And Now For Something Useless

Ahhh yes, it appears we've entered the time of the year where ESPN decides to completely fore go sports programming in the afternoon to bring us all the Stoner Olympics aka The X Games.

This is one of those subjects where every time I bring it up somebody calls me grandpa and tells me I'm just not with the new, hip sports; to which I call shenanigans!

Then I have to unleash the dark secret nobody talks about. The first X Games was in 1995 when I was the ripe old age of 15. I've seen em all baby and let me tell you, they've pretty much sucked the entire time. Sure the first couple were pretty cool since it was just going mainstream and the tricks were evolving fast. For quite a while now, all the stunts look just about the same. Can X stoner do a 970 a 1020 or a 1462? Who cares, it's just a guy spinning on four dollars of particle board with wheels. The BMX thing seems to me to be a contest to see who can land the first double backflip, which brings us to a bigger problem; it's not sports, it's a judged competition.

Hmmm, lets see. Competitors competing against themselves, doing tricks that are all very similar to most people that relies on a point based judging system. Hmmmm.

Congratulations X games you've become summer ice skating for dudes. Stop wasting valuable airtime on this nonsense, LeBron coverage, Favre coverage or anything having to do with Colin Cowherd. Good god, that Sports Nation show is a debacle. More canned laughter and faked excitement since the final season of Perfect Strangers.

If the NFL, MLB and NHL can find programming for 24 straight hours, every single day, you can find something better to do with your airtime than glorify D students and Brazilians whose brains have been pickled by too much ocean water and bong loads.

Tony Hawk is like 50 years old now, let's put this baby to rest for good.

Enough

Well, I saw another one of those idiotic Miller Lite commercials and I finally snapped and have vowed to never drink another Miller Lite.

In case you've been lucky and missed these abominations, all the commercials follow a basic pattern. Schlub orders light beer from attractive bar-whore, bar-whore asks "Do you care how it tastes?", schlub goes "Nope!", bar-whore makes some snide comment meant to strip said douche of his masculinity and dignity. There's a guy with a tramp stamp, a guy with a purse and a guy wearing panties that do in fact, get in a bunch.

The first problem is the attempt to hide the trickery. Miller Lite is trying to get you to buy their more expensive, yet no better tasting lite beer by challenging your manhood. Like Miller Lite is so great you should skip the Coors Light on tap pitcher special. It's essentially the same plan Grey Poupon had in the eighties until someone realized that it was mustard and not precious jewels mined in the heart of Africa. Haven't seen one of those ads in years. Bottom line, if Miller is cheaper than buy it. If not, buy something else. The objective is getting drunk, not to show the boys at Hooters how sophisticated your pallet is.

Second problem is the entire dialogue. Clearly this was written by some gay PR guy who has never bought a beer in his life. Nobody orders a light beer. No waitress asks if you care how it tastes. Here's how that conversation works in real life, using the Miller Lite premise.

CUSTOMER: Let me get a light beer.
WAITRESS: Do you care how it tastes?
CUSTOMER: Do you care about tips?
WAITRESS: Uh, yeah.
CUSTOMER: Then shut the F*@k up and get me a beer before the game comes back.

Scene!

These commercials dishonor the time tested patron/waiter relationship. Patron buys something, server pretends to be interested in the customer, flirts a bit, customer pretends he doesn't know she is working him for tips and at the end of the day the waitress gets an obscene tip from a drunken football fan who can proudly proclaim on the way home that he was "this close!" to scoring. The good people in the Miller PR department would now have us believe that the person who is completely dependant on the customer liking them for their income is suddenly going to ridicule the hand that feeds them. Yeah right.

This leaves the American drinker at somewhat of a disadvantage though. Miller is boycotted because of these ads. I had to boycott Coors after they thought so little of my ability to sense temperature that they decided I needed a color changing can to help me. Then they cut out part of the box so I could see it easier. Thanks guys, I'm not a leper. I can still feel changes in temperature. Thanks anyway. Budweiser made the ultimate error by selling out America's beer to a bunch of Belgians. What to drink without supporting these atrocities?

If you want to stay American, pretty much all you have is the vast array of beer and malt liquor produced by the Pabst Brewing Company, the good people at Sam Adams and microbrews. That should be enough but if it's not, the good ol US of A makes a damn fine bourbon that doesn't think I'm a moron.

