best.

Other than the fact his boy bought like 3 bottles of $700 Crystal for girls we didn't know, and then we all received the bill and were expected to split it. That was really awesome. Can't wait to party with that guy again...

...in hell.

Then there's my boy Darren (left)...

...who not only lost his $900 Corduroy blazer/jacket with his iPhone, but also his passport, which he forgot to bring with him to the airport, and then had to miss his flight, go back to NYC, retrieve it, and take the later flight. He arrived later than me and my friend David, who drove.

As for the drive, there are very few Northeastern drives like this one when the leaves are changing colors in the fall. Absolutely stunning. Wish I had brought a real camera; not the one attached to this piece of shit Crapberry.

We drank more than people should have. At one point I took photos of the "Gang police" harassing some dude, and then the dude they were harassing was me. They made me erase all the photos on my phone having anything to do with Montreal, and they weren't kidding. I then asked, "Would it be cool if we take a photo afterward?" Apparently that was not funny.

It is a fact that you can drink Vodka/Water w/lime, and jog the next day. However, I added tequila and Jameson's to the mix, so I was unable to jog. It's a FACT!

Vodka and Water with a lime is called the RAZOR. Named after the man who introduced me to it: Razor Rob... No bartender has a name for it, at least none I've met.

So my buddy Darren drank way too much. After my run in with the law I decided to scale it back big time and stop drinking. Darren went the other way. By the time the night ended we hopped a cab heading back toward the hotel, only to be told by Darren we needed to stop so he could throw up. We get out of the cab, and then he asks us, "Why did we stop?" He neither had to throw up, nor did he know where he was. We found another cab and went home. I jump out of the cab and make my way into the Opus, when this guy says to me, "Yo, your boy is on the ground."

I turn around and Darren has face planted into the sidewalk. Luckily he didn't lose teeth.

We make it to our room, not before our friend Brad decides to tell off every girl in the lobby, and I finally try to fall asleep. Dave and I have to undress Darren and put him into a bed. Half an hour later Dave yells at me to, "Look out!" Darren is coming towards me, dick in hand, and he's about to piss on me. In the nick of time Dave kicks him, sending him toward the desk area, where he proceeds to piss all over my jeans, sweatshirt, jacket, socks, and t-shirt. It lasted at least a minute. Not to mention the carpet and desk itself. He did this 3 more times throughout the night, but at one point made it to the bathroom...but not the toilet. Instead he pissed all over the bathroom floor, sink, toilet (not in it), magazines, newspapers.

It was awesome.

Anyway, we all recover to make it out one more night and had a blast (other than the bill). I will say the food at Globe is flat out awful. That place has some of the worst fare you're ever going to have for the money. Although, it's $180 for a bottle of Morgan, which apparently is a "good deal." Huh?

This afternoon Dave and I drove back, but not before we checked every bar to see if Darren's jacket and phone were there. He had already left. We had previously found his "favorite sweater ever" in our room, which he left. We felt the only thing we could do with the sweater, after placing my urine soaked clothing into plastic bags, is return the favor...so we gave his favorite sweater a proper burial.

It now resides in Lewis, NY, behind a rest area.

For you, Big D.

To Good to Be True....

2010-09-30T17:43:00.003-04:00

Coming on the heals of me getting an immediate refund last week for a product sent to me, which I didn't order, and it only took 2 minutes to return on the phone, I was all too excited this morning when my experience with Verizon was even better.

I had my cable service scheduled to be shut off at the end of the month, meaning the end of the day September 30th. Unfortunately they decided to shut it off last night. My plan had been to call them before it was shut off, likely today, and tell them to continue it until October 14th. I’m moving out of my apartment, and will be away for most of the second half of October, so figured I’d save the cash, rather than have service for the 5-6 days at the end of the month.

When I woke up this morning I noticed a yellow light on my modem amongst 6 other lights which to me indicated things were off already. Being the perceptive slick-ass-mofo that I am, I was spot on. It was off. So from my bed, where I had slept about 4 hours (which is now good in a relative sense) I called FiOS to discuss.

I ended up on the phone with Shirley, who was very nice, and after a few hiccups she told me, “It’s all good…yaw service shoube back on in a few minutes.”

In my head I’m thinking, “Really? That’s it? 2 minutes and I didn’t even have to pace the room?” Wow. FiOS is good!

The second half of this story involves me calling back to tell them about how my service is not turned on, and unfortunately I didn't get to speak to Shirley, who does things oh-so-quickly.

For whatever reason FiOS cannot figure out this little issue: I have a New York telephone number, which has been connected to my bill since the day I purchased FiOS. Yet EVERY SINGLE TIME I CALL I tell them my home number, stay on hold 10 minutes, am connected to a person who cannot find my account, and then asked, “Where is the FiOS service you’re calling about located?”

