Really?

Watch for yourselves.

First: how did this fool wind up on television? I suppose there are many fools on television, but this one is just downright idiotic. There are so many insensitive jokes one could make here, but comparing anyone to this, well, tool might actually be genuinely insulting.

Second: The Conservative Blogosphere needs to contain it's glee just a bit. When Mr. Magoo says that 'it has no binding power on anything' he's not talking about the Constitution itself, he's talking about the act of reading it out loud. That is purely symbolic- although if it's the first time in 220 years of the history of Congress that it's been read aloud, then I have to say that it's well past time. Subtle reminders never hurt!

Third: The Constitution is confusing because it's more than 100 years old? Hmmm... last time I checked it was still written in English. Tell you what: consider this Resolution 10, Part A: reading the Constitution. I'd like to find out if it's as confusing as it's purported to be.

Snow Joke

Snow troubles in NYC were reportedly a work protest by pissed of Sanitation Workers (unionized of course) over budget cuts to their department. (So says the New York Post, anyway...)

Tell me again, how awesome unions are? First of all: people died. Ambulances couldn't get through because of unplowed streets and people died. Once more, with feeling: people died. Second of all: I have yet to see a tangible benefit from being in a union. Free health insurance? Not for long. The pay I get? Not for long- well, I'm hoping that it'll get frozen instead of cut. Retirement? Hah! Won't see a dime of any pension from any union job- not at my age, which is why I want to start an IRA with the Missus sometime in the next year or so. The Labor Movement, such as it is in this country is eating its lunch off the battles it won yesterday- it wants to live and stay in yesterday and completely ignores just how fiscally untenable the promises that were made them, back in the day actually are. They're putting their precious contracts ahead of actual real life jobs and that to me is an outright betrayal of the workers they claim to represent and it's to the benefit of, naturally, the union bosses.

As for Bloomberg 2012? Kiss that crazy-ass notion goodbye. Unless... well, he could man up and do something truly worthy of the Big Apple: find out if the NY Post is on the level and if it is, fire some Sanitation Workers. But even then... Bloomberg is the worst kind of micro-managing Nanny-Stater I've ever seen. Even if he does decide to tilt at the Presidential windmill, he ain't getting my vote.

Kodachrome...

...officially taken away.

Cedar Rapids

This just ain't right...

Not the movie- I have no problem with the movie. I watched the trailer and anything that makes Cedar Rapids look like a wild place to be can only improve the image of the place. But really? You call the movie 'Cedar Rapids' and you can't even throw it the honor of having the premier? And secondly: you need a tax credit to film a movie in the actual town? I shake my head...

But I'll probably go see the movie...

Pondering 2011

1. Finish my novel. (Yes, I'm going to call it that.)

2. Get inked.

3. Craft and Live A Healthy Lifestyle (Lose 50 pounds, less beer, less soda, etc, etc.)

4. Plant a garden. Learn to love yardwork.

5. Make my own bread. From scratch.

6. Make my own pasta. From scratch.

7. Work On The Book BackLog

8. Write, Tweet, Communicate as much as possible. (#7 and #8 will probably be annual players in this list of yearly goals.)

9. Bring back a golden oldie from 2010: paint a picture on canvas. (Let's throw in getting my photography on. Time to use the old tripod and take a picture or two. On occasion I take good pictures.)

10. Read The Bible. That may seem like an oddly incongruous goal to throw in here, but it's something I've always wanted to do and there are enough arguments about what it says and doesn't say. Time to find out for myself.

11. Get At Least One, Maybe 2 of my languages back up to their fighting weight. Especially Spanish, which I've found is damn hard to try and remember how to speak over a phone.

Iowa 27, Mizzou 24

December is a brand new month and Iowa played one helluva game last night to upset Mizzou in the 2010 Edition of the Insight Bowl. Freshman RB Marcus Coker had a break out performance, rushing for 2 TDs and the defense, although a concern managed not to run out of gas by the end of the game. Micah Hyde's 72-yard interception run back for a TD and a crucial 4th and 6 call towards the end of the 4th that went Iowa's way sealed the deal. Off-the-field distractions? If they were distracting it wasn't really in evidence and the Senior Class got the win they had been craving for a month now and went out on a high note.

2011 is a whole new season and although we're graduating a whole bunch of seniors, we've got young talent coming up and there's no reason I can think of why we can't get to a Bowl Game next year...

The Big Ten starts its Bowl Schedule 1-0. Illinois, you're up next- and Mizzou, it was nice to see you guys again. I'm thinking 2110 Insight Bowl? Anyone? Any takers?

Congrats, Hawkeyes! That's one helluva win!

Albums2010 #32: Exile On Main Street

I never understood The Rolling Stones until I listened to this album. There was this kind of adulation and hero-worship accorded the Stones that baffled me. Of course, it doesn't help that they've been, well, old, for pretty much the majority of my life, but still... really? Now? Mick, Keith and all the rest? What's the big deal- they're old time rock and roll chestnuts singing songs that are overplayed on classic rock radio to the point of nausea. We know: they can't get no satisfaction. We know: they've got sympathy for the devil (but mild kudos for destroying the dreams of millions of Baby Boomer at Altamont. The mythic deification of that tragedy both irritates and amuses me). We know: there's a Jack Flash and he likes to jump- and as a bonus, they even made a movie starring Jonathan Pryce and Whoopi Goldberg (strangest combination in movie history in my mind) just to confirm this notion.

I guess when I thought of The Rolling Stones I thought, 'well I've heard this all before.' And I wasn't wrong to think that, necessarily, but then- and again, credit is due to Rolling Stone for putting Exile onto my radar screen. They did a huge splashy piece on the making of this supposedly legendary album almost a year ago now and I ate it up. I was fascinated: the Stones, forced into tax exile in France, at the end of their ropes, squatting in some chateau and lurking in the dark basement recording this raw, powerful album.

Happily, all the hype turns out to be well-deserved and exactly on the money with this album. The influences of blues, roots, even a little bit of country here and there are all deeply obvious throughout this album. They blend perfectly to form a tight little core of what comes very close to being rock n'roll perfection. Of all the songs on this album, 'Tumbling Dice' was the only one I had ever heard of- and it was a song I liked very much- from the opening, almost mournful chord of guitar which then drops joyously into a foot-tapping almost honky tonky blues type of rhythm for the rest of the song, you can't help but liking it. But track number 6 on this album, blows my mind. It still does- and it probably ranks as one of my favorite songs the Stones have ever done. 'Sweet Virginia' is a masterpiece of restrained blues music- and puts you in the mood for a warm summer night, sipping some whiskey and chilling with your homies somewhere in I don't know, say New Orleans or something like that. If there was ever a perfect song to chill out too, it would be this song. Absolutely ace.

Lest we forget: there are 16 other tracks on this masterpiece as well. 'Ventilator Blues', 'Shake Your Hips', 'Rocks Off', 'Shine A Light'- all amazing, especially 'Rocks Off', which opens the album with a bang, grabs you and never lets you go. 'Shine A Light' infuses some gospel and soul into Exile and 'Shake Your Hips' will have you dancing around the room and 'Ventilator Blues' is just that: blues, pure and simple.

In the end, Exile is everything it promises to be and more. You can hear the work, the soul and the sheer power that went into crafting this album and it's a pleasure to listen to and appreciate. If this is what happens when the Stones get forced into tax exile in France, I would almost cheer for more financial difficulties for them, because adversity, melancholy, whatever blues tinged feelings that were driving them produced an absolute gem of an album that is well deserving of it's place in rock n'roll mythology. Apparently there are Stones fans out there that try their best to collect all kinds of obscure bootlegs and outtakes from this album, with good reason- but I don't know if my level of adulation would rise quite that high.

OVERALL: This is amazing. And yes, I will insist: if you must own a Rolling Stones album make it this one. You won't regret it. And I know it seems like I say that for every single album I review, but it's totally true in this case- this is beyond being a music nut, this is beyond any obsession you or I might have with collecting the right album, this is about good music plain and simple: this is really good music and you need to listen to it.

