Don't Rock the Boat

MTV, a network that is nothing if not about image, has made itself look hypocritical by trying to prevent NIN from performing with a picture of the preznit as a backdrop.

The same folks who have encouraged us to 'Rock the Vote' said it was "uncomfortable with their performance being built around a partisan political statement."

Indeed. It sure would be a shame if someone were to disrupt Rock 'n Roll's longstanding tradition of providing banal, apolitical entertainment in a non-partisan manner.

I know that corporations have to be extra careful about riling the regime these days and that the consequences of any political dissent meted out by the FCC can be severe. However, I am embarassed for our nation when it is necessary to expurgate any trace of political non-conformity. We cannot expect our country's democracy to survive if we insist that political statements be confined to 'free speach' zones. The path that MTV has taken runs directly contrary to the nominal mission of 'Rock the Vote.' I suppose that it would be too much to expect more from a corporation but I am disappointed nevertheless.

Alex Xod continues to report the news....

when he tunes into a channel only he receives...

Kurt Kittner throws his team into the (not so) Big Game!

If you're reading this blog you might as well check it out....

A Gonzo Goodbye

Thanks to Johnny Depp.

I couldn't agree more

This is tragically ridiculous. How many people died in detention? I'm going to have to stop reading Kafka....

Tom Delay blames the media... again...

It's not about the law breaking.

Really, it isn't. No, it's just all of those nasty, Hollywood and media liberals that are causing all of Tom's problems...

Update here: via Kos

Tightening Delay's noose

First adverse finding against Delay's PAC.

Great Moments in Television

Harry Caray singing 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame' during the seventh inning stretch makes for one of my greatest memories as a sports fan. I was lucky enough to sing along with Harry on the next to last time that he ever belted it out on Ryne Sandberg day in 1997. Harry died shortly before the next season started.

To commemorate Harry, the Cubs, in their infinite wisdom, decided to bring in a number of celebrity guest singers. The results have been mixed but mostly skew towards just bad. However, sometimes the performances have been so bad that they were immensely entertaining. I recall watching Da Coach, who arrived moments before he was to sing and apparently had been running as fast as he could up to the booth, rush through the song in record time without any melody whatsoever. Classic.

On Tuesday I was privileged to see another terrible performance that I will never forget: Jeff Gordon utterly failing to make it through the song. Gordon got off the first few lines and then choked. He didn't remember the words and couldn't sing along. Traditionally, Harry would cut off for a few lines and 'conduct' the crowd with his microphone. That's not what Gordon did. He just stood there, holding the mike to his mouth but not singing or saying anything. At first, I though he might have been drunk or otherwise incapacitated. Cubs fans, who in my opinion have become a little too surly over the last few years, gave Gordon the full booing he richly deserved. Gordon could only stand there and take it. Delicious. Guests always stay during the bottom of the seventh for an interview and Gordon did so as well. He and the announcers had to pretend what just happened hadn't. Luckily for Gordon the bottom of the seventh was mercifully short. However, Gordon appeared to be completely lucid throughout the interview so it would seem to eliminate the possibility that his failure was the result of a stroke or some other catastrophic disablement. No, it was clear that Jeff Gordon, under pressure, in front of around 35,000 people, performing a simple task where the bar was set very low, could not perform. And, when it was clear to him and everyone that was watching him that he was blowing the whole deal, his only response was to shut down and stand there, laughing like a moron. As I said, I will never forget that scene.

So here's to Jeff Gordon: a True American Failure.


Further Reading: Here's Cubs beat writer Paul Sullivan's ChicagoSports.com - take on the event.

Opportunities in Hockey????

What opportunities in Hockey?

Is the pending NBA shutdown that bad that an NBA insider would think that going back to hockey is a better bet?

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Orlando Magic general manager and chief operating officer John Weisbrod resigned Monday after 14 months on the job to pursue opportunities in hockey.

'We wish John all the best in making a return to the sport of his passion,' Magic president and chief executive officer Bob Vander Weide said in a statement."
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NASCAR drivers: Unsafe, Unprofessional Idiots

Apparently, these guys don't realize they're playing a dangerous game.

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"It's the fact that it is all about fun," said Brian Vickers, who finished third after he was involved in one of the controversial accidents.

"It's all about the passion and go all-out and win," he said. "It brings out even more emotions than maybe the way you approach a normal points race. In the points race you're still driving and still doing what you love, but you've got to think so far ahead sometimes, you kind of get lost in that.

"Tonight it's like going back and racing go-karts and, man, it's just wide open. Everybody's going for the same spot. People block each other like they normally wouldn't in a race. People race each other to pass like they wouldn't normally pass them in a normal race."
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What this chucklehead, and the other idiots who take this attitude, don't understand is that in any race sacrificing safety and responsibility inevitably leads to injuries and unintended consequences.

NASCAR may encourage its 'bad boys' to help sell the series but, to the extent these idiots start acting out their tough talk on the track, the odds of drivers and spectators being hurt or killed increases.

This kind of bullshit gives racing and race fans a bad name. It reinforces the perception that race fans are really just rooting for a wreck. It's despicable and, as a race fan, I would not associate myself with this sort of behavior.

Just to emphasize my point, consider this quote:
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"It was wild out there," driver Michael Waltrip said. "That's what you get, though, when you're racing without any points consequences or anything. It was just pride. It was just everybody trying to win, and nobody wanting second."
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The fact is that there are consequences. Beyond the simple dictum of racing that in order to finish first, first you must finish, every person who would step into the seat of any automobile in any situation should recognize that they owe a duty of safe conduct to others that superseeds any other goal they may have. I admit I have failed to honor that duty at all times myself. However, that does not excuse these so called professionals for their craven disregard for the safety of each other and their fans.

