ZOMG!

Supertramp is on VH1 classic now and there are THREE keyboard players. Amazing!

Arnold-less Terminators?

I had read the rumors about the Terminator TV series, but I had some....not really problems, maybe concerns? The reason we (at least I) love these movies/mythology has a LOT to do with Arnold. I mean Michael Behn was pretty cool and Linda Hamilton was totally badass but what will be interesting/entertaining about a without any of the original stars? Will there be more bad cyborgs? That really is the critical question. But maybe it will be an entertaining mix of action/drama and worth watching.

Additionally, I'm even more skeptical about new Terminator movies without Arnold. That sounds like a bad idea.

fantastic!

The science of getting drunk.

SPSW... &T?

You may think I criticize things a great deal, but I'm pretty excited about this. T2 is one of my all-time favorite movies. Sarah Connor deserved better than the "I'm-dead-so-here's-a-coffin-full-of-guns" treatment that she got in T3, and I'm hopeful the show will stay true to her on-the-brink-of-insanity toughchick character.

Re: Hitchens

Every now and then he just seems to go crazy on someone. He's done it on Maher's show as well (I'm too lazy to link the YouTube clip.) His latest tour around the media horn is probably going to be the same stand-offish/crazy mix that has become his norm, in part due to the questions he's bound to recieve on account of his poorly titled book.

WTB anyone who will give their book an honest, non-inflammatory title.

Re: Debate

I watched it this morning, and thought the most telling point was when Rudy turned on Ron Paul and jack-hammered non-interventionism right out of the conservative lexicon. "You think we deserved to be hit on 9/11?" This is juvenile, schoolyard stuff. I admit I favor Paul more than the rest of the field, but its pretty sad that there's no room for an honest non-interventionist point of view on the Republican side.

TLDR

I removed last night's drunk debate posts and moved them here. TLDR (too long, didn't read). And wel-come, Sifo-Dyas, Jedi Master.

Also, Hitchens went batshit on Anderson Cooper. He sounds almost as crazy as the people he's criticizing.

I like the fact that Ron Paul got people talking, for good or ill.

Last night

I was pretty polished off last night, because I don't even know what I meant half the time. Here is a summary reaction to the debate with a pounding headache:

1. Tommy Thompson will never be be Pres. or VP. He doesn't look or sound even close to Presidential. Also he has no neck, which is creepy.
2. I can't tell Duncan Hunter/Sam Brownback/Mike Huckabee apart. They were saying the same crap as the others, they just looked alike too.
3. Tancredo sounded embarassingly not bad.
4. I don't know what it is about Mitt Romney. I don't like him, and I don't have a reason. He reminds of "That Guy" from Futurama. Blastfax kudos all around, America!
5. The best question of the night was Tommy THompson's "name three gov't programs you'd cut". He blabbed in typical politician fashion using up all his time not naming one. When pressed to name one, he talks about CDC stockpiles? NO ONE knew what the hell he was talking about. I think the dude asking knew he'd get an actual response from Paul which is why he moved on.
6. Guiliani won, scoring cheap points off Paul. My big problem with that was Guiliani's claim that "I survived 9/11". Hey bud, everybody still here "survived". You're not special.

Paul got people talking last night, but that may not be a good thing. Looks like I'm going to throw my vote away again!

For some reason...

... I'm Sifo now, which is actually my WoW handle. W/E.

Zomg. Wife aggro.

--Nick

Hitchens v. Sharpton

A fun background listen. No real comment, other than to say I think that Hitchens' position lines up pretty closely with the position of Philip Pullman in the Golden Compass trilogy.

Ron Paul

Does this mean Paul is the Kucinich of the right? I hope that is not your comparison. If you simply meant Paul should be getting as much media attention as Kucinich, I'd say you are right, but that Paul should be getting more than the whack job from Cleveland. I don't know that Kucinich really deserves any attention.

To paraphrase...

..."They call me Dr. Law."

Strutter was a good Guitar Hero song BTW.

This is mostly for Nick

But if any one else enjoys Guitar Hero, here are 7 of the 30 songs on the new Guitar Hero: R0ck the 80s.

• "I Wanna Rock" - Twisted Sister (Master Track)
• "I Ran (So Far Away)" - A Flock of Seagulls (Master Track)
• "Round and Round" - Ratt
• "I Want Candy" - Bow Wow Wow
• "Metal Health" - Quiet Riot
• "Holy Diver" - Dio
• "Heat of the Moment" - Asia

I'm so excited I think I just wasted some baby making material in my pants. And I'm saying that I called 3 of these songs (Ratt, Dio, Quiet Riot). Asia and Flock of Seagulls are the icing on the cake. I'm also calling Beastie Boys (no sleep till brooklyn) and Ozzy (crazy train) as the final encore song. Also more megadeth, I just don't know which one. Any predictions?

