Ohio Lawmakers Still Can't Get It Right

I'm not sure if I've gone off about the lack of good physical education in today's schools as much as I have other topics, but I'm going to do it now. First, the article (since it may disappear from the Dispatch after a week):

Ohio Core bill lets athletes skip gym

Senator hates idea, hopes to change provision next year

Saturday, December 23, 2006

Dan Weist

OHIO NEWS NETWORK

Gov. Bob Taft has yet to sign the Ohio Core high-school curriculum overhaul, but the legislation’s primary sponsor already is planning to seek the reversal of one provision.

Sen. Randall Gardner, a Republican from Bowling Green, said the provision, added late in the lame-duck session, would dramatically weaken physical education in Ohio’s high schools by changing gym-class requirements.

Gardner said the amendment offered by Rep. John Schlichter, allows school districts to excuse from gym class any students involved in sports, cheerleading or the marching band.

Gardner said that although the provision didn’t get much attention during last week’s floor debates, it prompted an intraparty dispute that slowed passage of the Ohio Core legislative package.

The curriculum plan, which Taft proposed in January in his final State of the State address, has been touted as a way to prepare young Ohioans for success in college. The legislation mandates tougher high school course work, including an additional year of math instruction and at least three lab-based science classes.

Students may opt out of the plan under certain conditions, at least initially, but doing so will make them ineligible to attend most of Ohio’s four-year public universities without first taking additional college-level courses.

"I didn’t want to hold up the bill for just this," Gardner said of the physical-education amendment. "But I do plan to try and change it in the next session."

Schlichter, of Washington Court House, defends the idea of letting student-athletes bypass traditional gym classes.

"To me, it’s just the right thing to do, to be able to allow kids to expand their course work when they have already done physical activity," said Schlichter.

Now, high-school students in Ohio must earn a half-credit in physical education to graduate.

Because of Schlichter’s amendment, the Ohio Core legislation on Taft’s desk gives school districts the option of maintaining that requirement or allowing students to receive the half-credit through participation, for a minimum of two seasons, in a designated extracurricular activity.

The change is likely to appeal to student-athletes, who will be able to graduate without taking a gym class.

"I think that since band is a period and a half long, we should have that count as a credit for gym," said Katie Lewis, a member of the color guard at Pickerington Central High School.

One of the school’s band teachers, Dan Joy, also likes the idea. Not having to take a gym class might enable students to concentrate on other subjects and perhaps take more math and science courses, he said.

"I think that is an excellent option for students," he said.

Not everyone at Pickerington Central, however, supports the change. Principal Chuck Kemper, a former coach and physical-education teacher, said he worries about the long-term ramifications for today’s young people.

"If we allow children to be excluded from physical education and these activities, later in life what are they going to do to be active? " Kemper asked.

I have to agree with Kemper. Gym class should be a daily class with an emphasis on lifetime sports and personal fitness. I'm partially in favor of exempting student-athletes from it, and heck, I'll even throw in the cheerleaders for programs that do lots of tumbling/pyramid/dance stuff. That sort of exercise is great for all-over fitness and flexibility, and despite the cheesiness of their performances and their instistence that cheerleading is a sport, it's hard work and they are definitely have the tools for keeping in shape.

On the other hand, many of these student-athletes could use instruction on health and fitness outside of their sport. Hence my reluctance to completely agree with this move.

However, the concept of exempting band members is the wrong path. At the risk of sounding elitist and steretyping band members, I think band members who are not athletes should not be exempt because they need the health and fitness instruction as much as anyone else in the school who is not an athlete.

It used to be that fitness and health were considered just as important in education as knowledge. Schools in the renaissance and even earlier are well-documented as finding such activities as fencing, wrestling, etc. just as important for developing a complete individual as their academic studies.

And with today's culture of video games, television and touchy-feely school administrators who don't wish to hurt anyone's feelings in school, kids aren't learning the benefits of being in shape and how to get that way. Obviously, I could go into how the pharmaceutical market loves this situation as they can market more drugs to people who don't know how to be healthy, but that's a topic for another time. Suffice to say that our legislators have an opportunity here to make a statement about the state of health in this State, but instead they're exempting kids from Phys Ed so they can make time for other pursuits. And my response: if these kids aren't healthy when they get out of school, what good are they going to be to anyone?

Casino Royale From A Bond Fan's Point Of View

Over the weekend, I was able to see a movie that I've wanted to see for some time: the newest entry in the James Bond series of films, Casino Royale.

It absolutely ruled.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD!

Daniel Craig has indeed deserved all the apologies I've seen from long-time Bond fans, critics, and pretty much everyone else, as his Bond is the closest to the gritty, egotistical, cold-eyed agent about whom Ian Fleming originally wrote. As I said to my wife when trying to describe the movie to her: it's like all the other Bond movies - lots of great stunts, action, intrigue, etc., and then you add in ACTING.

This is not to say that the other Bonds were bad actors (well, almost all of them), but I often got the feeling that they were simply foils to advance the plot of the movie and show off lots of stunts, etc. Craig, on the other hand, is an actor's actor. He's dissected the role of 007 and made it his own by making it Fleming's. The cheesy lines, when they were included (and that wasn't often), were delivered in a way that you know the character enjoyed saying it, instead of just saying them because it fit the pattern of a Bond movie. The ego was readily apparent, as was the loss of the ego when he found himself

The supporting cast was also excellent. I'll start with Judi Dench as M. It would be very easy for Dench to have simply gone into autopilot and put out a performance that was similar to the other movies - referring to Bond as a misogynisitc dinosaur, criticizing the playboy appeal, etc. But the good Dame did not do that at all. This was a different Bond, and she played to that new Bond extraordinarily well. She had whole new sets of problems with him, new sorts of respect for him, and a different relationship with him. He wasn't the golden boy of MI6, he was the newly promoted guy who was basically under probation. And he was sort of a pain in the ass to deal with. Dench pulled this off magnificently.

Eva Green was the perfect femme fatale for this new Bond. She was a strong personality, and it was clear that she didn't like Bond nor the mission because she didn't really understand either it or him. And she was clearly horrified by what he did for a living after the fight in the stairwell, but was also clearly attracted to him by his ability to realize that not everyone could deal with his work and lifestyle (as evidenced by the rather tender shower scene).

Mads Mikkelsen was perhaps the most believable Bond villain we've ever had (though Sean Bean's Alec Trevelyan in GoldenEye is a close second if not equal). For almost the first time, the villain wasn't just some rich guy with a weird tic of some kind. We actually understood where he was coming from, as the terrorist's banker who lost his clients' money with an "investment" gone wrong. And he was under serious pressure to get the money back before his clients found out about the situation. If he hadn't been such a schmuck, you could almost feel bad for him.

The action scenes made sense, instead of being done just to be visually stimulating. The fight scenes showed the real desperation of men locked in combat instead of being a cheesy way to show Bond's superiority over a bunch of guys foolish enough to try to attack him. And the editing was great too - they truly showed the awful-ness of two men fighting to the death - no silling karate chops a la Roger Moore or the famous two handed Captain Kirk punches. Daniel Craig has obviously been working hard on his fighting skills to make this look so realistic, and it paid off.

And another thing about the action scenes that was pointed out to me on my newest favorite podcast, Being James Bond: they weren't just a music video. The music, if any, was very incidental and let the action happen. In the past it's seemed like McG was the director for all the action sequences, and this one was the most realistic-seeming that I could imagine.

Now, as a Bond fan, I've read all the Bond work that Fleming has put out. Casino Royale was the first Bond novel written and therefore the first one I ever read (as I like to read all my works by an author in order). And it was the perfect book to start over with for that reason. But I wasn't prepared for just how much the movie was going to adhere to the plot. You can't say it was dead on, because it wasn't. The original was based during the Cold War and therefore was very much a NATO vs. USSR conflict, with Le Chiffre being the SMERSH banker. In this, he's more or less a private contractor who bankrolls terror organizations. But that's where the differences end, for all intents and purposes.

As anyone who's ever gone with me to a movie adapted from a book I like knows, I'm a stickler for being faithful. Now that's not to say that the stories have to follow the work exactly and to the letter, but they have to capture the spirit of the book and follow the same basic plot. The Batman movies frustrated me to no end, until the release of Batman Begins. That was an absolute masterpiece. And this was the same: I walked out thinking "Oh my stars and garters - they finally got it right." I was completely satisfied with the movie with one exception - it wasn't long enough and it's too long to wait for the next one. I got home that night and was disappointed that Amazon.com didn't have a link to pre-order the DVD yet.

