July 31, 2007

Miss You

Ted Stevens, the man who brought us the "Bridge to Nowhere" and "The Internet is a Series of Tubes" just got his home raided by the FBI as part of a corruption probe.

I'm going to miss him.

AG-AG, not so much.

July 30, 2007

Glory Days

Lost 49er Legend Bill Walsh today:

Bill Walsh, the imaginative and charismatic coach who took over a downtrodden 49ers team and built one of the greatest franchises in NFL history, died Monday morning at his home in Woodside at the age of 75, after a three-year struggle with leukemia.

A master of using short, precisely timed passes to control the ball in what became known as the West Coast offense, he guided the team to three Super Bowl championships and six NFC West division titles in his 10 years as head coach.

That West Coast Offence you here about all the time? That's his. Also:

He had a knack for spotting talent and then developing that talent to its fullest. His touch was particularly deft when it came to quarterbacks. He drafted Joe Montana in the third round in 1979 and acquired Steve Young, then a backup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, in 1987 for second- and fourth-round draft choices. Both were elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Who Goes?

So our best General Ever and our best Iraqi Prime Minister ever are not getting along. Who is going to go?

Some say Petraeus, some say Al-Maliki.

Don't worry, I'm sure the Bush Administration will make the right call. After all we now apparently are going to war with only people in Iraq who like us, so I'm sure they will get this call right too.

Read news. Weep. Repeat.

July 29, 2007

Iraq: Winner!

Iraq won the Asian Cup for the first time ever today.

1-0 (Of Course) over Saudi Arabia.

The team captain Younis Mahmou scored the winning goal on a header in the 71st-minute.

After the game, Mahmoud called for the United States to withdraw its troops from his nation.

Wow

Alberto Gonzale continues to plum the utter depths of political catastrophe. No one can bring themselves to defend him, not Newt, not no-one.

FoxNews Sunday actually admitted that they couldn't find anyone to come on the show and defend him.

Actually, this is becoming a rather fascinating case study in stubborn loyalty. I'm pretty sure that the only remaining supporters of AG-AG are his wife and the President of the United States. And even his wife is starting to waver. If it wasn't for the whole shredding the Constitution, illegal conduct, imperial presidency thing, this would be an incredibly amusing little event.

July 27, 2007

No Heroes

Not shocking - The Director of the FBI testified that the Attorney General lied to Congress. The fact that this isn't shocking pretty much proves how far Gonzales has fallen.

I am pretty shocked at this report from NASA which includes accusations that astronauts were drunk before flying.

Put together with new information that Pat Tillman may have been deliberately killed by other American soldiers and I pretty sure no heroes will emerge intact from the Bush era.

July 26, 2007

More Than You Think

So I finished off Soccer Explains the World and I’m pretty convinced. The subtitle is “an (unlikely) theory of globalization” and it’s one of the better theories I’ve come across. Soccer doesn’t explain the whole damn world, but it explains more than you think.

The book is in fact a road trip story as the author goes from soccer (and world) hotspot and looks at how the beautiful game crosses paths with politics, religion, culture and trade. The stories that Foer tells are just fascinating. How Arkan, one of the most murderous thugs to emerge from the Balkans, recruited his militia from Belgrade soccer hooligans. How Nigerian strikers come to play for Ukrainian professional clubs. The struggles of women in Iran to just watch the game live in the stadium.

To be honest, these stories don’t add up to one single, unified, pithy theory of soccer and globalization. There’s no causation. Understanding Brazilian soccer will show you how the Nation of Brazil works, but soccer reflects, rather than makes the societies if comes from. This is a book that’s really about using to soccer to show us the world.

Which brings us to Iraq's run in the Asian Cup. The National team has had an amazing run, scored major upsets and made its way all the way to the finals. But fifty people died when bombers struck the celebrating crowds. Soccer will not solve Iraq problems any more than George Bush will. But it helps us understand.

July 24, 2007

So Bad

Holy Mother, Alberto Gonzales gave what is quite possibly the worse testimony before Congress in the history of the Republic. It was so bad that the Republican members of the Judiciary Committee are openly talking about prosecuting him for pergury. If Larry really wanted to impeach somebody, I know where I would start.

Lowest Ever!

Bush now at 25% approval.

July 22, 2007

The John Cusack Project

I am happy to present 65 people striking the classic pose from the movie Say Anything:

July 21, 2007

Even...

...the Good is bad:

Younis Mahmoud scored twice and Iraq reached the semifinals of the Asian Cup for the first time since 1976 with a 2-0 win Saturday over Vietnam that extended the conflict-torn nation's impressive run in the tournament.

Celebratory gunfire that rang out over Baghdad after the victory killed two people and wounded 15.

July 20, 2007

I'm Tired

Of abusing historic comparisons. Here's Thomas Sowell trying to say that Iraq isn't that bad "historically"

If and when that 4,000th American death in Iraq is reached, we need to recall that more Marines than that were lost taking one island in the Pacific during World War II.

During the Civil War, more than twice as many Union soldiers as that were killed -- in one day -- at the battle of Shiloh, and again at Gettysburg.


