Give Everybody Eat

Gas Tax Post Mortem

2008-05-07T18:27:00.004-04:00

The media is deciphering how the gas tax issue played to Obama's advantage. Popular theory - Obama benefited from having Clinton take the same position as McCain. Fair point. Of course, the media never bothered to point out that Obama was taking the same position as Bush. The gas tax was defined by the non-stop condemnation it took from the national media. Not a single economist supports this plan. Are these the same economists who say inflation is only 3%?

Matthews losing it again

2008-05-07T17:15:00.002-04:00

Chris Matthews says last night's result in North Carolina shows that North Carolina is a "more forward looking state than Pennsylvania." This is utter rubbish if MSNBC's exit polls are to be believed. According to their exit polls, Obama got 91% of the African-American vote in North Carolina and 90% of the African-American vote in Pennsylvania. Obama received 37% of the white vote in both states. There was absolutely no difference between the two states in the white vote according to their exit polls. The difference in the result was that in North Carolina 34% of the voters were African-American versus 15% in Pennsylvania.

Matthews then gushed about North Carolina's universities explaining why North Carolina is so "forward looking." For the record, Matthews, one of the few counties Obama carried was Centre County - home to Penn State - in lilly-white central Pennsylvania.

Matthews is sadly little more than an old drunk's collection of anecdotes, prejudices and axes to grind.

Transformatives: Now on PPV

2008-05-07T14:27:00.004-04:00

What exactly is it that Obama Nation loves so much about Obama? His fierce convictions that no one can identify, or his refusal to sink the old politics?

Sullivan cites a perceptive comment by Jennifer Rubin:

Second, Obama is a fast learner. His speech last night included a heavy dose of heartfelt appreciation for America, reverence for the land of opportunity and lots of empathy for working class voters. Like a vacuum cleaner, he is sucking up the Clintonian message to blue collar voters and absorbing the rhetoric which has successfully lured a coalition of working class whites, seniors and women. Don’t expect any more Snobgate slip-ups.

So the beauty of Obama is that he can talk just like the woman Obama Nation now hates? After all, she will say or do anything to be elected. What do you call transforming yourself into her? Is that what they mean by "transformative"?

Gary, Gary, Gary

2008-05-07T12:37:00.007-04:00

The reports coming out of Lake County, Indiana sounded vaguely familiar. I remembered Hunter S. Thompson's account 36 years ago in the Ohio primary.

...All he needed to carry the state, now - along with the 38 convention delegates reserved for the statewide winner - was a half-respectable statewide showing from the twenty-first, the heatland of the black vote, a crowded urban fiefdom bossed by Congressman Louis Stokes.

Ten seconds after he picked up the phone Himmelman was screaming: "What? Jesus Christ! No! That can't be right!" (pause . . . ) Then: "Aw shit! That's impossible!"

He turned to Mankiewicz: "It's all over. Listen to this . . ." He turned back to the phone: "Give that to me again. . . okay, yeah, I'm ready." He waited until Mankiewicz got a pencil, then began reading the figures. A hundred and nine to one! A hundred and twenty seven to three! . . . Jesus!"

Manciewicz, flinched, then wrote down the numbers. Cadell slumped back in his chair and shook both fists at the ceiling. Himmelman kept croaking out the figures: a fantastic beating, ubelievable, the twenty-first district was a total wipeout.... "Say, how many votes do they have to count up there?"

"As many as they need," Mankiewicz muttered.

Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72, pages 189-190, Warner Books, 1973
Deja

Mayor Rudy Clay came to his headquarters in Gary Tuesday night with a list of voting results showing overwhelming margins for Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton.
Many of the districts had Obama with triple digit totals and Clinton with totals in the single digits or teens. One district had a result of 126-4
Clay was one of only two Northwest Indiana mayors to endorse Obama.

With Hillary Clinton’s statewide lead under 40,000, the pending results from Lake County loom large.
While Clinton reportedly led voting in cities like Hammond, Whiting and East Chicago, Gary Mayor Rudy Clay is indicating a huge margin in favor of Obama in his city.
It’s very lopsided,” Clay said, pointing to a hand-written list of precinct results.
According to his numbers, in most districts Clinton’s turnout in the city of Gary was near non-existent. One precinct saw 126 voters turn out for Obama, while only four voted for Clinton.
Clay said the election is seeing a record turnout in the city.
“We’re used to having maybe a 22, 23 percent turnout for a primary. We’re seeing numbers as high as 85 to 95 percent,” Clay said. “The Gary people took care of business.”

What would the story be?

2008-05-06T20:20:00.001-04:00

If 91% of North Carolina whites voted for Hillary Clinton?

Carny Barker Matthews unrelentless

2008-05-06T20:12:00.003-04:00

He's now on the Hillary GED comment into double figures and embarrassing anyone who gets within shouting distance of him.

He's also trying to discredit any Hillary victory in Indiana because of Rush's Operation Chaos despite the fact that when Obama was pulling Republicans and Independents, it was a sign of his electability. Of course, that was before the Rev. Wright. Now Independents and Republicans are a push.

As for the power of Rush Limbaugh, isn't John McCain the GOP nominee?

Meet the Walkens

2008-05-06T18:49:00.002-04:00

A little comedy relief for a long night

"By the way, we finally saw the Deer Hunter. That movie was hilarious!"

Am I the only one who gives a fuck about the rules?

2008-05-06T18:25:00.004-04:00

Chris Matthews and Eugene Robinson were on MSNBC pining for the rules. Matthews threw out his "Clintons want mulligans" line to self contented laughter. They then lit into this notion of allowing two of the biggest states in the nation to have some role in choosing a nominee because they dared to annoy New Hampshire. The conversation turned to them how the Clintons are totally indifferent to the rules. At the same time, Matthews kept chirping, how can anyone not give the nomination to the person with the most pledged delegates?

Well Chris, as you were saying about rules, the rules say that you need half of the delegates to receive the nomination. He then said that no one ever has half the delegates. Interesting trivia there but why bother Matthews with history. The superdelegates are free to cast their ballots however they want. Those are the rules. Remember the rules?

Hold the Pulitzer - New Vitale Book

2008-05-06T13:27:00.002-04:00

ESPN's human bullhorn was at breakfast this morning on Siesta Key discussing his latest book, a retrospective on his career at ESPN and the Top 50 college players he has seen during that time. Promising to have all of the creativity of a Larry King's dot dot dot column, the book which could be finished by lunch presuming Vitale started it this morning has all of the complexity of a Page 2 column on espn.com. The book is particularly narcissistic since the book will only players during Vitale's tenure at ESPN.

Technically, I don't feel like I was eavesdropping since I was sitting in my car 20 feet away with the windows up. Seriously, five more feet and he would be in violation of Sarasota's new loud stereo law. That's a bit nitpicking but so close to the water, you have to be concerned about his voice's effect on the fertility of sea turtle eggs.

Ed Schultz is a Moron!

2008-05-05T18:27:00.005-04:00

Why is this radio buffoon on national cable television? Now Schultz isn't alone in this sentiment, but he is the loudest. They are now attacking the gas tax holiday proposal because Bush will never sign the windfall tax on the oil companies.

Let me say this once.