I can sort of understand why Bond movie fans might have been disappointed with parts of this movie. Craig does not play the same cheesy super-agent guy that Moore and Brosnan played. In fact, his portrayal of Bond is closest to that of Timothy Dalton, in regards to the seriousness with which the actors play the role. And they didn't make use of Q, the gadgets, boat chases, spaceships, Jaws, and ladies who couldn't help but undress Bond with their eyes every time they saw him. And in all honesty, I sat there expecting it and was surprised by those scenes not being there. An example of this was when Bond first walks into the Ocean Club and talks to the lady at the desk. That was exactly the spot in a Moore movie when the undersexed hotel worker would check him out from top to bottom and suggestively respond to his request, followed by a smirk and polite rejoinder by Moore. We didn't get that in Casino Royale.

As I just mentioned, Craig's Bond is most like Timothy Dalton's Bond, IMHO. But the Dalton movies suffered from not trying to be realistic enough with the rest of the movie. Casino Royale never has that problem. They have re-started this series on the right foot, in my opinion, and I can't wait for more.

Conflict of Interest? ESPN Doesn't Care

In its latest mess-up among many, ESPN has decided that just reporting slanted sports news and broadcasting events isn't enough for them. Now they've actually become a part owner of the Arena Football League. Get ready to see all sorts of this crap sport on ESPN now, taking away from good sports like soccer.

As usual, ESPN's ethics are in the toilet. Unbiased journalism be damned.

They Don't Make 'Em Like They Used To

I was at Subway today, wearing a windbreaker that I got from one of the charities I support. It was the first time wearing it. I went to pull it off, and just about pulled the hood right off the thing.

That hole you see in the hood in the picture? Well, that's not supposed to be there.

Perhaps It's Time For Jamie To Shut Up At Crew Games

Auto-Centrism

This morning I had to take a different route to work because I was dropping off a rental car at the Budget place. So I put the bike and my work stuff in the back, dropped it off, and rode to work. And I discovered something that I already knew, but illustrated in a way that I hadn't considered before.

My bike is not heavy enough to set off those pressure plates under the road that control the traffic lights. I sat through two iterations of the light at the corner of Lane and Fyffe/Fred Taylor on tOSU's campus before this occurred to me. I was trying to turn left and no one else was, so I finally had to wait for an open spot and fly through. My attempts to be a considerate cyclist and follow the rules of the road were waylayed by the auto-centric roads.

Most of the time that hasn't been an issue, as there have been plenty of cars to trigger the lights via their gas-guzzling weight, but not today. And that strikes me as pathetic and anti-pedestrian/cycling.

Bicycle Lunch Issues

Today I biked about a mile and a half away for lunch (to Chipotle. Those of you who know me personally know that this is not odd in any way). I really liked getting out of the office and getting some exercise over lunch, and getting over to Kingsdale Shopping Center wasn't really that big of a deal.

My only issue was with the guy who decided he needed to honk at me because he got stuck behind me when there was traffic in the lane next to ours.

I just take it as jealousy:

1. Because I was on a bike and he was in a car.
   
2. Because I didn't care that I was holding up traffic and he did.
   
3. Because I wasn't contributing to global warming and he was.
   

The impatience of people absolutely amazes me. I probably held him up for a whole ten seconds while I tried to shift lanes (naturally, the people in the lane next to us weren't exactly helpful).

But all this comes back to a problem in the city of Columbus of which Paul Dorn reminded me in his blog about San Francisco's traffic in the days before the 1906 earthquake: automobiles don't see their presence on the road as a privilege, but rather as a right. And that simply isn't the case. It's a privilege that you get because you fulfilled all the steps for getting a driver's license and you've not broken the traffic laws to the extent that you've had it taken away. Being a pedestrian or a cyclist is a right. There's no license necessary for a cyclist or a pedestrian.

Motorists need to get that through their heads.

Final Brady Quinn Commentary

The gentlemen at the Blue-Gray Sky blog have put together the most absolutely complete and concise look at the travesty that was the media's treatment of Brady Quinn this season.

My only comments: is Troy Smith a good player? Yes. Is Brady Quinn a better player? Yes. He did more against a tougher schedule (complain all you want about ND's playing the three service academies, one of whom went 9-3. ND's strength of schedule was 19th in the country versus tOSU's 40th) and with fewer quality supporting players.

ESPN and the rest should be absolutely ashamed of themselves for their anti-Notre Dame bias. If Katie Couric or Brian Williams showed this much enmity for Israel or France in the news, they'd be roundly lambasted and forced to make public apologies, if not openly fired. But in sports, it seems to be perfectly acceptable to hate on one team and focus the opinions of the sports world against them.

U.S. Soccer Legend Lamar Hunt Dies

Wow... talk about coming out of the blue. I heard about this today when I was reading my ESPN email newsletter and was totally taken aback. Lamar Hunt, for those of you who don't know, isn't just the founder of the AFL and the Super Bowl, he's also one of the biggest proponents of soccer in the US. He was an owner of a team in the old NASL, and of course he was the owner (at one time or another) of the Columbus Crew, the Dallas Burn, and the Kansas City Wizards of MLS.

He died of prostate cancer after a long fight. May he rest in peace.

A Different Christmas Poem

You may have seen this before, but I think it's important not to forget. No matter what you think about this war we're in, the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines who are out there fighting it need our support.

---

A Different Christmas Poem

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.

My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.
The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.

My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts...
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."

"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at 'Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.

Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother...

Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."
"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

PLEASE, Would you do me the kind favor of sending this to as many people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to our U.S servicemen and women for our being able to celebrate these festivities. Let s try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us.

LCDR Jeff Giles, SC, USN
30th Naval Construction Regiment
OIC, Logistics Cell One
Al Taqqadum, Iraq

A Great Idea

I'm sure that, like me, you see a lot of Hummers driving around. I have a great idea about how to get their drivers' goats for wasting our gas, clogging our roads and parking spaces, and basically just being selfish.

I've posted this cartoon before, but I suggest that everyone print this off, copy it a whole bunch of times, and put it on every Hummer you can see!

Urine-strumental in Efforts to Save Fuel

According to this news flash, Chinese Southern Airlines is requesting that its passengers relieve themselves before getting onto their flights in an attempt to save fuel. More at the link.

Frankly, I think this is great. China isn't nearly as hung up on such things as publicly discussing bodily functions as we are and such measures, while seeming a bit odd to us, can truly help.

But that doesn't stop me from posting this picture.

Lessons Of Vietnam

Keith Olbermann does it again, this time speaking candidly about the lessons that the Vietnam War should have impressed on our president. Instead Bush ignores them and continues to insist that "we only lose if we leave."



Also, here are some great comments on Olbermann from the Nation (reprinted by Alternet) that compare him to - who else? - Edward R. Murrow. Where have I heard that before?

Quinn Wins Award For Nation's Best Player

It's not the Heisman, but it rewards the same thing: best college football player in the country. It's the Maxwell Award, given by the Maxwell Football Club in honor of Robert W. (Tiny) Maxwell, legendary college player, official and sports columnist. And this year it went to top quarterback Brady Quinn, of Notre Dame.

Interestingly enough, last year the awards were split between Texas's Vince Young winning the Maxwell and USC player (of questionable status) Reggie Bush winning the Heisman. And this year, with OSU's Troy Smith (also of questionable status) being the front-runner for the Heisman, the awards may be split again.

Seems the Maxwell award has more scruples than the Heisman, given the fact that this year's probable winner of the latter and last year's winner both were/are under investigation for breaking NCAA rules for taking money.

Coldest. Ride. Ever.

Okay, today was tough. The issue with the balaclava not protecting the top of my head well was still an issue, and so were the cold hands. But I still persevered and rode in to work today.

A note that only you guys may get: boxers don't work too well for a bike ride. I'm gonna have to get more boxer briefs, I think. Enough said on that. It'll be warmer, too.

Some other stuff I'm going to need includes some wind/rain pants. Until I get going, the legs get a bit cold. And even when I am going (and I generally wear fleece-lined pants in the winter) it's not quite as toasty as I'd like.

But I still got to work feeling great, so it's not like I'm going to give up the bike any time soon.

Buckeyes Football Fails In the Most Important Category

A very interesting article in the Boston Globe calls attention to some interesting statistics in the graduation of football players: the gap between the graduation rates of white and black players. Notre Dame is in the top bracket of this category, as expected, and other notable academic schools such as Navy, Rice, and Boston College rank highly here as well. But Ohio State ranks dead last with a black graduation rate of only 32 percent coupled with a white graduation rate of 85 percent. That's a difference of 53 percent.