Look, WW2 was the worse conflict in the history of the world. It involved total war between all the major industrial powers of the world. It included the only use of nuclear weapons ever and the mass extermination of an entire race of people. There is no comparing it to any other event in history. So yes casualties will be much higher in WW2 than in our little misbegotten Iraq adventure. It doesn't make Iraq any less misbegotten. The American Civil war involved mass mobilizations of huge armies. The tactics of the day called for these armies to line up across from each other and fire volleys of rifle fire at close range. So yes lots more people were killed in the Civil War than in the current slow grinding insurgency. That doesn't make Iraq good or easy or a small mistake.

Lets use some other wars for comparison. Just to pull an example out of my ass - The US lost 1725 killed in action in the Mexican-American War. We've suffered over double that number of casualties in Iraq. And we were able to steal California. What does our 3600 dead buy us in Iraq? Spanish American War - 3,289 U.S. dead (432 from combat) and Cuba got free and we got the Philippines and Puerto Rico .

July 19, 2007

Could Be



Is Obama the next JFK?

Ted Sorensen who knows a bit, makes the case.

As Republicans so often and so loudly proclaim there desire for the return of Reagan, deep down Democrats long for a return of John F Kennedy, even if we're not such loud jerks about it. Much like the GOP's current vision of Reagan, our view of JFK is rosy, with bits of what we like from his brothers mixed in as well.

We are all just looking for someone to believe in. A person who can be a cause, who can be something greater than ourselves. I'm hoping to find that in Obama and I think a lot of other people are too.

July 16, 2007

Fun Fact

Hillary has more money than the entire GOP field. John Doolittle outraised by Charlie Brown I know I've only really been talking about money in the Presidential race, but at this stage of the game, money is money.

Its a Metaphor

The 2008 campaign, as represented by hot chicks having dance-offs and pillow fights

Our Friends

Are not our friends-

Although Bush administration officials have frequently lashed out at Syria and Iran, accusing it of helping insurgents and militias here, the largest number of foreign fighters and suicide bombers in Iraq come from a third neighbor, Saudi Arabia, according to a senior U.S. military officer and Iraqi lawmakers.

About 45% of all foreign militants targeting U.S. troops and Iraqi civilians and security forces are from Saudi Arabia; 15% are from Syria and Lebanon; and 10% are from North Africa, according to official U.S. military figures made available to The Times by the senior officer. Nearly half of the 135 foreigners in U.S. detention facilities in Iraq are Saudis, he said.

Fighters from Saudi Arabia are thought to have carried out more suicide bombings than those of any other nationality, said the senior U.S. officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the subject's sensitivity. It is apparently the first time a U.S. official has given such a breakdown on the role played by Saudi nationals in Iraq's Sunni Arab insurgency.

He said 50% of all Saudi fighters in Iraq come here as suicide bombers. In the last six months, such bombings have killed or injured 4,000 Iraqis.


Saudi nationals also played a major role in 9/11, which you may have heard of. If we have a terrorist problem in this world, then its largely a Saudi problem. A problem which the Bush administration seems rather shy about confronting, for some reason.

July 15, 2007

July 14, 2007

Legos!

Greatest toy of Craig's childhood, well ahead of Transformers.



Jamie Kennedy and Stu Stone - Circle Circle Dot Dot

July 12, 2007

Uncalled For

Really people, this is uncalled for.

Even Sir Charles

Not a Role Model

A Obama Guy:

The People We Train are Killing Us

USAToday:

A previously undisclosed Army investigation into an audacious January attack in Karbala that killed five U.S. soldiers concludes that Iraqi police working alongside American troops colluded with insurgents.

The assault on the night of Jan. 20 stunned U.S. officials with its planning and sophistication. A column of SUVs filled with gunmen who posed as an American security team passed through Iraqi police checkpoints at a provincial headquarters in the Shiite holy city.

Within a few minutes, the attackers killed one American, wounded three and abducted four. The captives were later found shot to death; the gunmen escaped.
...
•Iraqi police suddenly vanished from the government compound before the shooting started.

•Attackers, evidently briefed on how U.S. forces would defend themselves, bottled up more than three dozen soldiers in a barracks and headquarters complex using a combination of smoke and fragment grenades and satchel charges to blow up Humvees.

•Gunmen knew exactly where to find and abduct U.S. officers.

•Iraqi vendors operating a PX and barbershop went home early.

•A back gate was left unlocked and unguarded.


The People We Train are Killing Us. It is time to stop.

July 11, 2007

Beckham is Coming

Wheels on the Bus go Clunk, Thunk, Clang!

McCain's campaign staff is leaving en mass. He has money trouble, polling trouble and now staff trouble. While I and the rest of the liberals would love this trouble to be about his unending support for the Iraq war, remember he's running in a Republican Primary and trying to get money from Republican donors. His troubles come from supporting immigration reform, campaign finance reform, and just in general being willing to work with Democrats on issues instead of attacking them. That's just not a good fit for todays Republican Party

July 9, 2007

Madam Please

Next up in the D.C. Madam walk of shame - Sen. David Vitter, R-La. Come on down Senator!