SO WHAT!?!?!? MAKE HIM VETO IT. MAKE JOHN McCAIN GO TO THE SENATE AND VOTE AGAINST IT!!! AND THEN DESTROY THEM!!!

If Bush vetoes it, make everyone vote again to overturn it.

This is a classic case of the pollyannish Obama crusade. All of these leftists are counting on Obama to remake Washington. How? Is he going to smile at them and everyone's going to forget everything they have ever stood for and follow him.

There is one way to be bipartisan. Compromise. Negotiate and compromise. That's what Clinton did for six years and the leftists in the Democratic Party hated him for it.

Go back. Read the Constitution. Those are the rules of how you govern. Electing Obama is not going to change how a bill becomes a law.

Colbert Flashback

2008-05-05T17:32:00.000-04:00

As always, brilliant.

Whistling past the graveyard

2008-05-05T16:18:00.001-04:00

Read a pro-Obama blog like Sullivan or the DailyKos, or even listen to Obama himself, mocking and ridiculing the discussion of "lapel pins" and "preachers." It's the same conversation Democrats always have when we're in the process of losing national elections.

New York Times Poll

2008-05-05T14:16:00.003-04:00

The New York Times is featuring a bit of a dodgy survey. For a national survey, it's sample is painfully small - only 601 registered voters (671 overall) and 281 Democratic primary voters. The poll was also conducted on Thursday, Friday and Saturday which is prone to aberrant results due to weekend volatility.

Regardless, they decided to put it on the front page of the national paper so let's take a look. I found two series of questions particularly interesting.

46. If Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee, how much will the Reverend Wright issue matter to you in deciding who to vote for in November - a lot, some, not much or not at all?

47. What about most people you know? If Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee, how much will the Reverend Wright issue matter to them in deciding who to vote for in November - a lot, some, not much or not at all?

In the first question, 24% said that Wright would be a factor with 11% saying "a lot." This only drops to 23% among Democratic primary voters with 9% saying "a lot." Considering, he's not picking up voters from Obama, a quarter of the electorate is rather disturbing.

It gets worse. The Times poll does one thing right. They ask the question about your people you know. Because no one is a racist or thinks about these things racially, but your neighbor, your r co-worker, your cousin, well that's a different story. And the numbers tell that story.

When asked about your most people you know, 44% of all respondents and 41% of Democratic primary voters said that Wright would be a factor. So depending on how well people know their neighbors and how well they know or how much they want to tell the truth about themselves, a quarter to almost half of the electorate could be casting their vote in some part based on Rev. Wright.

Obama's numbers are holding up in the polling. That does not bode well, however. Polls don't pick Presidents and respondents know that.

The Malkinization of Andrew Sullivan

2008-05-05T13:32:00.004-04:00

Back when Andrew Sullivan used the full portion of his brain, he would hand out Malkin Awards for offensively hyperbolized comments on the blogosphere. Sadly, his blog has become all Malkin, all the time. I wonder if he has any shame left. After this entry, the answer is sadly no.

A reader writes:
I have to share your Dissent of the Day's sentiment, though for different reasons. I'd given some thought to the possibility you propose, but then I began imagining the liberties our current Vice President has taken with regard to the powers of his office--terrible, and disturbing, precedents. I know you'd agree. I'm not and have never been among those spouting the she-had-Vince-Foster-murdered meme, but we've all been witnesses to the Clintons' hunger for power, their sense of entitlement--remember the "inevitability" meme? Why feed that by granting her the vice-presidency? To put her a step away from the Presidency, though it would certainly be a magnanimous gesture on Obama's part, would be, I fear, far too much temptation. She--both directly and through those closest to her--has shown herself to be far less magnanimous, especially toward those whom she feels "owe" her and her husband.
She's willing to be destructive in the quest for power;

Sullivan takes the cowardly route of letting another person make this horrible accusation, but he chooses to reprint an accusation that is to the point that Hillary Clinton is so evil that if she were Vice-President, she might plot to kill Obama evoking the memory of Vince Foster in the process.

Good Lord, Andrew. You have the audacity to any time Hillary does something conservative (forget your champagne flute clinking over your fellow Etonian conservative Boris the Lout) to compare her to Rove. Yet here you are not channeling the spirit of Rove but Dan Burton.

Pathetic. Truly pathetic.

One thing is obvious between this and Andrew's hysterical pre-war support for the war. Once Andrew commits his heart, he's absolutely useless.

The Saudi Arabia of Coal

2008-05-04T14:30:00.001-04:00

Let's watch the green Obama-philes spin this: (NBC/Meet the Press)

You know, I've said the same thing about coal. I have a aggressive goal of reducing carbon emissions, and coal is a dirty fuel right now. But if we can figure out how to sequester carbon and burn clean coal, we're the Saudi Arabia of coal, and I don't think that we can dismiss out of hand the use of coal as part of our energy mix. Here is the beginning of my post.

McCain to outsource VP?

2008-05-04T14:07:00.002-04:00

Andrew Sullivan reports that Bobby Jindal might be on McCain's shortlist.

Louisana Governor Bobby Jindal addresses the National Press Club May 2, 2008 in Washington, DC. Political observers have been speculating about Jindal, the first Indian-American elected governor of Louisana, being a possible vice presidential running mate for GOP candidate Sen. John McCain (R-AZ). Jindal lead McCain on a tour of about a dozen blocks of the Lower Ninth Ward during a campaign stop in New Orleans last week. By Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.

Obama's commitment to the Church

2008-05-04T14:01:00.002-04:00

On NBC's Meet the Press with quizmaster Tim Russert, Obama stated repeatedly his "commitment" to Trinity Church. He said this in response to queries establishing his early recognition that Wright was a poisonous political force. While it is good that at least someone close to Obama recognized that Wright was political and socially toxic, the question has to be raised - If Obama is so committed to Trinity Church why did he not seek Wright's removal?

Steelers release KR Dorien Bryant

2008-05-02T22:22:00.002-04:00

The details of this should be interesting, if not very disappointing.

The Steelers released their first rookie, one of their most promising undrafted players.

Dorien Bryant, a punt returner from Purdue, failed his physical. The Steelers likely will sign someone to replace him. They did not say why he failed.

It's Official - Boris is Mayor

2008-05-02T19:09:00.002-04:00

This does not bode well for moose and squirrel. And kudo's to Anna Prickard at the Guardian. Her liveblogging throughout the past twelve hours has been absolutely hilarious and addictive. She couldn't go home and I couldn't stop reading.

11.51pm. In the evening. Nearly midnight.

Full results. TOTAL FIRST PREFERENCE VOTES
BNP 69,710
UKIP 22,422
Sian Berry/Green 77,374
Christian Choice: 39,249
Left List: 16,796
BORIS JOHNSON/Con 1,043,761
KEN LIVINGSTONE/Labour 893,877
Winston McKenzie (ind): 5389
Matt O'Connor (English Democrats): 10,695
BRIAN PADDICK/libdem: 236,685

Because there was no one person with over 50% of the total vote, the two with the most (Ken and Bozza) went to second preference votes.

FINAL FINAL TOTAL:

Boris: 1,168,738
Ken: 1,028,966

So there we have it.

Boris Johnson is the next mayor of London.

He'd like to thank his wife, and his brilliant campaign team, and the many Conservative activists that made this all possible. He'd like to thank the police. He would like to tell Ken that he thinks he has been 'a very considerable public servant', and then says nice things about him. Ken smiles, stiffly.