If you haven't played Guitar Hero, do so. It is the best game ever.

Yes, but this headline is very real

Vegas run by gays and Jews, says magician

Why the media silence on Ron Paul?

So, as most of you know I'm pretty libertarian and have always been a big Ron Paul supporter. If I see one of those stupid online polls I'll only vote if he's on it. And I know Paul has a huge following within the internet community (which is biased towards libertarian nerds). Following this, it makes sense that he's leading many of the online polls (even without the potential sabotage). My problem comes from the fact that we heard SO much in the 2004 primaries about Howard Dean (who also had a big online following). Why do we hear NOTHING about Paul? At the very least, he's saying something different than the other Republican candidates, similar to Kucinich on the Dem's side.

Here a pro-Paul article dealing with this topic.

Congrats

to Bert Matthew George, J.D.

Hope to see yo this summer!

Graduation...

...is Saturday! Woo hoo!!!

FTW!

This is for John:

Dallas Mavs owner Mark Cuban talking about performance enhancing drugs. Doesn't bother me, so long as basketball players start looking like that fella on the right.

You

But I like killing pixelated hookers!

Wild man Julian Sanchez on the coming regulation of video game content:

It's been a good week for the digital descendants of Thomas Bowdler. As we all know, the best sweeping public policy is guided by our reactions to manifestly insane people who commit acts of violence as extreme in their rarity as their brutality. So as the bones of the Virginia Tech victims are picked thoroughly clean for political red meat, it's no surprise to find violent video games joining an ever-expanding list of whipping boys, from obvious candidates like deinstitutionalization and the gun culture to (yes, really) feminism and atheism. Killer Cho Seung-Hui may have played Counter-Strike in high school, you see. National Review's Peter Suderman predicts the flurry of cursor-pointing will prompt renewed focus on the Video Game Decency Act, a spectacularly redundant law whose main function would be to entangle the federal government with the software industry's highly effective private ratings board.

Whole thing here

RATM

I must admit that I enjoy the Rage from time to time despite it being painfully overwrought and repetitive like most communist propaganda. You have to appreciate leftists that don't shun violence these days though.

I did have to chuckle at the hubbub over their reunion. Sadly, many people take them seriously.

I can't belive

Slaps didn't post this, so I will. Cuz it's pretty catchy and has a feel-good message.

A list that doesn't suck

So, there's no good listing of albums, guitar players, etc., but I think everyone can agree that if there ever were an accuratly quantifiable topic from which to create lists, this is it. You can't argue with facts.

Boy, they showed that joke!

I had thought that this was one of those great Onion jokes, but I guess RATM proved them.

I know what an erection feels like, Michael.

All I could think about was GOB when I read this.

NE ftw

Well, it seems like New England is going to be the team to beat this year after some pretty stellar free agency pickups and their most recent acquisition: Randy Moss!!! My hope is that the Browns will beef up their O-line, which it FINALLY seems like they did (at least they didn't take Quinn first). I do wish them luck. I'm tired of hearing how awful the QBs in Cleveland are when it's fairly obvious the O-line in the past few years has been atrocious. As much as I hated him, Garcia looked pretty good in Philly, which surprise, has an offensive line. Any other predictions before the season starts since baseball is sooo boring?

Ch-ch-changes!

I changed some stuff, if you didn't notice. Let me know if it better/worse. If you don't care don't say anything. I added a links section so if you want to add any (personal webpages, blogs, etc) let me know. Personally, I'd rather keep the links section for personal (ie, within our posse) stuff, not newspages, since we're all independent and web-savvy enough to find our own news and entertainment. But if you want otherwise, let me know (and that goes for anything else).

updates

1. Eric's upset about that list of best albums ever. I agree, it's stupid. But there's nothing I can do about it, people are always going to try to quantify subjective things. It's like Rolling Stone and their obsession with listing the best guitar players. They're all different styles, etc but somehow some are better than others in a quantifiable manner.

2. John Edwards is dumb. If you watched the VP debates in '04 you saw him get trounced by Cheney. I'd rather Rick James' bloated corpse was President than Edwards.

3. Here is a recent academic paper describing, shock of shocks, that people are different. Really? From the summary (Care of Gene Expression):

"It has often been observed that people are different. Indeed, some observers have gone further to suggest that this diversity exists between people from different parts of the world, or of different ethnic groups, and it is hereditary. This latter observation has led to a certain amount of contention over time. As a result, many geneticists have been wary about asserting that such differences exist."