“New Jersey.”

“Oh, okay. We have to connect you to a New Jersey representative. Please hold while I transfer you.”

“Fuck you.”

“Sorry, what sir?”

“Nothing. Do it.”

…10 more minutes.

Now I get this new guy Bob who then had to go over the entire process of installation again, from the top, because FiOS no longer even has a record that I had service! That's right. So for 2 more weeks of service I have to sit through this. Now I know I could have preempted this nightmare, but whatever. Work with me.

Me, “Let me ask you a question. Was there some law passed recently which mandated all cable companies wipe out all my information the moment service is terminated?”

“Sir, I really don’t know. But why are you asking? I could ask someone if you want to know.”

“Lets just move this along…”

“Why did you cancel FiOS, David, uhh, sir, uhhh, Mr. Weintraub? Can I call you, uhh?”

“David is fine. Lets just keep moving here.”

“Okay, let me see what I can do here…okay. Hold on. What’s your cell phone number again?”

Kill me.

“So are you moving within New Jersey?”

“No.”

“Where are you moving?”

“I’m going to California for a little bit, then Florida, then maybe back to California. Really not sure yet.”

“Oh man, that’s awesome. Love California. Haven’t been there in like 20 years, but yeah, it’s awesome.”

“It is.”

“Let me check this. What I’m gonna do here is give you the same package you had, but I’ll give you trial HBO, which will be free for the time you have remaining...Hold on a second, uhhh, let me just do this. And that looks good. This should be fine. Right there. I'll just do that. Same service here. That’s good. Yep. Uhh huh. So where in California you heading?”

“I’m going to LA, then Monterey, then San Francisco, then Napa, then back out of San Francisco.”

Why I’m telling him this I don’t know, but I’m seconds away from pulling a Pete Townsend on my guitar, which I’m playing the entire time to stay chill.

“Aww man, that’s awesome. I love California. You gotta go to Alcatraz and the Hertz Castle! You gotta go to those!”

“The Hearst Castle.”

“Yeah, that place is awesome. And you gotta go to Big Sur. Place is awesome. Yeah, I went there like 15 years ago, man, with some friends. Loved it. It’s awesome.”

“Is this call being monitored for quality assurance?”

“Yeah, it is. California is just awesome.”

“So how we doing over there?”

“Just a second there. That looks good. Yep, uh huh. Yep, yep. That’s fine. Should be okay. Yep. So you’re gonna get another box in the mail to send your cable boxes back because…”

“I know the drill. Did it last week. All good. Lets just get to the conclusion here before I teach myself Stairway to Heaven.”

“Oh, sorry. Nice. I like Led Zeppelin too.”

“Awesome.”

“You’re pretty good at guitar too.”

“Getting better as we speak.”

“Okay, David, Mr. Weintra…”

“David is fine.”

“Alright, sir…everything is setup. We have you on the same package you had…”

And on and on and on and on and on…

“Let me ask you one question, and if you could answer it great. If not, no worries.”

“What's that, Dav...sir?”

“Will all the things I had recorded on my DvR still be on there?”

Why did I ask him a question?

“No.”

“Oh. Shit. That’s terrible.”

“Wait. Maybe? Actually, I don’t know! No one has ever asked me that before. That’s a really good question! No one has ever asked me that! So I really don’t know. If I had to bet I would probably say no, but I’m not really sure. If you held a gun to my head…”

“Thinking about it…”

“Sorry?”

“Nothing.”

“If I was really really REALLY having to make a decision on that. Like, if I was to bet on it, I am going to go with uhhh…(big sigh)…uhhh…Gonna go with no.”

“Okay.”

“BUT I’M NOT POSITIVE!”

“No worries.”

“Hold on onnnnnnnne second. Let me just ask someone else really quick to be sure.”

"Don't!..."

Now because I’m on speaker phone there’s that disconnect between when two people are talking and you can’t hear the other person sometimes.

(ON HOLD)

7 minutes pass.

“Hey, sorry Mr. Weintraub, but I asked my manager and he doesn’t know either. I guess you’ll find out when it comes back on. You know?”

"...and she's buy-uy-ying a staaaair-waaay..."

Lets just say this type of conversation about service, travel, and utter step by step nonsense went on for another 15 minutes.

All in all the phone call lasted 1 hour, 12 minutes, and 33 seconds.

“We’re all set here, sir. Your service should come in, if I had to guess. I’d say, and this is just a guess, about, 2 hours.”

"That's fine. Thanks."

“But don’t quote me!”