The arguments will be made that lots of players leave college early to play in the pro ranks, and also that the universities can't be held accountable for the actions of their players. I'll agree with the first one with some caveats, and totally dismiss the second.

First: yes, it does make sense for many players to leave college early to play professional ball. The risk of getting injured in college ball and not getting that big paycheck in the NFL is one that is a calculated risk for many players. And to go back and get a degree later, after the paycheck is in the bank, so to speak, is a better option.

However - and this leads into my next point - I sincerely doubt that too many guys are taking that option and actually getting their degree after leaving early. That's where the real problem is: young men who see college simply as a way to get into the NFL. Granted, many coaches are able to recruit fairly well with promises that they'll have a better shot at the NFL is they come to X school. ND's Charlie Weis may be the best example of this. But the point of college athletics is for students who might not be able to pay for college to get a shot at higher education by cashing in on their athletic skills, and Notre Dame does not fail at this, based on the percentages in this article. The idea, of course, is that a player who has the drive to excel at athletics can develop the same drive to get a degree.

Obviously, that's not what the situation is in the country now, and I'm under no delusions that this is the case. However, the role of the NCAA should be to try to MAKE that the situation in any way possible. Let's face it: pro sports can't continue on the path they are on - perpetually increasing salaries leading to increased ticket prices are simply putting pro sports out of the realm of possibility for too many in this country. It's going to fall apart at some point. And the need for athletes to have an education is going to be more important than ever.

So shame on you, Ohio State, Georgia, LSU, and you others who are failing your players by not working with them more in regards to graduation. You are cashing in on your players and not giving them the very basics that an institution of learning should be providing.

First Snow Bike

Just as Jenn was leaving for work this morning with Duncan it was starting to snow, and by the time I was ready to go there was a fair bit on the ground. And, more importantly, on the road. So my first bike ride in the snow was today. Luckily my balaclava from REI arrived last night so warmth on the face wasn't a problem. Three things stood out:

1. My bike gets better traction on snow than I thought it might. Those big knobby tires do the trick pretty well. The only slippery times I had were instances where it would have been slippery whether I was on foot or in my car. And I just put my feet down and slid along on four points instead of two. Not that big a deal (though it surprised the hell out of me the one time I had to deal with it.

2. The balaclava did the trick for keeping my face warm nicely. Strangely enough, though, the top of my head was a bit cold. I may have to find some sort of helmet cover for the winter so that less air gets through it (as it's built for maxiumum air running through your hair, since most people don't bike much in the cold.

3. The hands are still cold. I'm going to have to find some real biking mittens or something.

All in all, though, I enjoyed the experience. I took it a bit slowly, but not too slow, I thought. And the looks on people's faces were great, as usual. :)

Quinn Awarded "Best Quarterback" Prize

Brady Quinn received the Johnny Unitas Award for best senior quarterback in the nation for 2006, from the Johnny Unitas Educational Foundation.

So that means he's the best quarterback in college football today, right? And... there's some other guy who took money from a booster... and is currently in the running for the Heisman Trophy... and he's also a quarterback... but apparently not as good a quarterback as Brady Quinn...

So, this clinches it: there's really no reason Brady Quinn shouldn't be winning the Heisman this season.

Pharmaceuticals Can Help You Live Your Life

Try this product to feel better about yourself.



Okay, so I know it's a joke. But here's a thought: how many of those feel-good drugs have side effects worse than this one? And how many of them work as quickly as this one?

"You Gotta Be One Of The Good Guys....

...because there's way too many of the bad." - John Custer, Preacher

I may have to start getting HBO... one of the absolute best pieces of writing in the past twenty years is having a series made about it for HBO: Garth Ennis's Preacher.

"Now hold on, Jamie," I can imagine you saying. "Isn't that just some comic book?" Boy, if that's your attitude, you obviously haven't read anything from the Vertigo line of titles by DC Comics. Vertigo is the adult-oriented line of books with mature themes and adult stories (and not adult in the same way as you see adult bookstores along the highway with trucks pulled up next to them at odd hours). These books are serious literature, and Preacher rises above even those.

It's the story of Jesse Custer, a fallen preacher who has just quit his job when he is suddenly enveloped by Genesis, the offspring of an angel and a demon, and suddenly gains the power of suggestion. But the book isn't just a superhero story, rather it's the story of a modern Texan gentleman experiencing the hypocrisy of the world head-on and dealing with it in a way that he sees as honorable and just. It's got great characters coming out of the woodwork: Tulip, the drop-dead gorgeous tomboy who just happens to be a dead-eye with a pistol and has an attitude to match; Cassidy, the Irish Vampire who'd rather swill Guinness and eat bangers and mash than do the Anne Rice thing; Arseface... who I can't even describe. You just have to see him.

The series ran for 70 issues and ended with a big bang, and along the way Jesse and the gang saw the good and bad in just about everything. It's a serious commentary on hypocrisy and humanity that I can read over and over. And I'm very heartened by reading this particular news on the link I've provided:

"I gave [HBO] the comics, and I said, 'Every issue is an hour,'" [Director Mark Steven] Johnson said at a preview of his upcoming film Ghost Rider in Hollywood, Calif., on Nov. 30. "And it's exactly the book. ... I had my meeting yesterday, and [Preacher creator] Garth Ennis is on the phone, and we're all in the room, and Garth is like, 'You don't have to be so beholden to the comic.' And I'm like, 'No, no, no. It's got to be like the comic.' So that's what's so brilliant about it. It's just like, HBO, who else would do it but them? Nobody. ... HBO is just like, 'Bring it on.'"

Comic book fans so rarely hear stuff like this - you get things like Batman's parents being killed by the Joker, or that horrible Fantastic Four movie that fortunately never made it to release (not the recent one, thank goodness). So when someone loves a work you love as much as this and wants to make it even bigger... oh yeah. Gotta start looking at how much HBO costs.

More Than Just Face Chap

In my first big discovery with the biking to work thing (which I've had plenty of time to practice this weekend, unfortunately) is that I am going to need something to cover my headphones on my telephone (Motorola SLVR, so it has iTunes) while I'm listening to podcasts on the way to work. All the wind rushing past them is making it impossible to hear anything! Also, the ears are getting frostbit.

I've ordered a balaclava to try to alleviate the problem... we'll see how it does (BTW - if you're looking at getting me bike stuff for Christmas.... don't get me a balaclava now).

Bike Commuter Guy

Yeah, that's me. I'm bike commuter guy now. Since I got a lock for my new bike (thanks Jenn, Mom and Dad!) I've been doing the bike commuting thing. First it was to our old office down on West Campus at OSU (The Martha Moorhouse Medical Plaza, for those of you keeping track at home), which allowed me to take the Olentangy bike trail for the major portion of it. I LOVED that route - it allowed me to stay out of traffic and enjoy the wetlands and river while I was riding to and from work.

Now, my office has moved to 650 Ackerman - which is even closer to my house (by a mile or so - nothing in Columbus is too far away, of course). Takes me about ten minutes to get to work, and on the way to work it's almost all downhill so I don't have to worry about being too sweaty when I get to the office. I have to deal with a little more traffic, but for the most part cars don't give me any problem. Either they're too nervous around a cyclist to get near me, or they appreciate my efforts and give me room (I think it's probably the former). Luckily I'm a pretty big guy and sort of hard to miss on the road...

The only tricky part has been weather. The days when it's not wet out there are no problems - just dress in a couple layers and I'm good to go. But on wet days... there's another issue. I have a full rainsuit that I wear (it's yellow, which is good for visibility), but the water runs down the legs of it and into my shoes. So I probably need to either bring dry socks and shoes and wear other shoes while on my commute, or get some gaiters of some kind to let the water run past the openings of my shoes. I've been looking around a bit to see how other folks work around this problem. There are a few websites out there for bike commuting and I've been slowly checking them out as I have time.

The other tricky thing, I think, is going to be the cold. I'm not a person who gets real cold in winter, but I'm probably going to need some sort of balaclava to wear on the bike so I don't get face chap. Plus I'll look like Snake Eyes from GI Joe while I'm riding. Sweet. I just need to carry my sword on my back to complete the image. And perhaps not wear it with a bright yellow rainsuit. :)

Thoughts On The Wiggles

You may have heard at this point that Greg Page of the Australian group The Wiggles is leaving the group due to health reasons. You may have NO CLUE who Greg Page, also known as Greg Wiggle or the Yellow Wiggle, is. Normally, I'd be right along with you.