Uhhhhhh....maybe if you're Amish and only see other Amish people. I don't know, some of us observe culture/race/ethnic differences everyday. I guess it's just not PC to say that people are different and it might be genetic. You what else is a shocker? Males and females are different. I'm never going to get an academic job with an attitude like that.

Nice Hair

Not that any of you needed another reason to hate him, I'm sure, but at least Edward's hair looks good.

Re: Worst...list...ever!

Aqualung is 169?!?!? Jethro Tull is less good than 50cent?!? NFWD!!!! (that's 12 year old girl text chat for "No fucking way dood!") And is that santana album on there the one he sold out to win a grammy? That list is awful. Slaps and I will make a better, more accurate and rocking list...and then everyone responsible for that list has to buy us all the albums on ours. GO!

Worst...list...ever!

Whoever is responsible for this list--sponsered in part by the Rock Hall of Fame-- should be imprisoned.

Amazon is in on it, too, with a blog to "debate" the rankings. There is no debate, though. The world seems to be totally unified against this idiocy.

I must admit...

...I am envious although we have John Bolton coming here Tuesday.

JRB for SCotUS

Oh Bert, you KNOW she'll always be my girl.

Also, I need to rub it in that I'm going to see Douglas Ginsberg talk next week. Fantastic!

Some of you will bristle...

...but this is some common sense from an uncommon lady.

I had the opportunity to hear her speak here at W&L last year. She has a wonderful grasp on American political and intellectual history. We could use more judges like her.

Gay Australian men are more interesting than gay American men

This is no ineffective werewolf story, but it's pretty entertaining. I had to read the first paragraph 3 times before I fully grasped what was said. Fan-tastic!

A is A

Is the whole world on crazy pills?!?

Animal rights wackos/environmentalists want to kill a baby polar bear in the zoo??? WTF? I mean, Jesus Christ! I say wait till the bear is older then feed these assholes to the bear. Go Knut the polar bear!

"Just call me Captain Toke!"

I just have to brag that Doulglas Ginsburg (who would have been the best Supreme Court Justice EVER if not for that asshole Bill Bennett) is giving a talk at CWRU on 4/4. Cooooool!!

Re: I am manlier than you....

It's only sexual harrasment if it's unwanted. Just like rape. And your terrible at not doing that as well.

I am manlier than you and that's a fact.

Apparently calling someone a sissy or a wuss is sexual harassment. In which case, I sexually harass everyone all the time, because compared to me everyone IS a wuss.

For a good laugh...

...go here. Warning! Vulgarity. Not that any of you care.

I also "have powers"

Courtesy of John, here is the BEST news article i'll ever read. Wait, here's the headline:

Ineffective werewolf faces drug charges

Real news story. Not The Onion. Enjoy.

Someone to vote for finally?

Go Newt! I know we have Ron Paul, but I could only vote for him in protest, slaps.

Crazy animal stories

1. 26 toed cat. I don't know what else to say, its just funny. I mean, look at the picture of that silly cat.

2. COLOSSAL squid caught. That is some scary stuff. I won't post pictures so as not to frighten the children.

Apparently the Australia/New Zealand area is much more exciting in terms of crazy animals.

"We smoke while we shoot the bird"

Quite rightly, John has pointed out that I totally agree with the dirty hippies in this Boston silliness. However, certain conservatives are actually, seriously up in arms about this. "How dare you scare us, dirty hippies!?!" "We are at war!" Whatever. At least there are some sane conservatives left, like the following, whom I usually disagree with:

The Crucible in Boston [Mario Loyola]

I think the Boston authorities should be absolutely ashamed of themselves. They mistook obvious toys for bombs and sent the entire city into a paroxysm of war-on-terror paranoia. And now they're taking out their frustrations by lynching two quasi-hippies who quite are quite rightly mocking them and everyone else who thinks they did something wrong.

Reports that those guys held back from explaining the provenance of the gadgets are serious if they knowingly held back for any significant length of time. But the main point is that by the time they figured out that it was all their fault, the authorities had already caused a city-wide panic over funny-looking gadgets that look exactly nothing like a bomb.

Whether those guys did anything to apologize for, the Boston authorities should apologize for turning the United States into a planetary laughing-stock. The European press is going to have a field day with this. Normally world opinion can cook in its own stew as far as I'm concerned, but I'm going to be traveling abroad soon and I really hope I don't have to answer questions about this incredibly embarrassing incident.

New Study Reveals Boston to be the Stupidest City Ever

I'm sure everyone's heard about this by now, but just in case, I'm putting this post up. Slaps and I love the show and have agreed that everyone in Boston is God forsaken idiot. Except the two guys going to jail. They are brilliant, as you can see below.

