Have a great Twenty-o'eight !

Michael...

... Flowers !

That's a game where you gotta want it...

And from the looks of that photo ("Eyes on the Prize"), he did.

(AP Photo/Deborah Cannon -- Cannon, eh?)

Flowers, Wisconsin upset Texas, 67-66

By JIM VERTUNO
AP Sports Writer

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Wisconsin's Michael Flowers hit a long 3-pointer with 2 seconds to play, then stole Texas' inbounds pass and tossed it high in the air to run out the clock, lifting the Badgers to a 67-66 upset of No. 9 Texas on Saturday.

Compared to drek, it's not bad!

The sad result, Goldberg says, is that Americans have come to equate fascism with right-wing political movements in the United States when, in fact, the reverse is true. To his mind, it is liberalism, not conservatism, that embraces what he claims is the fascist ideal of perfecting society through a powerful state run by omniscient leaders. And it is liberals, not conservatives, who see government coercion as the key to getting things done.

“Liberal Fascism” is less an exposé of left-wing hypocrisy than a chance to exact political revenge. Yet the title of his book aside, what distinguishes Goldberg from the Sean Hannitys and Michael Savages is a witty intelligence that deals in ideas as well as insults — no mean feat in the nasty world of the culture wars.

Um... does that sound like a "positive review" to your mind? Science and technology are great, but methinks they come at the price of reading comprehension, picking up on those subtle written cues -- qualifiers if you will. I suspect reading it that way is less an endorsement of the quality, more a chance to plug the merchandise... heh!

Love your neighbor as you love yourself.

Amba hears the Christmastime knock ...
and opens her door.







"And that's what it's all about..."

"The roof... the roof... the roof is on fi-yah!"

If you know these lyrics, then you'll love Leslie's 2007 awards for the artists and pop music that made the year memorable. Sample:

The "Roof Is On Fire" Award for Song You Find Yourself Absently Singing In A Club And Say "Am I Actually Singing These Lyrics In Public?": Crank Dat Soulja Boy (Superman), Soulja Boy
...
The Clown Car Of Crazy Award: Trapped In The Closet, Chapters 13-22, R. Kelly. Because the more we try to lock that thing, the more mess keeps flying out of it.

Speaking of, I got my niece and nephew Jam Pack Jam for Christmas this year. We didn't get around to playing it yet, but it sure looks wack!

And doesn't everybody at some point in their life have to master loading up the mini-van/truck/SUV for a family road trip vacation? Holiday Whoa-oh-oh-oh...

Peerless oratory, steady character, integrity...

Sounds like a good, small-town reverend.

Seriously, I have to call 'em as I see 'em. And if the spin game is Reynolds' schtick, then Sullivan puffs. Check this out:

I have found his oratory to be peerless, and the steadiness of his character remarkable. On this front, Clinton simply isn't in his league. And with the exception of McCain and Paul, none of the Republicans matches his integrity. Clinton is competent, careful, prudent ... but Obama is in a different class. If you read this speech you may see why.

It's probably good Sullivan is out of the dating market; I suspect he'd fall for the smooth talkers anynight. Some guys are exceptionally good at the talking game, sound wonderful but that doesn't necessarily make for the greatest performance.

I like Barack Obama, don't get me wrong. I think with his rhetoric and bipartisan skills, he has the makings to be a wonderful senator, uniting factions to see it's in their best interests to work together for the good of the country.

I came up in Cook County, Illinois -- integrated public schools, Northern attitudes of equality. It's nothing personal, not at all racist to point out that it's his color that has liberals swooning and fawning over his impressive rhetoric skills and dynamic fire-lighting that no doubt moves crowds. Were he, say, Barry O'Brien though, a first-term senator from Illinois, he'd not get a second look as a serious presidential candidate. The credentialed resume just doesn't compensate for the political greenness, the thin political experience.

He won't win this election. Again, I hope I'm not taken the wrong way, but in Sullivan's defense, I think there are certain things you understand instinctually having grown up in America and lived in various regions. America as a whole will not elect this man president next year. Now I'm sure some would like to believe this is due to bigotry, that "we're just not there yet." Truth be told, even without the manufactured scandal, I wonder if Clarence Thomas would be confirmed as a Supreme Court justice in this day and age. His race too helped him jump the line.

We're looking past color, most of us who were raised together. We really do want to see what it is you've done, to give us a better idea of where it is you're going. Now for college admissions, you might give the benefit of the doubt, because all the candidates are young, nobody's really done much of anything on their own -- outside perhaps of extra special opportunities provided by parents. But this is the highest office in the land, Commander in Chief. No time to give out extra points for likeability, motivational ability, character, or promise. No, we really want to see a track record, what you've done to lead.