He's Boris. And he's now your mayor, London. Enjoy.
The rest of us will sit here and watch.

And here is the rest of it.

Where's Katherine Harris when you need her?

2008-05-02T17:43:00.002-04:00

I'm feeling better about our electoral system. It's now after 10 in Britain and they're still counting the votes in yesterday's election for mayor. This is just one city. And they only had 45% turnout and that was an almost 25% improvement over the last election. They're incompetent and apathetic. We are indeed two countries separated by a common language. And here is the rest of it.

Clean-up Aisle 5

2008-05-02T13:20:00.001-04:00

The DC Madame has committed suicide. Dan Burton must be relieved that Republicans not Bill Clinton were involved in this. Do you know how tough it would be simulate a hanging with a watermelon?

Suck it Cleveland! 30 Rock Line of the Night

2008-05-02T12:58:00.003-04:00

"There was actually a tornado in Cleveland last week. Destroyed an entire city block. 3 bowling alleys, a liquor store, and the liquor store museum."

Runner-up:

"I'd rather work for an American car company than jump on that sinking ship." - Jack Donaghy on taking a job from his "friends in the Bush Administration."

We later learn - . "MSNBC has confirmed that former GE executive Jack Donaghy will be named by President Bush the new Homeland Security Director of Crisis and Weather Management."

Electability

2008-05-02T12:49:00.002-04:00

Colbert and Carell's Even Stephven was easily the most reliably hilarious segment of The Daily Show. Carell is far out of Comedy Central's price range, so Colbert has downsized the debate by one. Once again, he is the men for the job.

The"If you think his preacher hates America, you should hear his Imam" line has to be a favorite to make one of the FoxNews funnies on either Hume's Friday show or Wallace's Sunday show?

Red Ken Death Watch

2008-05-02T12:39:00.004-04:00

As of 5:00 GMT, the Guardian is reporting;

5pm: Five hours of waiting and the closest we've got to hard fact-based information is the fact that it was raining in London. May still be, I wouldn't know, but will keep you updated on the matter if the BBC political correspondents mention it.

They are warning that anything concrete could still be a few hours away.

There is nothing to confirm the rumour that Livingstone has spent the day on the phone with Robert Mugabe.

Beware of Environmental Overreach

2008-05-02T10:33:00.004-04:00

Polling in Britain indicate strong opposition to increased taxes to combat global climate change. Government efforts to increase revenues in the form of environmental tariffs no doubt played a key role in Labour's humiliating third place finish in yesterday's council elections. Among the casualties appear to London's controversial Mayor Ken Livingstone, also known as Red Ken for his leftist bent and most recently his London Congestion Tax (see Top Gear clip earlier in the week).

Greedy governments and overeager greenies do a disservice to their cause to check corporate excess which is indeed an important one. The extreme environmentalist utopia of a pre-industrialized society is a farcical as it was when conservatives and agrarian socialists teetered on romantically about the loss of pastoral England and other rubbish. Likewise, energy companies and corporations have proven themselves time and time again willing to pollute our air and water until they choke they very life out of us. In case we have forgotten, China and India are there to remind us.

Is it too much for either side to approach us honestly and responsibly?

Car buyers take matters into their own hands

2008-05-02T09:15:00.006-04:00

Detroit fiercely lobbied Congress to not impose stricter mileage standards on their fleets. However, consumers may not be as cooperative as Congress. In record numbers, they are turning to smaller, more fuel efficient cars and largely imports like the Honda Fit and Toyota Yaris. Stop me if this sounds familiar. Detroit put all of their hopes into continued SUV sales. The cheap to build, expensive to sell truck-based platforms brought in equally large profits. However, $3.50-$4.00 gas may have put these dinosaurs on the endangered species list. Where will that leave Detroit?

Detroit has access to quality small car designs which they offer in Europe where mileage standards are stricter, but they have been reluctant to bring these models to the states. Ford has been somewhat different. Their Focus has strong European bloodlines and is a domestic success.

With federal fuel-economy regulations increasing to 31.6 miles per gallon by 2015, car companies have another incentive to speed development of smaller vehicles.

If Detroit expects to remain competitive, they will need to hit those fuel numbers much sooner.

Rangers into the UEFA Finals (0-0) (4-2 pens)

2008-05-01T18:27:00.005-04:00

After a frustrating two hours of football in Florence's Stadio Artemio Franchi, Nacho Novo buried his penalty past Sebestien Frey to finally defeat Fiorentina. Walter Smith refused to commit to an attack with only one striker on the pitch throughout most of the match and Rangers were plagued by Belgian referee Frank De Bleeckere who was content to reward the Italians for their incessant enhancement while ignoring their repeated cheap shots. All four yellows and one red went against the tourists.

Fiorentina brought Vieri off the bench at 79th minute. Smith countered with Novo at 81. Novo was the only sign of a Rangers attack while Vieri failed to convert on several opportunities. Novo's coupling with Rangers' solitary striker was negated when Daniel Cousins saw red for a second yellow in the second half of extra time after being provoked by Fiorentina captain Liverani.

After 210 minutes of goalless footy, prospects for that to change looked good but bleak for Rangers. Sebastien Frey is France's future keeper while Neil Alexander isn't even Walter Smith's first choice. It showed on the first volley, Frey made a smart save on Barry Ferguson while Alexander was unable to stop Kuzmanovic despite guessing right. Whittaker buried his shot to get Rangers on the scoreboard, but Montivello made Alexander look silly putting Rangers down 1-2. Bleak just became bleaker. Walter isn't taking chances on any more islanders. Papac levels and then hope! Alexander blocks Liverani. Hemdani puts his shot into the back of the net. Up comes Vieri who puts the ball over the crossbar. The Old Man has Failed! Exultation as Ranger fans across the world exhale two quiet syllables. No-Vo. Up comes the Spaniards and Rangers are going to to Manchester!

Walter Smith is God!

2008-05-01T17:42:00.004-04:00

This should have been obvious after what Walter Smith did with the Scottish national team. Smith inherited a shell of a team ater disastrous reign of Bernie Vogt, the least popular German to land in Scotland since Hess. Smith instantly restored respectability to close out the World Cup qualifiers. He then nearly took the team through a true "Group of Death" in the European qualifiers going up against the likes of Italy, France, Ukraine, and Georgia.

Scotland was leading the group when Walter Smith took on another rescue operation. This time it was his old club Rangers who were in chaos after the Paul LeGuen era. In PLG's first year, Hearts broke through the Old Firms lock on Scotland's two Champions League slots finishing third in the SPL. Midseason into his second year, it looked no better and Sir David Murray pulled the plug and called in Walter Smith. Smith rallied the team to a second place finish in the SPL. So far this year, Smith has won the CIS Cup, is in the finals for the Scottish Cup and is currently within 5 points of winning the SPL with three games in hand.

But Smith's greatest creation has been Rangers' European saga. He deftly led Rangers through the group stage and into seeming disaster being drawn against three league champions - Lyon, Barcelona, and Stuttgart. Off the mark, Rangers beat Lyon in France, Stuttgart in Glasgow and drew Barcelona in Glasgow. The gas ran out against Lyon at Ibrox and Rangers sputtered to a third place finish. Still this was good enough to land Rangers into the UEFA Cup group stage.