Re: Who dey is

Here ya go Bert...some more glorious conduct. The Bengals should just be a team of convicts who ride around on a big white bus and challenge various professional and college teams to games. Which I think is the direction they are heading.

some science

Creepy

Tony Dungy's Black?!?!

But seriously... I mean, this is news!!!!! These guys slipped through the fingers of the big white hand holdin' the brothas down.

Who Dey Is

Professional sports increasingly has to deal with this nonsense. This year it certainly hurt the Bengals. As a Bengals fan I'm not proud of it, and the organization should be ashamed. It reflects badly on the NFL, the team, and the city.

It also is an indictment to some extent of Marvin Lewis. Cincinnati fans have been hopeful that he would bring back winning football teams, and he seemed to bring that attitude the last few years. Doubtless, Marvin would have been forgiven for some extent had they ended up 10-6. But they fell apart. They should have been one of the better teams in the AFC, and the off the field stuff had to play a part. Lewis should get a large share of the blame.

Who Dey?

Dey's criminals.

Black history month for the nfl

I guess I shouldn't be surprised about this, but it makes me grind my teeth in annoyance. I guess this is important enough to warrant a story (go go AP!) instead of the colossal collapse of the patriots (huzzah!) or that once again Grossman's awful play somehow didn't doom the bears or that peyton's finally goin to a superbowl. Nope. We need a story on black coaches and the historical impact of not just one, but TWO coaching in the superbowl. I fail to see how the coaches' skin color has any impact on the game at all. If Jesus comes back and he's black, by all means, write a column or two on it. But this is a football game. Jeez.

Early Valentine to the Guys I Love....

Even if you don't like this show (which I think is hilarious). I hope you'll enjoy this little number--which really explains pretty well how I think I feel about some of you. I can only hope you feel the same way....

Best Article Title Ever?

I think so.

Well I know who gets my vote...

no matter what. Ron Paul has formed an "exploratory committee", whatever the hell that means, to look into running for PotUS in 2008. Even if he doesn't, I'm writing him in anyway. Boy, do I want to see a debate with Paul, McCain and Guiliani. He'll beat those losers into the ground.

Ron Paul on Iraq
on the welfare state
etc.

The Right Minimum Wage...

... 0$.

George Will, emphatically not a libertarian ideologue, explains.

Save us from our government.

JB '07

I have returned for 2007 newly minted and reforged.

Firstly, important matters.

Casino Royale was no Bond movie. Just awful. Daniel Craig was nothing nothing like Bond and the whole movie was nothing nothing like a Bond movie. It was just like any other action movie. And before you say, "that was the point", hear this. This movie was an utter betrayal of the 31 or so movies that came before it. I don't care that Die Another Day wasn't great. James Bond is dead to me. Dead and not coming back. (Unless they return handsome, suave Pierce Brosnan to the role.) What a disgrace.

The conservative movement has failed to get a compelling grip on the Republican party, and has for too long enable pretenders and spineless wimps to sway it. 2008 will not elect a conservative president, because no true conservative will run, and I can identify no true conservative anywhere on the national stage that isn't Dick Cheney. Game over for at least a decade on the national level. Too much acquiescence over too many years has gutted the movement. More on that later.

Not sure really what the point of the Espicopalian post is, Robinson is older news, and there was signs of a split as his confirmation. The point of the whole episode is namely that the Espicolpalians have the most liberal "platform" of almost any American Prostetant denomination and the inclusion of an openly homosexual bishop is somewhat controversial for two reasons. A) Scripture clearly condemns it. B) Requires sexual activity outside of marriage, also condemned in Scripture. Now, obviously, no bishop or minister is devoid of sin in his life, but, there is a signficant difference between a sinful lifestyle choice that is anti-biblical and basic human sinfulness. That said, I am not particularly interested in reviving this debate because obviously even the liberal-ordered multicultural Episcopalians are splitting over it. Churches have split over this very issue before, ask the United Church of Christ, although they had the twin issue of female ministers. One more point about Robinson that I would like to make is that known adulterers, drunkards, or pedophiles, for example are not permitted to be bishops, even though Scripture lines homosexuality up with adultery and pedophilia. It seems to me that the Anglicans are more interested in contemporary social flexing that consistent doctrine. My 2 cents.

Keith Olbermann is annoying, to be sure, perhaps even a cad. But, to the relief of all responsible journalists, he has a tiny viewing audience. More people watch old reruns of Dick Van Dyke than watch Keith Olbermann.

I second the Olberman thought

That jerk should have stuck to sportscasting.