Albums2010 #31: Darkness On The Edge of Town

I have a mild confession to make: I never took Bruce Springsteen seriously. Maybe I was too young and too naive just to get the sheer level of musical talent and genius this man has, but I really think it has a lot to do with 'Born In The USA.' I remember my mother had the album on casette tape, far back in the mists of the distant past and all I remember thinking was how much I loathed and detested that song. It seemed to work its way into your brain like one of those weird space slugs from The Wrath of Khan. You might be fine and dandy and doing whatever Mr. Rourke tells you too, but eventually it'll eat your brain stem and you'll die.

Or something like that. Point is, I didn't get it- being a child of the 80s, I should have paid more attention, but in my defense, I grew up in Iowa- where it was John 'Cougar' Mellencamp who was the conscience of the struggling working class more than Springsteen was. 'Born To Run' woke me to the genius of Bruce and the E Street Band. 'Thunder Road' and all the rest soon followed and now I find myself listening to things like 'Rosalita' and '10th Avenue Freeze Out' and marvelling at the sheer depth, wonder and power of a man who truly earned the title of 'The Boss.'

Once again, it was Rolling Stone that turned me specifically towards 'Darkness On The Edge of Town' and I figured if they hadn't been wrong about 'Exile On Main Street' I should probably check this album out. A quick purchase with the iTunes gift card I got for Christmas and suddenly it was in my hands. (No, I didn't opt for the extended thinger 'The Promise.' I wanted the stripped down bare bones original.) Anyway: Rolling Stone did it again, because Darkness was everything they said it was and more. 10 songs of pure genius- a lot of them very depressing, some of them a little more up-tempo and a palpable theme of struggling in the face of overwhelming odds- sometimes with the hope that things might improve, sometimes with the knowledge that you can push back the darkness and still other times knowing that there's little to no hope and just having to deal with it as best you can.

Needless to say, this album lives up to its somewhat gloomy title. But that doesn't mean it's depressing to listen to. If you've ever struggled in life, you should be able to relate to this album in spades. Songs like 'Factory' or 'Streets on Fire' or even 'Racing In The Streets' take a more sober look at the struggles we face in life and what we do to get by. Other songs like 'Candy's Room' and 'Do It All Night' seem to offer a hope that things are going to get better. Either way: it's about the struggle, not about victory and it's brutally real. Sometimes- and I'm sure in the early 80s/late 70s America this emerged from- it really doesn't end with candy canes and rainbows and sometimes you just have to make do and it's brutal and it's hard and it's not really what the American dream is about. And that, more than anything is what this album is about: the optimism of the American dream, coming back down to Earth.

Musically, this album had a lot of different sounds that we unlike any Springsteen I had ever heard. 'Adam Raised A Cain' which is the second track on the album grabbed my attention immediately, because this was Bruce snarling and rasping his way through a pure blues power ballad, if such a thing can be said to exist. The guitar work is also, well, angrier I guess- snarling, loud, driving guitars pop up throughout this album in a way that seems perfect for the album yet curiously unlike anything else of Bruce's that I had heard.

OVERALL: Everything that it was promised to be and more, this is a compact ball of working class fury, rage and despair all blasting out at you. It's a thing of power, a thing of beauty and has truly converted me to the cult of Springsteen. Tight jeans, muscle shirts and American flag bandana all to follow. (And yada, yada, yada if there's one Spingsteen album you should own, yes it should be this one. Hell, if you're all about rock n'roll you should be owning this album. It's mind-blowingly good.)

My Own Mild Luddism

I hate e-readers. Oh, I'm sure they're wonderful and totally convenient and neato little gadgets that reflect the growing marvels of the technological age that we live in. But I hate them. I can't stand them and I'm seriously wallowing in old man-grumpiness and mild luddism when I think of them. Why? Well, to me in comes down to a remarkable simply question: must we make everything into a shiny technological gadget? Technology can be, I acknowledge, a wonderful thing, but it also has the enormous potential to make us lazier and stupider than we already are.

Witness the younger generation and the basic rules of grammar: anyone who's been to a public school in the last 20 years knows that actually being taught grammar is something that happens in elementary school and peters out pretty quickly after that. Subject, verb, predicate DONE- that's how it goes. Were it not for Father Deyo's insistence (the one useful experience I had at Catholic School, I'll freely acknowledge) that proper and real grammar be taught in school, I never would have had any. Instead, I spent 8^th Grade being polite, standing whenever adults came into the room (because Fr. Deyo was old school and that's how he rolled) and learning how to diagram sentences. I learned about direct, indirect objects, subordinate clauses, prepositions, prepositional phrases, the whole nine yards. And it was wonderful. And to this day I still know what the definition of a preposition is: anything a bunny rabbit can do to a hollow log!

Point is, my generation might well be the last to have any of the basics in the structure of the English language. Formulating words, learning how to write words- anything not in text-speak with emoticons attached is becoming increasingly alien to the young folks of today and that I can blame on the rise of ubiquitous technological gadgets that seem to be everywhere these days. But alas, it's not just the young folks who are infected with this- it was shocking how many of my own peers in college no less, had to be told how to write an email to a professor. A 'what's up, dude' complete with emoticons, we were told, was not acceptable. No shit, Sherlock, I thought- it never occurred to me to use anything other than proper grammar and correct salutations. Why wouldn't you? Why would you need to be told this?

But apparently we do. And all these neat little gadgets that people love to collect might be wonderful, they might be totally cool and they might make life a little bit easier, but they're slowly destroying our ability to speak and to write. Things which I happen to value very highly.

So, I hate e-readers. You can't substitute the heft and weight of a book for a plastic toy. You can't substitute the smell and the joy of the having the object itself in your hands- nor should you. Seeing language, seeing how it was written decades ago or how it is written in a different country or the sheer volume of language that was written is important. And e-readers, to me, take that away from us.

(I know there's always, historically speaking a tug of war between technology that affects language directly- I'm sure monks who wrote everything down bitched about the printing press in their own pious way- but we have to do better with how we transmit language to the younger generation. Plus, I just really, really like books.)

The Perils of For-Profit Education

First of all, mad props to HuffPost for running this piece on just how bad Kaplan University really is:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/22/kaplan-university-guerilla-registration_n_799741.html?page=1

Second of all, this entire article just underlines the growing problems with higher education and education as a whole- and one that isn't just confined to non-profits. Actually, I'm really irritated with the Almighty Instapundit because of this- he keeps going on about the 'war' on 'for profit' education which, while making a good point (that attacking for profit schools ignores the massive costs and problems with the not-for-profit schools) still annoys me because for profit schools are really, really, really, really bad.

I'm not going to champion the glories of not-for-profit education to you- we all know the problems, ranging from administrative bloat, exploding costs, messed-up tenure systems, overreliance on graduate students, political conformity and correctness to points past stupidity- but all of that is an entirely different bag of chips compared to the ethically compromised and downright shady practices of for-profits. For around six months last year, I had the rare pleasure of being a Financial Aid Counselor for Kaplan University and I'll pass on several facts to people: first, it's a total rip off. At least with not-for-profit schools your degree might, maybe, possibly, depending on what it is be worth something. I've seen soiled pieces of toilet paper that would be worth more than a degree from Kaplan.

I won't go into the nitty gritty details- the article should be enough and it underlines a huge problem that I have with the whole notion of for-profit education as well as the difficulties of education reform in this country as a whole: should it be about making money or student success? For-profits are driven purely by money, plain and simple. Students take a back seat to making money- off the government, off students that don't know any better, off anyone that will take their bullshit sales pitch and buy into it. Kaplan overcharges students so they can get degrees in things like Medical Transcription (do you really need a degree for that?) and work jobs that might pay something like $17 an hour if you're lucky but will more likely pay something along the lines of $12 an hour.