However... my two-year old boy Duncan LOVES the Wiggles. He's learned lots of words from their fine television shows and lots of neat dances and songs, too. Sure, it gets a bit repetitive, but that's how kids learn. And the Wiggles, three of whom have degrees in Childhood Development, understand that.

Greg started feeling the effects of his condition during one of the many tours the group does. The condition, Orthostatic Intolerance, which is a lowering of blood pressure when he is standing, resulting in fainting spells, fatigue, and other similar symptoms, made it impossible for him to continue in the high energy shows that he and his fellow performers put on. We took Duncan to see one of the shows when they came to Columbus in August, and he loved every minute of it. It's not easy to keep the attention of a less-than-two-year-old, but they did it. Duncan was dancing, staring at the stage, singing along, and enjoying the whole experience. Little did we know we were catching one of Greg's last performances ever.

It's weird for me to be feeling loss at such an event. Usually I push aside stories about celebrities as just gossip and stuff that doesn't really affect anyone. With this story, I'm not sure if it's going to affect Duncan or not. He's young enough that he probably won't notice until later in life. But I'll notice. And I will always give a tip of the hat to the man who helped my child experience so much fun and happiness through his gift of entertainment.

Thanks, Greg. My hat is off to you.

ExxonMobil Continues To Push Against Climate Change Education

Here's a Washington Post article that talks about how the production company that put out An Inconvenient Truth, the movie about the science of global warming and how it's affecting us and will affect us in the future, wanted to give 50,000 DVDs of the movie to the National Science Teachers Association. Apparently the NSTA was afraid of accepting a video that went against the so called science of one of their donors. Yeah, you guessed it: ExxonMobil.

Read and weep.

Stella Artois - The Official Beer Of Steampunk

A seriously cool website with some great games and great graphics... and it's all about beer, too. What more could you want?

Well, for starters, that beer at the end could be real...

To Everyone Who Says "I Can't Do That"...

Prepare to be amazed and possibly shamed a bit...

Phoenix Motorcars Truck Discussed

Pheonix Motorcars has produced a vehicle that can be recharged from an outlet (a dryer outlet, but that's no big deal), can go 100 miles on a charge, and has all sorts of capacity. Check out the video below, as presented by actor Ed Begley, Jr.:



A lot of folks talk about how electric cars aren't solving anything by pulling their energy directly from the grid, but Bagley hits on the answer to this in the video - he has solar panels which recharge his car. Ergo, this car is completely off the grid and produces no dangerous pollution.

This concept agrees with something I and many others in the environmental movement have said all along: unlike now, when we're totally reliant on oil for so much of our power; the future will need to see us using many diverse forms of energy for our power needs. Naysayers frequently look at an answer such as solar or biofuels, etc., and like to talk about how those solutions can't be the answer because they won't have the capacity for the whole country. The idea of mixing the various systems never seems to occur to them.

It All Comes Down To Recruiting

Even two years after his dismissal, the legacy of Ty Willingham is biting Notre Dame in the ass. To look at the box score for the Notre Dame game, you'd think it was close, or even an ND win. ND had better passing, more plays, and pretty much equal number on the other basic stats of the game.

But when you look at what was actually done with those plays... damn. The USC guys were, by and large and nearly across the board, better athletes. And it showed. Quinn didn't have any INTs, but he had lots of passes batted down simply because their defensive backs got to the play faster. The depth of that team is frightening. And in a lot of ways, it reminded me of the other two games we've lost in the last calendar year: OSU and U of M. The scheme wasn't necessarily better, just the athletes were.

And that all boils down to one thing: recruiting. Ty couldn't recruit an eskimo to a whale blubber factory sale. Weis is picking things up, but as it stands now, we may have another tough year next year as well, as our Offensive line graduates four starters (thank god for Sam Young). Quinn, Samardzjia, McKnight, Landri, Laws, and Abiamiri all graduate, and waiting in the wings is... well, Jimmy Claussen, but as with any freshman we'll see what he can do. I doubt he'll start next year, we're more likely to see Evan Sharpley start at least the first part of the season.

Methinks this spring I'm going to have to try to convince the wife that a trip to the Bend for the Blue-Gold game just so we can assess the situation for ourselves.

Grass Apparently A Concern At Southern Cal

And no, not in the way you're probably thinking (for a change, anyway).

Though I can't find a link for the quote, according to some posters at NDNation.com, Sneaky Pete Carroll is still complaining about the length of the grass at Notre Dame Stadium last year for the USC/ND game. Apparently he was commenting on it at his football luncheon last Friday, though he may have been joking around.

The USC band practicing in the Coliseum for this weekend's big clash.

RIP: Bo Schembechler

A sad day for U of M fans - legendary coach Bo Schembechler passed away today at the age of 77.

The article gives his history, but I would obviously like to make a few comments.

I never liked Bo, but I respected him. He ran a clean, quality program at Michigan and gave a good name to college football in this country. He led the nation's winningest program for twenty-one years and was always a great opponent for the Irish. And he always remembered that college football's real wins came after graduation in the character and intelligence of the former players.

Bo, you will be missed. Hopefully your boys from Ann Arbor will be able to give you a proper send-off by crushing the Buckeyes tomorrow.

This is Notre Dame

Apparently this is the video that is showing 24/7 at the Eck Visitors Center at ND. If you are wondering what Notre Dame is all about, or the feeling you get when you're there... this is it. Hands down.

Automakers Try To Hide The Truth About Their Failure

Interesting article in the news today (I have an LA Times link, only because it's the first one I've come across among the many).

The nation's Big Three automakers have apparently gone to President Bush with complaints that the Asian Automakers are keeping their currencies artificially low in order to keep their prices low. President Bush apparently wouldn't make any promises, particularly since he's headed to Asia for an economic conference.

Apparently what the Big Three don't quite get is that the reason they're failing is that they have failed to keep up with what people really want in their cars: fuel efficiency. Gone are the days when oversized SUVs ruled the road. Now those road hogs are also seen as gas hogs, and people are rejecting these behemoths in favor of more fuel efficient compact cars, and especially hybrids.

And now, in this environment where capitalism is supposedly doing such wonders for our economy, we see some of the top employers asking the government for a handout.

Wake up, Big Three - the reason you are losing money is that you aren't providing the cars people want and you're trying to blame it on unfair trade practices. Wake up, change, and make cars people want. You can run all the truck ads you want and try to make SUVs look hip, but if it isn't cheap at the pump, people won't buy them.

More Support for Brady Quinn for Heisman

Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post makes a strong case for Brady Quinn and the Heisman Trophy. It's a good point of view on things and even takes on Heisman voting in general for the past few years.

Also, I read the Heisman prediction article at ESPN and once again, the spin-meisters in Tolland have skewed the wording of Troy Smith's and Quinn's accomplishments this season in a fashion that has been typical for this season:

1. Troy Smith, QB, Ohio State
Troy Smith had his worst showing of the season in a near miss versus Illinois two weeks ago, but he recovered nicely with a four-touchdown outing in the Buckeyes' drubbing of Northwestern on Saturday. Some argue against Smith because Ohio State's schedule wasn't overly difficult and because Smith's numbers are short of exceptional. I completely disagree. Smith has transformed his game from a run-first quarterback to a patient pocket passer with pinpoint accuracy as a senior. He has shown tremendous poise and leadership in tough road trips to Austin, Texas, and -- at the time -- Iowa City, Iowa, and the statistic that outweighs all others is his ridiculously impressive touchdown-to-interception ratio of 26-to-4. If he leads the Buckeyes to a perfect regular-season record with a win over an undefeated Wolverines team Saturday, Smith should be the runaway winner.

So... basically what they're saying here is that Smith should get the Heisman... because he's better this year than he was last year? And his "ridiculously impressive touchdown-to-interception ratio of 26-to-4" is somehow better than Quinn's ratio of 29-4?

Like I've said in previous posts, there are precisely two games you need to consider when comparing Smith and Quinn, the two opponents that they have in common: Penn State and Michigan State.

2. Brady Quinn, QB, Notre Dame
As expected, Quinn continues to put up big numbers versus marginal competition. Since the embarrassing home loss to Michigan in the third week of the season, Quinn has thrown 23 touchdown passes, compared with just one interception. Although the Michigan loss left an indelible stain and his numbers since then admittedly are inflated, Quinn does have some memorable Heisman-like moments so far this season, including comebacks versus Georgia Tech, Michigan State and UCLA. If Smith and the Buckeyes come up short against the Wolverines on Saturday, Quinn will have a golden opportunity to swing the vote his way one week later when the Irish travel to the Coliseum to take on the Trojans.

