Shamrocks, Sauerkraut and Northern Attitude

Back!

2006-03-14T11:14:00.000-05:00

Don’t look back
A new day is breakin’
It’s been too long since I felt this way
I don’t mind where I get taken
The road is callin’
Today is the day

I can see
It took so long to realize
I’m much too strong
Not to comprimise
Now I see what I am is holding me down
I’ll turn it around
I finally see the dawn arrivin’
I see beyond the road I’m drivin’
Far away and left behind
It’s a new horizon and I’m awakin’ now
Oh I see myself in a brand new way

The sun is shinin’
The clouds are breakin’
’can see I can’t lose now, there’s no game to play
I can tell
There’s no more time left to criticize
I’ve seen what I could not recognize
Everthing in my life was leading me on
But I can be strong
I finally see the dawn arrivin’
I see beyond the road I’m drivin’
Far away and left behind

Boston, 1978

Sales Calls Suck

2005-10-03T15:15:00.000-05:00

"Hey Mr.____________, it's __________ from (insert company name here). How are you today? Gosh, the last time we talked was (insert years/months) ago. So, how do you like your (insert season here)? Hot or cold, huh? Just no in between was there. Boy, you know I though that weather was really (insert personal opinion here). Just never enough time to do what you want, you know? Anyway, I was just checking to see if there might be any jobs that we can support you on?"

Sincerely,

Every sales call you've ever received from a potential vendor

The End of the Bush Era

2005-09-14T11:55:00.000-05:00

Special thanks to Randy, for throwing this up on his blog. A must read from the Washington Post editorial section a few days ago:

End of the Bush Era
By E. J. Dionne Jr.Tuesday, September 13, 2005; Page A27

The Bush Era is over. The sooner politicians in both parties realize that, the better for them -- and the country.

Recent months, and especially the past two weeks, have brought home to a steadily growing majority of Americans the truth that President Bush's government doesn't work. His policies are failing, his approach to leadership is detached and self-indulgent, his way of politics has produced a divided, angry and dysfunctional public square. We dare not go on like this.

The Bush Era did not begin when he took office, or even with the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. It began on Sept. 14, 2001, when Bush declared at the World Trade Center site: "I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon." Bush was, indeed, skilled in identifying enemies and rallying a nation already disposed to action. He failed to realize after Sept. 11 that it was not we who were lucky to have him as a leader, but he who was lucky to be president of a great country that understood the importance of standing together in the face of a grave foreign threat. Very nearly all of us rallied behind him.

If Bush had understood that his central task was to forge national unity, as he seemed to shortly after Sept. 11, the country would never have become so polarized. Instead, Bush put patriotism to the service of narrowly ideological policies and an extreme partisanship. He pushed for more tax cuts for his wealthiest supporters and shamelessly used relatively modest details in the bill creating a Department of Homeland Security as partisan cudgels in the 2002 elections.

He invoked our national anger over terrorism to win support for a war in Iraq. But he failed to pay heed to those who warned that the United States would need many more troops and careful planning to see the job through. The president assumed things would turn out fine, on the basis of wildly optimistic assumptions. Careful policymaking and thinking through potential flaws in your approach are not his administration's strong suits.

And so the Bush Era ended definitively on Sept. 2, the day Bush first toured the Gulf Coast States after Hurricane Katrina. There was no magic moment with a bullhorn. The utter failure of federal relief efforts had by then penetrated the country's consciousness. Yesterday's resignation of FEMA Director Michael Brown put an exclamation point on the failure.

The source of Bush's political success was his claim that he could protect Americans. Leadership, strength and security were Bush's calling cards. Over the past two weeks, they were lost in the surging waters of New Orleans.

But the first intimations of the end of the Bush Era came months ago. The president's post-election fixation on privatizing part of Social Security showed how out of touch he was. The more Bush discussed this boutique idea cooked up in conservative think tanks and Wall Street imaginations, the less the public liked it. The situation in Iraq deteriorated. The glorious economy Bush kept touting turned out not to be glorious for many Americans. The Census Bureau's annual economic report, released in the midst of the Gulf disaster, found that an additional 4.1 million Americans had slipped into poverty between 2001 and 2004.

The breaking of the Bush spell opens the way for leaders of both parties to declare their independence from the recent past. It gives forces outside the White House the opportunity to shape a more appropriate national agenda -- for competence and innovation in rebuilding the Katrina region and for new approaches to the problems created over the past 4 1/2 years.

The federal budget, already a mess before Katrina, is now a laughable document. Those who call for yet more tax cuts risk sounding like robots droning automated talking points programmed inside them long ago. Katrina has forced the issue of deep poverty back onto the national agenda after a long absence. Finding a way forward in -- and eventually out of -- Iraq will require creativity from those not implicated in the administration's mistakes. And if ever the phrase "reinventing government" had relevance, it is now that we have observed the performance of a government that allows political hacks to push aside the professionals.

And what of Bush, who has more than three years left in his term? Paradoxically, his best hope lies in recognizing that the Bush Era, as he and we have known it, really is gone. He can decide to help us in the transition to what comes next. Or he can cling stubbornly to his past and thereby doom himself to frustrating irrelevance.

So Long Great One...and I Don't Mean Wayne

2005-09-12T15:49:00.000-05:00

If you’re a long-time hockey fan like I am, the past 18-months have felt like you were given a B.C. two-hander in the chops from Bob Probert.

First, you had the nearly-career-ending injury to Steve Yzerman, the 20-year captain of the Detroit Red Wings. The sight of Yzerman flailing his arms in the air and writhing on the ice like a goldfish out water was hardly the way anyone envisioned – much less wanted too – see The Captain’s career come to an end. Not much later, hockey snobs cringed as a team from south of the Mason Dixon line hoisted Lord Stanley’s Cup. Thankfully, the Cup has been returned to Canada sans any NASCAR or Calvin-urinating-on-a-Ford/Chevy-logo stickers.

Then, the coupe de resistance – the strike. If the fans had the same initiative as the children in the film KidCo, well, let’s just say we’d all have a big pile of manure to haul around for quite some time.

We can argue all we want whether the strike was worth it and whether or not the game will be better, but there’s no question the personnel losses stemming from the strike will give the game a whole new look.

A sad side effect of the 15 months off has been the retirement of many of the stars of the 80s and 90s who made the game so exciting.

The list goes on. Damphousse, MacInnis, Stevens, and today…the other great one, Mark Messier.

I can still fervently recall the rivalry that developed between the Wings and Oilers in the mid-to-late 80s. Detroit had finally become respectable again under the guidance of Steve Yzerman and the fabulous Frenchman, Juacques Demers. But just like the seasons changing, every year you could count on the Wings losing to the Oilers during the regular season and the playoffs.

The Oilers were one of the most prolific teams of all time with numerous hall of famers, including the greatest scorer of all time in Wayne Gretzky. Fittingly, he was called The Great One. People loved to watch Gretzky, but the player I always feared and loved was the guy who could do it all. The hockey-player’s player, Mark Messier.

He could block a shot, get up, deck you at center ice, rush to the other end and score. And even more importantly, he could win. For those of us too young to remember the days of Gordie Howe, Messier was the closest thing we could have had. Like Howe, Messier could beat you more ways than any other player on the ice.

The Oilers were the dynasty of the mid-80s in the NHL, taking home 4 Stanley Cups, and they probably would have had five if they hadn’t scored on themselves in a key game vs. the Calgary Flames in 1986. There was #99, Gretzky, the leading scorer riding shotgun. In the back seat you had Grant Fuhr, Kevin Lowe, Glenn Anderson, Jari Kurri and Paul Coffey. But the guy who was really behind the wheel, driving that team and leading them in the locker room was none other than Messier.

On August 8, 1988, a chunk of Canada died when The Great One was dealt to the Los Angeles Kings by owner Peter Pocklington. The move greatly enhanced Wayne’s persona in the U.S., helped bring hockey into the mainstream and popularize the sport on the west coast (for a brief time). While Wayne was going on to become close friends with convicted felons (Bruce McNall) and hanging out with the sunset strip crowd of California, Messier got to work on doing what he did best – winning championships.

In the year 2 A.W. (After Wayne), Messier lead the Gretzky-less and Fuhr-less Oilers to the Stanley Cup, winning the Hart Trophy (MVP) in the process, thus stepping up out of Wayne’s shadow for good and proving to the world what a leader he really is.

Two years later, after his run in Edmonton was at a close, he headed to the Bronx and joined the NY Rangers, declaring to the team and its fans that he’d deliver to them their first Stanley Cup in over 50 years. And he kept his word. Behind Messier and his hat-trick against New Jersey in a must win game 6 of the conference finals, the Rangers went on to win games 7 against the Devils, and then won a heart-pounding game 7 against Vancouver in the finals, giving N.Y.C. the cup, enshrining Messier’s place in New Yorkers’ hearts forever.

For the first time, it was Messier who deservedly lapped up the spotlight in the bright lights and big city of New York while his former partner in L.A. had a nice tan, a great bank account, and zero post-Oiler cups to his name.

For the next 9 years, Messier continued to play on with his rough and tumble style. Knocking you down when he had too, scoring when he needed too. And sure he never won any more Stanley Cups, but he retires today the second leading scorer in league history, behind only Wayne Gretzky.

I find that only fitting. As a person who respected and admired what Wayne was able to do from an offensive standpoint, I never viewed him as the be-all, end-all hockey player. To me, a true hockey star has to be willing to sacrifice himself for his team. He has to be able to have offensive ability, but at the same time, not be afraid to knock a guy on his butt when it has to be done. He has to have a mean streak. In short, he must be multi-dimensional. Gretzky was never these things. Like Howe, Messier was all of that and more.

Wayne got most of the glory, especially after his move to la-la land. And in the end, he’s the one remembered as The Great One. But if the choice were up to me, I’d rather have had the guy who was willing to do it all. Number 11.

Fly-by-night hockey fans always have, and always will say Gretzky is the greatest. After all, we’ve all been told by the media for the last 20 years that Gretzky is the greatest ever and to argue with that is ludicrous. Even ESPN.com put out a survey yesterday asking where Messier ranks on all time players and the highest number you can choose for him is #2, as if picking him #1 would be some form of hockey blasphemy.

I’ll always have a special place in my heart for #11 and in my book, he’s better than Gretzky and right behind Gordie Howe. He was the consummate hockey player for true hockey fans.

And if for some reason you can’t tell the difference between Messier and Gretzky, look for the guy who’s right arm hangs a little lower…because it has two more Stanley Cup rings weighing it down.

The Price of Gas

2005-08-31T11:28:00.000-05:00

Projections pointing to $4 a gallon for the next 6 months:
http://money.cnn.com/2005/08/31/news/gas_prices/index.htm?cnn=yes

Average prices in 2005 dollars since 1927:
http://www.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels/facts/2005/fcvt_fotw364.shtml

Looks like we've all been spoiled since 1987. I wonder why our auto companies didn't see through this and continue to develop and market for the future rather than the "give me now" mentality over the past 18 years?

Last, some lyrics from our pals at Bloc Party:

The Price of Gas
I've been driving, a mid sized car,
I never hurt anyone
Is that a fact?
The price of gas keeps on rising
Nothing comes for free
Make like a stone, make like a plant
I can tell you, how this ends

We're going to win this
With spades and truncheons, guns and trowels
That is how the war will be won
Just swat the fly
Taking care of cars and bodies
Nothing ever comes for me
The ghosts are here,
red white and blue

I can tell you how this ends
We're going to win this

2005 in music, so far...

2005-08-25T11:49:00.000-05:00

I'm a bit overwhelmed with all of the fantastic albums I've picked up recently, so I thought I'd share my favorites from this year. Feel free to throw more reccommendations my way, one can never hear enough good music:

Spoon - Gimme Fiction
Art Brut - Bang Bang Rock and Roll
The New Pornographers - Twin Cinemas
The Fiery Furnaces - EP
Coldplay - X&Y
Broken Social Scene's single, "Shoreline" (album due in a few months)
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (self titled)
Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, And It's Morning
The Decemberists - Picaresque
Boards of Canada (re-release) - Music Has the Right to Children
Ryan Adams - Cold Roses
Foo Fighters - In Your Honor
Sufjan Stevens - Come On Feel the Illinoise
M. Ward - Transistor Radio
Belle and Sebastian - Push Barman to Open Old Wounds
Grey DeLisle's cover of "Bohemian Rhapsody"
The first four tracks to the Doves - Some Cities (Snowden is the ice-capper)
Beck - Guero
Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
Bloc Party's yet to be released single, "Two More Years"
M83 - Before the Dawn Heals Us

Seriously, for this self-proclaimed aging hipster, this year has been flat-out insane. Go to a record store (or iTunes) and buy as many of these as you can. I promise you won't be disappointed.

What....do you want on your tombstone?

2005-08-23T17:05:00.000-05:00

A clever marketing tagline for a frozen pizza...or a question now being asked to the families whose son/daughter died in Iraq and Afghanistan? For the record, if anyone in my fantasy football league dies, I'll give their spouses the option of picking any of our annual slogans on their tombstone...at no cost!!!

What a f-ing disgrace. Worst. Admistration. Ever.

Troops' Gravestones Have Pentagon Slogans
ARLINGTON, Va. - Unlike earlier wars, nearly all Arlington National Cemetery gravestones for troops killed in Iraq or Afghanistan are inscribed with the slogan-like operation names the Pentagon selected to promote public support for the conflicts.

Families of fallen soldiers and Marines are being told they have the option to have the government-furnished headstones engraved with "Operation Enduring Freedom" or "Operation Iraqi Freedom" at no extra charge, whether they are buried in Arlington or elsewhere. A mock-up shown to many families includes the operation names.

The vast majority of military gravestones from other eras are inscribed with just the basic, required information: name, rank, military branch, date of death and, if applicable, the war and foreign country in which the person served.

Families are supposed to have final approval over what goes on the tombstones. That hasn't always happened. Nadia and Robert McCaffrey, whose son Patrick was killed in Iraq in June 2004, said "Operation Iraqi Freedom" ended up on his government-supplied headstone in Oceanside, Calif., without family approval.

"I was a little taken aback," Robert McCaffrey said, describing his reaction when he first saw the operation name on Patrick's tombstone. "They certainly didn't ask my wife; they didn't ask me." He said Patrick's widow told him she had not been asked either. "In one way, I feel it's taking advantage to a small degree," McCaffrey said. "Patrick did not want to be there, that is a definite fact."

The owner of the company that has been making gravestones for Arlington and other national cemeteries for nearly two decades is uncomfortable, too. "It just seems a little brazen that that's put on stones," said Jeff Martell, owner of Granite Industries of Vermont. "It seems like it might be connected to politics."

The 40-Year-Old Virgin - GO SEE THIS FILM

2005-08-21T22:08:00.000-05:00

Funniest movie I've seen in the theaters since...Gosh, probably the first Austin Powers. Granted, Mike Myers has had two sequels since, the first one was just a masterpiece.

Anyway, anyone likes comedy, and Steve Carrell, you must see this film. Just fantastic. I've seen Wedding Crashers and this flick blows it away. The last hour of Wedding Crashers was a chick flick (sans cameo appearance that saved the flick). This film is five-times funnier.

Don't know who Steve Carrell is? Go find out. Don't use that as a crutch to not see this film.

This message paid for by Steve Carrell is the Funniest Man Alive foundation, headquartered in Milwaukee, WI.

The Colors of the Chameleon Knows as Beck

2005-08-17T14:19:00.000-05:00

by Gene

Is Beck:
a) the cunning nu-rapper from Loser?
b)the countrified, twangy country boy of Jackass?
c)the pina-colada sippin songster of Tropicalia?
d)the party animal of Sexx Laws?
e)the brokenhearted pessimist of Lost Cause?
f)the loud, beat-backed boy behind E-Pro?

The beauty of this question lies in the answer:

Beck is all of the above, yet he’s none of the above at the same time.

Beck is one of the few – maybe even the only – artists today who has now had a successful 10-year run in the spotlight and yet, he cannot be pigeonholed into some kind of musical category. He’s the square peg for today’s round holed world of modern radio.

Sure, when Mellow Gold and Loser came out in 1994, Beck spent a year as the essential cover-boy for the ‘slacker’ generation (X). But that label fell off as soon as Odelay rocked the town like a moldy crouton with the fun-loving Where It’s At. Nobody new what to think of this kid from California when he hit the scene. And for his fans, many of them still can’t. Which is what makes being a Beck fan all the more pleasing.

The thing that makes Beck rare these days, and so likable and respected, is that he’s like most of us when it comes to music. His musical tastes aren’t locked into one particular genre. Depending on what he’s into at the time or the mood he’s in, that’s the type of album that comes out.

This has made him the fodder of some critics who accuse him of pure, coldhearted calculation on his part. These people claim there’s nothing spontaneous about Beck and there never will be. Then again, these are most likely the people that didn’t like him in the first place so it’s easy to see why they feel that way.

Most of us go through phases when certain kinds of music strike a chord with us more than others. One month, it may be British rockers like Bloc Party or the Futureheads, the next month it’s the power-pop and ballads of Guster, then it’s on to Johnny Cash and some old time, ticked off folk country. Most of us don’t go through life listening or enjoying to only one kind of music. Beck does the same thing, only he makes it, and he does so with tongue firmly planted in cheek from an entertainment standpoint.

His new album Guero is a great piece of sonic pleasure. In it are bits and pieces from all of Beck’s previous bodies of work. It’s radically different from track to track, yet it feels 100% Beck.

Sure, there are the paint-by-numbers, corporate-created bands like Slipknot, Nickelback, Good Charlotte, and Linkin Park who regurgitate the same stuff over and over and over. And yeah, those bands have certainly been/are popular, but in the long run, those bands won’t be remembered for being either groundbreaking or adventurous. But, they were all more “popular” than Beck at some point in their careers.

Then again, I’ll give you your 15,000 seat amphitheater show for any of those bands. Me? I’ll take seeing Beck perform in front of sold-out 3,000-5,000 seat venues today and any day over the last 10 years, and hopefully the next 10 years.

(Beck’s new fall tour kicks off soon. Check out his website to find out locations. Detroit and Chicago are on the docket. I highly, highly, highly recommend seeing him perform live. He is a pure entertainer and you will not be disappointed in seeing him live….that is of course, unless you’re a sap and you shell out $200 to see him open up for the Rocking-chair Stones and their 3,452,745th take on the song “satisfaction”. Enjoy. Mick and Keef need your support.)

Bumbling Leadership...

2005-08-08T11:32:00.000-05:00

It's hard work, people. It's hard work.

Three weeks ago - Military to cut Iraq forces in-half:
http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/
news/nation/12103898.htm

Today - Military to raise troop levels in Iraq:
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050808/
ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/iraq_us_military

Great work.

Raffy I Love You!

2005-08-02T10:35:00.000-05:00

Raffy Palmeiro, toolbox.

Big time baseball player, hits for 3,000 and 500 home runs, conveniently (? seriously, is anybody scratching their head wondering how this announcement occurred AFTER he gets these stats) gets caught testing positive for steroids. The announcement goes out yesterday, and now everybody has an opinion on the matter.

Personally, I've never been too enraptured by the dude's play. He seems like a generic fielder who has hit above average consistently for 12 years. Good player? Sure. Hall of Famer... well...

Meanwhile, nickel-nuts Bushy weighs in with his own opinion on the matter yesterday:

"Rafael Palmeiro is a friend. He testified in public and I believe him," Bush said, referring to Palmeiro's denials under oath to a congressional committee on March 17. "He's the kind of person that's going to stand up in front of the klieg lights and say he didn't use steroids, and I believe him. Still do."

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/12278497.htm

Again, just another feather-in-the-cap for the dumbest President in the history of our country. Seriously, this joke believes anything that a good, honest, down-home-loving friend would have to say. Right Karl Tubbers?

As for Raffy... I now hope this keeps him out of the baseball hall of fame. I hope he triggers off the cleansing of a fractured league. The enshrinement is for men who played the game within their own god-given means. Ty Cobb would spit on somebody like Raffy if they made it in. Let's keep the floors as clean as we can.

McGwire
Bonds
Raffy
Giambi
Deere
Incaviliga

Stay home.

May I also suggest checking out this piece from the American Conservative written last year when the steroid chatter began to ramp-up...

http://www.amconmag.com/2004_04_12/article.html

The New Collosus

2005-07-26T09:53:00.000-05:00

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles.
From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips.

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Source: Emma Lazarus, The Poems of Emma Lazarus, vol.1 (1889), 2

Give me your tired, your poor…

Just a few years ago in the height of the Iraq invasion, a good friend of mine shared some thoughts on ethnicity in the United States. I can’t remember what he said to me word for word, but to paraphrase his point it was somewhere along these lines:

Friend (F): Dude, what’s your take on immigrants?
Me (M): We’ve obviously got a problem getting them into the country as a certified citizen. Then we lose track of them…
F: No, I mean what they do once they’re here.
M: What do you mean?
F: Well, doesn’t it bother you that they can’t speak English?
M: (silent)
F: (voice raising) Seriously, these people come here and act like they can just live the kind of lifestyle they had in their home country.

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free….

That conversation has been in my head ever since. I consider this good friend to be a very knowledgeable person. He has a thirst for understanding truth and believes in the general good of humanity. But those very words personify what America has become in the latter half of the 20th century; a castle, a palace, a fenced-in land.

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Wait a minute! We have to be that way! We gotta be on guard! After all, it’s a different world today than it was in 1925.

And that is the saddest point of all. The idea of Lady Liberty greeting people of different ethnic backgrounds to come to our land is a long lost notion for many of my fellow countrymen. They believe that America has become what America never wanted to become – a four-cornered ideal. The idea of poor Mexicans, Chinese, Nigerians, Iraqis, and Argentineans coming to OUR country speaking THEIR language and acting in their own way just sickens many of my fellow Anglo-Saxon Americans. It irritates them that they are different, that they don’t act like they SHOULD act.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

So where does that leave us, America? Immigration is a problem and the world has changed, we can agree on that. But the ideals of bigotry, appreciation for differences, and most important – RESPECT are washed away in the tides of emotional stigmatism numero uno that pumps into the everyday Joe American – FEAR.

Can we overcome fear? Can we once again believe in the general good of humanity that 90% of this world possesses but never seems to get right with one another? Can we live the true American ideal?

I lift my lamp beside the golden door…

CD Review - Whatever: The 90s Box Set

2005-07-25T16:14:00.000-05:00

Not to steal someone else's review, but I'm doing it. As someone who essentially grew up in the 90s (i.e. went to high school and college), this CD compilation is hideous at best and manipulative at worst. Attached below is the review of the new 90's compilation that you can buy from Rhino records called "Whatever: The 90s Box Set" taken from www.pitchforkmedia.com. Good God. It's a longggg review, but it speaks perfectly to me, at least regarding music from this decade. It's dead on in panning it. This is your-parents-90s-radio, all boxed up and ready for you to enjoy. Want to listen to some C&C Music Factory, some MC Hammer and some Jump Around? Got an arena that needs songs to get peeps off their feet? Boy, have we got the CDs for you. Enjoy.