Kaplan assigns students Financial Aid Officers after they're admitted who I honestly believe might not exist. I did Financial Aid Counseling for next six months and no one I met- even people who had been doing it far longer than I had, years even, had ever talked to a Financial Aid Officer. You know those credit card commercials where the Russian guy is in his hut full of ringing phones? That's exactly what it is. So students (who get shown a 12 credit a semester plan before they complete their admissions process) might take more than 12 credits a semester, tuition might go up and a dozen other hidden charges might be slapped on the student, but can they find out for sure? No. Because either no one calls them or they can't get their Financial Aid Officer on the phone- so when they suddenly get told they owe Kaplan 12 grand and oh, they can't get a diploma that's the reason why.

The whole structure, from what I could tell in my thankfully limited time there was designed to enroll students so the company could make money off Federal loans from the government. Student success? It was talked about, but that was it. But that's what happens when your educational institution is designed to make money. Money matters, whether or not you're actually educating people doesn't.

And therein lies the biggest problem with educational reform: how can you justify charging for something a lot of which might be readily available for free? Consider history or English majors: if you love reading books and learning about history, are you really going to stop doing either of those things once you get your degree? What's the point of the degree? It's not just about pay, money or structure that the debate should center itself around, it's about the deep, philosophical questions at the heart of what it means to be 'educated? Why pay for it when you could do it for free? Even as the high school diploma has become massively devalued over the past three decades, we're seeing a similar situation start to unfold with a proliferation of college degrees. Learning is a lifelong process. Now that I'm up to my ass in debt because of my two degrees I have to wonder just how much it was actually worth…

(All of this, by the way, is why I'm really hoping Santa gets me 'DIY U' by Anya Kamenetz. Santa are you listening?)

89

The UCONN Women's Basketball Team (surprise, surprise) upended Florida State last night to put themselves alone at the top of the basketball world having now won 89, count them 89 games in a row. And (unsurprisingly) people are talking all about it.

No matter how you want to slice and dice it, at the end of the day this is one hell of an achievement. There are a lot of snotty basketball fans out there making remarks about the lack of parity in the women's game and how women can't dunk and the ball is lighter and blah blah blah and no, I'm sorry, winning 89 of anything in a row is an insanely good achievement and I don't care if you're a men's team, a woman's team or a team of hyper-intelligent sea otters. It's pretty damn amazing.

Was it predictable? Yes. UCONN is insane. And by insane I mean insanely good- it's like watching a varsity team tee up on a team full of 8^th Graders and I have to admit that it does lay bare the parity problem in Women's Basketball. But you can complain about it- or you can look at this way: UCONN Is setting the gold standard- they shouldn't be penalized for it, instead all the other schools should be trying to catch up. It'd be interesting to see why the lack of parity is so evident in the women's game or if it's just a perception on the part of pretty much everyone.

Being curious, I decided to look at some statistics and discovered something curious- in the 27 years I've been on this Earth 13 different teams have won the Women's Tournament while 19 different teams have won the Men's Tournament. As soon as I figured that out, I decided that it was a pretty arbitrary number to look at, so I decided to go back further. Considering the fact that Title IX is generally considered to be the start of a renaissance in women's college athletics in this country, I decided to go back all the way to 1972 and see what, if anything we could take away from the 'parity question' then.

Turns out that was a dumb idea, because there was no women's tournament before 1982 which makes it hard to compare the two. But leaving aside that only 20 teams have won in the 38 years since Title IX was passed on the men's half of the equation, if you look at the 28 years the men's and women's tournaments have been in existence it's a gap of 19 teams to 13 teams. Not an insanely large gap if you think about it- especially given the head start the men have on the women. Given the fact that back in the day you had teams like UCLA rattling off 8 or 9 titles in a row you could argue that parity, if that's your thing, comes with time more than anything else. There are a lot of girls playing high school basketball right now- and not all of them can go to UCONN or Tennessee. The titans at the top usually have a solid group of 'almosts' nipping at their heels (like Stanford, Baylor) and eventually they too will be joined other teams and schools will undoubtedly start to play up to the level of the major powers in the women's game. The golden cup of so-called parity will, I think, come with time.

What's frustrating to me, more than anything else is the lack of interest in watching women's sports- either on television or in real life. General admission to an Iowa Women's Game will run you about $5 a pop. UI Students get in free! It's the best deal in town, quite frankly and given the fact that they're 11-1 right now, it's not boring. But congratulations are in order for the UCONN women… nicely done. And as for everyone else: who's gonna beat 'em? Time to step it up, methinks…

Bookshot #17: Going Rogue

God help me, I read this book. I approached it carefully, like an unexploded grenade- not really wanting to touch it, but feeling the reluctant pull. In all likelihood, Governor Palin will run for President- this book more than convinced me of that. And, even more to the point, despite what the current polls are saying I'm convinced that a Palin-Obama race in 2012 won't be the blowout some Democrats are gleefully predicting.

There were two main parts of this book: the interesting parts and the irritating parts. I'll take them one a time. The interesting parts were just that and more- interesting. Sarah Palin certainly has lead a dynamic life and I can't imagine what it would have been like to move to what would have seemed like the end of the Earth itself and grow up in a state like Alaska that seems to breed self-reliance and independence almost as much as caribou. One thing you can't argue with: Palin is a dedicated public servant and genuinely seems to believe in the promise of America, free market capitalism and the spirit of American enterprise. No doubt, her early political career was impressive. She took on the Republican establishment and Big Oil and won impressively.

The irritating parts come in the latter half of the book, where she recounts her meteoric rise to the Vice-Presidential Nomination in 2008. It's blatantly obvious here that Palin's intent is to correct what she perceives to be a media distortion of her record and actions during the 2008 campaign- it comes across as a nauseatingly self-serving cleaning of her slate- the obvious question being: for what purpose? The obvious answer: to run for President in 2012. She covers every base- from the stories of her family going on shopping sprees on the RNCs dime, to the barrage of political motivated ethics complaints that eventually forced her from office.

Was I converted? No. The social conservatism that infects the Republican Party irritates me beyond belief. On the face of it, I have no real argument against fiscal responsibility and smaller, more cost-efficient government, but I do have a real problem with social conservatives in this country. Common-sense social conservatism I have no real problem with- things like parental notification laws are hard to argue against for me. But outside of that, this country is big enough for a variety of lifestyles, moralities and religions. I'm tired of secularists on the left trying to chase God out of the public sphere in this country but equally tired of evangelical theology being spoon-fed to me by Social Conservatives. My faith is my own, Your faith is your own. Government should have nothing to do with it.

However- although I wasn't a fan of Palin before, I'm bound and determined not to underestimate her as we head into the 2012 election season. Palin is playing her cards perfectly, as far as I'm concerned- from her Facebook and Twitter postings to her reality television show to not one, but both of her books have established a brand and an alternative media platform that allows her to reach a large audience very easily. Making her a formidable contender for the GOP nomination before the contest even begins. The real challenge for Palin is going to be getting independent voters (such as myself) to give her a hard second look. I reckon not to many people bother to check her Twitter or Facebook accounts to her what she thinks straight from the source.

Overall, Going Rogue just confirmed everything that I already disliked about contemporary political memoirs. The politicians who write them tend to do so with an eye on cleaning up their image, 'correcting the record' or making themselves look good in their own words with eye towards posterity or their legacy. This makes reading these books somewhat irritating, because you know that there's a larger agenda at work here and the author is, to a certain extent speaking past you to the larger audience they want to reach.

As a book: this wasn't badly written- or ghost-written, if you want to be cynical about it. It's interesting, because it reveals a lot about Palin's life story and political career that got lost in a lot of the media shuffle during the 2008 campaign. (Was she treated unfairly by the media in 2008? Although I don't agree with her views and probably won't vote for her in 2012, I do think she was a victim of disgracefully sexist treatment by the media- beyond even what Hillary Clinton was subject to during the course of the campaign. On the one hand, if you can't stand the heat, you should get out of the kitchen, but at the same time, there is a double standard for female candidates in this country that the media is culpable in perpetrating.) There are plenty of insights to be found if you're looking for Palin's thoughts on governance and what she believes and whether you agree with her or not, it certainly provides a decent, detailed look into one of the most fascinating and controversial politicians of the past ten years. But make no mistake about it: unless I'm missing some weird intangible, this book left me convinced that she's going to make a run for the Presidency in 2012.