“I won’t. I’ll try to forget this ever happened.”

“Thank you sir. My goal here today was to try to help you the best I could, and hopefully you found this call….” Blah blah blah blah holy fucken kill me.

“It was fine, thanks.”

“Oh, and have a good time in California. And Florida. And remember, check out Alcatraz…”

“Okay.”

“And the Hertz castle! It’s awesome!”

Click.

The first call was too good to be true.

Of course, 4 hours later, Verizon was in my apartment trying to make this all work.

My View

2010-09-30T17:38:00.004-04:00

Every day when I'm writing these tree rats, most call them squirrels, roll up on my sill.

I used to think they're cute. They're not. They're rats with fuzzy tales that climb trees.

cycling

2010-09-30T17:06:00.001-04:00

If alberto contador was sucking lance armstrong's dick then I believe he has a case.

Contador came out fighting this morning at a press conference in his home town of Pinto, Spain, claiming that he was the victim of contaminated meat...

Americans

2010-09-29T19:13:00.001-04:00

Real stand-up guys.

Pavement Couldn't be Better

2010-09-24T09:57:00.003-04:00

Rather than sit here echoing my surprise about what I've read regarding Pavement, all I can say is having seen 2 shows this week, and 4 for the year, they're as good as they ever been. Probably better.

In the late 90s when Pavement was coming to a close bands that jammed a lot more were filling bars like the Wetlands, and it seemed there were tons of them; a new one every month. It looks as if many of them have faded, as has that scene in general. But I really have no idea, I could be wrong; maybe I just stopped searching for those bands? Whatever the case I always wanted Pavement to jam more, and now they do. And now they're better.

Stephen Malkmus's solo band experimented much more during this past decade and that has carried over into Pavement. I'm not merely discussing the lengths of jams, like the one they're playing during "Fight This Generation", but the way they are playing together is so much tighter. If you're thinking to yourself 'Pavement was never about being tight', then I have nothing to say. All I know now is it sounds more modern, and better than it ever has.

While they are/were all very talented musicians they used to all seem to be in their own space, which is fine for what that was. Now it seems they are all actively playing together. Maybe the time apart has forced them to listen to each other more when they are on stage? Again, I have no idea.

The only thing I realize right now is this band has changed with the times. They're not what they once were, and by that I mean they don't sound like they once did. But why would I want them to? I'm not who I once was. Music isn't what it was. These guys are completely different people now. And their music reflects all of these things between who they are, where they've been, what music is, and who they're playing for.

This band could not be playing better right now, and I mean "better" than almost every band.

Stuff

2010-09-14T21:57:00.002-04:00

Was really an epic weekend for sports, especially college football. Before the meat of the day even began Michael Essien scored twice for my EPL Fantasy team, so I knew the day was going to be good.

I decided to watch the Buckeyes from my living room on the big ole TV, which, is actually quite new. One of the few items I've spent money on in quite some time, and man, when I'm watching my guys in FiOS HD it is worth every penny.

To sum it up, lets just say the Miami Hurricanes are a really talented and STUPID football team. They had the talent to win, but in truth should have been BLOW OUT. Ohio State's biggest problem is neither of their starting 2 running backs can create plays all by their lonesome, which means an inaccurate thrower like Pryor becomes pretty predictable. Unless OSU plays the young running backs they will continue to struggle in the red zone.

------

Speaking of young running backs, Marcus Lattimore, the freshman from South Carolina is outfuckingstanding. I've now watched both his games (and saw some high school), and he's the best freshman back I've seen since Maurice Clarett, and possibly better.

If Steve Spurrier recognizes he has a good D, a great back, solid WRs, and an average-at-best quarterback, he can win games by playing conservative. South Carolina should be the surprise talk of the town, but for some reason they're not. Arkansas is being hyped because of QB Ryan Mallett (who is great). Yet the Razors have basically beaten 2 high school teams, while the 'Cocks have taken on two very solid opponents. One of which was Georgia, who basically lost because running back Washaun Ealey fumbled the ball on the 2 yard line. Coincidentally, Thursday night I was out drinking with my best buddy, who went to South Carolina. The last thing I said was, "you'll win because Washaun Ealey fucking blows..." Spot on.

----

Lynn Swann is on the TV in front of me right now on the Michael Kay show. It's like my worst fucking dream come true. The biggest douche (Swann) with the least talented NY radio/tv personality. Life is unfair.

I was once standing on the Ohio State sideline for a game when "Swanny" was doing the sideline reporting. We heckled him so bad that he literally came over to us and threatened us. Last thing I said to him was, "Your half the man OJ was, buddy. Nice gay hat."