Disc 3 track 8: King Missile, "Detachable Penis"Disc 3 track 9: Silk, "Freak Me"

Good God the juvenilia! I was 14 when I first heard "Detachable Penis," and I found it catchy and hilarious enough that my friend Dave and I choreographed a whole geeky "interpretive" dance to go with it, which we performed backstage in our high school auditorium for a selection of friends. Later that week, on a late-night bus ride, I split a pair of earbuds with a girl from our audience, listening to the left channel of "Freak Me" and touching actual boobs for the first time. This box puts the two tracks together because it thinks it knows me. It can't explain how I managed to touch this girl's boobs even after she'd seen me doing geeky interpretive dances, but whatever: I shouldn't have been touching those particular boobs anyway, and now, whenever I hear Silk's overheated "wanna lick up you up and down" come-ons (most recently from a singing homeless guy), I get all sorts of Portnoy's Complaint issues going.

Disc 2 track 17: Spin Doctors, "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong"Disc 2 track 18: dada, "Dizz Knee Land"

You think it's totally self-indulgent of me to share my banal high-school memories at the top of this review? Then don't think about buying this box set. Whatever is seven discs and over a hundred dollars' worth of random nostalgia and unflinching faith in the disposable income of formerly middle-class suburban alt-rock kids now around their late twenties. The track selection is specifically designed to let people in this demographic spend 15 minutes going "oh shit, I remember...and holy shit, lookit, that one video, right...I am Cornholio I need TP for my bunghole...holy fuck ... no MC 900 Foot Jesus?" All for the last decade during which people relied on ganky old cassette dubs, and therefore don't have ganky old external hard drives to crack open when they want to get Proustian about 4 Non Blondes.

Disc 3 track 12: Green Jelly, "Three Little Pigs"Disc 3 track 13: Dinosaur Jr., "Start Choppin"

So what do you want to do: Bask in the warm-fuzzy vibe of shared pop-cultural history or be crushed by the thought that your suburban alt-rock song-memories, and maybe even some of the stories that go with them, are shared by just as massive a cohort as you-- being a child of the nineties and therefore wanting to be "special"-- always feared? And so long as you're examining your emotions, check this out: How many of the tracks you're excited to see here did you actively despise when they were on your teenage radio? Not yet 30 and already so wistful! Pop culture races along, and here is the ambient sound of your teenage years; I have Big Head Todd like a sepia snapshot of me growing up in Colorado and hating Big Head Todd; do we just buy this now and put it in storage for when we retire?

Disc 5 track 14: Better than Ezra, "Good"Disc 5 track 15: Blues Traveler, "Run-Around"

Well no, because Rhino couldn't possibly understand just how special you are, and they're cheating on you with everyone in your age group. The bulk of this set consists of standards and one-hit non-wonders from the mid-nineties flare-of up alternative rock radio, and maybe if you pared that segment down to a couple of discs it'd be a half-decent idea: There's nothing wrong with getting a kick out of hearing Green Jelly or Marcy Playground one last time, but there's certainly something wrong with spending a hundred bucks to do it. Same goes for the subset of perfectly fine, memorable alt-rock singles scattered around, especially in Time-Life infomercial terms: Looking for a way to avoid the expense and headache of tracking down Helmet, Sugar, Juliana Hatfield, and Ash albums? Except: If that's your angle, how much do you really need some C+C Music Factory and Right Said Fred hanging out on the other five discs? How much do you need weirdly placed tracks by Pavement, My Bloody Valentine, and Stereolab, tracks from albums fans mostly bought and still listen to? Is this a recap of alt-rock memories or a Now That's What I Called the Nineties hits compilation or what? By whose estimation, exactly, do quasi-riot-grrrls and Seattle rockers form this much of the nineties history? And why does this listing seem to swing back and forth between "remember the theme from Friends" kitsch-stalgia and seemingly trying to tell us that some of these tracks are actually good and important?

Disc 6 track 11: Jewel, "Who Will Save Your Soul"Disc 6 track 12: Primitive Radio Gods, "Can You Believe Our Label was Willing to Promote a Song with a Long Stupid Title about a Phone Booth?"

The only thread that really works, in fact, is the carefully selected line of Genuine Chart Hits that Suburban White People Liked then Forgot About. Rhino just happens to assume that somewhere around 1993 you bought a bunch of flannel shirts or striped tights and threw away whichever of your middle-school mix tapes contained "Walking in Memphis" and "Silent Lucidity," and after that you thought you were much too cool to buy anything by Des'ree or Deep Blue Something-- and then somehow, by decade's end, you were back to being cool with Shawn Mullins. See? Rhino doesn't know you at all. But you're special to me, and at least if they'd been a little more consistent about the pop streak, we could be listening to Natalie Imbruglia's "Torn" right now.

Disc 3 track 5: Wreckx-N-Effect, "Rump Shaker"Disc 3 track 6: Snow, "Informer"

Speaking of pop: A quick scan over the track listing might give you the mistaken impression that Rhino have made a half-hearted attempt to get some hip-hop, r&b, and dance music on here. Turns out there's no "half" going on. They've just managed to cull an exact, scientific selection of the particular hip-hop, r&b, and dance hits that their alt-rock demographic-- hell, their alt-rock demographic's parents-- either liked or can't help remembering. "Can't Touch This" is the first track on the first disc, followed by plenty of EMF and Jesus Jones and other things that struck me as sounding "cool" and "different" on the radio on the way to soccer practice, where-- oh memory!-- a guy named Steve would later sell me all his old Cure and Morrissey albums, because he was getting into Van Halen and trying to pick up chicks. Whatever: from there on it's all En Vogue and Sir Mix-a-Lot and "O.P.P." and other things that even people in comas would remember, plus such legends of hip-hop's Golden Age as Kriss Kross, plus stuff like Canadian toaster Snow (whose "Informer" video was so popular that MTV put the words and a bouncing ball on screen), jock favorite "Jump Around" (by the proud Irish rappers of House of Pain), and, cleverly, DAS EFX, filling the spot you'd think would be reserved for Digable Planets or Arrested Development. Whoomp, there you are, and no Onyx, either: You can get nostalgic for both the alt-rock hits you loved and a few of the pop hits you pretended not to! Plus Boyz II Men.
Disc 1 track 2: Sinead O'Connor, "Nothing Compares 2 U"Disc 1 track 3: Michael Penn, "No Myth"

Whatever. I am nothing if not a nostalgist; I have associations for miles and stories to tell; I spent this exact decade in high school and college and the mere track listing of this box makes me want to hunt down old friends. Here is a bunch of stuff I remember, and yet it's not even worth one hundred dollars. Good thing we no longer live in that Time-Life world, that pre-mp3 world where you couldn't possibly track down all these memorable hits; give yourself an afternoon and a copy of iTunes, and you can make your nineties however you like, for memory or for quality or for fun. If all else fails, didn't they just put out My So-Called Life and the first season of The Real World on DVD?
-Nitsuh Abebe, July 25, 2005

Co-inkydink?

2005-07-19T15:30:00.000-05:00

Is it purely a coincident that Bushy rescheduled his Supreme Court announcement from 4pm est. to 9pm est. today with all of the hoopla surrounding Chubbers McRove?

Methinks not.

To Tell the Truth

2005-07-15T08:21:00.000-05:00

Once again, we are embroiled in a firestorm that has entangled many in the country. In case you haven’t heard, it was revealed this week that Bush’s Brain, otherwise known as Karl Rove, identified a CIA operative to a reporter supposedly in retaliation for her husband’s outspokenness against the president.

From the very onset of the investigation, Rove said he never heard of the woman and didn’t have anything to do with this woman’s name being leaked. Come to find out that this isn’t the case at all and now Rove is hiding for cover under and the white house is backtracking faster than a redneck at a gay pride parade.

While I won’t get into Rove is guilty or not – and he is…the lying fat f#ck – what’s interesting is to see these same people on the far right step up to vehemently defend Rove.

Let’s take a trip back through the time machine shall we? It’s the mid 90’s and it’s been learned that the president has received a blow job in the oval office.

Oh my God!!!! The horror! Our national defense is weakened!!! People are going to die for this!!!

Actually, no. None of this happened, but it sent a firestorm throughout conservatives across the country. So much so that the President was impeached for such a pathetic reason.

Why do I bring this up? Because throughout the week I’ve heard Republican after Republican stand up and defend Rove’s actions, actions, mind you, that may be illegal and are certainly reprehensible from a top White House aide. These same people that are now defending Rove and are saying this is nothing but a partisan witch hunt are the exact same people who dragged out the Lewinski affair to a point of no return.

There’s nothing funnier and sadder than political hypocrisy. We see it all the time in Washington from both sides of the aisle.

One can’t help but wonder if there will ever come a time when this country’s leaders can once again find time to trust and work with one another. I think it can happen, but certainly not under this administration given their history of denial, deceit and cover-up.

F-f-f-Falco

2005-07-15T07:40:00.000-05:00

Ooo rock me Amadeus
Rock me Amadeus...
Rock rock rock rock me Amadeus
Rock me all the time to the top

He was a Punker
And he lived in the big city
It was Vienna, was Vienna
Where he did everything
He had debts, for he drank
But all the women loved him
And each one shouted:

Come on and rock me Amadeus
Amadeus Amadeus, Amadeus
Amadeus Amadeus, Amadeus
Amadeus Amadeus, oh oh oh Amadeus

He was Superstar
He was popular
He was so exalted
Because he had flair
He was a virtuose
Was a rock idol
And everyone shouted:

Come on and rock me Amadeus
Amadeus Amadeus, Amadeus
Amadeus Amadeus, Amadeus
Amadeus Amadeus, oh oh oh Amadeus

Come on and rock me Amadeus
Amadeus Amadeus, Amadeus
Amadeus Amadeus, Amadeus
Amadeus Amadeus, oh oh oh Amadeus

It was around 1780
And it was in Vienna
No plastic money anymore
The banks against him
From which his debts came
It was common knowledge
He was a women's man
Women loved his punk

Amadeus Amadeus, Amadeus
Amadeus Amadeus, Amadeus
Amadeus Amadeus, oh oh oh Amadeus

Come and rock me Amadeus...

Falco, 1984

With Rove's Lie Uncovered, Now What?

2005-07-12T07:51:00.000-05:00

A year ago, President Bush promised he'd fire anyone in his administration that leaked the name of a covert CIA operative to the press. This stemmed from the investigation into Valerie Plume's name being leaked to the media as an act of revenge on her husband, a man who disagreed with the President.

Karl Rove's name was on the list from the start as the leaker, but the White House categorically denied any of his involvement. Now, it appears that it was Karl Rove - the President's brain and chief strategist - who committed the offense.

In a country where residents were so "outraged" over the President getting head in the Oval Office and seeing Clinton impeached, it's funny there isn't much furor over this debacle.

Here's to you Karl Rove, you fat f#ck.

WASHINGTON, July 11 - Nearly two years after stating that any administration official found to have been involved in leaking the name of an undercover C.I.A. officer would be fired, and assuring that Karl Rove and other senior aides to President Bush had nothing to do with the disclosure, the White House refused on Monday to answer any questions about new evidence of Mr. Rove's role in the matter.

With the White House silent, Democrats rushed in, demanding that the administration provide a full account of any involvement by Mr. Rove, one of the president's closest advisers, turning up the political heat in the case and leaving some Republicans worried about the possible effects on Mr. Bush's second-term agenda.

Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader, cited Mr. Bush's statements about firing anyone involved in the leak and said, "I trust they will follow through on this pledge."
Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, said Mr. Rove, given his stature and the principles involved in the case, could not hide behind legal advice not to comment.

"The lesson of history for George Bush and Karl Rove is that the best way to help themselves is to bring out all the facts, on their own, quickly," Mr. Schumer said, citing the second-term scandals that have beset previous administrations.

In two contentious news briefings, the White House press secretary, Scott McClellan, would not directly address any of a barrage of questions about Mr. Rove's involvement, a day after new evidence suggested that Mr. Rove had discussed the C.I.A. officer with a Time magazine reporter in July 2003 without identifying her by name.

Under often hostile questioning, Mr. McClellan repeatedly declined to say whether he stood behind his previous statements that Mr. Rove had played no role in the matter, saying he could not comment while a criminal investigation was under way. He brushed aside questions about whether the president would follow through on his pledge, repeated just over a year ago, to fire anyone in his administration found to have played a role in disclosing the officer's identity. And he declined to say when Mr. Bush learned that Mr. Rove had mentioned the C.I.A. officer in his conversation with the Time reporter.

When one reporter, David Gregory of NBC News, said that it was "ridiculous" for the White House to dodge all questions about the issue and pointed out that Mr. McClellan had addressed the same issues in detail in the past, Mr. McClellan replied, "I'm well aware, like you, of what was previously said, and I will be glad to talk about it at the appropriate time."

A moment later, Terry Moran of ABC News prefaced his question by saying Mr. McClellan was "in a bad spot here" because he had spoken from the same podium on Oct. 10, 2003, after the Justice Department began its formal investigation into the leak, and specifically said that neither Mr. Rove nor two other officials - Elliot Abrams, a national security aide, and I. Lewis Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff - were involved.

Mr. McClellan disputed the characterization of the question but did not directly address why the White House had appeared now to have adopted a new policy of not commenting on the matter.
Mr. Rove made no public comment. A senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the White House now says its official position is not to comment on the case while it is under investigation by a federal special prosecutor, said Mr. Rove had gone about his business as usual on Monday. The official said Mr. Rove had held his regular meetings with Mr. Bush and other top White House aides, and was deeply involved in preparations for the Supreme Court nomination and efforts to push several major pieces of legislation through Congress this month.

The officer was first publicly identified under her maiden name as Valerie Plame, "an agency operative on weapons of mass destruction," on July 14, 2003, by the syndicated columnist Robert Novak. He wrote that Ms. Plame was the wife of Joseph C. Wilson IV, who had recently written an Op-Ed article for The New York Times disputing an administration claim about Saddam Hussein's nuclear program. Mr. Novak cited "two senior administration officials" as the source of his information.

The criminal investigation into how the C.I.A. officer's name came to appear in a syndicated newspaper column two years ago continued largely out of public view. But the recent disclosure of evidence that Mr. Rove had, without naming Ms. Plame, told a Time reporter about the same time that Mr. Wilson's wife "works at the agency," thrust the case squarely back into the political arena. That reflected Mr. Rove's standing as among the most powerful men in Washington and his place in the innermost councils of the White House.

Because of the powerful role Mr. Rove plays in shaping policy and deploying Mr. Bush's political support and machinery throughout the party, few Republicans were willing to discuss his situation on the record. Asked for comment, several Republican senators said on Monday that they did not know enough or did not want to venture an opinion.

But in private, several prominent Republicans said they were concerned about the possible effects on Mr. Bush and his agenda, in part because Mr. Rove's stature makes him such a tempting target for Democrats.

"Knowing Rove, he's still having eight different policy meetings and sticking to his game plan," said one veteran Republican strategist in Washington who often works with the White House. "But this issue now is looming, and as they peel away another layer of the onion, there's a lot of consternation. Rove needs to be on his A game now, not huddled with lawyers and press people."

A senior Congressional Republican aide said most members of Congress were still waiting to learn more about Mr. Rove's involvement and to assess whether more disclosures about his role were likely.

"The only fear here is where does this go," the aide said. "We can't know."

Mr. Rove, Mr. Bush's senior adviser, deputy chief of staff and political strategist, was plunged back into the center of the matter on Sunday, when Newsweek reported that an e-mail message written by a Time reporter had recounted a conversation with Mr. Rove in July 2003 in which Mr. Rove discussed the C.I.A. operative at the heart of the case without naming her.

Mr. Rove's lawyer, Robert D. Luskin, has said the e-mail message showed that Mr. Rove was not taking part in any organized effort to disclose Ms. Plame's identity. Mr. Wilson is a former diplomat who traveled to Africa on behalf of the C.I.A. before the Iraq war to investigate reports concerning Saddam Hussein's efforts to acquire nuclear material.

Mr. Wilson has suggested that the White House sought retribution by publicly identifying his wife, effectively ending her career as a covert operative.

Mr. Wilson has at times voiced suspicions that Mr. Rove played a role in identifying his wife to reporters, saying in August 2003 that he was interested in finding out "whether or not we can get Karl Rove frog-marched out of the White House in handcuffs."

In September 2003, Mr. McClellan said flatly that Mr. Rove had not been involved in disclosing Ms. Plame's name. Asked about the issue on Sept. 29, 2003, Mr. McClellan said he had "spoken with Karl Rove," and that it was "simply not true" that Mr. Rove had a role in the disclosure of her identity. Two weeks earlier, he had called suggestions that Mr. Rove had been involved "totally ridiculous." On Oct. 10, 2003, after the Justice Department opened its investigation, Mr. McClellan told reporters that Mr. Rove, Mr. Abrams and Mr. Libby had nothing to do with the leak.

Mr. McClellan and Mr. Bush have both made clear that leaking Ms. Plame's identity would be considered a firing offense by the White House. Mr. Bush was asked about that position most recently a little over a year ago, when he was asked whether he stood by his pledge to fire anyone found to have leaked the officer's name. "Yes," he replied, on June 10, 2004.
Under some circumstances, it can be against the law to disclose the identity of a covert C.I.A. operative. Mr. Luskin has said he has been told by the prosecutor, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, that Mr. Rove is not a target of the investigation.

Democrats, as the minority party in both the House and the Senate, have no ability to push forward with a formal Congressional investigation. But Mr. Rove is such a high-profile political target that his role is sure to draw intense scrutiny from both Democrats in Congress and liberal interest groups.

Representative Henry A. Waxman of California, the senior Democrat on the House Government Reform committee, called for hearings on what he termed "this disgraceful incident," saying that if it had happened in the Clinton administration the Republican-controlled House would certainly have summoned the deputy White House chief of staff to testify.

Mr. Rove has been caught up in the inquiry almost from the start. He was first interviewed by F.B.I. agents in 2003 during the preliminary investigation. Later, he was interviewed by prosecutors and testified three times to the grand jury.

The prosecutor is believed to have questioned Mr. Rove at the grand jury about his conversations with the Time reporter, Matthew Cooper, whose call to Mr. Rove on July 11, 2003, was noted in a White House log that was turned over to the prosecutor. Time turned Mr. Cooper's notes and e-mail over to the prosecutor last month under court order.

Thank you, Jason.

2005-07-11T11:29:00.000-05:00

Nothing speaks more vibrantly about the sports scene here in Detroit that Kansas City's very own, Jason Whitlock.

From ESPN Page 2:

There's No Place Like Detroit
By Jason Whitlock

Beginning this week during the Major League Baseball All-Star festivities, the city of Detroit will be brutalized by sportswriters from across the country. The maiming and name-calling and dissing won't stop until the completion of Super Bowl XL.

By the time it's over, the victims will include Kid Rock, Eminem, Madonna, Coleman Young's unborn great-grandchildren and Flint's Michael Moore.

Why shouldn't the All-Star game be held at Comerica Park? Detroit's the best sports town around.Beating up on Detroit is easy. As the center of the free-falling automotive industry, known chiefly for crime, high unemployment and urban blight, Detroit is an easy target. Motown's 30-something mayor wears an earring, zoot suits and, if you believe the whispers, throws a house party that would make Snoop blush.

Yeah, making fun of Detroit is about as trouble-free as cracking a fat joke on Kirstie Alley. I've done both. It's really nothing to brag about.

But the truth is, especially when it comes to sports, Detroit is as good as it gets.
Yes, if we're buried under 10 inches of snow during Super Bowl XL, Paul Tagliabue should be forced to stand outside Ford Field butt naked apologizing to every fan as he/she enters the stadium. In fact, instead of looking to pass steroid legislation, Congress should pass a law tying the Super Bowl to three cities.

One: San Diego: Best weather in the world.
Two: New Orleans: Best food in the world.
Three: Tampa Bay: Only Mons Venus in the world.

But I digress. The fact that Detroit has lured sports' biggest showcase twice, while New York and Chicago have yet to host a Super Bowl, says all you need to know about Motown as a sports town.

Laugh all you want, but the Motor City gets the job done. Detroit is the old high school sweetheart who landed the boy who went on to win the Heisman Trophy and put together a Hall of Fame career. Yes, she lost her hourglass figure three kids ago, and suffered through some painful public infidelity. But now, in her 40s, she's still on the arm of the man of most women's dreams, controls most of his money, and has the freedom, emotional leverage and confidence to come and go as she pleases.

It's a good life. A very, very good life.

Let's see … in June, Detroit hosted three games of the NBA Finals. This week it will host baseball's All-Star game. And in February, the world will descend on Detroit for the Super Bowl.
Want to make fun of Detroit? Go right ahead. But what's so funny?

The Pistons won a championship last year, and should've repeated this year. The Red Wings have won three Stanley Cups since 1998. Yes, the Lions and the Tigers stink. But the Lions and the Tigers play downtown in brand-new, state-of-the-art stadiums that sit within blocks of each other. The Pistons play in a 17-year-old Palace that still looks and feels new. And Joe Louis Arena, home of the Red Wings, is part of the reason Detroit is called "Hockey Town."

Detroit is the best sports town in America. It blows away New York, Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia. With the car industry dying and Motown dead, sports is all Detroit's got.

And it's got sports stories in abundance, so much so that Detroit scribe Mitch Albom carved out a reputation as the nation's best sports columnist long before he earned worldwide fame with "Tuesdays with Morrie" and "The Five People You Meet In Heaven." Heck, Mitch's sportswriting peers/rivals, Bob Wojnowski and Drew Sharp, have become Detroit celebrities. Wojnowski, a columnist for the Detroit News, has a wildly popular radio talk show. And Sharp, Mitch's colleague at the Free Press, has developed a rep as the city's tough-talking contrarian.

When sportswriters start dissing Detroit, keep that in mind. They're jealous. We all wish we had the Pistons, Red Wings, Tigers, Lions, Wolverines and Spartans to cover. In the last decade, Michigan football has won a national championship, and Michigan State basketball has won a national title as well.

Detroit's been blessed with tons of stars, like Barry Sanders.In the 20 years Albom has owned Detroit, he's had Barry Sanders, Isiah Thomas, Thomas Hearns, the Fab Five, The Flint Stones, Steve Yzerman, Dennis Rodman, Desmond Howard, Charles Woodson, Jud Heathcote, Cecil Fielder, Scotty Bowman and Sparky Anderson to write about.

And I haven't even mentioned Detroit's high school basketball scene.

Now I grew up in Indiana. There's nothing better than Hoosier high school basketball. The teams and the coaches are incredible.