And why yes, he is in fact a giant flaming hypocrite.

Of course.

Limits of Spin

The art of spin is putting the best spin on the existing facts. There are some good facts and some bad ones. You use the facts that work for you. I was checking out that other girl, but you're much hotter than her baby. Sure boss, I didn't finish all my work, but what I did finish was excellent. We all do it, its just in politics where it becomes art and science. Sure the unemployment rate is up but GDP is going up. Muggings are up, but murders are down.

Well, the Bush administration is reaching the limits of spin:

A progress report on Iraq will conclude that the U.S.-backed government in Baghdad has not met any of its targets for political, economic and other reform, speeding up the Bush administration's reckoning on what to do next, a U.S. official said Monday.

Not as single goal is being reached. Not one. No good facts to bring-up. No mixed situation to put the best spin on. Just failure.

5 Ways to End the War

Ackerman has a round-up of all the different tactics that Democrats are trying to use in order to end the Iraq war.

All of these things will be hard-to-do. The Senate majority is so bare as to be not-existant, depending as it does on Joe Lieberman. But war grows more unpopular every month and the Republicans in Congress are starting to crack.

The fight goes on.

July 8, 2007

Orphan Watch

I'm always eager to deploy the Defeat is an Orphan Principal.

Powell would like you to know that he was no father to this catastrophe.

July 4, 2007

Movie Review: Transformers

So for two hours I was able to reconnect to my lost childhood. Transformers were second only to Legos in my personnel Pantheon of toys. As John Swansburg says in Slate "the only thing better than a toy truck was a toy truck that was also a toy robot."

And Michael Bay does all he can for the boy in all of us. I swear to God the man is least subtle director in film history. He wants you to jump, he throws a car a the screen. Bam! Off comes the head! Boom! Down comes the building Crash! The bus gets cracked in two. Fun times. Just don't expect everything to make much sense. How did..? When did..? Didn't they already say..? Just leave those questions behind. This is a movie for boys. Boys do not ask questions about the plot.

How do I know that this is movie for boys? Well, there are two female characters, stunningly hot and their skill sets are mechanic and computer hacker. Only in Boy-Movie never-never land do mechanics and computer hackers look like this.

High points- effects, the transformations effects are great. A million little parts shift and move and recombine in a way that is fascinating to watch, apart for the mere fact that a fracking helicopter just turned into a fracking giant robot.

Low points- jokes, this movie tries way too hard to be funny, and the gags miss more than they hit.

But in the end the battles are cool, the chicks are hot and Optimus Prime says "Autobots, roll out" Really what more do you need on the 4th of July.

July 3, 2007

The System is Not Working

Kung Fu Monkey:

Our representatives -- and to a great degree we as a culture -- are completely buffaloed by shamelessness. You reveal a man's corrupt, or lying, or incompetent, and what does he do? He resigns. He attempts to escape attention, often to aid in his escape of legal pursuit. Public shame has up to now been the silver bullet of American political life. But people who are willing to just do the wrong thing and wait you out, to be publicly guilty ... dammmnnnn.

We are faced with utterly shameless men. Cheney and the rest are looking our representatives right in the eye and saying "You don't have the balls to take down a government. You don't have the sheer testicular fortitude to call us lying sonuvabitches when we lie, to stop us from kicking the rule of law and the Constitution in the ass. You just don't. What's beyond that abyss -- what that would do to our government and our identity as a nation -- terrifies you too much. So get the fuck out of our way."


Go Read the Whole Thing.

July 2, 2007

Son of A...

Bush sets Scooter free. Commutes his sentence so he doesn't spend any time in jail. Craig is reduced to outraged sputtering.

Tsh- Fut- Ner- Smer-

It was talked about, but I for one never thought that Bush would really do it. This will please the 28% of Country that Bush already has, but is going to bring down the rage of the rest.

This is a huge middle finger extended at the Justice System. Scooter Libby, lies to grand jury, is convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice, is set free by President. The end result is that the crime being investigated remains unsolved. And there are no legal consciences for that cover-up. Bush has abused the power of his office -the right to pardon and grant clemency, in the service of hiding crimes committed by his own Administration. In a just world, this action would burn the Administration to the ground. But I'm starting to question the justice of the world.

Freedom!

Judge: Lap Dances Protected By Constitution

Something Like a Phenomenon

Obama blew the doors off with fundraising this quarter:

In addition to Obama's haul for the primary, he collected $1.5 million for the general election, for a total of $32.5 million raised over the past three months.

Clinton's campaign announced late last week that it would raise $27 million to $28 million for the second quarter, but campaign aides said yesterday that slightly more than $21 million was in primary donations.

Obama is not just competitive with Clinton, her flat out beating her. Now lots and lots of early money isn't everything, as the Presidency of Howard Dean shows us, but this isn't nothing either.

July 1, 2007

Parent's Permission

From MT comes ratings for your blog.

Mine comes out PG-13

Online Dating

Mingle2 - Online Dating


due to mentions of torture, death and drug-use. I really do need to blog about sex more.

Alright, I need to start checking some IDs. Line forms to the right.