Security removed us, but mainly because we were standing on the band's bleachers.

-----

Went to the Jets game last night, the opening of the new Meadowlands Stadium, and what an awful night it was. Poor Jets fans. Didn't anyone not see it coming (other than Jets fans)?

First off, the stadium is pretty solid. Granted, they have pillars holding up the upper deck because they built the place on the cheap, but outside of that it's really nice. They still don't have a name for it because they're demanding the most money for naming rights in all of sports. I guess it makes sense since unlike every other team in the league the stadium is on television every week.

The Meadowlands is looking to fetch $40 million, which is obviously quite a bit more than the $20 million paid by Citibank Inc, for Citi Field in Flushing, Queens. Yet even with 81 games a year, and the possibility (albeit remote) the Mets will make the playoffs, football is so dominant that 16 games of NFL football is worth 2 times what 81 games of Mets baseball is. Crazy.

--------

Digressing to the Tea Party movement.

Have to give these nutbags a little credit here. They seemed to be taking out moderate Republicans in different areas around the country in the primaries.

When I say "credit" to the TPers, I mean, at least they're willing to challenge the establishment of their own party. Granted, they are goose-stepping fucktards who will basically believe anything a conservative talk radio moron tells them to believe, but at the same time, at least they're making change.

And speaking of making change, that's basically what the run-o-the-mill Republicans are doing by trying their best to make permanent the Bush tax-cuts, even for the wealthiest.

See, the old line Republicans know one thing, and they stick to it: you can always buy votes. In times of trouble, when people are worried most (usually about money), pull out the 'tax cut' bit, and buy 'dem votes. I assume they think this will steal some thunder from the Tea Party crowd, but who knows?

Truth is, the way I see it, the Tea Party people have brought more people to the polls who may not have voted, and changed some opinions along the way. This will result for greater turnout for Republicans, unless the moderates are just not showing up. At the same time, it will also bring more Democrats to the polls because of the possibility that some wing-fuck will be running against a candidate they support.

I really do want to see the numbers.

-------

Back to sports, but sticking with politics too...

Last night I couldn't help but think, while sitting their watching the Jets get embarrassed, how shitty Rob Ryan must feel right now.

See, Rob hear is a coordinator for the Cleveland Browns, which is pretty much the equivalent to being the drummer in Mili Vanili: no one gives a shit. After all the talking that his father Buddy Ryan did throughout his career, and the jabbering we have to hear his twin brother Rex do right now, one can't help but think Rob must be feeling an awful lot like Jeb Bush.

Good luck, Rob.

--------

Onto the Jets themselves. I was lucky enough to be invited to the game by Spencer, along with my buddies Josh and Adam. They are diehard Jets fans.

Things started off alright for the Jets, but once they put up 3 pts on the opening drive, post fumble/sack, I knew it was a long night a coming.

What I noticed during the game was how the Ravens matched up Darrelle Revis on Derrick Mason to QB Joe Flacco's right side, essentially making him the "Y" receiver, or, Flacco's first look, aka the "flanker." So it was Revis's job to shut down the oldest WR on the field. On the other side was TJ Houshmanzadeh, who was being defended by Antonio Cromartie, another veteran (played awful). In the slot receiver was the most talented player of the three, Anquan Boldin. Who was being defended by the Jets rookie Kyle Wilson (another bad night).

The Ravens hardly looked at Boldin early on, and even less so when being defended by Wilson. Why did they do this? Well, Flacco was being hurried at times early, but I also feel they were setting the Jets up perfectly...and they did.

I said to Spencer at the start of the second half, second series for the Ravens, "Look, the Ravens are moving Boldin out wide with Wilson on it. They duped the Jets into thinking he could cover him. They're going to go right after him on this play."

And guess what happened next? Need I even say it. The drive ended with the 3 more points for the Ravens, which hilariously put the game out of reach.

Listen, I'm not football coach, but I know sports. And I know the Jets got played. I know that Head Loud Mouth Rex Ryan and his defense, got PLAYED.

As for offense, the Ravens had so little respect for the Jets that in the 4th quarter, up 10-6, instead of throwing the ball from about their own 4 yard line on 3rd down, they decided to run it up the middle.

Why is this important?

Because the Ravens were willing to kick the ball from their own endzone, ostensibly giving the Jets great field position, and a chance to go ahead if they scored a touchdown.

Yeah, that's right, up FOUR POINTS, the Ravens were willing to give the home team Jets a chance to have the ball in great field position because they were so convinced they Jets could not score a touchdown.

And it was obvious to everyone in the building, they couldn't.

Which is why I walked out of the stadium with about 12 minutes remaining. Sorry but I'd rather not sit in traffic with a bunch of angry drunks.

