US Soldiers wanta come home and Fred Hampton

As the news out of Iraq continues to get worse and worse and it looks like they’re headed towards and all out civil war comes this bit from US soldiers over there:
The poll is the first of U.S. troops currently serving in Iraq, according to John Zogby, the pollster. Conducted by Zogby International and LeMoyne College, it asked 944 service members, "How long should U.S. troops stay in Iraq?"

Only 23 percent backed Mr. Bush's position that they should stay as long as necessary. In contrast, 72 percent said that U.S. troops should be pulled out within one year. Of those, 29 percent said they should withdraw "immediately."

Wow… almost three in ten soldiers want to get out of there right now. Three out of four want to get out within the next year. I’m not sure what this means politically, but it seems pretty clear that these soldiers either:
a) Don’t want to be in Iraq
b) See the future as extreme bleak
c) See this ending peacefully in a year.

Here at VFLOAB we’ll take answer B. The recent events of fighting Sunni and Shia groups only paint a bleaker picture than what was already being presented in the print media*. And the news today that over 1,000 Iraqis have died in the past week, more than what the original estimates had first ‘estimated’, goes to show that things are much worse than originally thought.

If Iraq does break out into total civil war, I think most here will agree that it will be time to bring US soldiers hope. As horrible as that sounds, to have our boys stuck in the middle would not only make things worse, but obviously make them much more vulnerable to the violence and fighting.

Of course what to do then… I’m not sure other than praying.

*(For the record, we believe that the news/video media has completely failed and fallen flat on their faces in the coverage of the Iraq conflict. The lack of video and pictures from the region is not only surprising, but shows either a total sense of laziness or lack of access to what is going on there. We realize that the war in Vietnam was fought differently than the war/conflict in Iraq, but one thing is for sure… the Vietnam war saw reporters interviewing soldiers, showing pictures of soldiers in conflict and at battle… in other words it showed the over all horrors of war. Unfortunately those same pictures haven’t been seen at all during the Iraq conflict… so much so that one has to wonder if the video media has been told to keep out or else. We already know that the White House/Department of Defense won’t let them show pictures of coffins of dead soldiers and one has to wonder how much further that ‘ban’ extends).

Moving on… Fred Hampton was given an honorary street name in Chicago on Monday which, naturally, pissed off the Chicago police. Hampton, as you may or may not know, was murdered (but since the police shot him he was killed) by the Chicago Police in December of 1969. The police had claimed that Hampton and others had fired at them first, but the follow up investigation revealed that it was the CPD that fired 98 or the 99 shots that morning (the one shot fired by Hampton and others was after the police had shot Mark Clark who was sleeping on the sofa with a shot gun. Clark, who was killed instantly, fired shot as a ‘death’ reaction/jerk).

Hampton was a member of the Black Panthers and the head of the Chicago Chapter at the time of his death (interestingly enough, U.S. House of Representative Bobby Rush was also a Black Panther and obviously not gunned down by the police). The Panthers do have a some what mixed history that was marred by some violence and advocated violence in some cases. But Hampton did a lot of good in his short life (he btw, coined the phrase, Rainbow Coalition) pushing for better housing, economic conditions, and social justice in black areas in Chicago. His murder was and continues to be a black eye, in a long list of black eyes, for the Chicago Police Department. They can cry all they want about Hampton getting a street named after him, sorry, rather an honorary street named after him, but the facts are that they shot and killed a completely harmless and sleeping Hampton.

Hampton did leave us with this great, and chilling, quote: "You can murder a liberator but you can't murder liberation.” Hampton would be murdered/killed within a year of saying that which is extremely eerie.

We would love to see five teams from the Missouri Valley Conference make the NCAA Tourney. We would rather see some of those teams than average to not very good Kentucky, Indiana, or Texas A&M teams since we see those teams all the time and they aren’t that much fun to watch or root for come March.

We could see five 20 win teams in the Missouri Valley (there are already three) which itself is unbelievable. I know they haven't played the same schedule that a Kentucky, IU, or AM has... but come on. Those three teams aren't going to win it all and would need a hell of a run to make the Sweet 16. So why not throw the Valley, which outside of the Big East, has probably had the best and most interesting conference year (notice I didn't include the Big Ten because frankly, do you even know who's a top the Big Ten? My point exactly... and it's Ohio State if you didn't know). I say give the Valley four bids, or five if someone like Bradley wins the Tourney. Watching Bradley, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois, Creighton, Wichita State, or Missouri State would be a lot more interesting in my book.

This Is a Post to Give You Hope

Last night, VFLOAB made our way over to the Black Cat in DC to catch Mason Jennings. Now, let me set this up for you a little bit.

Prior to last night we’ve seen Mason four times: twice in DC, once in Madison, and once in Chicago. He puts on a good, not great, but good show. We like his music… a little folk/rock/alt country mix… lot of love songs, probably too many, but he gets the job done. We like him because there are some songs that we can identify with, “Crown”, “Ulysses”, “Train Leaving Gray”, and “Big Sur” come to mind. Others we flat out enjoy (quickly “Nothing”, “Confidant”, and “1997”). So we were excited when we saw a few months ago that Mason was coming to DC for a show on February 26th.

Having seen Mason in 2003 and 2004 in DC, we figured it would be an easy ticket. There were no more than 200 or 250 people at either show, and seeing that the Black Cat can hold 600, we saw no reason to get tickets before hand. And it’s more fun to hand the guy at the door fifteen bucks than have them find your name on the will call list… see isn’t it easier just to give him $15?

But as we approached the Cat for the 8:30 show, we saw a line longer than what we experienced for Annie a few months ago… and after three minutes in line, some employee of the Cat told us the show was sold out. Shocked, I quickly called my friend who lived down the street and asked her how well she knew people at the Cat (since she is a regular). Like a dumb dog, I continued to wait in line despite it being 20 degrees outside with a bunch of wantabe hip Dave Matthews Band fans (more on them later). The friend met me, tried to work her magic, but no dice. Having traveled halfway across the DC metro area, I figured we might as well get a drink.

So there I sat at the Red Room bar slowly nursing a Newcastle, talking about how I now hate Mason Jennings fans, old girlfriends, and other variously boring topics looking like someone had flushed my goldfish down the toilet in drunken ‘enlightenment’ the night before. Sure I was a little tired, definitely in a state of shock, and ticked off that I didn’t get tickets… but I probably looked like the biggest loser ever. I was so pathetic and sad, that at 9:30 someone comes up to us and says, “Were you looking for tickets, because my friends can’t come…?” and handed us to tickets. And just like that, we was in.

Now there are three reasons why this was great:
1) I was now going to see Mason Jennings
2) It was free
3) Once again faith in humanity had been restored. (Not that I had actually lost it, but it’s fun to say that… nice people rock and thank you whoever game us the tickets. I owe you.)

The show was just okay. It was a solo show and while Mason didn’t stink up the joint, most of the songs didn’t go any where. He’s much better with his ‘band’. We got the low down on why the show sold out, the Cat decided only to sell about 500 tickets to create a buzz… which is fine but where did these 250 Mason Jennings fans come from? Was he on the OC? Pitchfork didn’t give him a great review, I know that… so seriously where did they come from? Did he open for Dave Matthews and I’m not aware? The place was packed with frat boys and their cute and hot girlfriends. And they knew about half the songs. The crowd wasn’t that annoying… but we knew that most of the people at the show were recent bandwagon jumpers. Mason was lucky to get 200 two years ago, getting 500 on a Sunday night seems like a bit of a stretch in the natural progression kind of way.

And the real bummer is that the ‘real’ Mason fans (aka the ones that have listened to him for at least four or five years) didn’t get to go because we all figured that there would only be 300 of us. But that’s the way things roll… Mason is better off in his pockets and while we ‘long time’ Mason fans now have to put up with the annoying frat boy/Phish/Dave Matthews/my dad is rich/”Hey man… can I get a lighter” types it’s the price one pays sometimes when you follow a band/guy slowly make his way in the industry. (And for the record, we aren’t long time, been with Mason from the start fans. We’ve been around the block with Mason for the last five years, but in no way where we there back in the late 90s when he was catching breaks, so don’t cry for us too much).

All in all, it was a good night… we got to pretend we were one of the five hippest non-bartenders at the Black Cat. We saw Mason Jennings do a great cover of Oasis’ “Be Here Now”. And we got to see him for the price of two beers and a cab ride home.

And of course, we recommend you check him out… even if you are a frat boy and think Dave Matthews is the deepest lyricist since Bob Dylan.

Congrats to Sweden in their victory over Finland for the gold medal in ice hockey at the Olympics. We missed the game, but the hockey we did see over the week and a half tournament was great. And if anyone knows where I could get this t-shirt without the rings, let me know… Andersonville maybe or do I really have to go all the way to Stockholm? Anyway, congrats to the Swedes.

To be honest, we just found this picture...

I'm happy to be here... and I have nothing to do with anything bellow

We must admit, we woke up this morning and while walking to Metro to get to work, we weren’t thrilled about the day. It was another cool, wet, dark morning here in DC, and it was getting us down. Then once we got to work we realized we’d much rather be in Madrid or London or even Chicago. So we’re a bit down today and we apologize for that. But that said, I did just look out side and it’s sunny so the lifted our moods a bit. But we’d still rather be some where around the Santiago Bernabeu finding things to do and places to eat than in DC. C’est le via.