But the individuals, the stars, and the unbelievable stories make Detroit prep basketball second to none. Detroit is the only city in the world that could produce Antoine "The Judge" Joubert, the greatest prep basketball player of all time. Detroit is the only city that would legalize for athletic competition the Jheri curl The Judge sported.

Detroit has style, a swagger, a confidence that belies its condition. Detroit is the big, sweaty woman squeezed into a size-10 dress, daring anybody to suggest her body ain't booming.
When I was playing college ball, you could always tell the difference between an athlete from Detroit and everybody else. Detroiters had an attitude. When I was at Ball State in the late 1980s and early 1990s, we had three basketball players from Detroit -- Paris McCurdy, Curtis Kidd and Scott Nichols -- and they damn near willed our team to a Sweet Sixteen victory over Larry Johnson and Greg Anthony's UNLV championship team. We were the only team to play the Rebels close that year. Our best football player was from Detroit, too, an undersized linebacker named Timmy "Shoe" Walton.

Detroit has a spirit, an energy that's infectious. It's an awesome place to take in the sports world. You have the whole package -- great teams, bad teams, terrific talent, wonderful characters, championships, two newspapers, two all-sports radio stations, good facilities, passionate fans.
There's nothing funny about Detroit when it comes to sports.

Jason Whitlock is a regular columnist for The Kansas City Star. His newspaper is celebrating his 10 years as a columnist with the publishing of Jason's first book, "Love Him, Hate Him: 10 Years of Sports, Passion and Kansas City." It's a collection of Jason's most memorable, thought-provoking and funny columns over the past decade. You can purchase the book at TheKansasCityStore.com. Jason can be reached by e-mail at ballstate68@aol.com.

Death of a Salesman

2005-06-29T14:44:00.000-05:00

by Gene

It's been said that we are all salesmen. No matter what it is you are doing, you are selling something. You are selling your ability to do your job. In essence, you are constantly selling yourself to meet either your own or someone else's agenda.

Also, you can't be a truly superior salesman unless you have the right props to support your message. Sure you can talk the talk at a job interview, but does your tie match your shirt? I know you have an important date tonight, so does that mean you are putting on the Limp Bizcuit pit-stained tour shirt, or are you snazzing it up with a little ditty from the Eddie Bauer collection?

Well, if there were an award for the most hungry and passionate salesperson in the world, the winner would have to be President Bush for his tiresome defense about the United States' plan to attack and go to war with Iraq.

From a personal salesman standpoint, he's been absolutely tremendous. Karl Rove has done an impeccable job of making sure that anytime Bush speaks, he's not only selling himself and his message, but he is never short of props. Whether it's the "mission accomplished" banner on the aircraft carrier declaring the end of all major battles, his staged "town-hall" meetings where "regular folk" can be seen shaking their heads agreeing with everything he says (never mind the fact that all of these people are screened more often than a Muslim at an airport), or his constant propping-up of U.S. soldiers in the background. Everything this man does, he has an effective "prop" to help pound his message him by evoking symbols that elicit emotions of pride and patriotism.

When you see a TV commercial with little yellow lab puppies rolling around on the ground in feathery-soft toilet paper, why do you think that is? It's to get you to react positively because of the emotion you'll feel. The company wants you to feel positive emotions when you see the product. If they can do this, you'll buy the product wholeheartedly…never mind the fact that you may, in reality, wind up rolling around on the ground in dog excrement with the animal. Because once you buy it, it's too late to go back.

The same goes with the President sticking soldiers up in the background during last night's message.

Let's get right down to brass tax. This "strategic" speech was conjured up in the last three days by Bush's brain, Karl Rove, in an attempt to quell the concerns and the declining popularity polls that show people simply don't trust this guy anymore. So, Bush and friends scheduled a prime-time news conference where he could walk around and talk about how great it is to be a soldier and how soldiers are of "a higher calling". I mean, who's going to stay mad at a guy and have bad feelings when there's soldiers in the background risking their life for our country? They are human after all aren't they? What are you, un-American and against the soldiers? And oh yeah…recruitment has fallen wayyyyy short of their goals since the war began so what a better way to pump people up by saying soldiers are of "a higher calling"?

I'll give the man credit. When the chips are down, his staff does its best to humanize things by bringing emotion into play, while ignoring their facts and major failures. This is a man, who after all, was literally elected because of the emotions that stuck with people from 9/11. This brings us to the second form of a prop that the Bush people have used effectively. Speech. Speech can be an emotional factor because it allows people to envision whatever it is you are telling them. Mom and dad and apple pie and baseball and America. It's a country-musicians wet-dream.
For instance, all facts have shown there is absolutely ZERO, NONE, NADDA, ZILCH link between Iraq and the tragic events of what occurred on 9/11. Yet, polls have shown that more than 70% of Bush's supporters still believe that Iraq had something to do with what happened on 9/11 and his handlers aren't that stupid. They know they have a trump card they can play whenever they want to try and turn the tide. That card was played again last night for the first time in quite a while.

The President invoked images of 9/11 six times during his 30 minute speech. The sad thing is that the war in Iraq has nothing to do with what happened on 9/11. Of course the President and the majority of his supporters want the rest of the American public to believe it does.

Based on the sad turn of events in Iraq in recent months and the images and stories people are just now starting to learn about, a growing number of the public is becoming openly skeptical about the U.S.' involvement in Iraq and what the plan is. It's sad and tragic that it has cost more than 1,700 American lives to get some people to begin questioning this administration, but hopefully something good can come of it yet, and something good can come from Iraq.

The funny thing about props is this. Over time, things change. Surroundings change. Perceptions change. And with this change, the props begin to lose their effectiveness and they wear out. In the case of Bush and company, they are learning that you can only put up the same props (9/11 and our soldiers) so much before people start looking the other way and they stop buying what you are selling.

I smell, I smell....

2005-06-29T06:59:00.000-05:00

You know what I smell.

The President spoke yesterday evening in front of US troops at Ft. Bragg to conjure up support for his continued bumble-fuck-of-an operation in Iraq.

Seriously, this guy is such an effing joke.

Hmmm, who's dumb enough in this country to not see the irony in his performance last night?

We all know that he has stooped to ratings as low as his pappy's over the past few months (America, where were you in March of 2003 when you all fell under the admin's propoganda spell?) and we all know why he went where he did yesterday evening.

It's safe.

What american troop is going to boo the president? What troop is going to walk away from the speech? I wish I could've heard what was going through the minds of some of those soldiers last night...

"Hypocrite"
"Liar"

I'm sure those were two of many not-so-positive thoughts that were silently spoken during clown-boy's speech. Instead, we get an image (this entire administration has been a marketing campaign) of support as portrayed by the troops because surely, they must show their respsect to the commander-in-cheif.

What a hypocrisy this entire thing has been. I can only hope that the awareness factor amongst my fellow american's continues to grow as this war continues to loom for the next 12 years like the Secretary of Defense projected last week. Sadly, I will look back on this period of my life in my country with a heavy heart. When my children and grandchildren ask about these days, I will speak of the days when America fell asleep at the wheel... and I hope that if she does get control of herself, there will be something we all can finally be proud of. Lord knows, the slide into regression has been going for 40 years too long.

PS - Mr. President. Stop whoring out September 11th as a crutch for your sloppy decision with regards to Iraq. Only a fool will continue to fall into that emotional hair-pin you've set up.

Read my lips: Iraq has no connection to Septemeber 11th.

ABC TV - Home of the Worst Game 7 in Professional Sports History!

2005-06-23T23:40:00.000-05:00

I’ve always been one of the tallest kids in my class. I’ve been over 6’ tall since I was 13. I also grew up in the Detroit area during the reign of Isaiah, Joe, Vinnie, Bill, A.D. and the Bad Boys. So needless to say, I was a huge hoops fan when I was younger. Somewhere between the time of the Bulls second championship, Jordan’s gambling and leaving the league to cover it up, along with his disrespect of the Pistons (it’s a Detroit thing…you wouldn’t understand), Phil Jackson’s consistent whining and complaining, the awful, awful, awful Knicks/Rockets final of ’94, and the whole NBA’s attempt to market/create the “next Jordan”, I just lost it.

Didn’t care anymore. Lost all interest in the selfish players, the awful style of the game, the way it deteriorated to one-on-one ball, players entering the league w/one year or no college ball experience who I never heard of. The whole thing.

So basically, I was like the majority of most former NBA fans. They too became “former” fans for the same kinds of reasons.

I’ve tried hard to get back into the league this year and last. Truthfully, the main reason was because the Pistons were a team that was hard to hate and they beat the hated Lakers last year.

Then came the brawl. I remember telling everyone I knew that I was through with the league for good. This was it, guys. Seriously. I mean it this time.

Next thing I knew it was March and I found myself searching something to fill the void of the missing NHL playoffs. Then I discovered Dwyane Wade highlights, reading about the Suns and the Mavericks, watching the Pistons get back on track and I said to myself, “o.k. I’m gonna give these playoffs one more shot. There’s nothing else on anyway and I’m not gonna spend my time wasting away with baseball.”

So, for the last two months I’ve tried to watch the playoffs. True, the first round didn’t receive much attention from me. But I watched every game of the conference finals and every game of the finals.

The Pistons/Spurs series went against everyone said would happen. The Spurs and Pistons both blew each other out in games 1-4. Then you had the shocker of game 5 with the Rasheed debacle/Horry make. Next came the Pistons grittiness and determination. All leading to a game 7.

So, after spending my time trying to get back into the league that I used to love, what did I receive in return? Quite possibly the worst game 7 in any sport in any league that I’ve ever seen.

First let’s talk about the Pistons/Spurs. On the San Antonio side of the ball, you had a point-guard-less team due to Frenchy, the disappearing Parker. You had Duncan not wanting the ball or making a shot for basically one full quarter. You had awful half court sets and solid D. Not the most riveting on TV. Then there’s the Pistons.

On their way to losing, leader Chauncey pulled a disappearing act and did virtually nothing in the entire second half until it was too late. Same goes for Rip Hamilton. Then the defense finally started letting Tim Duncan square up for his patented bank shot. Considering he hadn’t had the shot for 6 games and 2 quarters, the timing for the Pistons was not good to say the least. You also had Lindsay Hunter completing the 2-story cape cod he’s been working so hard at building in the playoffs by laying the final 8 bricks needed to finish the house. Don’t forget about Tayshaun either, who is the Piston equivalent of Sergei Federov – when he’s on, he’s on, but when he’s not, he’s lazy and unmotivated and useless.

Watching this game was not a fun experience. For God’s sake, this was my hometown team and I’m sitting here wanting to watch Reno 911. So to the Pistons and Spurs, I say, thanks for a pathetic game 7. Kudos to the Spurs and for Duncan for coming up big in the 3rd and 4th quarter when they needed it most.

This brings me to my final point on why the game was soooooo awful. The officiating. And it wasn’t just this game. It was all of them. The entire playoffs. The officials in this league are more inconsistent than anything I’ve ever seen.

As a fan, you can pretty much take out the first quarter of every game as players and officials try to figure each other out because their foul calling changes every game. And on top of that, you have an entirely different crew every game, which leads to DRAMATIC inconsistencies. Throw in the fact that some refs have shown an obvious bias toward certain teams, and you can understand why I feel the NBA is one short step away from professional wrestling.

I wonder what David Stern was thinking tonight as he sat in the stand with both teams not even at the 40 point mark by halftime? I wonder what he thought of Chauncey Billups and Manu Ginobilli, the two most exciting players on the court, playing sparingly in the first half due to two touch-fouls apiece? I wonder what he thought of the fact that this came had the ebb and flow of molasses in January?

As a fan who wanted to turn off the game, I know what I thought. The NBA….it’s crappppp-tastic.

See you next year commissioner. Have fun without me. I’ll be watching the NHL again…I hope.

Gene, I've got your next vacation taken care of for you and the lovely lady...

2005-06-23T16:54:00.000-05:00

Look at this fine establishment:

http://www.holylandexperience.com/home.html

Smashing Pumpkins Revived?

2005-06-21T13:58:00.000-05:00

Interesting...

Could they be what they once were or will it be something completely new?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/media/acrobat/2005-06/18118271.pdf

Energy B.S.

2005-06-21T11:02:00.000-05:00

After seeing the Enron documentary, talking with friends about their knowledge of the energy situation in this country and putting the book (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1591840538/qid=1119366975/sr=2-2/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_2/102-8655687-6177760) on my reading list, I greet any news from the energy industry with much skepticism.

Today, the Detroit News predicts power outage, brownouts, blackouts, and general lack of power for the region in the near future:

http://www.detnews.com/2005/metro/0506/21/A01-222595.htm

First day of summer...

2005-06-21T06:22:00.000-05:00

school is out and it's a sort of a buzza
back then I didn't really know what it was
but now I see what have of this
the way that people respond to summer madness

the weather is hot and girls are dressing less
and checking out the fellas to tell 'em who's best
riding around in your jeep or your benzos
or in your Nissan stting on lorenzos

back in Philly we be out in the park
a place called the plateau is where everybody goes
guys out hunting and girls doing likewise
honking at the honey in front of you with the light eyes
she turns around to see what you beeping at
it's like the summer's a natural afradesiac

and with a pen and pad I compose this rhyme
to hit you and get you equipped for the summer time

- Fresh Prince, 1991

Crossfired

2005-06-16T12:51:00.000-05:00

This isn't the most up-to-date link, but last year, Jon Stewart, host of the Daily Show on Comedy Central, went on the now-canceled CNN show Crossfire. He got into it with Tucker Carlson and their co-host about how bad they "hackery" shows are for the political process. Something he's completely right about. Anyway, Stewart and Carlson didn't exactly get along, but what took place was hysterical.

http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2652831

South Park...Where are Thou?

2005-06-14T13:58:00.000-05:00

If ONLY South Park were still in season.

I know when I think of "significant moments in history", I too lump MLK's birthday, the crumbling of the Berlin wall and Jacko's not-guilty verdict into the same group.

Jackson Ending Sleepovers in His Room

By LINDA DEUTSCH, AP Special Correspondent 49 minutes ago
SANTA MARIA, Calif. -

Michael Jackson's lawyer said Tuesday he is convinced that the pop star "has never molested any child," but he said Jackson would no longer let children or their families sleep in his room.

"He's not going to do that because it makes him vulnerable to false charges," attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. told The Associated Press in a wide-ranging interview.

Mesereau said he believes that Jackson will continue to be "a convenient target for people who want to extract money or build careers at his expense." As a result, the attorney said, Jackson will have to change his lifestyle and "not easily allow people to enter his life."

Mesereau and his colleague, Susan Yu, spoke to the AP the morning after Jackson's acquittal on charges he molested a 13-year-old cancer survivor at his Neverland ranch.
Both attorneys described Jackson as the most vulnerable person they have ever met. They said he is physically depleted from the four-month trial and will need time to rest before he again ventures into the public.

Jurors said the accusations of a young boy and his family were not credible — a legal victory that triggered jubilation among the pop star's fans and embarrassment for the district attorney's office.

The Jackson Web site mjjsource.com trumpeted the acquittal with graphics declaring "Innocent" and showing a hand giving a victory sign as a fanfare plays. A scrolling calendar highlights historic events such as "Martin Luther King is born," "The Berlin Wall falls," "Nelson Mandela is freed," and finally, "June 13, 2005, Remember this date for it is a part of HIStory." The reference was to Jackson's 1995 album "HIStory: Past, Present, and Future Book I."

A raucous welcome greeted Jackson as he returned to his Neverland Ranch on Monday afternoon. As a convoy of black SUVs carrying him and his entourage pulled through the gates, his sister LaToya rolled down a window, smiled widely and waved. The crowd responded with a euphoric cheer.

"All of us here and millions around the world love and support you," proclaimed a banner strung across a fence by the compound in Los Olivos that Jackson said he created to provide himself with the childhood he never enjoyed.

"It's victory," said Tracee Raynaud, 39. "God is alive and well."

Jacko Free!!!!

2005-06-14T08:14:00.000-05:00

In a move praised by Catholic priests everywhere, Michael Jackson was found not guilty of all charges yesterday. I don't know about you, but I can now relax and get on with my life after spending so much time devoted to this issue. It's great to see so many people supporting Michael and asking for him to get a second chance. After all, these were simply "allegations" with no merit. Of course, if any child at all comes out and says a priest touched him/her inappropriately, the town/city is ready to run the guy out of town on a rail.

It's doubtful that Michael will be shopping at K-mart for boys pants half-off anymore. What a freakshow.

In the meantime, enjoy Triump the Insult Comic Dog's interview with "supporters" at the Jackson trial last week. Un-freaking-believable.
http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2672935

Atwater is BACK

2005-06-13T11:32:00.000-05:00

Fantastic news... Atwater Block Brewery in downtown Detroit is back in business.

Having been closed for over 5 years, the doors are re-opening under new ownership:

http://www.detnews.com/2005/eatsdrinks/0506/13/E03-213111.htm

This place served up a few memorable trips for this kat, I'm looking forward to a few more.

Billy Corgan

2005-06-13T10:18:00.000-05:00

Fascinating interview with one of my favorite 1990's rock and roll icons today. His music may not be where it once was, but the dude is just flat-out, cool:

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/interviews/c/corgan_billy-05/

Colt 45 - Works Every Time

2005-06-13T08:36:00.000-05:00

For the Lando in all of us, I highly...no. I HIGHLY recommend checking out the following site to get Lando Calrisian's take on the world of women and love.

http://bdwworldart.com/py.htm

Look at Me! I Just Turned 363 months!!!!!!

2005-06-10T11:34:00.000-05:00

Wow. I can hardly believe it, but this month, I turn 363 months old!!! I just LOVE being outside with my little friends. It's funny, I used to be able to run really fast, but now, after putting on some "extra poundage", I'm not the quickest guy in the bunch anymore. Too funny. Sometimes, I like to act like I'm still young and spry and play softball. Every now and then, I yell at people to "get it in" and "let's go team!!!". Where DID he learn these things?
So far, I'm having a great time working, but it would be better if I had a job at home :(

Either way, it's great to know that after 363 months, I'm still finding ways to entertain myself. Hooray for me!!!

Sincerely,
Every annoying email you've ever received from someone with a kid

Wow! An Oil Insider Working for the President Manipulated Information? Say it ain't so!?

2005-06-08T12:27:00.000-05:00

Well, well, well. Another day, another report on how the disciples of Bushy have once again tried to (successfully) pull one more over on the American public. This time, it's Bushy's environmental guru who took information on global warming and made sure there were no links between it and pollutants. Of course, these pollutants are caused by burning fossil fuels...which would be bad for the oil tycoons.

Unbelievable. Highly suggest you check out the investigation on the New York Times' website. Or, click here to go to the story: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/08/politics/08climate.html

On another Texas-related note, the Pistons will defeat the San Antonio Spurs in six games. Once that series is over, Texans can go back to watching Nascar for the rest of the year.

D Day

2005-06-06T16:15:00.000-05:00

Please take a moment to reflect upon those who fell on this day in 1944...

All of our lives would not be as they are had it not been for the sacrafice that those brave soldiers gave.

- More than 5,000 ships and landing crafts used
- 50,000 vehicles
- 11,000 planes

All of this and thousands of lives for the effort to cross the English Channel, landing on the beaches of Normandy, France.

Game 7

2005-06-06T11:49:00.000-05:00

Go Pistons!

Dethroning A Champion?

2005-06-02T21:43:00.000-05:00

Is this the way it's supposed to be? Say it ain't so!

For anyone who is a Detroit Piston fan, watching this series with the Miami Heat has been nothing short of painful. For Miami Heat fans, it doesn't get any better.

Call me a whining/sore/crabby/whatever other sour-ridden adjective loser you like, but as a Detroit Piston fan, I'm pissed. Since the final horn of game one, this series has taken on a tone unlike any other I've seen.

Let's start with Game 4 two nights ago. The Pistons played virtually PERFECT basketball. They shot nearly 50% from the field, they had an incredible 6 turnovers to 27 assist ratio, yet they won by a mere 10 points. Yes, ONLY 10 points. Why do I say that? Well, if you watched the game you noticed a few things:

At the end of the first half, the Miami Heat had 49 points to Detroit's flawless 60. Miami had 12, yes 12 field goals in the entire half. Need I remind you that they were on the road in the defending world champions back yard. Yes, they netted 26 free throws in the half. They were agressive, you say. Wrong. They got the calls. And they continue to get the calls.

Tonight was no exception. Before the game, I spoke with a few close friends who have been following this mystique as it grows with each game of this series.

Game 1 - 24
Game 2 - 42
Game 3 - 64
Game 4 - 58
Game 5 - 55

No, that's not Dwayne Wade's points scored. That's the number of fouls called in each game. Notice something?

The Detroit Pistons built a team on the core foundation of success in ALL team sports - TEAM DEFENSE. This has been taken away from them in this series. As a result, we are left watching a team play within a shell of itself. They are unable to pressure the ball, they are unable to defend down low with the deepest and most talented front court in the league. Tonight, I watched Rasheed and McDyess have the game taken away from them, again.

I'm gonna stop there and leave things with a final thought:

What team was called for the least amount of fouls during the regular season this year?

The Detroit Pistons.

Who Says This Site is Negative?

2005-05-31T11:20:00.000-05:00

Recently, some of the faithful Sauerkraut readers …o.k. one person…has accused this site of being too much about 'gloom and doom'…o.k., actually the person accused me. Needless to say, not all is wrong with the world, but there are a lot of things that are very wrong that don't get as much as attention by the mainstream media as they should. That's the purpose for many of the postings/articles-of-drivel on this site; trying to give other sides of a story. Looking back at previous postings over the first five months of this blog, things have taken on a more negative tone of late, or at a minimum, they aren't as comedic as they once were. That being said, I implore you to read about our fine friends down south. As they say, "getting' lucky in Kentucky".
Somewhere, Laura Ingals and the cast of Little House on the Prairie is smiling.

LONDON, Ky. - A Kentucky judge has been offering some drug and alcohol offenders the option of attending worship services instead of going to jail or rehab — a practice some say violates the separation of church and state. District Judge Michael Caperton, 50, a devout Christian, said his goal is to "help people and their families." "I don't think there's a church-state issue, because it's not mandatory and I say worship services instead of church," he said. Alternative sentencing is popular across the country — ordering vandals to repaint a graffiti-covered wall, for example. But legal experts said they didn't know of any other judges who give the option of attending church. Caperton has offered the option about 50 times to repeat drug and alcohol offenders. It is unclear what effect the sentence has had.

You say "worship service", I say "church". You say "artful punishment", I say "freak".

On another more positive music note, the new Coldplay CD "X&Y" was available for a 24 hour period to preview on-line, and may I say, after one listening, it's tremendous. Coldplay is about to become the new U2 from a popularity standpoint. If you happened to see them at a theater-type of venue on their last tour, be glad. It's not going to happen again for another 10-15 years. And…for the record…if new albums were food stores, the new Coldplay would be New World Market, and the new Oasis would be Aldi's.