--------

Did anyone see Notre Dame's Dayne Crist's last pass against Michigan? Buddy, seriously, keep it in the first 3 rows. That was terrible. Fast forward to the last 10 seconds of this video.

The kid's name is Dayne Fucking Crist. Was there any other school he could possibly play at?

Anyway...

--------

Dear Michigan Fan,

Have fun for the next couple of weeks until you suck balls....AGAIN.

You're QB isn't winning the Heisman, and you're still not good.

In fact, Ohio State is going to beat you again, handily, and the only player from the two teams who will be anywhere near the Heisman Trophy is not wearing blue.

Sincerely,

An Asshole You Hate Because I'm Right

--------

Notre Dame will continue to suck at football as long as smart kids play offense and dumber kids play defense. Notre Dame may rank highly in recruiting rankings, but name another defensive player in the NFL from Notre Dame other than Justin Tuck.

Here, I googled it for you.

Let me just say that the list ain't long, and the players aren't good.

Grant Irons, wow, he's still in the NFL.

-------

Yes, I drafted Arian Foster in both my fantasy leagues (which aren't actually mine, but leagues I drafted for friends who are out of town. Who will both owe me money).

Who you might ask?

Don't worry because my friends had no idea who he was either.

-------

Getting near the end here...

There's a guy named Buck-I-Guy who is this huge jackass of an Ohio State fan, who pretty much embarrasses the university at every turn. He is often shown on television during the games.

About a year ago I contacted AD Gene Smith of OSU and told him this guy is a joke, and is not even a student now, nor was he ever. Mr. Smith wrote back a ever nice email.

The last two games Buck-I-Guy has been out of the picture. I have yet to see him on television once, which is great.

However, a friend of mine just wrote me an email about this clown which is absolutely hilarious.

So dude, I was at the game this weekend throwing the football around with my buddy at the tailgate. out of nowhere your buddy BuckeyeGuy rolls up in his face paint and cape. I yelled out to him, 'what's up, buckeyeguy!' and he let out some sound which was a cross between hello/yo/heyoh/and a form of acknowledgement, I guess. he comes toward me and puts his hand out. i figured he wanted to throw the ball, which is a really nice ball, so i tossed it to him. i was thinking for a second i wonder if buckeyeguy can really toss the rock. well, he didn't toss the rock. instead, he took out his fucking sharpie and signed it!

like i wanted this asshole's signature on my 50 dollar ball!!!

then he just walked away as if i'm 11 years old, and he just made my year!

i was speechless.

---------

And finally, I'm sitting in Long Beach Island, doing some writing until the week's end. At that point I'll go back.

My buddy Ash who lives in Monterey, CA just offered me a room to stay at his house on the Ocean for "as long as you want, buddy."

That really just made my day. Cali in November! :-)

And for the record, I don't know the people in that photo, but when I did a search of LBI they came up. They looked so happy I just had to use it.

Oh, LBI, I'm gonna miss ya.

-------

Finally, just got an email from Boldprogressives.org, telling me the progressive candidate in New Hampshire just beat the woman who worked for Joe Lieberman. That also made me smile.

------

Wait, no, Finally, FINALLY...

Rashad Evans just hit me up with a very interesting text. I am looking forward to hearing more about this.

I do love me a little Rashad!

Makes You Think

2010-09-08T17:52:00.002-04:00

The Ninth Circuit Court in San Francisco sided with the Obama Administration and C.I.A. today on the "Extraordinary Rendition" program, which was all too popular under President George W. Bush.

It's a very interesting read.

A sharply divided federal appeals court on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit involving the Central Intelligence Agency’s practice of seizing terrorism suspects and transferring them to other countries for imprisonment and interrogation. The ruling handed a major victory to the Obama administration in its effort to advance a sweeping view of executive secrecy power.

By a six-to-five vote, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, reversing an earlier decision, dismissed a lawsuit against Jeppesen Dataplan Inc., a Boeing subsidiary accused of arranging flights for the C.I.A.’s “extraordinary rendition” program, as it is known. The American Civil Liberties Union filed the case on behalf of five former prisoners who say they were tortured because of the program – and that Jeppesen was complicit in their treatment.

Judge Raymond C. Fisher described the case as presenting “a painful conflict between human rights and national security.” But, he said, the majority had “reluctantly” concluded that the lawsuit represented “a rare case” in which the government’s need to protect state secrets trumped the plaintiffs’ need to have any day in court.

I came away thinking Justice Fisher knew full well how poorly the victims were treated, and how they certainly deserve something, but in the name of national security he sided with the government.

