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« April 2008 | Main | June 2008 »
May 31, 2008
The Weekend Desk Report
We're not sure, but it looks like terrorist wing-nut Rachel Ray may in fact be the model for that slutty new Starbuck's logo. We'll be pounding the pavement to find answers for you this weekend.
Market Update
Paranoia futures surged to an all-time high this week after numerous revelations of long-ranging schemes, deliberate delays and flat-out lies proved once and for all that they really are out to fucking get us.
Delegate Operations
The cold war between Democratic front runners Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama rages on this weekend as the greater DNC brain trust continues to wrestle with the question of delegates. Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Leader Harry Reid are said to be losing patience with the whole affair. Sources close to the two congressional giants say they are confused as to why Clinton and Obama don't simply morph into one another as they have.
Triumvirate Tests
Hoping not to be out-done by last week's unusually strong showing from her sinister sisters, Britney Spears fired off a few missiles of her own. The tactic was nullified, however, when her own lawyer revealed she has no long-range capability whatsoever.
To The Rezko
Lawyers for embattled political fixer Tony Rezko will no doubt spend their weekend fighting his latest potential arrest. Sources close to the team say they will argue Rezko's whopping $450,000 gambling bet is actually an attempt to get in on the ground floor of Charles Barkley's potential 2010 run for Alabama governor. So, you know, that's been covered.
And Finally...
We've started summer hours here at the Weekend Desk, so this week we're going to let you finish the Report. Enjoy!
Posted by Natasha at 07:56 AM | Permalink
May 30, 2008
The [Friday] Papers
All I need to know about the Sex and the City movie I learned from Roger Ebert this morning: Carrie and Mr. Big buy a penthouse they name "Heaven on Fifth Avenue."
Check, please!
Dream Weaver
"More than half of U.S. workers say the American dream of owning a nice home, having financial security and hope for the future is unattainable, and almost half blame the political system, according to a new poll by Zogby International."
Doprah
"I've tried to stay out of politics for my entire tenure on the air," she said. "Basically, it's a no-win situation."
I mean, if Oprah actually used her celebrity status to lobby for health insurance and higher wages for the poor, they might not find a reason to follow her New Age nostrums anymore.
Pfleger Flap
Barack Obama responded to his latest preacher problem on Thursday by claiming that he barely even knew Michael Pfleger and has never been present when he's made politically inconvenient comments. The Pfleger he's known for 20 years, he said, was never one to shoot his mouth off.
The Daley Show
I think everyone's missing the point about Mayor Richard M. Daley speaking at Northwestern's commencement. Does NU president Henry Bienen believe that Daley is a good role model for ethical public service?
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Alton Logan would have been a more inspired choice.
Tony's Take
"Rezko allegedly accumulated $450,000 in debts to Caesars Palace and Bally's Hotel Casino between March and July 2006," the Sun-Times reports. "He passed nine bad checks and got hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash or gaming chips in return."
RezkoWatch has the details, including this bit of unfortunate timing:
"A warrant was issued for Rezko's arrest on May 20, 2008, and federal authorities were notified about the outstanding warrant a week later, on Tuesday, May 27, 2008. The criminal complaint was filed on May 13, 2008, "with two counts of fraud stemming from $250,000 in gambling debts at Caesars Palace and $200,000 in markers at Bally's."
By a strange coincidence, U.S. presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) - to whom Rezko has been a long-term friend, personal real estate fairy, and political benefactor - returned to Las Vegas on May 27, 2008, to 'shore up his weaknesses in Nevada, which is in the heart of a must-win region if he is to take the presidency in November,' J. Patrick Coolican reported in the Las Vegas Sun. "
Currency Exchange
"In a Tribune story a year ago, Obama defended special budget earmarks for his district while he was a state legislator, including ones that went to programs associated with Pfleger's church.
"Pfleger gave Obama's campaigns $1,500 between 1995 and 2001, including $200 in April 2001, about three months after Obama announced at least $100,000 in grants to St. Sabina programs."
SOS
The Chicago cop who wore a wire to build a case against his colleagues in the now-disbanded Special Operations Section is scheduled to appear on 60 Minutes this Sunday.
I wonder if he's available for commencement speeches.
Cable Guys
"Hackers Alter Comcast Homepage."
Trick customers into thinking they are required to be home today from 1 p.m to 4 p.m. to receive repair service.
Appreciation
Chicagoist remembers Harvey Korman.
A Little Cute
"CHARLESTON, S.C. - The wife of entertainer Bill Murray has filed for divorce after nearly 11 years of marriage, alleging he abused her and is addicted to marijuana and
alcohol."
She can't go! All the plants are gonna die!
- Tim Willette
Teach The Children's Museum Well
You on the museum board
There is a law that you must live by
So please think for yourself
Because Grant Park is not a good buy.
Rolling Phat
This commercial grated on me at first, but now I'm a fan. The lyrics are really good, especially when his posse's getting laughed at instead of looking fly and rolling phat. See more in my new TV Notes column.
What Happened
"Mr. McClellan does not exempt himself from failings - 'I fell far short of living up to the kind of public servant I wanted to be' - and calls the news media 'complicit enablers' in the White House's 'carefully orchestrated campaign to shape and manipulate sources of public approval' in the march to the Iraq war in 2002 and 2003."
Maybe the same voices who were pointing this out back then should gain some measure of credibility today instead of us having to listen to the same crappy pundits who are always wrong about everything.
Then again, it's not just pundits. It's reporters. Er, well, Katie Couric & Co. But reporters too.
"Speaking on The Early Show on CBS, Ms. Couric said the lack of skepticism shown by journalists about the Bush administration's case for war amounted to 'one of the most embarrassing chapters in American journalism,'" the New York Times reports. "She also said she sensed pressure from 'the corporations who own where we work and from the government itself to really squash any kind of dissent or any kind of questioning of it.' At the time, Ms. Couric was a host of Today on NBC.
"Another broadcast journalist also weighed in. Jessica Yellin, who worked for MSNBC in 2003 and now reports for CNN, said on Wednesday that journalists had been 'under enormous pressure from corporate executives, frankly, to make sure that this was a war presented in a way that was consistent with the patriotic fever in the nation.'
"On Thursday, she clarified her comments in a blog post, writing that her producers at MSNBC had wanted their coverage to reflect the patriotic mood of the country."
Beachwood Gift Guide
Family Guy Pint Glasses.
The Beachwood Tip Line: Giggity.
Posted by Lou at 09:32 AM | Permalink
Teach The Children's Museum Well
New song parodies have just arrived. With apologies to Crosby, Stills, Nash, Young & Mitchell.
*
Teach Your Children
You on the museum board
There is a law that you must live by
So please think for yourself
Because Grant Park is not a good buy.
Teach your children well,
This PR hell will slowly go by,
And keep them from Daley's schemes
The place he picked, the one that makes us all cry
Don't you ever ask him why, if he told you, you would cry,
So just look at him sigh and know he won't budge
And you, in the other wards,
Must know the fears that Grant Park won't last
And so please help them with your voice,
All seek the truth before the votes cast.