Sober anyway.

CP3 Ohhh!

Chris Paul has made it quite clear that he wants out of the Big Easy and he wants out now. Where to? New York, Orlando, Portland and Dallas.

How does that sound to you New Orleans?

The Knicks have nothing but expiring contracts and Danilo Galinari.
Orlando has nothing really, Jameer Nelson, Rashad Lewis and some expirings?
Portland has some guys they can trade. If they're smart they try and unload Greg Oden as part of this travesty
Dallas don't have much either.

The real story though is the state of the franchise in New Orleans. If Paul goes, does the franchise even continue to exist in NO?

Probably not. There never should have been a team in New Orleans to begin with. I know that sounds awful since the team went there as a gift to the city to help them after Katrina but it never made any sense. NO has only ever been a football city, nothing more. For crying out loud the Jazz saw Salt Lake City as the savior from New Orleans apathy, that should tell you something. Combine that with the litany of stories about how NBA players just can't keep away from the nightlife in NO and it's just a bad idea all around.

I hope that CP3 does split and the franchise has to relocate. That way Seattle can get the team that David Stern allowed to be stolen from them back. That or Kansas City. Seems like KC is primed for a team.

Any Time Now

It appears that the Tom Vilsack has reversed course and offered to hire Shirley Sherrod back to the USDA in some new capacity. Sherrod had recently been fired for making seemingly racist comments that turned out to be contained in a longer speech on her moment of clarity concerning race relations and the need not to discriminate.

If that's the case then good for her, she was judged far too quickly and deserves her apology.

I'm still here waiting for mine though.

As a Conservative, I've been labeled a racist for years by the same people who are jumping in line to apologize for taking this person's comments out of context. These same people who are dispicable hypocrites.

The same people that tell me that States Rights are code for Jim Crow laws,
The same people who say the Constitution is racist,
The same people that say wanting to cut the deficit is racist,
The same people that say if I'm against Obama, I'm racist
The same people that say if I want colorblind standards in educational or hiring, I'm racist and sexist,
The same people that told us welfare reform is racist,
The same people that tell me societal quotas aren't racist.

While I'm happy that Shirley Sherrod has her apology I doubt strongly that these same media hacks will abandon their context-less judgment of any and all conservatives. If Shirley Sherrod had been a known Republican instead of a minority female, she wouldn't have gotten hers either. As this is the case I will also continue to pre-judge all media heads/"journalists" as a bunch of lying, hypocritical, leftwing, mindless drone douchebags until me and mine get our apology.

I'll be here waiting.

Uh, Okay Then

ESPN has announced that Jenni Finch is retiring after a 10 year career.

Now, if your wondering why ESPN announced the retirement of a 29 year old part time model, don't feel bad I had the same question.

Turns out they were referring to her softball career, which is even more confusing.

I vaguely remember her preempting real sports programming on ESPN back in the day during the College Softball World Series and then again sometimes with the United States national team. Surely there has to be more than that warrant an announcement right?

Nope.

To the best of my knowledge, there isn't a professional softball league in the world. As such, you can never stop being an amateur and that's the problem. You can't retire from being an amateur. Maybe you stop trying out for the national team but every time you pick up a bat at a family barbecue, technically you have retained amateur status. So why exactly has this non-story made front page headlines at ESPN.com? I don't recall them announcing the "retirements" of any other Olympic/amateur athletes?

I suspect it's ESPN trying to wring a little more blood out of Finch's stone. Bearing down on the ripe old age of 30, I'm guessing the swimsuit modeling jobs aren't in full effect and she probably was getting to be a long shot to make the national team anyway. Something tells me ESPN has big plans for her and the suddenly revamped and resigned Erin Andrews. However, wasting valuable web space on a nothing announcement does complete the time waste pentagram after The Decision, The ESPY's, Skip Bayless and Colin Cowherd. So that's a plus.

Self Reflection

Now that The Boss is dead and the nation is seemingly overwhelmed by legions of Yankee bandwagon jumpers wearing pink or red Yankee hats, I must now examine my history with the beloved Yankees to see if I'm now a douchebag as well.