The details of the case are appalling for sure, but what's more disturbing to me is how the "States Secret Privilege" came to be in the first place.

According to the NYTIMES:

Leading Democratic lawmakers in both the House and the Senate have filed bills that would restrict how the privilege could be used. The Obama administration has not taken a position on those bills, but the new policy, which is intended to rein in use of the privilege by erecting greater internal checks and balances against abuse, could blunt momentum in Congress to pass legislation.

The leading Supreme Court decision on state secrets is United States v. Reynolds, which grew out of the crash in Georgia in 1948 of a B-29 bomber on a secret mission. Nine men died, and the widows of three of them sued the government for negligence.

The central document in the case was the Air Force's accident report. The government refused to turn it over, saying that disclosure of the report, even to a judge, would endanger national security by revealing military secrets. When the report was ultimately released in 1996, it contained no secrets at all but did show appalling negligence.

This is how the act came about, and even then, at a time when our government was seemingly more responsible, it pushed for a law which was unnecessary at the time.

Now granted, there could be a situation in which the law was needed at another time, but in the moment it basically stonewalled those seeking redress.

If they were this dishonest then, you can only imagine how dishonest they are today.

It's Hard to Explain This

2010-09-08T16:30:00.003-04:00

For years and years people would always ask why I liked Phish, and the rest of the shit and stupidity which always seemed to follow the question.

My buddy just passed along this video to me, and all I can really say is "it's really hard to put THIS into words."

But what I will say about this moment in Phishtory (did I make that up? Doubt it), is the band had just performed the Talking Heads album "Remain in Light" two days before in Atlanta as part of their Halloween Extravaganza. Without question learning to play that album and then covering it live forever changed the way the band played. They seemed to learn so much from just the practicing of those songs it sent the band into a new direction completely.

It's also hard to EXPLAIN THAT to someone who isn't as dedicated, or "into" music as say the majority of Phish's fans had been back then.

The video I posted was the first show, in my opinion, of what was to be, as some would call it, "Phish 2.0."

And no, I didn't coin that, but some bigger nerd than me most certainly did. But do not be mistake, because the man who coined "Phish 3.0" is a bigger nerd than both of us.

Again, the video. Only one band in history could have performed this song.

He Didn't Rape Anyone!

2010-09-03T23:10:00.004-04:00

Every time I hear a story about some athlete being accused of rape I read a couple of stories, then make a decision on what happened. Like Kobe Bryant; I don't think he raped a hotel employee in his hotel room bed while rehabilitating his knee. Lawrence Philips, whatever they said about him, I believed. In fact, he may have raped me. There are so many others, and I've heard stories about certain fighters in Las Vegas. Those stories end up getting squashed, somehow. In fact, I'd bet A LOT of these stories do.

But the Ben Roethlisberger story did not get squashed, and has been pretty well documented. Based on what I've read, that piece of shit scumbag definitely did something bad to a college girl in a bathroom. Let us not forget this is like his 275th rape accusation. Okay, maybe not that many, but it's the THIRD one he has slipped past.

So now we hear today NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, a man who knows a thing or two about rape, having been born with a silver spoon rammed directly up his ass, has reduced Big Ben's 6 game sentence to 4. The reasons being:

"You have told me and the Steelers that you are committed to making better decisions," Goodell wrote Roethlisberger, according to the league statement. "Your actions over the past several months have been consistent with that promise and you must continue to honor that commitment."

No shit? You mean ever since he was accused of rape AGAIN he hasn't gone out and RAPED ANOTHER GIRL? Has he done some community service? Has he pet some children at the Special Olympics, or some shit? I mean, give me a fucking break, guy. The dude is a first class piece of shit!

And if this is not the most bogus setup scenario in ages then what is? What are the odds that fellow-uber-white-Republican Goodell did not tell Roethlisberger, "Listen, I'm giving you 6 games now, but if you just don't do anything stupid in the next few months, I'll reduce it to 4. We'll let this blow over, and then I'll cut your penalty as long as nothing else comes out of it. Deal?"

"Yeah, man, thanks. That's fucking great. I promise you if I do choose to rape anyone else I will do it at home, or I'll just rape prostitutes or something."

"Great. See you a in a few."

Dude's a rapist. Maybe not according to the rule of law, but pretty obviously when you follow the rules of obviousness.

For one second I want to give Ben a little leeway since he didn't actually get committed of the charpe of rape. Wait, actually, fuck that. Dude's a rapist piece of shit, and I expect nothing less from the son of a US Senator, who knows exactly what it means to be part of the White All Men's Club of America.

Fuck Ben Roethlisberger and Fuck Roger Goodell for being a spineless douchebag.

Well done, Ben, for having not raped anyone in MONTHS.