Don't Believe The Truth

2005-05-27T10:37:00.000-05:00

An old chum, Stephen, steps in for a review of the new Oasis album, "Don't Believe The Truth."

His words remind me of a few that I've heard from some of my friends that are Metallica fans. Coming from two completely different camps of music, it's ironic how you hear similar complaints about each band's evolution through rock and roll. Needless to say, I'm bummed to read with Stephen has to say. He and I, along with many others, have had a lot of good memories associated with Noel and company.

Most of us can still remember the first time we heard their full lengths, and the excitement over buying every single they released. Going ape over the Microdot artwork sleeves designed by Brian Cannon and photos from Michael Spencer Jones (who also did extensive work with the Verve). There was a movement, it was refreshing, and it was exciting. Enough of my yapping, here's Stephen...

Well, I seriously wish I had better news today…I really do.

I chanced upon a pre-release copy of the new Oasis album, “Don’t Believe The Truth”.

I had several thoughts about how to break the news of this but the best I can come up with right now is that if Oasis did a greatest hits album the one and only track I would pull from this is probably Lyla.

I guess another way to put it would have to be to quote Spinal Tap and what they heard about their album review for Shark Sandwich here. It is that bad.

Though Oasis have always had a distinct throwback vibe to them some of the best stuff they ever did was some of what Noel thought was the worst. On Be Here Now, you still have that rock and roll swagger that has been in decline since What’s The Story? I could even sell you several tracks on Standing on the Shoulder of Giants and Heathen Chemistry before I could sell you on one of these tracks (save Lyla).

I remember hearing all of their albums for the first time (which were purchased on the day the came out) and each one has at least a few tracks that give me goose bumps because they give out the vibe that Oasis are fucking rockstars (I know that Be Here Now was not the greatest but there are some great tracks that freaking rock the fucking bells (I hope, I think, I know/Fade In Out/D’Ya Know What I Mean, just to name a few..and it had Don’t Go Away on it). I can tell you that NONE of the tracks on Don’t Believe the Truth do this for me.

Even the songs that feel like that should build up and bring some rock and roll just fade out and end up sucking. The first track, Turn Up the Sun is good, but it fades out in the end and just ruins it. Mucky Fingers is a complete shit off tempo number sung by Noel. Lyla…we covered. Love Like a bomb, a Liam track that is fairly boring and average. That is pretty much where I stopped listening because I was already not enjoying it…and I had just gotten in to work.

When I got into work I put the album back on and everything I heard basically makes me think that everywhere this album meanders (into different styles, tempos, etc.,) makes me think that it zigs everywhere that it should have zagged.

I do look forward to seeing them live this summer, but only hear some of the old bangers not any of this new shite material. I love that Noel always comes out with every album and says it is best that they have done yet, but him saying that for this album was completely daft. If I was Noel I would be scrambling to call every place this album had been shipped and demand that they pull it before we become an angry mob and kill them whilst onstage for playing any of this crap.

I think that all the line up changes and working with bad producers has just torn the band down to its last threads when compared to the band that gave us Definitely Maybe and What’s The Story… maybe the Brits will finally grasp the idea of a super group and Noel and Ian Brown will do more than just a track together, or if we should be so lucky in our lifetime.. maybe one day the Stone Roses will come back to fix everything and make it better…

FBI Report Says Quron Desecrated; Will White House do to them what they did to Newsweek?

2005-05-25T16:20:00.000-05:00

Sooooo. Now that the FBI has come out with allegations of the U.S. military guards desecrating the Quran, will Scott McClellan and the Oval Office big whigs come out and call out the FBI just as they did Newsweek? Will this story make front page headlines just like the Newsweek story did? My guess is, since there are nothing but hypocrites and liars at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the chances of seeing that happen are slim and zero.

FBI Records Cite Quran Abuse Allegations
WASHINGTON - Terror suspects at the Guantanamo Bay prison told U.S. interrogators as early as April 2002, just three months after the first detainees arrived, that military guards abused them and desecrated the Quran, declassified
"Their behavior is bad," one detainee is quoted as saying of his guards during an interrogation by an FBI special agent in July 2002. "About five months ago the guards beat the detainees. They flushed a Quran in the toilet."
The statements about guards disrespecting the Quran echo public allegations made many months later by some detainees and their lawyers after prisoners' release from Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. The once-secret FBI documents show a consistency to the allegations and are the first indication that Justice and Defense department officials were aware in early 2002 that detainees were accusing their guards of mistreating the holy book.
Separately on Wednesday, Amnesty International urged the United States to shut down the prison, calling it "the gulag of our time." White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the human rights group's complaints were "unsupported by the facts" and that allegations of mistreatment were being investigated.
In its annual report, Amnesty accused the United States of failing to live up to its responsibility to set the standard for human rights protections. Rather, the group said the United States has been the biggest disappointment "after evidence came to light that the U.S. administration had sanctioned interrogation techniques that violated the U.N. Convention against Torture."
Some 540 men are being held at Guantanamo Bay on suspicion of links to Afghanistan's
ousted Taliban government or the al-Qaida terror network. Some have been jailed for more than three years without charge. The Defense Department argues that the detention prevents these enemy combatants from fighting against the United States. Pentagon officials have said recently that the public claims by released detainees were not credible and that the terror suspects held at Guantanamo Bay had been trained to make such false claims.
Indeed, the FBI records cite at least one instance in which a detainee is said to have falsely claimed that a guard had dropped a Quran. "In actuality the detainee dropped the Quran and then blamed the guard. Many other detainees reacted to this claim," the FBI document said, and that sparked an uprising "on or about 19-20 July 2002."
In an April 6, 2002, FBI interrogation, one of the detainees said guards had been "pushing them around and throwing their waste bucket at them in the cell, sometimes with waste still in the bucket, and kicking the Quran."
Another detainee stated that he had been beaten unconscious at Guantanamo Bay in the spring of 2002, a period in which U.S. interrogators were pressing hard for intelligence information they believed some of the detainees held on the planning, structure and tactics of
The newly released FBI records do not indicate whether the allegations were investigated or substantiated.
In response to a recent Newsweek story, later retracted, that U.S. officials had confirmed allegations of Quran desecration at Guantanamo Bay, Pentagon officials have said repeatedly that they have turned up no credible, substantiated claims that U.S. military guards had deliberately treated the Muslim holy book with disrespect.
Pentagon officials had no immediate comment on the new FBI documents, which were made public Wednesday by the ACLU. The ACLU said it received them in response to a federal court order that directed the FBI and other agencies to comply with the organization's request under the Freedom of Information Act.
In many of the interrogations described in the FBI documents, military officers were present. Some were with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations; others were Navy and Army investigations personnel.
Large portions of the interrogation summaries were blacked out by FBI censors before being released to the ACLU.
U.S. Southern Command, which is responsible for the Guantanamo Bay detention center, responded to the Newsweek story by beginning a review of written logs searching for corroborated incidents of Quran mishandling. As of Wednesday, officials had not reported finding any.
In January 2003, the military issued a three-page written guideline for handling a detainee's Quran, including a stipulation that it should be handled "as if it were a fragile piece of delicate art," and that it not be placed in "offensive areas such as the floor, near the toilet or sink, near the feet or dirty/wet areas."
ACLU officials said the newly declassified documents provide new evidence that U.S. authorities at Guantanamo Bay were mistreating symbols of the detainees' religious beliefs as a tactic to force them to talk.
"The United States government continues to turn a blind eye to mounting evidence of widespread abuse of detainees held in its custody," said ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero. "If we are to truly repair America's standing in the world, the Bush administration must hold accountable high-ranking officials who allow the continuing abuse and torture of detainees."

Weird Scene

2005-05-25T14:12:00.000-05:00

From the Chris McCosky at the Detroit News yesterday. Nothing more need be said than Clockwork's response....

http://www.detnews.com/2005/pistons/0505/23/C12-189302.htm

Weird scene
The Pistons were still shaking their heads at what happened Thursday night as they were on their bus inside the loading-dock area of Conseco Fieldhouse.

It was between 11:30 and midnight and the Pistons' bus was about to leave the arena for the airport.

Suddenly, a dark Escalade roared into the loading dock, nearly hitting several people.

Out jumped Ron Artest, the Pacers forward who got a seasonlong suspension for his part in the Nov. 19 brawl.
According to Pistons players on the bus, Artest was wearing an old (and short) pair of shorts. He had no shoes on and, upon getting out of the vehicle, he tore off his T-shirt.

Given the history between Artest and the Pistons, the team's security officials were on high alert. But Artest made no motion toward the bus. He simply walked, bare-chested and bare-footed, into the building, presumably for a midnight workout.

"There's something going on there," Ben Wallace said, not wanting to comment further.

Retractions

2005-05-25T06:46:00.000-05:00

Sheep grazers, behold!

Yesterday, the White House retracted their claim that the Newsweek article cost lives.

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000930917

Holy shit, not only that.... but... the Congressman who coined the infamous "Freedom Fries" and "Freedom Toast" (rather than the understood "French" prefix) has now turned against the Iraq War.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1491567,00.html

Come, join us... UNITY.

Col. David Hackworth

2005-05-24T21:14:00.000-05:00

From the Soldiers for the truth website... Farns, thanks for introducing me to this guy. He will be sorely missed.

Col. David Hackworth: A man who truly supported our troops
By Randolph T. Holhut

DUMMERSTON, Vt. - There are two groups of people who "support the troops" in Iraq and Afghanistan.

There are the people who stick the now-ubitquitous ribbon magnets on their SUVs and talk about backing our soldiers while staying a safe distance away from the fight.

And then there are the people who work to make sure that our soldiers are well-trained, well-equipped and well-led - people unafraid to tell the truth, no matter who gets upset about it.

We lost a great man in the latter group with the death of Col. David Hackworth, a champion of the common soldier who died of cancer at age 74 on May 4.

Hackworth was a man who could be mentioned in the same breath as Alvin York and Audie Murphy, except that Hackworth's battlefield exploits took place in dozens of battles in two wars. He was put in for the Medal of Honor three times. In seven years of combat in Korea and Vietnam, he won the Army's second highest honor, the Distinguished Service Cross, twice, along with 10 Silver Stars, eight Bronze Stars and eight Purple Hearts.

In short, he was a warrior of the first order. When he spoke out on shoddy training and equipment in his weekly "Defending America" columns, he had credibility gained from successfully leading units into combat.

When he attacked the "ticket punching" mentality of officers who put career advancement ahead of soldiering, he spoke from the hard personal experience of watching the Army's leadership disintegrate into careerism. In Hackworth's world, there were two types of people - "studs" and "perfumed princes." A stud was someone who knew his job and did it well, someone who was fearless, resourceful and utterly reliable when things got tough. Perfumed princes was Hackworth's epithet for officers who had their eyes on becoming generals and rarely got their hands dirty doing actual soldiering.

When he questioned the strategy of the Bush administration's operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the criticism was coming from a man who literally wrote the books ("The Vietnam Primer" and "Steel My Soldiers Hearts") on guerrilla warfare. In a time when billions of dollars are being shoveled into buying weapons that are unneeded and unworkable on a battlefield, Hackworth knew - again, from years in combat experience - that every battle from Lexington and Concord to the Sunni Triangle is won or lost by the man with the rifle - the infantryman.

That was why, of all the awards bestowed upon Hackworth, he was proudest of his Combat Infantryman Badge. There's only one way to get one: serve in a front-line infantry unit for 90 days under fire and survive.
Hackworth knew the key to surviving in combat was good training. He learned the trade from the World War II sergeants who fought across Europe and stayed in the Army after the war was won. These were the toughest of the tough and they passed on what they had learned to the next generation of soldiers.
Their credo was simple - the harder you trained for combat, the less likely you were to die when the bullets were real. Good, hard training, combined with total discipline and accountability, produced skilled, fearless soldiers.

In the words of Steve Prazenka, the platoon sergeant who trained Hackworth: "If you learn it right, you'll do it right the rest of your life. If you learn it wrong, you'll do it wrong and spend the rest of your life trying to learn to do it right."

Hackworth readily embraced this, and carried it with him for the rest of his career. No unit Hackworth commanded was ever lacking in training and discipline and he did whatever it took to get his troops ready to fight.

Good training is the foundation of good leadership. The rest can be found in the principles of another man who deeply influenced Hackworth, Col. Glover Johns. Hackworth loved to quote Johns' basic philosophy of soldiering:

- Strive to do small things well.
- Be a doer and a self-starter - aggressiveness and initiative are two most admired qualities in a leader - but you must also put your feet up and think.
- Strive through self-improvement through constant self-evaluation.
- Never be satisfied. Ask of any project, "How can it be done better?"
- Don't overinspect and oversupervise. Allow your leaders to make mistakes in training, so they can profit from the errors and not make them in combat.
- Keep the troops informed; telling them "what, how, and why" builds their confidence.
- The harder the training, the more troops will brag.
- Enthusiasm, fairness, and moral and physical courage - four of the most important aspects of leadership.
- Showmanship - a vital technique of leadership.
- The ability to speak and write well - two essential tools of leadership.
- There is a salient difference between profanity and obscenity; while a leader employs profanity (tempered with discretion), he never uses obscenities.
- Have consideration for others.
- Yelling detracts from your dignity; take men aside to counsel them.
- Understand and use judgment; know when to stop fighting for something you believe is right. Discuss and argue your point of view until a decision is made, and then support the decision wholeheartedly.
- Stay ahead of your boss.

These are the traits of good leaders in any field. Sadly, the people who live up to them are few and far between. But when you find a person who has these qualities, you will follow them gladly and with pride.

Few things got Hackworth madder than seeing grunts get the short end of the stick. That is why he devoted his energies in the last two decades of his life to making sure soldiers got what they needed and the phonies who sent them off on dubious missions were called out and held accountable.

Hackworth will be buried with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery on May 31. His legacy is the group "Soldiers For The Truth," (www.sftt.org), a group devoted to military reform that has become the main conduit for the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan to tell people back home the real story of what's happening at the front. His 1989 autobiography, "About Face," will be read for years to come by all who are seeking the nuts and bolts of leadership. And most of all, his example of speaking out in favor of common sense when it comes to defending the nation will be remembered by all who know the difference between saying you support the troops and actually doing so.

Randolph T. Holhut has been a journalist in New England for more than 20 years. He edited "The George Seldes Reader" (Barricade Books). He can be reached at randyholhut@yahoo.com.

I said got damn

2005-05-23T11:49:00.000-05:00

Damn, do I feel sorry for these folks. I think most of us sports fans agree that Tillman's service to his country was one of the coolest stories to come out of the sports entertainment arena in ages.

What a pathetic way to be used as a cog in the wheels of propoganda.

Tillman's Parents Are Critical Of Army
By Josh White, Washington Post Staff Writer
Mon May 23, 1:00 AM ET

Former NFL player Pat Tillman's family is lashing out against the Army, saying that the military's investigations into Tillman's friendly-fire death in Afghanistan last year were a sham and that Army efforts to cover up the truth have made it harder for them to deal with their loss.

More than a year after their son was shot several times by his fellow Army Rangers on a craggy hillside near the Pakistani border, Tillman's mother and father said in interviews that they believe the military and the government created a heroic tale about how their son died to foster a patriotic response across the country. They say the Army's "lies" about what happened have made them suspicious, and that they are certain they will never get the full story.

"Pat had high ideals about the country; that's why he did what he did," Mary Tillman said in her first lengthy interview since her son's death. "The military let him down. The administration let him down. It was a sign of disrespect. The fact that he was the ultimate team player and he watched his own men kill him is absolutely heartbreaking and tragic. The fact that they lied about it afterward is disgusting."

Tillman, a popular player for the Arizona Cardinals, gave up stardom in the National Football League after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to join the Army Rangers with his brother. After a tour in Iraq, their unit was sent to Afghanistan in spring 2004, where they were to hunt for the Taliban and Osama bin Laden. Shortly after arriving in the mountains to fight, Tillman was killed in a barrage of gunfire from his own men, mistaken for the enemy as he got into position to defend them.

Immediately, the Army kept the soldiers on the ground quiet and told Tillman's family and the public that he was killed by enemy fire while storming a hill, barking orders to his fellow Rangers. After a public memorial service, at which Tillman received the Silver Star, the Army told Tillman's family what had really happened, that he had been killed by his own men.

In separate interviews in their home town of San Jose and by telephone, Tillman's parents, who are divorced, spoke about their ordeal with the Army with simmering frustration and anger. A series of military investigations have offered differing accounts of Tillman's death. The most recent report revealed more deeply the confusion and disarray surrounding the mission he was on, and more clearly showed that the family had been kept in the dark about details of his death.
The latest investigation, written about by The Washington Post earlier this month, showed that soldiers in Afghanistan knew almost immediately that they had killed Tillman by mistake in what they believed was a firefight with enemies on a tight canyon road. The investigation also revealed that soldiers later burned Tillman's uniform and body armor.

That information was slow to make it back to the United States, the report said, and Army officials here were unaware that his death on April 22, 2004, was fratricide when they notified the family that Tillman had been shot.

Over the next 10 days, however, top-ranking Army officials -- including the theater commander, Army Gen. John P. Abizaid -- were told of the reports that Tillman had been killed by his own men, the investigation said. But the Army waited until a formal investigation was finished before telling the family -- which was weeks after a nationally televised memorial service that honored Tillman on May 3, 2004.

Patrick Tillman Sr., a San Jose lawyer, said he is furious about what he found in the volumes of witness statements and investigative documents the Army has given to the family. He decried what he calls a "botched homicide investigation" and blames high-ranking Army officers for presenting "outright lies" to the family and to the public.

"After it happened, all the people in positions of authority went out of their way to script this," Patrick Tillman said. "They purposely interfered with the investigation, they covered it up. I think they thought they could control it, and they realized that their recruiting efforts were going to go to hell in a handbasket if the truth about his death got out. They blew up their poster boy."

Army spokesmen maintain that the Army has done everything it can to keep the family informed about the investigation, offering to answer relatives' questions and going back to them as investigators gathered more information.

Army officials said Friday that the Army "reaffirms its heartfelt sorrow to the Tillman family and all families who have lost loved ones during this war." Brig. Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, an Army spokesman, said the Army acts with compassion and heartfelt commitment when informing grieving families, often a painful duty.

"In the case of the death of Corporal Patrick Tillman, the Army made mistakes in reporting the circumstances of his death to the family," Brooks said. "For these, we apologize. We cannot undo those early mistakes."

Brooks said the Army has "actively and directly" informed the Tillman family regarding investigations into his death and has dedicated a team of soldiers and civilians to answering the family's questions through phone calls and personal meetings while ensuring the family "was as well informed as they could be."

Mary Tillman keeps her son's wedding album in the living room of the house where he grew up, and his Arizona State University football jersey, still dirty from the 1997 Rose Bowl game, hangs in a nearby closet. With each new version of events, her mind swirls with new theories about what really happened and why. She questions how an elite Army unit could gun down its most recognizable member at such close range. She dwells on distances and boulders and piles of documents and the words of frenzied men.

"It makes you feel like you're losing your mind in a way," she said. "You imagine things. When you don't know the truth, certain details can be blown out of proportion. The truth may be painful, but it's the truth. You start to contrive all these scenarios that could have taken place because they just kept lying. If you feel you're being lied to, you can never put it to rest."
Patrick Tillman Sr. believes he will never get the truth, and he says he is resigned to that now. But he wants everyone in the chain of command, from Tillman's direct supervisors to the one-star general who conducted the latest investigation, to face discipline for "dishonorable acts." He also said the soldiers who killed his son have not been adequately punished.

"Maybe lying's not a big deal anymore," he said. "Pat's dead, and this isn't going to bring him back. But these guys should have been held up to scrutiny, right up the chain of command, and no one has."

That their son was famous opened up the situation to problems, the Tillmans say, in part because of the devastating public relations loss his death represented for the military. Mary Tillman says the government used her son for weeks after his death, perpetuating an untrue story to capitalize on his altruism -- just as the Abu Ghraib prison scandal was erupting publicly. She said she was particularly offended when President Bush offered a taped memorial message to Tillman at a Cardinals football game shortly before the presidential election last fall. She again felt as though her son was being used, something he never would have wanted.

"Every day is sort of emotional," Mary Tillman said. "It just keeps slapping me in the face. To find that he was killed in this debacle -- everything that could have gone wrong did -- it's so much harder to take. We should not have been subjected to all of this. This lie was to cover their image. I think there's a lot more yet that we don't even know, or they wouldn't still be covering their tails.

"If this is what happens when someone high profile dies, I can only imagine what happens with everyone else."

Google

2005-05-20T06:44:00.000-05:00

You gotta love it. I typed up Koran Toilet Guantanemo this morning and I got back some good stuff. One of the top five returns was this...

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/68168BCC-608B-4593-91A4-637656C20625.htm

The article was written July of 2004.

I guess it's safe to assume that the Newsweek row wasn't the first time they've heard this news in the region, eh?

Sad times.

That damn Liberal media running wild trying to ruin our country...

2005-05-17T16:40:00.000-05:00

From Kevin Drum over at the Washington Monthly...

The Newsweek retraction story is on Page 1 of the New York Times, Page 1 of the LA Times, and Page 3 of the Washington Post. That's pretty strong coverage for a story about a newsmagazine retracting a small error in a short piece from two weeks ago.

And how did these same news organs respond three weeks ago to a leaked British memo making it clear that President Bush had already committed himself to war with Iraq by the summer of 2002 and was actively "fixing" intelligence and facts to support that decision? It eventually ran on Page 3 in the LA Times, Page 18 in the Post, and nowhere at all in the New York Times aside from a buried Page 9 piece that treated it as strictly a British election issue.

Good question, Kevin. Apparently, sensationalism sells. And lets face it, a "fabrication" against the adminstration merits much more attention than a back-door deal to invade Iraq in the summer of 2002. You know, that kind of a story doesn't quite qualify for front page news for the citizens of this country.

To top it off, the President will do ANYTHING to pine blame. After all, if he shows any sign of regret or weakness, we are a weak nation. Right, hillbillies?

Rep. John Conyers hits it on the head with his letter today to Scott McClellan, Georgey's press secretary.

May 17, 2005

Mr. Scott McClellan Press Secretary
The White House 1600
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. McClellan: I write to express my profound disappointment and outrage about comments you made about a matter involving Newsweek magazine, which smacks of political exploitation of the deaths of innocent and a shameless attempt to intimidate reporters from critically investigating your Administration's actions.

Your comments are contradicted by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and stand in stark contrast with your actions involving the "Downing Street Memo." I urge you and your counterpart at the Pentagon to immediately retract the comments made yesterday, and - at long last - provide a full accounting of the Administration's actions in the lead up to the Iraq war.