Rangers started of by knocking out Panathinaikos on away goals. Werder Bremen, Sporting Lisbon fell in succession and today Rangers took down Fiorentina in penalties. They will play Zenit St. Petersburg in the finals at City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, England. Only a fool would underestimate Zenit after they thoroughly took apart Bayern Munich earlier today, but only a fool would underestimate Walter Smith. And here is the rest of it.

Congratulations to Andrew Sullivan

2008-05-01T14:41:00.001-04:00

The Telegraph has rated him as the 17th most influential pundit in the United States. Of course, he's six behind Steven Colbert at 11 who is playing a character. And here is the rest of it.

Roethlisberger gives cold shoulder to new weapons

2008-05-01T13:20:00.004-04:00

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger did not show the joy one would expect from a quarterback who had just been given the second highest ranked running back in the draft and one of the highest rated wide receivers - a receiver who meets specifically the criteria that he was on record requesting earlier in the spring.

As leader of the team, Big Ben has an obligation to respect those around him and he has played this game very well in the past to the point of praising the offensive line's objectively abysmal performance. In the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Roethlisberger spoke of the people on he team already and how the new guys would have to find ways to fit into the team.

"We have guys. It's not like we don't have a running back. We have a couple great ones. Same with wide receiver. We got guys. There's no real rush to push anybody into a starting spot.

"If they develop into it, I guess they develop into it. We've seen it too many times on any team with any player in the league -- anybody can be good, anybody can be bad...."

"I've got my guys out there. I've got my receivers who I've been working with, Limas will have to work his way in. For the first day or so [of minicamp] I won't be throwing too many passes to him unless they work him with the first group."

I believe this will be correctly read as Ben being diplomatic towards the team's veteran although it will be interesting to see if the new players take it that way. Ben was less diplomatic discussing receiver earlier this year.

"I'm always going to ask for a tall receiver," Roethlisberger said. "That's just me. Our receivers are unbelievable, but our tallest guy might be Hines? Or Santonio? Hines is going to say he's 6 foot, but he's 5-11, now."

"It's nice to have a bailout guy, you know when you're in trouble and you just kind of throw it up. In the red zone its nice to have a guy like that. Obviously, we have a guy like Nate who can jump out of this world. He can jump so high. It's nice to have that.

"But to have a big guy who can create mismatches -- the same thing happened when Plax was here. So much presence went to Plax's side just because he's a big, good receiver, that Hines was always open or Antwaan [Randle El]. I just think it would open stuff up for us a lot more."

Pro Bowl wide receiver and all-time Steeler reception leader Hines Ward came under fire two years ago when he was allegedly unwilling to take first round draft pick wide receiver Santonio Holmes under his wing for saying,""Somebody who wants help, I'll try and help him." This blew up on talk radio and the internet with Ward being depicted as arrogantly making Holmes come to him for help.

This was despite reports that Ward was working with Holmes extensively after practice.

Holmes, though, has been getting some good tutelage. Ward stays after practice almost every day and works with the rookie receiver, sometimes pretending to a defensive back and showing Holmes how to use his arms to protect the ball. After meetings, Ward will go over the playbook with Holmes.

It will be interesting to see how much of a tempest blows up from this. It's not likely there would have been much as Ben hasn't the enemies that Hines Ward has in the talk radio community. Still, he's very fortunate the Penguins are one game away from a second consecutive sweep and advancing to the Eastern Conference finals and are sucking all of the oxygen out of the tent.

Pump up the Volume

2008-05-01T11:41:00.007-04:00

The Washington Post points to a "slew of economists" critical of the Clinton and McCain proposals to impose a gas tax holiday throughout the summer

However, the economist can't seem to agree on the why. Some claim that the gas tax suspension does little to change the bottom line while others say that increasing demand we drive prices higher and worsen global warming.

Obama belittles the savings as only "30 cents a day, which is less than you can buy a cup of coffee for at 7-Eleven." Or in Obama's case, you would need to save for over two weeks to afford just one venti latte.

Harvard economist N. Gregory Mankiw:

"What you learn in Economics 101 is that if producers can't produce much more, when you cut the tax on that good the tax is kept . . . by the suppliers and is not passed on to consumers," he said.

The Brooking Institution's Leonard Burman:

"Every summer, the refiners are running full out. If the price fell, people would want to drive more and there would be shortages," he said. "It's a basic economic principle that if the supply is fixed, the price is going to be determined by demand."

House Whip Steny Hoyer:

"The oil companies would just raise their prices."

The non-attributed economists, according to The Post:

They argue that cutting the tax would drive up demand for gas at a time when the supply is tight, which would mean that the price at the pump would drop by much less than 18 cents per gallon.

Here's the problem. Mankiw, Burman, and Hoyer have all said there will not be any savings either due to corporate greed or natural economic forces. Where is the increased demand coming from then? You simply cannot say there will be increased demand without recognizing a drop in prices.

The core of their argument and seemingly Obama's is that higher gas prices are good. Now that's as bad politics as Clinton's argument is good politics.

However, Obama isn't to be left behind in the pander derby.

Obama is proposing to reduce the cost of driving by suspending purchases for the country's Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

This would lower the cost of gas by increasing the supply of oil. But wait? Wouldn't lowering gas prices increase the demand just like removing the sales tax? Wouldn't that in turn put more co2 into the atmosphere. Wouldn't it also jeopardize oil stocks if needed in the future? This is not pandering?

Obama is also a firm supporter of ethanol which is popular in the midwest but has been driving up food costs as more land is dedicated to ethanol production than food production. So with ethanol we continue to see high fuel prices and high food prices.

Things are tough all over

2008-05-01T11:29:00.002-04:00

Exxon/Mobil is declaring only a $10.9 billion dollar profit. Let's all take a moment to reflect on their suffering.

Exxon Mobil, the world’s largest publicly traded oil company, said Thursday that its first-quarter net income rose 17 percent, boosted by surging oil prices.

But even as it posted the second-most profitable quarter in its history, Exxon’s earnings managed to disappoint investors because of a drop in oil production. Shares were down more than 3 percent Thursday after the company missed earnings estimates by a dime a share.

The Horrors of Nipple Chafing

2008-05-01T10:38:00.003-04:00

This first came to the world's attention when it struck Andy Bernard (Ed Helms) in the first Michael Scott's Dunder Mifflin Scranton Meredith Palmer Memorial Celebrities Awareness Pro-Am Fun Run For the Cure. Andy is in yellow with the telltale nipple bleeding.

Now it is affecting celebrities such as Amy Smart seen here filming Crank 2, a new film with Jeremy Stratham. Thanks to London's The Sun.

The Magic Number in North Carolina? 33

2008-04-30T19:11:00.002-04:00

If the African-American percentage of voters in the North Carolina is under 33% or if Obama's support among white voters is under 33%, Hillary Clinton can pull off a campaign changing upset.

Damned if you do

2008-04-30T18:07:00.004-04:00

Talk radio buffoon Ed Schultz has attacked Hillary Clinton through this election anytime she or any of her surrogates raised a hand against Obama. Just now on MSNBC's Race for the White House with David Gregory, criticized her for not attacking Obama's credibility over his Wright separation by calling it signs of a defeatist Clinton campaign. No seriously. You could make this up, but it would be cliche.