Once again they talk about how Quinn's numbers have all come against "marginal competition," where Ohio State's schedule has been so tough? Two MAC teams, a low-lying Big East team, and the pansies of the Big Integer.

"But Texas was #2 when Smith played them!" True. And Michigan State was undefeated when Notre Dame played them. In fact, the first FIVE teams Notre Dame played were undefeated when they faced the Irish.

The fact remains - Quinn has done more with less all season. Notre Dame is still dragging itself out of the recruiting quagmire that was left it after the horrible Davie/Willingham years. Weis is playing Willigham's recruits right now. His offensive line is fair at best. He's dealing with a defense that consistently gives up big plays and has needlessly kept games close.

Yet his numbers tower over Smith's.

No matter what the outcome of next weekend's Michigan/tOSU tilt, Quinn has proven himself in clutch situations time and time again. OSU hasn't faced a clutch situation all season.

Smack Laid Down on Ohio Right Wing Nutcase

This is possibly the BEST message that sent all night, too: Ken Blackwell, the man who won the 2004 election for Bush with his voter intimidation and coercion tactics, and who was courting the right wing zealot fringe of Ohio's population, was smacked down HARD. Looks to me like the sound-minded people of Ohio came to the polls in record numbers to keep this guy out of office.

Good for you, Ohio.

And the First Sacrificial Lamb Is Laid on the Big Blue Pyre

Aside from being REALLY PROUD of that headline I put on this entry... I find it interesting that Rummy is gone already. Was this an attempt by Bush to take some thunder away from the Dems by doing this without being asked?

Oh well... we all know why he really did it. TO SUCK UP.

Good riddance, you incompetent nitwit.

Election Results: BOO-YAH!

It's sort of a weird feeling: I have been so down on anything the government (either federal or state) has done lately that I hear "Today, in Washington" on the news and I automatically cringe. But in the wake of the sound electoral beating about the head and neck that the Democrats just laid on the Republicans, I actually feel something now that I haven't felt in years.

Hope.

• I've watched as the big money has influenced the government to lie about the realities of global climate change and to cease enforcement of envivronmental laws that have given our country clean air and water.


• I've watched as big oil businesses have coerced our country into putting more of our country's hard-earned tax dollars into getting them rich while abandoning attempts to find other sources of energy that would be cleaner and give us real energy independence.


• I've watched as religious zealots have attacked our country's freedoms, both from inside our borders and outside.


• I've watched as our president told bold-faced lies about another country to the United Nations and us in order to get us to declare war on them, then watched as he let big businesses use our troops as muscle while they set up shop to make money off that poor country.


• I've watched as our status as a greatly respected nation in the world has dwindled to that of a third rate banana republic.


• I've watched as our president has attempted to take benefits away from the veterans of the very war he started.


• I've watched as state officials have tried to devalue our democracy by pushing through attempts at voter suppression and coercion.


• I've watched as our president tried to take away the money we've so honestly put into the Social Security Administration and give it to Wall Street.

But now, we have hope. I was listening to the comments of Senator-Elect Sherrod Brown of Ohio today, and he gave us a message of hope - that real economic relief, smart spending, balanced budgets, real environmental enforcement, and a timetable for ending the Iraq War are all coming.

Today, I feel good. We'll see what tomorrow brings, but for today I'm happy with the world.

Brady Quinn For Heisman

Here's a great list of articles that talk about the reasons Brady Quinn should win the Heisman.

Trust me - there are plenty.

Brady Quinn vs. Troy Smith

Heisman Shenanigans

The Best Argument For Quinn

Same Old Demons - New York Times

This is an excellent article by David Brooks of the New York Times. It talks about the situation in Iraq (in regard to the total chaos into which it is falling) and why that is. Read the op-ed piece, but the jist of the article is that the reason Iraq is failing is because Iraq, as a nation, doesn't really exist in the minds of the so-called "Iraqis."

Before the British takeover of the area known as Iraq, it was a simple group of small tribes that constantly fought with each other for the resources available. After the British created the state of Iraq, they figured that simply having a constitution and a government would be enough for them. Well, that wasn't the case.

So what you have is a boundary encasing several warring tribes (not even just the Kurds, Shia, and Sunnis, but smaller factions beyond those) that have been trying to use the government to "get over" on each other for centuries. Even the government of Saddam Hussein was one tribe getting power of the main resource of the state - oil - and forcing their will on everyone else. And now we're trying to do what the British tried and failed.

Again, the Bush Administration fails to understand history and has gotten us involved in a situation we can't win. The Iraqis simply don't have the same motivations as we do.

Intelligence Test

Got this joke in my email at work today:

George W. Bush meets with the Queen of England. He asks her, "Your Majesty, how do you run such an efficient government? Are there any tips you can give to me?"

"Well," says the Queen, "the most important thing is to surround yourself with intelligent people."

Bush frowns. "But how do I know the people around me are really intelligent?"

The Queen takes a sip of tea. "Oh, that's easy. You just ask them to answer an intelligence riddle."

The Queen pushes a button on her intercom. "Please send Tony Blair in here, would you?"

Tony Blair walks into the room. "Yes, Your Majesty?"

The Queen smiles. "Answer me this, please, Tony. Your mother and father have a child. It is not your brother and it is not your sister. Who is it?"

Without pausing for a moment, Tony Blair answers, "That would be me."

"Yes! Very good," says the Queen.

Back at the White House, Bush asks to speak with vice president Dick Cheney.

"Dick, answer this for me. Your mother and your father have a child. It's not your brother and it's not your sister. Who is it?"

"I'm not sure," says the vice president. "Let me get back to you on that one."

Dick Cheney goes to his advisors and asks every one, but none can give him an answer. Finally, he ends up in the men's room and recognizes Colin Powell's shoes in the next stall.

Dick shouts, "Colin! Can you answer this for me? Your mother and father have a child and it's not your brother or your sister. Who is it?"

Colin Powell yells back, "That's easy. It's me!"

Dick Cheney smiles. "Thanks!"

Cheney goes back to the Oval Office to speak with Bush. "Say, I did some research and I have the answer to that riddle. It's Colin Powell."

Bush gets up, stomps over to Dick Cheney, and angrily yells into his face, "No, you idiot! It's Tony Blair!"

Things That Make Jamie Lean Away From Gun Control

If OSU beats Michigan this year, I'm buying a shotgun.

And this is meant as no offense to any of my friends who are OSU fans, I know you guys wouldn't be caught dead in situations like what this video is showing. But there's a reason that my brother's father-in-law once said he'd never come back for a game in Columbus, and my cousin will not come here at all (despite being the biggest Michigan fan I've ever personally encountered).

Smith is Gone For Spartans

From an article by the AP:

Michigan State coach won’t return next season
Associated Press
Wednesday, November 1, 2006 2:15 PM

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- John L. Smith will not return next year as Michigan State's football coach, but will complete the rest of this season, with the Spartans struggling again in the Big Ten.

Smith is in the fourth year of a six-year contract that pays him about $1.5 million annually. Michigan State said it will honor the last two years of Smith's contract.

“The performance on the field has not lived up to what we hoped it would be,” athletic director Ron Mason said during a news conference Wednesday. “It comes time to make a change, and that's where we're at.”

The Spartans (4-5) are coming off a 46-21 loss at Indiana and are 1-4 in the Big Ten.

Smith has been under pressure at Michigan State. School officials gave him a vote of confidence after last season's losing campaign, but were looking for better results in 2006.

A message seeking comment was left with Smith.

“This is a man who cares deeply about his players. He is a consummate professional,” school President Lou Anna Simon said.

Mason and Simon said they reached the decision on Tuesday to make a change. Mason met with Smith on Wednesday, and the coach agreed to stay on the rest of the season.

Smith was expected to meet with the players before Wednesday afternoon's practice.

Mason and Simon will lead the search for a new coach. Part of the reason behind the timing of the announcement is so Michigan State can search for a new coach with transparency, they said.

Smith has compiled a 22-23 record in four seasons at Michigan State. He led the Spartans to the Alamo Bowl in his first season, but the team did not qualify for a bowl in 2004 or 2005.

His record in the Big Ten has worsened since 2003, when the team was 5-3 and tied for fourth. The Spartans were 4-4 in 2004 and 2-6 in 2005.

The decision comes nearly four years to the day after Michigan State fired Bobby Williams with three games left in a season that was disappointing on and off the field.