As you are aware, a May 9th Newsweek report indicated that interrogators at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba flushed the Koran down a toilet as part of an interrogation. Newsweek has since retracted the story. However, as the magazine was reevaluating information received from its sources, it appears you opted to exploit the situation for partisan political gain by falsely laying blame on Newsweek for recent deaths in Afghanistan.
Specifically, at 11:23am yesterday, you declared in a public statement: "his report has had serious consequences. It has caused damage to the image of the United States abroad. It has -- people have lost their lives. It has certainly caused damage to the credibility of the media, as well, and Newsweek, itself." The Pentagon spokesman, Larry DiRita, made similar comments. Referring to Newsweek's source, he said "People are dead because of what this son of a bitch said." The clear implication of these statements is that the Newsweek report had caused a loss of life in Muslim nations, presumably referring to the recent riots in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

First, this attempt to tie riots to the Newsweek article stands in stark contrast to the assessment of your own senior military officials. On May 12th, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Of Staff had reported on his consultations with the Senior Commander in Afghanistan about whether there was a causal relationship between the Newsweek story and the riots thusly: "[h]e thought it was not at all tied to the article in the magazine." The only conclusion that can be reasonably drawn is that, in contrast to career military officers, political operatives sought to score cheap political points by spreading falsehoods about Newsweek. The appropriate course of action is clear: you and Mr. DiRita should immediately retract your exploitative comments.

Second, there is - of course - a sad irony in this White House claiming that someone else's errors or misjudgments led to the loss of innocent lives. Over 1,600 Americans and tens of thousands of Iraqis have lost their lives in the Iraq war, a war which your Administration justified by falsely claiming that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. To date, your Administration has consistently blocked Congressional inquiries into whether such claims were the result of intentional manipulation of intelligence or, as you assert, a mere "failure."

Moreover, your loquacious response to this matter stands in stark contrast to your response to a recently released classified memo comprising the minutes of a July 22 meeting of British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his cabinet which calls into question the credibility of assertions made by your Administration in its drive to war. Among other things the memo indicates that Administration officials were working to ensure that "the intelligence and facts were fixed around the policy," implying that intelligence was deliberately manipulated to prop up the case for war. The memo also indicates, contrary to contemporaneous statements to the American people and the Congress that the President had already "made up his mind to take military action." When asked about this memo, you claimed that you "don't know about the specific memo" - two and one half weeks after its release and ten days after receiving a letter detailing its contents from 89 Members of Congress (which has still not been answered).

Third, the public deserves to know what precisely the White House is asserting with respect to the mistreatment of the Koran by interrogators: are such reports categorically false or are they, in the words of one publication, "manifold?" For example, a May1st New York Times report indicated that a Koran was thrown into a pile and stepped on at the Guantanamo detention facility and "[a] former interrogator at Guantanamo, in an interview with the Times, confirmed the accounts of the hunger strikes, including the public expression of regret over the treatment of the Korans." The incident where a Koran was allegedly thrown in a toilet was also recounted by a former detainee in a March 26, 2003 article in the Washington Post, and corroborated by another detainee in a August 4, 2003 report by the Center for Constitutional Rights. The question is: are you categorically denying that the mistreatment of the Koran occurred, or are you simply denying the Newsweek report is accurate on hyper technical grounds?

Mr. McClellan, the American people have grown tired of the venomous partisanship and lack of candor on the part of this Administration. When taken to task for wrongdoing, a pattern has emerged of this Administration viciously attacking its accusers. The cornerstone of our democracy is an open and accountable government, and the American people deserve answers - not distractions -- today.

Sincerely,
John Conyers, Jr.

The continued media saga...

2005-05-16T11:34:00.000-05:00

Just got done reading Bush and his boys response to the Newsweek ordeal from last week. I want to put the incident aside for a moment and step away from it to gain a little perspective on what is happening here with regards to the riots that took place last week.

A year ago, a bundle of pictures were released that indicated that torture was taking place at the Abu-Gharib prison outside of Bagdhad. As the investigation took place, we found out that now newly-promoted Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, outlined various methods of torture to take place at the Guantonemo Bay camp in Cuba. Further, we found that details regarding the torturing of prisoners had come across Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfield's desk for months with no action taken. In fact, Rummy was too busy drooling over his photo in People Magazine's 2002 Sexiest men of america (how in the hell that old haggy sonovabitch got that accolade is beyond this kid's comprehension) to bother with torture taking place on his watch.

Gonzales gets a promotion to Ashcroft's vacant spot in the cabinet as chief law enforcer of the land (God, do I feel good about that) and Rummy remains on board as Secretary of Defense as the private and seargents involved with the ordeal get prison time.

While some Americans slept through this news and chose to apply their critical thought to the weekend sports match or Elian Gonzales whereabouts, the rest of the world (in particular Iraqis and Afghanis) watched and took note.

Now a news report comes out stating that the sacred book of Islam is being burned at Guantanemo Bay... I don't know the first thing if there is any truth to this, but I do know that the article below has a very telling theme. People are sick of us over there for more reasons than some of us can put together, this situation is pathetic beyond all comprehension, and, it's not going to get any better any time soon. Meanwhile, the Bush adminstration wants us all to think that this is all the media's fault. Say it with them - "Not Bush's Fault. It's the MEDIA's fault. Not Bush's fault. It's the MEDIA's fault." Good robot.

So, before you start to think about cancelling your subscription to Newsweek or spouting off on the rag the next time you hear its name, you might want to think long and hard about why you are thinking this way.

White House bashes Newsweek report on Koran

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Monday that a Newsweek report based on an anonymous source had damaged the U.S. image overseas by alleging that U.S. interrogators desecrated the Koran at Guantanamo Bay.

The May 9 report triggered several days of rioting in Afghanistan and other countries in which at least 16 people were killed.

Newsweek's editor, Mark Whitaker, apologized to the victims on Sunday and said the magazine inaccurately reported that U.S. military investigators had confirmed that personnel at the detention facility in Cuba had flushed the Muslim holy book down the toilet.

"It's puzzling that while Newsweek now acknowledges that they got the facts wrong, they refused to retract the story," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said. "I think there's a certain journalistic standard that should be met and in this instance it was not."

The report sparked violent protests across the Muslim world -- from Afghanistan, where 16 were killed and more than 100 injured, to Pakistan, Indonesia and Gaza. In the past week the reported desecration was condemned in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Malaysia and by the Arab League.

McClellan complained that the story was "based on a single anonymous source who could not personally substantiate the allegation that was made."

"The report has had serious consequences," he said. "People have lost their lives. The image of the United States abroad has been damaged."

Newsweek said in its May 23 edition that the information had come from a "knowledgeable government source" who told Newsweek that a military report on abuse at Guantanamo Bay said interrogators flushed at least one copy of the Koran down a toilet in a bid to make detainees talk.

But the source later told the magazine he could not be certain he had seen an account of the Koran incident in the military report and that it might have been in other investigative documents or drafts, Newsweek said.

For Christ' Sake

2005-05-13T11:08:00.000-05:00

With every day I am more astounded by the utter lack of stupidity surrounding some of my fellow countrymen.

"BushFish.org - For the Love of God & Country"
"Do you believe God belongs in government? Do you believe President Bush is doing The Lord's Work? If so, then show your love for God & the USA!"

http://www.bushfish.org/index.html

This shit has gone way too far.

My fellow American Christian whack jobs, go back to England. We left that country because of religious oppression, we're not creating it again.

Quote of the day

2005-05-11T23:13:00.000-05:00

My buddy Pete just coughed up the line of the day upon seeing this article regarding Bush's secret Iraq invasion plan with the UK...

http://www.rawstory.com/aexternal/conyers_iraq_letter_502

"It’s absolutely, unnervingly ridiculous."

"The American public is a flock of sheep. Nothing more, nothing less."

Anatomy of a PR Nightmare: The Marquette Gold Debacle

2005-05-06T09:27:00.000-05:00

by Gene

All of this really started back in 1993, when students and alumni were told by university president Reverend DiUlio that Marquette University was making the decision to break away from their decades old nickname of Warriors. Why? Political correctness of course. The Marquette emblem featured the head of an Indian and apparently, this was insensitive to some tribes. At least, that’s what Rev. DiUlio claimed. Of course, not once had there ever been a protest or picketers lining up at the university proclaiming their hatred of the name “warriors”.

So, instead of simply changing the mascot and “symbol” of the Warriors, the mighty Reverend in his hi-powered will of God decided a change was needed. He asked students to propose new names. Weeks went by and out of nowhere, students were given a vote: Lighting or Golden Eagles. Period. Any write-in votes would be thrown out. Any Warrior votes would be thrown out. When questioned how the university went from over 2,000 suggestions down to 2, the school acted with the hubris that seems to emanate from the steeples of Gesu Church today.

“A board of 25 people narrowed the selections from 15 to 2” we were told. And laughably, students were told that the final selections were based on their creativity and originality…never mind the fact that a team in Marquette’s own athletic conference had the exact same nickname (Southern Mississippi) and the Tampa Bay NHL team also carried the name Lightning.

The rest, they say is history. Which brings us to today’s sorry state of affairs at Marquette.

For 10+ years, alumni and students failed to identify with the Golden Eagle name and chicken-hawk-like mascot; so much so that at last year’s commencement address, key MU alumni pledged $1 million to the school if they would go back to the Warrior name. And so, the great debacle began.

Oh, Marquette claimed to be interested in doing the right thing for the school. They even went so far to give that impression to alumni and students by having them complete surveys that went into specific details about the feelings of Golden Eagles vs. Warriors. And hence lay the problem.
From the get go, this was a Golden Eagle vs. Warrior problem…at least that’s how it was communicated. Every debate centered on either/or. It didn’t talk about “o.k., now what if we were to introduce a third option that nobody knows about”.

In January and February, the school held focus groups with alumni and probed even further about their opinions. Based on the comments and outrage of people who participated in these focus groups, it is clear that they were lead to believe MU was leaning toward dumping the Golden Eagle name and going back to the Warrior name, but not using a human mascot or logo. At no time did the school present to focus groups the name “gold” or another third option. Again, public perception was that it was going to be Golden Eagles or Warriors.

Now here we all sit today. Thousands of alumni and fans throughout the country pissed off beyond all belief with the new Marquette name – the Marquette Gold. Making matters worse today is the school board’s insistence that “that’s that name, period.”

Like most matters with the church today, the decision also screams of hypocrisy. MU President Father Wild claims that the church teachings will not let them use a “discriminatory” name like Warriors, yet this same school turns it’s back to “traditional” catholic teachings by allowing a ROTC program and gay and lesbian groups. So which is it MU? Are you a conservative, church-lead school? Or, do you just pull out those beliefs when the time is right for a copout?

We’ll see about this new name. Protests are planned today on campus by thousands of students and fans. Local Milwaukee radio stations and all newspapers have been lambasting the school and the board for the last 48 hours. And, most importantly, the names of the 38 board members – who voted unanimously in favor of Gold - are available on the MU website (http://www.marquette.edu/about/leadership/trustees/index.shtml). Needless to say, upset fans and locating names of the board members and letting them know via email that they’re boycotting their businesses.

Like most things in life, money talks. The more threats and the more money that gets pulled from the Jesuit’s and the Board’s coffers is the only hope for change. Letting MU know you won’t be donating any longer will also help matters.

As mentioned earlier, it is clear by the comments of the board that their hubris is what lead to this awful decision. MU board member Anne Zizzo said on the news that “this is exactly what we expected, it’s marketing 101” and that “people will eventually love this decision.” That comment could easily be swept under the rug, if it weren’t for the fact she’s the President of Zizzo Group, a PR and communications firm.

I wonder if Ms. Zizzo is aware of one of the six cardinal precepts to change attitudes:

Don’t offend the people you seek to change.

Viva el Cinco de Mayo!

2005-05-05T06:32:00.000-05:00

05/05/05

http://www.vivacincodemayo.org/history.htm

Turn this mother out.

Webby's

2005-05-04T11:50:00.000-05:00

Top Activism site went to the World Citizen guide. What a freakin' cool site. I highly suggest checking it out and exploring a bit. My favorite feature is the "100 People" section, which basically breaks down the different demographic characterstics we humans of the world posess.

For those who think the world starts and ends on their couch, driveway, neighborhood, city, county or state... here's a nice bucket 'o ice over the head fer ya.

http://www.worldcitizenguide.com/index2.html

Well what do you know...

2005-04-22T11:27:00.000-05:00

Throwing more logs onto my profanity laced fire, eh?

ABC yanks story in which Republican says Clinton impeachment linked to Nixon's fall, citing editorializing

ABC News in Chicago has yanked a story in which retiring Rep. Henry Hyde (R-IL) indicated that the attempt to impeach President Clinton came in retaliation for the impeachment of President Nixon because they felt the story was too opinionated, RAW STORY has learned.
The piece, which has been removed from the ABC Chicago affiliate's (WLS) website, was taken down because it was felt to have too much commentary by the author. They have also taken down a video which included comments from Hyde.

“It was much more commentary than was necessary," a source inside ABC 7 Chicago told RAW STORY Friday morning.

Asked if the story was removed because the piece was editorialized, the staffer said "yes."
The staffer said ABC News is currently "researching" the details of the story, and expected to repost it when the article has been revised.

"We are researching it," the source quipped.

The piece, which RAW STORY is trying to locate, said Hyde "made some surprising comments Thursday on the impeachment hearings of President Bill Clinton..."

"Asked if 'the Clinton proceedings were payback for Nixon's impeachment," Hyde said, 'I can't say it wasn't."

The piece is now back on the website, but without the explosive quote.

Unplugged

2005-04-22T06:35:00.000-05:00

It’s about time for some Friday ranting.

To all you "neo-conservative" folks out there, in the words of Karl Racci from Youngblood:

“Take this stick and shove it up your ass.”

Henry Hyde (R) Retires from the House

Guess what clown-boy had to say yesterday? He says that the Republicans went after the Clinton sex scandal in retaliation for Richard “Tricky Dick” Nixon. That’s right people, Richard Fucking Nixon. He further quips that if he could do it all over again, he wouldn't have supported the useless impeachment.

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/news/042105_ns_hyde.html

We watched shitloads of tax dollars go into putting National Enquirer style trash on the front page of all of our nations news outlets over a fucking blow-job. Think I’m pissed about this? Oh you haven’t seen the beginning of it.

For all you “moral-righteousness” folks out there… get a fucking clue. You go around praising political tools like the current president, Senate, House and Supreme Court Justices as if they are helping “clean-up” all of the bad, naughty, filthy shit in this country.

If any of you had a god-damned clue, you would realize that all this crap is really about you and who you support. Face it, finding a “moral” politician is about as easy as buying a pack of 2005 baseball cards only to find an Amos Otis 1975 Topps card inside.

"Oh, but the good old law-makers (appointed by our ‘conservative’ leaders over the past 25 years) of the land will clean stuff up. They are all good old-fashioned conservative folks like me. They will set the record straight." Think again, hillbilly.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=503540

Yep, your boy, Chief Justice Scalia endorses orgies. Orgies. Did you read that correctly? Sinful. Naughty. Filthy. What are you going to do about it? Keep voting straight-ticket Republican. Personally, I could give a rats ass about what this clown has to say about his sexual preferences. But I have to take a moment to look at all of you people out there who consider yourself to be "just" and "right" in the way of who knows what the fuck. I simply shake my head.

You go around pointing the finger at the “liberal media” (the most overused, unintelligent and pathetic excuse I’ve ever heard for citing American cultural deficiency) and rue the day that all people in our society are treated equal regardless of their sexual preferences.

You praise “straight-talkers” and folks that will “stand up for what they believe in” even if they are fucking idiots. Take our president as an example here. Hmmm, Iraq. 53 million of you clowns re-elected this piece of shit over what? All you could tell us were the “character flaws” of Kerry.

But when it came down to telling us why you voted for Bush, you didn’t have a fucking clue. If you even tried to talk respectfully and intelligently about the election with friends and family, you probably didn't get very far. Every point that you cited in discussion was immediately rebuked on galactic measures. Every point that you cited was contradicted in pure hypocritical terms. And most importantly, you made us all look pathetic in the annals of our country's history.

Now, there’s this:

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050421/D89K30P00.html

300 Billion dollars for this “war” over shit. “Oh… he was a bad man” you quip. Where the hell were you in 1994 when 1 million plus innocent people died in Rawanda in 1 MONTH. Where the fuck were you calling out those people? Oh, that’s right. You were too busy leading your ignorant little lives in white suburban United States. Yet, in 2003 you were ready to play war-chair quarterback. You wanted to vent those frustrations of September 11 on something, someone. Afghanistan was just too short for your dinner-in-front-of-the-telly liking.

If you are so righteously moral, why don’t you stick to your TRUE virtues? Educate yourselves with the world around you, work for the poor, and for Christ sake, know who the fuck you’re supporting instead of contributing to the demise of our own modern era.

There’s nothing I loathe more than a stereotype to classify a group of individuals. We should all be independent thinking individuals, but with you people it's just so damn apparent that you're a bunch of lost sheep looking for a heard to follow.

With that said, answer me this, all knowing fellow “conservative” Americans:

Are you truly “conservative”?

Dear Ticketmaster...

2005-04-18T13:05:00.000-05:00

Below is the content of an email I sent to Ticketmaster today in regards to the high-priced tickets (and expected high service fees) for the upcoming Paul McCartney tour. Now, I'm not planning to see this guy, but it's a Clear Channel show and I couldn't resist looking at the prices of the seats. They are: $50 nosebleeds - $250. That is FACE value of the seats. Throw in $10-20/ticket service fees and you are looking at the cost of two cross-country plane tickets.

Thank you TM and Clear Channel. Thank you for allowing me to send you another email.

To Whom It May Concern:

I'm sending a pre-emptive email about tickets for the Paul McCartney show.

I noticed seats for the Chicago show are a meager $50 - 250 per seat face charge. Do you have a contact at Clear Channel I can contact so I can properly tell the appropriate person to kiss my buttocks? I'd also like to thank them for their pricing-out of any normal salary-making individual.

Lastly, I wanted to know who at TM I should forward my arm or leg too in response to the expected $15-20 per ticket "convenience" charges since it's so easy doing business with the only company that can sell tickets in the U.S....especially on the web. Also, would it be easier if I bought the tickets directly at the United Center and simply offered to bend over? Any help would be appreciated.

Sincerely,
A fan sick and tired of high priced tickets and service charges that are making it impossible to attend more than a single show a year

Tell It To My Heart

2005-04-15T11:57:00.000-05:00

I feel the night explode when we're together.
Emotion overload in the heat of pleasure.
Take me I'm yours into your arms.
Never let me go.
Tonight I really need to know.

Tell it to my heart
Tell me I'm the only one.
Is this really love or just a game?
Tell it to my heart.
I can feel my body rock every time you call my name.

The passion's so complete.
It's neverending.
As long as I receive, the message you're sending.
Body to body, soul to soul
Always feel you near.
So say the words I long to hear.

Tell it to my heart.
Tell me I'm the only one.
Is this really love or just a game?
Tell it to my heart.
I can feel my body rock every time you call my name.

Love, love on the run, breaking us down,
Though we keep holding on.
I don't want to lose, no I can't let you go.

Tell it to my heart.
Tell me I'm the only one.
Is this really love or just a game?
Tell it to my heart.
I can feel my body rock every time you call my name.

Tell it to my heart.
Tell me from the start.
Tell it to my heart.
Tell it to my heart.
Tell me from the start.
Tell it to my heart.
Never make it stop.
Oh, take it to the heart.
Tell it to my heart...

Performance by Taylor Dane
Written by Seth Swirsky and Earnie Gold, 1987

Damn You TicketMaster!!!

2005-04-14T09:44:00.000-05:00

If there' s one company that has a monopoly over the entire U.S., it would be TicketMaster. Want to try to go see a concert at a non-TicketMaster licensed venue? Good luck. It ain't happenin'.

ENOUGH ABOUT POLITICS Ticket prices: Something we can all agree on
By Hannah Selinger RAW STORY COLUMNIST

If I had magical powers, the first thing I would do is make Ticketmaster disappear.
Seriously. Enough talk of abortions, Terri Schiavo, the Papal death, the broken economy, the filibuster, the war in Iraq, the Christian Coalition, and the Bush Administration. I want to talk about tickets.

It was one thing when I failed to get World Series tickets to see my beloved Yankees crush the Mets in 2000. Back then, in what now seems like a prehistoric era, technology was not as advanced, and dedicated fans had to use the telephone to get tickets, which meant listening to the busy signal for an hour before an operator got on the line and announced that the games had been sold out.

Okay, I could accept that. It was the World Series. Everyone wanted to go see New York’s finest play New York’s… second finest. Sure, I knew scalpers were making the most of the situation, buying the tickets in bulk and then selling bleacher seats for $500 a pop. But when your team is playing for the ring, you can almost overlook that kind of thievery.

Almost. One year later, I found myself fighting the phone lines again, this time to get tickets to see my team get slaughtered by the Arizona’s dynamic duo, Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson. In return, I got a busy signal and a prime place on a friend’s couch when, to my chagrin, I was unable to get tickets.

Sometimes baseball is best enjoyed from the privacy of one’s home, so not going to those games wasn’t the worst thing in the world. I’ll concede defeat on those two hard-fought battles because I still had access to the games, which were, after all, nationally televised. This morning, however, marked a very different milestone in my history with Ticketmaster.

All I wanted to do was see the Boss in Boston. Bruce Springsteen is playing an acoustic tour with a one-night stop at Boston’s Orpheum Theatre. I came to work a half hour early; I logged on to Ticketmaster before the tickets went on sale; I made a pact with myself to incur credit card debt on the Boss’ behalf.

The precaution turned out to be a waste of time. At 9:02, exactly two minutes after the tickets had gone on sale, the concert was sold out. At 9:03, GreatTickets.com and eBay and other scalper havens were selling my tickets for over three times face value, despite the Ticketmaster promise: “In the spirit of fair access and to ensure Bruce’s fans obtain premium seating, this event is a “WILL CALL ONLY” event. UPS, ticketFast, and regular mail will not be available as delivery choices.”

Now, hold on. Fair Access? Premium Seating? For whom? Paying a scalper $300 for $75 tickets is not ‘fair access’ and reading about the concert’s set list the day after on Backstreets.com is not really ‘premium seating.’ Sure, I’m bitter about the tickets, but I’m more incensed about the inability of normal people to go to normal concerts for normal prices. Springsteen may be a legend, and he may have a legendary following, but this should not preclude non-legendary Americans from seeing him play.

In an age of corporate dominance, what room is there for ordinary people and ordinary concerns? The tickets were overpriced in the first place, fetching between $75 and $85 per seat before the absurd Ticketmaster processing fee. Now, opportunist scalpers are selling the seats for even more ridiculous prices—one Craig’s List poster offered balcony seats for $900 apiece.
If they were serious about ‘fair access,’ Ticketmaster would have established a more equitable process years ago. But the truth is, the company needs to sell tickets, and it is not their concern how those tickets get sold. If a scalper hacks into the system and buys each and every seat in Boston’s Orpheum, Ticketmaster still makes money. If Bruce Springsteen plays a sold-out concert to an empty theater, Ticketmaster walks away unscathed.

