Welcome to the Jungle, Dino

Brilliant beginning to incumbent Washington Governor Chris Gregoire's re-election campaign. Her 2004 opponent, Dino Rossi, who took lost a see-saw election counts and recounts, is back for more. And Gregoire's people have thrown Rossi's 2004 campaign back in his face.



Only slight modification, I would make would be to change the punchline to "He asked the question. Now you know the answer." The current closing is too smug and pointless. It does beg the question. Is the ad to persuade voters or make some staffers feel good about themselves?

And here is the rest of it. Read more!

Leave it to the Professionals

Republican leaders are furious with the Democrat's shameless exploitation of children to force an overturn of the President's veto of the SCHIP health care bill for poor children.

It began when the Democrats used 12 year old Graeme Frost to rebut the President's Saturday radio address two weeks ago. Not only does sending a 12 year old up against the President put the President at an unfair intellectual disadvantage, conservative pundits argued that it was shameless to exploit a child in that way and expose him to a finely honed and shameless lie machine - their own, which they soon unleashed on young Graeme and his family. Seriously, these people have called war heroes in wheelchairs cowards, why would a 12 year old and his family think they were safe?

They then turned their eyes on other Graeme's around the country. One 2 year old child in St. Petersburg, FL appeared in a television commercial describing how SCHIP paid for her life saving heart surgery. House Republican leader John Boehner (a triumph for truth in naming) called it a "despicable ad that exploits a two-year-old girl with a serious heart ailment."

If you're scoring at home, it's not despicable to deny that child life saving heart surgery, but it is despicable to tell people about it - because that makes it really hard to vote on the record twice against the program. That's the beauty of the veto. Without SCHIP, more of these children will die and you won't have to worry about them appearing in commercials.

For using children to remind voters of that thing Republicans are doing, Republicans are accusing Democrats of using children as political shields. It evokes memories of Saddam Hussein's human shields during the first Iraq War - you remember the one where Cheney said invading and occupying Baghdad would be, well, crazy. But let's not forget, Saddam is a friend of the family.

It should never be suggested that this administration has ever people as pawns in a political debate.

Well, maybe just a little.

21 of the most adorable political shields in the world. Snowflake babies to show how selfish people with Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and countless other diseases were for supporting research that could if not cure their disease cure the next generation of people with their disease. Just remember,'the President is in no way using those children to justify a shameless cave-in to religious conservatives.

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Some crow to go with the whine

Down three pro bowl starters, a nickel cornerback, and a #2 wide receiver, the Steelers defied the odds and took apart the Seattle Seahawks 21-0, the first shutout in almost seven years for Holmgren's Seahawks and the first on the season for the Pittsburgh defense.

A brilliant defensive strategy by Dick LeBeau, a masterful performance by quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, and the power running of back up running back Najeh Davenport broke the back of the Seahawks.

1. Big Ben. Roethlisberger was absolutely perfect. This might have been his best game since the Indy win in the 05 playoffs. And top 5 all time. Ben had his Favre thing on in a good way. Scrambling around, the toughest qb in the league to bring down, Roethlisberger continued to find receivers breaking open on third down for big plays and firing absolute ropes to them. The difference between this week and last week. Simple. Third down conversions. They make all the difference.

2. LeBeau. The decision to forego the blitz and drop back into cover formations baffled Hassleback and Holmgren. A patchwork secondary featuring rookie William Gay and 2nd year player Anthony Smith did not miss a beat and suffocated the Seahawks. Ike Taylor could have had four picks.

3. Ike Taylor. See above. His interception in the end zone practically put the game on ice. It was eerily reminiscent of Big Ben's interception in the end zone with Hasselback holding on just a little too long and allowing Taylor the time to close.

4. Najeh Davenport. The Dump Truck was running strong yesterday. Almost a hundred yards in total offense (96) and that with a long reception called back on a phantom holding call. Two red zone touchdowns might be the beginning of a red zone solution.

5. Cedric Wilson. Ced worked a lot harder to get open after plays broke down. He remembered who the qb is back there and he kept his plays alive to help convert those third and longs.

