Close Shave

Never Forget 1-31-07

2007-08-03T19:02:00.001-04:00

Boston Sucks!

Happy Hour at the John Street

2007-04-15T18:42:00.000-04:00

Due to circumstances under my control, I neglected to start adding my tales of silliness until now.

When I started working in lower Manhattan, I was fresh out of college. I had a tolerance for beer & liquor that has yet to be revisited. I was commuting on a daily basis from New Jersey and loving the lack of sleep. The building I worked in was about a couple of blocks from John Street. One of the guys I worked with, we'll call him "Michelob", had been a courier in the financial district and had an intimate knowledge of the New York bars. He told me and some of our other coworkers of a Happy Hour special at the John St. Tavern: $10 all you can drink pints from 5-8 p.m. This was right up my alley. The benefit of ending the work day at 4:30 for us was being able to take full advantage of such a special. We went down to the Tavern, a bar downstairs from an OTB location, and started ordering pints of Saranac. As luck would have it, there was a Saranac sales rep at the Tavern that evening and he had a bag full of T-shirts. He kindly offered to give me a shirt if I would continue to order Saranac throughout the evening. I was more than happy to comply. I had at least 6 or 7 pints during the happy hour and managed to finally collect my shirt only after harassing the sales rep to hold up his end of the bargain. In the meantime, Michelob's friends from Bay Ridge met up with us and we were having a grand old time. I had originally planned on finishing the happy hour and hopping on PATH train to Newark and then riding back to Jersey on the train. Michelob's friends convinced me to stick around and head over to Brooklyn to round out the night. We picked up a cab just outside of the World Trade Center and headed toward Bay Ridge. At one point near the end of the ride, one of Michelob's friends looked at me and said, "yo, we're going to beat this cab, as soon as the car stops, follow Wayne." Keeping in mind that I'm still wearing my work clothes, I ran like hell behind Wayne, a guy who could probably be a blocking back on most football teams, ducking down alleys and between rowhouses. We got to the next destination and got another drink before moving on. At some point in the evening all of the saranac hit me and I lost the ability to speak coherent english. When we finally got to the Salty Dog in Bay Ridge, I looked at Michelob and said, "If I could speak english, I'd try to hit on one of these girls." At the end of the night, Michelob brought me over to his buddy's house so I could pass out.

The next morning, I woke up to a cordless phone being pushed in my face, "Yo, are you up? You should get rolling soon to get here on time." Karlo and I got moving while he convinced me to drink a V8 Splash. Not a good idea. We got on the R train from Brooklyn into Manhattan and settled in for the 25 minute ride. Karlo got out about 10 minutes into the ride and told me where to get off. As the ride continued, I started to feel the swaying of the Subway car, and the previous night was catching up to me quickly. I started to gag, and the guy on the other end of our row of seats knew what was coming, and he moved to the other end of car. At this point, the V8 Splash came back to me as I tried to hold it in. Unfortunately, a little bit of puke got on my shirt. Not good. The rest of the puke ended up on the subway car floor and I got away from it quickly. Luckily, I only had 2 more stops. Even more luckily, I had my Saranac T-Shirt! I walked in to work and explained the situation. My boss gave me the okay to wear the T-shirt, he figured my foolish attire would be entertaining for everyone. Everybody wins. With the exception of the fact that I left my housekeys and money clip at Karlo's house, everything turned out pretty well.

NY Stories

2007-03-09T20:17:00.000-05:00

Since I don't pay much attention to this stupid thing I came to a decision today. Once a week I'm going to start posting stories to shock and amaze you. I don't think either of those things will occur, actually. I will, however, post stories of humor and debauchery from my time in New York City. I may even add my story from 9/11. It's not that special, it's just that I can remember every step I took that day. But let's focus on the hilarity. A few months ago, I began to compile stories from my 5 years of silliness and found that there are at least 52 stories. The first of these stories will appear in the next week or so. Stay tuned or else...

Still lazy after all these years

2007-02-24T23:43:00.000-05:00

Wow, my last post was in July of 2006. I don't know why I started this, probably had to do with boredom and unemployment. Lately nothing gets me worked up enough to write. Politics is boring, same shit different congress. I have other things on my mind. I worry about this little girl. I decided to branch out beyond drinking weak flavorless beer, now I drink a whole bunch of this. I'm very happy to see this happen. I'm also very delighted not to be part of this. I can neither confirm nor deny being employed by a cabinet maker. But let's just say that I am. Don't worry people, there are bigger things on the horizon, and I'll laugh all the way home. But who really cares? Not me. Well I can't promise any of the usual anger, but you never know.

LaTourette fails

2006-07-29T16:00:00.000-04:00

As a citizen of the 14th district of Ohio, the Northeast section that includes: Lake, Geauga, Ashtabula and parts of Cuyahoga, Trumbull and Portage counties, we are served by Steven C. LaTourette. In the last half year or so, the Club for Growth, as well as The Truth Laid Bear, has zeroed in on Congress members who are more interested in Pork barrell spending than using our tax money wisely. Recently they have focused on the 19 anti-pork amendments proposed by Jeff Flake, a congressman from Arizona's sixth district. The Club for Growth has produced a delightful chart that outlines the way congressmen from every district in America voted. Mr. LaTourette voted "no" on every amendment. Loosely translated, this means that LaTourette is more concerned with spending our hard earned tax dollars than he is with spending it wisely, or not spending it at all. One would think that with this much transparency, Mr. LaTourette would have made a better effort. He had 19 chances, and not one of them was worth voting for?
I have previously written posts on LaTourette's spending problem here and tried to contact him, but merely received a form letter in return. I was far more encouraged by the response from Senator DeWine, which actually seemed to be written rather than copied and pasted from campaign literature and then auto-stamped. At any rate, it's difficult to imagine a scenario that would cause me to vote for LaTourette when his next election cycle comes around.

J-E-W-S

2006-07-27T21:22:00.000-04:00

One of the things I hate most about politics is the endless finger pointing used to avoid accountability. The gentleman at Powerline have hit the nail on the head with this post. They basically ask the question that a lot of sensible people from any political persuasion should be asking, Why is it okay to point out anti-semitism or racism when it benefits you? They recall a number of "incidents" from recent memory, such as Jesse Jackson calling New York "Hymietown" or Cynthia McKinney's father blaming the Jews for her loss in 2002. I'm sure Powerline is aware that there is a minute opening left for some variety of counterattack from somebody. The examples they use largely involve black politicians who have denigrated Jewish people for political gain. Surely some asshole with a desire to attack Powerline will call them racist and connect them with some grand Zionist neo-con conspiracy. The point is that it shouldn't be okay for a political organization to call somebody an anti-semite without first taking to task its own members, who are also anti-semites.

Duke Redux

2006-07-20T21:42:00.000-04:00

This is a compelling post about the inner struggle at Duke between common sense and certain members of its faculty. It seems to me that quite a few of the faculty members have come to their own conclusions about the case based on the notion that the accused are athletes and serve no purpose among the academic side of the school. It's a shame that this sort of bias will blind anyone, much less a professor. From what I gather, quite a few of these so called academics aren't interested in evidence, just what they "know." At any school you'll find professors who find a certain joy in tormenting athletes in any number of ways. What seperates average colleges from outstanding ones is the ratio of professors who treat each student equally to those who have bias or an agenda of some sort. In this case it looks like Duke needs some help.

Bye Bye Basayev

2006-07-15T15:39:00.000-04:00

Before war started breaking out this week, I had intended on discussing the death of one of my least favorite people, Shamil Basayev. Apparently, Basayev had been hiding out in Ingushetia, a republic neighboring Chechnya, when a convoy he was accompanying went kaboom. One of the trucks in the convoy had 22o pounds of dynamite in it and may or may not have exploded accidentally. According to a Federal Security Service chief, this was a planned strike with the help of "the Russian intelligence position abroad." An unnamed security official said that some close to Basayev tipped off his position. Meanwhile, an Ingush official said that the explosion was accidental and occurred while a police operation was being staged to halt a terror attack. Obviously the Russians will claim they had a hand in his death, and why not? It strengthens Putin's domestic position. Whatever the case may be, one of the world's truly evil people is dead and he deserved every ounce of that explosion. If you play with dynamite you will get smeared.

Reasonable Doubt

2006-06-28T21:33:00.000-04:00

In my efforts to keep the Duke Lacrosse story going, I stumbled upon an interesting website and a very good Op-Ed piece from the Washington Post's Ruth Marcus. The first site, Dilby.com, purports to name the accuser as Crystal Gail Mangum as well as printing the address where she no longer lives. This site is also known for naming Kobe Bryant's accuser. I'm not sure about the accuracy of this information. I was really only looking for the team roster. The Op-Ed by Ruth Marcus is an excellent rundown of various pieces of information behind the claims of reasonable doubt. I can only say again, let these kids get on with their life. I have no inside information, but these guys are being dragged to hell and back for one person's ego, just get on with it already.

Just drop the case

2006-06-22T21:11:00.000-04:00

Generally, when I got to Sportsline.com it's to check out my fantasy baseball teams or check scores. Every once in a while the sports world has a captivating story that deserves coverage. I really think the Duke lacrosse story is one. While it's fading in most media outlets, the sports world is still paying attention. Reade Seligman is one of the 3 players wrongfully indicted in this case. Today a judge decided to reduce Seligman's bond to $100,000 from $400,000, money his father had to borrow. Here's the part that I think stinks: A trial isn't scheduled to begin before spring of 2007, so the two underclassmen will have missed 3 straight semesters of school for something they haven't done. I really really really don't like lawyers that much, but I really really really like vengeance. I hope that the parents of these kids counter this entire mess with a nice wrongful prosecution suit. Their children have been tainted for life whether they like it or not. Eventually it will fade, but over the course of the next few years, they might as well walk around with targets on their chests.

Free the Durham Three

2006-06-18T12:59:00.000-04:00

Like clockwork, Newsweek picked up on the whole Tawana Brawley of Durham mish mash, and has a lengthy article on the demise of this spectacular waste of time and taxpayer money. Is it too much for Mike Nifong to admit he's made a mistake and just walk into the sunset? It wouldn't surprise me one bit to see this idiot delay the proceedings until after the elections. It's the only way he'll be able to get around this shameful display.

Guilty?

2006-06-14T08:38:00.000-04:00

Are the Duke Lacrosse players guilty? Absolutely. They're guilty of behaving badly. They're guilty of underage drinking. They're guilty of being white. This is apparently enough evidence for Durham DA Mike Nifong to base his entire re-eclection campaign. 3 white students, nay athletes, took part in a fairly raucous party at an off campus house, where 2 strippers were slated to perform. I hate to blow the lid off of the dark underside of college, but this sort of thing probably happened at at least 40-50 other schools during the past school year. Unfortunately, only one has garnered national press attention because Tawana Brawley wasn't available at the time. At first, it didn't look good for the Duke lacrosse team, much less the university. Yes, the lacrosse team has been involved in prior incidences of bad behavior, but nothing on this scale. As time goes by, however, more evidence points to a very bad conspiracy to re-elect the Durham county DA, take down Duke and put 3 young white men in a position where they are marked for life. Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and the New Black Panther Party have all been quick to presume guilt based on race. And when these 3 young men are cleared, the gruesome threesome or race baiting will, of course, claim that racial differences are at fault for the outcome, rather than the ovewhelming evidence and lack of character on the part of the accuser. It's a shame that these young men are having their lives upended for at least a year because they went to a team party. If that were a crime, our prison system would be overloaded with college students from all walks of life. Lashawn Barber has a much more eloquent take on this case.

Excuses, excuses

2006-06-12T17:47:00.000-04:00

I may be the laziest person with a blog. Well, maybe apathetic. I have plenty of good reasons though. My work hours keep me in Amish country until 8 p.m., my laptop ceased functioning, I've been reading and losing wieght (not at the same time) and I just haven't really found anyting worth a good rant. It's been a while, but I'll find some things to get me worked up. It seems the only thing that has changed since my last post is that Zarqawi feasted on a 500 pound bomb. Democrats still hate Bush, and still complain about Iraq. John Kerry is still fighting the Swift boat battle and still hasn't released his complete military records. I guess the only rant I want to unleash is regarding the Duke Lacrosse players and the overzealous agenda of a prosecutor looking to court the black vote. I'll get into that later. Ta ta.