Good news for the rich! The average American family isn’t making as much money as they were in 2001. That’s right!, the average income fell between 2004 and 2001… so George Bush can talk all he wants about tax cuts, booming economy, and the minimal job creation he wants. The facts, Jack, say that people are worse off today than they were before GeorgieNero took office.

And before anyone goes off on who did the survey… it was done by the Fed. I think the Fed is a pretty unbiased and creditable source of information. The fact is, the rich have gotten richer since Bush has become President. The tax cuts for ‘everyone’ haven’t really helped ‘everyone’ it’s helped the rich and corporations (hence the continued rise of GDP in the Bush years). The tax cuts haven’t trickled down, it’s been the opposite. The rich and corporations have put the money in their back pocket leaving most Americans even further on the outside looking in.

This is not good; I don’t even think a GOPer could argue that this was ‘good news’. If American families are making less in a time of growth, that means the fewer are taking even more of the pie and therefore leaving less for everyone else. And this isn’t just a gap between the richest 5% and poorest 5% (a gap that is one of the faults of capitalism), this is a widing gap being the richest 5% and the richest 50%... and as we know from history the greater the discrepancy the worse off the nation and economy is (for examples there are hundreds ranging from 18th century France, early 20th century Russia, and even 21st century Mexico). Of course we’re years away from looking like some of those examples, but the Mexico example might not be too far off, only everyone’s got more money and the poorest class make up a small percentage… so scratch that. But if I wanted to be outrageous… Anyway, I’ll leave you with this:
The gap between the very wealthy and other income groups widened during the period. The top 10 percent of households saw their net worth rise 6.1 percent to an average of $3.11 million, whereas the bottom 25 percent sustained a decline from a net worth in which their assets equaled their liabilities in 2001 to owing $1,400 more than their total assets in 2004.

"This is the continuing story of the rich getting richer," said David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poor's in New York.
"Clearly, the gains in wealth are going to the top end."

Anyway, despite our somewhat melancholy mood, we can’t help but fall in LOVE with the New York Knicks right now. Just love them. Now that Isaiah Thomas has traded for Steve Francis the Knicks back court will feature Francis and Stephon Marbury. I get excited just thinking about it. It’s one of those deals or ideas that you come up with at like two in the morning with a few drunk friends… “Hey you know what I’d watch? Francis and Marbury on the same team! How great would that be?!?” And you all laugh and kid and say “that’s a good one” knowing that it would never happen… and then it happens. I’m not sure what to do with myself. I want to watch every Knick game from here on our just for the sheer entertainment of watching Francis and Marbury shoot the ball 60 times a game and then watching Edie Curry give a 3% effort to go after the rebound. This is going to be a fantastic end to the NBA season… just me and the Knicks to the end. Anyway, this gives the Knicks three shoot first point guards, and as one of Simmons’ readers pointed out, the possibilities are endless:

"Hahahahaha! I think Isiah should trade for Jason Williams and Damon Jones so that the Knicks can become the first-ever team to start five despicable shoot-first point guards. Also, then New York could play their all-point-guard team against Atlanta's all-small-forward team and we could finally see which position is better."Petey, Chicago

The next few days in Iraq are extremely crucial in terms of how more shit will hit the fan. The bombing of the Shiite mosque on Wednesday has put the country on the brink of what everyone is calling civil war. While it appears things have some what calmed down, the violence that followed the bombing of the Shiite mosque was intense, wide spread, and not good in any way.

A civil war has been called the worst case scenario for some time now. While tensions between the Kurds, Shiites, and Sunnis have been high; things between the three groups have been relatively calm until this week. If violence between the Shiites and Sunnis continues to rise, it’s not out of the question that we could see an international mess on our hands. U.S. soldiers caught in a war between these two groups would be in the worst possible position since at that point, no one and everyone would be the enemy. I’m not sure, from a military stand point, how US forces would respond to a clash between the Shiites and Sunnis. Taking sides would only bring about more tension and violence. Being stuck in the middle will only put US forces in increasing harms way and leave US forces near useless. Politically, the last thing the White House or anyone in the State Department wants to do is pick sides. In fact, the US couldn’t pick sides since the political backlash in the region would only increase… in other words we’d manage to piss off more people.

Plus a civil war of any type will divide the Middle East. Iran will come running to the side of the Shiites and don’t expect the Sunnis in the region to sit idly on their hands waiting to see what happens.

As things stand in Iraq right now, things are probably at their bleakest, and that’s saying something. Hopefully the events this week will ‘blow over’, the violence will ebb, and a full fledge civil war will be avoided. Because if it doesn’t, we’re going to see a mess that makes me scared, sad, and angry all at the same time.

There is somewhat disturbing news out of London today. Mayor Ken Livingstone while leaving a party said this to a Jewish reporter who was questioning/badgering him about a year ago now: “Ah right, well you might be [Jewish], but actually you are just like a concentration camp guard, you are just doing it because you are paid to, aren't you?”

For these comments Livingstone was suspended from his job as mayor for 3 weeks starting on March 1st.

While we don’t support Nazism, fascism, anti-Semitism, death, or concentration camps, we find Mr. Livingstone’s punishment to be quite harsh. Was it a stupid, insensitive, and cruel thing to say? Of course and he should never have said it. But to suspend him for saying something stupid well… that opens a lot of doors doesn’t it? And who is suspending Mr. Livingstone anyway? As mayor aren’t his ‘bosses’ the citizens of London? We find this quite bizarre and unnecessary too. As we've said here before, VFLOAB supports people's rights to say stupid things.

I’m sure we all remember Dick Durbin’s comments from last summer when he said: "If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags or some mad regime — Pol Pot or others — that had no concern for human beings."

Durbin wasn’t suspended or thrown in jail. He took some political flak, eventually apologized (to our disappointment), and moved on. Unfortunately, the forces at be in London don’t see things the same way.

It's Been A Long Time, But Now I'm...

We here at VFLOAB have been busy and that explains why it’s been nearly a week since we’ve posted anything, and we apologize for that. We’re not proud of this fact either.

No matter, since we’re feeling feisty today, we probably lack any ability to write anything introspective and analytical. Call it a cop-out if you will, but them the facts Jack.

We’re happy to see the Champions League start up again with Liverpool going down in Lisbon last night 1-0 (there’s still hope next week). Arsenal walked into Madrid and took a 1-0 (or 1.5-0) lead over Real Madrid last night also when Henry scored a goal that everyone is gushing about. But Europe being Europe and lacking ESPN, we haven’t seen a video of the goal. But word in the papers was that it was amazing. Tonight, Barca is in London facing off with Chelsea. We’ll ignore the fact that Rangers is also playing since we are, after all, good Catholics (Hibs and Celtic for life!).

We’ve been enjoying the Olympics just because they’re there and they don’t come around all that often. We don’t have much to say about them, but we can’t understand how American Idol is out pacing them in the ratings. What’s enjoyable about watching lounge singers attempting to sing songs that aren’t lounge songs and taking themselves way too seriously? I just don’t get the entire Idol phenomenon (a show we tried to watch last year we might add, but it's so bad and so boring that we couldn't get into it and that's saying something considering we love My Super Sweet 16). It might be the most boring show on TV since nothing happens and as we said, most of these ‘performers’ are no talent ass clowns. Since I can’t explain its popularity, I’m just going to take the easy Democratic route and blame George W. Bush. There that was easy.

Yummmmm baseball is starting…

There’s something going on in the UK with Prince Charles and the fact that he considers himself a political dissident… but I don’t care. I just felt like maybe you should know.

This whole port situation is very interesting. It’s a classic Free Market vs National Security question… and considering that those are two of the GOPs biggest platforms it was only a matter of time before this came to ahead. While we haven’t done a ton of reading on it, we sort of agree with Bush at the moment since Dubai is much different than the rest of the Middle East in terms of lifestyle and even politics. But there are two things that should be considered:
1) We’ve seen the cracks within the Republican party over the last year or so, but could this be the issue that ‘breaks the dam’? And while party’s rarely fall into complete and utter chaos, this could be the issue where we see a clear split between two fractions within the GOP. Remember, it’s usually these ‘small’ issues that create these clear rifts. Just something to watch for.
2) Treasury Secretary John Snow is a former chairman of CSX and the firm was bought by the Dubai firm back in 2005. Also one of the Dubai firms top executives, David Sanborn, was nominated by Bush to the post of the Maritime Administration in the U.S. Department of Transportation last month. In other words, Bush could be helping out a friend here… but what else is new.

The USA Hockey Team finally bowed out of the Olympics today losing to Finland. While for some reason they’re getting blasted in the media, we actually think the US did a pretty decent job in Turin this time around. The team was clearly weaker than the Swedes, Finns, Russians, Czechs, and Canadians on paper and avoided getting knocked out of the first round of the tournament. So while they didn’t win a medal, no one was expecting them to win one anyway. It was one of those odd years where US hockey is at a crossroads and we should be fine in 2010 when the games are in Vancouver. As for who we’re rooting for now… I feel like I’m at 7-11 in front of the slurpie machine. How can you not love Teemu and the Finns? The Swedes have the best sweaters in the tournament and play great hockey. The Czechs are always hip. And the Canada is our fall back country come Olympic time… so who do you root for? I guess it all depends on the match ups.