Teach your neighbors well,
Their children's hell will slowly go by,
And tell them of his schemes
The place he picked, the one makes us all cry
Don't you ever ask him why, if he told you, you would cry,
So just look at him and sigh and know he won't budge
*
Big Yellow Taxi
They paved Grant Park
And put up a parking lot
With a kid's museum, a boutique
and a swinging hot spot
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone
They paved Grant Park
And put up a Children's Museum
They took all the trees
And put them in the kid's museum
And they charged all the people
nine and a half bucks just to see 'em
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone
They paved Grant Park
And they put up a Children's Museum
Late last night
I heard loud rum-ble-ing sounds
And a big earth mover
Took away my favorite land
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone
They paved Grant Park
And put up a Children's Museum
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Previously:
* Children's Museum Limericks!
Posted by Lou at 07:32 AM | Permalink
TV Notes: Henpeckers and Hysterics
Recent observations from more TV viewing than should be allowed even in a democracy.
1. Spike got bounced from Top Chef this week, and good riddance. (Lose the hats, dude.) If only he took Lisa with him. (Gossipy irony alert here.)
Ever since Dale was unfairly bounced, I've thought Richard was the favorite. But the trusty and talented chefs at Flying Saucer in Humboldt Park tell me that Stephanie is going to win.
2. This commercial grated on me at first, but now I'm a fan. The lyrics are really good, especially when his posse's getting laughed at instead of looking fly and rolling phat.
3. I saw four Lifetime movies in 24 hours this week. It happens when you work at home and you're constantly looking for mind-numbing diversions, especially with alcohol less and less of an option in my advancing years.
Anyway, I wrote down two quotes from Sex and the Single Mom:
* It's better for your heart to make a mistake than to live your life without heart.
* Just because you want something badly doesn't make it different than what it is.
But this movie had a totally unsatisfying ending; she never should have gone back to Grant Show.
The other movies I watched:
* More Sex and the Single Mom, which picks up the action three years later.
* Love Sick: Secrets of a Sex Addict, based on a true story. IMDB user comment: I expected more.
* Obsessed, in which Jenna Elfman actually gives a pretty strong performance in movie with a few nice twists. IMDB user comment: A classic!
4. I also saw Mary Louise-Parker in Vinegar Hill on CBS. Tom Skerritt was also in it.
I kept wondering what Louise-Parker was doing in this - was it originally going to be a real movie? Of course, she was totally riveting. Mmm, Mary Louise-Parker . . .
5. That Car Commercial: Innocent Sarah in wonderment in the backseat, staring up at New York City through the sunroof. She's the sweet naif of the group. Ugh.
6. Split Ends: This is a really good show. The culture transfers aren't all as obvious as ghetto-girl-goes-to-Manhattan-snob-shop, and secondarily it's a fascinating look at salons.
The one I saw this week featured Dontez, the most unlikable stylist ever. This video clip paints him in a more sympathetic picture than he deserves.
7. Len & Bob: I will never forgive anyone involved in Steve Stone losing his Cubs broadcast job, but I've started to appreciate Len & Bob. Well, I always thought Len Kasper was pretty good, though I don't need the constant reminders of his rock fan credentials or the bad puns ("They're relishing their condiments!"), but he's got a very easy voice and obvious knowledge of the game. Light years beyond the crappy Chip Caray.
It took me longer to get used to Bob Brenly, mostly because he seems to hold back from criticizing players and managers when they deserve it. He still wants a managing job, after all.
But he's not as bad as he used to be on that front - he said recently that if you threw a dart into the Cubs dugout, any player you hit could play outfield better than Alfonso Soriano - and he does have a wellspring of wisdom to impart.
8. That Other Car Commercial: Where the question is, when you turn your car on, does it return the favor.
Ugh. Just hate it.
("Okay, hold on," bettysdaddy writes. "My car doesn't have a vagina. I want to drive it, not bone it.")
9. She Redecorated Her Husband. See, no matter how much money she spent redecorating her living room - because she was so bored she had nothing else to do with her life - she couldn't quite get it right. And then she figured it out: she had to redecorate her husband!
And she did. And he became just another guy who looks like his mom dresses him.
(Obscure Craft coins the slogan "Citi: The Henpecker's Credit Card of Choice.")
10. The Real Housewives of New York City: Last night they showed outtakes. I just find these people so heinous I am compelled to watch to get a good hate on.
Here is a piece we tried writing comparing The Real Housewives of New York City to The Real Housewives of Orange County and aborted. This was as far as we could get.
NYC: Summer in the Hamptons.
OC: Summer year-round.
NYC: Want kids to go to Columbia.
OC: Want kids to go to Santa Clara Junior College.
OC: Fake boobs and plastic surgery.
NYC: Fake brains and plastic surgery.
NYC: Ivy League.
OC: Junior League.
NYC: Faux Artsy.
OC: Faux Mallsy.
NYC: Sets feminism back 100 years.
OC: Sets feminism back to the Stone Ages.
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Comments - and contributions - welcome.
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Previously in TV Notes:
* Top Shelf, High Life, Elf Food
Posted by Lou at 06:37 AM | Permalink
Bum Knees, Bad Air, Burial Rites
* Caring for Sports Injuries
* Indoor Air Hazards You Should Know About
* Burial Guide For Arlington National Cemetery
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1. CARING FOR SPORTS INJURIES
If you want to dance like a star or shoot hoops like a pro, you need to be prepared for injuries. Don't take valuable time away from the dance floor or the court because you get hurt - learn how to recognize injuries and how to heal faster once they happen. Caring for Sports Injuries, a free package of brochures from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases and the Federal Citizen Information Center is just what you need to get yourself back in top form.
Sports injuries can hit anyone, even children.
Sprains, fractures, dislocations, shin splints - each one causes pain. And no matter whether you're young, old, male, female, often active, or exercise irregularly, you should be on the lookout for signs of an injury. Acute injuries, such as a sprain, strain, or fracture, happen suddenly: you may feel sudden pain, tenderness, swelling, or weakness. Chronic injuries stem from overuse over long periods of time. Bursitis and tendinitis are common chronic injuries.
You might feel pain, swelling, or a dull ache when you're at rest if you have one of these injuries. Learn more about the common types of injuries and how to recognize them with the Caring for Sports Injuries package.
If you are injured, take action immediately - STOP what you're doing! You have no reason to "work through" the pain, and it probably won't just "work itself out." If you have severe pain or swelling or if you can't put weight on the area, call a health professional right away. If you don't have those symptoms, use the RICE method to ease your discomfort: Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. You may still want to consult a health care provider at some point, however; when you do, use the Caring for Sports Injuries package to learn more about which types of doctors can treat you.
Whether you regularly pick up a racket for the school team or occasionally play backyard games with your kids, sports injuries are a possibility. Be prepared with the information in this free package, and then get back to having fun! There are three easy ways to place your order:
* Send your name and address to Caring for Sports Injuries,
Pueblo, Colorado 81009.
* Visit www.pueblo.gsa.gov/rc/n77caringforsportsinjuries.htm to place your order online or to read or print these and hundreds of other Federal publications for free.
* Call toll-free 1 (888) 8 PUEBLO. That's 1 (888) 878-3256, weekdays 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern Time, and ask for the Caring for Sports Injuries package.