I Like Mike

2005-11-13T01:37:00.000-05:00

This is an article I found today courtesy of Realclearpolitics.com and it reminds me that I have been tardy in remembering both the birth of the Marine Corps and Veterans Day. Thank you, Dad, Uncle Chuck, Grandpa, Grandma (you read that right), Other Granpa, and various Great Uncles and people I've never met. Your volunteerism puts the "Peace Corps" to shame and puts to shame those quasi-accomplishments of every other jerk who never volunteered to do anything but whine. Thank you for all that you've done to keep me and other Americans free.

RIP

2005-11-09T17:43:00.000-05:00

One of the Greatest Generation's great men passed away yesterday. He is a friend of my family's and very astute intellectual worthy of national coverage. As well, he was involved in the invasion of Normandy during WWII as a French interpreter. He was, however, humble enough not to need nor seek the limelight. His wife was also my high school english teacher, freshman year mostly, but I continue to learn from her to this day. I will share this article with you from the Trenton Times:

University's Robert Kuenne dies

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

By KEVIN SHEA

Staff Writer

Robert E. Kuenne, a Princeton University professor since the 1950s who published more than 100 works on economics and military strategy and was a veteran of World War II's D-Day invasion, has died at his Princeton home.

The St. Louis native, whose first degree was in journalism, died Saturday of Lou Gehrig's disease. He was 81.

Kuenne earned bachelor's and master's degrees in economics and a doctorate from Harvard on his way to becoming a noted national economist, longtime U.S. military adviser and Fulbright Scholar.

Kuenne joined the Princeton faculty in 1956 after teaching at Harvard and the University of Virginia. He retired from full-time work in 1997 as a professor emeritus.

At Princeton, Kuenne served and taught in a variety of capacities and was a prolific publisher of work.

The university said he was known for designing and teaching, for 30 years, a course titled "Analyses of Capitalism," and he taught microeconomic theory in the undergraduate program and general equilibrium theory at the graduate level.

His writings on economic theories ranged from oligopoly to spatial and defense economics. And he was affiliated with several scholarly journals as an editor or board member.

"It is considered a cliche to say that someone is `a gentleman and a scholar' but somehow the cliche fit Bob Kuenne perfectly," Alan Blinder, a Princeton economics professor, said in a university statement.

Concurrent to his Ivy League teaching and writing, Kuenne was a military expert. He taught at the U.S. Naval War College in Rhode Island and the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., for years, and was a longtime consultant to the Institute for Defense Analysis, a research arm for the Defense Department.

Kuenne's military prowess started in June 1944 as a 20-year-old U.S. Army soldier who landed with Allied forces in the second wave of the D-Day invasion of France's Normandy coast.

Kuenne's wife, Janet Brown Kuenne, recalled yesterday how even as a soldier her husband was a scholar. Kuenne wanted to join the weather observer corps, but the Army had no slots, so they sent him to a government unit and promptly shipped him off to Bard College, where he learned French.

When he landed in Normandy, Kuenne served in forward areas as a translator for Allied troops and spoke fluent French.

The skill served him well in 1994, when he was a dignitary guest at the 50th anniversary celebrations of the invasion in Normandy, which he attended with his wife and daughter and son-in-law.

The Kuennes spent a week in Normandy and Robert toured the invasion beaches by airplane, including Utah Beach where he landed, and the apple orchards of the Carentan region, where he recalled sleeping in a pup tent.

"He said it was very moving to go over the beaches, to be where he had been 50 years before," Janet Brown Kuenne said yesterday. Also incredibly moving was a walk the family took through the American cemetery in Normandy, where Robert Kuenne drifted away and roamed the acres of headstones. "There were certain graves he was stopping at and they were his age, (men) that were born in 1924. He was just very quiet," Janet Kuenne said.

Bringing his service full circle, Robert and his wife traveled to England a few years ago and found the family that he was first billeted with in the town of Bristol in 1944, Ed and Edna Meades, who during the war were a young couple with a small boy and a baby on the way.

In a destined stroke of luck, the Kuennes called on the Meades on the day of the couple's 65th wedding anniversary party, and were welcomed in like family for the festivities, Janet Kuenne said.

And in this corner...

2005-11-06T18:33:00.000-05:00

Apparently, in the winding road that is Terrell Owens' ginormous ego, fighting Hugh Douglas is a good idea. According to the Trenton Times, official newsrag of Central Jersey, and later confirmed by ESPN, Douglas called out Owens and T.O. thought he would take a swing. Here's the problem, Hugh Douglas is 6'2" and tips the scales at 281. His arms are the size of most men's thighs, and he can probably handle himself when the times comes. The only advantage T.O. has on Douglas, besides his combination of stupidity and a desire to hear himself talk, is that he is an inch taller. The entire series of incidents has gone way past normal, and at some point Owens and his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, will get a healthy dose of reality. In the interim we can just hope for the duo to get hit by a train or perhaps come down with Anthrax.

Dirty Jersey

2005-11-05T12:02:00.000-05:00

Leaving New Jersey can make a person miss many things: The Yankees aren't on TV all of the time, it's tough to get a decent pizza, Jersey sweet corn, etc. The one thing I won't miss is the politics. If you want a fine example of corrupt politics, look no further than the New Jersey state legislature. It's also evident in the national races, such as the current race to the bottom for Governor. John Corzine is a rich scumbag who plays dirty politics to get his way, but who doesn't? Doug Forrester is a less rich scumbag who plays dirty politics and loses fairly frequently. If I had my way, I would put the entire NJ political machine in front of a firing squad and start over again with fewer scumbags and more people interested in the well being of the Garden State. I guess anything is better than a corrupt governor who outed himself as a "Gay American" and resigned to keep the spotlight away from the corruption and mismanagement he oversaw. Oh well, I guess I'll have to wait until Ohio has something worth voting for.

Closed door madness

2005-11-01T18:36:00.000-05:00

This afternoon, the Democratic leadership undertook the task of holding a closed door session to discuss pre-war Intelligence . Talk about a timely session! It gets better than that. Senator Harry Reid, the co-minority leader, used the indictment of Scooter Libby as reasoning for the session. "The Libby indictment provides a window into what this is really all about, how this administration manufactured and manipulated intelligence in order to sell the war in Iraq and attempted to destroy those who dared to challenge its actions," his royal baldness said. The problem here is that Reid has chosen to glance over certain germane points. I can easily admit that potential WMD possesion was a terrible reason to go to war, but it certainly wasn't the sole reason. However, the time for that debate has long since ended, it's not going to change the fact that Saddam will hang and Iraq is free. The next point to ponder is whether Valerie Plame was 1) actually a covert CIA operative or 2) responsible for her husband, Joe Wilson, going to Nigeria to sip tea and not get any hard answers. Her life clearly wasn't ruined by any of this, nor was Wilson's. From what I can tell the only person getting shafted is Judith Miller, and she was already in a downward spiral because of the WMD mess. Now consider the fact that a Senate panel has already discredited much of Wilson's post-Nigeria reporting, something where Reid probably should have been present. At the very least, Reid should have a copy of the report, which certainly discredits much of the basis for today's closed door session. Finally, if Reid were serious about getting to the bottom of anything, why would he have a closed door session? It occurs to me that a closed door session does absolutely nothing for the Democrats and everything for Republicans. If something devastating is to come out in such a session that could be of detriment to the right, it stands to reason that Democrats would want as many members of the public there to bear witness. However, Reid has chosen to close the doors and dim the lights. To me it means that something embarassing may come out that could hurt Reid or some member of his party. Oh well, it isn't my problem when silly people do silly things, but if my taxes are paying for it, I should at least be able to jab somebody in the eye for this lunacy.

Makin' Bacon

2005-10-26T20:58:00.000-04:00

The Atlantic has a terrific article on my favorite food, the great american vegetable- Bacon. It essentially discusses artisan Bacon and the many new ways of creating this wonderful meat, and focuses on a Connecticut smokehouse that is slowly but surely taking the Bacon world by storm. How large said world is, we'll never know, at least not in the next 2 weeks. I will soon be ordering some of the Apple Bacon to give it a whirl. If it's as good as Corby Kummer claims it is, then I'll be in hog heaven, as it were. I must apologize though, the link to the article really stinks. You only get the opening salvo and then are forced to join them as a subscriber. If you feel the need to subscribe, I recommend it. I enjoy reading the Atlantic, but just don't have the kind of money it would take to fight a copyright infringement suit should I paste the entire article here.

And Iran, Iran so far away...

2005-10-26T20:40:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure how credible the information from Cicero is, but if even half of it is confirmed, then Tehran will be our next battleground. Who knows how well organized the Democratic resistance is inside the Islamic republic, but let's hope they can help. Hopefully the foreign policy wankers who prefer negotiating away terrorism rather than killing it don't get their way anytime soon. Does wanting a confrontation with Iran make me a Neocon or just someone with anger issues? I guess it could be both.

Hitchens' Revenge

2005-10-25T21:03:00.000-04:00

I think Christopher Hitchens is one of the smartest people around. Of course I think a lot of people are smart for different reasons, but that's neither here nor there. In early September, Hitchens met the challenge of "debating" George Galloway, the soon to be ex-Respect MP. Galloway is best known for trumpeting the "leadership" of Saddam Hussein, and recently Bashar Assad. Of course, when he said most of these things it was only suspected that Galloway was on the take. He also made a rather bloviated appearance in front of the U.S. Senate, which of course was nothing but 100% grade A horsepucky. Hitchens had the compliment of being in Galloway's ad hominem crosshairs for pointing out George's hypocrisy. Now there is an overwhelming abundance of proof of Galloway's corruption (and that's putting it lightly) and Mr. Hitchens has an excellent companion piece in Slate.

My new Pen Pal

2005-10-25T20:26:00.000-04:00

It's been nearly a month since I e-mailed Senator Mike DeWine and longer since I e-mailed Congressman Steven LaTourette. Imagine my surprise this afternoon when I received an e-mail from Senator DeWine acknowledging receipt of my e-mail and that he'll be following up soon. Half an hour later I had a response. It's laid out somewhat like a form letter, probably written by a staffer, but it does address (sort of) my anti-budget pork concerns. Actually now that I have re-read it again, I'm not very satisfied with the response. Well for what it's worth, here it is:

October 25, 2005

Dear John:

Thank you for contacting me regarding your concerns with the costs of the
relief efforts in the Gulf states following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
I appreciate knowing your views on this issue.

As you know, the combined force of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita resulted in
one of the largest national disasters in our Nation. I am committed to
providing the full amount necessary for a comprehensive recovery effort
that meets the short- and long-term needs of the Gulf region and its
residents. I agree that as stewards of your taxpayer dollars, Congress
must take steps to manage relief funding efforts in a fiscally responsible
manner. I also feel that it is important that we have a team of
inspectors general to evaluate all funding provided for the relief effort
to make sure that the money is spent wisely and efficiently.

In addition, I am extremely proud of the National Guard troops, government
workers, Red Cross volunteers, and citizens who have generously provided
their assistance in the rescue and recovery efforts. I commend their
efforts and keep all of the victims and their families in my thoughts and
prayers.

Again, thank you for contacting me. If you have any additional questions
or concerns, please feel free to contact me anytime.