Things I can promise in the upcoming few weeks and days… a break down of Fukuyama’s wonderful piece on the Neo-con movement, 2006 Baseball preview, random Economist stuff I’ve come across. And I’m sure well thought out, intellectual, and analytical musings on why Bush is wrong.

This stinks, sorry. I’ll go.

Guns don't shoot people, Dick Cheney does

First things first, there is no truth to the rumor that Rory Gilmore wrote this, but you should read it anyway. If you watch the OC, or at least have an idea of who the characters are, you’ll enjoy this. To be honest, I learned more about the OC than anything else in this fine piece of work.

Next up… Dick Cheney shooting a friend who happens to be 78 years-old and who happened to be in Cheney’s way on a hunting trip…

Look, we here at VFLOAB understand that it was an accident. We aren’t going to spin it any other way, even though we think Evil Dick is evil, we’re pretty sure he lets other people do his dirty work (actually we know he lets other people do his dirty work, usually the US Army). So this was an accident. We could live with that.

But of course it doesn’t end there. The way they’ve handled this entire situation is CLASSIC White House/Dick Cheney. First off, it wasn’t Cheney’s fault at first, it was Whittington’s fault since he got in the way or the media’s fault because of the way the handled the story. Maybe Mr. Whittington didn’t follow the standard hunting guidelines or codes (we’ve never been hunting so we have no clue). But the fact is he was shot in the face, neck, and heart, and I’m sure it could have been prevented.
It took 22 hours for the story to break and then almost 96 hours for Cheney to apologize for his actions. How was running this show should be fired right now. First off, the White House/Vice Presidents people didn’t even release the story; it was the owner of the ranch. Why the wait? I see one of three reasons why they waited:
1) Cheney had been drinking. The man does have three DUI convictions on his record, so this is not some crazy conspiracy theory. Cheney did admit to having one beer at lunch, so it isn’t a totally outrageous theory. It’s unlikely of course, since hunting with guns with a few beers in you has to be one of the dumbest ideas this side of invading Iraq. Anyway if Cheney was drinking the 22 hours gave them time to plan how to spin this.
3) They were very worried about Mr. Whittington’s health. And probably rightly so. Again if this was the case, and this is probably the most likely, then they were planning how to spin the story. Mr. Whittington isn’t out of the woods yet, but it appears that he’ll pull though the accident.
3) Cover up. Highly doubtful, but not out of the realm of possibilities with this administration which is now being compared to Richard Nixon without brains.

No matter what the reason, the entire incident and episode that followed was pure Bush Administration. They refused to take responsibility. It was someone else’s fault. They were secretive about the events and the episode in general. And it brought into question of who is in charge. Cheney called the shots, he delayed in informing the White House, and he attempted to control the story even after they were informed of what happened. It wasn’t until people where openly wondering on TV and in print who was and is in power/charge did you see Cheney apologizing for his actions (to FOX no less we might add). There is no way that Karl Rove would have allowed this story to continue on for four days like it did, Rove is too smart for that. And even now that Cheney has apologized; the story still won’t simply go away because it gained so much negative attention.

But that’s the story of this administration and what historians are going to have a field day with in about twenty five years… who held the power and the cards in this White House? While we’ve seen many administrations delegate power throughout the various cabinets and advisors around the President (Ike and Reagan come to mind) there was never any doubt that at the end of the day Ike and Ronnie were making the final decision. With this White House, that may not be the case. Does anyone honestly believe that Bush waned Cheney to stay quite throughout all of this? Of course not, if it was Bush who had accidentally shot a man, he would have apologized by Sunday.

Personally, we think Cheney should resign or be fired and we’ve felt this way for a while because of previous actions and conflicts of interest. He won’t unless he’s charged for manslaughter, and hopefully that will not happen. But it goes to show how ‘valuable’ Cheney is… not because he offers good politics or policy, but because he’s so powerful. I see nothing wrong in asking who Cheney answers too because it’s becoming more and more clear that it’s not George W. Bush.

To close out today, I’ll just give the keyboard to Ozzie:
"Alex was kissing Latino people's [butts]. He knew he wasn't going to play for the Dominicans; he's not a Dominican!

"I hate hypocrites: He's full of shit. The Dominican team doesn't need his [butt]. It's the same with [Nomar] Garciaparra playing for Mexico. Garciaparra only knows Cancun because he went to visit."

And we wonder where Hugo Chavez gets it…

Happy Valentine's Day

It’s Valentine’s Day and we realize that no one wants to talk about Dick Cheney shooting 78-year-old man in the face today, so we’ll save that for tomorrow.

No today we’ll focus on one of the greatest love videos ever made… “Hello” by Lionel Ritchie. The words I use will not give this video the justice it deserves, so watch it here. Or you can read what Simmons' wrote about it a few years ago:
"Hello" (Lionel Ritchie) -- This was the one where Lionel falls for the blind girl who made the bust that looked nothing like him. Remember that one? She told him, "This is what I see when I see you," then she showed him a sculpture of Barry Sanders, who wasn't even famous yet. This video is RIOTOUSLY funny now. It slays me. Absolutely kills me. I wish they had made a deleted scene where Lionel says, "Hey, just so you know, that looks nothing like me -- I have swollen lips and horrible gheri-curls!", just for the blind girl's reaction.

And finally, here are some Valentine’s to you my readers. Enjoy them. Love them. Laugh at them. Send them to people you love. Love, love, love…

That’s all for today… I hate Valentine’s Day because it’s just a made up day for Hallmark and a few restaurants to take money from us all. But more power to them for getting us to literally buy into the whole thing. Be well.

Random Thoughts

Free Association from the Weekend that was…

* I strongly believe that we should have a Breaking the Seal Ceremony when you know it’s going to be a ‘long’ night of drinking. I think shooting off a bottle rocket would be more than enough to celebrate the moment. Just an exchange like this would make the night that much more fun, “Hold on a second, I’m going to the bathroom.”
“Breakin’ the seal?”
“Yep.”
“I’ll get the bottle rocket for you.”

* It really doesn’t get too much better than the McLaughlin Group to kick off a Saturday night of fun. The five talking heads yelling and interrupting each other is just fantastic. This week McLaughlin even called Tony Blankley’s newspaper (the Washington Times) “a little rag”. Anyway, great TV and gets me fired up every time and ready for a night of fun and craziness.

* The best Olympic Moment of the weekend was hands down, the interview with Rene Inoue and her partner both on and off the ice, John Baldwin. Among the highlights, Inoue saying, “I liked how he [Baldwin] threw me.” And Baldwin giving one of the greatest comments in Olympic history saying that he and Inoue, “had to come out and shove it in their face.” NBC then showed the highlight of Baldwin ‘throwing Inoue as she likes to be thrown’ and after she lands the 'throw/jump' we see Baldwin giving a fist rocket into a raised arm giving a “we’re number 1” sign with his finger and pulling it all back in with a arm pump… all while skating in the competition. Needless to say the ex-roomie and I watched those two minutes of TV about ten times thanks to Tivo.

In second place was the one of the Chinese pairs skating to Led Zeppelin (well actually Page and Plant). Look I know were in the middle of globalization and stuff like that, but come on, there’s no way either of these people listen to Page and Plant. None. I think this was the same pair who is in the lead right now and Dick Button had them in 15th place after they finished. (BTW, the figure skating booth? Tom Hammond, Dick Button, and some chick. You’ve got to wonder if Hammond is one of the most hated people on Earth since he announces Notre Dame football also. Figure Skating and Notre Dame football… what a career! Anyway, Tom Hammond and a buttoned up Dick Button in the same booth together made me wonder, why couldn’t Pat Haden do it too? I guess Pat Haden was too busy kissing Weis’ ass).

* I still can’t believe Dick Cheney shot a guy this weekend. Since it seems like everyone is going to live and be a-okay, this is one of those things that will never cease to be funny. Dick Cheney Shot a Man! And I love James Brady’s comment: "Now I understand why Dick Cheney keeps asking me to go hunting with him.” But the lesson learned, as always, is that guns don’t shoot people, Dick Cheney does.

But anyway, does this guy now sue Cheney? How does this play out from here? Could Cheney end up in legal trouble? And if Cheney had killed him, would manslaughter charges be brought up against him? Cheney shot him in the face! How do you shoot someone in the face on accident? Finally, how is this ‘okay’? Are we just to accept the fact that Dick Cheney shot a man on accident and move on? Is it now cool to shoot people on accident? Could murders use this now as an excuse? “Well officer, I didn’t mean to shoot him, it was an accident. Sort of like the Vice President.” Why am I asking so many questions?

* Watched Grey’s Anatomy last night, it was okay, good lookin’ girls on TV will always keep me around… but any time you’ve got a ten minutes worth of material but have to full 42 minutes of air time… well I may fall asleep.

* We here at VFLOAB were sad to see the Worst Booth in Football History come to an end last night when Joe Theismann, Mike Patrick, and Paul McGuire did the Pro-Bowl. These guys were so bad that they were good, winning the Ron Santo Broadcasting Award the past two years. But now their run is over, Patrick probably goes off to do college basketball and a few baseball games on ESPN. Who knows what happens to McGuire. And Theismann goes off to do Monday Night Football with Tony Kornheiser and Mike Tirico. We love Kornheiser and Tirico, but Theismann may bring what could and should be a great booth down. Consider us worried.