2. INDOOR AIR HAZARDS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT
As summer approaches, outdoor air quality starts to get more attention in the news. But indoor air quality affects you and your family every day. Mold, animal dander, and lead dust are familiar irritants, but air fresheners, dry cleaned clothing, and unvented gas stoves can also release compounds that can affect your health. Learn more with Indoor Air Hazards Every Homeowner Should Know About, a brochure from "Healthy Indoor Air for America's Homes," a program run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency. You'll get a room-by-room checklist of products to watch out for, breakdowns of common health problems associated with different pollutants, and lots of tips to minimize your exposure.
Order this free, informative brochure by sending your name and address to the Federal Citizen Information Center,Dept. 632R, Pueblo, CO 81009. Or call toll-free 1 (888) 8 PUEBLO, that's 1 (888) 878-3256, and ask for Item 632R.
3. BURIAL GUIDE FOR ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY
A lone bugle sounds "Taps" in solemn tones. The sun glints off clean, white headstones that dot the rolling green hills. Arlington National Cemetery is a place filled with moving images - a fitting tribute to America's men and women who served in the Armed Forces. It serves as a shrine to America's fallen, but it is also an active cemetery where an average of 28 burials take place each day. If you or a loved one are considering being buried at Arlington, you'll find the information in the Guide to Burial at Arlington National Cemetery to be very helpful.
This free brochure outlines eligibility requirements, contactinformation for officials at the cemetery, and answers to frequently asked questions. For a copy of this brochure, send your name and address to the Federal Citizen Information Center, Dept. 539P, Pueblo, CO 81009. Or call toll-free 1 (888) 8 PUEBLO, that's 1 (888) 878-3256, and ask for Item 539P.
Posted by Lou at 06:01 AM | Permalink
Comcast Classic Country
In sum, Comcast's "Music Choice" channels provide a nice overview of most - not all - genres in the universe of popular (and not so much) music. This hour from the Classic Country channel illustrates how much of a primer these channels can be on each respective category. Plus, the trivia is phenomenal.
I've added some value from Wikipedia, YouTube, etc.
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May 29, 2008
3 p.m. to 4 p.m.
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1. He Stopped Loving Her Today/George Jones.
Indeed one of country's classic songs by one of its classic artists, this was released in 1980, though it sounds like it was made 20 or 30 years earlier.
"The song was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee at CBS Studio B," according to the song's Wikipedia entry. "The recording process was lengthy. Jones was frequently intoxicated and later said in an interview that the four spoken lines of the song had to be recorded over and over because he could not speak without slurring his words."
Jones himself wrote in his book:
"In the 1970s, I was drunk the majority of the time. I had drunk heavily for years and had pitched benders that might last two or three days, but in the 1970s, I was drunk the majority of the time for half a decade. If you saw me sober, chances are you saw me asleep. It was a five-year binge laced with occasional sickness from sobriety . . . Some folks think they're in pain if they've had one too many cocktails the night before. They have no idea how it feels to have one too many pints. It's like going through a violent food poisoning with an ax in your skull."
"The song is about a man who loved a woman so much, it killed him when she left," Jones writes in his book. "He said he would love her until he died, and only on his deathbed did he stop... [producer Billy Sherrill] said he was unable to sleep the night after first hearing the song. But he thought it was incomplete... [Songwriters Curly] Putnam and [Bobby] Braddock killed the song's main character too soon in their early versions. Billy kept telling them to kill the guy at a different time and then have the woman come to his funeral. The writers thought that might be too sad, and Billy did, too. But he knew the song, on a scale of one to 10, was about an eight. He saw it as a potential 11."
2. Roll On, Big Mama/Joe Stampley
Classic truck drivin' music that hit No. 1 on the Billboard Classic Country chart in 1975.
well, the feel of the wheel delivers me
from a life where I don't wanna be and the diesel smoke
with every stroke sings a song with a heavy note
3. The Wurlitzer Prize/Waylon Jennings
Just so sadly beautiful.
4. Real Love/Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers
A #1 country single that also reached #91 on the pop charts, this is hardly a country classic in any real sense of the term. While tuneful, it's studio gloss bespeaks the state of country circa 1985; it sounds like the lost theme song to a Dudley Moore movie.
5. I Don't Wanna Play House/Tammy Wynette
I don't wanna play house; I know it can't be fun
I've watched mommy and daddy
And if that's the way it's done
I don't wanna play house; It makes my mommy cry
'Cause when she played house
My daddy said good-bye.
This song - written by Billy Sherrill and Glenn Sutton - won the 1967 Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performance.
Embedding has been disabled, but you can still watch what looks to be a 1967 performance of this song by a young Tammy Wynette on YouTube.
6. You Still Move Me/Dan Seals
Classic suckdom.
7. Daydreams About Night Things/Ronnie Milsap
I'm having day dreams bout night things
In the middle of the afternoon
And while my hands make a living my mind's home loving you
You can see some dude do his own cover of this song; it's not terrible.
8. Dixie On My Mind/Hank Williams Jr.
All the stations up here don't sign off with Dixie,
The way they did in sweet home Alabama,
The people here don't sip Jack Daniels whiskey,
The way they do in that Tennessee mountain land.
I've always heard lots about the big apple,
So I thought I'd come up here and see,
But all I've seen so far is one big hassle,
Wish I was camped out on the Okachovee.
Oh well. Don't need a Southern man around anyhow.
9. Orange Blossom Special/Johnny Cash
This is how you lose your New York blues, Junior.
Well, I don't care if I do-die-do-die-do-die-do-die
10. Amos Moses/Jerry Reed
Listen to the funk!
Paging Sly Stone . . .
11. I Fall To Pieces/Patsy Cline
You want to act like we've never kissed.
12. Hard Times/Lacy J. Dalton
This piece of fluffle hit #7 on the country chart in 1981.
13. Somebody Should Leave/Reba McEntire
Somebody should leave
But we hate to give in
We just keep hopin
We might need each other again
Ugh. I'd rather one of you shot the other just to watch them die.
14. I Ain't Never/Mel Tillis
Bringin' us back home. Here's a version by the Oak Ridge Boys.
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From the Beachwood jukebox to Marfa Public Radio, we have the playlists you need to be a better citizen of the Rock and Roll Nation.
Posted by Lou at 05:21 AM | Permalink
May 29, 2008
The [Thursday] Papers
Scenes from a CTA derailment.
* "Although emergency personnel arrived within minutes, the situation was so precarious that the train operator ordered passengers in the first car, which separated from the rest of the train, to move to one side of the aisle to prevent the car from possibly tipping over and plunging to the ground," the Tribune reports.
* AP video
This Is Your Media
The media are pigeons.
Take the coverage of Scott McClellan's new book. For less than a day it was about what McClellan revealed about a deceitful White House that blundered into an horrible, ill-conceived war, including the role of what he called the "enablers" in the media.
The story now though - on the front page of today's Tribune for example - is "Bush Team Lines Up To Blitz Tell-All Book."
(On page 22 of the Sun-Times, the headline is "Traitor or Truthteller?", a wholly false frame.)
You'd think maybe the front page headline would be "Bush Team Lied About War, Insider Says." And maybe the subhead would be "Yet another account of White House malfeasance. Impeachment?"
But the story is never about the story. It's a classic pivot. George W. Bush dodged the Vietnam War? Make the story about Dan Rather. John McCain was so close to a lobbyist even while he was decrying lobbyists on the campaign trail that top aides thought he was sleeping with her? Make the story about The New York Times. The president and his inner circle lied about the war and Valerie Plame? Make the story about the traitorous former press secretary.