Wonderful.

Just wonderful.

I'm still pulling for them though. Maybe this is like the end of a really hard turd and once it's out, everyone will be able to breath again and concentrate on winning the Insight Bowl. Go Hawks! Beat Mizzou!

Required Reading #1

Purely on a whim, I've decided to offer the occasional new feature here on The Cigar, namely Required Reading. Basically, when I stumbled across articles, blogposts, commentary on the 'net that's too good and too thought-provoking to be missed, I'll post it here… and then you really should go read it and discuss amongst yourselves. I'm just saying.

1. 
   http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2010/12/08/the-crisis-of-the-american-intellectual/
   
2. http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2010/01/12/the-top-global-trends-for-the-2010s/
   
3. http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2010/01/28/american-challenges-the-blue-model-breaks-down/
   

Truly, the most fascinating thought provoking commentary I've found on the internet for a long time. Does it lean to the right? Yes, but the overall point is there. Liberalism as we know it just doesn't work anymore. Post-Eisenhower neither did Conservatism which is why Goldwater proved to be so important to the development of the modern Conservative movement as we know it. His immolation in '64 helped to spark an intellectual revival of the basic debate about what exactly Conservatism should be about.

Liberalism has had no such intellectual cleansing. For all the criticism, both right and wrong of the Conservative movement out of all the vitriol that gets thrown from the right, it is a curious fact of American political life that the Left, in many ways is more conservative and reactionary than the right. No one is more resistant to change in things like education than Teacher's Unions- or unions in general for that matter. And woe betide the politician foolish enough to even breathe of doing one solitary thing to Social Security or Medicare.

While the tenuous connection liberalism has with reality and it's frankly sclerotic insistence at picking at the dry and dusty bones of the New Deal and the Great Society make it far too easy to reject, it is not yet clear to me that Conservatism has anything better to offer. Although anti-statist in nature, I cannot support the notion of an unrestrained free market. A light touch is need to protect the citizenry from abuses on the part of corporations and companies- if we are a system of checks and balances politically, then we need sane and sensible checks and balances economically as well. This position is an anathema to modern conservative thought. Don't take this to mean that I think we need cloying, clingy governmental regulatory agencies, far from it: we just need laws to protect consumers but not at the expense of restraining business and we need public servants willing to do the hard thinking and compromising to find that sweet spot.

Republicans spout the ideals of the hard working Middle Class, yet do little to benefit them- and any speeches about the glories of the free market trickling down to the little people here in the boonies needs to be taken with a large grain of salt. We need reform now, we need help now, we need action now- not at the pace dictated by the corporations the Republicans would like to sell us out too. Government should not intrude on the people, but should rather be responsive to the people. Policy should benefit not special interest groups, but the largest number of PEOPLE possible. The current path conservatism would have us march down, I'm increasingly convinced will only serve to highlight to wealth disparities, destroy the Middle Class as we know it and create conditions for either severe political, societal or economic breakdown that will only revive the zombie-like strains of liberal intellectualism from the last century.

All of which I would find incredibly irritating…

Judicial Activism At Work

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/13/health-care-lawsuit-ruling_n_795807.html

A Federal Judge in Virginia has ruled that the Obama Administration's Health Care Law is unconstitutional. The issue: the requirement in the law that all Americans purchase Health Insurance. Now, while I'm not a fan of the individual insurance mandate, I've long been curious: if states can require everyone to carry proof of auto insurance, why can't we be required to carry health insurance?

Somewhere, someone intelligent who is a fan of things like socialized medicine will twig to this and file their own lawsuit. And then, after years of litigation, I'm sure the Supreme Court will eventually decide that if you can mandate one, you can mandate the other or if you can't mandate one you can't mandate the other… unless I'm missing some legal niceties here, which is entirely possible.

(Special double bonus: all of the Judges to rule against this law have thus far been Republican appointees. All the ones to rule in favor were Democratic ones. How's that for judicial activism?)

Bringing The Union Back

http://www.press-citizen.com/article/20101213/NEWS01/12130316/1079

The University is working hard to bring the IMU back to it's former place at the heart of the campus and they've shown more intelligence than I thought they would have in crafting the plans:

1. A Bowling Alley: this is probably the most intelligent thing the University has done in years. It's non-alcoholic, something to do and since the nearest bowling alley is at the south end of town, it's perfectly located and will have next to no competition. Throw in a putt-putt golf course and the University might well be living up to all the promise of this edumacation thing they talk about.
   
2. A Bar: This one took me by surprise, as they've just wasted God knows how much money and paper producing yet another plan to tackle drinking culture on campus. A beer only bar would be nice- it's not all that uncommon, Wisconsin and Iowa State have bars in their Student Unions and once upon a time so did the IMU. Beer only… if it's not dirt-cheap students won't be able to afford gobs of it and keep the frosh out and you may yet have another surprisingly intelligent move on the part of the University. What's going on here?
   

It's time they put the pedal to the medal on this project though- and although it may not be all that relevant to today's students, as the article mentioned, alumni such as myself do have fond memories of the place. My favorite IMU memory: the bacon cheeseburgers from the Food Court in the basement. God, I miss those things… they were terrible. They came wrapped in the cheapest foil wrapper you can imagine and once you opened it- well, the entire burger just looked like it had been produced by a student working for minimum wage.

And yet, strangely, they were delicious. Does that make sense? Have you ever eaten something so bad that it was actually kind of good? I can't recall how many times I would go down there, get a bacon cheeseburger, the curly fries and a drink and go sit down, read a little and eat before my afternoon classes. Those damn bacon cheeseburgers were unremarkable in every sense of the word and would win no awards whatsoever. But they were delicious- and I miss them… in fact, just writing about this is making me hungry.

So hurry up and bring back the IMU!

The Basketball Diaries

I was not an athletic child. I ran around, of course. Played tag, freeze tag, any other kind of tag you could think of, capture the flag and games too numerous to mention, but athletic? No, that wasn't me. I preferred the company of a good book and a nice quiet bit of solitude to scrapping with people on the field or on the court. People who played sports were fundamentally different than I. They were popular, I was not. They were, well, usually dismissive, arrogant and every other teenage stereotype you could imagine. That's not to say I wasn't my own bundle of teenage stereotypes at the time, but I lacked the drive, the interest and the general cockiness that seemed to infect all athletes. It's an ingrained part of my personality: if I drop a ball or miss a basket, it's not the end of the world. I'm not going to beat myself up about it- it is just a game, after all.

That kind of laid back attitude would not have gotten me far in sports, I think. Yet despite being a spectator more than a participator, I've recently amazed myself with just how deeply sports have been ingrained in my psyche. Take basketball for instance: growing up, I couldn't stand basketball. With other sports, like dodgeball, soccer or pretty much anything else I had a decent chance of making some good shots, but basketball? No way. I sucked at basketball. I was beyond terrible. It was my Mortal Kombat: everyone else could do all the cool moves and all I could manage was a weak kick or a randomly thrown punch to the proverbial head of the sport.

Yet my earliest memories of Iowa sports are not of frigid afternoons in late October and early November in Kinnick Stadium, but rather of Carver-Hawkeye Arena and going to watch NCAA Tournament Games in 1993 and getting caught up in the excitement as the Iowa Women's Basketball team stormed to The Final Four. I remember day that in 4^th Grade, when the ice was coming down in sheets and the entire town was stunned at the tragic death of Chris Street. I remember in high school, when Dr. Tom Davis was fired by then Athletics Director Bob Bowlsby only to have the Men's Team storm to the Sweet 16, their best showing in what seemed like years in response…

And yet what I know about the niceties of basketball could be inscribed on the head of a pin.