Very respectfully yours,

MIKE DeWINE
United States Senator

Moonbattery

2005-10-19T18:27:00.000-04:00

I really don't care much for or about Cindy Sheehan. She lost a child to war, and now acts as if it is her constitutional right to force her way into every discussion. After seeing her 15 minutes dry up after everyone with half a brain cell passed her off as a complete loon, she is now trying to inject herself into the 2008 presidential debate. As if she matters. This woman is completely off her rocker with anti-Israel, anti-US and anti-intelligent rhetoric. She has decided that she would test out how much power she really doesn't have, by trying to pull the rug out from underneath Hillary Clinton. That's no easy task given Hillary's battle with her waistline. "I think she is a political animal who believes she has to be a war hawk to keep up with the big boys," said the crazy lady. It's interesting that she considers anyone who thinks withdrawing from Iraq a bad idea is a "hawk." I find it to be a matter of common sense, no matter what one thinks of the precursors to the war, and some of the subsequent mishandling that you don't just leave a weakened country to fend for itself. It certainly wasn't done with Germany or Japan following WWII. Nor was it done to the south following the Civil War. If you want to see a truly mishandled post-war withdrawal, you can reference Desert Storm. The entire post war plan consisted of "Let the Shia rise up and take over." Boy that worked well. Back to the point at hand though. Cindy Sheehan is a jaded mother, who got her meeting with the President and blew her chance to speak up. She didn't get any cajones until she met some Democratic p.r. people who saw the opportunity to manipulate the situation to their ends. As it turns out, it was a tremendous failure. She opened her mouth one too many times and out flopped some anti-semitism. This woman should be charged with assault and moon-battery (bad pun, I know).

Stupidity Unleashed

2005-10-13T18:36:00.000-04:00

Citing unnamed and anonymous, and likely non-existent sources, America's leading racist, Lightning Lou Farrakhan, is continuing his assault on intelligence everywhere. Today's nugget is his continuance of the conspiracy theory du jour, "That the Army Corps of Engineers blew up the dikes in New Orleans to wipe out as many black people as possible." The leading voice of stupidity said, "a member of the Army Corps of Engineers saw burn marks on the concrete." I find this hard to believe. I'm no demolitions expert, in fact the extent of my explosives experience involves M-80s, but I'm fairly certain that when combined with dynamite or other conventional explosives, concrete disintegrates into rubble without leaving burn marks. Concrete is sedimentary in nature, meaning that it is rather loose, as anyone who has dropped a cinder block will tell you. So what I gather from this, is that the Prime Minister of Hatred would rather blame white America for all of society's ills rather than address them head on and work to fix them. Oh, wait a tick, this proves it, "FEMA is insensitive, there are not enough blacks high up. The Red Cross, too. It's too white, it is! Racism poisoned the bloodstream of politics." So there you have it, lack of diversity in every agency is what caused the entire hurricane and subsequent disaster relief disaster.

Who you gonna call?

2005-10-11T20:02:00.000-04:00

Every once in a while, members of the media unleash stories that illuminate the rough and tumble missions undertaken by our outstanding servicemen. This story is indeed one of them. It involves an insertion team, the "Ghost Busters," made up of members of the 82nd Airborne, and the reporter with them from the Christian Science Monitor, in a 3 part series. This is the first article. Sometimes stories like these help to make up the good news/bad news gap created by the overzealous liberal media types.

Update (10/12): Here is the second part of the series.

Update (10/13): And here is part three.

Cooperation

2005-10-06T18:50:00.000-04:00

Hail to Thee

Last Sunday, the New York Times had a great article, in the sports section of all places, about my father's last Battalion: the 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Infantry Division. It's a good story on the interpersonal relationships being formed between our forces and the Iraqi security forces. The best quote of the entire article is this: "When people say it's horrible that you are training those Iraqi soldiers because they will never be as good as we are, they are missing the point," said Capt. Mike Whitney, commander of the 1-30th's Alpha Company. "No, the Iraqis will never be as good as we are, but they don't have to be. They just have to be better than anybody they face here."

Porkbusters Redux

2005-10-04T19:20:00.000-04:00

I have yet to receive a response from either Congressman LaTourette or Senator Dewine. I'm not quite giving up, but it's not looking very good. This piece from Andrew Roth of the Club for Growth does not bode well. I can't imagine that either of these guys are very busy worrying about their constituency, then again I could be wrong. It'd be nice to receive a response acknowledging that they've received my inquiry rather than the current level of response, which is akin to conversation with a brick wall.

Start Spreading the News

2005-09-29T20:50:00.000-04:00

Amen to that!

It's been a while since I mentioned baseball, and it's long overdue. I think this is the first time I've ever seen so many 90 win teams in one league. The American League is home to 5. It'll sure be a shame if one of them, specifically Boston, would get shut out of the playoffs. During the first game of the season at Yankee Stadium, I saw a banner that I really really enjoyed. It read "1918, 2004, 2090." Should Boston lose again, their whiny fans can restart the curse talk.
I probably shouldn't provoke these yokuls, I wouldn't want Ben Affleck to whine about the "evil empire" some more. Hey Ben, why don't you keep trading down for girlfriends? Seriously Gwyneth Paltrow, then J-Lo and now Jennifer Garner- and she's only staying around because he knocked her up- who's next on the list? So anyhow, go Yankees and Indians. Oh and go Blue Jays. That's all folks.

Rockets go Boom

2005-09-27T21:16:00.000-04:00

So Israel pulled out of Gaza thinking that Palestinian militants would cut them a break and stop attacking them. Well that didn't work out all that well. The Palestinians, okay Hamas and Islamic Jihad have been firing missiles at Israel since the pullout. Well Israel decided to stand up and say enough is enough, at least for now. Every time Palestinian terrorist groups declare a cease fire they turn right around and show that they're lying, or find some way to blame Israel for something stupid, like idiots mishandling explosives at a Hamas rally and killing a child and some other "innocent" bystanders. Here in America, most parents tell us that playing with fire will get one burned. Apparently nobody told Hamas that playing with C4 will get you cremated without a proper memorial service. I have very little sympathy for people who pick a fight and then get a black eye in retaliation. At some point both sides are going to run out of people willing to continue this idiotic cycle. Which side runs out first is basically arithmetic now. Israel has an army, and a well equipped one at that. Palestine has fanatics who run the risk of being smeared every time they walk out the door.

3 Cheers for the A-Team

2005-09-26T21:45:00.000-04:00

Apparently, the #2 jerk in Iraq has been taken down by Special Forces operators. While most of us were sleeping, or just going to sleep, a group of America's Finest were hard at work tightening the noose around terror financing. It's always heartening to see success amid the constant media river of bad and worse news. Go Army.

Porkbusters

2005-09-20T20:02:00.000-04:00

So Instapundit and The Truth Laid Bear have devised a plan to help fund Katrina relief programs by getting bloggers to call out their elected officials on programs that reek of Pork. Not that pork always smells bad, there's nothing like the smell of Bacon in the morning, but I digress. So I now live in NE Ohio and am just getting to know the politicians that will represent me, why not take the time to let them get to know me? I took a look at Steve LaTourette's (R-14th district) congressional website and identified a little over $2.7 Million in ODOT pork projects that can probably wait. Most notable among these projects are the Construction of a bicycle path extension in Geauga County Park District in Chardon for $400,000 and the purchase of right-of-way for transportation enhancement activities in Bainbridge Township, for about $1.44 Million. It's a little late to contact the congressman right now, but his site does have an 800 number for his local office and if I can't get in touch with someone that way, I'll give his D.C. office a shot. I'm sure I won't speak with him directly, and $2.7 Million doesn't some like much, but this is only after a cursory search. With time, I'm sure I'll find more. Every little bit helps, especially if it means no tax hikes.

Update 9/26: I haven't been able to get through to the congressman's office by phone, mostly because I don't get home in time to catch anyone on the late shift. I have, however, e-mailed Mr. LaTourette requesting he consider cutting back on transportation funding locally to help out Katrina victims, we'll see how long it takes to hear from him. A Rose by Any Other Name has yet to hear from the distinguished gentleman.

Update 9/28: I have yet to receive a response to the email I sent Congressman LaTourette, so I stepped it up and sent an e-mail to Senator Mike DeWine. It is now a race to see who can respond first. I'm not holding my breath.

Ballsy

2005-09-20T19:47:00.000-04:00

Click on THIS link. The voice you'll hear is that of Lt. General Russell Honore. He is currently in charge of the rebuilding efforts for Katrina and the evacuation ahead of Hurricane Rita. The clip consists of a back and forth session between he and some reporters who don't have a clue. The fact that they don't have a clue does not help their cause much, as you'll hear. This is a man who clearly gets results. I'm sure this isn't the last we'll hear from him, either.

Feinstein should be fined

2005-09-12T18:39:00.000-04:00

Today in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, John Roberts had to endure hours of windbags, blowhards and the self important members speaking aimlessly about whatever their politics dictate. In what must be one of the most astonishingly stupid statements of all time, Dianne Feinstein belched this nugget, "For me, one of the most important issues that needs to be addressed by Judge Roberts is the constitutional right to privacy. ... It would be very difficult for me to vote to confirm someone to the Supreme Court whom I knew would overturn Roe v. Wade."
So in other words Senator Feinstein wants Judge (soon to be Chief Justice) Roberts to respect a person's privacy while at the same time disregarding his own, so she can use his own right to privacy against him. This strikes me as patently stupid. Of course, people keep electing her, so who is the dumber? There should be a new rule enacted in order to be an elected official: Every idiotic comment you make will incur a thousand dollar fine. Freedom of speech is not the same as Freedom of stupidity.

AA403 Down

2005-09-08T20:54:00.000-04:00

In the midst of all the Katrina madness I happened upon another story of some interest. A Naval board of inquiry has reconfirmed that Lt. Cmdr. Michael Scott Speicher is still "missing/captured." This story is significant because he has been missing since the opening night of Operation Desert Storm in 1991. I had the pleasure of buying the book "No One Left Behind" while waiting for a flight at Newark Liberty Airport. The book, by Amy Waters Yarsinske is essentially the reason why Speicher's status was changed from dead to missing/captured. He even had a tombstone in Arlington. The significant part of this story is that the review board concluded that there may be high level Iraqis or Bedouin tribesmen who can speak to the status or location of Speicher. The problem in tracking these people is twofold: The Iraqis may not want to speak for fear of reprisal from former administration types still free in the country, and the Bedouins are a nomadic group, meaning they generally don't stay for very long in one place. It's sad to say that we may never know the whereabouts of Speicher, but one can hold out hope.
AA403 is the identification number of Speicher's F-18.

Deluge self discovery

2005-09-07T22:37:00.000-04:00

I've been pondering this whole epidemic of politicizing the aftermath of Katrina and just keep rediscovering the sage advice I never absorbed. The first realization is a study in accountability. Immediately after Katrina packed her bags and left town, there were 2 distinct reactions. These aren't in any specific order just the way I remember them.
The first came from Haley Barbour, who took a no-nonsense approach to reacting and rebuilding Mississippi. He started by letting any potential looters know that they would be in a world of hurt should they act on their impulse. In his own words, "To me looting is about the equivalent of grave robbing," he said. "We're not going to stand for it." Barbour had a plan, acted on it, and minimized the loss of lives for his state. That doesn't mean that he did everything right, but he has certainly fared much better than Ray Nagin and Gov. Blanco over in Louisiana. These two illustrate the second reaction that we've seen. They failed to live up to their respective disaster plans (Hundreds of idle school buses ruined in a parking lot, and failing to ask for Fed help are just 2 examples) and attempted to cover their tracks by pointing a finger at the federal government. Well as it turns out, Nagin and Blanco have since had their bluffs called and will likely (but not definitely) lose their jobs in the next elections as a result. All they had to do was be accountable for their own inaction and people would likely be somewhat more sympathetic to them. To look at Barbour he completely wiped out any need for accountability by springing into action as soon as he could. He may still be open to criticism, but certainly not what's in store just west of Mississippi.
A large lesson in this, in some ways, is that you can't always sit around and wait for others to help, sometimes you have to help yourself, and unfortunately in this case it cost a lot of lives.