Smith has a 132-83 career record in 18 seasons as a college head coach.

He was hired at Michigan State after having solid success at Louisville, where he compiled a 41-21 record and made five consecutive bowl trips from 1998-2002.

Smith, who also coached at Utah State and Idaho, took over a Michigan State program that has been inconsistent and relatively mediocre since the late 1960s. The program last went to the Rose Bowl after the 1987 season and hasn't won a share of the Big Ten title since finishing in a four-way tie in 1990.

This season's Spartans started with three straight wins and led Notre Dame by 16 points in the fourth quarter. But Michigan State squandered the lead, lost 40-37, and hasn't been the same since.

The Spartans mounted an NCAA-record comeback to beat Northwestern, but also lost to lowly Illinois and Indiana. Injuries and lack of depth have hurt the program.

This article, though factually accurate, completely misses an important point. The Spartans under Smith have turned into the Miami Hurricanes of the Big "We Can't Count." From the fight against Notre Dame, to the fight against Illinois, to the crumbling mess that is their football program, this guy has been nothing but negative.

Michigan State needed to do this from the standpoint of cleaning up their program and injecting some class into it.

Heisman Talk

I'm sure it's no secret that I think Brady Quinn should be leading the Heisman race right now. If you click on my Heisman Label at the bottom of this post, you'll see a couple of posts that go further with this. But here's a little op-ed from some of the writers at ND Nation about the Troy Smith vs. Brady Quinn choice:

Brady Quinn is having a hell of a year. It's not his fault we started off with Georgia Tech, Penn State and Michigan. Hell, Troy Smith had his worst game of the year against Penn State and Brady Quinn rolled the Lions. If Quinn were on Ohio State, who do you think would start? In their two games against like opponents Quinn has dominated and that's with no running game and a crappy offensive line. Quinn has been sacked 21 times this year. Smith? 8. Ohio State's running game is 15th in the country. I can't count how far down Notre Dame's running is. Defenses? Uh. Let's not go there. Brady Quinn has done it on his own with a constant rush in his face. The Heisman doesn't go to the best team, it goes to the most outstanding player. Any idiot who says that Ohio State winning out locks up the Heisman doesn't understand the award. If Quinn were on OSU, they'd still be undefeated. If Smith were on ND, we might have two more losses.

The key thing here is the point that the Heisman goes to the best player period, not the best player on the best team. Doesn't matter what the record of that team is. Hell, Paul Hornung won the Heisman back in 1956 despite having a 2-8 season.

Sportswriters of today need to rethink their hype machine and actually report facts. Sure, Troy Smith's having a great season. But he hasn't been THE DIFFERENCE in any of those games. Quinn most certainly has.

My Best Halloween Costume Was...

Following my wife's lead on this one:

As a kid, I had a great number of fantastic costumes. My folks liked to help me put together good costumes. I suppose the best one I had was when I was a Gaul (a la Asterix the Gaul) - with a horned helmet, breastplate, round shield, sword, furry tunic, the whole nine yards. Looked sharp.

As an adult, I've put together some interesting ones - including the Shadow and the Crow, but probably my most innovative idea was when I was I-270 - the outerbelt for Columbus. From head to toe, it was a construction helmet, black shirt and pants with lane divider lines in tape on my arms and legs, a cardboard "Orange Barrel," and an interstate logo on my front and back. I was the scariest costume at the party. :)

OSU vs. Michigan 2? No Way!

Now that USC has lost a game and there are only two quality undefeated teams left in the country in Michigan and Ohio State, we've started to hear a lot of talk about how, after one of them inevitably loses to the other when they play later this season, they should get a rematch in a bowl game for the national title.

And I call foul. Once those two teams have played once, that should be it. You've proved which team is better via head-to-head play. Assuming that there is another undefeated team in the country at that point, that team should get the shot. Combine that with the fact that OSU has played ONE quality team all year (and no offense to my wife, who's a Longhorns fan, but Texas was over-rated coming into this season, thus diminishing OSU's accomplishment at being undefeated thus far) and you need to give other teams a chance.

Add to this that the rule of thumb in the past is that teams who lose late in the season traditionally get less of a shot than teams who lose early in the season at the top bowl games and high end-of-season rakings. Case in point: Notre Dame in 1993 (the year of the big Florida State win). ND was penalized by the voters heavily for losing their late game to Boston College in the final rankings, despite beating the team who was voted the national champion and having an identical record.

"But that was before the BCS," you counter. The point is the same: end-of-season rankings decide which teams go to which bowl games. And when OSU or Michigan lose that final game, they should drop far enough down that they don't get another shot at the top game. A team who lost earlier in the seaon - an Auburn, Notre Dame, Texas, etc. should get that shot instead of a team who lost late. If there is any sense of consistency in the unspoken rules of NCAA football rankings, then that's how it should work out (if there isn't another unbeaten BCS team at that point, and there should be one at the most.

Now We Know Who To Blame

The inventor of the most annoying "cheer" in sports fandom - the Wave - has come out of the proverbial closet and revealed himself. This goes right up there with "cornhole" at tailgate parties as things that annoy the piss out of me for no real good reason.

Fire breaks out at Salt Lake crematorium

I can't even comment on this. Um...yeah.

Santorum And Tolkien - A Match Made in... um... the Shire? Mordor?

Sometimes the ruling elite need to just realize that hey... you're not cool. So don't try to be cool. This video (sent to me by brother Rob), which discusses Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum's comments about how the War in Iraq is like Lord of the Rings demonstrates this perfectly.



The best example of this, of course, remains Boris Yeltsin's attempts to appear hip with the kids by dancing with a band at a Russian music festival. True comedy genius.



I haven't seen moves like this since watching my son dancing to "Quack Quack Quack Cock-a-doodle-doo" by the Wiggles.

Keith Olbermann Tells George Bush What a Fascist He Is

MSNBC's Keith Olbermann has, once again, become a pundit worthy of being lauded among such great men as Bill Moyers and Edward R. Murrow as he calls our attention to the national travesty that is the new Military Commissions Act. This act allows the government to suspend Habeas Corpus for anyone who is considered an "unlawful enemy combatant."

Now, with a government who publicly states that anyone who criticizes this regime (it's no longer just an administration, it's truly a regime now) is "providing aid and comfort to our enemies", who's to say just who is and isn't an "unlawful enemy combatant?"

And here's another thought: considering that the UN invoked international law to forbid the invasion of Iraq and we did it anyway, doesn't that make George W. Bush and his regime "unlawful combatants?" So should they have their Habeas Corpus suspended?

I'm looking forward to watching the ACLU challenge this one on Constitutional grounds. Article One, Section Nine of that esteemed document states:

"The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it."

The last I saw, we weren't being invaded by anyone. And we're not in an open rebellion. So this act should die an ignoble death fairly quickly.

But thank you, Mr. Olbermann, for calling America's attention to this travesty. We now have complete confirmation just how George W. Bush feels about America and the Constitution that HE SWORE to uphold and defend.

Watch the video below for his complete comments.

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Bad Luck Doesn't Get Much Worse Than This

You don't get much unluckier than this. The initial reaction is to blame the keeper, but this is just a divot on the field, it seems. Poor guy, people are going to remember this for years.

As much as I enjoy ripping on the over-rated English team, this was not their fault. It was just bad luck. "Blind stupid simple doo-dah clueless luck!"

Top 10 Worst Cartoon Characters

This is one of my all-time favorite email forwards. We were just watching the Scooby Doo movie, and I decided to try to find this and post it for all to see. Enjoy!

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The top ten worst cartoon characters:

#10 Tweety Bird
You know there's a problem when every single kid roots for the "hero" to be devoured in each episode. No sense of humor. No personality. Annoying voice. Plus he was always tattling. I knew kids like this growing up. Most of them ate paste, sat in the front of the bus, and got me in trouble.

#9 Grape Ape
A real moron. All he knows how to say is his name. And he does so non-stop for a half an hour. I'd rather watch "Davey and Goliath covet their neighbor's model airplane."

#8 Olive Oyl
Am I the only one out there who thought this was one lady NOT worth fighting over? And that's what they did every episode! She talks like Edith Bunker and looks like a pipe cleaner with a cheap hat. Hey, Popeye, you're a sailor... you can do better! Plus Olive can never decide if she wants to date that jerk Bluto or not. The girl is just bad news.

#7 Petunia Pig
Remember her? Porky's girlfriend? She was a real zero. What was the point of her anyway? To make Porky look good? Come on, who did they think they're fooling. We all know Porky is gay.