* Dubai is the fastest growing city on Earth and this city is and will be ridiculous. If you care to read about it and it's a good read… here you go.

* Just wondering but who besides Steelers fans buys these fatheads? Oh that’s right Packer Fans! And how great would it be if you knew someone who owned a Rich Tocchet fathead?

* You know spring is coming when the Westminster Kennel Dog show begins. That means one thing and one thing only… pitchers and catchers are reporting within the week.

* And speaking of baseball, the 2006 Chicago Cubs Promotional Schedule has just come out, among the highlights:
April 24: Win a Mark Prior autographed picture! 100 lucky fans will receive a 5 x 7" photo signed by the Cubs' 11-game winner!

June 16: Turn Back the Clock III - Kick off a rematch of the Cubs' most recent World Series appearance as they welcome the Detroit Tigers and try to beat them for the first time since 1945.

August 1: Nine Games Back Day - First 10,000 fans in attendance to correctly explain what "Nine Games Back" means receive a Cubs t-shirt.

* I highly recommend throwing snowballs at cars from the 6th floor of a building at two in the morning. Good times.

* How ski jumpers don’t die or break their knees every time they jump is one of the great mysteries of life.

* Is “The Flying Tomato” the worst nic-name ever?

* As you might have heard there was a big snow storm out here on the East Cost… here in DC we just missed out on the two feet levels that Baltimore on north seems to have received (We got 8 inches in the Commonwealth, maybe a few more in DC, and half of it melted yesterday and it’ll be gone by tomorrow). But this weekend brought the new chic weatherman term: SnowThunder. And while we did hear some “SnowThunder” on Saturday night this has to be the dumbest term ever. It sounds more the name of a bad 1980s band, or better yet it sounds like the rival bad to Spinal Tap… SnowTunder!!!

* Who do we root against in the Winter Olympics? In the Summer Games it’s easy since the Chinese are pretty good. But the Winter Olympics does really offer up anyone that brings hate or fear… unless you want to root against the Russians because 16 years ago they were the USSR. But that’s losing its luster, especially to someone who’s 24 now and was all of 8 when the Berlin Wall fell (and 10 when the Soviets kicked the bucket). So that whole “The USSR is evil!” and fear stuff didn’t fully rub off on me. So we’re left with the Swedes, Norwegians, Finns, Austrians, Canadians, Dutch, and Germans. There’s no way I’m rooting against the Swedes or Norwegians since they’re giving us about 83% of the good looking women in these games. The Finns are just too loveable. I’ve got no beef with the Austrians besides “The Sound of Music”. The Canadians are my fall back country, in other words, if there’s no chance an American can pick up a metal I’m rooting for the Canucks. (Though, after watching Kari Traa on Saturday and on your left, I was rooting for her over the Canadian. But can you really blame me?) And who can hate the Dutch? They wear orange for crying out loud… and I love that about them. So that leaves the Germans, and even though I don’t have a beef with them either, they become the country I root against because well, they’re… so… German.

* Finally, we haven’t read it yet, but our guy Chuck Hegel got the write up in the New York Times Magazine yesterday. Hopefully we’ll still like him after it’s all read.

Tagged

I got tagged by Wrong Side of the Saw Kerf… well sort of, he said everyone else and I don’t feel like talking about anything today (yes, not even Chavez calling Blair "a pawn of imperialism" and went on to tell him to "go right to hell" interests us today. To be honest, the Chavez act is getting old and this game of chicken that he’s playing with the US is getting boring [who needs who more, US bucks or Venezuelan oil?]. You know what that means… it’s time to see if Evo Morales has anything to offer…). So I figure, let’s let the ego take over and do some what I like crap… away we go.

Four Jobs I’ve Had:
Fishmonger
Roofer
Intake Specialist on a Psych Unit
Stock Boy

Four Movies I Can (and Do) Watch Over and Over:
Trainspotting
The Karate Kid: Part 3
The Bourne Identity
Slapshot

Four Places I Have Lived:
Washington, DC
Chicago, IL
London, England
Alexandria, VA

TV Shows I Love:
Gilmore Girls
Arrested Development
The Wonder Years
Sopranos

Four Places I’ve Vacationed:
Prague, Czech Republic
Buenos Aries, Argentina
Madrid, Spain
Hannibal, Missouri

Four of My Favorite Dishes:
Pizza
McDonald’s Breakfast (does that count? I’ll say bacon, egg, and cheese on a English Muffin)
Polish Sausage
Bread

Four Sites I Visit Daily:
Pitchfork
The Guardian
The NBA Source
Facebook? Sports Guy? Blogs?

Four Places I’d Rather Be Now:
London
Chicago
Paris
New York City

Four People I Am Tagging:
In Otter Space
Living the Dream
Maine Squeeze
I like three more than four for various reasons… all four has to offer is Bobby Orr. Plus those are like the only blogs where I know the other person and they haven’t been tagged…

Picture Book

The nice thing about blogging is that you can write whatever you want to write about… sounds silly I know, but when you’re just a few months (fine 19) removed from university (shout out to the Brits!) the ability to go to bed saying “do I really care that much about Bush’s budget which will never get approved once Congress gets their hands on it?” and then wake up and say, “no I don’t, I’m not going to get angry about something that hasn’t even happened yet.” And just like that, Bush’s budget is gone.

Instead I’ll get a bit arty and do a short photo essay… just some pictures I’ve taken over the past year or so and comments and the sentimental feelings that come from them… awwwww.

I dropped by that war protest back in September in DC and checked it out just to see what was up with it all. It wasn’t very eventful, but it was pretty cool to see the number of people there (as an added bonus any time you can be in DC and see about 50,000 people not wearing suits is always a can’t miss event). Anyway this is sort of an interesting picture: colorful, diverse, and subdued for a protest.

I love this photo. I think it’s the best picture I’ve ever taken. The way the water is falling off the fountain and how the sun is coming in all with St. Peter’s in the background. Two of the symbols of life, water and the sun, with St. Peter’s in the background. Pretty cool. Anyway, I was waiting on the roomie at this point just taking it all in at the Holy See. Just the number of people and the amount of diversity in the square is always amazing.

I like this photo because I’m taking a picture of the guy who’s taking a picture and for all I know he’s taking a picture of me taking a picture of him, which would be really cool. Plus you get a feel of the Italians and tourists in the square and how big those columns are around the square.

This was the view from our porch at the old apartment in Hyde Park. I liked the sky. But looking back, it’s just sort of cool to capture something or a view that is easily forgettable a few months later. I probably looked at this view on a daily basis, yet pretty much forgot about it until last night when I was going though some old pictures. I think that’s one of the nice things about cameras, and digital cameras especially, they allow you to capture a view, time, and area and hold on to it for years and years letting you go back to that time and attempt to remember what you were thinking and feeling at that time.

Here’s a view of State Street in Madison, Wisconsin one of the great streets in America. I’m sure I’d get sick of it if I went to school in Madison and hung out there every other week night, but as a visitor it’s a great street. Cool shops and shopping during the day offering a little something for everyone (and I hate shopping for the record) and then it turns into a quality dining street in the evening. Then it transforms into party central at night, topped off with bar time around 2:30 when all the bars close and everyone piles on to State Street and it becomes a shitefest. Always a good time. I like the guys on bikes and the people chillin’ in the cafes. Madison’s one of the few places in America were there’s an actual café life where people understand what’s up and it’s worth taking it all in.

I’m surprised this picture turned out so well. I think this was taken in late May so the last rites of spring are attempting to hold on to the short life it has left before summer takes over. In the back ground you can see the Wisconsin state capitol building (I’m not sure if state capitols should be spelled like the US Capitol or like just a capital? Anyone know?) Anyway, the leaves are green, there’s a code ed that looks hung over, and the campus looks nice. Gosh I love Madison.

The point! Save the point! These pics have me longing for summer (plus I’m listening to the Hip right now who reminds me of summer ironically). Anyway, when the weather was warm enough, I’d hit up the point after work and try to shrug off the long day of work I had just completed. It was a good relaxer before making some eats and taking in the Sox game. Lake Michigan looks nice doesn’t it? It was still sort of cold this day, I remember that because of the other photos (which you won’t be seeing). Anyway, an ex and I headed off to the point to check it out on this May day. I’m sure at the time I was much more excited about life beginning again and things turning green and growing and this picture sort of captures that. I also like the couple sitting on the steps. I wonder what they were talking about?

I walked by this lamp post at least once a day, sometimes three or four times a day. I took this view in pretty much ever day for a year. And again, I had sort of forgotten about it. The Quad at U of C looks nice… all green and sunny. I can’t tell you how long last winter was, it snowed on April 23rd or something and it continued to be cold (like in the 40s) into May (I freezed my ass off at a Sox game in early May). So this green and the such must have had me pumped for summer and life. Anyway, I like the lampposts at U of C, very Lion, Witch, and the Wordrobeish in my opinion.

This here is Yale's quad at the end of the summer/beginning of the school year. By the time I was back up there in October, the leaves were starting to change colors and fall was settling in. Anyway, sort of interesting the difference between U of C and Yale’s quad eh? U of C’s is much bigger and much nicer; but Yale’s does have a genuine historical aspect that U of C does not have (U of C’s quad was built in the late 19th century IIRC; Yales in the 17th century or something). The lampposts aren’t U of C’s that’s for sure. Yale's a weird campus, it doesn't have a landmark or anything that really stands out. In fact, as a campus it's a bit disapointing, but New Haven is a really cool town so go figure.