ED SCHULTZ, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: David, my headline is the defeated Clinton camp hesitates to pounce on this. Where are the surrogates?

As Pat Buchanan talked about the credibility problem, you can make the case that Barack Obama has done a 180 on his reverend. So where is the Clinton camp on this? Why aren‘t they pouncing on this and attacking on this issue? I think...

GREGORY: What‘s your take—you think they think there‘s a danger there?

(CROSSTALK)

SCHULTZ: They don‘t want to say too many bad things about Barack Obama.

GREGORY: Right. They think there‘s a danger here in getting involved in this.

SCHULTZ: Absolutely, no question about it. I think the Clinton surrogates are starting to pull back a little bit and they‘re not as attacking as they used to be. And this is a perfect opportunity for them to go after his credibility. I think they‘re showing a defeatist attitude.

Dick Trickle for Flomax? How did they miss this?

2008-04-30T18:00:00.001-04:00

Chelski goes home - to Moscow

2008-04-30T17:12:00.003-04:00

Chelsea wins 4-3 on aggregate (3-2 AET). Putin's bestest buddy gets to host a Champions League final in his country. If I was Sir Alex, I'd be wary of strangers carrying umbrellas.

Pander Watch

2008-04-30T13:47:00.004-04:00

Andrew Sullivan and Thomas Friedman have called "pandering" on Clinton and McCain's gas tax holiday proposal. Friedman makes a solid case that the tax holiday achieves little but over emphasizes the negative effect on behavior. You can't say the gas tax is so small that removing it won't save consumers any real money and then turn around and say that it will negatively impact behavior. He raises a fair point that even using the windfall tax money to finance the plan is a foolish use of revenue for posturing, but is it really empty?

Now Sullivan and Friedman have rightfully criticized the Bush's inept handling of Katrina, Some have even suggested that the President flying to New Orleans and passing out water bottles would have shown leadership. Really? Isn't that little more than posturing according to this argument? Surely the President's presence would cost millions upon millions and disrupt the work effort. The leadership is in the making of the effort despite the otherwise foolishness of the gesture. Giving people the relief of 18.4 cents per gallon isn't much less helpful than the bottle of water the President would be handing to a man who just lost his home.

Friedman makes a solid case which I have also made about the need for an energy policy and we largely agree. Sullivan's criticism is discouragingly vapid in comparison. This is sadly Sullivan's lowest ebb since he imitated Bush's Scotty in the run up to the war. No, not Barnie, Blair.

Hillary is evil because she panders. Obama doesn't pander because pandering involves proposals and solutions of which he has very few. The people want change and what does Obama promise but ethereal change. It is open ended pandering? What kind of change does Obama specifically propose? No one knows, but it will certainly be different. Much like Obama, you can imagine the change however you want to imagine it. Details about policy, like details about Obama, slowly but surely destroy the illusion.

Can he do a bee?

2008-04-30T13:23:00.001-04:00

Killer Bees on the loose in Sarasota County

2008-04-30T12:46:00.010-04:00

County workers who went to relocate a large hive of what was believed to be European bees soon discovered that the hive was in fact Africanized killer bees. The mission profile at this point change from rescue to extermination. However, the African bees had already abandoned the hive. It is not clear how the bees escaped the perimeter. Damn it, Chloe! I said a hard perimeter!

After Tuesday morning's extermination, though, it was clear that the beehive had been largely evacuated.

Hundreds of bees dropped from the hive after it was sprayed with pesticide, but it was not the 40,000 or so such a hive can house...

"It looks like this nest was dying," he added. "The old queen took off with the rest of the hive."

The Moose out of front should've told you

2008-04-30T11:30:00.006-04:00

In a rare instance in his presidency, 43 began sounding like 41. Talking about the economy, Bush explained that there was nothing he could do and nothing he really would do and even if there was Democrats wouldn't let him. It was classic 41 "na gonna do aht." To a fair degree, he is right. The economy is still struggling from years of devaluing our currency which is now revealing itself in a myriad of economic problems. Granted it was useful to prop up American manufacturing numbers which at this stage is the only thing propping up the economy. However, they are also exasperating the gas price crisis.

For nearly his entire administration, Bush resisted conservation. Vice-President rejected conservation as a national policy; instead referring to it as a "personal virtue." It took six years to overturn a tax loophole awarding "small business" from buying the heaviest of SUVs. While Bush fought against tightening CAFE standards, the tax code was rewarding people for buying the worst offenders.

A coalition of Democrats from auto manufacturing states and related interests fought endlessly to protect the SUV from any form of regulation - fuel mileage, safety standards, emissions - SUVs were sacrosanct.

Instead of being in position for Detroit to meet CAFE standards by 2010, we're now stuck with seeing progress by 2015, 2020. Bush and Cheney did this to protect his numerous allies in the energy industry. The Democrats did it to protect jobs in Michigan. However it does little to help Detroit in the long run.

Japanese and European auto makers have been operating under stricter standards than we're proposing for the future for years. Honda sets their own fleet mileage and emission standards. If California had it's way tomorrow, Honda wouldn't miss a beat. Meanwhile Detroit is terrified of being forced to play catch-up.

However, gas prices will force them to play catch-up and once again they'll be caught wrong-footed. When gas is pushing $5 a gallon, consumers will be looking for the most fuel efficient cars possible and they'll be looking largely to the Japanese brands.

The recent report of consumer spending does not bode well for an economic recovery.

Personal consumption grew just 1.0% in the first quarter compared with 2.3% growth in the fourth quarter of 2007. The decline was led by a 6.1% decrease in purchases of durable goods and a 1.3% decrease in nondurable goods.

With the devaluing of the dollar, increased transportation costs, stagnant wages and tightening money markets, it is very difficult for the American consumer to keep spending as they had throughout the decade. It is somewhat ironic for many conservatives to bemoan reckless borrowing while promoting reckless consumerism. The two go hand in hand headlong into a wall.

Bush has never been one to responsibility for any of his actions or lack thereof and there's no reason to think he'll start now. The approach to the dip in consumer spending is to throw money into the economy. While it is a step above simply printing the money, it's not much of a step. If the recipients are sensible, they'll take the money and pay down debt and given the fear over the economy I think they will.

Republicans have always rejected the idea of throwing money at a problem. In this case, they're just throwing it into the air. Targeted tax breaks would have been much more effective to address some of the fundamental problems in the economy.

Increase incentives to buy more fuel efficient cars. That will save consumers money for years to come and help reduce our dependency on foreign oil.
Increase incentives to make homes more energy efficient by replacing old HVAC systems, insulation, windows, light bulbs, or renewable energy sources. This will not only save homeowners thousands every year, but will reduce the strain on our increasingly overtaxed energy grid.
Promote loans and other incentive programs for the development of manufacturing plants in the United States producing solar and wind power technology.

Top Gear have a go at Red Ken, the Mini Clubman & more

2008-04-29T18:37:00.002-04:00

... blow up a G-Wiz

and could that be.. Mrs. Stig?

Season 10, Episode 10.

Out of context?

2008-04-29T17:53:00.004-04:00

The Republican National Committee has a new found respect for context. So much so they have gone to court to stop a DNC commercial featuring McCain's famous "100 years" comment. Despite the fact that the spot uses video of McCain making the statement, the RNC claims that the ad is false because it takes McCains words out of context.