I really hope Sen. Obama is what he seems. I hope he returns to the Senate determined to show us what he can do based on his credentials, and then gets in there and works it for all he's worth: leading on the big issues, fighting for what he believes, uniting for the common good as his potential seems to indicate. Let him put on some weight, so to speak, on the important issues, just as promising college athletes become professional rookies who have to build themselves up to show their teams what they really can do at the next level. If he's as good as the hype, he will show his talents in the Senate -- an arena sorely lacking for competitive skills like his.

Then, I suspect, he'll earn more votes from across the country the next time he runs for president. Too many Americans still believe in results to go electing someone without. That's a good thing, I think. And Sen. Obama is just a little too late to have us believe that it's all about winning an election, when that's really just the start of the game. Karl Rove has already played that hand, and Americans have wised up, I believe. We need somebody fit from the start to get the job done, to understand what the the actual job entails -- not just to win an election and think leadership is just playing the base, cruising along until the next election. We've seen in the past 8 years exactly where that leaves us, and we want better.

And I know, from the bottom of my American heart, that wanting better the best is a good thing.

--------------

Oh, and fwiw, lots of Americans -- even Chicagoans -- think Oprah Winfrey is over-rated.

Semantics, or "I'm sorry for your loss."

Have you said that, at a wake or funeral? "I'm sorry for your loss." Did you think you were apologizing for causing the death? Nope, it's just a folksy saying, a way of reaching people in their grief, a simple way of expressing condolences.

But Glenn "to everything: spin, spin, spin" Reynolds just can't seem to resist...

Somehow, when the MSM reports:

With about 150 supporters crowded around a podium set up on the tarmac of Orlando Executive airport (and about 20 Ron Paul supporters waving signs outside) Mike Huckabee strode out to the strains of “Right Now” by Van Halen and immediately addressed the Bhutto situation, expressing “our sincere concern and apologies for what has happened in Pakistan.”

...the Tennesee law professor would have you believe Huckabee is confessing to some nefarious plot by Americans. Geez, does the guy ever get off the computer and listen to how real folks speak?

Ask yourself Mr. Reynolds:
Isn't there enough honest criticism for the candidate that you don't have to go spinning pitifully,

"And Huckabee apologizes. Apologizes? Jeez, he is Jimmy Carter."

Doesn't he get that simp misrepresentations like that which he trades in daily as the Instaputz are exactly what makes Huckabee a more appealing candy-date?

Doy-yay!, as the kids used to say... (before they became sophisticated enough to label such spin as "intellectually dishonest". Glenn: just how stupid do you think Americans are?)

Fail Safe...

Let's just hope this doesn't give the Bush administration yet another excuse to go off half-cocked:

The Scotsman notes that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has expressed "her confidence that Pakistan's nuclear weapons are in 'safe hands.' The moment that ceases to be true, you can bet on U.S. military action worthy of a Hollywood thriller."

From a November article by U.S. diplomat Edward M. Gomez.

U.S. first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton with her daughter Chelsea, left, and Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, holding hands with her son Bilawal and daughter Bakhtawar, take a stroll in this March 26, 1995 file photo, in the garden of the prime minister's residence, in Islamabad.
(AP Photo/B.K. Bangash, File)

Huckabee over Guiliani.

Compare their responses:
America's role as shining example, or actively helping bring the killers to justice? I think most Americans right now understand the limits of what we can do.

WASHINGTON - Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani said Thursday the assassination of Benazir Bhutto underscores a need for the U.S. to increase its efforts to combat terrorism.

The former New York mayor, who was in charge of the city when terrorists struck on Sept. 11, 2001, called the assassination a "tragic event for Pakistan and for democracy in Pakistan."

"Her murderers must be brought to justice, and Pakistan must continue the path back to democracy and the rule of law," Giuliani said in a statement. "Her death is a reminder that terrorism anywhere — whether in New York, London, Tel-Aviv or Rawalpindi — is an enemy of freedom. We must redouble our efforts to win the terrorists' war on us."
...

Republican candidate Mike Huckabee called the turn of event "devastating news for the people of Pakistan, and my prayers go out to them."

"The terrible violence surrounding Pakistan's upcoming election stands in stark contrast to the peaceful transition of power that we embrace in our country through our Constitution," Huckabee said in a statement.