6. Mike Tomlin. They didn't show much of the pre-game Noll introductions, but one shot they did have was Tomlin positively beaming at Noll. It's great to see that the generational respect for this franchise lives on with our current coach. And for rallying a team after a demoralizing loss, beset with injuries, to completely dismantle Bill Cowher's pick to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.

7. Bill Cowher. The Steelers got some love from the Chin on CBS. When everyone and I mean everyone (including Marino) was throwing the Steelers under the Bus, Cowher held firm and said that he knew that team and the situation they were in. At home, they would come out fighting. He nailed it. Read more!

Take a picture it will last longer

I'm going to be look for video of this, but I think we have a love connection. I've never seen anything quite like the gaze that ABC's This Week host George Stephanopoulos fixed upon The Nation's editor Katrina Vanden Heuvel. Well at least not on a national television discussion show. He was either completely lost in her eyes or lulled into a coma-like stupor from her patented gibberish. More to come. I hope. Read more!

The corpse has the floor

John McCain vowed to put Alan Greenspan on his best and brightest budget task force - Dead or Alive. Interesting idea. Maybe he can have the chair next to Bin Laden. This sounds like an idea best forth by a dead man or at least one not interested in the opportunities of the living. Robert Frank makes the case for a national consumption tax in the Sunday NY Times business section. And he makes a fairly strong case.

Under such a tax, people would report not only their income but also their annual savings, as many already do under 401(k) plans and other retirement accounts. A family’s annual consumption is simply the difference between its income and its annual savings. That amount, minus a standard deduction — say, $30,000 for a family of four — would be the family’s taxable consumption. Rates would start low, like 10 percent. A family that earned $50,000 and saved $5,000 would thus have taxable consumption of $15,000. It would pay only $1,500 in tax. Under the current system of federal income taxes, this family would pay about $3,000 a year....

Consider a family that spends $10 million a year and is deciding whether to add a $2 million wing to its mansion. If the top marginal tax rate on consumption were 100 percent, the project would cost $4 million. The additional tax payment would reduce the federal deficit by $2 million. Alternatively, the family could scale back, building only a $1 million addition. Then it would pay $1 million in additional tax and could deposit $2 million in savings. The federal deficit would fall by $1 million, and the additional savings would stimulate investment, promoting growth.

While it has an undeniable appeal of lowering taxes for the poor and middle class and encouraging savings and investment for the upper class, you have to wonder what happens to an economy that has been predicated on reckless consumerism.

For instance, that hypoethical family who might decide not to make the million dollar addition to their mansion. What are those illegal immigrants supposed to do? How are the contractors and subcontractors hiring those illegal immigrants supposed to afford a new boat?

It might not be all that horrible considering we don't have much of a manufacturing economy so the products we aren't consuming wouldn't cost that many American jobs. It might alleviate the pressure to continue the artificial devaluation of the dollar and increased savings would help reduce the amount of dollars held by foreign banks. Read more!

Office Dance Mix

I know it doesn't have the sales of David Brent's "If You Don't Know Me by Now" or even Kirk Van Houten's "Can I Borrow a Feeling?" but for my money give Free Love on the Freelove Freeway. Well actually since Freelove Freeway was the B-side, I guess the sales are about equal. Equal in sales, but no where equal in the asses kicked.

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Upset Saturday

Well, not exactly like last week in college football. The sad looking England squad that had been ritually humiliated by the South Africans over the summer and then having the Springboks lay a 36-0 slapdown on them in the World Cup group stage. The same England that looked anemic against the pushover United States rugby team. That England beat Australia today 12-10. After defeating Australia in Australia to claim the World Cup in 20003 on the strength of 6 kicks by the legendary Johnny Wilkinson, England pulled off the stunner again on the leg of Johnny Wilkinson with the scarcely seen fly-half putting over four penalties to advance to the semi-final against the late match New Zealand vs France winner.

As it often happens, my favorite line came from the BBC correspondent on their live update.

78 mins: "Chorus after chorus of Swing Low rings out - mainly to stop everyone from vomiting with nerves."
BBC Sport's Tom Fordyce in Marseille

The Wallabies had struggled with their scrum for the past three years so it really is fitting that then scrum was what undone them against a ferocious England pack.