Here's an idea: Require every reporter to get public relations training so they can finally familiarize themselves with at least the basics in the propagandist's toolbox.
*
I have some more thoughts on McClellan's books in "Press Secretaries."
Press Secretaries
"WHO SENT THE DOGS OUT! Obama's campaign - channeling Murdoch - told the dogs to bark."
This is just how the Obama campaign played the race card in South Carolina. Despite Obama's soothing rhetoric, it was his campaign that pushed out the Clinton remarks and privately stoked up reporters by feigning outrage.
"The truth about what Clinton said - and any fair-minded appraisal of what she meant - was entirely beside the point," writes John Harris in a fairly stunning piece at Politico.
The old Scott McClellan would be at home in the Obama campaign.
For another example, just look at how Obama has been recalibrating his position on meeting with foreign dictators.
All I can say is, I told you so.
All of which goes a long way toward explaining why this is the most cynical campaign I've ever seen; exploiting race and RFK's assassination more deftly than Lee Atwater could have ever imagined.
Local Draw
If only Jackie Heard would have a fit of conscience and write a memoir about the inside of the Daley Administration.
Purple Punks
I would be a lot happier that some Northwestern students are upset that Daley is giving the commencement speech this year if it was because he's a corrupt bully rather than the idea that they deserve a bigger celebrity because they paid so much to attend such a prissy school. With such a prissy president.
That's Stella!
It's a tough call, but I think my favorite part of today's gem by Stella Foster is when Cardinal George tells her he reads her column whenever he can.
Today's Worst Person In Chicago
"Adua Asaro, 27, of Huntley will dress like Carrie Bradshaw, played by Sarah Jessica Parker, when she sees the Sex and the City movie."
Suddenly, A New Contestant
According to the Tribune, Pops For Champagne is "so Charlotte."
Make it stop.
Kill Me Now
"IT'S ALL ABOUT THE SHOES: Where to buy affordable shoes Carrie would wear."
KILL ME NOW
"Plan A Girls' Night Out - SATC Style."
Is It Over Yet?
Hardly. But that's as much as I can take today. I think I'll start cutting.
Lucky Stiff
Who is Jeffrey Duerwachter, and how did he make $413,000 in one day?
Channel Changers
"[A] consortium of Illinois nonprofits, governments and public access television stations are warning of a new delivery system from AT&T they believe treats public, educational and government programming unequally," Kristen McQueary writes.
"If your town recently offered you the chance to switch to AT&T, you may have noticed public access channels were moved to Channel 99. Rather than being able to channel surf, as Comcast digital cable customers can, AT&T created a feature that resembles "On Demand" for public access television viewing. Once you get to Channel 99, you have to navigate a few screens and wait for programs to download before being able to view them.
"Critics of the new system say it violates the very law AT&T helped write and pass in the General Assembly last year.
"'AT&T apparently believes game shows and sitcoms deserve good quality and speedy delivery but not for civic information and emergency alerts, which are being sidelined into an application that is not like the commercial channels,' said Barbara Popovic, of CAN-TV, who met with lawmakers Wednesday to share her concerns."
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Disclaimer: I rent my Wicker Park apartment from Popovic.
Disclaimer: While I'm disclaiming I linked to NBC5's photo gallery in the CTA item not because I have a relationship with the station through my blog Division Street, but because I got there through this image on Chicagoist.
Disclaimer: I loathe and detest Sex and the City, and maybe I'll tell you why later today or tomorrow if I have the strength.
Disclaimer: I attended Northwestern for graduate school and it's everything you would imagine it to be.
The Beachwood Tip Line: Like an electronic hug.
Posted by Lou at 09:19 AM | Permalink
Press Secretaries
Scott McClellan's book has not really been "reviewed" yet, but in the political world it's the book-of-the-moment.
And, indeed, it's a stunner.
But what's stunning isn't so much the validation of things we already know - the war in Iraq was a blunder of historic proportions and Karl Rove lied about the Valerie Plame affair - but that the book comes from a former press secretary who stood before not only the White House press corps but the nation and endlessly repeated untruths that amounted to propaganda of the worst kind.
Not that it's shocking that untruths came from that lectern what's shocking is that McClellan has actually come clean in an apparent fit of conscience.
That's the shock.
Look at Ari Fleischer, for example, hitting the talk shows to malign McClellan as a former loyalist whose body must now be occupied by an alien.
Press secretaries know a lot, and what they don't know they don't want to know. It's too bad so many of them go to their graves with their secrets - or in the case of Ted Sorenson, endlessly burnishing the myths that do a grave injustice to the nation they purportedly serve.
Some of the early reports on the McClellan book stake its importance on the notion that this is the first such memoir from a close Bush aide, but you could practically open your own store with the number of books from insiders (Paul O'Neill, Richard Clarke, Joseph Wilson) and outsiders (Bob Woodward, John Dean, Kevin Phillips) that fairly paint this administration as the most incompetent, anti-intellectual, mentally unstable, religiously fanatic, authoritarian and anti-democratic bunch of yahoos in American history. Nixon may have subverted the Constitution, but he didn't rewrite it.
Only the willfully blind can proclaim this administration anything other than an unmitigated disaster.
The timing of the McClellan book is exquisite, and not because we are in the midst of a presidential campaign. The film Recount has just opened and carries with it another reminder that the media McClellan says easily manipulated and enabled the Iraq War also failed to grasp the realities of the 2000 election and what happened in Florida.
Even today, reports of the media's own consortium aided by the University of Chicago continue soft-peddle the inconvenient truth that Al Gore won Florida.
Here is an AP report that was an exception, cited by Eric Alterman:
"But buried beneath the misleading headlines was the inescapable fact that Al Gore was the genuine choice of a plurality of Florida's voters as well as America's. As the AP report put it, 'In the review of all the state's disputed ballots, Gore edged ahead under all six scenarios for counting all undervotes and overvotes statewide.' In other words, he got more votes in Florida than George Bush by almost every conceivable counting standard. Gore won under a strict-counting scenario and he won under a loose-counting scenario. He won if you count 'hanging chads' and he won if you counted 'dimpled chads.' He won if you count a dimpled chad only in the presence of another dimpled chad on the same ballot - the so-called 'Palm Beach' standard. He even won if you counted only a fully-punched chad. He won if you counted partially-filled oval on an optical scan and he won if you counted only a fully-filled optical scan. He won if you fairly counted the absentee ballots. No matter how you count it, if everyone who legally voted in Florida had had a chance to see their vote counted, Al Gore is our president."
But the Bushies controlled the narrative. Instead of Bush being asked to step aside in the interests of the nation based on both the popular vote and the obvious facts of Florida - even Pat Buchanan knew he didn't have very much support in Palm Beach County - Al Gore was asked to be the bigger man and retreat. Why? Why wasn't it the other way around? Why wasn't Bush asked to respect the will of the people? Because one side knew better than the other how to whisper the right things in reporters' ears.
In fact, it was the media's antipathy to Gore - hard to remember these days - that largely kept him out of the 2004 race.
The media has failed us at the heights of its responsibility: covering presidents (and their campaigns) and war.