FACT #1 - It's true I'm from Colorado but we didn't have a team until 1993 so I can't be held accountable for having picked a team in the first 13 years of life. Most of the family is from NY so naturally I drifted towards one of their teams. Thank god it wasn't the Mets.

FACT #2 - As I was forming my connection with the team, it happened to be during the worst of the Steinbrenner years. I figure the years from about 4 years old (1984) to 13 years old (1993) were when I became locked in to the pinstripes. So was I bandwagon jumper? I hardly think so. To check those standings, in my most impressionable years, the Yanks didn't make the playoffs once, finished dead last once. Even if you add in the next two years, the Yanks lost a first place team to a strike and then lost that heartbreaking wildcard playoff to the Mariners.

1980: 103-59 (lost ALCS)
1981: 59-48 (won World Series)
1982: 79-83
1983: 91-71
1984: 87-75
1985: 97-64
1986: 90-72
1987: 89-73
1988: 85-76
1989: 74-87
1990: 67-95 (last in AL)
1991: 71-91
1992: 76-86
1993: 88-74
1994: 70-43 (strike cancelled season)
1995: 79-65 (lost 3-2 to Seattle in ALDS. E. Martinez walkoff, Jr. scores.)
1996: 92-70 (won World Series, start of the Jeter Era)

How was I supposed to know that things weren't always as bad as they were when I was growing up? We had no Internet back then kiddies. So far as I knew, we were the lovable losers.

FACT #3 - There wasn't just losing during this time period, it was Steinbrenner losing. Jay Buhner losing. That counts double.

CONCLUSION: I earned the right to be a Yankee fan. All of these bandwagon, Jeter groupies can suck it. You don't know what it's like to have Jim Abbott start on opening day or to have Steve Howe involved in your team in any way. Don't get me started on Gerald Williams or how Steiny wanted to trade Bernie Williams 10 minutes after he got to the bigs. We can all make fun of the late arriving Red Sox and Yankee fans wearing multi-colored gear or Yankee jerseys with the name on the back (!) but I'll continue to wear my blue hat high (so long as I can still get some kind of family discount . . .), secure in the fact that I'm better than all these other people that make people like me look bad and that I have not been living my life as an unaware douchebag. Not for this anyway.

EXTRA FACT #1 - I don't care that the Yanks have tons of money to spend. All of you "small market" teams in Los Angeles, Miami, Baltimore, Washington D.C., Boston, Queens, Texas and St. Louis just need to sack up a little bit and try to scrape a few more shekels out of your "small town America" fan bases. Not my problem that your team is broke because of a divorce (Dodgers), or that you can't get Hispanics to watch baseball (Miami), or that you're incompetent (Orioles, Nationals, Mets) or that it's just to hot to play late in the season (Texas). Also not my problem that spending 150 million still leaves you with Varitek, Papi, Wakefield, Dice - K and Lowell (Red Sox). It takes cash and brains my friends. In basketball they talk about getting one for the thumb but the classiest team in all of professional sports is almost half way through lap #2 of getting rings for all the digits, fingers and toes. On the way to 28!

SUCK ON IT FACT #1 - Had the Yankees traded for Cliff Lee, he might have only been the #3 pitcher, given the role Pettitte is on.

Duplicative Redundancy

I ask myself every year on this, the day after the All Star game, and I never get a good answer.

"Why exactly do we need the ESPY's?"

I understand that it's an awards show celebrating the accomplishments in athletics over the previous year. It seems though that each individual sport handles that on their own. Championship rings, banners, trophies, MVP, Golden Boot, Silver Slugger, Rookie of the Year, POY, team records, individual records, etc. all cover essentially the same ground as the ESPY's but in a more meaningful way. What is possibly to be gained for Drew Brees to win an ESPY? Time to throw away that ring baby, I've got an award named after a TV station!

In addition, these awards are the antithesis of sports. First of all, they are voted on instead of being won through actual achievement. That's why real sports are great and ice skating is more of an artistic endeavor. No ambiguity, just get on the pitch and win. These awards are given out by voting heads trying to put on a show. Brett Favre is making some kind of spectacle tonight, so that shows how meaningful it is.