"On this sad day, we are reminded that while our democracy has flaws, it stands as a shining beacon of hope for nations and people around the world who seek peace and opportunity through self-government."

If you thought Condi Rice was strong...

introduce your daughters to this woman.

We throw around words hero and bravery like they were penny candies these days. For the survivors, to comfort them. Often these souls are generous, willing to share themselves and what they have for a greater purpose. But heroes and bravery, to me, should be reserved for those who know full well what they are getting into, what price they and their families will pay, and what ugly end surely will greet them.

And then they march forward, knowing what awaits...

This woman surely knew what the fates held: if not today, then tomorrow, or one day. I suspect like Dr. King, like Prime Minister Rabin, she knew what price she'd pay for her work. And yet still, she was fully willing to march forward on principle, and if necessary pay for it.

This is what heroism really looks like folks. She joins a long list of martyrs, who weren't just mouthing the words, but were really singing out what her people needed, what they believed in. As an American, I wonder what my country's meddling has contributed, what role our good intentions played in letting another people determine their own futures and course of action. It might be hard to sit on the sidelines and not interfere, but in the end, it's not our game. Never was. And all the money in the world is less than the spilt blood of a martyr working on behalf of her own.

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (AP) -- Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Thursday in a suicide attack that also killed at least 20 others at a campaign rally, aides said.

"The surgeons confirmed that she has been martyred," Bhutto's lawyer Babar Awan said.

A party security adviser said Bhutto was shot in neck and chest as she got into her vehicle to leave the rally in Rawalpindi near the capital Islamabad. A gunman then blew himself up.

"At 6:16 p.m. she expired," said Wasif Ali Khan, a member of Bhutto's party who was at Rawalpindi General Hospital where she was taken after the attack.

Her supporters at the hospital began chanting "Dog, Musharraf, dog," referring to Pakistan's president Pervez Musharraf.

Some smashed the glass door at the main entrance of the emergency unit, others burst into tears. One man with a flag of Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party tied around his head was beating his chest.

At least 20 others were killed in the blast that took place as Bhutto left a political rally where she addressed thousands of supporters in her campaign for Jan. 8 parliamentary elections.

Bhutto served twice as Pakistan's prime minister between 1988 and 1996. She had returned to Pakistan from an eight-year exile Oct. 18.

Her homecoming parade in Karachi was also targeted by a suicide attacker, killing more than 140 people. On that occasion she narrowly escaped injury.

Warning: Christmas greeting ahead.

You just don't know in these "divided we fall" days, how people will take an honest "Merry Christmas". If you're unfamiliar with the story, it's really not one of exclusion. The clergy in my family is not anti-Jewish, any more than they are "God hates F*gs". Please don't fall for that claptrap: that Fred Phelps represents Baptists any more than Bill Donahue speaks for all Catholics.

We're getting busy preparing here as Advent draws to a close, and I don't mean all the wrapping and trappings. On the career front, these are the CLE days, finishing up the Continuing Legal Education requirements before year's end. So posting will be light.

To our Christian readers, secular friends, and those from other religions who celebrate or acknowledge the roots of our tradition: an honest Merry Christmas to you. And if you're not a believer, and are feeling a bit left out on the sidelines as religion and personal characteristics get more and more politicized each year, take note of how gay folks survived the last election. or "Don't throw out the Baby with the bathwater."

Even in the dark times, there is Light.

Smells like desperation to me...

JERUSALEM — Israel continued its air attacks Tuesday morning on Islamic Jihad, killing at least three militants in an airstrike as they left a mosque in the Jabalya refugee camp. Late Monday, two airstrikes killed a senior Islamic Jihad commander, his aide and four other militants, according to Islamic Jihad radio and the Israeli Army.

That brought the total killed since Monday night to at least 10, including a Hamas militant killed in a separate attack on a security post in southern Gaza after mortar shells were fired toward the Israeli crossing of Kerem Shalom, the Israeli Army said.

The senior commander who was killed on Monday night, Majed al-Harazin, who was around 40, was one of the most important Islamic Jihad military commanders in Gaza, and Israel had tried to kill him three times before, according to Islamic Jihad radio, Al Quds.

Two other Islamic Jihad militants died with him in the car, including his senior lieutenant, Jihad Daher. Six passers-by, including three children, were wounded by shrapnel, according to Palestinian medics in Gaza. The car appeared to have been filled with explosives when it was hit by an Israeli rocket.

The Israeli Army said that Mr. Harazin, wanted for almost a decade, was in charge of squads firing rockets into Israel, and that he was specifically targeted based on real-time intelligence.