Of course, there is nothing new about this. The media loves a great narrative arc with larger-than-life figures whose human touches only prove how extraordinary our (crooked) leaders are. These myths couldn't exist without aid of the press, as Seymour Hersh shows in The Dark Side of Camelot and Mark Hertsgaard shows in On Bended Knee: The Press and the Reagan Presidency.
George H.W. Bush's heinous campaign tactics in 1988 couldn't have worked without the media's compliance. Vowing to not be fooled again, the media turned around and played the fool again buying into the fake, right-wing generated Clinton scandals thinking they were being tough.
When George W. Bush took office, the media laid off; the Democrats are caught on the wrong side of the cycle.
Not that I have sympathy for Democrats in this regard. As Bob Somerby has thoroughly shown us, Democrats and their compatriots in the press are the worst offenders, not only with their own sad narratives and weaker mimcry of the same tactics they deplore in conservatives, but with their own presidential candidate(s) extolling the lore of Kennedy and Reagan, further enshrouding our history and governance in veils of lies.
So add McClellan's book to the pile. But if you are surprised, you haven't been paying attention. If you don't think the next act of America's great political charade is being played out again right in front of your face, you're sadly mistaken, and we'll all pay the price for it.
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1. From "Jake Daniels":
"that fairly paint this administration as the most incompetent, anti-intellectual, mentally unstable, religiously fanatic, authoritarian and anti-democratic bunch of yahoos in American history. Nixon may have subverted the Constitution, but he didn't rewrite it."
That is a fantastic summation and I can only hope history judges him and his "yahoos" as such. Very well written column, I am seething as an American today as the Dunkin Donuts ridiculous cave-in to Michelle Malkin has me wondering what is wrong with this country. I fear that it will take many years to undo what Bush has done, and while the press bears some of the blame, so does the public for taking it.
Posted by Lou at 07:03 AM | Permalink
Nicknaming Rights
The performances of Carlos Quentin on the South Side and Geovany Soto on the North this season have pushed both into that rare territory for athletes where the public must take control of his nickname. Beachwood Labs has been working on this furiously and its computers have spit out the following possibilities.
1. Carlos "Zambrano" Quentin
2. Carlos "I'm No Longer Rentin'" Quentin
3. The Big Flirt
4. Carlos "Thome Is Washed Up" Quentin
5. Carlos "A Year From Now He'll Be Pumping Gas" Quentin
6. Carlos "Salinas de Gortari" Quentin
7. The Big Queasy
8. Q Block
9. Carlos "Better Than Konerko" Quentin
10. Carlos "Tarantino" Quentin
*
1. "Sammy" Soto
2. Big G
3. Geovany "Michael Barrett Is My Bitch" Soto
4. Geovany "Way Better Than Koyie Hill" Soto
5. Geo "Dio" Soto.
6. Roto Soto
7. Geovany "Thome Is Washed Up" Soto
8. Geovany "Not Your Mommy" Soto
9. G Block
10. The Big Girth
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Posted by Lou at 05:48 AM | Permalink
Torpedoed By Subway
Homeschoolers Banned from Contest
The sandwich chain Subway is having a contest for kids to see who can submit the best story (in writing) given four storyline premises. The contest is open to everyone, except home-schoolers.
Representatives from the Home School Legal Defense Association are available to discuss this overt act of discrimination on the part of Subway. The name of the contest is "Every Sandwich Tells a Story" and the grand prize is $5,000 worth of athletic equipment for the winning child's school.
The presumption is that the reason for the exclusion is that there would be no school for to which such students could donate the equipment. That rationale is not passing the litmus test for home-schoolers or the HSLDA.
Here is a letter sent by HSLDA President Michael Smith to Subway:
Subway Restaurant Headquarters
325 Bic Drive
Milford, CT 06461-3059
Dear Sir/Madam,
By way of introduction, I am the President of Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) and we represent 83,000 member families nationwide. This letter is to draw attention to your "Every Sandwich Tells a Story Contest," and the unfortunate fact that home-schoolers are not allowed to participate.
The rules clearly state: "Contest is open only to legal residents of the United States who are currently over the age of 18 and have children who attend elementary, private or parochial schools that serve grades PreK-6. No home schools will be accepted."
It is extremely disappointing that Subway would choose to exclude the estimated 2 million home-schooled students.
We understand that the competition is focused on traditional public and private schools because the grand prize of $5,000 of athletic equipment is designed to be used by a traditional school and not an individual family. A potential home-school winner, however, could simply donate the grand prize to a public or private school of their choice or to a home-school sports league.
Home-schooling is a thriving educational option. All the available research shows that home-schoolers are excelling academically and socially. We do not deserve to be overlooked.
We hope that you will reconsider the rules of your competition and choose to amend them to include home-schoolers.
Sincerely,
J. Michael Smith
HSLDA President
Posted by Lou at 05:40 AM | Permalink
May 28, 2008
The [Wednesday] Papers
"The U.S. Supreme Court rejected former Illinois Gov. George Ryan's appeal of his federal racketeering and fraud conviction Tuesday, all but assuring the 74-year-old will serve out his 6 1/2-year federal prison sentence," AP reports.
To save time, the Court also rejected Rod Blagojevich's future appeals.
Yes, I used that line over at Division Street yesterday, but I thought it was worth repeating.
Pardon Me
Sun-Times front-page headline: "Big Jim Thompson To Bush: Let Him Go."
A) Tells president he taught Ryan everything he knows.
B) Explains he really, really needs a win.
C) To save time, asks Bush to pardon Blagojevich too.
Compounded
"The man has gone from being the governor of the state of Illinois to being a prisoner in the federal penitentiary," Thompson said. "His career is gone. His reputation is gone. His pension for the moment is gone. . . . I think everybody's interests have been served."
And the problem is what?
Bush League
"In a book due out Monday, former White House press secretary Scott McClellan offers a blistering review of the administration and concludes that his longtime boss misled the nation into an unnecessary war in Iraq," Cox News reports.
Nation would have been better served if he had just gotten a couple blowjobs instead.
The Obama Rules
"An aide to Barack Obama says the candidate misspoke on Memorial Day when he told a group of veterans that his uncle was among the American troops who liberated the Auschwitz concentration camp," the Tribune reports.
"In fact, Obama's great uncle took part in the liberation of one of the concentration camps at Buchenwald, spokesman Bill Burton said this afternoon."
Obama then declared his great uncle off-limits to media queries while surrogates tried to figure out how to blame Hillary Clinton for playing the race card.
Line Dancing
"The linchpin of the newest bribery scandal to hit the Daley administration is a member of the obscure yet ever-present and highly energetic band of City Hall characters known as 'expediters,'" the Tribune reports.
"Armed with tightly rolled blueprints and fueled by endless cups of coffee, expediters swarm the 9th floor at 121 N. LaSalle St. every business day to wade through the often arduous process of obtaining city permits for real estate developers, builders and homeowners who don't want to do it themselves."
Pro Bono Cloutis
A Cook County judge on Tuesday tossed out the conviction of a man who has already spent 14 years of a 40-year sentence for rape after DNA tests showed he did not commit the crime, the Sun-Times reports.
Jim Thompson said "I think everybody's interests have been served."
Dell Dude
"A New York judge concluded Tuesday that Dell Inc. engaged in repeated false and deceptive advertising of its promotional credit financing and warranties," AP reports.