Okay, that’s enough of this, I’m sure you’re bored out of your mind if you’re at this point… have a good one.

If History Repeats Itself...

I’m sure we all remember the 2000 mess of an election where for about a month we weren’t sure who the next President was going to be; one night it was Gore, one day it was W, and so on and so fourth until the Supreme Court ruled in Bush’s favor making him the next President.

(Looking back, how this nation didn’t fall into a revolution at some point is amazing. We didn’t know for a month who was going to be the next leader! Yet we all just chilled out, went to hockey games, made some money, traded some stocks, got ready for Christmas… meanwhile the future of this nation was in doubt and we were just like, ‘sure whatever’… I’m still amazed about this. It goes to show how much we didn’t (and maybe still don’t) care about politics).

The election saw the Vice President, Al Gore, against the youngish governor from Texas from a famous family; George W. Bush. The election was close and outcome to the election down to one or two states and the balance hung in the air for a few days. Eventually the Vice President concedes the election to the ‘challenger’. It played out a lot like the 1960 election, expect replace Gore with Nixon, Bush with Kennedy, Florida with Texas and Illinois… And interestingly enough, both Kennedy and Bush began their Presidencies as two huge population waves began to mature, go off to college, and eventually enter adulthood (the Baby Boomers and Gen Y or whatever they’re calling me these days). Both Presidents escaladed/entered wars that would eventually become unpopular (JFK was assassinate before this ever really effected him as a politician; Bush has been feeling the heat for almost two years now). The policy and political similarities continue (the both cut taxes!), but that’s not my point in all this…

After the defeat at Kennedy’s hands, Nixon went on to run for governor of California in 1962 losing to Pat Brown. Nixon’s political career was all but over even remarking, "You won't have Dick Nixon to kick around any more." In two short years Nixon had lost two elections, one for the Presidency and other for the governorship of the largest state in the Union.

Nixon went to New York City, became a senior partner a law firm, Nixon Mudge Rose Guthrie & Alexander. But then a funny thing happened, in 1966 Nixon went around the country stumping for GOP canidates and rebuilding a base within the Republican party. Still I’m sure that if you had said in Feburary of 1966 that Nixon was going to be the GOP canidate for President in 1968, everyone would have thought you were crazy. But it happened, Nixon secured the 1968 Republican nomination, and of course eventually was elected to the White House.

So could Gore be the second coming of Richard Nixon? It’s not as far fletched might think. Take these few parts of the current issue of the Economist:
Mr Gore, by contrast, has morphed into a more interesting figure [compared to John Kerry]. The youngest presidential candidate from a major party since William Jennings Bryan, he has now abandoned the life of a professional politician for a portfolio career as part-time businessman and part-time tub-thumper. He calculates that he spends three-quarters of his time running his cable television project, Current TV, a sort of “Wayne's World” for the digital age. Mockers may point out that most of Mr Gore's original backers were big Democratic donors, that he had to give up his original idea of founding a liberal alternative to Fox News and that the channel now relies on help from Mr Gore's political nemesis, Rupert Murdoch. But Current TV has developed into a genuine business rather than a political front.

Gore, remember, sort of disappeared for a while after the election and came back a good 40 pounds heavier and with a beard and eventually saying he wasn’t running in 2004 (and who could blame him, I’m happy he didn’t pull the trigger or something along those lines. I can’t imgine losing an election as close as he did to a man who found “My Pet Goat” more interesting and important than the burning World Trade Center…) Then Gore jumped aboard the Current TV project (never seen it, so who knows if it’s any good). And now he’s out there actually saying something, unlike pretty much every other Democrat that’s ‘running’ for President in 2008:
Mr Gore now delivers no-holds-barred broadsides against the Bush administration for everything from Abu Ghraib to warrantless wiretaps. But the former vice-president is at his most impressive on his old passion—the environment. Wrongly or rightly, Mr Gore believes that humanity has only about a decade to fix a “planetary emergency”; and he has spent the past few years roaming the world perfecting his lecture-cum-slideshow on the dangers of global warming, much as Ronald Reagan spent the 1950s roaming America perfecting his speech on the evils of government. Mr Gore was at Sundance to promote a documentary based on his speech.

Which points to an interesting paradox: Mr Gore is generating far more political capital by breaking the political rules than he did by obeying them. Mr Kerry's Alito ploy looked brazenly political. But Mr Gore's new persona (or perhaps, more accurately, his rediscovery of his hidden self) is causing something of a buzz. The party's cash-rich Hollywood wing increasingly sees him as a liberal alternative to Hillary Clinton; and he is persuading all sorts of people to take a fresh look at Dudley Do Right. None of this means that he is a frontrunner for the Democratic nomination in 2008. But it does mean that he is far better placed than the junior senator from Massachusetts.

Now, no one is giving him the nomination and who knows if he’ll actually run. But it’s 2006, if Gore does some stumping and the Demcrats pick up seats on the Hill (which right now looks like a lock and the momentium is starting to roll to the point that that the Dems might even take back the House if things continue as they are). Then what? Considering that it looks like Biden, Hillary, and Warner will be the ‘front runners’ for the Dems in 2008 why not Al Gore too? Nixon defeated Rockefeller and Reagan in 1968 for the GOP nod… if Al Gore keeps this up, I could see him “pulling a Nixon”? Why not?

I was watching a movie this weekend made back in 1997 where this speech was given:
Say I'm working at the NSA, and somebody puts a code on my desk, somethin' no one else can break. Maybe I take a shot at it and maybe I break it. And I'm real happy with myself, cus' I did my job well. But maybe that code was the location of some rebel army in... North Africa or the Middle East and once they have that location, they bomb the village where the rebels are hiding... Fifteen hundred people that I never met, never had no problem with get killed. Now the politicians are sayin', "Oh, Send in the marines to secure the area" cus' they don't give a shit. It won't be their kid over there, gettin' shot. Just like it wasn't them when their number got called, cus' they were off pullin' a tour in the National Guard. It'll be some kid from Southie over there takin' shrapnel in the ass. He comes back to find that the plant he used to work at got exported to the country he just got back from. And the guy who put the shrapnel in his ass got his old job, cus' he'll work for fifteen cents a day and no bathroom breaks. Meanwhile he realizes the only reason he was over there in the first place was so that we could install a government that would sell us oil at a good price. And of course the oil companies used the little skirmish over there to scare up domestic oil prices. A cute little ancillary benefit for them but it ain't helping my buddy at two-fifty a gallon. They're takin' their sweet time bringin' the oil back, of course, maybe even took the liberty of hiring an alcoholic skipper who likes to drink martinis and fuckin' play slalom with the icebergs, it ain't too long 'til he hits one, spills the oil and kills all the sea life in the North Atlantic. So now my buddy's out of work. He can't afford to drive, so he's walking to the fuckin' job interviews, which sucks because the shrapnel in his ass is givin' him chronic hemorrhoids. And meanwhile he's starvin' cus' every time he tries to get a bite to eat the only blue plate special they're servin' is North Atlantic scrod with Quaker State.

Almost scary how ‘spot on’ this analysis is four years prior to 9/11 and nine years prior to today. Gas is two-fifty a gallon, we’re in a conflict in the Middle East, I’m sure some kid from Southie has shrapnel in his ass, and odds are that job has been shipped off to China or India.

Anyway it’s from Good Will Hunting if anyone cares. I just found it interesting.

Super Monday and 14th Street

Since I don’t feel like writing a flowing sweeping work of art on the Super Bowl and my weekend… I’m just jotting down notes and then I’ll expand my thoughts from there…

How did the Seahawks not win?
I’m still trying to figure this out. Didn’t they seem like the better team for most of the game yesterday? Certainly seemed that way to me since they were able to move the ball up and down the field and actually seemed to be doing something out on the field. Pittsburgh had three big plays… and that’s it. Parker’s 75-yard touchdown run, the trick play to Ward for the touchdown, and the pick as Seattle was driving in the 4th. That’s it. That’s all the Steelers did, yet some how had 21 points to Seattle’s 10. I know you can argue that the Seahawks didn’t have the big plays that Steelers made but it wasn’t that cut and dry. Weird, weird game, but I know why Seattle didn’t have more than 10 points because…

The fix was in…
There is no other way to explain the refs last night. None. Someone from Vegas called the NFL and said do this or we’ll no longer allow people to gamble on games and end fantasy football as we know it. What else explains the refs giving every questionable call to the Steelers or making up holds and pass interference calls on Seattle? The fix had to be in. Things got so bad, that when the refs ruled that Hasselbeck had fumbled on the play in the 4th and Seattle challenged it, ABC must have called the NFL and refs screaming and yelling about how no one would be watching if this call stood. I know we were going to turn the game off if the refs didn’t over turn the call… which of course they did and subjected us to another hour of bad football! It was like Groundhog Day!

Anyway by my count, there were seven bad calls or non calls that all went against Seattle two holding calls (one on Stevens catch that took them to the Steelers one and then on Peter Warrick’s punt return), Stevens fumble (odds are that ball goes out of bounce 20 yards up field helping Seattle), Big Ben’s non TD (no way he was in), Hasslebeck’s tackle (this call is just outrageous), Jackson’s pass interference in the end zone (this was and will be the first and only time that an offensive player will be flagged for barely touching the defender) and when Porter horse-collar tackled Alexander and the refs didn’t throw a flag. Just the holding on Stevens catch and Jackson’s non-TD would have been a 10 point swing and guess what… 10 plus 10 is 20… and who knows what happens at that point.