This is a new concern for Republicans who didn't feel compelled to explain Kerry's insipid "I voted for it before I voted against it" comment which they ran into the ground at the tail of a Bush campaign spot.

If you say something stupid, you have to deal with the effect. Kerry found that out. Obama got the message with his "bitter" comment. Now McCain is learning it.

To paraphrase Colin Powell, 'you said it, you own it.'

This time next week

2008-04-29T17:21:00.004-04:00

If I was in a campaign right now, I would want it to be Hillary's. She has all of the momentum. Now with her plan to subsidize a gas tax holiday on the back of the oil companies she has the inside line on a dominant issue. Obama is vulnerable on the energy front. He voted for the Bush/Cheney energy bill and is close to energy interests in Illinois.

Obama continues to bleed support among white voters. Short of one of her far too common campaign gaffes, Hillary continues to ascent in Indiana and wins going away. Hillary is in a statistical dead-head in Illinois and primary independents have tended to break towards Hillary. The majority of undecideds tend to be women who will break towards Clinton as they have consistently throughout the campaign.

North Carolina is the question. If either candidate is able to sweep both states, they will have delivered a near fatal blow to the other. As much as the Obama campaign tried to spin Pennsylvania as a Clinton fait accompli, North Carolina is the same for Obama.

Obama has two decisive advantages in North Carolina. It has a larger black population (by percent) than either Pennsylvania or Ohio, but notably smaller than other deep south black states. Possibly more decisive is North Carolina's open primary which allows Republicans and Independents to vote in the Democratic primary. Obama has done better in these states.

If John and/or Elizabeth Edwards would endorse Clinton it might push fence sitting upper income, higher education white voters into her camp. Obama is counting on holding to those voters

Half way to an all England affair

2008-04-29T16:39:00.009-04:00

Paul Scholes has put Manchester United into the Champions League finals (0-1, 0-1 aggregate) against either Liverpool or Chelsea. An absolutely stunning goal.

If/When YouTube removes this, I will replace it with a still.

This time it's personal

2008-04-29T15:05:00.005-04:00

Obama struck back against the narcissistic rantings of Jeremiah Wright with all of the wrath and fury David Axelrod could stuff into seven minutes. After being the last person outside of China (no youtube) to see Rev. Wright's morning show, Obama returned the favor and threw the right reverend under the bus and backed over him several times. It was a very convincing performance that will go a long way to helping those who want to stay with Obama stay with Obama. What it does for the truly undecided is uncertain.

Obama saw the same problems I commented on earlier this morning. He recognized the corrosive effect that Wright is having in the black community and how Wright stands completely counter to everything that made his candidacy so popular.

The only question is what took so long? When the Wright videos first began surfacing Obama initially declared he wasn't there when he made the comments. In his "race" speech, Obama admitted that he had been there when comments had been made although today he seemed to return to his first position.

It's tough to imagine the show that Wright put on at the National Press Club on Monday or before the NAACP over the weekend being a one-off. It's entirely consistent with the Wright we saw in the videos. If Obama never saw this before, he must have caught the Pastor on off-days. To hear Wright talk about it, this is part and parcel of not only his style but all black churches which Obama rightly repudiated as unjust appropriation.

The Obama supporters are already lining up to patch up the numerous holes in Obama's repudiation. Andrew Sullivan was among the first and most creative.

Cynics may scoff - and certainly will. They will parse every nuance and try to paint Obama as another cynical, positioning pol. I don't believe it. He has more sincerity and integrity than the vast majority of politicians, more honesty, and more resilience in a very tough spot.

You have to admire that. It has all the piety of a Nader voter. I wonder if Obama loses -- might the sun itself go out?

The Gas Tax Debate

2008-04-29T11:40:00.006-04:00

On general principle, I am opposed to a gas tax holiday. The federal gas tax is comparatively small at 18.4 cents compared the gas price increases we have seen - such as the 9.5 cent increase in average gas prices over the past week. At $4 a gallon on a 10 gallon or $40 fill-up, the savings are only $1.84.

My concerns over the tax holiday are two-fold. First, they deplete needed money from the federal highway maintenance fund but also the higher gas prices are having a positive effect on behavior. People are driving less, finding other means of transportation, car pooling more and buying more fuel efficient vehicles. Saving 18 cents a gallon isn't going to adjust behavior because the savings are so minimal. People will save exponentially more by adjusting their behavior than suspending the draft tax.

Even if a family decides to drive from Pennsylvania to Florida and average 20 mpg, they will only save $18.40 on the 2,000 mile round trip. If that family drove a car that instead averaged 30 mpg, they would save $133.

The loss of highway maintenance funds is a real concern. However, Hillary Clinton's plan has addressed that in some respects by making the difference in windfall taxes on oil companies. The only concern will be how to enforce oil companies from making up the lost money at the pump by punishing consumers more.

McCain's plan is reckless pandering. Obama's non-plan is tone deaf. Hillary's plan provides is pandering but less reckless and also achieves the added benefit of assigning blame. When oil companies are posting record profits and rewarding executives with massive salaries and bonuses, consumers don't need to look too far to find out where the problem lies.

Still it is a short term solution that achieves little. Congress needs to become more aggressive in providing incentives for people who buy cars that are environmental cleaner and more fuel efficient. They also need a long term plan to provide relief for truckers and delivery drivers via the tax code and providing loans to upgrade to more efficient and cleaner diesel engines.

Revisiting the 3rd round

2008-04-29T11:06:00.003-04:00

The one area of question I have in the draft was in the third round (as it often seems to be with Colbert). The Steelers took one of their trademark DE/OLB projects Bruce Davis out of UCLA. With Haggans leaving and Woodley spending noteworthy time on the injury list last year, the need to acquire depth at the OLB position is a legitimate concern. Was it more of a concern than the needs on the defensive line? I would argue not and I think the Steelers would as well.

In fact, Bob Labriola acknowledged that Steelers traded down with the Giants after Seattle snagged Texas A & M defensive tackle Red Bryant two spots ahead of the Steelers in the 4th round and they were prepared to draft him. The Steelers had invited Maryland defensive tackle Dre Moore to the South Side for a visit, but he went in the middle of the fourth round to Tampa Bay so we never had a chance at him in the 4th.

I would have thought that Dre Moore was a second to third round candidate. Apparently most of the league disagreed with that opinion. When the Steelers came up in the third round, I thought they would draft Moore or possibly Pittsburgh native, Penn State corner Justin King who had a disappointing senior year but still possessed elite speed. Instead they went with Davis.

I would have thought that Davis would be available in the 4th round and Moore wouldn't. Now we don't know where the Steelers had Moore ranked. They might have not even had a 4th round grade on him so all of this could be moot. They worked him out. That doesn't mean they liked what they saw. Apparently not third round enough at least.

The other thing we can't know is would Davis had lasted to our pick in the 4th round. What we do know is three LB's were chosen in that period. The Browns traded up to draft ILB Beau Bell who is nothing like Davis. Houston drafted Xavier Adibi a smallish, pure linebacker from Virginia Tech. Now Tennessee did draft a DE/OLB project William Hayes out of Winston Salem. Davis is much higher related than Hayes so it is possible that Tennessee would have drafted Davis instead. Then again, Jeff Fisher is a USC alum so who knows?