So next up, the All Blacks. Right? Not so fast. What? France 20-New Zealand 18

Taking advantage of their home field advantage, the French pulled off an upset against the overwhelming favorites. And once again, the All Blacks must go home to Hobbitland to think again having come up short in the World Cup despite being widely regarded the best team in the world.

In the other quarterfinal bracket, Scotland takes on Argentina in the late match Sunday with the winner likely to face South African who despite the lessons of today should almost certainly defeat Fiji. It would take a miracle for Scotland to make it to the finals, but the possibility of a match-up between either England or France would be fantastic. England would be a vicious backyard brawl and more than British rugby deserves, but you have to think Scotland favors another go at France given their recent run of luck against Les Bleus. Read more!

That's what she said

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Live Office Blogging (conclusion)

Ryan shot down by Pam after trying to weasel out a dinner date by asking her to design the "Dunder Mifflin Infinity" logo.

Michael and Dwight return to the law office to reclaim their gift basket. When refused, they lay soaking wet on the leather furniture in the lobby until the gift basket is returned sans the precious chocolate turtles with pecans.

Michael: "Where are the turtles!!!!"

Dwight: "Hand over the turtles! Now!!!"

A level of embarrassment on par with the Gervais original.

All in all, another solid episode. Not on par with the opener but very good. At times, it seemed to strain at times with the hour long format particularly after the story arc finished nicely at the half hour mark. Read more!

Michael's quest - "Business to business. The old fashioned way. No Blackberries. No websites. I would like to see a website deliver baskets of food to people."

Creed Line of the Night - "Hey bra, I've been meaning to ask you. Can we get some Red Bull for these things? Sometimes a man's gotta ride the Bull. Am I right? Later skater."

Possibly the greatest sight gag since Andy floated down to the Chesepeake. Michael follows his GPS directions and slowly and stubbornly drives into a lake. Read more!

Show so far. Michael rebuffs Ryan's attempts to modernize the office. Toby is obsessing over Jim and Pam's relationship sending out a PDA memo and refusing to fill out a relationship form for them. Phyllis expresses concern over Pam directing sales calls to Jim. Angela has just dumped cat murdering Dwight. Kelly lied to Ryan about being pregnant but broke on the first date to an expensive restaurant. Michael launches crazy scheme to win back ex-clients with surprise gift basket initiative. Read more!

Ryan will soon be running CTU on 24.

First "changes in dreaming" side effect listed for anti-smoking happy pill Chantex.

Cougar vs Dwarf battle was top notch

"Scanton suits you."

"Keep the beard. Forever."

Michael's fear of Blackberries - "What is the deal with these things in regard to testicles?"

Creed with a black dye job looks disturbingly like Rob Schneider.

Dwight Line of the Night. That's right. 25 minutes into it and I'm closing down nominations.

"I'm going to live for a very long time. My Grandpa Schrute lived to be 101. My grandpa Mannheim is 103 and still puttering around down in Argentina. I tried to go visit him once, but my travel visa was protested by the Shoah Foundation."

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Live Office Blogging

Michael is off to a blistering pace. Heralding Jim and Pam's the announcement of romance as a "day that will live in infamy" and saying his heart soars to an "Eagle's Nest."

We have our first "that's what she said." The season has officially begun. Read more!

The Mike Tomlin Show (Season 1, Ep 4. Whoops!)

A couple of interesting exchanges from Pittsburgh Steeler coach Mike Tomlin's Tuesday's press conference.

Please assess the run blocking this week:

It was similar, but I wouldn’t necessarily characterize our inability to block as the biggest issue with our running game. I think we put ourselves in situations where weren’t able to establish rhythm in the running game; with penalties, botched exchanges, etc. We missed a couple big play opportunities in the game. Those are first down shots that you take. That is called being aggressive. That is called making people defend the field horizontally and vertically, but we missed on some. We had Nate Washington down the field early and we missed by inches. We had Nate down the field again on the sideline and again we missed by inches. That is the nature of the game, but when you miss those opportunities you understand what comes with it. It puts you at second down and ten. Second down and ten after an incomplete pass, people usually load up and stop the run. That is the nature of this game. It was more about the situations that we put ourselves in, as oppose to our ability to block them. It really was no different than it’s been.