Nation would have been better off if Dell had just gotten a few blowjobs.
Children's Choir
"I think of Ryan as guilty of all those corruption counts against him, and, most important, as the Illinois politician who squashed the investigation into the deaths of the six Willis kids, who were killed in a fiery crash by a bribe-paying, unqualified truck driver when Ryan was Illinois secretary of state," John Kass writes.
"And though I may have missed it, I don't think I ever heard Daley cry out in sympathy for those children or their parents, nor Thompson, nor Big Bill Cellini's road builders, nor Tony Pucillo's bridge repair guys, nor any of the lads who showed up at Tavern on Rush or Gibsons or Luxbar to raise a glass and bemoan the fate of poor old George."
Maybe the mayor should build a memorial to the Willis children in Grant Park instead of a Children's Museum.
The Miseducation of Stella Foster
Chicagoist adds value.
Thank You, Earle Hagen
He whistled the Andy Griffith Show theme song.
Inevitably . . .
A parrot whistling the Andy Griffith Show theme song.
The Beachwood Tip Line: Random thoughts welcome.
Posted by Lou at 08:37 AM | Permalink
May 27, 2008
The [Tuesday] Papers
BREAKING: "The U.S. Supreme Court rejected former Illinois Gov. George Ryan's appeal of his federal racketeering and fraud conviction Tuesday, all but assuring the 74-year-old will serve out his 6 1/2-year federal prison sentence."
And now, on to our regularly scheduled programming . . . A lot of great new stuff on the Beachwood today. Look and click ->>>
Stat Whores
"During baseball season, you'll find Jon Passman in the press box at Wrigley Field or maybe U.S. Cellular Field. In the winter, when it's hockey and basketball season, you might see him at the United Center," Eric Benderoff writes in the Tribune.
"Like any sports reporter, he goes where the action is. But Passman doesn't fret about finding the right words to lure readers into a story. He doesn't write for a newspaper, magazine or a blog.
"Yet, it's his account of a ballgame - a detailed report of every pitch thrown - that tells millions of fans all they need to know. Passman's work, refreshed every minute, is sent to mobile phones, laptops and a host of other gadgets that help a nation of need-it-now sports fans not miss a moment."
(h/t: Chicagoist)
War Memorial
"Today is Memorial Day in the United States," our very own Marilyn Ferdinand wrote at Ferdy on Films yesterday. "It's a day when we remember our dead, particularly those who have served in combat. I mean no disrespect to the war dead and their families, but it has become more than painfully obvious that dying in war is no great honor, that war is a web of insanity in which sane people often are caught. Yet, we remember our fallen combatants in a sainted glow that, in my opinion, allows society to continue to make war. This myth is just one of many we as a society collude in to perpetuate norms."
Today's Worst People In Chicago
With a nod, as always, to Keith Olbermann.
1. Former state Rep. Carol Ronen.
2. White Sox shortstop Orlando Cabrera.
3. Cook County Assessor James Houlihan.
Random Thought
Isn't it kind of fitting that the city has an Amusement Tax?
Pundit Patrol
* "Thursday's indictees slouched and stared and whispered with their criminal defense lawyers," John Kass writes. "They looked away from their families, and though cameras aren't allowed in court, I can tell you what they did not look like.
"They don't look like people who would ever think of Chicago as Camelot and magical swords handed up to reformers from the Lady of Lake Michigan. They're not national political pundits, to believe in fairy tales."
* "Inside, up on the fifth floor, R. Kelly was on trial, accused of videotaping himself having sex with a girl of 13 or 14," Mary Schmich writes. "He says that's not him on the tape. The girl says that's not her.
"But if he did do it, [Sha'Dawn] Young would understand. It's a crime with ample context.
* "All Thursday's news conference lacked was the theme music from Band of Brothers to make the point as Fitzgerald and FBI chief Robert Grant emphasized that this investigation was not only done in concert with Hoffman, but also was the first time ever that a City Hall inspector general was trusted with federal wiretaps," Carol Marin writes.
"Helllloooooo, City Hall."
* ''I was just very young and immature,'' former Chicago Bear running back Rashan Salaam tells Greg Couch, in a cautionary column aimed at Cedric Benson. ''I was only 20 years old, and 20-year-olds are not supposed to be playing professional football.
''I wasn't ready mentally. It didn't have to do with the team, the coaching, any of that. I was just young. I put myself around the wrong people.
''You know how many football players are smoking weed?'' he said, acknowledging that he was one. ''Everybody smokes weed out there. That had nothing to do with it. I was just young and immature.''
Couch writes that Curtis Enis "has been a little tougher to reach. He used to work third shift at a garage-door company in Russia, Ohio. Supposedly, he had lost all his money. But the company's human resources department said he doesn't work there anymore. Some reports say he was studying to be a cop."
* "Introducing sex education in schools was not a bright idea," Stella Foster writes. "[I]t interferes and distracts a young person from thinking about education to just thinking about doing the nasty. Self-esteem classes should be taught instead."
CeasePR
"The major problem with such mediocre social science research is that it is usually done in conjunction with an agenda and released to the media as if it is gospel," Tracy Jake Siska writes about the recent spate of CeaseFire publicity. "Suffice it to say, Eric Zorn from the Tribune and Alex Kotlowitz from Northwestern who authored an article in the New York Times Magazine swallowed deeply when it came to the findings of this Evaluation without ever questioning the methodology or the results."
Plastic Cocktail Drink Monkeys
These little plastic primates turn any ordinary cocktail into a swinging party drink.
Thank You, Mike Gravel
For your contribution.
The Beachwood Tip Line: Say what you want.
Posted by Lou at 11:01 AM | Permalink
TV Notes: Top Chef, High Life, Elf Food
Recent observations from the wonderful world of TV.
1. Top Chef: Dale got screwed.
Sure, Dale was the executive chef, but shouldn't past performance count for something? I mean, Richard survived a week in which he left scales on the fish.
I've always thought that Dale - though difficult - was the best of the bunch. But now I'm thinking Richard, despite the scales. Richard's Willy Wonka confection for the movie episode did demonstrate his ability to pull off an imaginative dish (I just saw that episode; I had been avoiding it due to the presence of Richard Roeper, ugh).
For more Top Chef commentary, this is pretty good: Blogging Top Chef: Chewing It Up and Spitting It Out!
Finally, did you know that Padma used to be married to much-older Salman Rushdie? It's true!
I wonder if it was the fatwa that she found so attractive.
2. The High Life Delivery Guy: These commercials don't quite knock it out of the park, but they do go for extra-bases.
Favorite lines:
* "Common sense, this is your wake-up call! Get your butt up!"
* "I got to smell me a hot dog or sumthin'! Let me know I'm alive!"
3. What's Your Policy? I'm still kind of flummoxed by these Liberty Mutual commercials where everybody's doing good deeds. I mean, if only. But are they trying to tell me this is the good-guy insurance company that will always do the right thing? So, um, health insurance to those who can't afford it or have pre-existing conditions? What's their policy?
Actually, they don't offer health insurance. I guess they just offer good "customer service."
These ads might be more effective as part of the Obama campaign. After all, isn't the crux of his agenda better manners?