Some years ago, Eddie Vedder, lead singer for the Seattle-based band Pearl Jam, engaged in a year-long legal debate with Ticketmaster, refusing to allow Pearl Jam tickets to be sold through them. Vedder’s point was valid and promptly overlooked: Ticketmaster is a monopoly, owning access to almost every ticket at every venue for every concert nationwide. They can charge whatever processing fees they want and they can conveniently ignore the rampant scalping problem because their business is never in jeopardy.

Not getting tickets to a concert may seem like a small issue and, really, it is a small issue, unless you see it as emblematic of the growing conflict between business and people. Big business is, in truth, never concerned with the every day struggles of every day Americans, and Ticketmaster’s behavior makes that strikingly clear. Consider it just another notch on the belt of a country that has turned its back on Americans in favor of corporate interest.

Here comes JACKO!!!!

2005-04-14T07:02:00.000-05:00

Alrighty America.

The Pope funeral has ended, the Shiavo case is closed....

and now....

it's time...

to peel those ears back...

for more....

JACKO TRIAL!

Robots, sit up!

Put this in your pipe and smoke it

2005-04-11T06:53:00.000-05:00

According to yesterday's issue of Parade Magazine:

The government spent more than $40 million for the Whitewater and Monica Lewinsky investigations but only $15 million for the 9/11 Commission to examine the terrorist atacks of Sep. 11, 2001.

God Bless America.

The New Gene Award

2005-04-06T13:03:00.000-05:00

In the words of Dave Chappelle, I'm back bitches! It's a celebration!

Today, I'd like to offer up my first "award". You'll notice that it's a "weekly" award, but due to my sometimes laziness - as shown by my two week absence - the award may go out every two or three weeks. Basically, it will be assigned whenever it's necessary.

Ladies and gentlemen, the award for "Jagoff of the Week" goes to:

House Majority Tom DeLay

(applause)

First, Tom started off the month of March with a bang, or should I say a hiss. That's the sound of the feeding tube coming out of Terry Schiavo and all the hot air that soon came out of Tom DeLay's mouth. So Tom took a private, personal family case and turned helped turn it into the catastrophe that it was. Super duper Tom. You are a marvel. The fact that you and your republican leaders then sent out a memo to your consituency telling them how this issue would help you gather support from the millions of white, southern, racist, bigoted - ahhh, but holy - rednecks, well, in the words of Dana Carvey impersonating Ross Perot, "I mean, that was just sure genius."

That alone would have won you the award. The know. You had to push the edges. And so the your month dragged on. To a point where it was revealed that you actually helped pull the plug on your dying father when he was basically brain dead - something similar to Ms. Schiavo. Naturally, you and your speech writers said that withholding food and water from Ms. Schiavo was completely different than say, withholding the electricity that kept your father alive. Sure. Whatever you say.

And that brings us to today's report. The cherry on top of the shit-sundae that is Tom DeLay.

Today, it was revealed that a $60,000 1997 trip to Russia by DeLay and four of his staff members, along with $440,000 in lobbying funds, was funded by an off-shore bank account run by Russian big business (think oil and energy; a real stretch for another Texas Republican. It's hard to think of another Texan w/power and such ties to big industry). One of those lobbyists was Jack Abramoff, who is now at the center of a federal influence-peddling and corruption probe related to his representation of Indian tribes. DeLay has claimed in the past the trip was funded by Washington-based non-profit organization.

The 1997 Moscow trip is the third foreign trip by DeLay to be scrutinized in recent weeks because of new statements by those involved that his travel was directly or indirectly financed by registered lobbyists or a foreign agent.

DeLay did try to defend himself. On March 18, he portrayed criticism of his trips and close ties to lobbyists as the product of a conspiracy to "destroy the conservative movement" by attacking its leaders, such as himself. "This is a huge, nationwide, concerted effort to destroy everything we believe in," DeLay told supporters at the Family Research Council, a group of freakishly ultra-conservative Christian zealots.

The three foreign trips at issue share common elements. The sponsor of the Moscow trip, the Capitol Hill-based National Center for Public Policy Research, also sponsored the later London trip. The center is a conservative group that solicits corporate, foundation and individual donations.

Is Tom DeLay the only politician to exemplify hubris at its worst? Doubtful. Is it a republican issue only? Hardly. But in the case of this reader, his actions deem him the strongest candidate to take home the Jagoff of the Week Award.

Coming in a close second, would be Senate Majority Leader, DOCTOR Bill Frist, who believes that tears and sweat can cause AIDS. To paraphrase Jon Stewart, that comment almost makes me cry...but then I'd have to put a condom over my head.

And a final FYI for those of you who haven't seen the news this past week. Two big stories that haven't been covered that much. 1) Sorry to report, but the Pope is dead. 2) This woman named Terry Schiavo, well she had her feeding tube removed and she also died. Too bad none of the news stations spent enough time running these stories into the ground.

Bring on the Jacko trial!!!

Opening Day

2005-04-05T06:21:00.000-05:00

Taken from today's free press article by Mitch Albom, he couldn't have led it off any better:

There were sunny days before, but they didn't count until Monday. There were baseball swings last month, but they didn't matter until now. Opening Day in Detroit is when you stand against the wall with a marker, a confirmation that you've lived another year, that you've made it, that summer will come for you once more. And in the packed seats of Comerica Park, on an afternoon seemingly sent from the heavens, the city awoke from winter with a yawn, a cheer and a hoisted beer.

http://www.freep.com/sports/albom/mitch5e_20050405.htm

Oh...

2005-03-31T11:03:00.000-05:00

Terry's dead?

So, when does the Jacko trial start up again?

The Prez

2005-03-31T07:39:00.000-05:00

Ahh, yes. Today there is a "report" that finds numerous flaws in intelligence reports regarding Iraq, Iran, and other areas of the middle east. The president's wise supporters will point to this as a crutch for reasons as to why we went over to Iraq 2 years ago. They will likely pine the blame on the previous administration (YAWN) saying things like "It's all Clinton's fault for having our intelligence all messed up" instead of realizing that the current president and his circle of trust are a bunch of toolboxes.

With that said, what could be more appropriate than a joke to make us all feel better?

President Bush was invited to address a major gathering of the American Indian Nation last weekend in Arizona. He spoke for almost an hour on his plans for increasing every Native American's standard of living. He referred to his career as governor of Texas, how he had signed "YES" 1,237 times -- for every Indian issue that came to his desk for approval.

Although the President was vague on the details of his plan, he seemed most enthusiastic about his ideas for helping his "red brothers."

At the conclusion of his speech, the tribes presented the President with a plaque inscribed with his new Indian name: Walking Eagle. The proud President then departed in his motorcade, waving to the crowds. A reporter later asked the group of chiefs how they come to select the new name given to the President. They explained that Walking Eagle is the name given to a bird so full of shit it can no longer no longer fly.

Tom DeLay - F-ing Hypocrite

2005-03-28T11:22:00.000-05:00

I learned something today, boys and girls. You see, there's a difference between being aided into death.

See, if you don’t receive "air" or your kidneys can't "operate", you will die. So, by "depriving" a body of air, or by depriving it of functioning kidneys via a dialysis machine, you will die. Terry Schiavo is TOTALLY different.

Here, you see, they are depriving the body of food and water, leading to sure "death". And, her eyes are open. So, boys and girls, if your eyes are open and you are in a vegetative state, it's completely different than being in an unconscious state in a similar condition.

Yes, I can see now. These are two totally different cases all together.

Tom Delay is a f-ing hypocrite. Politics. All about politics and placating the psycho religious right. Happy Easter sinners.

Year's Ago, DeLay's Father Taken Off Life Support
WASHINGTON, March 27 - Representative Tom DeLay, the House majority leader and a driving force behind the Congressional effort to spare Terri Schiavo's life, was confronted more than 16 years ago with his own agonizing end-of-life dilemma and agreed to withdraw life support from the patient, his father, according to a report Sunday in The Los Angeles Times.
The newspaper reported that Mr. DeLay's father, Charles Ray DeLay, 65, a drilling contractor, was severely injured in 1988 in an accident at his home in Canyon Lake, Tex.
He was testing a backyard tram he had built to carry family and visitors down a 200-foot slope toward the lake when the tram jumped the track, throwing him headfirst into a tree.
The account said that Mr. DeLay suffered multiple injuries, including kidney failure, and that his wife, Maxine, and their other children made the initial decision to withhold kidney dialysis and other treatments when it became clear that he could not recover. Representative DeLay, at the time in his third term in the House, did not object, the newspaper's report said.
Mr. DeLay, now the Republican leader of the House, has been at the center of Congress's efforts to intervene in the Schiavo case and has taken an unusually public role.
In a meeting before the Family Research Council, a conservative Christian group, Mr. DeLay linked the Schiavo case to a broader attack on both him and the conservative movement in general. In press releases and statements on the House floor, he spoke of Ms. Schiavo in explicitly religious and moral terms.
"Congress has a legislative and moral duty to do what we can to protect her," Mr. DeLay said on March 17, after the House passed a measure intended to prevent the withdrawal of Ms. Schiavo's feeding tube. "Her life is being threatened, and we have it in our power to act on her behalf. Every human life deserves at least that much."
A spokesman for Mr. DeLay did not return telephone calls or an e-mail message on Sunday.
However, Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council, said that Mr. DeLay did not act inconsistently, and that the congressman's father could not be compared to Ms. Schiavo, who was receiving no medical treatment other than nutrition and hydration through a feeding tube.
"Two different situations," Mr. Perkins said. "With Terri Schiavo, there was no plug pulled, there was no respirator taken away from her. She was simply by court order deprived of food and water."

UNITY

2005-03-24T12:23:00.000-05:00

COLD BLOODED

Be sure to check this one out:
http://www.comedycentral.com/tv_shows/chappellesshow/showclips.jhtml?startIndex=19

Choose the Rick James clips

Social Security by Beags

2005-03-24T11:27:00.000-05:00

Financial wiz-kid Curt (the only friend I know that owned Intel stock at the age of 16) has been hitting me over the head with the income tax cap increase as the real social security remedy for the past few weeks. Here he weighs in with further explanation, in pure Curt style:

Jes. Jou see, zee eencome cap is zee maximum amount of incomean individual can be taxed on. Right now, I believe zee cap is at ninetysousand dollars($90,000), vich means dat an employee who earns Von-hundred andSerty sree ($133,000) sounsand dollars vill only pay zee social security tax onzee first ninety sousand of eencome.

Zee percentage of tax for two sounsandand five iz 12.40%. So, in our scenario here, zis individual would not paysocial security taxes on zee eencome above ninety sousand, vich equals fourtysree sousand($43,000). Eef zis addtional income vas indeed taxed at zee samerate, zee additional revenue to Social Security vould be an additional Fivesousand sree hundred dollars ($43,000 * 12.4%=$5332).

Now, vat zis means is dat srough eencreased revenue, socialsecurity could possibly be funded adequately(most likely). My suggestion eesdat all income an individual makes should be subject to zee tax. Ahhh-but veebos know zat zee Democrats vould love zis plan, but zee republicans vould mostlikely poo-poo zee idea.

Vy shouldn't all individuals be taxed at zee samepercentage regardless of eencome? ZIS question iz zee vone question, vichneeds answering zee most. I truly hope zis helps.

Curtisimo VonJaquestrappe

J-j-j-j-jackass

2005-03-22T13:21:00.000-05:00

Today's word boys and girls is "jackass". As in, 'hey kids, our President really acted like a jackass when he was hypocritical for the millionth time in his presidency by signing the Sciavo law".

It's so fascinating when politicians act like they know this woman personally and that they know all of the facts surrounding the case. Of course, if Dr. Bill Frist paid more attention to details and facts, he wouldn't believe that tears and sweat can give you AIDS. Southern redneck!

(courtesy of Yahoo News)

WASHINGTON - The federal law that President Bush (news - web sites) signed early Monday in an effort to prolong Terri Schiavo's life appears to contradict a right-to-die law that he signed as Texas governor, prompting cries of hypocrisy from congressional Democrats and some bioethicists.

In 1999, then-Gov. Bush signed the Advance Directives Act, which lets a patient's surrogate make life-ending decisions on his or her behalf. The measure also allows Texas hospitals to disconnect patients from life-sustaining systems if a physician, in consultation with a hospital bioethics committee, concludes that the patient's condition is hopeless.
Bioethicists familiar with the Texas law said Monday that if the Schiavo case had occurred in Texas, her husband would be the legal decision-maker and, because he and her doctors agreed that she had no hope of recovery, her feeding tube would be disconnected.
"The Texas law signed in 1999 allowed next of kin to decide what the patient wanted, if competent," said John Robertson, a University of Texas bioethicist.
While Congress and the White House were considering legislation recently in the Schiavo case, Bush's Texas law faced its first high-profile test. With the permission of a judge, a Houston hospital disconnected a critically ill infant from his breathing tube last week against his mother's wishes after doctors determined that continuing life support would be futile.
"The mother down in Texas must be reading the Schiavo case and scratching her head," said Dr. Howard Brody, the director of Michigan State University's Center for Ethics and Humanities in the Life Sciences. "This does appear to be a contradiction."
Brody said that, in taking up the Schiavo case, Bush and Congress had shattered a body of bioethics law and practice.
"This is crazy. It's political grandstanding," he said.
Bush's apparent shift on right-to-die decisions wasn't lost on Democrats. During heated debate on the Schiavo case, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., accused Bush of hypocrisy.
"It appears that President Bush felt, as governor, that there was a point which, when doctors felt there was no further hope for the patient, that it is appropriate for an end-of-life decision to be made, even over the objection of family members," Wasserman Schultz said. "There is an obvious conflict here between the president's feelings on this matter now as compared to when he was governor of Texas."
White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan termed Wasserman Schultz's remarks "uninformed accusations" and denied that there was any conflict in Bush's positions on the two laws.
"The legislation he signed (early Monday) is consistent with his views," McClellan said. "The (1999) legislation he signed into law actually provided new protections for patients ... prior to the passage of the '99 legislation that he signed, there were no protections."
Wasserman Schultz stuck by her remarks when told of McClellan's comments.
"It's a fact in black and white," she said. "It's a direct conflict on the position he has in the Schiavo case."
Tom Mayo, a Southern Methodist University Law School associate professor who helped draft the Texas law, said he saw no inconsistency in Bush's stands.
"It's not really a conflict, because the (Texas) law addresses different types of disputes, meaning the dispute between decision-maker and physician," he said. "The Schiavo case is a disagreement among family members."
Bush himself framed the Schiavo decision this way Monday.

"This is a complex case with serious issues, but in extraordinary circumstances like this, it is wise to always err on the side of life," the president said during a Social Security (news - web sites) event in Tucson, Ariz. He didn't mention the 1999 Texas law.

Looking Forward

2005-03-21T13:51:00.000-05:00

The future sometimes can be bright, and frightening. In a few years, who knows, I may have a family. I may have a new job. I may have neither. But one thing is certain. At some point, I'm going down. No, not to Florida, but to the big burning fire on the corner of 6th and State. Yes, I'm talking about the crematorium. Who decides when I go there, however, may not actually be my decision, though. At least, it appears that way what with the current Sciavo case in Florida.

In case you don't know, Ms. Sciavo has been in an eggplant-type state for roughly 15 years. Her husband claims that she never wanted to live like this. Her parents say that she should be kept alive by all means necessary. And the GOP, well…other than believing that you can get AIDS from tears or sweat (Dr. Bill Frist), well they simply can't keep their hands off this case. After all, the Christians are watching. The Christians are watching.

So, in another act of pandering to their "core" base, the GOP is making decisions for the family. They are trying to get a feeding tube added back to Ms. Sciavo's daily regimen of blank-staring, smiling, and eyes-opening exercises. Why? Because her parents want her alive.

How sad. And whether you think she should be alive or dead isn't even the main issue. The fact that the House and Senate (and President) are all willing to intervene into such a personal, family matter is frightening. At a maximum, the state government should be involved in this.

Then again, when your governor's name is Bush and you lose, you do what comes naturally: option a) cry to daddy. Option b) cry to Dub-ya.

And so that brings us to where we are now. A media and political circus.

I can only hope that one day when I go, my wishes will at least be fulfilled by family members and not by any political right-wing agenda. I guess it's time to make sure my wishes are in writing, if not, look what could become of me.

Austin City Limits

2005-03-20T22:26:00.000-05:00

This week is a can't miss if you're around a telly:

The Flaming Lips and the Shins

Wilco and Bright Eyes (with special guests M. Ward and My Morning Jacket)

Check your local listings for showtimes:

http://www.pbs.org/klru/austin/tvschedule/index.html

I caught some of the Wilco/Bright Eyes episode a few months ago (this is a repeat) and will most definitely catch it again this week if I can. Wilco might be my favorite live act these days. The Bright Eyes set includes an incredible rendition of My Morning Jacket's "Golden" - one of my favorite songs from recent years.

As for the Lips, they put on a whale-of-a show based on previous experiences (including full slices of toast being thrown out to the audience) and I'm willing to bet they'll be quite entertaining on ACL as well.

Cheers.

Fisherman's Blues

2005-03-17T11:50:00.000-05:00

More from Ireland. The Waterboy's 1987 classic:

I wish I was a fisherman
tumblin' on the seas
far away from dry land
and it's bitter memories
castin' out my sweet line
with abandonment and love
no ceiling bearin' down on me
save the starry sky above
with light in my head
with you in my arms...

i wish i was the brakeman
on a hurtlin fevered train
crashin head long into the heartland
like a cannon in the rain
with the feelin of the sleepers
and the burnin of the coal
countin the towns flashin by
and a night that's full of soul
with light in my head
with you in my arms...

And I know I will be loosened
from the bonds that hold me fast
and the chains all around me
will fall away at last
and on that grand and fateful day
I will take thee in my hand
I will ride on a train
I will be the fisherman

With light in my head
You in my arms...
Light in my head
You in my arms...
Light in my head
You...
With light in my head
You in my arms...

Ode

2005-03-17T07:24:00.000-05:00

We are the music-makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers,
And sitting by desolate streams;
World-losers and world-forsakers,
On whom the pale moon gleams:
Yet we are the movers and shakers
Of the world for ever, it seems.

With wonderful deathless ditties
We build up the world's great cities,
And out of a fabulous story
We fashion an empire's glory:
One man with a dream, at pleasure,
Shall go forth and conquer a crown;
And three with a new song's measure
Can trample an empire down.

We, in the ages lying
In the buried past of the earth,
Built Nineveh with our sighing,
And Babel itself with our mirth;
And o'erthrew them with prophesying
To the old of the new world's worth;
For each age is a dream that is dying,
Or one that is coming to birth.

Arthur O'Shanughnessy
1844-1881

Wow, what a fucking coincidence.

2005-03-16T14:35:00.000-05:00

So, the senate says "no" to the ban on drilling in the Alaskan Wildlife Refuge about half an hour ago:

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=586785

Earlier today, we hit a new high in oil prices per barrel:

http://www.newratings.com/new2/beta/article_735231.html

And many idiots throughout this land of ours will sit around their televisions tonight mumbling to themself... "mmm, it's about time we stopped relying on those arabs."

The vision of this decision is simply overwhelming. Here's to hauling that iron, timber and ore through your suburban subdivision, Sally. Don't forget to put the soccer ball under the front seat.

Ford, GM, Daimler-Benz and all the rest out there. Nice work with your marketing and PR in those nineties. You did a wonderful job of shaping consumer demand. Oh, and way to use those R&D dollars as well. Stellar work.

2005-03-15T18:03:00.000-05:00

It's your week, old Ireland.

Good point.

2005-03-15T17:53:00.000-05:00

Youth would be an ideal state if it came a little later in life.

Herbert Henry Asquith

Between this and Gene's latest post..

2005-03-10T17:15:00.000-05:00

I'm going home in tears...

http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/bunny.php

SPEAKERS or HEADPHONES REQUIRED.

Etiquette? Say What?!

2005-03-10T16:44:00.000-05:00

As I approach the golden age of 30, there are lots of changes I’m noticing amongst myself, and all of my friends as I reach the age where “families” slowly become the focus of each others lives. And, if there’s one thing that chaps my ass more than anything as I get older, it’s the fact that people seem to have lost all sense of etiquette and courtesy when it comes to asking personal questions and sharing personal information.

Does it have something to do with the culture we live in? Have we all become so numb with “reality” entertainment that we can’t even separate private from public information anymore? Do we have to know or share everything with people?

There are tons of examples out there for both topics, but two of them stand out more so, especially as 30 approaches…and both have to do with children.

One of the common examples I’ve witnessed of people looking for more information than they deserve to know deals with the topic of having children. I’ve had this question asked of me several times, but more often, I’ve watched friends and strangers get asked why they haven’t had or when will they have children.

What’s so bad about a question? Well, if it’s about how many goals Brendan Shanahan is going to score or about what you may think of Michael Jackson, knock yourself out. But when it comes to asking someone a question as personal as this, it’s best if you just shut up.

The fact that people seem to think this topic is any of their business is dumbfounding to me. And yes, there are times that the recipient of the question is willing to talk about subjects like this. Fine. Let that person bring it up. 90% of the time, I’ve seen the look on peoples faces as they try to get out of the conversation and frankly, it’s frightening. Bottom line, something as personal as this isn’t anyone’s business unless the person chooses to make it public. You wouldn’t walk up to someone and say, “Hey Bob, that herpes thing you had in college flaring up again now that you’re with Tina," when Tina is standing right in front of you, would you?

The second and by far most annoying/disturbing thing that I’ve seen over the last two years is the growing number of “Personal Declaration” emails.

What are these, you ask? Well, I deem a Personal Declaration email as one that includes more than five names in the "To:" box. Also, the email is as one-sided as a debate on Fox News. They are often written as follows:

“I, I, and me. Oh yeah, and myself, and my baby. Well we, I and me, not you, but me, and still…I’m talking about me…but more so…my baby. And my baby, and not your baby. Where is your baby? I, I, and me. Sincerely, me.”

It’s understandable that people don’t want to lose touch with friends and they want to keep others informed, but to do this in such a non-personal way is demeaning to the reader, and more importantly, to the sender.

Now, should emails like this be outlawed? Not necessarily. But, there should be some rules in place. After research and experience in dealing with emails such as this, I've been able to come up with a simple set of rules for these types of emails. If they are followed, your friends will think much higher of you (even though they won't tell you to your face). Here they are:

Rule #1 – Limit emails like this to no more than one every three months. Letting people know you haven't forgotten about them is great. But, if you feel like you need to talk about yourself more than once a quarter, then maybe you need more friends, or, you just need to pick up the phone more often. Which brings us to ...

Rule #2 - Remember to ask about how other people are doing. A simple act of sincerity and concern for others can go a long way.