This past week though, I'd like to think that began to change a little bit. You see, I'm convinced there are moments of clarity that pop up and slap you in the face, just to get your attention. (Exhibit A: Topics In Luso-Brazilian Culture, one sunny afternoon, where the Professor, bless her conducted the class entirely in Portuguese at 65 MPH and it was exhausting just to try and keep up. But one amazing day, I was sitting there, totally relaxed, spacing out and suddenly realized that I could understand EVERY SINGLE WORD she was saying. It was awesome.) This past week, I had the rare pleasure of seeing not one, but three games in a row at Carver Hawkeye Arena (the men ground out a win against UNI, the women THUMPED Iowa State and the men came up juuuuust short against Iowa State, respectively.) I came away convinced of a couple of things: first, if the Iowa women stay healthy and Morgan Johnson stays out of foul trouble, then look out! Second, the Iowa men are one, maybe two years away from climbing out of the ass-end of the Big Ten and potentially causing trouble for all kinds of people. They may not win a lot of games this year, but I can guarantee that blowouts and walkovers are going to few and far between with this bunch. And with experience, they'll only get better.

The place seemed different too: I worked my share of basketball games last year, both men's and women's and Carver Hawkeye just seemed grey, dismal and dreary a lot of them time, as if the building itself had caught the ennui that affected the men's program (with it's slow, ponderous style of play) and the women's program (frustration at close games and plagued with injuries), but now, there's a heartbeat again. The student section (although lacking at the women's games for some frustrating reason) has sprung back to life and 9,000 people showed up to watch the women thump Iowa State.

I still miss most fouls if I blink too fast. I don't understand half of them, if I'm really honest. I know what travelling is, what a charge is, even what goal-tending is, but an aficionado of the roundball? Not so much- and I'm fine with that. I know good basketball when I see it now. I can see defensive schemes, whether they're zone or man-to-man and love how one step in the right place to the right point on the court can leave a player wide open to take magnificent shots at the basket, some of which go in, some of which don't. A glorious realization, a moment of clarity that has me wondering when the snow will melt, so maybe, just maybe, I can find a basketball and a nice court and perhaps attempt a free throw or two.

A Crisis Of The Middle Class

...some fairly thoughtful commentary, courtesy of Instapundit. Don't really have a point in posting this, except this last paragraph caught my eye:

At the moment, American politics offers two separate, distinct ways not to address these issues: Either the brain-dead populism of the Left that blames it all on trade and the decline of unions, or the brain-dead populism of the Right that extols the working class without taking serious note of its agony. We’ll have to do better: There’s a crisis in the middle.

This is an absolutely perfect definition of our political system. I love it, because at the core of it, it's entirely true. While it's laudable that Republicans are currently showing some connection with reality vis-a-vis the burgeoning spending crisis and the deficit, I believe that their 'connection' is tenuous at best. Why?

1. There's been little or no visible mention of pensions reform. We can't afford to pay the Baby Boomers everything. They're just going to have to suck it up. I'm certainly not expecting a dime from any government job I may or may not be in by the time I retire. At the age of 120.

2. The excess fat in government is at the top, not the middle or the bottom. Border Patrol Cops, Nurses and a lot of other public sector employees out here in the Boonies really do get paid diddly squat compared with the private sector. Now, Washington D.C. on the other hand is full of UnderSecretaries of Paper Pushing that get paid obscene amounts of money to pick their noses all day. Them we can do without. (Bobby Jindal's mention of making Congress part time is worth exploring as they don't seem to do anything other than raise global carbon emissions by spouting a shitload of hot air.) But, will they start cutting with themselves? Oh hell no... so the Republicans will continue to push policies that exacerbate the wealth gap in this country and inevitably lead to a political resurgence of 20th Century progressive nonsense that gives the Republicans so much ammo these day to begin with. Conservatives simply cannot spout off about how tax cuts benefit everyone when Ma and Pa Public are struggling to pay their mortgage. Policies cannot merely be words- they have to benefit the greatest amount of people in the most practical, sensible way possible. I'm not convinced modern Conservative thought- or Republicans for that matter have that in them. LIke the above quote states- it's brain-dead populism that completely ignores the Middle Class.

3. How many government agencies are going to go? Sure, Republicans want to get rid of the Corporation of Public Broadcasting, NPR, The Department of Education and all the other Conservative g-spots, but what about bureaucratic waste at the Pentagon? WIll Republicans share the pain? Will they consolidate agencies to make the Department of Homeland Security less of a bureaucratic nightmare? I don't want meaningless Pledges. I want action. And I will be watching and quite displeased if the Republicans eff it up, yet again...

Monster Storm

The first measurable snow of the season hit yesterday and was followed up, as it usually is, in Mother Nature's truly charming way, with a decent round of truly bitter temperatures. Iowa City escaped with a minimal amount of fuss, as far as I could tell and I got the trusty shovel out this morning and got the sidewalks done before heading to work.

However, the Medium White North got SLAMMED. The Twin Cities metro area got 17.1 inches and areas south got more than that- and as a double bonus, Brett Favre's shoulder called in a favor with the Big Man Upstairs and got an extra day to nurse it's reported strain, because way, hey, hey there was so much snow, it collapsed the roof of the Metrodome- for the first time since 1983. So the Vikings get the rare pleasure of playing at Detroit's Ford Field as, I'm guessing the home team tomorrow night. Hopefully that's not an omen. (Footage of the Metrodome Collapse from the INSIDE. Pretty cool stuff- is here.) There was some talk of holding the game at the University of Minnesota's new TCF Bank Stadium, but between the Giants not packing cold weather (boo, hoo, hoo) and the sheer pain-in-the-ass time consuming process of clearing that field, they went with Detroit. Disappointing, but I understand it.

Three Tiresome Debates

The BCS: This happens EVERY SINGLE YEAR and it's getting tiresome. So, let's break it down: yes, it sucks. Should we got to a pure playoff system? I'm not sure I like that, because there's a lot of tradition associated with the bowl system that I like and enjoy. So here's what I think: the BCS goes down to ONE, count it ONE game- that's the national title game. And how do we get there? Well, take those end of the season BCS standings and the Top 8 get to compete in a playoff- the Elite 8 of College Football. How it would break down this year:

Auburn v. Arkansas

Oregon v. Oklahoma

TCU v. Ohio State

Wisconsin v. Stanford

Winners of the Auburn and Oregon games would play each other, winners of the TCU and Wisconsin games would play each other and the winners of those two games would play for all the marbles. And the rest of the Bowls could pick whomever they like.

It's a win, win, win for all concerned. Playoff fans get their playoff. Bowl fans get their bowls. Everyone gets a TON of good football in December and January. I say we do it. Who's with me?

 

Cam Newton: Should he win the Heisman? To be totally honest, I don't know. I didn't actually sit and watch him play whereas Kellen Moore in that game against Nevada looked INSANELY good, so I would go with Kellen Moore on this one. But I will say this: the trophy should be about the quality of play, not off field shenanigans that the player may or may not be involved in. I think Reggie Bush might ultimately do Cam Newton in, if it does emerge a couple of years down the road that there was shadiness that did involve Newton, then he will undoubtedly be under ENORMOUS pressure to give back the Heisman- presuming he wins. I think if it's the trophy for the Best Player in College Football, it's got to be about what that player does on the field. If people want to give a trophy to the most morally upstanding person out there, make a new trophy.

 

The War On Christmas: nothing will send me into a blind rage than some idiot conservative commentator pontificating about the so-called 'Liberal-war-on-Christmas' and how saying 'Happy Holidays' is really a sign that you're a card carrying member of a secular, atheist, gay agenda pimping conspiracy to drive Jesus Christ out of America and destroy Christianity, the Republic and civilization as we know it. Let me say this:

ARGH!