Secondly, we've already covered how champions who win ESPY's probably don't care as they already have been recognized in their sports. The alternative is even worse though. If non-champions win an ESPY, they are essentially being rewarded for losing. I don't care if Peyton Manning is a great quarterback, he shouldn't even be considered for an award other than Choke of the Year for throwing that pick. I'm sure the pro-award lobby will try and defend this nonsense by explaining that individual achievements get overshadowed in team games and need recognition. I say bullshit. You show me Dan Marino, Cris Carter and Charles Barkley and tell me about their personal records and I'll show you 3 guys with no bling.

It's bad enough that we diminish everyones accomplishments in life by handing out a million participation trophies (which should be called the "Nice Job Getting Out of Bed Award") in amateur sports, do we really need to be handing them out to professionals too?

And how much air time does ESPN need to fill? LeBron gets an hour, the ESPY's gets no less than 11, Colin Cowherd somehow gets on, why can't I have an hour or two? I've got bad calls to discuss, conspiracies against the Raiders, roto league updates, panda watches, the Rick Reilly Insanity Countdown, the Skip Bayless march to murder, etc. Why not give it to me? At least that wouldn't be shameless self promotion by the World Wide Leader.

Consistent Stupidity

Look quick before you miss it, I'm about to heap praise all over Russ Feingold, D-WI.

Feingold has earned the distinction of being the only Democrat to vote against the abortionesque Wall Street reform bill. This has roiled many libs because it put Scott Brown, R-MA, in a position to make demands in the bill to get his critical 60th vote.

This shows what a sad state Congressional dems are in currently. Feingold should be applauded for his actions, not chastised. Now don't get me wrong, his reasons are idiotic. To Feingold, the bill isn't left wing or fascist enough, so he voted no.

That reasoning is pure insanity but that isn't the point. Feingold is a well known resident of the far left. He campaigns as a far leftist, he writes far left legislation, he essentially tries to push everything as far left as he can. The Wall Street reform bill didn't meet that criteria (to him anyway) so he voted no. That kind of consistency and honesty should be how every Congressman acts. The voters are getting exactly what they heard during the election.

Contrast that to other members of Congress. Blanche Lincoln, Evan Bayh, Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, John McCain, Linsday Graham, etc. also vote all over the map but for different reasons. They vote all over the place because they are trying to deceive their constituents. They run the spectrum of pretenders; liberals posing as conservatives, Socialist hiding as Blue Dogs, Social liberal as traditionalist, the list goes on and on. These people measure each vote to walk a tightrope between what they told the people they were and what they actually are. This leads to a maddeningly inconsistent voting record that baffles the constituency. They are not getting what they voted for and their elected representative compounds the problem by actively trying to deceive the people they represent. For an example look no further than the Maverick McCain 2008 presidential bid. He has been so all over the place that neither party could support him.

Nor should they. The public should in no way support candidates who spend so many calories trying to trick them. It's unfortunate that their are so few Feingolds in Congress. Jim DeMint comes to mind for Republicans but after that it's pretty weak. Scott Brown may be the lone example of an honest moderate. All the others mentioned are constantly trying to convince people that they are real conservatives. Brown is frequently wrong but at least he is who he is.

If nothing else, I hope the November Apocalypse that's coming (sooner for some primaries) will weed out some of these shameless chameleons. Having a Congress full of ideological warriors may produce more gridlock (good) but it will also create more ideologically pure legislation and debate. That is far better than the pork filled, bribe legislation that we get these days.

Jabulani No More

The 2010 World Cup finally came to an end with a penalty filled cluster f that sent Spain into a simultaneous national orgasm. A million people roaming the streets drunk should perk that economy right up. Anyway, hard to say what the lasting impact of it'll be but it seems to have pulled in good numbers here in the US so we might as well see what what right and wrong.

The Good:
It turns out that soccer, when played by the worlds best, can actually be entertaining. It certainly was nice to go to work at and have some actual sports to watch. The timing was awesome too. Let's face it, one of the few things on earth that can rival soccer in potential lameness is summer baseball. You think a 0-0 draw between Paraguay and Lebanon is boring, then check out any random game involving the Royals or Indians between May and August. There's no football, the basketball playoffs were pretty bad, hockey is well into the playoffs and there aren't any college sports. The World Cup fits in nicely to the void, giving people more reason to grill, get loaded and gamble. Good times. The fever pitch nationalism, mixed with a healthy, healthy dose of racism is also nice. Seeing the US come back to beat Algeria and tie the Brits and Slovaks was double as satisfying because you know those countries were devastated. There's nothing better than beating somebody at something they are obsessed with and you couldn't care less about.