Rule #3 – If 1-3 sentences of narrative are included, there’s a 4-photo limit. If more than one paragraph of narrative is included, there’s a 2 photo limit. Evereyone likes pictures...to a certain number. Yes, we know that junior is getting bigger. I don’t need a scrapbook showing me so. A quarterly reminder? Sure. That’s great…and appreciated.

Rule #4 – Keep the email to fewer than three paragraphs. Like an advertisement, keep the message short and sweet. Don’t go on and on and on about yourself and/or your baby. It’s a baby. They do baby-type things.

What’s that? Your kid took a dump in the diaper? Guess what…he’s four months old. That’s what happens. Kid starting to grow a tooth? Shocker. He’s getting older. Junior starting to get into everything...and he’s going on two years old? Wow, you have just blown my mind away with that information.

Which brings us to the last and most important rule of Personal Declarations.

Rule #5 – Do not divulge too much information! This rule can NOT be understated enough. If you are extremely close to any of the people you are sending this email too, then this should not be an issue in the first place because they will already know this information most likely. If not, why go into too much detail with people you are casual friends with anyway?

Do you want to let people know how much you miss them and appreciate their support? Sure. Great. Appreciation and sincerity are terrific virtues. Do you want to tell people how thrilled you were with the gifts you received at your recent baby shower? Sure. Are 25 people interested in knowing that the breast-pump the Anderson’s bought you ‘doesn’t leave rings around my nipples’ and 'produces incredible volume'? Probably not.

Suddenly, Life Has New Meaning To Me....

2005-03-10T07:13:00.000-05:00

Sorry Old Man, but, things at Ford motor company just took a turn for the better.

Up next.... the football team? Please lord. Pleeeeease.

AN ERA TO END AT FORD: William Clay Ford plans to retire from company board
March 10, 2005
BY JAMIE BUTTERS FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

William Clay Ford, the last surviving grandson of Henry Ford, plans to retire from the Ford Motor Co. Board of Directors after nearly 57 years, the company announced Wednesday.

William Clay Ford Sr. is the last surviving grandson of founder Henry Ford, and his retirement from the Ford Motor Co. Board of Directors will bring the number of family members on the board to two: his son, Bill, and nephew, Edsel II.

Number of holes-in-one he has hit
Ford, who turns 80 Monday, is the father of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bill Ford and has been on the board for more than half of the company's history, elected before he even graduated from Yale University.

Overshadowed by his brother, Henry Ford II, who ran the company from 1945 to 1980, William Clay Ford is perhaps best known as the owner and chairman of the Detroit Lions, positions he apparently plans to keep.

A member of the powerful finance committee, Ford informed the board Wednesday that he will not stand for re-election when his term expires in May. At the board's request, he will be named director emeritus.

There are no plans to replace him on the board, said company spokesman Oscar Suris.
"This is obviously a bittersweet moment for me and everyone who loves the Ford Motor Co.," Bill Ford said in a statement. "I speak frequently about the family values that define our company's culture. But in doing so, I am simply echoing everything my father taught me about the importance of embracing principles, setting high standards of behavior and acting responsibly toward the people with whom we work, the customers we serve and the world in which we live."

Carl Reichardt, the second longest-serving board member, thanked William Clay Ford on behalf of the entire board, saying, "He has made innumerable contributions to the company and its shareholders during his 57 years, and the board is gratified that he will remain available to us as director emeritus during these challenging times."

The company Ford leaves in his son's hands is working through the lowest market share in at least 25 years -- even as profits grew to $3.5 billion last year.

Ford Motor Co. stock closed Wednesday at $12.34 , near its lowest level in a year. Perhaps as a show of confidence, William Clay Ford purchased 2,667 shares of common stock for $33,470, the company said in a filing Tuesday with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission.

He directly owns more than 8 million shares of common stock and 4.9 million shares of the family's Class B shares that give them expanded voting rights. Ford's retirement has no impact on his ownership stake.

In a statement, Ford said: "Leaving the board will relieve me of formal duties and give me more flexibility, but I still expect to spend as much time as possible with the extended family of Ford people and will gladly help the company and the board in any way I can. The Ford Motor Co. has always been part of my life and I continue to draw a lot of energy from this wonderful and exciting business."

Raised in luxury
Born in 1925, when his family was one of the best known in the United States, William Clay Ford was raised in the family's opulent Lake St. Clair estate in what is now Grosse Pointe Shores. It was built by his father, Edsel, who was Henry Ford's only child.

Despite his small size, William Clay Ford was an avid sportsman. He earned seven athletic letters at Yale, where he was captain of the soccer and tennis teams.

The only member of his generation to be active in athletics, according to "The Fords: An American Epic" by Peter Collier and David Horowitz, Ford said he loved sports for their democratic values, the fact that he could win or lose on his merits, rather than his connections.
Ford joined the Navy in 1945, where he won an athletic competition among hundreds of cadets. "Without anyone knowing my name or who I was or whether I had a dime, I did it on my own," he said years later.

The University of Michigan named its outdoor tennis courts for Ford, who donated $1 million for the facility.

While attending Yale after the war, Collier and Horowitz wrote, young Ford secretly dated Martha Firestone, the granddaughter of one of his grandfather's best friends and camping buddies, tire magnate Harvey Firestone.

Their 1947 marriage, in Akron, Ohio, united two of the nation's great fortunes, and was witnessed by members of the Rockefeller and Edison families.

Perhaps because of his youth, athleticism and genial nature, he was by far the favorite grandson of Henry Ford. When arranging for the succession of the company's management, the company founder had tried to bypass his namesake, Henry Ford II, in favor of then 18-year-old Billy, according to "Ford: The Men and the Machine," by Robert Lacey.

But William Clay's older brother, the swashbuckling Hank the Deuce, held on to company's reins for the next four decades, marrying three times, cutting a well-publicized swath through high society from Grosse Pointe to the Cote d'Azur, and generally keeping the family business going strong.

Meanwhile, William Clay Ford lived quietly, tending to the design end of the family car business and raising his family.

He was first elected to the Ford board on June 4, 1948, and started working at the company after he graduated from Yale in 1949. He served in a variety of executive positions before being appointed vice president and general manager of the Continental Division in 1954. In 1956, Ford assumed responsibility for corporate product planning and design.

He oversaw the design and development of a number of classic vehicles, including the elegant Continental Mark II. He was appointed vice president of product design in 1973.

In 1978, Ford was elected chairman of the executive committee and appointed a member of the office of the chief executive. He was elected vice chairman in 1980 and chairman of the finance committee in 1987. He retired from his post as vice chairman in 1989 and as chairman of the finance committee in 1995.

As he ascended the company and family ladder, he continued his love of sports, buying the
Detroit Lions football team in 1964 for $4.5 million.

He also enjoyed his children's athletic pursuits, but he eventually forced himself to stop coming to Bill Jr.'s hockey games because each time he showed up, his son got into a fight.

"He thought I fought for his benefit," Bill Jr. recalled. "Every time he'd come, I'd get in a brawl."
Ford Sr. similarly managed to beat a problem with alcohol: After years of hard drinking, he just stopped one day in 1965.

His son once told the Free Press that he doesn't remember his father's drinking or the Alcoholics Anonymous meetings held at the family mansion.

But he does remember the stern talk his father gave him when he brought home a weak report card.

The father told the son that if he wanted to succeed in life, like his hero Gordie Howe, he was going to have to work hard.

"I don't care if you get straight A's. I don't care if you score three goals. But I do care that you give your best effort every day, and in everything you do."

Tomfoolery

2005-03-03T17:16:00.000-05:00

A Polar Bear and a Penguin.

How far can you send the Penguin?

http://n.ethz.ch/student/mkos/pinguin.swf

Here comes crabby claus...

2005-03-03T11:57:00.000-05:00

Dear Tickemaster,

Sub-Topic: I am having other problems buying tickets

my_question: I'm having trouble buying tickets to a couple shows in Milwaukee. The problem is I've these problems before and nobody has ever responded to me. My problem is this: how can I be charged a "convenience fee" and standard shipping fees that are equal to roughly 1/3 of the total cost of my order? This is absolutely ludicrous. I'm being charged by your company $5.50 in service fees for an $18 show? Why are my "convenience fees" continuing to go up, while the level of service you provide continues to go down? Seems to me, that in the business world, this is the wrong equation to have. I wait on the phones now longer than I ever did. Your automated phone system is a joke and it's cut me off inexplicablly numerous times in mid-order. Your on-line service on Saturday's is a nightmare as well. That, combined with your skyrocketing service fees (when compared to a percentage of the total ticket cost) is totally ridiculous. What is the reasoning for this? I'm tired of having to deal with your company's monopoly without any responses whatsoever.

xo's
Gene

Debasah and Eddie Veder sez...
Great work Gene-o!

Calling All Rednecks

2005-03-02T07:26:00.000-05:00

Dear South Carolina,

How in the hell can you justify having this guy be re-elected year after year, term after term. The dude was a known rascist/bigot (so I'll let you all off on that since most of you still haven't accepted equal rights) and had to be wheeled in on a freakin' cart during his final years.

And to write it off to the red-scare? You folks have long bathed in fear.

Surprise, surprise.

Thurmond encouraged FBI to build case against King, memo reveals
Tue Mar 1, 9:16 PM ET
By Lauren Markoe and John Monk, Knight Ridder Newspapers

WASHINGTON - U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond and his staff tried to get the FBI (news - web sites) to build a case against civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. in 1965 on the grounds that King was "controlled by communists," according to a recently released FBI memo on the late senator from South Carolina.

The memo shows Thurmond's attempt to marry two causes dear to him - fighting communism and defeating civil rights.

On Monday, the FBI released a portion of Thurmond's FBI file - nearly 600 pages of sometimes heavily edited memos, letters and other documents. The file details a long, secret and mutually beneficial relationship between Thurmond and the FBI. Another 1,700 pages remain to be released. The documents were released in response to requests by The State newspaper in Columbia, S.C.

Thurmond wasn't the only conservative politician who tried to paint the civil rights movement's leaders as "red." But the FBI memo plumbs the depths of Thurmond's aversion to desegregation. And with other pages in the now-public file, it shows how much of Thurmond's politics was dedicated to fighting the "Red Menace."
Thurmond, an iconic figure in Southern political history and an ardent segregationist who later publicly embraced his black constituents, was willing to go to great lengths to vilify King in the 1960s.

The Sept. 15, 1965, memo, written by Cartha "Deke" DeLoach, a top deputy to then-FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, recounts a meeting in the senator's office that was supposed to include Thurmond; instead, Thurmond was represented by aides.

One Thurmond aide, according to the FBI memo, said the senator wanted King to be exposed as a communist. DeLoach's memo recounts the aide "stated that it was widely understood that King was controlled by communists in this country."

The aide, whose name the FBI edited out of the memo, also reportedly asked DeLoach "if there was a concerted effort on the part of the FBI to discredit King."

DeLoach wrote that he responded that "such matters were beyond our jurisdiction."

It was later revealed that the FBI indeed had tried to discredit King by secretly wiretapping his telephone and leaking information to reporters and others.

At the meeting, the aide also showed DeLoach recent newspaper clippings in which Thurmond had criticized King for "injecting himself into matters of foreign policy at the United Nations (news - web sites)."
Those same clippings, DeLoach wrote, criticized Arthur Goldberg, then the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, for meeting with King.

Joe Darby, vice president of the South Carolina chapter of the NAACP, said Tuesday that those who opposed the civil rights movement tried to label its activists as communists.

"That was a very dirty word to get folks stirred up," he said. Many blacks were intimidated into silence, he said, because they knew standing up for their rights could invite the charge.

Today, Darby said, it's hard for people to realize how inflammatory the "communist" label was, but "it made sense to the white South in the 1960s."

"It was not a matter of logic; it was a matter of gut reaction."

Dan Carter, a nationally known civil rights historian at the University of South Carolina, attested to the power of the communist smear upon the civil rights movement.

"As late as 1962 or 1963, a majority of Americans actually believed that communists were involved or were instigators of the civil rights movement," he said.

Moreover, he said, the segregationist White Citizens Councils - in their appeals to Northerners - stressed the supposed communist leanings of civil rights workers rather than segregation.

"The segregationists played the anti-communist card," Carter said. "It was the one card they could deal to both Northerners and Southerners."

The FBI never conclusively found King was a communist, Carter said. But it tried to link him to communists by saying he associated with them or had ties to organizations that included communists.

Nevertheless, said Thurmond biographer Jack Bass, Hoover "no doubt was a source of Strom Thurmond's belief that Martin Luther King Jr. was heavily influenced by communists."

The 1965 memo says DeLoach expressed to Thurmond's aide an unwillingness to take up the senator's suggestion.

Instead, DeLoach advised the staffer that it was "the prerogative of any of the senators" to "expose" King, but they should "do their homework well."

Asked for advice on how to proceed against King, DeLoach recalled himself warning that Thurmond, as a Southerner, "would no doubt be considered subject to bias and suspicion in any statements he might make."
The Thurmond aide, according to DeLoach, also said the senator would like to meet with DeLoach on the matter. Records released by the FBI to date don't indicate whether that meeting ever took place.

The memo makes clear Thurmond's dislike of King. But the senator's admirers of today ask that his actions be considered in the context of the times - but also in the context of Thurmond's changing record on race.
It's a complicated picture. In his 1947 inaugural address as governor of South Carolina, Thurmond - widely considered a progressive - urged whites to improve black public schools, which were generally far inferior to white schools.

His tack soon changed. In 1948, he ran for president on the segregationist States Rights Party ticket, promising to fight for separate schools, churches and swimming pools for blacks and whites.

But Thurmond, who set records as the longest-serving and oldest senator in history, charted a new course in the 1970s. In 1971, he became the first Southern senator to hire a black aide. And in 1983, he voted to make Martin Luther King Day a national holiday.

South Carolina state Sen. John Courson, R-Richland, a longtime Thurmond friend and supporter, said Thurmond's criticism of King must be understood in context. The senator and many other Americans were genuinely concerned about the spread of communism, Courson said.

In the 1940s and 1950s, eastern Europe and China both turned communist. The "iron curtain" went up, restricting movement in Europe. Communist North Korea (news - web sites) invaded South Korea (news - web sites).

In the United States, the spy trial of State Department official Alger Hiss, the selling of secret hydrogen bomb plans to the Soviet Union and the hearings of U.S. Sen. Joseph McCarthy into communism in the State Department provoked widespread fear.

"One didn't know whether one's next-door neighbor was a Marxist or not," Courson said.

NCAA Academic Progress

2005-03-01T12:42:00.000-05:00

Gene,

You see this?

http://www2.ncaa.org/academics_and_athletes/education_and_research/
academic_reform/school_apr_data.html
(copy and paste required)

Uh, oh... spaghetti o's.

Hi, Hillbilly.

2005-02-28T12:42:00.000-05:00

Speaking at a veterans’ celebration at Suncreek United Methodist Church in Allen, Texas....Johnson said he told the president that night, “Syria is the problem. Syria is where those weapons of mass destruction are, in my view. You know, I can fly an F-15, put two nukes on ‘em and I’ll make one pass. We won’t have to worry about Syria anymore.”

This would be congressman Sam Johnson in Texas just this past weekend bragging about his conversation with our president. Read more here:

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/003628.html

Idiot culture breeds idiotic ideas.

Baby Got Bible

2005-02-25T07:32:00.000-05:00

Get yer ya ya's out. Are you kidding me? I don't know if this dude is serious or what... either way, it's freakin' recocko:

http://www.compfused.com/directlink/615/

(requires headphones or speakers)

My Rap on Rap

2005-02-23T16:14:00.000-05:00

It's always great when I can come across a writer who feels exactly the same way I do about an issue that's never talked about. Thank you Bill Simmons (espn.com)

(taken from his 2/23 article on the NBA All Star Weekend from ESPNs Page 2. I highly recommend reading his articles)

...Nelly was the main event at the NBA Players Association's party (NBPA), which was such a hot ticket that scalpers were hawking the invitations outside. I've never seen that before. Anyway, Nelly came out with like nine of his friends, who proceeded to scream the lyrics to his songs in the background, which caused him to start screaming ... basically, everyone screamed at the top of their lungs for an entire hour.

So here's my question: If Nelly released a studio album called "Here are some new songs that I recorded with 10 people who aren't singers screaming in the background and overpowering my lyrics," would anyone buy it? Of course not. So why does almost every rapper approach concerts this way? Are they worried that they don't have any talent, so they hide behind the screaming? Is it a posse thing, like they're worried about picking the two or three buddies who should be on stage, so they just go with their 10 closest friends? And why isn't this more of an outrage? Seriously, if you bought tickets to a U2 concert and Bono came out with nine buddies from Dublin who proceeded to ruin every song, wouldn't you ask for your money back? I don't get it.

Sorry, did you say 'sex'? Not in Big 12 country

2005-02-22T14:44:00.000-05:00

Who needs a vibrator when their uncle or cousin will do? War Big 12!
Nascar, Nascar ra-ra-rahhh, when I say 'yeee', you say 'hahhh'

Court Rejects Appeal on Sex Toy Sales Ban
Tue Feb 22,10:33 AM ET

Reuters
By James Vicini
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court (news - web sites) rejected on Tuesday a constitutional challenge to an Alabama law that makes it a crime to sell sex toys.

The high court refused to hear an appeal by a group of individuals who regularly use sexual devices and by two vendors who argued the case raised important issues about the scope of the constitutional right to sexual privacy.

The law prohibited the distribution of "any device designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs." First-time violators can face a fine of up to $10,000 and as much as one year in jail.

The law, adopted in 1998, allowed the sale of ordinary vibrators and body massagers that are not designed or marketed primarily as sexual aids. It exempted sales of sexual devices "for a bona fide medical, scientific, educational, legislative, judicial or law enforcement purpose."
Georgia and Texas are the only other states that restrict the distribution of sexual devices, according to the court record in the case.

Attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union (news - web sites), representing those who challenged the law, argued that private, consensual sexual conduct among adults is constitutionally protected and beyond the reach of government regulation.

They said the Supreme Court's decision in 2003 striking down a Texas sodomy law also created a fundamental, constitutional due process right to sexual privacy.

"The evidence shows that this case is not about novelty items, naughty toys or obscene matter. It is a case about human sexuality and extremely intimate acts," the attorneys said.

They said Alabama has never explained "why sales of performance enhancing drugs like Viagra, Cialis and Levitra and even ribbed condoms are not similarly prohibited."

The attorneys said the state did not contest the evidence that about 20 percent of all American women use a vibrator and at least 10 percent of sexually active adults use vibrators in their regular sex life.

A federal judge ruled against the state and found a constitutional "right to use sexual devices like ... vibrators, dildos, anal beads and artificial vaginas."

But a U.S. appeals court based in Atlanta upheld the law by a 2-1 vote.

The appeals court said it agreed with Alabama that the law exercised time-honored use of state police power to restrict the sale of sex. It rejected the ACLU's argument that the constitutional right to privacy covered the commercial sale of sex toys.

Alabama Attorney General Troy King opposed the ACLU's appeal.

"This case involves conduct that is both public and commercial -- the sale of sexual devices to the general public in commercial retail shopping centers" and at in-house Tupperware-style parties, he said.

King said the law respected "the distinction between public commercial conduct and purely private behavior." He said, "It ... stays out of people's bedrooms."
The justices rejected the appeal without any comment or recorded dissent.

Destination Calling

2005-02-21T07:17:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine went to this place in Detroit on Friday and said it was outstanding. Apparently, there's a nice stained-glass mural over the bar that lights the place up during the day. Smoke free too, very nice. I'll see you there if you're in town.

BAILE CORCAIGH: Irish venue pays stout attention to details of homeland
February 18, 2005
BY JESSICA J. SHAWFREE PRESS SPECIAL WRITER

The Lowdown: "It all happened over tea," explains owner Leo Malinowski. "After the fifth trip to Ireland with my wife, I sat with a friend enjoying this great cup of tea we brought back, thinking, 'Wouldn't it be nice to share this with others?' "

The retired General Motors engineer and onetime bar owner had sworn off ever returning to the business world. But with word of an available property in Detroit's Corktown neighborhood and a nod from his wife, Sharon Mooney Malinowski, a retired senior editor at the Gale Group, the answer was apparent: Baile Corcaigh, an Irish pub and restaurant.

But transforming the dingy bar -- Hummer's on Bagley and Trumbull (just south of Tiger Stadium) -- was less than simple.

There were "used dishes lying around, and there were a lot of major repairs," Leo Malinowski says of the building. "And the agent assured us it was ready to open." The couple, married since 1969, embarked on what Sharon calls "following her heart toward a dream." The two bought the space in 2002 and spent the following years transforming the little corner bar into a virtual trip to the homeland. Finally, the Malinowskis are ready to share their slice of heaven. They proudly opened their doors for business just last week.

Atmosphere and Décor: "This place will stand up to any new space in Detroit." That's Arthur Mullen, 36, of Detroit. He's fresh from work, still in coveralls, froth from his Guinness Stout sticking in his amber beard. "The attention to detail here is incredible."

And he's not fibbing. Sneak through the towers of stones and the artisan-carved doors, and you, too, will experience the mysterious, castle-like feeling. It was a goal of the Malinowskis to re-create the spirit of a traditional Irish pub. They shipped handcrafted tables, Liscannor slate flooring, rich upholstery fabric and more straight from the Emerald Isle.

An Irish pub through and through, Baile Corcaigh (which translates to town of Cork) is peppered with ideas the couple got from watering holes while traveling the Irish countryside. Glass panels, hand-etched in Celtic design by Leo, are displayed throughout the rooms. You'll also note the carved wooden dividers that turn the 16-seat bar into four private nooks with elbow room over the granite bar top.

No question, Baile Corcaigh is downright cozy -- right down to the quarry stone fireplace. Don't miss the map of 32 stones embedded in the wall. Sharon spent days cruising to collect one stone from every county -- each etched with the name of the county it represents.

By the way, leave your smokes at home unless you're willing to be fed to the dragons. Hoping to keep the atmosphere light and airy, the couple has decided to ban cigarettes.

Crowd: Beer connoisseurs, the local workforce and Corktown dwellers are all claiming this charming corner as their own.

Dress: Coveralls, post-office uniform, suit and silk tie, jeans. No dress code.

Drink: For thematic beverages, peruse temptation alley: the seven authentic Irish taps lined up at center bar, each $5. For you hop hounds, that's Guinness Stout, Beamish Stout, Smithwick's Ale, O'Hara's Irish Red, Harp Lager, Kinsale Lager and Wexford Irish Cream Ale.

You'll also find the harder stuff, ranging from Bushmills Irish Whiskey ($4) to Middleton Irish Whiskey ($18) over rocks or with coffee.

But don't fret if you're a domestic beer man. Miller Genuine Draft, Michelob Ultra and, yes, Pabst Blue Ribbon, are yours for $3. Boddingtons goes for $5. Just be sure to order them in a hushed voice. Goodness knows any Irishman or woman in earshot might heckle you clear to Dublin.