Spokesmen for Islamic Jihad vowed vengeance on Israel for the killings, and 3,000 armed militants carrying the black flags of Islamic Jihad assembled in front of the Gaza hospital where Mr. Harazin’s body was taken. “We vow that the assassination will unleash a wave of martyr operations,” the group said in a statement.

The Israeli deputy defense minister, Matan Vilnai, told Army Radio Tuesday, “I’m very pleased with our achievements last night.”

...
Brings to mind these Boyzone lyrics:

No matter what they call us
However they attack
No matter where they take us
We'll find our own way back

I can't deny what I believe
I can't be what I'm not
I know I'll love forever
I know, no matter what

If only tears were laughter
If only night was day
If only prayers were answered
Then we would hear God say:

No matter what they tell you
No matter what they do
No matter what they teach you
What you believe is true

And I will keep you safe and strong
And sheltered from the storm
No matter where it's barren
A dream is being born...

PARIS — Eighty-seven countries and international organizations pledged $7.4 billion in aid to the Palestinians on Monday, in the most ambitious fund-raising effort in more than a decade to help Palestinians create a viable, peaceful and secure state of their own.

The total is set to cover the next three years. The Palestinians had hoped to secure $5.6 billion in budgetary and development support over the next three years, but the amount pledged exceeded that figure.
...
Despite the aid pledges, the Palestinian economy will continue to contract unless Israel eases its blockage of the Gaza Strip and removes crucial internal checkpoints to allow Palestinians to move freely in the West Bank, the World Bank cautioned in the report.

The World Bank estimated that without such measures, the Palestinian gross domestic product would probably contract by 2 percent annually over the next five years. If Israel does ease the restrictions, and if the Palestinians put promised reforms in place, the economy could grow by 5 percent a year, the report added.

Mr. Abbas, in his remarks, appealed to Israel to take a number of concrete measures, including a freeze on all settlements in the Palestinian territories, the dismantling of what he identified as “wildcat settlements,” a halt to construction of Israel’s barrier of separation and the release of more Palestinian prisoners.

“Our aim is not to perpetuate assistance to the Palestinians indefinitely,” said Mr. Sarkozy, who calls himself a close friend of Israel. To that end, he called for Israel to allow freedom of movement of people and goods and to immediately freeze all settlement construction on the West Bank.

“I must insist on this point: it is in Israel’s best interest, provided its own security is not threatened, to foster a normal existence in the West Bank,” he said. “This alone will enable the Palestinians to work, to stop ruminating on their humiliation, to curb the violence and trafficking and to regain their zest for life."

A dream is being born...

Why Mike Huckabee...

has appeal.

Orin: Although I stand by my saying that this post was red meat for puerile anti-Christian bigotry, I was mistaken when I said that you have made similar posts before. The three other anti-Huckabee posts in the past 4 days were posted by Jonathan (2) and Ilya.

Sadly the comments in those threads mirrored this thread, from which I learned that Christians are "despicable," "schizophrenic," and "indecent human beings." The other threads were much worse.

Who knows? They say they're rooting for Fred Thompson, but maybe it's just a trick to throw people off.

Still Singin' 'bout the Lost Highway...

All my rowdy friends have settled down
And they seem to be more into laid back songs
Nobody wants to get drunk and get loud
everybody just wants to go back home
I myself have seen my wilder days and
I have seen my name at the top of the page
But I need to find a friend just to run around
But nobody wants to get high on the town
And all my rowdy friends have settled down
And I think I know what my father meant
when he sang about a lost highway
And ol' George Jones I'm glad to see
is finally gettin' straight
And Waylon's stayin' home and lovin' Jessi more these days
And nobody wants to get drunk and get loud
And all my rowdy friends have settled down
[ mandolin - fiddle - steel ]
And the hangovers hurt more than they used to do
And cornbread and ice tea's took the place of pills and ninety proof
And it seems like none of us do things quite like we used to do
But nobody wants to get high on the town
And all my rowdy friends have settled down
Yeah and I think I know what my father meant
when he sang about a lost highway
And Johnny Cash don't act like he did back in '68
And Kris he is a movie star and he's moved off to LA
And nobody wants to get drunk and get loud
And all my rowdy friends have settled down
Yeah me and my rowdy friends done rowdied on down

~Hank Williams/Junior

R.I.P.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Dan Fogelberg, the singer and songwriter whose hits "Leader of the Band" and "Same Old Lang Syne" helped define the soft-rock era, died Sunday at his home in Maine after battling prostate cancer. He was 56.