After the Deluge

2005-09-06T21:51:00.000-04:00

It occurred to me the other day that the only job better than God is that of President of the United States. Why who else could cause so much panic, so much despair, so much adversity than God himself? That bastard George W. had to go and whip up a little storm in the Gulf of Mexico for the ultimate goal of committing covert genocide. At least that is what the nitwits in this country would have one believe. Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and the rest of the brigade of "blame-white America first" got down to Louisiana post-haste to blame the current administration for the express purpose of pointing out injustice throughout the bayou. Actually, what they did was inadvertantly point out the ineptitude of a previously corrupt local and state government, who have since turned on each other after trying to blame the federal government for not sending in a squadron of F-18s to blow that damn Katrina out of the water. Well I for one am not about to elevate the President beyond his elected position. There is no more powerful force than Nature. Let me repeat that, There is NO more powerful force than Nature. If 175 MPH winds are headed your way, here's an idea: Get your car keys, get a bag of clothes, and find some relatives who are at least 500 miles in the opposite direction of said winds. Don't hang around to see if the levee breaks, don't try to protect your worldly possesions. They're going to be waterlogged and virtually unusable, unless of course they are swim trunks or a pair of floaties. Honestly, have we as a country become so stupid that we can't help our fellow man? You can't blame anyone but nature for what happened and since there isn't any human personification of Nature, maybe some of the more idiotic people around the world can take a step back and realize that what people in Lousiana, Mississippi and Alabama need is a helping hand, not some loudmouthed jerk who wants to point a finger. It's times like these that I'm glad I can take the handy advice of Mark Twain: "It is better to be silent and thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt." Amen to that.

Update (Sep. 7 - 9:03 PM):
Here are 3 articles that basically solidified my view of this whole mess:

CYA is a big job by Steve H. Graham

Don't blame only Feds by Michael Goodwin

Blame Amid the Tragedy by Bob Williams

Surface to Air Jordan

2005-08-20T10:36:00.000-04:00

So yesterday in Jordan a group of holy rollers, er, warriors tried to fire 3 Russian made Katyusha rockets at docked naval vessels linked with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit in Aqaba, Jordan. I say tried because they whiffed. One of the rockets flew over the bow of the USS Ashland and hit a warehouse. Another missile fizzled out and landed about 15 yards from the airport in Eilat, Israel. Another whiff. The Katyusha rocket is well known for being innacurate, so naturally terrorists gravitate to them. These rockets were fired from a local warehouse recently rented by 4 people with Egyptian and Iraqi nationalities. It shouldn't be long before these idiots find themselves on the wrong end of a dark and disturbing torture session in a dark and secluded Jordanian jail cell. One of the moments of comic relief in this story is the reaction of the Al Qaeda-linked Abdullah Azzam Brigades PR department. "A group of our holy warriors ... targeted a gathering of American military ships docking in Aqaba port and also in Eilat port with three Katyusha rockets and the warriors returned safe to their headquarters." Only terrorists can find cause for celebration in failure. Ahh, the terrorist spirit- if at first you don't succeed, strap on a bomb belt and find an open marketplace.

MILF Hunters

2005-08-17T20:45:00.000-04:00

I'm watching...

Yesterday I caught this article on Yahoo about joint Phillipino and American forces disrupting training by Al-Qaeda linked terror groups in the island enclave. There are 2 main terror groups in the Phillipines, Jemaah Islamiya and MILF, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. Clearly, the latter group doesn't understand the humor in their acronym. Most Americans in a certain age range think of MILF as something a bit different. I won't go into what the abbreviation means, if you have to ask, you'll never know. That and this isn't a porn site. Both of the terror groups are known for their attempts to turn the Phillipines into an Islamic nation, apparently Christianity just didn't suit their needs. The groups, along with the Abu Sayaff group, are also known for a string of kidnappings, pirate attacks and the Bali bombings in 2002. The kidnappings generally devolve into beheadings when the Phillipine government refuses to pay ransom to these thugs. The most noted of these are the beheading of Guillermo Sobero in June 2001, and the 2002 kidnapping of Martin and Gracia Burnham. The latter ended somewhat badly when combined American and Phillipino forces tracked down the Abu Sayyaf and got into a firefight with them. The Phillipine President Gloria Arroyo was quick to dismiss American involvement, but an American helicopter was seen and U.S. forces were there training their foreign counterparts. Martin Burnham was executed as soon as the fighting began, his wife survived despite taking 8 bullets in the leg. Perhaps one day the Russians will swallow their pride and ask for a joint exercise into Chechnya. I won't hold my breath.

AP gets it wrong

2005-08-11T21:01:00.000-04:00

The Associated Press had an interesting little article today about a pair of museums that are having a bit of trouble getting what they want. To be specific, the International Freedom Center and the Drawing Room are learning that many people don't care much for them. Well that's not completely true. The Drawing Room is a pre-existing museum/gallery in Soho (that's NYC, people). The International Freedom Center is a bit more noxious, mainly that George Soros has taken it upon himself to provide a fair amount of funding. It's main purpose is to enlighten normally rational people as to the roots of 9/11 and why it's all our fault. That may be a bit extreme, but then again it's probably dead on. Amy Westfeldt, the AP writer, is under the impression that either of these museums were just given a spot at the WTC site. Her quote is, "The Freedom Center and the Drawing Center are parts of cultural space long planned at the trade center site." No, they were suggested as part of a group of 200 different potential participants. They've gained a measure of notoriety as a result of people's objections to their participation, rather than the natural conclusion which would be to memorialize the victims. Read the article and come to your own conclusions, but I had a little trouble not being unhappy with the tone of the article.

Ground Zero Museums move

ABCs of Terror revisited

2005-08-03T20:26:00.000-04:00

So after ABC showed the interview of Shamil Basayev on Nightline, quite a few people had a little problem with them. Namely Russia. The government of Russia has declared ABC News persona non grata in reaction to the interview. Seems like the least they could've done if you ask me. Upon further review, however, it seems that the interviewer, Andrei Babitsky, has a little history with Chechnya. In the mid-90s he gained some level of notoriety for his reporting on the situation between Chechnya and Russia. Then, in 2000 he was apparently kidnapped, or arrested, and traded to the Chechens for some Russian soldiers, 2 from what I gather. It would seem that the Russians didn't like his stance on the growing tensions, mostly that it was pro-Chechen. It could be that his coverage wasn't so much pro-Chechen but that it wasn't pro-Russian. It could also be that he was somewhat sympathetic to the Chechen resistance (terrorism) and this gave him the idea to volunteer to be traded for the soldiers. This would also give the Chechens the idea to later grant him interviews in order to gain sympathy from weak willed people who think women and children are perfectly viable targets for murder. It's kind of hard to cut through the BS with the results of a google search. You either get the Russian side or the Freedom of Speech advocates, but I have yet to find some middle ground in the results. It seems to me that the Chechens probably saw an opportunity to make some waves and Babitsky saw it as a chance to grab hold of some spotlight again. The whole thing stinks as far as I'm concerned, I'm sure this guy didn't know where he was, but he certainly knows how to get in touch with some Chechen warlord types. This isn't a case of outing a source, it's a case of turning in murderers. With that, I'll put up some links, have a nice night.

Globalsecurity.org report

IFEX report (a little biased)

San Francisco Chronicle article

Foreign Base Closings

2005-07-30T11:36:00.000-04:00

I caught this story on Yahoo last night and it's not terribly spectacular, except for a little personal flavor. It's a story about base closings in Germany. Bases around Heidelberg and Wuerzburg are being closed and turned over to the Germans. I'm sure they were initially there as part of the rebuilding effort following World War II, but some bases like Ramstein will remain ours. The personal aspect of this story is that I was born in the Wuerzburg hospital which, as you'll see in the very last line, is being closed.

ABCs of terror

2005-07-29T18:35:00.000-04:00

I love ABC, wonderful coverage

Last night ABC aired an interview with Shamil Basayev, Chechen terror warlord, on Nightline. Some have suggested that the news arm of Disney may be angling for a Zarqawi interview. On the surface this would seem like a foolish idea. But come to think of it, that's exactly what they're doing. Without scum like this, ABC, and most non-Fox news outlets, would be forced to report good news. Now there's a novel concept, reporting on some of the good things that occur around the world. That might actually lower the number of cynics and whiners in this country and many others. While ABC thinks they're protecting a source, they are, in reality, providing aid to a known terrorist. One who has targeted women and children first and foremost. Disney should be ashamed that this is where their news outlet has fallen.

Riding the Clutch

2005-07-17T19:10:00.000-04:00

ESPN is trying to say Tiger Woods' victory at St. Andrews was in some way a clutch performance from a grizzled veteran. Well if they're not saying it, it's certainly implicit in their coverage of his win. I'm sorry but there's nothing clutch about taking a 2 stroke lead and winning by 5 strokes. Especially with his royal hinie, Colin Montgomerie doing next to nothing. A clutch performance is Michael Jordan making a 4 point lead feel like 40. Clutch is Reggie Jackson hammering homeruns every which way he can. In their ever present attempt to increase the profile of their coverage, ESPN has abused the word clutch. Maybe they can have Stuart "Dead Eye" Scott kick off tonight's Sportscenter by saying that Tiger was "straight bangin'." That would be a treat.

White Feather

2005-07-02T12:58:00.000-04:00

A True Hero

Recently I decided to read more. Mostly the classic books I was supposed to read in High School but never did. So in my travels through Barnes & Noble, I stopped in the military section. I happened upon a book called Marine Sniper. Most Marines are pretty bad. Bad in the sense that they instill fear in pretty much every enemy they encounter. In World War I German troops getting taken out by Marine snipers took to calling them "teufelhunden" or "Devil Dogs." But I digress. This book is about the exploits of Carlos Hatchcock, about the baddest mother there was in Vietnam. He recorded 93 confirmed kills and I'm sure twice that many unconfirmed. It's truly a book worth reading. I find myself loath to put the book down because It is an amazing tale of dedication and bravery. Unfortunately, Carlos suffered from Multiple Sclerosis and died in 1999 as a result. If this country had more men like Hatchcock and less like Dave Matthews, it would be perfect, well pretty close.

Eminent Domain for Souter

2005-06-28T19:02:00.000-04:00

So last week David Souter and a handful of other misguided Supreme Court justices, four others to be exact, voted to allow any municipality the power to swipe land from citizens in the name of economic development for said municipality. Well, somebody with more than half a brain, and a terrific sense of irony, has fought back against Souter. How you may ask? Well by proposing a hotel and museum in New Hampshire. Where exactly? On Justice Souter's property. How's that for a kick in the pants for making a stupid decision? The revenge factor in this one is priceless.

Here's mud in your eye, Justice

Terrorist Diet

2005-06-28T18:50:00.000-04:00

If everyone ate this well, our country wouldn't have fat people. If this is torture, then call me an insurgent:

2 Weeks of Terrorist Meals at Guantanamo Bay

Semi-Military Correspondent

2005-06-28T18:36:00.000-04:00

Today the New York Times presented the world with a wholly deplorable article by Lucian Truscott IV basically comparing the resignation rate of West Point officers now with that of the Vietnam Era. The entire article is an exercise in reading Truscott's recent resume in order to prove his point. I read it twice and the New York Times should leave military writing to those who can actually boast of being in the military, rather than Lucian. For a better perspective on this, here's an article I found at West Point's Association of Graduates web site:

"No one better personifies the changes at West Point than Lucian Truscott IV, enfant terrible of the Class of 1969. His first novel, Dress Gray, in which a maverick cadet, Ry Slaight, takes on a villainous commandant in trying to discover the murderer of a gay cadet, was banned at West Point; 20 years later, he does book signings here. Truscott is the son of a West Pointer, grandson of the man who commanded the Allied landing at Anzio, and a descendant of Thomas Jefferson. (He'll be buried with his family at Monticello.) He was a refractory cadet who accumulated demerits the way kids collect baseball cards. His writing career began as a sophomore, with a letter to the Village Voice that read, "Abbie Hoffman's an idiot" He graduated 658th in his class and was drummed out of the Army after one year."

To put his class rank in perspective, my father graduated in 1968 33rd in his class. That makes him pretty smart. Oh and he served with the 173d Airborne in Vietnam, somewhere closer to Cambodia than John F. Kerry ever served.