Food: Strictly Irish. The culinary end of Baile Corcaigh showcases Sharon Mooney Malinowski's artistry. Long a student of the craft, she traveled to County Cook in 2003 for an intensive program at Ballymaloe Cookery School under leading Irish chef Darina Allen. Meals are made from scratch, with entrees priced $7.50-$12.95.
Deliveries arrive fresh each morning, and all menu items -- Amish chicken ($9.50), Irish stew ($12.95), Gaelic steak ($1.75 per ounce) -- are prepared by Sharon and Irish chef Martin Costello. Meals are piled high with vegetables and creamy sauces, barely leaving room for desserts like the apple crumble ($4.50). Tables are meticulously set with candles and green linens -- vases of Irish bells complete each one. Keep an eye on the Free Press Weekend section for an upcoming review of the food at Baile Corcaigh.

Music: The Coors, U2, Irish techno, Celtic classics, Cranberries, the Pogues. All Irish radio all the time.

Cover: No cover.

Hours: 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Tue.-Thu.; kitchen closes at 10 p.m. 11 a.m.-2 a.m. Fri.-Sat.; kitchen closes at 11 p.m.

This sucks.

2005-02-20T22:46:00.000-05:00

Hunter S. Thompson is dead.

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~53~2723492,00.html

Where have you gone Stevie Y?

2005-02-16T13:30:00.000-05:00

by Gene

I still remember it like it was yesterday. It was my first communion and my mother gave me a present to celebrate. She handed me an envelope and a card. Inside the envelope were two tickets to see the Detroit Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena. I was 8. I still remember sitting in the upper deck, feeling so small and like I was a million miles away, but still, my dad and I loved it. Then, during the second intermission, a huge line of people formed on the steps next to me and my dad.

“What’s going on?” I asked. “Oh, I think Gordie Howe is signing autographs during intermission tonight.” I looked up and sure enough, there was Mr. Hockey, signing away, shaking hands, always with a smile on his face. I was hooked.

Fast forward 22 years later and I’m still an avid hockey fan, or at least I was, until the events of today will most likely leave me scarred forever regarding my favorite professional sport. Today, for the first time in North American history, the NHL became the first professional sports league to cancel an entire season due to a labor dispute. Commissioner Gary Bettman made the announced at 11:00 A.M. and I’m sure him and his owners couldn’t be happier.

What a pathetic day it is to be an NHL fan. Here the millions of us are, listening to the signs that an agreement may be reached, and then learning that the season was cancelled due to a difference of $6.5 million in a salary cap proposal. The sad thing is, even with this cap, it wouldn’t solve the problems the league faced and I think most fans admit this. What’s even more sad is that the chief problem isn’t going anywhere…and that problem’s name is Gary Bettman.

Gary Bettman came to the NHL from the NBA in the early 90s. The owners voted him in as their first commissioner on the thought that he could do for the NHL what him and David Stern did for the NBA. Unfortunately, he did just that. Over the last 10 years, eight new teams have been added to the league, franchises relocated, tv ratings plummeted, and salaries and ticket prices escalated to never-before-seen rates.

Kudos Mr. Bettman to a job well done.

Pieces of blame lie all around in the shrapnel that once was the NHL as we once knew it – and don’t think for a second the game will ever be the same, not for a long time. The players caved to a cap, only after saying for months they would never do it. The owners, meanwhile, never really “negotiated” and after all, aren’t they the ones who have blindly thrown money around to third-line centers (thanks New York! Don’t let the door hit you on the way out).

But, when this is all said and done, blame can be squarely placed at the footsteps of the NHL Commissioner. The man came into what was admittedly the fourth biggest professional league in the U.S. With visions of grandeur and dollar signs (thanks to the hundreds of millions the league owners recouped in expansion fees), Bettman has successfully ignored the die-hard hockey fans of what is a niche-sport, and allowed it to fall below the ranks of the PGA and NASCAR. Instead of fast-paced action, what was once an exciting sport has turned into a dull, clutching-and-grabbins style of play that doesn't bring in any new fans. Of course, had Bettman made the league enforce existing rules, this wouldn't have happend.

There are so many mistakes, there isn't enough bandwidth to discuss them. Some of the biggest mistakes include: allowing for Wayne Gretzky to be fleeced from Edmonton to L.A., leading to unproven expansion in markets that don't care about hockey; focusing far too much attention to outlawing fighting in order to gain new, non-violent loving fans, thus alienating long-time fans; and last but not least, accepting a collective bargaining agreement in 1995 that did nothing to resolve the problems of the day. Today's lockout is simply an extension of Bettman's inability to bridge a gap with players over the last ten years.

How did it all come to this? The answer is simple. Greed and ego…with a lot of help by one man alone. The main person in charge. Gary Bettman.

May he rot in hell, becuase players like Steve Yzerman, Mario Lemieux, Mark Messier, Chris Chelios and Al MacInnis don't come around every year. I've been watching those players since I was 8. And now, all of them have most likley played their last game, and it wasn't on their own terms. Those players deserve better. The league deserves better. The fans deserve better.

The sooner the owners and their patsy Gary Bettman realize this, the better. Unfortunately, it may be too late.

Tunes and lists

2005-02-16T07:41:00.000-05:00

John Richards, morning show host on beloved KEXP radio in Seattle shares his best songs ever (constantly changing, as he prefaces) in a recent email to listeners. Of course, the dude has outstanding taste. Check it out:

1.Pixies "Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf)"
2.Jesus and Mary Chain "Just Like Honey"
3.Joy Division "Love Will Tear Us Apart"
4. Sugar "Hoover Dam"
5. Stone Roses "I Wanna Be Adored"
6.Echo and the Bunnymen "The Killing Moon"
7. Ride "Vapor Trail"
8. The Clash "Police and Thieves"
9. Jeff Buckley "Hallelujah"
10. Radiohead "Let Down"

This begs the question, what would you pick given the predicament? 10 songs, desert island.

Here's what I'm thinking on this early February morning (of course, tomorrow is subject to change):

1. Stevie Wonder - "As"
2. The Beatles - "Penny Lane"
3. The Ronettes - "Be My Baby"
4. Stone Roses - "Song For My Suguarspun Sister"
5. Nina Simmone - "Just In Time" (live)
6. Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell - "Your Precious Love"
7. Bruce Springsteen - "Bobby Jean"
8. Michael Jackson - "Rock With You"
9. Run D.M.C. - "It's Tricky"
10. The Police - "Don't Stand So Close To Me"

Gary Betttman and Bob Goodenow....

2005-02-14T17:08:00.000-05:00

....can both kiss my big fat white ass!

Logic

2005-02-11T07:59:00.000-05:00

Iraq is part of the AXIS OF EVIL, along with North Korea and Iran, pass it on.

Iraq is an imminent threat to America, pass it on.

Iraq has nuclear weapons, pass it on.

Iraq is part of the war on terrorism, pass it on.

Iraq has a bad, naughty, filthy leader, pass it on.

Iraq is filled with terrorists, pass it on.

North Korea has nukes.

Some things make total sense - particularly when your society breeds uneducated, lethargic, complacent, pre-occupied idiots.

NHL Season on Ice? Say it Ain't So?

2005-02-10T09:54:00.000-05:00

by Gene

O.K. Let's get this straight. I'm a huge hockey fan. Live it. Breathe it. And I'll go to the grave knowing there isn't any finer sports competition than the annual Stanley Cup playoffs. It's the toughest championship to attain in the world. But the owners or the NHL and the players are willing to throw it all out the window this weekend if they can't come up with a "compromise" and sign a new bargaining agreement.

How sad.

What's even more sad is that neither leaders - Commissioner Gary Bettman or NHLPA chief Bob Goodenow - have ever really sat down and tried to reach a middle ground. All they've done is dressed up their own little pigs and sprayed perfume on them time and time again, trying to make them smell better with every passing negotiating session. And whenever bringing in a third-party negotiator was brought up, both sides laughed off the idea.

Let's look at the main facts of the offers and the league as it stands:

The league wants a hard salary cap with salaries making up no more than 55% of total league revenue. The problem, the league says, is that salaries have skyrocketed to a point so high that the league has lost $1.8 billion over the last 8 years. Of course, during this time, nobody was holding a gun to the owners' heads forcing them to dole out multi-million, long-term contracts to third-line players. The owners also didn't complain when they reaped tens of millions in payments from teams that entered the league from non-traditional hockey hotbeds, never minding the fact that going from 22 teams in 1990 to 30 teams by 2000 might somehow have a negative effect on the overall quality of the sport.

The players want nothing to do with a hard salary cap at all and have said from the beginning they'll never accept one. And can you blame them? They've seen their average salary rise by 300% over the last five years. In 1990, only a handful of players made more than a million dollars. Today, the average salary is $1.3 million. Needless to say, the discrepancy of pay has gone up ten fold. Unfortunately for the players, they hold absolutely no leverage.

So where does this leave the league? Sitting inside a bus, teetering on a cliff, with the commissioner ready to drive it over the edge and watching it crash to the bottom.

The saddest thing is that if both leaders weren't so stubborn, a third-party negotiator could easily come in and broker a deal. The league wants a hard cap, the players don't. There is a middle ground called a tax-based system. It may not be perfect for baseball, but it's a start, and it least it will make some owners shiver when they are faced with paying 50% more on the dollar for exceeding a certain salary threshold.

The big question for hockey fans is, can a deal be made by the weekend? Even the most optimistic spectators at this point say no. Hopefully, cooler heads will prevail, but after watching the commissioner stay out of the negotiations for two months, then suddenly reappear and throw his previous offer in the face of the union, it appears the league is willing to be the first one to shut down for an entire season. What a waste. What a sad state of affairs.

House of Saud on PBS

2005-02-09T12:39:00.000-05:00

Caught a great Frontline special last night on PBS. In case you missed it, it should be replaying throughout the week on your local station.

The show outlined Saudi development and US relations throughout the 20th century and into the modern day. It provided terrific insight as to how situations have developed to where they are today with the country and in some part, the entire middle east region. I highly suggest checking it out:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/saud/

Whoa.

2005-02-08T17:13:00.000-05:00

Well, at Least He Won't Be Fathering More Fans...

Geoff Huish, 26, was so convinced England would win Saturday's match he told fellow drinkers at a social club, "If Wales win I'll cut my balls off," the paper said.

Friends at the club in Caerphilly, south Wales, thought he was joking. But after the game Huish went home, severed his testicles with a knife, and walked 200 yards back to the bar with the testicles to show the shocked drinkers what he had done.

Huish was taken to hospital where he remained in serious condition, the paper said. Wales's 11-9 victory over England at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff was their first home win over England in 12 years.

Who's Your Booby? Fox, That's Who

2005-02-08T15:21:00.000-05:00

Quick everyone! Hide your kids! There's a commercial with a buxom brunette on that will offend your children. Hurry! Don't watch...look, look away. For the love of God, please don't watch this ad. It will ruin your standing in the Puritan church. What would your priest say? Take this off the air please. But don't take off Temptation Island or that lesbian kiss scene from the O.C. that you've been promoting for weeks. That's hot!

Also, don't pull the ad that mocks the slaying of a cat or the beating of a person as a case of mistaken identity. Because as we all know. Violence? That's funny and entertaining. Breasts and sexuality? That's the devils work.

What a bunch of hypocritical fools this country has become.

And for the record, this writer had no problems with any of the commercials. I'm just using the other commercials as an effect to show the hypocrisy that is big media in this country. Thank God for Rupert Murdoch.

Racy Ad Pulled After Super Bowl Airing
Television - AP
By SETH SUTEL, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK - A racy ad for a vendor of Web site names was pulled at the last minute from a second showing during the Super Bowl telecast on Sunday after NFL executives objected that the spot made light of Janet Jackson "wardrobe malfunction" incident in last year's halftime show.

The ad for GoDaddy.com Inc. featured a buxom woman appearing before a "broadcast censorship" hearing making her case that she wanted to appear in a commercial, when suddenly she suffers a malfunction of her own as a strap breaks on her already skimpy top.

One of the elderly committee members reaches for an oxygen mask, while a woman suggests that the woman put on a turtleneck. The logo of the fake news channel was "G-Spin," and the hearings were supposedly being held in Salem, Mass., the town made famous by witch trials.
Although the spot was initially approved by Fox executives prior to airing, a decision was made during broadcast not to air the spot a second time later in the game. Brian McCarthy, a spokesman for the NFL, said that the NFL's chief operating officer, Roger Godell, expressed his "disappointment" to Fox executives after seeing the first airing of the ad.

McCarthy said the NFL had not reviewed the ad prior to its airing, and was not aware that it had been scheduled to be repeated later in the game. "We questioned why a spot of that nature was in the game," McCarthy said, noting its "inappropriateness" and the fact that it referred to last year's incident.

Jon Nesvig, the president of advertising sales for Fox Broadcasting Co., a division of News Corp., said in a statement that when the commercial ran in the first half, "it became obvious to us that its content was very much out of step with the tenor set by the other ads and programming broadcast by Fox on Super Bowl Sunday, so Fox made the decision to drop its repeat airing."
A spokesman for Fox declined to elaborate beyond the statement. Fox had already rejected a second ad from GoDaddy.com prior to the broadcast.

McCarthy said that the NFL had several conversations with Fox in the weeks leading up to the game in order to "make sure that the overall presentation of Super Bowl Sunday would be suitable for a mass audience. ... That's why we questioned this particular content."
The NFL was determined not to have a repeat of last year's complaints over the Janet Jackson halftime incident, in which her breast was exposed after singer Justin Timberlake (news) ripped off a piece of her costume.

Warren Adelman, chief operating officer of GoDaddy.com, said the company was "very disappointed" that the ad was pulled, and received no advance warning from Fox. The Scottsdale, Ariz.-based company is still in discussions with Fox about what kind of restitution would be made, he said.

"The irony is that a parody of censorship was itself censored," Adelman said.

The Double Standard of Terrell Owens

2005-02-07T17:46:00.000-05:00

by Gene

Far be it for me to ever stand up for a professional athlete whom I despise, but today I am forced too. That player is Terrell Owens, and for the better part of two weeks, unless you lived under a rock, it was impossible to ignore him.

Say what you want about Terrell – that he’s got an ego bigger than Barry Bonds’ head, that he points the finger to everyone other than himself, that he thinks he’s bigger than the game – the one thing you can’t say is that he was being selfish for playing in the super bowl.

Only six weeks ago, Owens was by all accounts done for the year, coming off a gruesome injury against the Dallas Cowboys. Shortly after the injury, surgery was performed and screws were placed in his foot. All hopes of seeing Owens on the turf again this season naturally faded away. Or did they?

Two weeks ago, Owens guaranteed that he’d play in the Super Bowl in Jacksonville. But instead of being praised for his toughness and his desire to help his team win a championship, he was ripped from coast-to-coast for being a selfish player determined to wreck his own career for the glory of the headlines.

Why was this the case? Why was T.O. held over the flames for doing something that had any other player tried, these same writers would be praising him. Imagine if Brett Favre, a former pain kill addict and alcoholic, or Ray Lewis – charged in murder - decided to throw caution to the wind and try to play in the biggest football game in the world this year? You don’t think the media wouldn’t have embraced this? If so, you are kidding yourselves.

So why the T.O. backlash? Maybe it’s as simple as a player losing all benefit-of-the-doubt due to his previous actions? Or, maybe it’s something much worse, a racial backlash? One can’t quite help but wonder if the public and media would have been as outraged at a player over a Desperate Housewives promotion and playing injured in the Super Bowl if his name were Brett Favre or Tom Brady. That’s just the simple truth.

But the fact of the matter is, is that what T.O. did yesterday was nothing short of amazing. For him to receive over 125 yards was astounding, especially against that defense, I don’t care how good you are. Running in practice is one thing. Running with the New England Patriot defense chucking you at the line of scrimmage and hitting your legs, that’s something different all together.

And for once, I’m standing up for T.O. and praising his actions. Will his heroic performance be able to change his standing amongst the majority of the American public? Who knows? But one thing’s for certain, the public has proven that it will forgive off-field misbehavior much faster than any harm you or your ego caused on it. T.O. is a shining example of that.

Super Bowl

2005-02-07T07:58:00.000-05:00

Seriously, can you ask for anything more than having back to back Super Bowls ending in dramatic fashion? Albeit, this year wasn't quite as suspense-filled as last years, but a solid game none-the-less. The days of one super bowl every 6 years being decent have taken the backseat for the time being, cool by me.

A few random thoughts (feel free to shed yours in the comments area) on the game:

- Philly had some big plays go their way (McNabb knee, big third down spot on first TD drive, Pinkston catch, Brady fumble/takeaway on the 7 yard line) early-on, hats off to NE withstanding their shots and only being down 7 in the second quarter.
- Brady continues to never make mistakes.
- I'm still full-up from the tasty chili, wings, chips, hummus, brownies (the cheesecake/chocolate and the carmel-coated were damn good) and brew-taters.
- The MVP is a 5th round draft pick out of Louisville (Lions, this is what good coaching does).
- Macca was a decent halftime show. Up there with U2 as the only performances that were easy to stomach in the last 20 years.
- McNabb threw three pathetic balls which cost them the NFL title.
- The six minute drill to wrap up the game was RUBBISH. The Eagles going to the huddle after EVERY play during their last drive?!?
- godaddy.com ad - umm, melikes very much. The cat ad for ameriquest was my second fave.

Pats #4 next year in the D? With Cronnell and Weis heading out, it'll be really tough. Early picks for this cat is a Cardinal-Chargers match-up. Wow, can you imagine the fanfare those fans would bring to this wintry town? I get the chills just thinking about those tan-lines.

2005-02-05T09:10:00.000-05:00

Grey skies and blustry February winds = Blue skies and breezy Lake Michigan waves

Here Comes the Summer by The Fiery Furnaces
Last day in May, the afternoon: remember?
Black marks off charcoal from the dune: remember?
I thought it wouldn’t be too soon; we’d wait at least until its June.
The twenty-ninth of March it rained: remember?
You looked so sad that I explained: remember?
You knew it wouldn’t be too soon; we’ll have to wait until its June.
I’ve been waiting since I don’t know when and now it finally seems about to start.
I swear, I swear, that I will do my part.
December dark at six o’clock: remember?
The freezing wind gives you a shock: remember?
You knew it wouldn’t be too soon; we’ll have to wait until its June.
October damp on down the street: remember?
The sodden leaves stuck to your feet: remember?
You knew it wouldn’t be too soon; we’ll have to wait until its June.
I’ve been waiting since I don’t know when and now it finally seems about to start.
I swear, I swear, that I will do my part.
July the third we stayed up late: remember?
And thought how long we’d have to wait: remember?
It’ll be so long until it’s soon; it’ll be so long until its June.

The Real American Crisis

2005-02-04T09:51:00.000-05:00

by Gene

While the President spent the majority of his speech glad-handing to his fellow Republicans and preaching about the future perils of Social Security, one might think the sky is falling. After all, what’s a current 29 year old to do in 40 years when the well runs dry on Social Security? Where will his retirement come from?

Don’t worry my son, for the President has a vision. Private savings accounts, where you will be allowed to gamble away your “security”. Oh, and don’t forget about the billions and billions of dollars that the securities brokers and financial institutions stand to make on this windfall of a deal. (These are the same lobbies, by the way, that donated tens of millions to your campaign the last few years. Shhhhhhh, don’t tell. Maybe no one will notice.)

Yes, the President is looking to turn the New Deal into the Raw Deal. While the plan is disguised as a way to help the average American and keep the program afloat before it goes bankrupt, it really turns out to be a major kick-back to Mr. Bush’s supporters. It also goes along the lines of Bush’s “ownership” philosophy. Basically, in the world of Bush, you must own something to be something. He said so in his campaign. “I believe that a person that owns something has a stake in the future of America.” That’s all well and good Mr. President. It’s even better if you come from a family of millionaires who cajoles with millionaires and has no need to worry about financial insecurity.

The most disturbing trend in this new debate on Social Security is that the President is once again misleading this country about a “crisis” that isn’t a crisis at all.

Mr. Bush’s staff has once again concocted its “telling numbers” by devising their own formulas for when Social Security ends. These new formulas tell a shocking number: that Social Security will be bankrupt in 42 years. If you look at the real method these numbers are determined, you’d see that Social Security is projected to have a slight deficit in 50 years, but nothing that can’t be fixed with slight tweaking.

The program that DOES need the most work is the healthcare industry and Medicare.

According the government’s annual statistics, Medicare stands to have a projected deficit five times larger than Social Security in much shorter time. Combine that with the ever-increasing costs of health care in this country and, ladies and gentlemen, here’s your real crisis.

How many of you have seen double-digit percentage increases in health care employee contributions the last four years? How is it that a small, 80+ year old business in Livonia, Michigan, Awrey Bakery, has seen its employee contributions for family health coverage rise from $450 to $820 in only three years!

If you a looking for a true crisis folk, you have one. And, this crisis doesn’t have the potential to be here in 40-50 years. It’s here now and we are all dealing with it.

The sooner the President sees this, the better. Unfortunately, in his neo-conservative world of millionaires and boosters, they never have to worry about health care cost.

It’s amazing how much brighter the real world looks when you are living in one made of fantasy.

Uh Oh, Jay Z in Trouble Again

2005-02-03T16:39:00.000-05:00

Actually, it's Jay Z' grandfather who got busted this time.

Jay-Z's Grandfather Busted With Trunk Full Of Canadian Prescription Drugs

BUFFALO, NY—Tyrone J. Carter, rap artist Jay-Z's 75-year-old grandfather, was arrested Monday for transporting prescription drugs across the Canadian border in the trunk of his 1998 Oldsmobile. "My grandson says I shouldn't have unlocked the trunk unless the cops had a warrant, but what's a man supposed to do?" said Carter, who was busted with more than $1,000 worth of pharmaceutical-grade Diovan, Lipitor, and Lanoxin. "Don't the police have anything better to do than hassle a sick old man? My insurance doesn't cover my pills anymore—I gotta get my heart medicine somewhere." The arresting officers said the pills had a U.S.-pharmacy value of nearly $18,000. (courtesy of the Onion)

Vision

2005-02-02T12:11:00.000-05:00

So, we get another stellar performance by Sgt. Bumbles and his state of the union, tonight's theme?

SOCIAL SECURITY and FREEDOM

Panic everyone, the fear is here! It's gonna run out in 50 years! It doesn't work in today's market! We need to be more efficient by privatizing our funds!

Have no fear, for the remedy to the President's own invention is here.

Wait. Did you say that American Idol is on BEFORE the address? Cool. I'll grab my bag of chips, watch the show, then salute our commander-in-cheif by nodding my head in agreement with ABSOLUTE conviction while he speaks. Even if I don't know what the hell it is that this social security thingmagy is, I'll still feel like a dedicated and true American patriot.