As I said before here, I think there is some sort of Vegas and NFL consperciy going on as it is now. And it’s not as far fetched as it may seem since this shit goes on all the time in Europe with football. In fact just today the Belgium athorities announced they were looking into rigged games and last year Germany was rocked by match fixing scandles. In other words, to say “That would never happen here!” is far off the mark. I could happen here.

But the NFL needs to watch it, the NBA suffered and still suffers from bogus reffing and it affects how people view the game. Many turn their TVs off. If this goes on for three more years, people will start doing that with the NFL.

Was the game was boring?
I’m not sure. It had my attention for most of the night so I’m going to say no. It wasn’t a good game, but you always had the feeling that Seattle would just explode at some point for a big quarter. It never happened but the hope was there until the very end.

But back to it being a pretty bland and blah game… I just heard that Jerramy Stevens dropped his spoon at breakfast this morning. Roethlisberger did not play well. As it’s been noted, Randle El might have been the best QB on the field last night. I would have said Hasselbeck was better but what the hell was up with those two minute drills at the end of the first and second half? You could blame the second half two minute drill on Andy Reid, I mean Mike Holmgren. But the first half? Why did he turn into Peyon Manning during that ‘drill’? I couldn’t believe my eyes. Why is it every team in the NFL runs near perfect two minute drills in the regular season, but the moment the playoffs start they forget what to do? Just weird.

And finally, Shaun Alexander meet Alex Rodrigiuez.

Commercials…
Overall… they weren’t that good. Then again they’re never very good and tend to be just as hyped as the game itself. (What I’m getting at is that you could probably script the Super Bowl Sunday at this point… it’s the same thing every year and the only thing that changes are the teams. Same stories, same hype, same type of commercials and so on and so fourth, it’s like the day itself has become a parody of our entire nation). Just a few thongs on the commercials:
The Good:
(Watch them here)
Secret Fridge - Good, not great, saved by the “The Magical Fridge is Back!” line, other than that anytime guys are praying to a wall that may turn into a fridge full of Bud Lite… you’re gonna lose me. But good idea at least.
Ameriquest – Doctor – Most overrated commercial, but sort of funny.
MacGyver – Best commercial in my opinion. Little pop culture, funny, creative, not overtly violent or sexual (I know I sound like a conservative! But seriously, when did liberals become blood loving sexaholics? Because Rush Limbaugh said so?)
World Baseball Classic – I’m a sucker okay.
Fed-Ex – Sure it was violent, but it was so well done and so out of left field.

Bad:
Save Yourself – Bears mauling humans and other humans allowing it over Bud Lite isn’t that cool.
Touch Football – D-U-M-B
Friendly Skies – When will the easy sex joke die? They’ve become the “why did the chicken cross the road” in my book. Everyone and anyone can make a cheap and easy sex joke… so if you really are funny, don’t.
Every Movie Add – Pretty self explanatory. Not that they’re bad, it just doesn’t fit the mood.
Whopperettes – How you can waste the King on something like that I’ll never know
Godaddy.com – Booooooo!
Diet Pepsi – I think Pepsi cost themselves drinkers here. “Brown and bubbly”? Who thinks and approved this?
Every Car Commercial Ever – Car commercials suck on a normal day, I don’t think there has ever been a good car commercial. So airing a car commercial during the Super Bowl only makes the lamer since they TRY to be cool and interesting.

Injustice
I watched “Injustice” on Friday night before going out and I’ve got to say… I liked it. Sure it’s over the top and melodramatic, but it’s a TV show! It was interesting enough, had enough beautiful people, I could half believe it, and the acting was fine enough. Not that I’m going to become a regular or anything, but in terms of sitting around with a guy or two and pre-gaming it got the job done.

14th Street
I found myself at a bad pizza joint with a few friends at 2 in the morning on Sunday after a night at the Black Cat (thus I was around 14th and U in NW in DC)… SO as we were waiting for them to make our disgusting pizza, we were looking at a map of DC. For some reason we’re talking about the White House and I casually mentioned that the White House is the largest single public housing unit in the nation. That inspired the Bud drinking Howard student to pipe up, “Yo man, don’t be talkin’ about politics on 14th Street. You just don’t know what’s goin’ on or who’s around here is listening… so just don’t talk about politics on 14th Street.”

Floored I casually said, “I’m just sayin’, nothing more than that, just sayin’ what it is.”

“Look man, I’m just sayin’ too, don’t come in here talking about politics, it just isn’t cool. You’ve got people getting kicked out of public housing all around here.”

All which is true. 14th and U is under going the effects of gentrification as we speak. For the most part, poor blacks are being moved to the suburbs or other public housing units in the DC area to make room for yuppie whites and their bars. Places are being closed down to make room for Starbucks, show rooms, and somewhat hip cafes (and I use hip loosely this being DC and all). Now I realize all this, I know it’s going on and have seen the area change a bit in the last few months. So I’m not foreign to the subject. But of course, I’m pretty sure the guy missed my point.

That, of course would be ironic, but I’m not totally sure what he was trying to get across to me (we talked for another minute or so before we went our separate ways on some what good terms I might add). He was sensitive to the entire public housing, gentrification, liberal whites moving into the area deal… and rightly so. Unfortunately it’s a shitty way to deal with problems that society or governments can’t or don’t want to fix (for bigger, more violent, and grander example just check out the Middle East since the Europeans created the state of Israel). No one is debating this (at one point I even told him that I’m not foreign to this being from the South Side of Chicago; he said, “Then you know what’s going on because you’ve seen it with Cabrini-Green.” I bit my lip and decided not to point out to him that it was on the North Side).

So what was my point? That the White House is the largest single public housing unit in the United States, nothing more and nothing less. What was his point? Don’t be a white liberal saying you hate Bush and then backing plans to move people with established roots in a neighborhood that might be a bit blighted, but people still live here. You’re not solving any problems by doing so, just hoping that it will go a way and that whoever you’re passing your problems on too will figure it out. Outtasight, outtamind doesn’t work; and remember that and whom you’re around when you’re saying anything.

In other words, he thought I was signifying (I can only assume). I’ll take it as a complement (that is kind of cool if he thought that). Or he thought I was an ignorant MF who was sprouting off some fact on the wrong street in DC and thus didn’t realize the signification of my statement, which wasn’t the case. But that’s how powerful language can be. If I had said that on 18th street, no one would have given a shit.

Super Bowl XL

Never ever bet against a Jesuit QB in the SuperBowl

I thought I’d have a little more time today to make my prediction here… in case anyone cares, but one thing lead to another and I had to make some chilli… so here I am.

I’ll make this short and sweet. Yes, I’m excited about this game. I’m rooting for the Seahawks… I like Seattle as a city (though Pittsburgh is underrated) and I think the city of Seattle deserves a little championship love (I know it’s been 26 years since the Steelers have won anything and 15 or so since the Penguins won the Cup). But Seattle has had next to nothing when it comes to championships. (For a better break down, check out Simmons, I'd his more than anything else I read this week...)

And I think the Seahawks are the better team. Everyone and their mother loves the Steelers and I’ve got a soft spot for the Seahawks left side of the line, Matt Hasselbeck, and the Seattle D.

Seahawks win… 24-13

BC, Yay Alito, Leaders, and Where is Sol?

Been a tad busy, but no matter… on Wednesday the roomie and I enjoyed the final 15 minutes of the Boston College and Duke basketball game in Chestnut Hill. Even though Dickie V was doing the game, we were able to enjoy watching BC crawl back into the game from being down 18 to pulling within two (IIRC). I haven’t enjoyed a college b-ball game like that yet this season… great crowd, pretty cool seeing half of the who’s who of Boston at the game (Russert, Flutie, Bob Kraft, and others), fun game, and it’s always fun to root against Duke. Sure BC lost and on a bad non-call (Williams mugged Rice and no call was made), but hey, any time we enjoy a college b-ball game is a good day in my book.


I still think Alito would be a crappy neighbor, but go to give him props here. Alito sided with Michael Taylor, who is on death row in Missouri, voting to stop the state from executing (killing) Mr. Taylor. While this probably also tips Alito’s hand on any abortion case that may come in front of the Court (he’s pro-life apparently, not that that’s a surprise) we here appreciate Alito’s apparent consistency. While we don’t personally know the views or could necessarily classify Justices Sclia, Thomas, or Roberts as ‘pro-life’, it’s the lack of consistency (or apparent lack of consistency in Roberts case) of the three judges that bothers us most of all. How can one claim to be pro-life, but then turn around and say ‘fry the bastards!’? Not only is it bad intellect, but it’s hypocritical also. And please, do not give me, ‘it’s the law’ since the law currently allows the state to execute individuals who are found guilty in a court of law and the practice of abortion, in other words both are legal. So to say one should be illegal and the other legal is not consistent in our books. Shouldn’t the pro-life camp/justices also be ruling in favor of life in capital punishment cases also? (And as we noted neither Roberts or Alito’s views or voting record on abortion has been established on the Court).