Here's some science:

Midgets choosing to have midget kids.

Is this cool? I don't think so. Not that I care, mind you but forcing your kids to share your club foot or six toes or whatever the hell is wrong with you is going to make them hate you in the long run. I'll have more to say if anyone else has an opinion.

Just a thought:

Keith Olbermann is a smarmy dipshit and I want to smack that goddamn grin right off his face.

Even though he coached at Indiana...

I've always liked this Ohioan.

bored

Just to stir up some fun (I hope):

Apparantly there is a huge uprising in the Episcopalian Church. You can read about it here. But to save you the time, I'll just tell you what it's about. Basically, specific churches are seceding over the church's decision to annoint an openly gay bishop (V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire). Which makes absolutely no sense because by Episcopalian tradition, no bishop can operate outside the boundaries of his diocese. So churches even within New Hampshire but outside his diocese aren't affected, let alone in places like Virgina, California or Nigeria. I think the best guess here is that these jackoffs (as they will now be so lovingly referred to) are so preoccupied with forcing conservative dogma down the throats of those too simple to think on their own that they have thrown all pretense of reason into the wind - which shouldn't be and isn't a very big surprise when it comes to dealing with religion and zealots.

Essentially, what they are protesting is his being openly gay. Had he never come out, things would have been fine and no one would have moved for a rift in the church. In other words, it would have been more acceptable for him to continue living a lie (which he did do for some time to the point of marrying and having children before accepting his homosexuality). I'm not sure what message these jackoffs are trying to send through their secession, but the act is essentially saying that a collected group of devout Episcopals would rather their leader and Bishop lie to them.

Herein lies the problem with religious devouts: they are unable to think reasonably when confronted with an issue challenging to their faith. The immediate answer is "The Bible says it's wrong so it's wrong." The whole purpose of a Bishop is to oversee the work his subordinates do in spreading the Word of God. Does being gay in any way affect this? I fail to see how it would. Is it hypocritical to the context of the faith? Perhaps. But let us consider a two points:first, the fact that he was raised to his current status not only by the normal voting procedure, but by that procedure being carried out during the Episcopal General Convention of 2003. Which means had it been an issue that horrendously upsetting to the faith, there is no way he would have ever passed the ELECTION PROCESS. Let me say that again in case you missed it: he was elected. His office was gained within the proper tenants of Church Law in the presence of representatives from parishes all over the country. A democratic procedure isn't something that is used when convenient and the results make everyone happy. If there was only one point of view, there wouldn't be a need for democracy. Nonetheless, when the system fails your cause, you don't abandon it. To me, the Episopal Church should make no effort whatsoever to accomodate these hypocrytical, self-satisfying jackoffs. They are using it to achieve their own selfish ends when it's convenient to use. Their cause would be much more noble and tolerable to the sensible if they remained a part of the Church and used their faith to try to defend their point of view. What they are doing now is simply taking their faith and going home because they didn't get their way.

Secondly, am I expected to believe that God would speak to the masses through the mouth of someone so profainly vested in sin? Or is he not speaking through the Bishop at all? Is it more that He has turned his back to his followers? The implications on these lines seem to suggest that the faith should be abandoned completely. If you believe that God is active in your faith, how can you believe that He would allow something so dreadfully wrong to occur in the upper echelons of the faith? I am forced to conclude that a God worth worshipping would have enough wherewithall to not allow something profain to the faith to reach such a standing in the Church.

More to the point, as I said earlier, being gay does not affect his ability to perform his job. I have a rampant love affair going with my hand and it doesn't affect my ability to do my job. And I can assure you thuoghts of my hand consume more time than his love of men. Because it's pretty much all the time. Which makes sense. When you have the penile equivalent of the Hope Diamond you pretty much have to fawn over it all the time. It's only a matter of time until it gets taken away and put in the Smithsonian. Cherish it people! Cherish it!

What?

Who the shit is Victor Davis Hanson? Is he the guy that lives above me? I hate that guy.

I do, however, like Libyans. Their acting is unequalled (watch Back to the Future for proof). Comic genius! Like that part where the gun won't fire and Marty runs to the DeLorian...man that's hysterical. And only partly because you can't understand whatever language they speak (French?). They totally make that movie (without them Marty never gets in the time machine). So based on their unholy...acting...talent! I must conclude that their doctors are without peer as well. Therefore Victor Davis Hanson is a silly person.

Q.E.D.