First of all: there is Diwali, Hannukah, Kwanza, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Eid, New Year's, Epiphany, Martin Luther King Day, All Saint's Day and undoubtedly some Buddhist holiday and many Hindu festivals that I have forgotten all in a period roughly between November 1^st and January 15^th. That's 10 holidays in a 2 and a half month period- and in this Judeo-Christian nation of ours- hell, let's expand it out to include our African-American brothers and sisters and this year, our Muslim brothers and sisters as well in December alone we find five major holidays. And you want to know what the most amazing part about America is: if I meet you on the street in December, I have no way of knowing what religion you practice- and good manners on my part forbid me from assuming that you're a Christian. OK, it's a pretty good bet here in America, but it's not a sure thing- so saying Happy Holidays covers all manner of religious possibilities- as well as more secular ones depending on your taste. In essence, what we need is not pontification from right wing blowhards on this issue- we need Emily Post to weigh in and let us know the etiquette once and for all.

Second of all: It's Jesus Christ. The man took two loaves and a fish and fed 5,000 people. He turned water into wine and got nailed to a tree and lived to talk about it. Are we really all that worried people are going to forget about him? Especially Christians? Of course Christmas has become commercialized and materialistic- we're Capitalists after all. So the right wing can have us be capitalist and spend money at Christmas or make it all about Jesus- but they can't do both.

It’s 1996 All Over Again

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/10/the-surprise-trip-to-the-briefing-room/?partner=rss&emc=rss

Former President Bill Clinton put in a surprise appearance at the White House briefing room yesterday with President Obama to issue a firm, well-thought out, coherent, competent defense of President Obama's tax cut deal. In and of itself, that's not that big of a deal. President Obama has taken a shellacking from the Far Left for his perceived cave-in on the deal, so on the one hand, brings Bill to the podium is a clear message to the Far Left to well, 'shut the hell up and let me govern because the grown-ups are talking.'

And if they had delivered a joint smackdown, that might well have righted the ship. But instead, about ten minutes into this little joint love-fest, President Obama looks at his watch, apologizes to the press, states that he's late to a Christmas Party and then cedes the podium to Bill, who goes for 25 more minutes, looking downright Presidential and making everyone wish it was 1996 and that Presidential womanizing was all that we had to worry about.

I'm not wild about this, but I got ask: does it matter? In this age of media insanity, there's a premium put on appearances and for all intents and purposes it looked like the President of the United States either ceded the stage to his predecessor or let himself be massively upstaged by Bill Clinton, who for all his faults is a consummate politician that seems to take over whatever room he's in, whether people like it or not…

I'm no PR expert, but I would have kept them both up there, Christmas Party be damned. Obama can be all policy wonkish and Clinton can just have fun and together they can deliver a joint smackdown to the far left wing of the Democratic Party…

But the question remains: does this matter? Talk amongst yourselves and let me know.

Shocking Vandalism

I found this truly shocking- some complete bastards hacked down the Holy Thorn Tree of Glastonbury, which I devoutly hope can be saved, as the original roots of this tree date back 2,000 years to the origins of Christianity- and scientists have confirmed that the origins of the tree were in fact, the Middle East. Thinking about it, I'm not sure if I actually saw this tree during my one visit to Glastonbury, but this disgusting act ranks right up there with the Taliban's implosion of the stone Buddhas in Afghanistan a few years back.

The story of the Holy Thorn Tree: well, word is that Joseph of Arimathea came to Britain after the crucifixion (Holy Grail in tow)- he laid down on the hill to sleep, planting his staff in the ground (Jesus' staff) as he did so. He woke up the next day and there was the tree. Which added to its status by flowering twice a year- on Christmas and Easter. Frankly, it doesn't matter if the story matches your brand of Christianity or not- this was a shocking act of destruction of a tree that originally dates back 2,000 years ago and managed to survive being hacked down by the Puritans during the English Civil War in the 1650s (cuttings of the original tree were hidden and planted around town) before being replanted in its location in 1951.

I went to Glastonbury once and yes, there's a massive music festival there every couple of years. And yes, there's a lot of new age head-shop crap that makes you roll your eyes a bit, but beyond that, you can, if you admit it to yourself, understand why the place is so revered... there's something mystical about the place. It's hard to put your finger on exactly why that's so, but it is and if you don't believe me, you'll have to go see for yourself.

Holiday Brew-haha 2010

I try to be original and unique on my blog- which is why you won't see me review all that many beers, if any at all. I suppose, when you get right down to it, the internet is big enough for two bloggers that drink and post some thoughts on beer, but while I drink beer, I have yet to develop the nose and quiet obsession with it that The Quiet Man has. If you want some serious information on beer, go check his blog out. If you want to know what I thought of a random trio of Holiday Brews, keep reading.

So, time: 1:39 PM Central Standard Time
Place: At my computer desk.
On The Netflix: Yet another episode of Top Gear, my continuing obsession.
The Brew: Anchor Brewing Company's Christmas Ale 2010

Thoughts: I like Anchor Beer. It's tasty and damn good, so when The Quiet Man mentioned his anticipation of their seasonal and unique Christmas brew arriving, I figured I'd keep an eye out as well- thinking, perhaps foolishly on my part, that one good brewing company would brew nothing but good beers. It arrived. I tasted. And I didn't like- initially. Too bitter, too much taste of believe it or not, Christmas tree. It just didn't go down well.

The second go-round has proved more interesting. It goes down smooth- and I stand by my original contention: there is a hint of Christmas tree in the taste, but this time around, it's thankfully sublimed to the aftertaste. But this is where my lack of beer-tasting experience fails me, because after that, I'm absolute crap at finding any flavors beyond that. The romantic in me wants to say that there's a healthy dollop of roasted chestnuts tucked in there for the sake of the Christmas spirit, but I'm not entirely sure. Part of me wants to say there might be hints of chocolate in there as well, but again, I'm crap at finding flavors. Which raises a point- a point that we can apply to all sorts of alcohol: is the joy finding the flavors on the back of the label? Or does the joy come with discovering flavors that only you can smell in your own septum? I don't know- but while I'll say that I was wrong and the Anchor 2010 was nowhere near as bad as I thought it was, I will have to insist that amongst this year's Christmas brews- Anchor 2010 was right up there with the good ones, but wasn't the best. Sorry.

Round Two- the time: 4:18 PM
The Place: Still At My Desk
On The NetFlix: Yeah, another episode of Top Gear. At this rate, I'm going to need a vintage car and a shop.
The Brew: Blue Moon's Winter Abbey Ale

Thoughts: Well, let's see- the label says: 'roasted malts, a touch of wheat and a rich caramel flavor with a smooth toffee finish.' Hmmmm..yeah, I'm really bad at this beer thing. There is almost no bitterness with the Blue Moon- unlike the Anchor and the flavors seem more well-defined and overall, make the beer smoother to drink and to taste. Problem is, I'll be buggered if I can figure out just what the flavors are. Hmmmm... let me keep thinking about this. Maybe caramel- and there's certain a roasted, nutty flavor to this that's nice. But toffee? I'm struggling to find it. Honestly, when I drink this, I don't think to myself 'yeah, there's a healthy hint of Heath Bar in this mother.' Jesus, I don't get this. I need lessons, because really and truly when I drink this, it tastes like beer. How lame is that? Apparently the only remedy for shocking lack of palate on my part is to well, drink more beer. But- this is richer than the Anchor Christmas Ale- and I like that.

Round 3- the time: A nightcap- 9:54 PM
The Place: At my desk for a victory pint. Iowa women THUMPED Iowa State tonight...
On The NetFlix: Yeah, still that same Episode of Top Gear
The Brew: Schell's Snowstorm 2010

Thoughts: Flavors I recognize... aaaaaah... believe it or not, there's banana. Yes, banana! And it's glorious! Yes, a beautiful fruity aroma greets you when you smell this bad boy and there's a lovely spicy taste as it goes down smoothly. According to The Quiet Man, these winter ales (or Warmers, for the more beer savvy) tend to have a spicy flavor- some of them anyway, as the point is to warm you up on those cold winter nights. Far and away the most complex of the beers in the Brew-haha and honestly, and I know this will piss of the Anchor-fanatics that read this, this was my favorite. Not to hate on the nuts and caramels and toffees, but occasionally, it's nice to have a dark, hearty beer that actually has some complex flavors in it. Perhaps, again, this is because of my immature and unpracticed beer-tooth, but to me, I enjoy complexity. I enjoy taking a sip of beer, holding it away from me and saying 'daaaamn, that's good.' That to me is the mark of a successful. And Schells deserves a lot of props this year, because the 2010 edition of their Snowstorm might just be the seasonal brew against which I judge all future seasonal brews.