Moving into full British and Guardian mode… first up, here is the Guardian’s Op-ed (or Leader as they say across the pond) on the State of the Union. Some interesting stuff here to look at (agree or disagree with what they say), “If the US president wants to wage war on terror and to let freedom reign, it affects his allies too.” A view that I think sometimes we forget here in the United States. There is the feeling that we are ‘at this alone’ that comes across in many speeches from the White House and especially from the media. We forget that the Brits, especially, are with us every step of the way. And the actions undertaken by Bush affects the British just as much as it effects us here in the US (more on that later).

Anyway, this might be the most interesting sentence in the whole piece, “US diplomats would be better employed appealing to Iranian self-interest - refining Russian proposals for controlled uranium enrichment or drawing up security guarantees - than reinforcing old suspicions.” Ummm… makes ya wonder doesn’t it… is this the best policy? The talks the EU has had with Iran have basically accomplished nothing. So is guaranteeing Iran security really the best policy? Telling Iran, ‘we won’t attack you!’ probably isn’t going to make Iran suddenly say, ‘well in that case, we won’t enrich uranium!’. Unfortunately it isn’t that easy. But the idea of going to the table with the Russian proposal is something to consider.

Now the final piece:
The State of the Union address is the moment when the president talks to his fellow Americans - who want to hear about the Katrina disaster, energy, the deficit and health care as well as global issues. Millions of others listen too - especially for signs that Mr Bush is aware of their concerns about how he uses power. For, like it or not, and many do not, the US is still the one truly indispensable nation.

I couldn’t agree more about address issues such as health care and Katrina and the lack of response there (and then to find out a day later that the federal government completely dropped the ball on the entire disaster, something we pretty much knew, but we also now know that Bush and the White House could have and should have acted faster). It is also interesting and refreshing to see the Guardian point out that the US is not only the primere power, but that other people are interested in what we and our government has to say. America is in a catch-22, there is no doubt, we’re damned in almost any decision we make, but that does give us the right to do as we see fit. If we want to be the leader of the world, shouldn’t we consider what the world is saying? No one likes a leader that doesn’t listen.

As we mentioned before, the Brits had our backs in the countdown to Iraq no matter what happened. Blair promised Bush that he’d be there with troops with or without a UN resolution. Nothing too shocking since common sense pretty much lead one to believe this, but the proof is in the facts, Jack.

Switching to soccer… a bizarre situation is going on with one of England’s star defenders, Sol Campbell or Arsenal. Campbell cannot be found at the moment, and it seems to be because of a private issue in his life.

Not sure what to say about this, but if Campbell does walk away from footie, as some suggest, it would be a huge blow to the English team who plan on challenging for the World Cup title this summer. Just something to keep an eye out for. And we wish Sol a healthy return and resolution to whatever it is going on.

And finally, get this: The Archbishop of Barcelona, of all people, has waded into the controversy surrounding Ronaldinho's dismissal against Real Zaragoza in the King's Cup. "The sending off was far too rigorous and it was one of the things that influenced Barca's elimination from the Cup," fumed Lluis Martinez-Sistach, while waving his crozier.

We’ll do the SUPER BOWL stuff tomorrow or Sunday, Get ya.

State of the Union

The State of the Union was last night and it’s always a good time to sit back and listen to what the President has to say, which is usually big dreams and middle of the road crap. Seeing that I was home and going to watch the SOTU anyway, I figured why not do a minute by minute report of the speech? Maybe something funny will happen. But then again, when ever you get 800 white males that live in DC in the same room, there usually isn't much humor since politicans and golfers are probably the least hip people to walk these Earth. In other words, squares don't give us humor unless we put them in a situation where they freak out... but that won't happen tonight unless the Dems just say "Screw it..." and walk out on everything. But I've got a better chance of making the Detroit Tigers this year than that happening.

Here’s what went down [note: anything quoted was lifted off of the NYTimes website’s transcript of the STOU this morning, but the rest is what I was responding to at the time; and yes I did edit this. Yes, I know it's over 3,000 words. Yes, I know I should probably find a girlfriend. No, I'm not really thrilled with this. Yes, I made it longer in the editing process...]

8:46pm est – We’re coming to you LIVE from Alexandria, Virginia where we just finished off some pasta and chicken and are watching the end of a some what disappointing “Gilmore Girls” episode. I have nothing to add right now.

8:47 – NOOOOOOOOO!!!! Rory just kissed Logan which pisses me off. Though I’ve got to say, since he’s lost her he’s been a little more interesting. Then again he was like this when he was chasing after her last season… if you couldn’t have guessed the GG is a lot more interesting that the upcoming State of the Union.

8:49 – This week’s “Gilmore Girls” was hyped as the ‘big fight’ but it took 49 minutes to get Rory, Emily, Lorelei, and Richard together… I hate promotion.

8:59 – Very uneven fight, it had some good moments and now they’re all laughing, I’m confused. The good news is that I’m now ready for W, you know, being confused and all. And we’ve just switched over to NBC! Russert me!

9:02 – Russert just said that the 6th year is never good for Presidents… seeing how poorly the 5th year went, maybe W will give up. Just say, you know what, the last two years I’ve been so bad as a President, that I’m going to quit and make all my staffers quit too. Now that would be great.

9:03 – I’m sorry but Justice Alito looks like that neighbor who wouldn’t let you go on their yard when a ball rolled onto his property. He also looks like someone that should get his ass kicked.

9:06 – Wouldn’t the State of the Union be a lot cooler if they did it at like a baseball stadium or something? Like if they did it at the MCI Center and people went there and booed or cheered the President? Wouldn’t that be a lot cooler than a bunch of white males looking like assholes (oh yeah, let us not forget the four blacks, two Latino, and eleven women there too).

9:08 – Bush is announced to everyone clapping… I’m telling you this would be a lot cooler at the MCI Center. Can you imagine the atmosphere in the air? Thousands of every day Americans razzing and cheering the President and what he says about iron ore mining in Duluth, Minnesota. How great would that be? You’d see all these people get all revved up about what the President said about iron ore mining. Why don’t they do this?

9:09 – Bush just greeted his first black person since August!

9:10 – We were just informed that Cindy Sheehan was arrested on the Hill tonight… that’s not fishy. I’m totally sure she broke the law. I’m sure they’ll book her within the next three years on charges of “saying critical things about the Emperor… err… President.”

9:12 - Bush starts off with a nice tribute to Coretta Scott King.

9:14 – For the 230th year in a row our country is strong. I don’t think the country is ‘strong’ right now, but then again I’m not running for office.

9:15 – “The only way to protect our people, the only way to secure the peace, the only way to control our destiny is by our leadership. So the United States of America will continue to lead.” Lead what? Why don’t people question things like these statements more often? We give atheles a hard time for saying nothing, why not the President too? ‘…will continue to lead.’ Huh? And our first 9/11 reference! Took him only three minutes!

9:16 – “Democracies replace resentment with hope, respect the rights of their citizens and their neighbors and join the fight against terror.” … let’s here it for Hamas! Let’s here it for death! And W just gave a shout out to Lebanon and Egypt… WHAT?!?!?!?! These places aren’t democratic, they put on a dog and pony show! As Fleetwood Mac said, “Give me lies!”

9:18 – Okay, I’m totally lost… now Iraq is a safe haven for terrorists? Was in three years ago? I thought it wasn’t… or at least that’s what I was told. So you are admitting that the terrorists are now in Iraq but were not there before? That’s correct right? Now Bush just dropped “Lacking the military strength to challenge us directly, the terrorists have chosen the weapon of fear.” … is that why you brought up 9/11 right away George? Is that why you’re talking about terror and kept on messing with the terror levels?

9:19 – “If we were to leave these vicious attackers alone, they would not leave us alone. They would simply move the battlefield to our own shores. There is no peace in retreat.” ummm okay. What is the evidence here? Not saying we shouldn’t have gone into Afghanistan, but what does this have to do with Saddam and Iraq and democracy and WMD that weren’t there? Does Bush realize that Iraq and Afghanistan are completely different countries that are pretty far away from each other? (Baghdad and Kubal are like 1,000 miles apart).

9:22 – “We're on the offensive in Iraq, with a clear plan for victory.” Three years on in Iraq we’re winning… what? What are we winning in Iraq? Why doesn’t anyone ever answer this? We won the war correct? Mission was accomplished right? Saddam is gone and the WMDs aren’t there, so we ‘won’ that correct? So what are win the process of winning right now? What is the ‘clear plan for victory’ that everyone keeps talking about? What plan? “First, we're helping Iraqis build an inclusive government, so that old resentments will be eased and the insurgency will be marginalized. Second, we're continuing reconstruction efforts and helping the Iraqi government to fight corruption and build a modern economy, so all Iraqis can experience the benefits of freedom. And third, we're striking terrorist targets while we train Iraqi forces that are increasingly capable of defeating the enemy. Iraqis are showing their courage every day, and we are proud to be their allies in the cause of freedom.” I’m convinced… not.

9:24 – I think Bush just said second guessing is a bad thing!?!?! What?!?!?! “Hindsight alone is not wisdom. And second guessing is not a strategy.” This is the dumbest thing I’ve heard in a long time. ‘Don’t question me, I’m right and can never make the wrong decision!’ Not even the Pope would say this. Go bark up another tree, Georgie.