Libyan Vacation

Victor Davis Hanson has a brush with death in Libya and lives to tell about it. Can you imagine having to have an emergency appendectomy in some poor Islamic clinic? Frightening.

ha ha, maureen dowd

Catching up on my reading lately, In the Nov. 16 Rolling Stone (I don' t know why I get it) John Stewart says of his interview with Maureen Down (NY Times columnist): "I didn't know we were going to have to be high for this interview."

More on everything else later while both you and I absorb this comment.

Rematch?

After watching the USC/Notre Dame game last week, I thought OSU/USC matchup would be a good one. Plus there is some old Rose Bowl rivalry history to go along with such a game.

Assuming Florida wins the SEC championship game and USC loses to UCLA, Florida could be said to deserve a shot.

Who deserves to go? That is a tough question. Michigan's only loss is to the Buckeyes. Florida and USC both lost to lesser teams. You could also say that Michigan had their shot, and that USC or Florida deserve a shot at OSU. I fail to see how Michigan would be eliminated from a playoff system though since they will finish 4th at worst in the polls/BCS. Florida is perhaps more deserving considering the tougher schedule they had than USC.

Florida is the least interesting matchup national TV/rivalry wise, and I don't think Chris Leak can hang with the Buckeyes. A USC matchup has a broader national appeal than either Fla. or Michigan. It'll likely be USC. If the Buckeyes win, Florida will have the biggest grievance. That said, what Buckeye fan wouldn't want to beat Michigan twice in the same year?

More on the rematch

I agree with John, but am not sure whether I want a rematch or not. I'm truly ambivalent. I kind of want a rematch for these reasons: I really think UM is better than anybody else out there (excluding us, of course), and a rematch could cause the kind of outrage that would make people start thinking seriously about a tournament (see Urban Meyers' comments from a few weeks ago). I want to avoid a rematch, however, because of the following: I honestly fear getting beat the second time (call me a pessimist), and playing them again--especially after that unbelievable game on the 18th--seems kind of unnatural, like necromancy or trying to raise a loved one from the dead (not that I "love" the Wolverines, but we do share a kind of necessary, existential connection that transcends football). At any rate, this ambivalence has rendered me unable to root for either side in either of USC's final two games. I just want it to be over so we can start concentrating on who we'll play.

OSU-Mich rematch

While I agree with Nick that it would probably be the best game, I think it would be a perfect example of why college football will never be able to crown a legitimate champion (especially if Mich wins, which means each team is 1-1 against the other) owing to the fact that in a playoff system (which seems infintely more appropriate and respectful than the rooting through dog puke methods the BCS uses now) Michigan would have been eliminated from championship contention. You shouldn't get a mulligan when playing for something as "prestigious" as the national college football championship. That would make it even less respectable than it is now.

Senator-elect Webb

Although I didn't vote for him, I thought Jim Webb might turn out to be a decent Democrat Senator despite the awful campaign run by both candidates down here. However, he's off to a poor start without actually having started his term.

No more Hobbits for Peter Jackson

According to the December 1 issue of Entertainment Weekly, New Line has announced Jackson will not direct the film adaptations (it appears they're going to milk two pictures out of it). The article cites some contract disagreement, blah, blah...this sucks.

Thousandfold Thought

A pretty honest review of The Thousandfold Thought, the last in Bakker's trilogy, which I think has just come out. I will say this: Bakker is trying to do a lot more than most authors with his books. It doesn't always work, but as these things go, the mere effort makes it more compelling than most of the alternatives on the fantasy shelf.

I'm in the first third of the second book of the trilogy, The Warrior-Prophet. I'm a bit underwhelmed so far. Apparently spent 12-13 years writing and polishing the first book, and then, once the contract came in, wrote the second in less than a year. It shows. But I'd still rather read him than, say, I'm-going-to-teach-you-how-to-pronounce-my-character's-names Robert Jordan.

So...

Knowing next to nothing about college football, and having heard all of the arguments each way over and over again, I'll throw this out there:

OSU and Michigan should rematch for the national championship.

Why? Because it's the only game I want to watch.

I mean, really. How many times to did Rocky and Apollo Creed rematch? At least two. And they would've done more if Apollo hadn't died. But before that they became friends. See my point?

Ding Dong...

...He might be dead. But what's next for Cuba?

super-dooper poopy head

Bert: what the hell is going in Virginia???

Not the party of the common man...

...as George Will points out.

I am no populist, and as it turns out, Democrats aren't either. (We do have something in common!) It seems they empathize with the working man only as long as it doesn't involve capitalism.

Full disclosure: I love Wal-Mart and go there an average of twice a week.

The Media Lied. People died.

Christopher Hitchens explains the outrageousness that was the Valerie Plame/Joe Wilson affair.

As many observers noted way back in the middle of this mess, most notably Byron York at National Review, there was nothing there.