Revenge of the Crap

2005-06-11T11:30:00.000-04:00

Being something of a Star Wars fan, it's only natural that I had some interest in seeing the third prequel, Revenge of the Sith. However, the moment I left the theatre I realized that George Lucas has become a parody of himself. While Revenge was quite visual, the dialogue was forced, the film moved like it was being pushed and overall it sucked. I'm sure there are uberdorks out there opining about how this was the best of them all, but they're just blowing smoke up your posterior. The entire story seemed like the script was written while watching episodes 4-6. The best part about it is seeing "spoiler alerts." How the hell could there be spoiler alerts? Everybody already knows the story! Oh did you not already know that Annekin becomes DarthVader? Or that Luke and Leia are the children of Annekin and Padmi? Well sorry to ruin it for you. While I'm at it, if you've ever seen Frankenstein, or Young Frankenstein for that matter, then don't bother watching the last 20-25 minutes. With the exception of the special effects, whatever creativity George Lucas once had has gone down the toilet. It's a good thing the AFI awarded Lucas a lifetime achievement award, because his recent contributions have diminished his standing. I mean seriously, Jar Jar Binks? A 5 year old could come up with more compelling characters.

Blog return

2005-05-24T18:29:00.000-04:00

Wow, it's been almost 2 months since my last post. I now have a job and escaped the shackles of NJ. And I've found so much to write about and don't know where to start, so I won't do it now. Just think of this, penguins with Chlamydia, in San Francisco. Not a surprise, VD in Hippie-ville. Oh well. I'll get back to it soon enough. Just thought I'd write something small for now.

Bad News and More Bad News

2005-04-05T12:05:00.000-04:00

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse for Major League Baseball, it has. Yesterday a report was released saying that 38 minor league players would be hit with suspensions of varying degrees. To look at the list, a number of things stand out. A great deal of these players all come from the same farm systems. The Mariners had 8 players suspended, The Cubs had 7, The Angels had 5 suspended, the Moneyball A's had 5 suspended also. The A's also have the distinction of having David Castillo suspended for a third violation of the drug policy. One would think that one violation is too many. The remaining teams on the list are the Rangers, Padres, Rockies, White Sox and Cardinals. The other notable suspension is that of one time Barry Bonds teammate Damian Moss. I'm not implying that there were Canseco-like activities in the Giants locker room with Barry and Damian, but it sure doesn't look good. So that's the bad news, and here's one more item: Reds utility player Ryan Freel was arrested for DWI while driving home from the game. Now here is something that has been under-examined in the midst of all this steroid hoopla. Baseball players and booze are no strangers, and who doesn't like to go out and celebrate after a big win? The problem here is that the last thing baseball needs is another substance abuse problem. At some point Major League Baseball is going to have to start acting like a responsible parent, rather than everybody's favorite uncle, and clean up this mess. Maybe the threat of losing his job would motivate Mr. Selig.

Cincinnati Enquirer report on Freel's DWI

Hark the sound of Tar Heel voices

2005-04-05T10:29:00.000-04:00

Sean May works the inside game...

Last night was one of the best NCAA championship games I've ever seen. Well to be honest I've always been partial to the UCLA-Arkansas final, but I digress. Sean May showed the world that he is one of the finest big men in the country. He's not exactly your prototypical center, but he's certainly a fine power forward. I would've liked to see him match up against Andrew Bogut, but I'll take what I can get. Perhaps the most surprising part of the game was that James Augustine didn't score one point. After all the talking heads made such a big deal about Augustine being the sleeper to watch, he was indeed asleep. He fouled out with plenty of time left and Illinois needed him. That's a shame. Now the big question is how many players jump ship from Chapel Hill. It's assumed that Rashad McCants is on his way out, personally I think it's a bad choice, he could end up as player of the year next year. People think that Raymond Felton and Sean May might also opt out, with a possibility of Marvin Williams leaving too. Personally I think only 2 out of those 4 will leave, I'm just not sure which combination. Then again I've been wrong before.

Bobby Fischer Redux

2005-03-31T17:38:00.000-05:00

So my witnessing of the Jeremy Schaap/Bobby Fischer debate, and the subsequent traffic on the site, made me decide to delve into Fischer's issues a little deeper. I found some rather interesting things, including the Fischer family FBI files, courtesy of a report the Philadelphia Inquirer did in 2002. One of the remarkable things is that Fischer was correct, he was being watched, only not as part of some grand zionist conspiracy, because his mother was sympathetic (supposedly) to some of America's enemies. The files the Inquirer obtained through the Freedom of Information Act are an interesting look into the life of Regina Fischer and the early life of her son. It also has information on Bobby Fischer's father, but not very much. While it's an interesting look into the other side of the "conspiracy" against Fischer, it's hard to see the FBI acting maliciously against Fischer, as he claims. There are a lot of documents and there is a fair bit of information blanked out, but like I said, it's interesting. It also still leaves some questions about Bobby's lunacy unanswered. I'm going to continue looking into this and will probably report any more interesting information.

FBI Fischer Files

Original Inquirer Report

Ahh America's Youth

2005-03-29T13:30:00.000-05:00

Betamax, a highly underrated video format...

Here we have a good old fashioned protest. This is all about truth, justice, the American way and saving technogeeks everywhere money on their downloads. Well at least for this girl here. Notice two other young ladies protesting to save Betamax. That's right Betamax. Who would have thought that a video format only 37 people admit to owning, there could be thousands of undocumented cases, would be worth a protest in favor of it? Okay now let's look at the subjects in our picture here, we've got this girl in the front, who doesn't want people touching her iPod. I guess that shuts the door on casual petting. Now in the back we've got Harold & Kumar flirting with these four girls who seem more interested in the permutations Harold is dropping than fighting for the issues of the day. This is America's youth, rather than fighting for the important issues of the day, they decide to bundle a group of lesser issues together. This clearly allows the opportunity for otherwise uninteresting people to get together and have a lesser discussion, likely on how they're going to flout the government and download a sweet peer to peer filesharing bot. Shine on you crazy diamonds!

The noose is closing?

2005-03-28T11:27:00.000-05:00

According to the Drudge Report:

Zarqawi Surrounded

Iraqi Interior Minister Falah al-Nakib announced today that AbuMusab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al Qaeda in Mesopotamia (Iraq), hasbeen surrounded.

The Sofia News Agency reports the Interior Minister as saying, "He is surrounded in a certain area, and we hope for the best'...

Hopefully this is more certain than the numerous times Bin Laden was "surrounded" in the early days of the war on terror. I'll update this story as it becomes clearer, or if it gets refuted.

UPDATE: Apparently there was nothing to this story, because Drudge has now removed it from the site. How do rumors get started?

Jeremy Schaap Rules

2005-03-26T02:05:00.000-05:00

Okay, I just watched ESPN's coverage of Jeremy Schaap interviewing chess crackpot Bobby Fischer in Iceland, and I must say Jeremy Schaap is a better man than I thought he was. To go back a bit, Jeremy's father, Dick Schaap, the great sports reporter, once took young Bobby Fischer to some Knicks games when Fischer was about 12 or 13, and then reported on the young phenom. Years later, Schaap Sr. reported that he didn't think Fischer had a sane bone in his body. This was well after Fischer went off his rocker. So tonight ESPN showed Jeremy's questioning of Fischer in Iceland (screw them, by the way). So in the midst of his questioning Fischer goes off on his conspiracy tangent, and recognizes Jeremy Schaap. Fischer talks of the time he spent with Dick Schaap and then lets loose with a few nuggets. I believe he said "...in typical jew fashion he turns on me and writes complete falsehooods about me, you must not have read the article." To which Jeremy responds, "I'll admit I didn't read the article, but I heard what he said, and you haven't done anything today to disprove anything he said." And then Schaap turned his back on Fischer and walked out. Jeremy Schaap you deserve kudos for your actions, If I'm the only person who says it, it still wouldn't matter, you're message was sent. Good work!

Attention Chessninja.com types: I linked to a really good article about Fischer from "The Atlantic" in my post Searching for Bobby Fischer. Check it out if you haven't read enough about him. Who knew a little drunk Sportscenter would pay off?

My 4 cents

2005-03-25T11:11:00.000-05:00

Okay, so everyone and their brother feels the need to comment on the Schiavo/Schindler tilt. So here comes my commentary. The whole problem with this thing is that the only evidence that Terry Schiavo doesn't want to be kept alive is hearsay from her "husband." This is a man who can only say that it came up in conversation about 14 years ago. This is also coming from a man who has since fathered 2 children with another woman. He has lived with this woman for a long enough period for the government to consider them married in common law. I can certainly understand his position, well I could until a number of hospice nurses came forward and alleged abuse on the part of Michael Schiavo. Okay so here's the point: Michael Schiavo has moved on with his life, why can't he just let the Schindler's care for their daughter as they see fit? Is it that he wants her to die so he can get re-married? Is there some variety of Insurance claim he is entitled to only if she dies? The whole think stinks, people can fault congress for getting involved, but they at least have better intentions for Terry than her "husband." So that's that.

March Madness

2005-03-23T14:24:00.000-05:00

Well the NCAA tournament this year has probably been more exciting than many that I can remember. It seems like there are a lot more upsets this year than in year's past, but I don't really have any evidence of that, and I don't feel like looking. At any rate, while my brackets stink, I still have my championship game teams in the mix. Carolina and Arizona. Duke will lose because they have little to no depth, and I think Kentucky is capable of outrunning them. Especially after playing against Michigan State. I have a tough couple of games with Arizona going up against OK State and then Illinois, but people are vastly underestimating the Wildcats. They're better than people think. Carolina has a depleted bracket and can easily beat both Wisconsin and NC State. This is the best time of year, the overlap of March Madness and Spring Training. Oh and let's not forget Lacrosse season. Perennial contender Princeton is having a rough early season, but don't count them out, and Army is moving it's way up the polls. Currently at #6, I'll be attending the Army-Duke Showdown on April 23rd with my father (USMA '68, C-3). One of his roommates at the academy was a fine goalie by the name of Donald "Donnie" Workman, unfortunately he was KIA in Vietnam. Okay well that's all for now folks, maybe if someting moves me, I'll check in later.

The short term memory of John Kerry

2005-03-16T14:29:00.000-05:00

Normally I don't really like to pile extra rancor onto a beaten man, but for the rest of his life, John Kerry will hold a special spot in my list of really idiotic people. He is a throwback politician who will talk out of any side of his mouth that people will listen to. When I say throwback, I mean Tammany Hall. So during the 2004 election runup, John Kerry took the conservationist's view when debating the environment, while at the same time gauranteeing union jobs for the building of an ANWR pipeline. A Flip-Flop in the truest sense. Want some proof? I thought you'd never ask.

First is a discussion between Chris Matthews and Jimmy Hoffa Jr. concerning a discussion Hoffa had with Le Senator:

MATTHEWS: How about ANWR? You guys want to see ANWR because you want to see guys working in your business. I guess there‘s a lot of Teamsters jobs up there lined up and organized, if you could put a pipeline up to the Alaska wilderness. He is against that.
HOFFA: Well, we talked about that. He says, look, I am against ANWR, but I am going to put that pipeline in and we‘re going to drill like never before. (CROSSTALK)
MATTHEWS: What, are they going to run water through it? (CROSSTALK)
HOFFA: ... more jobs than the ANWR would have...

Wow, so Kerry is against ANWR, but thinks putting in a pipeline and drilling like never before is a good idea? Wait for it people, it gets better. Today, the Senate voted to allow drilling in ANWR, as part of an ongoing effort to maintain supply as well as to help stabilize oil & gas prices. For those of you interested in investing and commodities, T. Boone Pickens says Liquified Natural Gas is the way to go, but I digress. Most conservationists believe that a pipeline will ultimately harm the wildlife refuge, but have no details to quantify such a hypothesis. At least none that I've seen. So back to my original vitriol, today Kerry came full circle on his "beliefs": "The fact is (drilling in ANWR) is going to be destructive," What an astute statement. The real fact is that there are approximately 10.4 Billion barrels of oil in the refuge, which would certainly diminish our dependence on the Saudis, or any other foreign suppliers. Isn't that one of Master Kerry's campaign themes? So in truth he was for it when it was convenient to get Union votes, while at the same time being against it to get the conservation votes.