The Bad:
Those stupid horns. I understand it's part of the culture in Africa. Great, so is raping, stoning and racism, can we implement those too? I try and buy decent electronic equipment so that I don't have to listen to the exact sound those horns make. Maybe it's great in person but it's awful on TV, where 99 percent of the people are enjoying it. I suppose it's better that the sound was so awful, otherwise we might have focused on the truly awful officiating. It was beyond bad, it was almost intentionally bad. No rhyme, reason or explanation. Much like the stupid ball. Leading up to the event I heard about how the problems with the ball were over-exaggerated by the players, which they do all the time, apparently. Well, after watching all the games, either that ball is an atrocity of physics or the best players in the world all suck. That thing was flying all over the place besides towards the net. If it weren't for the Germans and Argentinians, the whole event would have been awful. Spain won the whole thing by scoring 8 goals. 8! That's obscene. Pick a ball, then play with it forever for crying out loud. Last problem with the World Cup is soccer apologists who like to claim that all of these problems don't exist or are the simply misunderstood charms of the beautiful game. Right. So you think bad officiating, horrible broadcast noise and an uncontrollable ball add charm to the game? Maybe your just an idiot. Thinking there should be some accountability or replay for officials doesn't make me ignorant it makes me a connoisseur of common sense. Thinking a soccer ball shouldn't be introduced for the first time at the beginning of a tourney is a bad idea especially if it reacts like flubber when you kick it. Finally, not liking the stupid vuvuzelas doesn't make me a racist. Quite frankly Soccer Guy, your determination to defend such an acoustic atrocity says more about you than my dislike for it says about me.

The Result:
Overall it was an enjoyable time and I look forward to Brazil 2014. The one hour time difference should be nice and I hope the US continues to improve. Does this tourney make me more interested in soccer in general? Nope. I couldn't care less about the MLS or EPL and I doubt anyone else does either who didn't already. People may be turned off of the EPL given the dismal performance of its "stars". The fundamental problems with soccer still remain, the first being that bad soccer is a torturous thing to watch. Worse than the worst baseball game. Too often soccer games seem to encourage ties, stalling, faking injuries and a general lack of competition. Just watch how Ghana reacts after they go up 2-1 over the US. The display was an absolute embarrassment for everyone involved with all the stretchers, flopping and general p***yishness of the players. Men who care about competing don't act that way. Ever. Until the sport can clean up that nonsense, it can't be taken seriously. My interest in the game will remain solely linked to what the national team is doing. I'll tune in when they play a no doubt super pissed Brazil team in August and might even try and catch some CONCACAF stuff but I think that'll be about enough for me. And that's fine. I know the world obsesses over it but I already spend too much time with superior sports like football, hockey, lacrosse and curling. Soccer can be that pleasant visit every so often that fill the gaps between things I really care about and that's enough of a purpose for me.

NBA Free Agent Roundup

LeBron - I hope LeBron is planning to go back to Cleveland now, since he's doing his best to annoy everybody else on earth during this whirlwind tour. Holding a one hour press conference on ESPN to announce where he'll play is a stunt regularly pulled by high school seniors around signing day but is beneath a professional athlete. Combine that with LeBron now referring to himself as "King James" regularly and the arrogance is getting annoying.

Bosh - I think LeBron is going back to Cleveland and it'll be alone. People seem to think Bosh should do the sign and trade to Cleveland so that he can get the true max rather than sacrifice the 30 mil to sign outright. I guess the idea is that the honor of playing with LeBron makes up for the fact that you'd have to do it in Cleveland. Not sure why though. In Miami you get D-Wade, a guy who actually has a ring, plus no state income tax and South Beach. In Chicago, Bosh probably gets D-Wade, Rose, Noah and Deng (or whoever they dump Deng for), plus the Bulls history, Chicago's media market and a chance to win titles for for the next 6 years. If Bosh goes to either Miami or Chicago, he's on a better team and in a better city than Cleveland. After spending years in Toronto (a basketball purgatory) Bosh is way better of without LeBron and his 30 mil.