I've always resented that stupid Jets' Margarita at the top right of the blog

if for no other reason than that I'm a Redskins fan.

However, I think Bob Herbert of the NYTimes makes a pretty strong case that the Jets are totally screwing over the city of New York. It's a travesty that would make Santa Claus himself vomit with rage.

There's a Frank Zappa song titled "The Torture Never Stops."

I don't bring this up as reference to the atrocities of Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo Bay. Instead, the message of the song is that we will keep on being treated the same way and the pain will continue... and we will, through willful denial or some other means continue to accept that treatment. Here's the lede from Steve Chapman's latest column:

`We feel right now that we have, as I mentioned, broken the back of the insurgency."

--Marine Lt. Gen. John Sattler, Nov. 18, 2004, after the U.S.-led offensive against Fallujah.

Could it be that we've misclassified the insurgency in Iraq--that it's an invertebrate, able to absorb bone-crushing blows because it has no bones to crush? It seems to be more like a dandelion, which, when smashed, only spreads more seeds. Seven months after U.S. forces leveled the enemy stronghold, the insurgents are causing as much trouble as ever. The lull in violence that followed the January elections was taken to mean the rebels were in disarray. If so, they've regrouped, and Iraq has reverted to chaos. Nearly twice as many Iraqi security personnel died in attacks in March as in January. April was almost as bad. May looks worse still.

I won't stop posting these...

So long as there's anything that might be interesting....

Kurt Kittner: "After we slapped Frankfurt 48-10 last weekend, I went to Amsterdam to hang out with my little brother and his friends. It was nice to have some family in town again, and my brother and I can have fun just about anywhere in the world, so we had some laughs.


The look on his face as we walked through Amsterdam's Red Light District was priceless. No, we didn't stop for any business transactions as many of you would like to think. But we had a couple drinks at a local watering hole"

Someone done wripped of our (well mostly Colin's, unless you count number of posts) blog!

Hawaiian Shirt Friday Club

Ike's view of social security "reformers"

Sirota found a great quote:
"Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are [a] few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid."- President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 11/8/54

Too bad one of those stupid Texas oil millionaires is running the country.

If you have Real Player

listen to this...

As a former resident of Houston, I can confirm that these are places in H-town...

As a current citizen of the U.S., I can confirm that this is a load of bullshit...


They will stop at nothing. We must be strong in our resistance and, at the same time, we must be resolute in preserving the values of our nation.

A second reformation?

That's Nicholas Kristoff's take...

Choice quote:

Pope Benedict once fretted that on such issues the church "risks appearing like an anachronistic construct." In an essay written when he was a cardinal, he stuck with traditional values but acknowledged that many foresaw this bleak choice: "Either the church finds an understanding, a compromise with the values propounded by society which she wants to continue to serve, or she ... finds herself on the margin of society."

More Delay follies

Just read it... you may need to sit by a trash can so you an throw up.

Real ID, False sense of security

good reading on how the gov't (Republicons no less!) is instituting a police state.

Krugman and the truth on SS

Krugman in the NYT today lays out in clear laymans terms exactly the scam that Bush is trying to pull on Social Security. Even our resident Republican has to be starting to question the alleged "reform" of SS.

I think Kurt Kittner's column is fantastic!

I insist that these columns will eventually be gathered together in a book. Although it just might, kinda, possibly reinforce some stereotypes about football players... Still you've got to love stories like this:

During the week we got to see what my teammate Josh Mallard would do for some money. This time we got 200 Euros (about $258) together to have Josh jump into a canal.

Now this isn't one of those nice canals you see in Venice with boats and everything like that. This is a canal that is directly outside our locker room, about 8 feet wide.

I swear this canal is more of a sewer than anything else. I think it just takes all the water from the toilets and washes it out, so you could imagine the stench.

Josh ended up jumping in and was rudely surprised at its depth and found himself submerged in the crud water.

He popped out with the sickest look on his face, and he was gagging and struggling to get out. There were about twenty guys laughing their butts off as he ran inside to wash off. On the way in, he may have puked a couple of times as well.

Needless to say it was worth the 20 Euros I pledged because I easily got my money's worth in laughs.

I don't know how many times I'll be linking to a Baptist website again but...

this is a follow up on Bill Underwood's assumption of the presidency at Baylor.

BTW, I'd post what a friend of mine (not Colin) who went to Baylor Law School had to say about Underwood, but this is a family blog...

Illinois nets $105K from Pontiac

Well Illinois came up short at the very end but we did have the most 'excitement' in the tourney so we get the cash.

Does anyone here drink Mint Juleps?

I'm not a bourbon drinker so, for me, the answer is no. I have to admit that the name has a nice ring to it. I would suspect that has something to do with the drinks popularity. In general, I think the key to popular drinks has less to do with the taste of the drink than the catchiness of its name. That aside, here's an article from the Houston Chronicle about Mint Juleps.

FUX NEWZ: U.S. Millitary too Thin Due to "Unknown" War.

Alex Xod gives his own take on the military's strained resources.

An army of one?

More like an army of woe...

Does this help explain, at least in part, the atrocious behavior that occurred at Abu Ghraib? The American soldier has enjoyed a reputation for excellence and professionalism, holding him or herself to very high standards. The evidence suggests that, at the bottom of the barrel, these expectations will be disappointed.

'Big trouble' for sunflower growers

Does Colin know about this?

I hope he has a secret stash somewhere...

Performance-enhancing contact lenses?

Yup...

It won't be long before we'll be seeing people walking around wearing these things....

I'm not sure what to make of this

Heart bypass survivor dies after 2,400-mile bike ride

So, exercise can kill you? Too much exercise can kill you? Stopping exercising after exercising a whole lot can kill you?

One wonders... and then one takes a swig of beer to wash down the Buffalo wings while watching sports on television....