Here is another point that not many people even know about: Residents of Alaska have a rather sweet deal as far as oil is concerned, each year they receive a dividend payment based on oil production and sales. It's called the Alaska Permanent Fund and here's how it works: In 1976, the state constitution was amended such that 25% of all oil income is put into an account, the Alaska Permanent Fund. Some of the money is invested in order to offset years with lower income. Each year, 2 months before Christmas, the fund sends a check to the state government and the money is then dispersed to every citizen, even the kids.
Here's a link to the fund- Money for Oil
I imagine that drilling in ANWR will only increase the amount of this dividend, and if anything, boost the local economy, such as it is. I know it's a lot to read and I got off track, but I think my point has been made. It's not about what specific lobbyists want, it's about helping Americans. Thank you and good night.

Social Security

2005-03-15T16:47:00.000-05:00

This is the voice of reason?

So Drew Carey was on the Tavis Smiley show on PBS, don't ask why I watched it, but I did. He mad the finest point on Social Security that I've ever heard. If Social Security is so good, then why isn't it voluntary? If it's such a good thing then why don't people have the option to subscribe to it or not? Some people are astute enough that they can put money into investments and outperform Social Security. Some people are astute enough that they can put money into a savings account or trust and outperform Social Security. I'll go even a step further, some people could stuff money under their mattress and outperform Social Security. Why on earth would we want a mechanism designed for the post-depression era to work for us, when a mutual fund manager can beat it. Why put money into an albatross when a money market fund can kick its butt? Most non-Social Security retirement plans could outperform 50 years of Social Security in 25-30 years. The problem I have with this entire debate is that as soon as voluntary accounts were brought into the debate, opponents of the idea went from civil discourse to misdirection. It is also disingenuous of people in the 40-50 age range to be debating this. Apparently the solvency of SS will last long enough for them to use it, but in the event that I might need that money, the program will be in the "defunct" stage. It has to be fixed at some point if the government is going to force us to put money into Social Security.

Are we in bizarro world?

2005-03-10T15:16:00.000-05:00

Did I wake up in an alternate reailty? Could it be that Muslims are starting to get wise to Al-Qaeda's act? Have they finally realized that they're being exploited rather than empowered? This article from Yahoo Spain may, at the very least, signal a start. At least somebody is starting to think clearly

Spanish Muslims issue fatwa against Al-Qaeda's Osama Bin Laden

Updated Yahoo version

Update: The real meat of the Fatwa comes in this portion: "Inasmuch as Osama bin Laden and his organization defend terrorism as legal and try to base it on the Quran ... they are committing the crime of 'istihlal' and thus become apostates that should not be considered Muslims or treated as such."

Istihlal is the what it's called when muslims make up their own laws.

You're Next, Shamil!

2005-03-08T12:42:00.000-05:00

"That's a hell of a hat that you're wearing..."

I might not agree with the Russian version of democracy, in it's current form. Putin's government tends to overextend its power to protect itself from controversy, whether real or imaginary. However, I can give their security services more credit. The above picture is Aslan Maskhadov, Chechnya's de facto leader. He is generally considered the planner of terrorist attacks such as the school attacks in Beslan, and the theatre attacks in Moscow. Well today we receive the news that Maskhadov has been killed in a Russian Special Forces operation. There are scant details about the operation, but there are indeed 2 stories. The only elements of each story that seem to be confirmed are these: He was killed in Tolstoy-Yurt, a village in Northern Chechnya, and that three of his loyalists had been detained for planning an attack, in Tolstoy-Yurt. One of the differing facts is that Maskhadov may have been killed by his own bodyguards, either intentionally or because they mishandled their weapons while trying to defend him. It doesn't really matter, he's dead. Next on the list is Shamil Basayev, the Chechen Warlord. It almost seems like Schadenfreude (I speak German, too!) to celebrate anyone's death, but in this case, I can make a special exception. This guy was top grade scum and should be in a Siberian prison, but he does have a special place in Hell waiting for him.

Searching for Bobby Fischer

2005-03-07T22:12:00.000-05:00

I've always been sort of interested in the odd intellectual combination that is Bobby Fischer. The man who upended the Russian's dominance of the Chess World, has in short, gone loony. Well he may not be totally loony, but he's certainly picked up a misguided view of the world since his days as the world's best player. People aren't really sure what happened to Fischer, but he has, in short order, gone from a phenom, to a recluse, to a self hating Jew, well you get the idea. I can remember how the world watched when he finally came out of hiding in 1992 to take on Boris Spassky in a rematch. At the time it was momentus, mostly because the chess establishment basically gave him a pass on some of his paranoia. Well the news today is that Japan will not be allowing Bobby to leave so that he may take refuge in Iceland. I can't say that it's a surprise, Fischer has spent the last 30 years disparaging America, the CIA, Dunkin Donuts (I'm not kidding), the Rothschilds, the Bekins moving company, clock manufacturers, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, George H.W. Bush, and Israel. What is the connection all of these people or places have? According to Fischer, they all advance some variety of worldwide Jewish conspiracy that essentially controls everything that happens on the planet. Especially if it has anything to do with money and why he doesn't have any. It's a shame a man of such great potential has devolved into such a whacko. C'est la vie.

This article from The Atlantic is a great summary of Fischer's decline:
Bobby Fischer's Pathetic Endgame

No news is no news

2005-03-06T15:07:00.000-05:00

I've been busy planning my escape from Jersey, and my diabolical plan is nearly complete, so I've been ignoring the news lately. Well not ignoring, more like withholding my opinion. And I've been reliving my High School and early College music listening, mostly the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Rancid and Luscious Jackson. UNC-Duke is on at 4, so I'm eagerly waiting for tip-off. Ohio State managed to knock Illinois into the ranks of the defeated, in the immortal words of George Costanza, "that's a shame."
I've also done a little reading on the Druze and Walid and Kamal Jumblatt. The Druze are an interesting group. Islam doesn't tend to recognize them, although officials claim that Druze is an islamic religion. Some Druze claim to be Arab, while some don't. Specifically Lebanese Druze consider themselves Arab, while Israeli Druze do not. The basic tenets of the Druze are based on some of the Gnostic, Greek philosophical and Christian traditions. It was created in the 10th century. Orthodox Muslims see the Druze religion almost as a form of sacrelige since they have a different incarnation of God. The Jumblatt's are probably the most famous of the Druze politicians. Kamal was a Lebanese Druze politician, a social reformer in the Post-World War II middle east. He held a number of posts in Lebanese government prior to being assassinated by Syrian forces. Walid is Kamal's son, and currently recognized as the head of the "Cedar Revolution." He's also recognized as having made anti-American remarks during the war in Iraq, I can't find the quote, but in essence he said Arabs cheered when they would see the American death toll on a daily basis. Following the murder of Harari, and the subsequent uprising, he credited the Iraqi elections and to a lesser degree America for creating an environment in which the thirst for freedom is something many Arabs are willing to demonstrate for. This is not a self congratulatory pat on the back for America, but it certainly shines a bright light on our efforts to free the world. What an amazing resource Wikipedia is.

Unrest is breaking out all over

2005-03-01T16:44:00.000-05:00

It's a regular revolution

I'm not being self congratulatory, but there is something profound going on in the Middle East. Following the murder of their former leader, the Lebanese people took to the streets. And they took to the streets en masse. It led to the resignation of the Pro-Syrian government, but unfortunately not the President. Today, thousands of Iraqis took to the streets to protest against the local insurgents. It's sort of nice to see Arabs and non-Arabs alike protesting without burning an American flag. I had a great uncle who was Lebanese. That doesn't make me an expert on the region, but I do know that he despised the Syrian occupation and the Syrians for it. It would seem that the Assad regime is ripe to be taken down. Not violently or with our prodding, but by their own people. There is a certain domino effect that is likely to create a movement by people who are on the sidelines while the nations around them reform. One of the amazing things was the remarkably poor attendance at a Pro-Syrian rally. I have to believe that the only people at that rally were people on the Syrian payroll. Oh well, when you live by the sword, you die by the sword. Now get those troops out of the Bekaa Valley!

Does it really matter?

2005-02-25T13:27:00.000-05:00

I've been reading about a supposed CIA front company in Oregon, Bayard Foreign Marketing LLC. Now, it's fairly apparent that this company is one of the CIA's "franchises", and it has recently come under a lot of scrutiny because their corporate Jet has flown to places most businessmen would never be seen. Like Guantanamo Bay, or Yemen. The real controversy is that this plane, as it has been dubbed by some foreign press, is the "torture plane" for the CIA. To be quite honest, I could care less. A lot of people like to demonize the CIA for various reasons. Mostly that they deny certain parties their civil liberties as humans. I subscribe to the age old philosophy of "Do Unto Others as they would to you" and sometimes we need a personification of this. It's not like the old days when the CIA could be counted on to create revolution in countries that needed it. The agency is clearly in a new era, and much as we don't like it, we have no choice but to accept it. We as Americans don't get to dictate what goes on, as much as we all think it's our right. Now back to my main point. So the CIA takes terrorists to countries that don't adhere to civil liberties during interrogations, in a number of cases these terrorists are being taken back to their country of citizenship. It's not like they're bringing these guys back to the White House Lawn to be beaten publicly and embarassed. If people aren't complaining about this, they're going to complain about something. It's the nature of people. My biggest problem with this is that European journalists like to brand something like this as the penultimate problem with American Anti-Terror Policy and the reason why we're the assholes. Like they haven't been whining since WWI about our place in the world and their diminishing role. I'm not anti-European, I'm anti-whining.

She'll soon be a widow

2005-02-23T13:37:00.000-05:00

What, no dress blues?

This is Shamil Basayev, a muslim Chechen warlord. He is essentially Al-Qaeda's Eastern European commander. Islamofascists like to refer to him as the leader of the Chechen resistance against Russian interference. That's a load of garbage. His group's aim is to create an Islamic state out of Chechnya. They typically use woman as suicide bombers. You know, because it's much easier to find a new wife than get a new explosives smuggler. But I digress, Basayev has emerged from a month long "retreat" to take his third wife in Southern Russia (or Chechnya, depending on where you're from). He'll no doubt be taking a fourth, #3 will probably be strapping C4 to herself in the near future. This guy is grade A scum and should be erased. It takes a special kind of arrogance to publicize yourself like this, especially with International security services on the hunt. There are only so many times someone can put themselves in the public eye before they get tracked down, and I have to belive this guy will soon meet his demise.

Boredom is a Bitch

2005-02-22T11:57:00.000-05:00

I'm so bored right now, I don't know what to do with myself. Maybe I'll finish Ghost Soldiers, which is an outstanding book. I thought I had a fantasy baseball draft at 12:30, turns out it was Pacific time, stupid Yahoo!! I keep seeing this Denny's commercial for its new breakfasts, and I really want the meat lovers scrambled eggs. How can you resist scrambled eggs with Ham, Sausage and Bacon (the great american vegetable) topped with cheese? Too bad it's at Denny's. I guess I'll have to stick to yogurt for now.

Rest in Peace, Doctor

2005-02-21T09:48:00.000-05:00

The good Doctor

"You better take care of me Lord, if you don't you're gonna have me on your hands. "

Last night, in what is being called an apparent suicide, Hunter S. Thompson died. Thompson was found with a gunshot wound by his son Juan. I'd like to think that somewhere he's marvelling at the coverage his death is getting. He wrote a fantastic article for ESPN.com's "Page 2" last week about his new version of golf and a conversation he had with Bill Murray about it. Of the books he wrote, or compiled, I've read The Proud Highway, Fear and Loathing in America, Hell's Angels and Better Than Sex. The first 2 are really compilations of his letters home from 1955 until the mid to late 60s. Hell's Angels was by far the best of the 4, but there are many more to read. I've also seen Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas more times than I can count. In recent years his body began to deteriorate, he had an artificial hip, broke his leg in Hawaii and had had back surgery which caused him a bit of pain. Not that he didn't know how to medicate himself. HST was a living tribute to freedom, his excesses were legendary, and his writing was, well, Gonzo to say the least. Not many people will ever live a life as colorful as Hunter Thompson's. Not many people have the gumption to live such a life. He will be greatly missed.