4. Real World Hollywood: Duh. A stripper, a mental, an alcoholic, and a Southern priss who loves sex and wants to be an "entertainment reporter." It's just so transparent. And I keep watching. Damn you, MTV! Damn you to hell!
5. Elf Food: Too pat.
Plus, what's with the stump finger?
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Posted by Lou at 08:53 AM | Permalink
SportsTuesday
My wife is a big Boston sports fan. So for the sake of happy little bursts of marital bliss I have backed Beantown teams (except when they play their counterparts from Chicago, of course) since I said "I do" coming up on 11 years ago.
For a while there, the satisfaction I took from their success had almost as much to do with Boston's perennial underdog status as it did my own situation. Late in the 1990s and early in the 2000s, there was a real kinship between Boston and Chicago baseball fans in particular, but really in all sports (the Celtics had been great for a long time but they had struggled for a decade, and the Red Sox and Patriots had been championship-less for just about forever).
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When the Patriots won their first Super Bowl in January of 2002 with that glorious upset of a Rams team trying to win its second in three years, I was fired up. In fact, I was more excited when Adam Vinatieri put that 48-yarder through the uprights on the final play than I had been when the Bears triumphed in 1986 (take it easy Chicago fans - were you really all that excited at the end of Super Bowl XX? The Bears had blown the game open more than an hour earlier).
The only drama at the end of the Bears' triumph was how the carrying-the-coach-off-the-field ritual would play out, and wasn't it special when a couple dimwits decided to hoist Buddy "Delusions of Grandeur" Ryan on their shoulders at the same time Ditka was being carried off the field. It was a little bit of sports infamy.
And then there were the Red Sox.
Early on, while the Patriots were flooding the town headline-writers delight in calling the Hub (it fits beautifully in narrow sports section spaces) with wins, the Red Sox still couldn't get past the Yankees.
The funniest thing about Boston fandom at that point was the belief in the existence of some sort of Red Sox-Yankee rivalry. When one team has won 26 championships and the other zero during an 80-year stretch, it simply doesn't qualify (Cardinals-Cubs isn't quite as bad - 10-0 - but it is still pretty lame).
Both teams were good in the early '00s, however, and they engaged in some epic battles capped off by unbelievably dramatic ALCS's in 2003 and 2004. I joined in a little of the euphoria the second time around when the Red Sox pulled off that ridiculous comeback from 0-3 to finally knock off the Yanks in seven and then went on to crush the Cardinals (you had to love that) to break through in the World Series.
***
I thought my Boston-backing had run out of gas when the Celtics hit this year's NBA playoffs. As far as the local connections go, well, Kevin Garnett simply doesn't qualify. The guy took what amounted to a post-graduate year at Farragut High School on the West Side before rolling straight into the NBA out of high school. He's South Carolina through-and-through, and he never really out-and-out said he wanted to come to the Bulls when his career with the Timberwolves was winding down.
The true local hero should be Celtics coach Doc Rivers. The Proviso East graduate, who had strong runs through Marquette and the NBA, was a part of the city's storied guard line (from Cazzie Russell to Quinn Buckner to Maurice Cheeks to Isiah Thomas to Derrick Rose with many great players in between). But I still have my doubts about him as a coach. And Celtic reserve guard Tony Allen is a Crane graduate and West Side native but he has barely played in the playoffs.
The Red Sox and Patriots and even the Celtics are also appealing by the way because the best sports columnist working in the United States today, ESPN's Bill Simmons, makes his Boston fandom a centerpiece of many of his masterpieces. Simmons broke down Rivers' failings as a coach (including one that is just about unforgivable for me - finding ways to put the blame on players when things go wrong while accepting too much glory when times are good) about a hundred times during the seasons leading up to this one.
Rivers obviously has been better this time around, leading the Celtics to the best record in the NBA during the regular season and sheperding them through rocky but ultimately successful playoff series' against the Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers. But at times the Celtics have seemed to win despite Rivers' highly uneven substitution patterns and his struggles to get his team in offensive sets that have any chance of succeeding in crunch time, especially on the road.
The Celtics also lead the universe in woofing and chest thumps. I swear to goodness Garnett is going to stop his own heart at some point when he pounds on his chest for the 18th time after hitting a shot that, while important in a given game, probably isn't worthy of the most ostentatious celebration seen since, well, since Garnett last made a big play.
And then there is forward Paul Pierce, who is still capable of amazingly clutch point production (the most recent example was Game 7 of Round 2, when he out-dueled LeBron), but who too frequently insists on many of the same histrionics as Garnett. And he did major damage to his rep early in the post-season. That was when he was accused of - and fined $25,000 for - flashing a gang sign at an Atlanta Hawk who had ticked him off. It was a ground-breaking bit of misbehavior on the part of a professional athlete, but despite the innovation (at least I had never heard of a star losing control in this fashion prior to this act) it was tough to take.
***
But in the end, who else are you going to root for in these NBA playoffs? The Pistons? Yeah, right. I have always been a Tayshaun Prince fan (the quiet forward is longer than a praying mantis and makes about a dozen smooth-as-silk plays at both ends per game) but no matter who is in the jerseys, they still say "Pistons."
And out in the Western Conference you have the battle of the Spurs and the Lakers. I'm not a Spurs fan for a variety of reasons (although Manu Ginobili is a great, great shooting guard despite his flopping and his having the biggest by far shnozz in the game), but first and foremost is their overrated coach.
People, especially the ones who now call Greg Popovich the best in the business, forget how he got the job.
Way back in the middle of last decade, Popovich was the general manager of a terrible San Antonio Spurs team. The main reason they were terrible was because star center David Robinson was out with a bad back, but still, they were terrible. Fortunately, it seemed, Robinson's back got better and he was ready to return, at least for the last month of the season. But at that point, the Spurs decided their best interests lay in tanking games and improving draft odds. So they kept Robinson on the injured list. Popovich then orchestrated a truly Machiavellian little chain of events. I don't remember the exact order of things but after hamstringing the Spurs coach, Bob Hill, by keeping his best player on the bench for a big chunk of the season, Popovich gave Hill the boot. The Spurs won the lottery, drafted center Tim Duncan, and Popovich declared himself the new coach. The Italian Prince of power would have been very proud. Ten years later, Popovich is considered an exemplary leader of men.
On the other hand, no one can deny that Popovich is in the same position as Phil Jackson after his run with the Bulls. He won't deserve huge kudos until he proves he can get it done without Duncan, the super-duper-star who is the main reason the Spurs have won four titles. Also, I'm one of many who are simply sick of the sleepy center and crew. Just go away already.
***
And then there is the heartbreak that is the Lakers. Specifically of course, Mr. Pau Gasol, who so obviously should have been a Bull. Watching him play a big role in a championship will be very difficult to take. And while Kobe wanted to be a Bull and has been amazingly good for most of this season, he mailed it in for about the first 15 games of the campaign while sulking about not having been traded and about the Lakers not having done enough in the off-season to upgrade their roster.
Wasn't it fascinating when, because the Lakers had not made a rash move in the off-season, they were in position to steal Gasol from the dimwitted Memphis Grizzlies in the middle of the season. Star players never make good GMs.
So go Celtics go. Make my wife happy. Just try to avoid cardiac arrest and gang warfare in the process.
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Comments welcome. Please include a real name to be considered for publication.