Greetings

2010-09-03T13:55:00.003-04:00

When I was in college I don't think I washed my hands the entire time I was there, unless my parents were in town and we were out to dinner. That might be the one time I was reminded of another one of those things I'm supposed to be doing when they're around, like laundry...

The other day I was receiving change from someone so gnarly looking I started thinking to myself, "I better wash my hands after I get change from this clown..." Then the typical thing happened where he hands me my bills back first, then the receipt, plops the change down on top of the bills into the palm of my hand, making ABSOLUTELY SURE he doesn't touch MY SKIN!

Now maybe this guy was being really courteous, or could read my mind, and knew full well I really didn't want to pickup whatever microbe was crawling across his epidermis. Now that I think about it, maybe that IS IT! Maybe he was so nasty looking because he is at such a higher level mentally, with his ability to fucking read minds that simple hygiene is sooo pointless to him. I'm going to go with this in my mind so I can feel slightly better about myself, based on his thoughts of me.

Or maybe (this is all just coming to me now) he ended up becoming so nasty because for years he didn't take the time to actually lay the dollar bills across the palms of hands, followed by the receipt, and then the sprinkling of coins. Because of this he's now a mess, having picked up so many other nasty pieces of dirt from others along the way, leaving himself a literal mess?

As much as I want to imagine these scenarios to be true I'm going to just bet he doesn't have a lot of money, nor hot water.

So this guy doesn't want to touch me, or maybe he thinks the reverse, again. I highly doubt he was being thoughtful.

It got me thinking how much, if at all, I have suffered from the exchange of germs via money, or how often I've become sick at the "hands" of someone else. For some reason I tend to believe not at all, or very little.

The first time I ever took real notice of 'touching things which could get me sick' was my first radio job. The board operator who worked overnight was absolutely fucking disgusting. His hands moved along an invisible highway which traveled from his nose, to his balls, to his anus, and occasionally back to his nose, or mouth. Then they touched the control board. Sometimes he would even sneak his cat into the studio for company, which I didn't really mind since I love cats...but anyway. The only thing separating this guy from the convenience store slob was he had a nicer shirt, and he shaved. If I had to choose whose hands to drink water out of I'd go with...hmmm...I'd go with...dehydration --> death.

After Charlie, the board op, would leave I would take the rubbing alcohol and large cotton swabs used to clean the inside of the control board, and SCRUB THE PLACE DOWN. I had seen guys do this before, but not to this level. The alcohol was basically there for maintenance.

However, I didn't then believe I had to scrub my hands every time I touched someone, or anything, or if I had been in a department store, on an escalator, in an elevator, at the grocery store, a bar, and on and on and on. I still don't believe it today. I don't buy those alcohol-based vials of solution which I can use on the fly in case I have to practice emergency surgery on a random citizen. No, I don't do that. When people offer it to me, nose down, I usually decline. Don't feel I need it.

I just can't figure for the life of me where the germ culture came from. I'd bet it is from crazy-ass-psycho moms who don't want their children touching anything, but I have no idea. But the way, the fact that no clerk will EVER TOUCH YOU in a convenience or grocery store is absolutely shocking. They go out of their way to make sure your skins don't collide. It seems pretty nuts to me.

Digressing...from all of this eventually came the fist bump. Wait, actually the fist bump really came from boxing since the two fighters were wearing gloves and couldn't shake hands. I never realized it until I sparred one day with someone and we fist bumped. I remember thinking before he kicked my ass, "Oh, shit, that's where the fist bump started." Sports. No different than "my bad!" coming from Manute Bol. Sports.

Then the fist bump became mankind's preferred method of greeting each other because you no longer had to cross germs! Even when you're with your closest friends, real quick, fist bump. Ironically, the handshake still comes into play when you're introduced to strangers! You really can't fist bump a stranger unless, again, you're attending some sporting event, on or off a field/court. So when meeting someone through business, or just at a bar, not knowing what the person has done with his/her hands, you are FORCED to shake it, and if you've learned anything from your parents, SHAKE IT FIRMLY! This I never forgot. Oh, the horror!

Sidenote: I hate how tiny dudes have to try and rip your fucking arm off to make up for their lack of height. So annoying. It's like 9/10 dudes under 5'8" try to break a bone in your hand.

Now in defense of mankind, I can understand why you'd want to fist bump with me. For my hands travel a different highway, and quite often. If you know me well the only exit on that road is my balls. There's a lot of adjusting going on down there, and if things were different I wouldn't have to do it. But I do. I'm an "adjuster." The fist bump is probably a good thing to do with me. So you know, I'm a lefty adjuster, and a righty shaker, so there's safety in that.