"There he goes. One of God's own prototypes. Some kind of high powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die"

Sir Charles

2005-02-19T22:22:00.000-05:00

"Go 76ers, Charles Barkley Dissed Larry Bird..."

For no apparent reason, I'm watching the NBA dunk contest and, as expected, it stinks. The only saving grace is that Charles Barkley is working commentary. Josh Smith of Atlanta tried to garner some votes from Julius Erving, but stepped about a foot past the foul line. When Kenny Smith tried to tell Dr. J that that's where he took off from at the first dunk contest, Sir Charles stepped in. "Hey Julius don't worry, the only thing you and Kenny got in common is that you're both black." Hilarious. It reminded me that Charles Barkley is easily one of the funniest people living. So I took it upon myself to find some more quotes from The Round Mound of Rebound:

“I don’t create controversies. They’re there long before I open my mouth. I just bring them to your attention.”

On the Dream Team's chances against Angola: “I don't know anything about Angola, but I know they're in trouble.”

On the necessary etiquette for dinner with Prince Rainier: “We're supposed to stop eating when he stops? But what if we're still hungry? He may have had a snack before he came over.”

On the world as he sees it: "You know the world is off tilt when the best rapper is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy, the tallest basketball player is Chinese, and Germany doesn't want to go to war."

Sulphur Island

2005-02-19T11:49:00.000-05:00

From the Halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli...

At 8:59 a.m. 60 years ago today, U.S. Marines landed on the island of Iwo Jima. The island was important to our forces because the Japanese had set up the island as a full service military base. They had built underground tunnels on the island, almost perfectly camouflaged artillery and set up an airbase that could be used to send B-29s on bombing raids of Japan. Iwo Jima translates to Sulphur Island because the entire Island was essentially a dormant Volcano. The whole island was pretty much covered in sulphuric ash. I won't go into complete details for fear of insulting someone smarter. But I will put up some statistics.

Total Losses

U.S. personnel 6,821 Killed 19,217 Wounded 2,648 Combat Fatigue Total 28,686

Marine Casualties 23,573

Japanese Troops 1,083 POW and 20,000 est. Killed

Over one third of the total Marines who participated in the invasion were either Killed, Wounded or suffered from Battle Fatigue.

They may bend, but they won't break...

Who cares about Hockey?

2005-02-16T22:50:00.000-05:00

At least he was honest...

Well the baseball season is rapidly approaching, with Pitchers & Catchers reporting yesterday. The early season buzz will have more to do with Steroids than anything else. But I could care less. Well that's not true, I just don't get spastic about the fact that there's a steroids controversy. Every sport goes through some dark phase. Football had steroids and later pot (Nate Newton). Hoops had Cocaine and Pot. Hockey had Coke and 'Roids (John Kordic). I could care less because it's all about fantasy baseball. My partner and I participate in a 16 team pay league. This will be our fourth year in this league and the best part about it is either the draft or the amount of trash talk that goes on. I like our chances this year. We've got Clevelands catching prodigy Victor Martinez and Danny Kolb, the Braves new closer since Smoltz is going to be a starter this year. We've got the 15th pick in our draft though, but the bright side is we get 2 picks close together, which can generally be an advantage. We'll just have to see.

Father of the Year

2005-02-15T16:38:00.000-05:00

Selfish Hedonism? Try winning an election first.

You might think, based on my disdain for Kerry and McAuliffe and a few others, that I'm off of my right wing rocker. You can thank Alan Keyes for pushing me back towards the middle. Only a complete idiot would be so self involved that he would condemn his own daughter's lifestyle. I can respect his right to believe whatever he wants, but good lord we're talking about his daughter. I'm not gay (not that there's anything wrong with that) but I can honestly say sexuality is no reason to turn your back on your own offspring. Well unless it's necrophilia, that's just wrong. Every time people on the right wing make inroads with a community that they weren't previously associating with (or helping), a jackass like Alan Keyes comes along and screws it all up. The biggest problem with the 2 party system (in my eyes) is that certain leaders can't get past issues of race or sexuality and get down to moving our country forward. Alan Keyes represents this role to a tee. It goes beyond trying to pick up votes in the upcoming elections, it means embracing people as members of a particular party on either side.

Here is an ironic piece from Keyes' Illinois Campaign website:

Dedicated family man. Keyes and his wife Jocelyn have three children: Francis, Maya, and Andrew. Alan's stated purpose in life, like that of America's Founders, is to provide a secure future for our posterity.

Must have been quite a party

2005-02-14T18:24:00.000-05:00

It's okay Terry, we both lost, but I only lost one race...

There's something comedically ironic about the introduction ceremony of Howard Dean as DNC chair. The funny part has nothing to do with Dean. Take a look at this picture. The 2 biggest recent losers in the Democratic party: John Kerry and Terry McAuliffe, hugging it up looking like they're at a funeral. McAuliffe apparently spent a good portion of his exit speech complaining about how it was John Kerry who screwed up the election, not Terry. Of course not, because John Kerry blew all of those Congressional and Senatorial races. I never knew one man could run for so many offices at the same time. Not that Terry will ever read this, but he blew it and he deserves to be out of a job. It was his job to keep the Democrats on message and he didn't do it. If he were capable of holding himself accountable for blowing it, it's quite possible that he'd still have the job or, at the very least, a lot more respect than he's currently getting. Accountability, it's one of the keys to life.

60 Sensational

2005-02-13T12:56:00.000-05:00

For such a little guy he sure scores a LOT of points

Last night I caught the second half of the Sixers-Magic game after I heard that Allen Iverson had 29 points in the first half. Generally when Allen goes over 20 in the first half, you know how the rest of the game is going to go. You just let him go and defend all of the other Sixers. And go he did. The mighty bubba-chuck hit 24 of 27 free throws and ended the game with 60 points, a new career high, and one of only 3 performances to go over 60 points in the regular season. To put that in perspective, Wilt Chamberlain's 100 point night in Hershey was one of them. Good Work, AL.

Central Park, Ukraine Style

2005-02-12T19:09:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Kiev?

I don't know much about art. Most of it looks like garbage to me. Today was the unveiling of "The Gates" in Central Park. I'm not exactly sure how it qualifies as art. It's quite spectacular to look at, and certainly adds a little extra flare to the Park, but to me it looks more like a belated tribute to Yushchenko's victory in the Ukraine. After all, it is orange. It actually kind of reminds me of one of the old Egyptian temple exhibits from the Natural History museum. You could walk through some of the chambers in the temple in order to get a feel for the structure.

AP's story about the unveiling is interesting in that it quotes an 8 year old saying "It's art." Wow, thanks kid. I need to keep an 8 year old with me in case I do anything worthy of notoriety, just so they can frame it properly for the general public. Maybe I'm just jealous that AP won't hire me, but you tend to lend more credence to something being art when you quote an art expert, or perhaps someone closer to adulthood. I'm not debating the merits of this "piece," I'm just splitting hairs, really. It's more fun that way.

It's actually a love story

2005-02-11T17:44:00.000-05:00

Now this guy is unhinged

Okay ladies and germs, this guy takes the Valentine's day cake. There are scant details about his personal life, but this is Gerald Krein and he tried to set up a mass suicide on Valentine's day. Apparently, he recruited women across the U.S. and Canada to off themselves. Now I'm not suggesting anything, but if this boob were smart, he would have followed Jim Jones' example and just spiked the Kool-Aid. I mean seriously, folks, this guy is obviously not mentally competent, just look at the picture. He's got that glossy look in his eyes. I'm going to assume that his master plan had something to do with unrequited love and some sort of revenge. Oh well, at least he wasn't successful.

Misadventures in Academia

2005-02-09T22:34:00.000-05:00

"I'm not going to accept something I don't understand" -Ward Churchill

So I've watched about 15-20 minutes of Ward Churchill's "Fell Sorry For Me" rally in Colorado and I really can't stomach much more. He spent less time discussing the relevant issues than he did making a martyr of himself. Deflecting criticism with ad hominem attacks on people asking questions and at one point trying to deflect a question about the First Amendment by saying the Ninth Amendment protected him. At first I felt that for as stupid as his beliefs are, he has the right to express them in a "public" forum, that's the First Amendment, love it or leave it.

Because Colorado is a public university, most people are under the misguided theory that he can say what he wants and the students have to like it. I tend to believe that, for the most part, the classroom is a private setting in which students are to be taught based on fact, with a few exceptions (i.e. creative writing, philosophy, etc.) . But as Yeats said "Education is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire." Any educator dedicated to encouraging scholarship in their students knows this. I don't think that Ward Churchill is as interested in the scholarship of his students as much as he is interested in increasing his own profile.

I got the feeling watching the students in the crowd that most of them were just there to say they were there. It also dawned on me that college students go to certain events just so they can say they were there. When other students start to associate you with certain events, you begin to make a name for yourself, or at the least become recognizable. At a school the size of Colorado, a little notoriety can go a long way to help out one's reputation. It's stupid, I know, but so is your average college student.

Do I think Churchill should be fired? No. Do I think he should be punished somehow? Yes. My ideal punishment would involve family members of every 9/11 victim having the opportunity to punch him in the face, because it's a punch in the face to have some asshole in Colorado smearing people he never knew and never would have. Ward Churchill is not the face of scholarship, nor is he the face of the American Indian Movement, nor is he the face of common sense. Much has been made about his past and what he says and believes, and as well it should be. When you base your entire academic existence on a contrived family tree and espouse beliefs based on said family tree, you tend to betray yourself as a hypocrite. The more I write the more my anger grows, and writing angry makes my syntax sloppy.

Fun with Tyranny

2005-02-07T01:10:00.000-05:00

Oh Herrooo

That wacky Kim Jung Il is at it again. Apparently he does not subscribe to the old saying "any publicity is good publicity." Of course it's hard to get good publicity when you're not in control of the message. For example, last summer Mr. Il's PR people released a statement that the commander had taken up golf. He had such golf acumen that he dominated on his first day out:

"Pyongyang media say North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il enjoys golf, having shot multiple holes-in-one during his first try at the game. He reportedly aced five holes and finished 38 under par on the golf course. The "Great Leader" routinely shoots three or four holes-in-one per round, the government-controlled media reported."

So the dimunitive leader is so adept at everything that he should be lauded by people of all nations as a hero to even the smallest man. Apparently he doesn't take jokes very well though. This story details the Great Leader's desire to clean up his image after those bastards at Team America besmirched his outstanding reputation. The best part about it (besides that they're serious) is the response from the Czech Embassy.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=529&ncid=529&e=13&u=/ap/20050205/ap_en_mo/nkorea_team_america

Sich Verpissen

2005-02-04T13:41:00.000-05:00

The progressive party? I think not.

You know, I'm all for Freedom of Speech, except when the voice exercising that freedom uses extreme stupidity. I find it hard to believe that Janeane Garofolo represents the thoughts and beliefs of mainstream Democrats. Having read through the transcripts of her appearance with Joe Scarborough et al, I can honestly say she is off her rocker. For every question posed to her, she came back with an ad hominem response that was off topic. It's shameful that party leadership hasn't asked this nut to associate herself with another party, maybe Lyndon Larouche is looking for a PR rep.

Hatred

2005-02-02T17:46:00.000-05:00

This quote actually plays quite well to my Pro-Anti-Dean rant earlier today;

"Always remember, others may hate you, but those who hate you don't win unless you hate them, and then you destroy yourself." R. Milhouse Nixon.

So I say it again, please DMV hire Howard Dean to be your mouthpiece.

Attn DNC: Please hire this boob!

2005-02-02T13:12:00.000-05:00

If he hates Republicans now, what happens when he blows the next election for the Democrats?

I'm going to take a cue from National Review and beg that the people at the DMV (err, DNC) hire Howard Dean. It should be interesting to see how Dean divides Democrats. Think about it, Dean and his cadre of socialists should alienate a large portion of the more intelligent left with his (pardon the pun) claims, or shrieks, from left field. In order for Dean to effectively run the DNC, he's going to have to extricate himself from some of his alliances (think predatory insurance policies while Governor of VT). What he really needs to do is tone down the blind rhetoric and start pointing out the inroads that Democrats have made around the country. No more of the "Republicans are bad because they're evil" chatter, it's counterproductive to the DNC message, which nobody even knows, because they haven't produced a coherent one on McAuliffe's watch. Taking the default candidate over somebody more qualified should worry Democrats (think John Kerry), Howard Dean is on the fringe and can surely put out some quality rhetoric, but can he unite the many factions of the DNC to produce a winner? Give him the job and we'll find out. I doubt it, but if anything it should be fun to watch.