Still, you had a very good draft when this is the only question and the debate is this close.

If you want to get a bad reputation, that's nobody's business but your own. All we're trying to do is help.

2008-04-29T10:05:00.003-04:00

I've been asked now on several occasions about the origin of the blog's name. Of the hundreds of unforgettable lines in Joseph Heller's immortal Catch-22, "Give everybody eat!" by Major -----deCoverly thus ending the Glorious Loyalty Oath Crusade might be my favorite. Following is an excerpt from Catch-22. Thanks to The Sheila Variations. And here is the rest of it.

Grannie's Revenge

2008-04-29T08:41:00.006-04:00

The Rev. Wright did right by Obama's maternal grandmother and returned the favor by repeatedly throwing the presidential hopeful under the bus in an hour long feast of self-indulgence.

If the good reverend stopped short of accusing Obama of pandering to white bigotry in his speech on race, he still left brake dust on Obama's shoes. (Btw, it is good to see that at least one other person to the left of Franco apart from myself found that speech to be more pandering than inspiring.)

The Rev. Wright is a particular problem to Obama because it strikes to the chore of the Obama candidacy. Obama is where he is today for some very basic reasons. He's not Hillary Clinton who the left has never forgiven for the Iraq War vote and he wasn't in a legislative body where a war vote would have entailed anything other than posturing.

That allowed Obama to get his foot in the door. He closed the deal with much of America by marketing himself as a new breed of politician - bipartisan and not tainted by the politics of opportunism or cynicism. A breath of fresh air. Well, the air kept blowing. He was a new breed from a new generation. All of that divisive culture war stuff from the 60s and 70s. Not his bag, babe. And he was post-racial. Finally a black politician who only happened to be black.

Obama's skin color and biography wasn't a liability. It was an asset. He was a candidate of the world. Instilling respect among leaders all over the globe, proof that Americans had finally grown up.

And then came Wright.Wright's performance the past few days decimates Obama's defense that the Rev. Wright you see on YouTube and FoxNews isn't the man he knew. After this, it's almost impossible not to picture Wright without a "God Damn America" bumper sticker.

Wright confirmed the right wing whispers about the Afrocentric and Liberation Theology aspects of the church. Say what you will about these movements, but they are rather rooted in the sixties.

Rev. Wright seems much comfortable with an Edwards campaign discussion of "Two Americas" although I think they'd disagree on the terms. Everything with Wright is black versus white. There is none of the unity or reconciliation - the overcoming of racial tension - that Obama represents. Wright mocked the notion of reconciliation as clearly as he mocked Obama.

Which takes us to the pews. If we take Obama at his word regarding who is and what he represents, how could he endure this man and this church? We got the grandmother answer and that's fine, but that's blood. This is a church. Wright is making a political statement at the pulpit, shouldn't a man like Obama have made his statement by leaving his pews?

If Obama believes what he says he believes, he has to recognize that men like Wright are poisonous. If there is ever going to be the type of reconciliation that Obama represents, the ideas of men like Wright must be challenged and defeated. Yet he sat there and did nothing.

Obama you're a protestant. We leave churches and have internal squabbles all the time. It's in our DNA.

The out is just this and it might be the most honest approach. Admit that he joined the church to advance himself politically. If you want to make a name for yourself in Chicago politics as a black candidate, it was the place you had to be. It smacks of opportunism and cynicism but it's better than the alternatives which are the big issues. No one is ever going to believe the St. Obama notion in three months anyway with the Resco scandal and whatever else lies in the RNC's oppo book. Even Jesus had friends in the oldest profession.

And in the 8th round, the Pittsburgh Steelers take...

2008-04-28T18:01:00.003-04:00

The Steelers have recorded tremendous success among the undrafted free agent class. Eight rounders Willie Parker and James Harrison have been pro bowl selections. Dan Kreider, 8th rounder from Univ. of New Hampshire was one of the league's premier lead blockers. Even Hank Fraley, 8th rd center from Robert Morris University who didn't stick out of training camp with the Steelers has played the better part of a decade for the Eagles and Browns. Of course, their greatest UFA would have to be Donnie Shell, the perennial Hall of Fame candidate and Steel Curtain alumni from South Carolina State University. In 1974, the NFL draft lasted 17 rounds.

So how did Colbert & Co. do this year? Early indications look like there might be some highlights.

The oft-injured and unspectacular Willie Reid whose hands were so uncertain that the Steelers made a last minute trade for Allen Rossum is in for a key training camp battle. Not only was Purdue's Dorien Bryant one of the most dangerous return men in college football, he also led the Big 10 in receptions for three straight seasons - exceeding 80 receptions each season. Bryant also proved to be a devastating runner on reverses. His lateral movement makes him simply terrifying in the open field.

Marshall Center Doug Legursky is a rare specimen as a jumbo sized college center. College football is now dominated by small, technique minded zone blocking centers. The problem is the NFL is full of 350 lb nose tackles waiting to throw these centers at the quarterback. Legursky is 6'1, 320 and incredibly strong. He's short on technique but in the kingdom of the blind, the one eyed pig is king.

Duke's 3-4 OLB Patrick Bailey looked to be a very capable college player on a destitute program. He has the size at 6'4, 235, production and experience, but given his history of injury problem and the depth lining up outside, he'll be lucky to survive the first cut. The lack of a learning curve might spare him to the second cut and an invitation to the practice squad.

Huskie's cornerback Roy Lewis is a very competent collegiate corner. He was team captain and team defensive MVP. He can take over games and make plays on special teams. He has adequate size at 5'11, 185, but times in the 4.5 range. It's to be seen how he fast he plays, but those numbers are slightly superlative to the aging Deshea Townsend, but that is obviously a long shot.

Southern Miss's defensive tackle Martavius Prince has the size the Steelers desperately need at defensive end. At 6'3, 290, Prince is heavier than Smith when he came out of college and could secure one of the open back-up roles at defensive end.

Oklahoma State's Donovan Woods is a strong safety/linebacker project. At 6'2, 235, Woods lead OSU in tackles and was the Defensive MVP in their Insight Bowl win over Indiana. Woods definitely lacks the speed to play safety and at 4.7 in the 40 yard dash barely has the speed to play linebacker. His coverage skills better be remarkable or he'll soon be on the cut list.

Giant wide receiver Micah Rucker from Eastern Illinois could give first year receiver Dallas Baker a battle for the 5th receiver position. At 6'6, 220, he has superlative size and racked up 22 touchdowns over his final two seasons. At EIU's pro day, Rucker ran in the mid 4.5 range which is in the ballpark with Sweed and the other swing forward sized wide receivers.

K Julian Rauch of Appalachian State, DL Jordan Reffett of Washington, TE Dezmond Sherrod of Mississippi State, and CB Travis Williams of East Carolina round out the list.

They're catching on fast

2008-04-28T13:54:00.003-04:00

India is rolling out the fast(er)-paced version of cricket known as Twenty20 to create mass appeal in the form of a professional Indian Premier League. Beer baron Vijay Mallya who founded the league has even imported the Washington Redskins cheerleaders to tantalize the crowds.

They've quickly added petulance and violence to the league - two of the cornerstones of the modern professional athlete.