Another thing about me is I'm a pre-piss washer, meaning I wash my hands on the way into the bathroom when I'm at a bar, and not eating. There's no reason for me to touch my dick after I've spent a day with all of you people touching me. Now I know this goes against the point I'm going to eventually get to, but there are some things I just don't want to fuck around with. I can handle touching people and then showering/washing, or just having you on my hands all day. But below the belt spots, nah. Not doing it. If I like you though; if I'm out with a few friends, having snacks, drinks, what not, I do the double-wash. In a crowded sports bar where I'm throwing down Yuenglings at the speed of sound, it's just one wash, maybe, and that's on the way in. Fist bump me.

Point being is, in the end the whole thing is just ridiculous. The germ thing. We're not going to die from the germs we're supposedly passing around. Having created this absurd germ culture society with our Purell's and what-nots, it's just one more thing which can drive us all crazy. I could go on. I won't.

Fist bump me if you want, but I hope you're not doing it because you're that fucking crazy you think whatever is on my hands, whether it be sweat, urine, saliva, dirt, who knows, is going to get you sick. It's really probably not going to, and the whole sanitizing of the planet is actually likely to cause more sickness anyway as our bodies are less able to fight off different germs.

Cheers.

Not editing.

Such Fucken Assholes

2010-08-26T00:27:00.003-04:00

It's really going to happen, Michigan and Ohio State in different divisions in the new Big 10 (12) conference. They want so badly for the two teams to meet in the Big Ten title game that they're willing to shelve the rivalry in the hope this happens each year. If you take the last 7 years, it happens maybe ONCE.

Lets say it happens once ever five years, which is optimistic. Does that outweigh the benefit of these two teams playing each other every year; the money generated through that annual event? No chance.

Whatever the case, it's bad enough they're going this road, but to blow the fucken shit out of the best thing in this conference is such a joke.

Can you tell I'm not happy?

This shortsighted belief by Big Ten Dickbag Commissioner Jim Delaney is what pisses me off the most:

Delany told ESPN.com that a potential benefit of putting rivals like Michigan and Ohio State in different divisions is that the teams can play for a Rose Bowl berth in the new Big Ten championship game, which begins in 2011.

It's completely bogus.

If OSU and UofM remain in the same division the two teams can still make or break each others' season, which is what they've always done; which is what makes the game. If one of the two teams is good enough to win the division outright then they should have no problem doing so regardless in the title game. Either way, this game remains relevant.

The two divisions should be:

East:
Michigan
Michigan St
Ohio State
Penn State
Indiana
Northwestern

West:
Illinois
Iowa
Nebraska
Minnesota
Purdue
Wisconsin

I understand the top dog teams are in the east, but this preserves rivalries on both sides. It also gives us that every third year monster game between Illinois and Northwestern we're holding your collective breaths for. In all seriousness, two of the three weakest teams (Indiana and NW) remain in the East, and that actually helps one of these bigger teams get to the top, all the while having to go through each other.

Seriously, I know one conference has the sexy teams, but the West has 5 teams which legitimately could win the conference, no different from how the SEC is setup, with the East having the three consistent powerhouses of Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee.

This really does blow, and the assholes who are making the decisions are really just....well, assholes. Fuckfaces. Scumfuckers.

I'm not happy.

One more reason I'm becoming more and more of a soccer fan every day (but not the MLS. Fuck those colors, and fuck that awful ball. I do like the Redbulls Stadium though).

Guess?

2010-08-24T00:45:00.003-04:00

Take a guess who appointed the Federal Judge who just declared Obama's expansion of stem cell research illegal.

All politicians are totally the same. Totally.

Wondering

2010-08-23T19:53:00.003-04:00

What does it sound like when two right wingers are arguing?

Is the one guy saying, "Listen, he's a Christian, but he hates America. He was part of that Church with Reverend Jeremiah Wright!"

Other guy, "No, you are wrong. He's a Muslim! He's not an American! He may not have even ever been born at all, since he has no birth certificate. But definitely Muslim."

I guess it doesn't really matter as long as they all agree that he's a terrorist.

Pakistan

2010-08-23T19:26:00.004-04:00

I'm watching the NEWSHOUR on PBS which is totally liberal, and I say this because it's just way too accurate.

Curious to know if this is the type of news watched around the world, or are most news shows outside of the United States as worthless as what we see here?

The story I'm following now is the situation in Pakistan, regarding the flood waters. It's really so effed.

Is it me, or does it seem like there are MANY MORE massive natural disasters in the last 10 years then there had been in the previous 10, and the 10 before that, and on, and on, and on?

If not I'd really like to see the numbers.