#6 Pebbles & Bam-Bam, as teenagers
What were they thinking? Were they trying to cash in on the "Joanie loves Chachi" thing? And how come every cartoon teenager plays in a crumby rock band? An awful -- and thankfully shortlived -- idea.

#5 Pepe LePew
Hello, Warner Brothers, ever heard of sexual harassment? Let's take a good look at this character; a horny, rapist skunk who's attracted to other species! NOT good for the kids. Plus, worse still, he's French.

#4 Alan, from Josie and the Pussy Cats
How weak was this "Fred" clone? They even gave him an ascot, for crying out loud. Well, I knew Fred. I grew up with Fred. Fred was like a friend of mine. Let me tell you something...you're no Fred.

#3 Zan and Zana, the Wondertwins
How many times do we have to say it? Leave the crimefighting to the professionals! "Form of... an idiot!" They should have been voted out of the Hall of Justice a long time ago. There's no room for dead weight in this game.

#2 Kazoo, from the Flintstones
It's like "Hmmm, a miniature, green spaceman who appears only to Fred Flintstone isn't enough of a stretch. I know! Let's give him a snotty London accent!" Um, could I get a drug test from Hanna Barbara, please?

#1 Scrappy Doo
And, really, who else COULD it be? This guy ruined Scooby Doo! Just came in and ruined it! Scrappy is the Yoko Ono of Saturday morning cartoons. I can't even talk about it anymore. It's too upsetting.

Let Your Kids Play!

One of the most disturbing trends I've seen for parents these days is the tendency to get them involved in nothing but structured activities from the time they can walk to the time they graduate from high school. I've always thought that you need to give kids time to be kids and find out for themselves what their strengths, weaknesses, and interests are.

A lot of this goes back to when I was coaching youth soccer with my friend Shane. Shane's philosophy, which I shared, was that you gave the kids the fundamentals of the game, and then let them teach themselves how to play it. We'd sit and watch coaches who screamed and yelled from the sidelines the entire game (and that's to say nothing of the idiot parents who did the same, or worse), not letting the kids learn how to play the game for themselves, and shake our heads. Our kids always seemed to play with more enthusiasm, and to be very honest, do better on the field, than the kids who were spoonfed the entire soccer experience.

As I've become a parent, I've definitely seen the wisdom of this attitude. We read lots of books to Duncan, but never once did we drop him in front of one of those ridiculous Baby Einstein videos or the like. If Duncan wanted to watch TV, like the Wiggles or whatever, then we made sure he was doing it actively - getting up and doing the dances and singing the songs, etc. But TV has never been a huge part of his day like it is for some (or, I daresay, MOST) kids.

I think our neighborhood is very much in agreement with the way we do things, too - I see kids out in their yards playing a lot when I'm coming home from work - and that makes me pretty sure that we picked the right part of town in which to live. I want Duncan to be able to discover life on his own terms (as much as he can safely do that) and not have it spoonfed to him by some well-meaning but totally misguided adult.

So read this article, and if you're packing your kids' schedules with more activities than they need, stop. Let them go outside and play!

New Poll Show Pirates Considered More Ethical Than Congress

Brother Tom passed this one along to me. It pretty much just confirms what most of us knew all along... though I think Representative Hastert's assertions about the surging popularity of the buccaneer class do not answer all the questions.

(For more background on this story, click here).

Bush is Working To Keep You In Jail, No Questions Asked

Keith Olbermann reports on the Bush Administration's attempts to change the law to allow the suspension of Habeas Corpus in times other than periods of rebellion or invasion.

Um... isn't that in the CONSTITUTION, which the President is supposed protect and defend (and which he has sworn to do TWICE, at each of his swearing-in ceremonies)?

(For those of you unclear on the concept of Habeas Corpus, basically it's the right of any prisoner to request and receive a hearing/trial to question the legality of the imprisonment. More here.)

U.S. assistant coach Myernick dies

A major figure in US Soccer over the past two World Cups - beloved by fans and the whole nine yards. Mooch, you will be missed.

Retired S1Ws Recalled To Active Duty

It's sad that it came down to this. But my brother Rob had to show this to me so I'm spreading the word.

Whacko Georgia Mother Tries to Ban Harry Potter

Yep, the deluded paranoiacs are still at it, folks...

Notre Dame Greatness

The very PICTURE of greatness, right here, right now.

Marine General Butler: "War is a Racket"

Read a great excerpt today from retired USMC General Smedley Butler, one of the few men in American history to have won the prestigious Congressional Medal of Honor TWICE. Definitely a warrior, and a respected member of the military community.

He wrote a book after he finished his service entitled War is a Racket. Here's an excerpt from a speech he made in 1933 that I found very enlightening.

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"War is just a racket. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of people. Only a small inside group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few at the expense of the masses.

I believe in adequate defense at the coastline and nothing else. If a nation comes over here to fight, then we'll fight. The trouble with America is that when the dollar only earns 6 percent over here, then it gets restless and goes overseas to get 100 percent. Then the flag follows the dollar and the soldiers follow the flag.

I wouldn't go to war again as I have done to protect some lousy investment of the bankers. There are only two things we should fight for. One is the defense of our homes and the other is the Bill of Rights. War for any other reason is simply a racket.

There isn't a trick in the racketeering bag that the military gang is blind to. It has its "finger men" to point out enemies, its "muscle men" to destroy enemies, its "brain men" to plan war preparations, and a "Big Boss" Super-Nationalistic-Capitalism.

It may seem odd for me, a military man to adopt such a comparison. Truthfulness compels me to. I spent thirty- three years and four months in active military service as a member of this country's most agile military force, the Marine Corps. I served in all commissioned ranks from Second Lieutenant to Major-General. And during that period, I spent most of my time being a high class muscle- man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the Bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism.

I suspected I was just part of a racket at the time. Now I am sure of it. Like all the members of the military profession, I never had a thought of my own until I left the service. My mental faculties remained in suspended animation while I obeyed the orders of higher-ups. This is typical with everyone in the military service.

I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested.

During those years, I had, as the boys in the back room would say, a swell racket. Looking back on it, I feel that I could have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents."

Pryce PAC Is Major Recipient of Big Tobacco Money

Though there are plenty of reasons to vote against DeLay cronie Deb Pryce in the upcoming election, here's another: she's a major recipient of Big Tobacco money via her PAC. Guess we know whose interests she has at heart.

Musberger is Officially an Idiot

Even if it is USC... this is just more typical work by Brent Musberger, who may be the WORST sportscaster in America. Read and laugh.

The Downside of Being An ND Fan

I've been a Notre Dame fan all my life. Barring the immediate canonization of Jimmy Johnson and the hiring of Dennis Erickson as University President, I always will be an ND fan. I grew up in a small town in Michigan as one of the only Irish boosters in town - and the rest were pretty much all in my family.

Upon leaving Alma, MI, for the ivy-covered confines of Notre Dame's campus for my collegiate experiences, I lifted myself out of the mire of constant deriding for my NCAA favorites and joined an, I feel, elite group of sports fans. Notre Dame is nearly unique in the world of college football by being an independent and loving it. Naturally, it's one of the few schools that can afford to be independent by nature of its history on the field. As the team with the greatest winning percentage in the history of the game, the money does keep rolling in for this program, whether from boosters who love the school for academic or spiritual reasons, or from $12 million bowl game payouts.

I love Notre Dame football exactly the way it is. I would NEVER want ND to join a conference and remove itself from the ability to basically pick its own schedule. Notre Dame has a set of rivals that has grown over time and history. Southern California, Michigan, Michigan State, Navy (yes, as lame as that rivalry is these days, there's still a lot of history behind it), Miami, all these rivalries grew out of Notre Dame continually trying to find the best schools against which to pit its young men. Some of them go into and out of fashion, depending on who the top teams at any given period of time are (example: Miami), but some will last forever - USC and Michigan being the two most fierce.

But that very independence is what makes it hard to be a Notre Dame fan, as well. As they have rightly shucked aside attempts by the NCAA to force them into a conference, the only thing ND fans have to root for is the mythical national championship of college football. And when that possibility goes away, the rest of the season is left feeling a little bit empty. Sure, we can hope for a top 10 finish, and a major bowl game at the end of the season, but other teams have other things to shoot for as well: conference championships and the like. It can help to turn what might seem like a disappointing early letdown into a win of sorts when a team can lose early and then rally in their conference season to win their group's title.

Don't get me wrong, nothing will stop me from watching more ND football - ever. But without that title to shoot for.... is something missing? Perhaps.