Well, that's not exactly correct because the people who were accusing the administration of a vendetta knew all along that it wasn't true. Along the way an investigation was instigated into a crime that was never committed.

It is now clear--as if it wasn't before--that many in the media are out to get the administration, not to report the news. This would be laughable perhaps if there wasn't so much at stake. But it is apparent that no one in the media is going to answer for this stuff in any meaningful way.

The New York Times publishes sensitive intelligence information and what is done to punish them? Nothing. Hopefully the NSA leaker will be prosecuted. But one wonders where the sanity is in any of this.

RE: This is why everyone.....

I think the metaphor of you in a whorehouse is perfect. I can't imagine anyone else I know being better at spending money on "pet projects" (pork?) in a whorehouse than you. I'll bet there are other things you're good at, but I just wanted to point out how great you'd be at buying hookers.

This is why everyone should have listened to me

Apparently its worthwhile to look at gov't spending when one pary controls both houses of Congress and the Presidency. You know, 'cuz Republicans have been spending money like me at a whorehouse (or some other applicable metaphor). The argument goes that one party controls gov't like that it is more apt to get its pet projects (also known as pork) though; ie, wasting more money.

My response? Duh. I've been saying that for a while now.

Republicans are just as much power hungry whores as are Democrats. Except Ron Paul.

Pirating

I see he has, oddly, pirated the symbol of Bourbon France as well as adopted an interesting--to be kind--constitutional theory about lobbying.

Yeeeeaarrrrrgh!

So if I lived in Iowa, I'd vote for this guy. He's running for Congress as a pirate. Like the "Arrrrgh, Matey" kind of pirate. Check him out. He's pretty stellar.

Deric's Football Message

Here it is; the spacing and formatting got messed up--sorry. I really hope you can all make it. If not, we'll do the draft-by-proxy thing as needed.
-----------------------------------------

To: "Brandon Roberts" , carathers@hotmail.com, ihatebutter@hotmail.com, elarson13@yahoo.ie

Hey all. Greetings and crap like that... Here is what I see as our roster this year. Eric Larson, Miles Larson, Mike Carathers, John Tedesco, Kris Stanya, Brandon Roberts, Mark Thut, Jarrod Bottomley, Brian Tedesco, Matt George, Nick Hoffman, Chad Landsettle. Everyone please look in the'To:' line and if you notice that a name is not represented here forwardthis to them.

The drills: E$'s house again. Friday Sept. 1st. Rule revisions,additions, etc. " " " . Saturday Sept. 2nd. OSUv. NIU. as well as the draft. This will likely be a long day then eh? Same as last year.
Understanding that we are nowscattered all over the country, many will be hard pressed to attend. Send someone with a sheet of your requests, suggested rule changes, your amount of beer, and anything else that represents their views. Equipment: Beer or other drinks of choice. (bring enough tosatisfy your addiction level). Grillable meats. There is a Marc'sgrocer, within walking distance which generally has great brat prices. If you plan on arriving before the end of normal grocery hours, you canbuy them there, as well as the beer. Game day: Unfortunately our first game is the following Thursday which will force me to be ultra punctual with the entry of teams, andyou to check y'alls roster ASAP. I will have them entered as soon as I can get them in I promise. Trophy: I have noticed that we are the only FF league on theplanet that has no hardware. The first year the winner was to receive adrink from everyone in the league which I'm sure didn't happen, and thenwe seem to have fallen away from such rewards. Please consider whatwould be reasonable and affordable compensation for league dominance. $10/team winner take all/75%; gift certificate to build-a-bear; 3 Cases of canned goods? whatever people like. God I love you all, and Football is Darn fine as well... Toodles, andplease reply ASAP whether you will be in attendance, or involved in the league at all...

Boy, ya got me....

Apparently, these people do.

And no, I guess you don't need to respond. In lieu of any argument, I'll have to assume "statist" is another one of those wilfully manipulable, ill-defined, sophistical buzzwords of convenience, like "judicial activist."

Hand-raising and what not

I did not receive the football email, and I cannot top Slaps's hand-raise. georgeb@wlu.edu

That aside, I take it from your statism post that you have secured a job or are trying to secure one on a university English faculty (one of the few places where it is believed there are people in this country who look to and trust in GWB as our capital L Leader).

Come on e-money... Do I really need to respond?

FOOTBALL!!!!!

Just to get everyone in the proper mindset for football season here is a series of clips of some great hits from the past. And it concludes with the greatest hit EVER (hint: it involves L.T. and that gasbag Joe Theisman). What could be better than grown men beating the hell out of each other every week? The answer? Nothing. Woot!