Spinner Harbhajan Singh has been handed an 11-match ban by the Indian Premier League after pleading guilty to slapping fellow India star Sree Santh.

The suspension will end his involvement in the competition unless his team, Mumbai Indians, reach the semi-finals.

Harbhajan, 27, will also lose his match fees for the whole tournament after the incident in a game last Friday between Mumbai and Santh's Kings XI Punjab.

This is not Harby's first flare up.

Harbhajan faced controversy in January over allegations he called Australia's Andrew Symonds a monkey during the second Test in Sydney.

The off-spinner was eventually cleared of the charge of racial abuse, but found guilty of using abusive language.

Following the incident, Australia's Matthew Hayden described him as "an obnoxious little weed".

Now it all makes sense!

Steelers draft in review

2008-04-28T11:59:00.008-04:00

If you spent Saturday afternoon doing something much more satisfying than watching the NFL Draft and looked at the end result of the Steeler draft, you would be right to conclude they had traded up in the first round and back into the first or at least the early second.And here is the rest of it.The Steelers thought the #3 rater running back might fall into their lap at the 23rd pick in the first round, but this was largely dismissed as wishful thinking. Instead it was the #2 ranked back Rashad Mendenhall, a quick and powerful runner from Illinois who decimated the Big 10 and USC in the Rose Bowl. Running back doesn't appear to the biggest need facing the Steelers and it isn't. That's not to say a running back is a luxury in an era where two backs are the rule and the slight size of the incumbent feature back Willie Parker. Indeed, when Parker broke his leg in the 13th game of the season, the Steelers season was effectively over because Davenport was unable to pick up the mantle.

In the second round, Texas wide receiver Limas Sweed fell to the Steelers without them having to budge. Arguably the highest rated receiver in the draft, Sweed fell due to his abbreviated senior year after he was forced to undergo wrist surgery. The injury was picked up in the 2007 Spring Game but has been ruled to be cleared. Sweed is a tall, gliding receiver in the mold of Plaxico Burress. He has excellent hands and concentration - two skills Burress has never possessed with any degree of consistency.

Head Coach Mike Tomlin addressed criticism over the failure to draft the offensive linemen everyone had identified as their greatest need. On the issue of protecting their $100+m quarterback, Tomlin argued that giving him more weapons achieved the same goal as drafting for the line.

"There are two schools of thought to protect a quarterback," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. "You can get linemen, or you can get him weapons."

To my eye, it's an argument that benefits from necessity. There were few linemen in the first round worthy of excitement. Even still, teams were mortgaging their drafts to get a shot at tweeners and projects like Albert, Otah and Cherilus. Even Sam Baker and in one of the most absurd picks of the draft, Duane Brown were desperate reaches and trade targets. All but Brown were gone by the time the Steelers came up on the clock.

Mendenhall subbing for Parker or vice versa will never give defenses a moment of rest the way Davenport did. Sweed will terrorize the opposite sideline while Ward and Miller can attack from the slots. You can see Tomlin's logic. There is also the argument that I happen to believe in that with the exception of the Mahan mistake at center, the pieces are there to fix the line. We made some poor personal decisions on the line. Mahan wasn't the right candidate to play center. Starks should have never lost right tackle in training camp to Colon, and the Kemoeatu/Simmons battle ended too quickly at right guard and they paid Simmons too much in his extension.

The Steelers had a more productive day two than usual. In the third round, UCLA's DE/OLB Bruce Davis is a classic Steeler 3-4 project. Davis appears to never give up on a play, always know where the ball is, he has filled the need to replace Joey Porter's mouth, and he hates Corso and Herbstreet. So plus one for good taste. Not bad for the 88th overall.

In the fourth round, hey picked up another selection off the IR drafting Texas OT Tony Hills, an athletic former tight end who broke his leg in his senior year, or he would likely have been a day one draft pick. A versatile and intelligent Iowa linebacker in Mike Humpal and speedy safety Ryan Mundy from West Virginia in the final round. But the most intriguing pick of day two has to be Oregon quarterback Dennis Dixon in the fifth. Dixon tore his ACL midseason at which point he had moved the Ducks into a #2 ranking and was a leading Heisman candidate. Dixon has height, speed and agility should they decide to work him at receiver while he provides depth at quarterback.

Back to Business - Football

2008-04-28T11:30:00.004-04:00

A decisive week awaits my favorite clubs - Liverpool FC and Rangers FC. Liverpool has clinched the 4th spot in the Premiership with Everton drawing at home to Aston Villa. Rangers dropping their second consecutive game to Celtic at Celtic Park fell to five points behind in the race for the Scottish title. However, they hold an absurd three games in hand needing only wins in two of them to retake the lead. Rangers also await a tie in the Scottish Cup Final against Queen of the South where they will be prohibitive favorites. And here is the rest of it.

Both clubs face daunting challenges in Europe. Liverpool travel to Stamford Bridge for the return match against Chelsea in the Champions League semi-final. Chelsea pulled out a last second goal off John Arne Risse's head to level the match at 1-1 and pick up a valuable away goal.

Rangers will travel to Italy for the return match against Fiorentina. A massively depleted Rangers squad - lacking their captain Barry Ferguson and Kevin Thomson due to suspension. First choice goalkeeper Allan McGregor, Charlie Adam, Lee McCulloch, Steven Naismith, Chris Burke and DaMarcus Beasley were out with injuries. At the least, they can expect their two midfielders to return from suspension.

A win for Liverpool puts them in the Champions League final for the third time in four years and is their only shot at silverware on the season. A loss effectively ends their season.

A Rangers win keeps them alive for an unprecedented quadruple although Bayern Munich likely awaits in the finals. Rangers have been remarkably effective on the road so far so the Italians have cause to worry - a 1-1 result and they lose. Walter Smith will have his boys attacking from the start.

So it's Go Reds on Wednesday and Go Blue on Thursday.

Welcome to the Jungle, Dino

2007-10-25T09:14:00.000-04:00

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.

Leave it to the Professionals

2007-10-20T10:06:00.001-04:00

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.

Some crow to go with the whine

2007-10-08T11:34:00.000-04:00

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.

Take a picture it will last longer

2007-10-07T11:13:00.000-04:00

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.

The corpse has the floor

2007-10-07T09:02:00.001-04:00

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.

Office Dance Mix

2007-10-06T20:30:00.000-04:00

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.

Upset Saturday

2007-10-06T17:01:00.000-04:00

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.

That's what she said

2007-10-05T11:34:00.001-04:00

Live Office Blogging (conclusion)

2007-10-04T21:50:00.000-04:00

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.

2007-10-04T21:36:00.000-04:00

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.

2007-10-04T21:31:00.000-04:00

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.

2007-10-04T21:06:00.000-04:00

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."

Live Office Blogging

2007-10-04T21:03:00.000-04:00

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.

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

2007-10-04T11:36:00.001-04:00

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.

The Children's Crusade

2007-10-04T10:31:00.000-04:00

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!

Now about Steely McBeam?

2007-10-03T10:07:00.000-04:00

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...

Another Shocker in France

2007-10-02T20:41:00.000-04:00

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?

NBC's foolishness

2007-09-28T15:40:00.000-04:00

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.

Creed Line of the night

2007-09-28T10:12:00.000-04:00

"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