And perhaps that loss of a goal stems from the fact that the college football championship is just that: mythical. There's not any true playoff with which to whittle away at the teams who survive at the end of the long season. Teams can pad their schedules with the likes of Northern Illinois, Cincinnati, Vanderbilt, Alabama-Birmingham, etc., and get into a bowl game. If a conference is weak, then that just makes it easier for a team to move on, a la West Virginia this season.

Tough to say. Anyway, I spent the evening after the ND loss to Michigan on Saturday watching old Justice League cartoons ad nauseum and that cheered me up somewhat. Now I'm thoughtful and melancholy about the situation, rather than just a brooding bastard.

And Really, What More Could I Say?

Duncan's Pirate Name

Okay, I'm a dork, but I had to do one for the boy... so here's Duncan's Pirate Name:

My pirate name is:

Iron Davy Flint

A pirate's life isn't easy; it takes a tough person. That's okay with you, though, since you a tough person. Like the rock flint, you're hard and sharp. But, also like flint, you're easily chipped, and sparky. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com. part of the fidius.org network

BP: Bad Pipeline

I received this newsletter from the Sierra Club, referring to the "success" of British Petroleum in keeping their oil out of our environment. I'll comment at the end, so if you're interested in my ravings, read on after the article.

---

BP claims to be "Beyond Petroleum," but lately it seems likely they're so far beyond it that they're willing to let it leak out all over the place. Might we suggest a new tagline? How about BP: Bad Pipeline.

This week found BP in Washington, DC, testifying about their irresponsible behavior. In just the past six months, Big Oil has given ample fodder for congressional investigations. First there was the enormous oil spill in Prudhoe Bay in March -- the largest oil spill that Alaska's North Slope had ever seen. Then in August, they were forced to admit their pipeline had been so poorly maintained that it was corroding. One reporter who went out to Alaska to see it said that the pipeline had gotten so thin that it literally felt "soft to the touch." And let's not forget that oil valve in the Gulf of Mexico that turned out to have been leaking for a full year since Hurricane Katrina - - and, well, the folks at BP just forgot to tell us about that too.

What's more, today's headlines tell us that while the BP executives were testifying in Washington, they conveniently neglected to announce a 43,000 gallon oil spill this past Friday in Long Beach, California.

And this is the company that drilling advocates tout as the "Gold Standard" for potential drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge? In that case, I'd really hate to see the Silver or Bronze Standard.

So when BP received a slap on the wrist from Alaska's Senator Murkowski, it wasn't for putting our environment at risk or acting like a corporate version of Dennis the Menace. Instead, she lambasted BP for jeopardizing the prospect of drilling in the Arctic. Kentucky's Senator Bunning joined in with the reproach: "I believe that this type of situation completely sets back any hope that we have to get that [Arctic drilling] bill passed by the Congress of the U.S."

It seems the Senators are catching on to what we at RAW have been saying all along: Oil drilling is messy, risky stuff. And if we're addicted to this nasty fuel, the best way out of the situation is to wean ourselves off of the substance, not drill for more of it and risk more toxic spills in our most pristine places--especially from a company whose initials could just as easily stand for Bringing Pollution.

---

Here are the things that rile me about this:

1. BP got a slap on the wrist. I can't find anything that says WHAT penalty, exactly, BP has to pay or observe. I'm assuming it's just "bad feeling about the company."
   
   
2. Senators Domenici and Murkowski are more angry about BP damaging their hopes of opening the ANWR to drilling than they are that BP lied to and hid other problems from the people of the United States.

If you read the other article about this (linked in the article above), you'll see a great line from Senator Feinstein of California that smacked both Murkowski and BP at the same time: "If it were my state, I would not be as gracious as Senator Murkowski is today." Apparently this caused Murkowski to suggest the BP might not be allowed to drill in Alaska any more... to SUGGEST it.

Senator Jim Bunning called up the fact that BP has made over $70 BILLION in profits since 2000, yet this still happened. If they're able to make these profits, surely some of that money could be used to monitor this pipeline and others to make sure that they're not going to burst like they have.

Enough said. If this isn't cause to keep drillers out of ANWR, and anywhere ELSE in the world, I can't think of anything that might be. Maybe we need to add BP to our list of oil companies to boycott (along with ExxonMobil).

Arrrr! Talk Like A Pirate Day BE NEXT WEEK!

Arrr.... Go ye out and find yer pirate name, ye landlubber!

My pirate name is:

Bloody James Rackham

Every pirate lives for something different. For some, it's the open sea. For others (the masochists), it's the food. For you, it's definitely the fighting. You have the good fortune of having a good name, since Rackham (pronounced RACKem, not rack-ham) is one of the coolest sounding surnames for a pirate. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com. part of the fidius.org network

Total Domination Is Always Nice

There comes a point in many college football games, maybe midway through the third quarter, when you're up against a team who's having a down year or perhaps they just aren't quite in the same league as your team, when you feel like "well, this game is a foregone conclusion. I can safely go do something else now," and you take off.

I've had a few situations like that in my time as a Notre Dame fan. Wins over Navy, Purdue, SMU, Rice, etc. weren't games that required a lot of stress on my part.

But you certainly don't expect to get that situation when you're playing PENN STATE. Yet the Irish came out of the tunnel on Saturday and thoroughly stomped the Nittany Lions in pretty much every facet of the game. If we were an SEC or Big 12 school we probably would have left our starters in for the whole game, but being Notre Dame, we didn't. We didn't have to!

I have to admit that I'm a tad bit worried about controlling Michigan's running game next weekend, as that was the one thing that was sort of working for the Nits, and Michigan is definitely a major running team. But on the other hand, we controlled the line of scrimmage most of the time and that's the key to a running game. Our linebackers are going to have to be on the top of their game next week, but I'm confident. Much more confident than I was coming into this game.

Was Penn State that bad? No. They'll come back and do have a decent run in the Big "We Can't Count." They had a similar situation that we did against Georgia Tech, where a couple early misfortunes colored the game for them. Is ND that good? Yes. Unlike PSU, ND took a bad start and turned it into a win last week, and we thoroughly trounced Penn State like nobody's business.

Michigan? Watch out!

Barney's Blog

Not often do I get really attached to a TV show. And sometimes it takes me a while to get there. But a show for which, last season, I grew to be quite a fan, is CBS's How I Met Your Mother. It's got the quirkiness of one of my long-time favorites, Friends, but with a different set of characters and situations.

Perhaps it's the situation itself that so closely mirrored my own life for a while - being friends with engaged people, chick-magnet people, and occasionally a chick or two, but never quite getting to the "relationship" point of my life. Of course, I'm very happily there now and wouldn't change it for the world! But it doesn't make watching someone else in that situation any less fun.

And when you have characters like Neil Patrick Harris's Barney on the show... what's not to love? And therein lies the jist of this message: I found Barney's blog. I'm not going to say any more... just read and laugh yourself silly, unless you happen to be easily offended. Then... read and think that I'm a fan of low-brow humor who probably shouldn't be invited to any more parties.

Markey Challenges New Ford CEO To Lead World In Auto Technology

Wonderful quote from Ed Markey, commenting on the resignation of Ford CEO Bill Ford and his replacement by former Boeing engineer Alan Mulally (Ford is still on the board of Ford):

"Ford has always acted like making a car more efficient was harder than rocket science. Now that the company has an actual rocket scientist at the helm, maybe the science of auto mechanics will not seem so difficult."

Stop the Seal Hunt

Thought it wasn't going on any more? Thought that people were beyond such things? No such luck. In fact, the annual seal hunt is bigger than ever. Besides the brutality of the hunt, in which baby seals are bludgeoned mercilessly and then occasionally skinned while still living, the hunt is starting to affect the size of the harp seal species in general. And when one species declines so vastly and quickly, other species follow behind soon.

It's time to put this barbaric practice behind us entirely and outlaw this. There's absolutely no reason for it.

Crocodile Hunter, Audience Tamer

The world lost a truly great man over the weekend, when noted conservationist Steve Irwin was killed when he was stung in the heart by a stingray in a freak accident along the Great Barrier Reef.

"Truly great man?" you ask, "That guy was a nutcase!" Well, yeah, he was. But he also called more attention to the plight of animals in the wild, habitat loss, and the importance of biodiversity than any animal show star (and almost anyone, PERIOD) ever. His fun nature, crazy antics, and willingness to show even the most ugly, disgusting animals as necessary, fascinating, and beautiful made for great TV and also taught the world a lot about how every species plays a role in the world environment.

Steve Irwin, you will be missed.