On "statism"....

Yeah, I've been out for a while, so I'm gonna need you to define that word for me. You probably don't mean "intolerant of dissent," "a proclivity to run around accusing political opponents of treason," "dogmatic, if not evangelical faith in the transcendent moral virtue of the state," "willingness to relinquish personal liberties so The Leader can 'keep us safe,'" "tendency to ascribe divine qualities to said Leader," or any stuff like that. You mean affirmative action and food stamps, don't you?

Fantasy Football Returns

Sorry I haven't chimed in for a while...been busy. We're rounding up the usual suspects for fantasy football once again. If you are one and you didn't get my brother's e-mail yet, raise your hand. Questions or concerns should be forwarded as soon as possible. I hope to see all of you.

GG

I think Kris already mentioned it, but this man is brilliant and his blogs are worth visiting every day.

Re: South Paws Rule

It's sad what people get paid to do.

This just in: Statistics show that short, hairy men are 79% more likely to have to beat off women with a stick than their tall, hairless counterparts.

Or the exact opposite.

GOP cleansing?

"Throw the bums out!" says a former Reagan man. I for one hope it happens.

South Paws Rule

Interesting news for awesome men like myself.

The Man holding everyone down apparently uses his left hand.

Re: Leiberman

I was pulling for Leiberman to win the nomination in '04 as well. No suprise he lost in '04. He really showed some character in that race by bucking the venemous anti-war types and made up for the whoring he did as the VP candidate in 2000. He has been a little weak in this race since he had to confront the criticism from the left and woo lefties.

A little more suprising he lost yesterday. He will have a difficult time running as an independent, but he does have some momentum going in the last few weeks despite the loss.

This is certainly bad for the Democrats. They have fewer and fewer reasonable people in their ranks the more this stuff happens. There is a constituency for hard left politics, but it can't be a majority in this country. It is in large part geographically isolated to the coasts and large cities and demographically isolated to aging radicals and dumb kids who haven't made any money or started families yet.

It will be interesting to see what happens if Joe wins. Will he feel free to be even less statist-liberal and more hawkish? Or will he feel the need to get back in good graces with his party? Will they take him back? This depends in part on who takes the reigns of the party in the next few years. If the Clintons take the party back, Joe will likely be taken back no matter what. If the Deaniacs and lefties continue to gain ground, Joe might be an independent for a long while.

Joe-mentum

Bert:
Do you really think Leiberman is going to lose in CT? I say no way. If anything, this just hurts Democrats in the long run, as Leiberman will no longer be part of their party (officially). In the Pres primarys for the last election, I was pulling for Leiberman, despite knowing a Jewish guy is not going to be elected President any time soon. Anyway, that's my $.02

Independent Joe

Some good and some bad news.

Great Expectations

Buckeyes ranked #1. #1 and #2 will have a showdown in Austin Week 2.

More Whining about an Estate Tax Cut

The minimum wage/estate tax cut bill, thankfully, failed to go to a vote in the Senate.

E.J. Dionne, like me, is happy about this, but for the opposite reason. He whines about the estate tax cut being an example of "the central goal of the currently dominant forces of politics: to give away as much as possible to the truly wealthy." Of course he doesn't explain how letting people keep their own money is giving away money to the wealthy.

The whining is not because the Republicans pulled some fantastic, hypocritical prank. The bill would have passed if it had reached the floor. Liberals are just mad because they will be the loser here. It was a good political move that will hurt the Democrats. The Democrats prevented the minimum wage from being increased simply because of the estate tax cut. Despite all the crying, Americans are not offended by the thought of an estate tax cut. So the Democrats now have to explain why they didn't raise the minimum wage, which means crying about how the Republicans are just out to help the rich. Nothing new here.

This whining is drowned by Dionne's glee over his prediction of the collapse of conservatism. He, disingenuously, praises conservatives like Bill Buckley and George Will and National Review only because they are currently discontented with the Republican leadership. He predicts a Democrat victory in November. While the Democrats will likely be marginally victorious, the election will not signal the end of the conservative movement and its replacement by a resurgent liberalism. As vulnerable as the Republicans are, the Democrats have not offered up any reason to vote for them other than Bush-hatred. They continue to adhere to the stale statism of the last sixty years just adding some anti-Americanism to the mix. This is not a winning platform.

Ouch!

Fishing is dangerous.

Watch this:

Whenever I'm depressed or pissed off I watch this and always laugh. Its never not funny.

Kids being kids

I suppose if this is what kids have to deal with for being kids I understand now.

Also, I agree with Elton. I need some crazy gender-bending glam rock.

Glam it up, please...

...says Elton.