Was there a reason for all of the false starts?:

It’s difficult to communicate and play on the road. Particularly when you’re behind the chains, because they get you in passing situations and they have wide edges and they’re going to get off. You have to be prepared to pass protect. There is a combination of a lot of things and usually when things are going bad, they snowball. That is what happens. You get penalized. You get behind the chains. You’re not able to establish rhythm with the running game. They get in wide stances and get to foaming at the mouth and ready to rush the quarterback. The crowd gets into it. Communication gets tough. It snowballs and that is why I enjoy playing at Heinz Field.

Tomlin addressed the question of aggressiveness in the offense correctly pointing out two examples where they took shots down the field on first down. Both times to Nate Washington and both barely incomplete. In the first half, the Steelers tried to hit Washington deep with Washington unable to bring down a diving catch. They followed it up with a short pass to Parker for three yards and then hit Miller for 28 yards on a third and long (7) conversion. This drive concluded with a 43 yard touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes on the subsequent 3rd and 24.

With the Steelers on the Cardinals 43, the Arizona defense was expecting the Steelers to throw something underneath to move back into field goal range. Offensive coordinator Bruce Arians brilliantly went counter-tendency and struck deep to the speedster Holmes. Holmes had noted earlier to the coaches that Arizona's secondary was peeking into the backfield. Knowing that a draw was a real possibility, they likely peeked a little too long.

The second deep attempt to Washington came in the 4th quarter. Washington was a step short on a ball down the right sideline. On second and 10, Colon jumped. Ben missed Wilson on the play when Wilson forgot to turn around, and then threw a turf ball over the middle to Miller. We punt, Davis releases early, we punt over and Breaston returns it for a touchdown.

The next drive Parker runs for 20 yards on first down. On first down from the shotgun, they try to hit Holmes short and miss. 2nd and 10, they try Parker to improve down and distance on third, but they fumble the exchange and we're facing 3rd and 18. Smith flinches drawing a false start penalty so it's 3rd and 23. The Steelers dump it off to Reid and let him get back to 4th and 10.

The Steelers went from picking up something on second down at midfield and possibly facing a third and short to two mistakes and facing 3rd and 23 from our own 28. Throughout the game, the Steelers were continuously plagued by mistakes. In the first half, they were able to produce big plays on third down - aided in some part by field position. In the second half, the pressure of the Arizona pass rush and the rust and inexperience of Nate Washing and Cedric Wilson caught up with them.

The inability to establish the rhythm Tomlin and Arians were seeking was horribly frustrating. Still, this was a game the Steelers never trailed for three quarters. They had a lead coming out of half time and if they could have established the run better, it would have made the passing game more efficient and they could have put the game away. Even tied throughout the rest of the third quarter, there was no need to get desperate.

Statistically this caution seems to borne out. Roethlisberger was 0-2 with one false start from the shotgun in the third quarter. In the 4th quarter, he was 1-3 for 13 yards with an additional false start from the shotgun. The Steelers ran 7 out of 22 plays from the shotgun (not including inside the 5 or the defensive holding call on the incomplete to Holmes which was run out of the shotgun). So out of the seven plays, we had one positive result on a dump for 13 yards and picked up 10 yards in false start penalties.

Meanwhile, Parker was 9 for 42 not counting the two botched handoffs. He picked up 3 of the 4 Steelers first downs in the second half before the offense went to two minute drills down by 14. The 4th first down was from the defensive holding call. The Steelers had not converted a first down through the air since the touchdown pass to Holmes to end the first quarter.

The Steelers just couldn't stop shooting themselves in the foot. The fumbles, the false starts, the bad routes all conspired to make it impossible for us to sustain drives and that put too much pressure on our defense that had lost three starters (Hampton, Polamalu and Townsend) and two critical rotational players (Hoke and McFadden).