Honorable Mentions: Goose Island Mild Winter and Breckenridge Christmas Ale. 'Meh' is what I say to these two- Goose Island was more flavorful of the two, while to me there wasn't a whole lot that made me stand up and take notice the Breckenridge- but they are not bad brews by any stretch of the imagination... just didn't make the cut this year.

And The Results Are In....

Finally, at long last- the official results from the Midterm elections. Yes, thanks to a recount in Alaska and another that was just halted in Minnesota, it drug on a bit.... but here are the final results.

IA-Governor: Branstad (R) YES
IA-Senate: Grassley (R) YES
IA-2nd District: Miller-Meeks (R) NO- Goes to Loebsack
IA-3rd District: Zaun (R) NO- Goes to Boswell
IA-1st District: Braley (D) YES
IC-21 Ordinance: Stays Right Where It Is YES
Judicial Retention: 1/3 Go Down NO All 3 Go Down! Ick.
MN-Governor: Dayton (D): YES. Emmer conceded this very morning.
MN-1st District: Walz (D) YES
CA-Governor: Brown (D) YES
CA-Senate: Fiorina (R) NO- Boxer for the win
CA-Prop 19: YES Yeah, not so much...
WA-Senate: Di Rossi (R) NO
CO-Governor: Tancredo (I) NO- Goes to Hickenlooper (D) instead.
CO-Senate: Buck (R) NOPE
PA-Senate: Toomey (R) YES
FL-Senate: Rubio (R) YES
SC-Governor: Haley (R) YES
AK-Senate: Murkowski (I): YES, Even though Miller is trying to make 2+2=10 now.
DE-Senate: Coons (D) YES
NV-Senate: Angle NO
CT-Senate: Blumenthal YES
KY-Senate: Paul YES
WI-Senate: Johnson YES
House: Republican YES
Senate: 50-50 Tie Nope, Dems cling to a majority.

Out of 26: 16
Win Percentage: 61.5%

Palin's Moose

Sarah Palin shot a moose on her show and Aaron Sorkin flipped his s--t as a result. Don't get me wrong: Sorkin can write and I appreciate that. A Few Good Men, The West Wing, The Social Network- I mean, give the guy props, because he can write- he can write the doors right off your house if he wants too.

So Exhibit A is Sorkin's rant.

Exhibit B is from that fine and interesting site Jezebel, telling him to hush up.

As for me, I thought I'd share a few points with Mr. Sorkin.

1. All reality television is awful. Duh.

2. I saw the clip. She didn't appear to be doing a little dance of joy over the smoking carcass. And what was she supposed to do? Leave it there to rot and take the head home to hang on the wall? No. She shot it, carved it up and a whole shit-ton of meat is going into her freezer for probably a whole lot less money than I know I spend on meat. So good for her.

3. Let me add my voice to Jezebel's. Hush up. The more the Left tries to make Sarah Palin look a fool, the less foolish she will appear to voters when it comes time to actually vote. (Should she actually run.) This is how we ended up with George W. Bush in the White House- do you really want a repeat performance? So hush up and write something entertaining. Or critique her policy positions, because the audience her reality show is aimed at does not give a damn about the moose.

FIFA Not Corrupt

says Blatter.

Bullshit, says I. Something odd and downright shady happened in the run-up to the 2018/2022 announcement- allegations of vote trading were everywhere in the press- and an England bid that had been drawing high praise from FIFA high command, including Blatter ended up crashing out in the first round with a shocking 2 votes overall.

Seems to me that the British press caught wind of some shadiness and started hammering FIFA for it and FIFA retaliated by shanking England's bid in favor of Russia. England has the infrastructure and the enthusiasm in place for a bid- would have been easy AND exciting, but no, any hint of bad press means no Cup for the country silly enough to let it be published. That was shocking enough, but give Russia credit- they show up for the Champions League and produce quality teams.

What was really shocking in the World Cup mess was the United States being passed up for Qatar. The United States which held a phenomenal World Cup in 1994 that grew the game in leaps and bounds in ways that Pele couldn't when he arrived in New York at the end of the 70s. Another Cup could have pushed the game to new heights- and the United States also has the enthusiasm, infrastructure and gobs of money to do it right and do it easily- and it could have been another great stride into breaking the global game into the world's biggest untapped market.

Something is very wrong in FIFA. And no, it's not sour grapes on the part of England, the United States or any of the other losers. People got hosed but good.

Bucky Names Names

What is it with Wisconsin and naming names? I mean first Joe McCarthy and now a gem for the digital age... to whit: the Student Newspaper up in Madison learned of 33 students who, having purchased their Rose Bowl tickets for the face value price of $150 were selling them on Facebook for upwards of $400. The School Paper thought that this was a truly crap-tastic way to make a buck, said as much- but and here's the kicker: named the 33 students who were doing it right there in the paper.

My initial reaction: daaaaaaaaamn!

My secondary reaction: people sell tickets for mark-ups all the time. What did they expect? A profusion of school spirit? Piss-poor students not wanting to make a buck? (Though now that I've said that, how poor can you be if you can afford a ticket to the Rose Bowl...)

Anyway kids, click the links above- read for yourselves and then... DISCUSS! Go!

(In further updates: it looks like Bucky has removed the infamous 33- because they had been sent 200 more names! Bwahahahahahahahaha!)

Elizabeth Edwards 1949-2010

Elizabeth Edwards lost her battle with cancer yesterday. I can't say I was a huge fan of her husband (not being a Democrat and all) but she handled herself with grace, dignity and strength battling some truly crappy situations these past years and not many would have been able to do that... she will be missed.

Busted

The Quiet Man had an extra ticket to the game last night, so he asked if I wanted to tag along (it being against UNI and being basketball, I enthusiastically said yes, of course- Iowa ground out a quality win against UNI, 51-39) and at the game, it being Carver Hawkeye Arena and all, there was a broad mix of young and old people around us- the old lady next to me was keeping track of everybody's stats with almost a religious fervor- but it was the older gentlemen in front of me that caught my ear.

"Yeah, DJK is off the team."

My ears perked up. The guy had been listening to the radio- and after a remark about what a crappy attitude DJK reportedly has, he lapsed into silence and returned to the game, before revealing later that he had been busted on drug charges. Wow. To me it seems a certainly inevitable that in any athletics program, someone is going to mess up sometime. College athletes aren't perfect, and more to the point, we tend to forget that they are in college and they like to party as much as the next person. I expected that DJK had been busted with weed and would miss the bowl game.

It was stunning to find out just how wrong I was. It's a damn shame really, because he wasn't a bad receiver by any stretch of the imagination and could have gone places in the NFL, but now he's looking down the barrel of a whole heap of trouble... and the collapse of Iowa's season in November to finish 7-5 now is starting to look more like an implosion than anything else.

Of Course She Said No,

she's running for President, sillypants! (Tea Party Nation President had asked Sarah Palin to throw her hat into the race to succeed Michael 'Let's Go to Some Bondage Clubs, boys' Steele as RNC Chairman. She declined, pointing out that it was more of a 'fundraiser-in-chief position' than anything else, which is fair to say. But, it's also worth noting that failed Presidential Screamer, I mean candidate Howard Dean took the DNC job and manage to dislodge the Democratic Party's head from deep inside its own ass. Which was no mean feat, at the time. So it's a pity she shot them down so quickly.)