Wade - He's fine no matter what. The only way he can get screwed is if Bosh goes to Cleveland leaving Wade without Amare, JJ, LeBron or Bosh. Not likely. If he goes to Miami or Chicago with Bosh he's probably in the top 3 teams in the east.

Knicks - Signing Amare is a decent move, he can still light it up. They need to turn Eddy Curry's expiring deal and the rest of the cap room into some kind of ball handler and rebounder because Danilo and Amare don't exactly relish hitting the boards or playing D. My idea, sign Carlos Boozer and try and turn Eddy Curry into Gilbert Arenas.

Orlando - Stamp those championship rings now. Chris Duhon is in the fold.

NJ/Brook - Somebody's getting screwed here and it might be NJ. Nobody is going there without LeBron and they suck out loud as it stands. I hope the Russian can get LeBron and Wade to go with whichever Lopez sister mans the middle in Newark. That would be an exciting team. Besides, Jay Z and Beyonce aren't on TV enough.

TRIVIA QUESTION: How quickly does Spike Lee drop the Knicks if Bron and Wade/Bosh go to the future Brooklyn team, is it:

A - Cocaine Heartbeat
B - New York Minute
C - Faster than Snookie in a hot tub or
D - Quicker than a levy breaking in a depressed parish

The Answer: there are no wrong answers. He's a tool.

BONUS TRIVIA QUESTION: How did the Russian billionaire owner of the Nets make his money?

A - Killing spies for the KGB during the Cold War
B - Killing spies for the KGB since the Cold War
C - Killing Muslim seperatists for Vladamir Putin
D - Poisoning KGB defectors in London with radioactive material

The Answer: as ALCOA would say, you make the call!

To JaMarcus

JaMarcus Russell's arrest for possessing Purple Drank brings the end to an era without distinction. We shall commemorate the only way we know how.

Haiku! (quality not guaranteed)

Jam sent to con school
thirty nine million to learn
rock drank get fat

Mr. Davis sighs deep
Commitment to Excellence fading
Lane Kiffen a prophet

I am not the worst!
A ghost from a time past lives
Marinovich rejoice!

Two month sting ensnared
Dopiest mastermind ever
How stupid the cops?

Lollipop licked
Just another statistic
Lil Wayne reigns on

So Jam's in a fog
Why public so uptight?
Little killed people

So ends the sad tale
Fattest flop since the Zuna
30 for 30 passed

Hell yeah. Fresh spun gold there.

It Is What It Is

Ironic that the longest lasting racist in American politics would be eulogized by the first black President.

Such was the case when President Obama sent Robert Byrd off into the next dimension last week after the former Klansman's death at 92.

Bill Clinton tried to play it off as a man doing what was needed to get elected. (Nice condemnation of West Virginia)

Liberals across the country try to explain it away as a brief flirtation with the KKK, quickly passed by, by an ultimately good man.

Too bad it's all a lie.

Sen. Byrd started his own chapter of the KKK for crying out loud and achieved a high rank within the organization. He voted against civil rights acts, filibustered the 1964 Civil Rights Act, fought attempts at the integration of the nation, voted against Thurgood Marshall and Clarence Thomas. He called blacks a mongrel race and refused to see them serve in the military along side whites.

And when did he see the light in his "brief flirtation" with the KKK? In 1982, according to him.

Apparently Sen. Byrd had his moment of clarity when his son died in a car wreck in 1982. This led Sen. Byrd to think that maybe black people love their kids as well.

How touching. It took just about 40 years for Sen. Byrd to realize that maybe African Americans are actual human beings. Not a brief flirtation with racism by any means. I guess it shouldn't be surprising that Bill Clinton defended him so passionately at his funeral. After all, the Democratic Party is littered with the corpses of Southern racists throughout history. Clinton himself was mentored by his dear friend J. William Fulbright, who was a Senate racist much like Byrd before the people of Arkansas canned him in 1974.

I suppose it's just good form to be complimentary about the dead but a person only deserves as good as they gave in life. Maybe a little better but the brush of time can't wash away the hate that was bred in the KKK during the civil rights era. Clinton, Obama, etc. can try and explain it away as best they can and the people of West Virginia can send him to Washington but the fact remains that Byrd was an awful man who did awful things in the past. It's shameful that he managed to bring his poison into the Senate to serve longer than anyone in history. Maybe he was a truly repentant man, although there is no way to tell that from his actions. Any forgiveness that Byrd earned will have had to be awarded to him by God at the time of his death. He certainly hasn't earned any from those of us here on Earth. To say otherwise is just disingenuous.