Even still, the defense held on until the mid 4th quarter when a bad spot and/or measurement allowed the Cardinals to sustain a scoring drive for the nail in the coffin touchdown. Where I feel Tomlin came up short was failing to challenge this spot. With the measurement timeout there should have been enough time for the coaches to review the replay and discuss a challenge if they lost the measurement. As a result of not challenging, the Cardinals were able to maintain possession for another two and a half minutes and add a touchdown.

It was a daft decision by Whisenhunt that was bailed out only by incompetent officiating. He should have kicked a field goal and gone up 10. The emotion of the game got the better of him.

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The Children's Crusade

The job that The Daily Show has done replacing its upwardly mobile correspondents is quite remarkable. Currently newcomer John Oliver has replaced Rob Corddry as the class of the show although Larry Wilmore, Demetri Martin and John Hodgman also deserve mention.

Last night, Oliver was on top of his game thoroughly eviscerating a visibly uncomfortable Eric Jackson, publisher of conservative minded books for children. Enjoy the carnage.

Jackson: There's some jokes in there like, Teddy's Car Wash.

Oliver: Ah! I get it. Like Chappaquiddick! It's funny because she drowned. Kids are going to love that!

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Now about Steely McBeam?

Steelers owner and Hall of Fame member Dan Rooney has a new book out commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Pittsburgh Steelers and among other things why he chose this moment to desecrate it by debuting a mascot. Rooney has long been a man of quiet dignity more likely to carry water than stir the pot. His book contains a little pot stirring, however.

In his book, Rooney revisits possibly the most painful decision in Steeler history in the 1983 draft when they passed on Pittsburgh native Dan Marino. Well most painful since they decided to cut Johnny Unitas in 1955. En route to breaking nearly every passing record in the NFL, Marino went on to lose the same number of Super Bowls the Steelers did during his career.

"I couldn't bear the thought of passing on another great quarterback prospect the way we had passed on Dan Marino in 1983, so I steered the conversation around to (Ben) Roethlisberger," Rooney writes in the book.

Leading into the draft, there was some talk of the Steelers taking either cornerback DeAngelo Hall or Dunta Robinson. While it also seemed likely that one of big three quarterback prospects - Eli Manning, Philip Rivers, or Ben Roethlisberger - would fall to us, there was speculation that Cowher liked Rivers more than Roethlisberger. Manning was expected to be the first overall pick.

When Atlanta took Hall and Houston took Robinson, those hoping for a quarterback appeared to be out of the woods. Then again, we don't know what happened after that. Did Cowher continue to lobby for a defensive player or tackle/guard Shaun Andrews who had also been mentioned instead of Roethlisberger considering that his choice - Rivers - was gone.

Many people feel far to confident into their readings about what goes on in these back rooms. I don't mind speculating, but I don't have much confidence in those speculations - even my own. When coaches come out and talk to the media, you can't believe them either. They could be spinning for the present or for posterity.

Am I more inclined to believe something that Dan Rooney put in a book over Bill Cowher or Kevin Colbert? Yeah.

Dan Rooney is in the Hall of Fame. Name on the door. Denny Crane. If Rooney has ever cared what people thought about him, he's kept it pretty well hidden.

Still back to the idle and reckless speculation, it would be interesting if there was tension over drafting Roethlisberger between the front office and Cowher. How did this affect Cowher's decision to move on? Cowher had only made the playoffs two out of the past five years and had four starting quarterbacks (three different to start the season) over that period.

Had the Rooney's lost confidence in his ability to handle the position? Did he resent that the Rooney's were forcefully imposing their will on a 1st round draft choice? Did he feel marginalized? Subsequent contract negotiations for an extension seemingly never got off the ground. It does seem possible that the 2004 NFL draft played a pivotal role in why Bill Cowher is no longer the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

These and many more questions will never be answered... Read more!

Another Shocker in France

Last year, Scotland did the unthinkable. They beat France, the World Cup 06 finalists, at Hampden 1-0 before a jubilant Tartan Army. Then less than a month ago, Scotland did the unbelievable. They beat France in France. As if sweeping France home and abroad in Euro 08 Qualifying wasn't enough, Rangers decided to join in the fun with a stunning 0-3 victory over the reigning French champions Lyon.