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Jim Coffman appears in this space every Monday with a deep and abiding respect for the game. Except after federal holidays, when he appears on Tuesday.
Posted by Lou at 07:15 AM | Permalink
Mike Gravel Ends Campaign
Thank You
May 26, 2008
Dear Friends,
We want to thank you for the support and dedication that has sustained us throughout Mike's campaign. Yesterday, Mike knew that his career in politics would either continue through November or end at the Libertarian convention. Though Mike's career in active politics is now over, we know his message does not end here.
The message of empowering the people transcends any candidacy. It transcends any individual, but draws right from the people and their infinite well of creativity. To quote James Wilson, the wisest (and Mike's favorite) of The Founding Fathers, "All power is originally in the People and should be exercised by them in person, if that could be done with convenience, or even with little difficulty."
The answer has been there all along. Don't look to representative government alone; look to yourselves. Promote the National Initiative, share it with others, and encourage them to sign on.
As for Mike, he will continue to write and speak on the issues, promote the National Initiative as well as his books coming out this summer. They include The Kingmakers, co-written with Professor David Eisenbach, an analysis and polemic on corporate media and how it distorts our political dialogue, including Mike's own campaign. A Political Odyssey, co-written with Joe Lauria, is an examination of Mike's career in politics, his personal life, his fight against the Military-Industrial-Complex and the rise of U.S. imperial power. There is also The Voice of A Maverick, a compilation of Mike's speeches and writings from his presidential campaign.
Again, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the unwavering support, and will keep you informed of Mike's efforts to bring peace, freedom, and love to our society. We salute Senator Gravel's service to our country, and eagerly look forward to what the future holds.
The message is simple. Power to the people. Give peace a chance. It's up to us to share it.
Our deepest thanks and gratitude,
Jon Kraus & Skyler McKinley
Deputy Campaign Managers
Mike Gravel for President
Posted by Lou at 06:17 AM | Permalink
The White Sox Report
I think it's totally rad that the city's two biggest newspapers have put an emphasis on blogging. After all, people, this is the future.
Writing a blog, obviously, isn't like straight reporting: you're supposed to have interesting opinions and give keen observations. Basically, a sports blogger is supposed to write like a fan watching a game at the local tavern would talk.
With that said, Steve Rosenbloom, top blogger for the Trib, went overboard this week.
Rosenbloom, in the never-ending search to get people talking, insinuated that surprising Sox slugger Carlos Quentin might be making routine stops to the ol' steroids vending machine. How else could this nobody lead the league in home runs and be second in OPS!?
Never mind that Quentin certainly didn't come out of nowhere: the former first-round draft pick never posted an OPS lower than .900 in the minors.
Rosenbloom's post simply reeks of trying to stir up of a controversy with zero substantial facts. It's the kind of thing old school journalists always accuse bloggers of doing. But what about when the blogger has a journalism degree and works for one of the country's most prestigious newspapers?
The bigger issue, though, follows his Quentin indictment:
"Hold your outrage, people," Rosenbloom writes. "If this were some other AL Central player, you Sox fans would be yapping. "
Really? Is that right Steve? For the life of me, I cannot think of one person who believes that.
I doubt anyone looks at the hot starts by Ryan Ludwick and Nate McClouth and thinks that dude must be on steroids. Here, Rosenbloom is living in 2001: steroids obviously had a huge effect on baseball during the late 90s and early part of this decade. That doesn't mean every time a player without a slugging track record starts mashing that we have to assume their performance is artificially enhanced.
I guess one way of getting people to talk is by almost forcing them to call you a moron. Maybe this is why the Trib only lets Rosenbloom write about poker in the newspaper.
*
Week in Review: Even though the Sox saw their eight-game winning streak come to an end, going 4-2 against two solid American League teams, Cleveland and Anaheim, makes the homestand a success.
Week in Preview: At Cleveland and at Tampa Bay. You're going down this time, Sonnanstine.
All Hail Jose: Consider this season the revenge of Jose Contreras. No Sox player was made fun of more in spring training, but Jose has been stellar so far. Last night's gem against the Angels was the best he's looked since the '05 playoffs. All he surrendered was a two-run homer to Gary Matthews Jr. After that, he was lights out.
What's an ambassador?: The Sox Report isn't sure what a baseball ambassador does either, but we're pretty sure it involves more motorcycles and no trips to Iraq.
Wise Decision: Uribe's hamstring injury is a blessing not in disguise. We don't expect much from Wise, but this is a great time for Alexei "The Cuban Missile" Ramirez to make an impact. Who knows, Uribe's job may not be there when he gets back.
And suddenly, I like Nick Swisher infinitely less: Before heading to Swish's official website, remember to mute your computer. You may be asked to save a horse. Someone please buy Swisher a ticket to Lollapalooza.
Over/Under: 140. The number of pounds The Cuban Missile weighs.
Draft Rose: Had to throw that in there.
Beachwood Sabermetrics: A complex algorithm performed by The White Sox Report staff using all historical data made available by Major League Baseball has determined that anyone who would ever take part in this is a complete dork.
The White Sox Report: Read 'em all.
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Comments welcome. Please include a real name if want to be considered for publication.
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Ricky O'Donnell is the proprietor of Tremendous Upside Potential and a contributor to the Sun-Times's Full Court Press.
Posted by Lou at 12:59 AM | Permalink
Connie's Corner: The Physics Of The Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama/The Universe In a Single Atom
Do you know what E=MC[2] means? Have you always wanted to? At least for bragging rights? The Dalai Lama does, and he can explain it from a non-mathematician's viewpoint.
Really.
The subtitle of his book is "The Convergence of Science and Spirituality." In this case, the spirituality means his deep understanding of Buddhism. The Dalai Lama has spent much of his time, since being exiled from Tibet, traveling the world and meeting scientists of every political persuasion to discuss with them their theories and discoveries. Now, this is a man who grew up in a palace of too many rooms for him to ever visit, a childhood devoted to learning all the ancient writings of Buddhists from Buddha himself on down. And the story of how he became the Dalai Lama sounds like some kind of voodoo to Western minds.
Nevertheless . . . that story goes like this: When he was four, he was found in a rural village by a group of monks who were seeking the next Tibetan leader. He was administered the test: Could he pick out certain objects owned by the former Dalai Lama, like his glasses or prayer beads, from a collection of similar objects? He did. He and his brother were taken to Lhasa to live in the Potala Palace. In his book, he reminisces about his boyhood; he often found himself looking through his telescope at children playing the street in front of the palace and envying them their freedom. But if the product of this upbringing produced the man you find in this book, we are a lucky world indeed.
Back to physics. The Dalai Lama says, "Scientists and philosophers have to live constantly with conflicting models of reality - the Newtonian model, assuming a mechanical and predictable universe, and relativity and quantum mechanics, assuming a more chaotic universe." He proceeds to explain the connection with Buddhist thought called "the theory of emptiness" with the discoveries of modern physics about the essential reality of what we see as the world around us.
Buddhists, he says, do not believe that "all things and events, whether material, mental or even abstract concepts like time, are devoid of objective, independent existence." In other words, we think that the material things we see, our own selves as well, are independent of all other things and persons. In reality, everything is constantly changing - shifting, if you will - so we can't really put our finger on what it is. Also, physics tells us that what we can s