9:25 – I’m really getting sick of this vague language, who are our ‘enemies’? The ones we’ve created in Iraq? Or the real ones like bin Laden? Who are our enemies? And why aren’t we being more aggressive in getting bin Laden?

9:27 – I think Bush just winked at Staff Sgt. Dan Clay’s family. But I couldn’t really tell. It was a nice moment, but I’m not big on the whole using someone else to guilt me into questioning you.

9:28 – “Ultimately, the only way to defeat the terrorists is to defeat their dark vision of hatred and fear by offering the hopeful alternative of political freedom and peaceful change. So the United States of America supports democratic reform across the broader Middle East.” Okay I think everyone agrees with that. But two things: 1) One cannot force people to vote, you can’t force democracy upon people because then it’s not democracy. 2) Using military actions to spread the ‘news’ of democracy is like killing Aztecs or Incans to make them Catholic or inspiring a bloody revolution to spur on the communist revolution, in other words killing the innocent in the name of freedom isn’t freedom. Or as I once heard, “Killing for peace is like f#*^@!g for virginity.”

9:29 – Okay like the Hamas stuff, “The Palestinian people have voted in elections, and now the leaders of Hamas must recognize Israel, disarm, reject terrorism and work for lasting peace.” Only took 17 minutes to say something good, but we got there. But then the WTF of WTFs, “Saudi Arabia has taken the first steps of reform.” Huh? Did I miss something here? Saying first steps is using those words very, very loosely.

9:32 – Bush just brought up HIV and corruption world wide… let’s tackle this one at a time. First the HIV, remember when Bush promised all that money three years ago and then gave like 10% of what he promised? Well I remember that. And then corruption… have you seen K Street recently? Let’s get our house in order first on this whole corruption stuff.

9:34 – Bush just called for the reauthorization of the Patriot Act… let’s give it up for borderline fascist bills!

9:35 – Oh no… wiretap time… previous Presidents issued them? Who Richard Nixon? And these taps are going to help prevent terrorist attacks?!?!?! He’s joking right? There’s pretty much NO WAY that wiretaps would have stopped 9/11 and to think other wise is a sign of lots of LSD usage. “Appropriate members of Congress have been kept informed. This terrorist-surveillance program has helped prevent terrorist attacks. It remains essential to the security of America.” This Asshole is lying to the entire nation and we’re just going to sit there and let him do this? Someone walk out on this bullshit. This really pisses me off. No one rewrites history like Bush, EvilDick, and Karl Rove.

9:35 – A shot of Hilary Clinton… just go away. Please, no one likes you. You’re annoying, have become incredibly boring, and are in the process of selling your soul to the right. So just leave. Thanks.

9:36 – This isolation crap he’s throwing out there is really ticking me off. Leaving Iraq isn’t a call for isolation. It’s a call for taking a peaceful and more constructive means towards promoting life, liberty, and prosperity. Going around killing and ticking off Iraqis isn’t the best means of promoting life, liberty, and prosperity in my eyes. But hey, creating martyrs worked for the Romans right?

9:37 – Okay it is economy time… I don’t care…this is all hot air any way, he’ll be half right and half wrong no matter what Bush says (or anyone for that matter).

9:39 – “In the last five years, the tax relief you passed has left $880 billion in the hands of American workers, investors, small businesses and families. And they have used it to help produce more than four years of uninterrupted economic growth. Yet the tax relief is set to expire in the next few years. If we do nothing, American families will face a massive tax increase they do not expect and will not welcome.” I’ll take it from here W. That money? Well it went into the pockets of the rich. The middle class spent it all and actually had a negative saving rate last year (that is never a good thing… NEVER). And the poor continued to get screwed. So let’s make these tax cuts permanent! Even though NO ONE says this is a good idea expect 39 really rich people. And remember when the economy really rocked during the Clinton years and tax rates were a tad higher? Remember how we weren’t running up a huge deficit?

9:41 – “By passing these reforms, we will save the American taxpayer another $14 billion next year and stay on track to cut the deficit in half by 2009.” This is just a blatant lie… seriously, the deficit is in the trillions; 14 billion isn’t going to change much of anything. How are you going to cut the deficit if you can’t stop spending money, W? Iraq alone looks like it’s going to cost a trillion bucks at the end of the day, yet you continue to want to cut taxes… so who’s going to pay for all this? It’s the most backwards thinking ever… ‘see if you spend more and receive less you’ll end up with more!” It’s magic! But Bush is playing the role of Job from “Arrested Development.”

9:42 – Hey look it’s hypocrite central! Bush wants the line-item veto back! I’m laughing… Bush just made a joke and brought up President Clinton, camera zoomed in on Hillary and she had the “I hate my husband” look on her face. That was funny.

9:43 – Wow… this is great the Democrats are mocking Bush! He just brought up social security and the Dems all got up and cheered. This is sort of like Westminster! This could still end up being an entertaining speech!

9:44 – You know it’s the State of the Union when… Bush wants to work with the Democrats. It’s the one-day per year that he feels this way. Sort of like the one day a year I sort like the Cubs.

9:46 – Health Care… look let’s stop beating around the Bush and just go to a socialized system. Even the Economists admitted that this was going to be the ‘unfortunate’ end result in this country. There’s just no way private companies and individuals will be able to pay for it all. So all this private account stuff isn’t actually going to fix anything, so let’s just move on and get moving on this so we can all have some sort of coverage before the year 2027.

9:47 – You know when ever they show these white male faces in their black suits I just can’t help but wonder who sleeps with these guys? Seriously, what sort of woman (or man) would bang these guys? Do they enjoy their bland ties? Do they find their personalities and that they seem about as much fun as a license plate? Is it the dinners at overrated restaurants? The free food at fund raising events? The booze?

9:48 – Energy stuff… I’m going to get something to eat. “And here we have a serious problem. America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world.” (BTW, I was shocked that this was the headline on most papers this morning. Floored. Bush points out the obvious and everyone is like “oooooohhhhhh!” How is saying that America is addicted to oil new or interesting? I guess I’ll give Bush credit here, but seriously, I’m not running this headline on Wednesday morning. Maybe that’s why I’m in an office blogging…

9:50 – Yummm Pepperidge Farm Milano Raspberry cookies… yummmmm. As for this education stuff he just dropped, the only problem I see is that the GOP just made taking money out for school a lot more expensive. All that does is piss people off and push more people out of school (especially those who economically aren’t as well off). So you can’t say ‘lets make the schools better and encourage people to take math classes’ and then make paying for school so expensive that people don’t go.

9:53 – Drug use is down? Really? I find that hard to believe… you know how many people I know who do coke? And I don’t even do that shite and I could name 25 people that I went to college with for you right now.

9:56 – Another shot of Alito… I’m telling you, this guy just looks like a loser. Roberts looks cool though. Like the other neighbor that would play catch with you and let you use his back yard for football games and stuff. I’ll say it, John Roberts makes me confortable.

9:57 – Why doesn’t anyone talk about how bad the State of the Union usually is as a speech? I mean it never has any flow… it’s always this choppy pile of unfinished ideas… and it will always be like this.

9:59 – The end of the State of the Union is always the most boring part… it’s like White House staffers just throw things on there just to piss everyone off… Bush isn’t saying anything… blah, blah, blah… “We are a hopeful society… I totally screwed up Katrina… hope is a good thing… I’m going to go chew on glass…”

10:01 – Oh I like that one, the ending the AIDS in this country stuff, but why wasn’t half this stuff already in place? And what are the odds that anything will get done?

10:02 – “Before history is written down in books, it is written in courage. Like Americans before us, we will show that courage and we will finish well. We will lead freedom's advance. We will compete and excel in the global economy. We will renew the defining moral commitments of this land. And so we move forward — optimistic about our country, faithful to its cause and confident of victories to come.” And it’s over… first of all what are we going to ‘finish well’? I hate vague language. And who wrote the ending to this? A high school junior? Seriously, pretty weak ending, “it [history] is written in courage…” umm okay guys. Whatever. Seriously, an athlete says this during media day and everyone makes fun of him. The President (or any politician) says it and we think it has some underlining meaning… when it in fact means nothing…
10:04 – Russert time… he just pointed out the division in the chambers… now the other talking head is talking about how this is the speech we hear … last year. I couldn’t agree more, he’s right; this was like last years SOTU expect for the wiretap stuff.

10:17 - I’m going to be honest, this was a pretty bland speech. Bush didn’t really say anything new here tonight. He didn’t do a bad job or a good job… it was a pretty even and boring speech to be honest. But it was a lot of nothingness… weird speech. I mean I guess he did a good job, but it was fifty minutes of stuff he’s been saying for over a year. I didn’t really feel too much expect for the crap wiretap stuff he threw out there. Other than that, it’s the same old.

Russert just made a good point about the wiretaps and how that story and situation is going to go to the Supreme Court. He went on to say that the wiretaps were going to be the issue, along with the lobbyist mess and Iraq, over the next few years. The consolidation of power in the White House, and how that plays out, is going to not only affect the next three years but also Bush’s place in history.

10:13 – Hey Tim Kane is going to give the Democrats response! That’s sort of cool. I like him. I’m pretty sure he’ll have nothing to say of course. I’m calling the old roomies… so with that I’m signing off… until next year… remembering we’re ‘winning’ and going after the ‘enemy’ and that it takes ‘courage’ to ‘win’.