After wallowing in misery last season under French manager Paul LeGuen, Rangers took out their European frustration with a class performance by American DaMarcus Beasley who scored the final goal and set up Lee McCulloch's thunderous header with a near perfect corner kick to set up the first goal. Lens cast-off Daniel Cousins picked up the middle goal.

Rangers already shook up the European Cup's Group of Death by stunning German champion VFB Stuggart 2-1 last month at Ibrox. The Group contains Barcelona, Lyon, Stuttgart and Rangers. Lyon and Stuttgart are both defending domestic champions while Barcelona is widely regarded as one of the most dangerous teams in the world.

Much as he did with the Scottish national team after the disastrous Bernie Vogt, Walter Smith took over a club in a death spin. The results are eerily familiar. Rangers dropped their second straight Scottish title to Celtic but righted the ship in time to qualify for the Champions League and currently sit even with Celtic at 19 points. Smith has built a team of senior French strikers to team with Scottish poacher Kris Boyd. Emerging young Scots like Alan Hutton, Charlie Adam and Steven Whittaker team along veterans like Lee McCulloch, David Weir and national team captain Barry Ferguson. The contributions of American DaMarcus Beasley and French/Algerian Brahim Hemdani cannot be overrated.

Rangers sit atop the group along with Barcelona who also swept their first two games. Only a third of the way into the group competition, the matter is far from settled but with Lyon and Stuttgart pointless one of those teams is going to have to get very hot to push Rangers out of the second spot.

Rangers play Barcelona in Glasgow on 23 October. Any Ranger fan would be thrilled for a draw, but at this point why stop believing in miracles? Read more!

NBC's foolishness

Even as The Office was struggling with disappointing ratings on television, they were dominating sales on Apple's ITunes marketplace. Among some of the trendiest, most gadget hungry youngsters on the planet, The Office was dominating and those who weren't queing up to buy the episodes on a week by week or season pass basis were at least seeing The Office displayed prominently on the ITunes front page as the hottest thing on the site. Nothing but free advertising to one of the world's most sought after demographics. Some of these people actually spent $600 on IPhones.

From a commerce perspective, NBC was raking in thousands in instant sales. No waiting for the season to end and the next one to begin to realize their DVD bonanza. No production charges, no disks to burn, no packages to print, wrap and ship. From an environmental perspective, it was perfect. Tons of petroleum not used in packaging and shipping and nothing for the landfill.

Furthermore, the fans of The Office were flocking to NBC's website. NBC encouraged interaction with office drones across the nation. The Office has a fan base so dedicated that they are actually going to a convention in Scranton. Scranton! Have you been to Scranton? I have. It's not pretty.

NBC seemed to be nurturing this online community. Advertising special content of webisodes, deleted scenes and interviews in character and out. One painfully ironic extra featured director Josh Weldon confessing his fandom and his approach to directing an episode. Weldon then begins to discuss his addiction to watching the show on his Ipod.

So what does NBC in their infinite wisdom do? Discontinues the sales of The Office on ITunes. You can watch the episodes for free for a short period of time through NBC's "NBC Direct" webservice, but they are not yours. If you want them, you have to buy the DVD. This is what confuses me most about the decision. They are still selling their content, but only in a physical form.

Where's the advantage? People smart enough to get past Apple's ample security can get certainly rip any DVD content they want.

The obvious answer would seem to involve advertising, but certainly this could be co-opted into the episodes they would sell on ITunes. Advertisers have to know that the majority of viewers like Tivo viewers are either fast forwarding, muting or finding some other way to ignore the minor annoyance. (I'm doing it right now) Advertising has been up against it since the remote control. Somehow the economy manages to survive.

Already NBC's website is howling with complaints. Fans who liked the freedom of watching their favorite episodes over and over again on their video IPod device are upset. Fans outside of the United States are furious because they are frozen out altogether.

So congratulations NBC. You've offended trendy tech users, your fans, environmentalists and even earned yourself a mocking from Steven Colbert.

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Creed Line of the night

"I've been in involved in a number of cults both as a leader and a follower. You have more fun as a follower, but you make more money as a leader." - The Office, Season 4, Ep. 1


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