Mark It Down

It's July 5th, 2010 and I've officially heard the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my entire life.

Charles Bolden, the current head of NASA, gave an interview with FOXNEWS where he claimed that his foremost mission was to "improve relations with the Muslim world."

That's right, the National Aeronautic and Space Administration has shifted its gaze away from the heavens above and has been ordered to try and forge new relations with the Muslim world.

Wha?

Why should NASA be interested in improving relations with anybody outside the realm of science? It seems that this is the type of thing that is supposed to be handled by the State Department or United Nations delegations. It's another bad political decision by Obama. At least when NASA was directed to investigate non-existent global warming data, it was in the realm of scientific venture. In the ball park of NASA's purpose anyway.

This mission is just idiotic.

Most of the Muslim world has contributed nothing to the exploration and understanding of space. Hell, a large chunk of the Muslim world wants nothing to do with the betterment of this world, let alone the universe. What possible benefit could there be in trying to get Muslims involved with NASA? The only possible benefit is Saudi Arabia, with its deep pockets that could possibly get the United States back into the space business without being a political nightmare for budget conscious bureaucrats. What other part of the Muslim world could we be talking about? Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon? Please. All the countries in the Muslim world are either dirt poor, corrupt or trying to institute some kind of Sharia Law. Not exactly a fertile breeding ground for the free exchange of ideas in the quest for scientific discovery. A perfect way to waste manpower and money though.

I truly feel sorry for the rank and file scientists at NASA. Once tasked by President Kennedy to get to the moon before the Soviets, they are being tasked to somehow exploring the galaxy side by side with people who aren't sure if women need to read. Or vote. Or move freely without being stoned. I have no doubt which mission will prove more difficult.

Triple Play Thursday

BALANCED BUDGET AMENDMENT:
The notion of amending the Constitution to require the Federal government to balance the budget seems to be lingering on a bit more than I would like, occasionally popping up in the news commentary and frequently by bloggers and radio callers. It sounds good but the idea is truly awful. It wold give Congress a green light to raise taxes however high they want under the protection of being forced to by the Constitution. You could pass some spending amendments though. I think two amendments should be passed. The first one would be to mandate that funds collected for a certain purpose (Social Security) are actually spent on that item. Second, I would cap the governments total budget allowance to 80% of the previous years monetary intake. For instance, if the government collected 100 billion dollars in 2010, then they could have a budget of 80 billion in 2011. Exceptions could be allowed for wars and catastrophic natural events. This limit would increase the budget for government every year but would also prevent overreaching. It also safe guards against the possibility of a zero growth depression.

I DIP, YOU DIP, WE DIP:
The myth of the double dip recession is in full force now. What is going to happen though is nothing like a double dip because we never went back up from the start of this recession. The stimulus package essentially caused a flatline, as States used the money to prevent mass layoffs and service cancellations. There was no recovery to speak of. All of the economic spikes can be attributed to the fact that business were doing any business they could this year so that they could avoid the massive tax hikes coming next year. We've all heard of crony capitalism but this kind of economic activity is best described as panic capitalism. Once business have moved all the business they can to this year and the States stop getting the stimulus money, we will simply continue the downward economic spiral that started in 2008. That's not a double dip, that's just a sinkhole.

REALLY?
119 million for Joe Johnson? What were the Hawks thinking? I realize they had their best season in decades but this is a panic move. As the playoffs proved, if JJ is your best player, you can't win. For the Hawks to seriusly contend, they now need a legitimate max contract guy (LeBron, DWade, Melo) and a near max third option type (Boozer, Bosh). There is no way that the Hawks can afford that. They should have offered JJ 10-12 mil per and tried to build around him with some other 10-12 mil guys. If he didn't like that, they should've let him walk. Atlanta just doesn't support professional sports vigorously enough to make the team so flush with cash that they can splurge on 2 to 3 max contract guys. Classic overreaction to fleeting success. I hear Raja Bell is available though.