Because of course, she's running for President, sillypants! And I'm willing to bet that once Newt gets this party started, others will follow, including her... and even if, by some whacked out twist of fate, she doesn't jump in, she for sure gets a serious look as VP again.

Epic Fail, Columbia...

Barely a day after Columbia University emailed its students advising them not to post anything about Wikileaks on Facebook because it might cost them a job, they've backed down.

Hahahahahahaha! Fools.

Dear Santa,

For Christmas, I'd really like Republicans to shut up about social issues and work on fixing the economy. Could you make that happen? I don't care what the American Tight-Ass Institute says, I'm married and so far, gay marriage has not impacted my life in one single, tangible way and there's scant evidence to suggest that it will. So you could send Terry and Company a memo to tell them to clam it and starting fixing the damn economy?

thanks,
The Cigar Guy

P.S. This little tirade was prompted by Our Beloved Governor Elect called Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal a 'dictator' for not letting a vote on gay marriage come to the floor (or vowing not to, anyway).) First of all: see above. People should be shutting the hell up about shit like this and FIXING THE DAMN ECONOMY! Water is coming over the sides, people. Let's get some perspective. Second of all: no, he's not a Dictator. Like him or loathe him, and for Republicans I suspect it has long been the latter, Senator Gronstal is making a stand on these strange things called principles- and on this issue I happen to agree with him 100%- but even if you don't, which is perfectly fine, you have to admire a politician who is willing to stand up for their principles. It doesn't happen a lot these days, so double bonus to Senator Gronstal for being right and refreshing at the same time! Third of all: somethings we don't do by a show of hands. Technically it runs contrary to democracy and yadda yadda yadda, but we're a Representative Constitutional Republic, not a democracy- it's time Republicans (ironically enough) remember that. If we would have decided slavery, interracial marriage, women's suffrage, a whole host of other issues by a show of hands, then we'd still have slaves, interracial marriage would be banned, women wouldn't be able to vote, but we could all sleep better at night knowing that judicial tyranny had been avoided! PHEW!

OK, I'm done.

It's the Insight Bowl!

In case you've been living under a rock today! I would have preferred Nebraska, but since we haven't played Mizzou since 1910, a centenary rematch is long overdue! (People have been making snide remarks on news sites today, since we were going to restart a Mizzou series in the early 2000s, but Mizzou backed out. Since we were good- but that was then and this is now!)

Not the Bowl a lot of people wanted, I know, but its more interesting than another match-up with South Carolina or Florida. I will be in front of my television, frosty beverage in hand and more than ready to watch this one! (T-shirt too: I've decided that from now on, I will have a tradition of buying some form of clothing marking whichever Bowl Iowa gets to in any given season. Because... because, well I want to. GO HAWKS!)

As a bonus here are 10 things you should know about this game, per the Bleacher Report. Which leaves me pondering a truly important question: just how good is this logo going to look on a t-shirt?

You Stay Classy, Congress…

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/04/senate-unemployment-benefits_n_791995.html

Do you ever wonder why exactly we bother having a Congress? Given a chance to do some real good for the unemployed (of which there are a growing number) and the Middle Class (the cornerstone and key to this country's future prosperity) Congress decided to slap down a bill which would have extended unemployment benefits and middle class tax cuts.

Why? Well no one was doing anything for the rich, of course- because with their fancy cars, mansions and gilded lifestyles, they too deserve a tax break.

I really don't know what to say to this. Epic Fail, Congress. Epic, epic fail.

Top Gear

http://www.topgear.com/uk/

I am not a Motorhead, by any stretch of the imagination. I know next to nothing about cars and don't really care to learn as long as they drive and work the way that I want them too and are fairly cost-efficient, I'm fine with that.

But: thanks to the glories of Netflix, a segment of '60 Minutes' and ten minutes on YouTube.com, I have found a new televisual obsession that has pretty much everything to do with cars. Namely, that BBC gem of gems: Top Gear.

This is a damn hard show to categorize properly. In one sense, it's bloody genius on the small screen, because it takes the big, uncertain and often-times snobby world of sports cars and indeed, cars in general and brings it to the masses on a silver platter of deliciousness. From test driving very fast and very sexy cars to having celebrities drive not so sexy cars around their test track (the latter segment being named 'A Star In A Reasonably Priced Car' and featuring everyone from Dame Helen Mirren to Simon Pegg and Simon Cowell) this show does it all and the three hosts, thankfully, each have their share of opinions and take the piss out of each other with glee and aplomb, all while making it perfectly plain to all and sundry that they are in fact, having a blast and a half.

Then, there's the Stig. Not satisfied with merely their opinions, the three hosts: Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May added a mysterious, always masked, voiceless and reportedly professional race-car driver to the mix- and while the hosts review the sexy and not-so-sexy cars, the Stig drives them- very fast.

These brilliant men of television, drive cars, they review cars- and they also do some truly madly wonderfully random things with cars. Converting random cars into amphibious vehicles, one episode features them driving a pick-up truck across the English Channel to France. Another has them pitting a Bugatti Veron against an RAF Fighter and yet another one has them each attempting to buy a car with a budget of only $1000. (The punchline of this last one of course, is that the trio is Miami- and the first part of the show is spent watching them drift into considerably shadier and shadier dealerships until they find their respective vehicles.)

I can heartily give this show an enthusiastic 'TWO THUMBS UP' and say that if you haven't watched an episode, it's well worth a try.

Double Rejection!

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/james-lawton-a-defeat-but-one-we-can-take-pride-in-2149800.html

FIFA announced the winners of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups today. Russia got 2018 and Qatar got 2022 and people are PISSED. This, to me is entirely justified. Given the allegations of corruption and vote buying that stalked FIFA in the weeks and months leading up to this announcement, it looks like something is entirely rotten in the kingdom of Sepp Blatter and Company- cynically, you could say that Russian Mob Bosses got them 2018 and obscene amounts of petro dollars got Qatar 2022- and people don't seem all that enthused to go to Russia (hooray!) followed four years later by steaming hot Qatar.

My initial reaction was one of disappointment. England has worked hard to get the World Cup back to its shores and I honestly believe that there are probably England fans that think that another Cup will only come England's way when the Tourney is held on home ground. Personally, I think there's a deeper problem with English football (that is an entirely separate post though)- but anyway, I could see Russia getting this one. They've never had it before. It's big, sexy, messy. Why the hell not?

The real shocker, to me, was Qatar. I mean Qatar is like the size of my thumb. Rich they are, but small they are as well. Can they sustain the world's attention and house, feed and entertain gobs of soccer fans? How are they going to handle soccer fans and their drinking in a Muslim country that frowns on booze… there were many questions- and I was looking forward and cheering for the Cup to come back to the good old USA.

Alas, not to be- but Qatar caught my interest, because if they are going to be building a shitload of stadiums, they will, at least, not be boring:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/gallery/2010/dec/02/world-cup-2022-qatar-stadiums-pictures

 

Something Crazy Found In California

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-12/nasa-announces-strange-bacterial-behavior-raising-questions-alien-life-hunters

I love NASA. Well, not exactly- I both love and hate NASA all at the same time. They seem to suffer from a stunning lack of ambition in these sad days of space travel we live in, but occasionally, every so often they still show that they have the power to make me sit up and say 'Cool.'

Today was one such occasion: it started with a sexy tease to the media about a big announcement. CNN, still recovering from the shocking double win of the World Cup for Russia (2018) and Qatar (2022) respectively, seized on this and spent many hours speculating about whether or not this life might be alien.

It wasn't. Well, it was. Kind of, but not really… basically, what NASA had found was a bacteria that broke the rules of what we know about biology on planet Earth. All life as we know it, the article says, is made up of six main building blocks: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur and phosphorus. This little guy swapped out the phosphorus for the usually toxic arsenic and thrived so much on it that arsenic was actually integrated into its DNA.

Science geeks everywhere are probably jumping up and down about this- and even I, not being science inclined in any way, shape or form had to admit it was pretty damn cool.