A Little Kidnapping News

2005-02-01T21:00:00.000-05:00

Damn plastic infidels!

I have 2 explanations for today's amazing kidnapping attempt. First, somebody at The Onion is smart enough to hack their way onto an Islamofascist website and fooled everyone on earth. The alternative explanation is that the local terrorists have become so frustrated that their best effort is kidnapping G.I. Joe. One of the interesting things I thought about today is this: Whenever you see coalition troops undertaking some variety of mission, they are rarely alone. Hell, you rarely see any soldier without at least 2-3 of their comrades alongside them. What makes Joe Terrorist think he can fool Billions of people with an action-figure? I wonder if this one had the "kung-fu grip."

John Kerry's Lost Winter

2005-02-01T10:39:00.000-05:00

"Meet the Press" viewers must have been as disappointed as I was to see that John Kerry was Tim Russert's guest this past Sunday. Mostly because he's apparently still campaigning for President. Especially with quotes like this:

"I won more votes than any candidate on the Democratic side has ever won in history. I lost, Tim, to an incumbent president by a closer margin than an incumbent president has ever won re-election before in the history of the country, and if you add up the popular vote in the battleground states, I won the popular vote in the battleground states by two percentage points. We just didn't distribute it correctly in Ohio." So if you add New Jersey to New Mexico, subtract Dade county and then redistribute the Ohio vote, the French would love us. Right and I'm going to be named Secretary of Aggie-culture sometime before Friday. There are some other rich quotes as well, such as the epiphany that ALL of John Kerry's military records have been released, a non Christmas visit to Cambodia, and an ad hominem suggestion about his critics:

"Yes, I did go into Cambodia on a mission. Was it on that night? No, it was not on that night. But we were right on the Cambodian border that night. We were ambushed there, as a matter of fact. And that is a matter of record, and we went into the rec-- you know, it's part of the Navy records. It's been documented by the other guys who were on my boat. And Steve Gardner, frankly, doesn't know where we were. It wasn't his job, and, you know, he wasn't involved in that. But we did go five miles into Cambodia. It was on another day. I jumbled the two together, but we were five miles into Cambodia. We went up on a mission with CIA agents--I believe they were CIA agents--CIA Special Ops guys. I even have some photographs of it, and I can document it."

"SEN. KERRY: I'd be happy to put the records out. We put all the records out that I had been sent by the military. Then at the last moment, they sent some more stuff, which had some things that weren't even relevant to the record. So when we get--I'm going to sit down with them and make sure that they are clear and I am clear as to what is in the record and what isn't in the record and we'll put it out. I have no problem with that.

MR. RUSSERT: Would you sign Form 180?

SEN. KERRY: But everything, Tim...

MR. RUSSERT: Would you sign Form 180?

SEN. KERRY: Yes, I will. But everything that we put in it, Tim--everything we put in--I mean, everything that was out was a full documentation of all of the medical records, all of the fitness reports. And I'd call on those who have challenged me, let's see their records. I want to see the records of each of those people who have put up a challenge, because some of them have some serious questions in them, and it hasn't been appropriate...

MR. RUSSERT: So they should sign Form 180s for themselves as well?

SEN. KERRY: You bet."

It seems odd that Kerry continues to cut himself short on the subject of his military records. (I know, the election is over- it shouldn't matter, I just happen to take hypocricy seriously.) He says that "Yes, I will" sign Form 180, which suggests that he hadn't previously. Then he moves over to what his people put into his records, which contradicts his claim that his records have been released by the Navy rather than doctored by his own flacks.. I think the real problem here is that John Kerry has never really been called to accountability in a public forum. Sure he's had debates with John O'Neill 30-some years ago, but as long as the questions don't involve Master Kerry himself, you're sure to get the truth. At every instance he's managed to weasel out of it by directing certain claims to his subordinates who then create a circular flow of misdirection. "If you'd check my website you can see the documentation for yourself" Or you could ask the reporter who got denied on a Freedom of Information act request for Kerry's Naval Records and original discharge (not the updated Jimmy Carter version) at the Pentagon. Okay enough of me ranting about a windbag who lost.

Here's the transcript link if you want to look for yourself:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6886726/

E-A-G-L-E-S

2005-01-31T19:46:00.000-05:00

Heee's Back...

Well T.O. practiced and WCAU claims that he was going full speed, which is hard to believe. You have to walk before you run, as it were. It's hard not to believe it's going to be a tough game for the Eagles, but it should still be competitive. Watch out for Greg Lewis, people, he's going to shock the world. Okay, peace out.

2005-01-30T23:48:00.000-05:00

Sunset in Baghdad

Update Redux

2005-01-30T23:30:00.000-05:00

Okay well I have done some stuff,thatt last post made it seem like I've been sitting around with one hand in my pants and the other in a bag of Chips. I did lose 10 pounds, and I did get to 2 Browns games. I actually spent a fair amount of time in the fair city of Cleveland. I've also been quite entertained by the battle for publicity following the Tsunami disaster. If the people looking for publicity spent less time looking for cameras and more time looking to help, the countries in need would sure be recovering more quickly. That's pretty much directed at the UN since they're spending an inordinate amount of time holding press conferences.
I'll end the redux with this quote: "The UN is a place where Nations who supress free speech demand to be heard"

Good night, folks.

Update

2005-01-30T23:12:00.000-05:00

I haven't really done much since October, well that depends on how you look at it. I have gotten rejected from 2 jobs. One for being overqualified, One for being underqualified. There's nothing more ridiculous to an unemployed person than hearing that you're overqualified for a job. Oh well. Once I get back to a regular schedule, maybe I'll get into the swing of this wacky blog thing. Maybe I'll even throw in some colorful language. Not that you care. I guess the only way to make a name for yourself is to pick a fight with someone else's blog, call them something silly and then off you go. I should have jumped on the Blogs for Bush bandwagon when they were still paying people off. Oh Well.

They shoud do the same for the male sailors

2004-10-19T16:18:00.000-04:00

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20041017/D85PG4KG0.html

That wacky Navy of ours is at it again. They're making skirts optional for female sailors. What a concept! Now all they have to do is make them optional for the male sailors and they can get away from that pesky Village People stigma.
For those who don't know, the Navy made the mistake of hiring the Village People to record a song for their recruiting push back in the disco era. Not that the decision made them the laughinstock of the military (most in the Army would tell you they already were), but it certainly didn't enhance their image.

Oh the Humanity

2004-10-17T16:06:00.000-04:00

A picture is worth a thousand words, this one's worth a thousand bucks.

Boy did the Yankees ever kick the bejesus out of the Sawx last night. That should help the collective self-esteem of New England. In equally important sports news, the Black Knights of the Hudson are putting together a respectable little win streak. Last night, down 28-20, the cadets went on a second half tear to win 42-35. Last week, Tielor Robinson was the hero with 5 TDs; this week it was Carlton Jones running for 225 yards and 5 TDs. This is the Bobby Ross effect exposing itself to Army alumni and the rest of the country.

Finally...

2004-10-16T16:51:00.000-04:00

Well it looks like John Kerry finally released some evidence that he was in Cambodia. It's hard to see him, considering the darkened silhouettes, but you can see him at the front of the boat, right? If you get a chance, Club for Growth has one of the funnier anti-Kerry ads you'll see. http://www.clubforgrowth.net/

French/French Canadian, what's the difference?

2004-10-14T22:26:00.000-04:00

In what can only be described as a massive surprise, Canadian PM Martin made sure to get his share of Oil for Food kickbacks by ensuring Jacques Chirac that Canada would not be sending troops to Iraq. Since I know very little Canadian military history, I'll just have to hope that their last battlefield victory was some time more recent than Waterloo. It's amazing that the "Coalition of the Bribed" turned out to be the countries that chose not to join the battle to free Iraq.

"My Cheese, She Stinks"

Boston Sucks

2004-10-13T11:10:00.000-04:00

The Moose is Loose

There's no better feeling than watching 56,000 something crazed Yankee fans letting Curt Schilling know he got smoked last night. Use whatever excuse you want, but Schilling didn't walk the walk last night and he knows it.

On Brave Old Army Team...

2004-10-09T20:47:00.000-04:00

It's about time

Indeed

2004-10-09T20:35:00.000-04:00

Despite some problems, the Afghan elections took place today. On top of that, the Black Knights of the Hudson broke their 19 game losing streak by pounding Cincinnati 48-29. Tielor Robinson, one of Army's running backs, is an absolute Moose. He rushed for 82 yards, caught 4 passes for 111 yards and 5 TDs total. One of those catches had to be one of the best screen plays ever run, 92 yards for a score, with receiver Aaron Alexander blocking downfield for at least 30-35 yards. Outstanding work. I'll post a jubilant picture above.

Damn Right

Guess the African leader

2004-10-07T17:41:00.000-04:00

He still looks pissed about that bombing in 1986

So here is a picture I found on Yahoo of Silvio Berlusconi and our old friend Kadhafi (sp?). The story here was about the opening of an oil pipeline between Italy and Libya. However, one has to dig deeper here and wonder if the Libyan leader is making a statement. A statement with his choice of apparel. If you take a close look at his shirt, you can see faces and pictures of the African continent. Now, the only face I've been able to make out is that of Nelson Mandela, but what are the odds that some of those pictures are of Warlords, such as the leader of Ethiopia or Aidid of Somalia (The father, not their current leader his son)? Is it possible he just likes the shirt? Sure. Is it possible that Moamer was being sly? Of Course. Obviously any conclusion will likely be out of context, but compare the sneer on Kadhafi and the smile on Silvio's face. Looks like somebody took it from behind on this deal.

Upon further review: Maybe my sight is going, but I think I spotted Saddam. Bottom row, 3rd picture from the left, right under Mandela, how ironic.

Kobe Cheesesteak? Only in Kerry Country

2004-10-06T20:39:00.000-04:00

Nothing like this ever came from Jim's

That's right folks, that's a $100 cheesesteak. "This version of the traditional Philadelphia sandwich, made with Kobe beef, melted Taleggio cheese, shaved truffles, sauteed foie gras, caramelized onions and heirloom shaved tomatoes on a homemade brioche roll bushed with truffle butter and squirted with homemade mustard, is served with a small bottle of champagne and sells for $100 at Stephen Starr's Barclay Prime opening Tuesday. " For that kind of scratch you can get yourself roughly 16-17 cheesesteaks and a drink at Jim's on South Street. I can just see John Kerry in front of Geno's telling Philadelphia how he just loved the cheesesteak over at Barclay Prime. "Nothing says Philadelphia like the cheesesteak at Barclay Prime, I remember enjoying one in Cambodia one Christmas not too long ago..."

Fight Club Down Under?

2004-10-04T11:57:00.000-04:00

Remember the scene in Fight Club where the baggage claim jerk tells Ed Norton that if something in a bag is vibrating they have to search the bag? But of course they never imply possession, "Instead of saying we found your dildo, we say we found a dildo"

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1503&u=/afp/australia_air_vibrator&printer=1

(I guess I should extend courtesy to Drudge for the link to the story)

Down, set, Hike!

2004-10-04T10:41:00.000-04:00

"I never saw Jerry Rice make a catch like this"

2004-10-03T19:47:00.000-04:00

Imagine being on this Ranger's bad side.

School's Back

2004-08-29T22:20:00.000-04:00

Well it's back to school season, and I still don't have a job. Looking for one would probably be a good start.

This may be a tough battle, but tonight on Cable: Nip/Tuck vs. MTV's VMA Crapfest: Male breast implants and sex dolls vs. Christina Aguilera wearing next to nothing - something you see practically every day. Personally, I'll take Entourage and a Sapphire and Tonic.