His death was announced in a statement released by his family through the firm Scoop Marketing, and it was also posted on the singer's website.

"Dan left us this morning at 6:00 a.m. He fought a brave battle with cancer and died peacefully at home in Maine with his wife Jean at his side," it read. "His strength, dignity and grace in the face of the daunting challenges of this disease were an inspiration to all who knew him."

Fogelberg discovered he had advanced prostate cancer in 2004. In a statement then, he thanked fans for their support.

"It is truly overwhelming and humbling to realize how many lives my music has touched so deeply all these years," he said.

Some people might have thought he wrote sap, but give me sap like this over ugliness any day:

An only child alone and wild,
a cabinet maker's son.
His hands were meant for different work,
and his heart was known to none.
He left his home and went his lone and solitary way.
And he gave to me a gift
I know, I never can repay.

A quiet man of music,
denied a simpler fate.
He tried to be a soldier once...
but his music wouldn't wait.
He earned his love through discipline:
A thundering velvet hand.
His gentle means of sculpting souls
took me years to understand.

The leader of the band
is tired and his eyes are growing old.
But his blood runs through my instrument
and his song is in my soul.
My life has been a poor attempt to imitate the man...
I'm just a living legacy
to the leader of the band.

My brothers' lives were different
for they heard another call.
One went to Chicago and the other to St. Paul...
And I'm in Colorado
when I'm not in some hotel,
Living out this life I've chose
and come to know so well.

I thank you for the music
and your stories of the road.
I thank you for the freedom
when it came my time to go...
I thank you for the kindness,
and the times when you got tough.
And papa I don't think I said
"I love you" near enough.

The leader of the band is tired,
and his eyes are growing old.
But his blood runs through my instrument
and his song is in my soul.
My life has been a poor attempt to imitate the man...
I'm just a living legacy
to the leader of the band.
I am the living legacy
to the leader of the band.

Met my old lover in the grocery store
The snow was falling Christmas Eve
I stole behind her in the frozen foods
and I touched her on the sleeve.
She didn't recognize the face at first
but then her eyes flew open wide
She went to hug me and she spilled her purse
and we laughed until we cried.
We took her groceries to the checkout stand;
The food was totaled up and bagged.
We stood there lost in our embarrassment
as the conversation dragged...
Went to have ourselves a drink or two
but couldn't find an open bar.
Bought a six-pack at the liquor store
and we drank it in her car.

We drank a toast to innocence, we drank a toast to now
Tried to reach beyond the emptiness
but neither one knew how.
She said she'd married her an architect
Kept her warm and safe and dry.
She would have liked to say she loved the man
but she didn't like to lie.
I said the years had been a friend to her
and that her eyes were still as blue.
But in those eyes I wasn't sure if
I saw doubt or gratitude.
She said she saw me in the record store
and that I must be doing well...
I said the audience was heavenly
but the traveling was hell.

We drank a toast to innocence, we drank a toast to now
Tried to reach beyond the emptiness but neither one knew how
We drank a toast to innocence, we drank a toast to time.
We're living in our eloquence, another old lang syne

The beer was empty and our tongues were tired,
and running out of things to say.
She gave a kiss to me as I got out
and I watched her drive away.
Just for a moment I was back at school
and felt that old familiar pain
And as I turned to make my way back home...
the snow turned into rain.

Good stuff, man...

Now who knew Bob Dylan could write like that?

Lou Levy, top man of Leeds Music Publishing company, took me up in a taxi to the Pythian Temple on West 70th Street to show me the pocket sized recording studio where Bill Haley and His Comets had recorded "Rock Around the Clock" -- then down to Jack Dempsey's restaurant on 58th and Broadway, where we sat down in a red leather upholstered booth facing the front window.

Lou introduced me to Jack Dempsey, the great boxer. Jack shook his fist at me.

"You look too light for a heavyweight kid, you'll have to put on a few pounds. You're gonna have to dress a little finer, look a little sharper -- not that you'll need much in the way of clothes when you're in the ring -- don't be afraid of hitting somebody too hard."

"He's not a boxer, Jack, he's a songwriter and we'll be publishing his songs."

"Oh, yeah, well I hope to hear 'em some of these days. Good luck to you, kid."

Outside the wind was blowing, straggling cloud wisps, snow whirling in the red lanterned streets, city types scuffling around, bundled up -- salesmen in rabbit fur earmuffs hawking gimmicks, chestnut vendors, steam rising out of manholes.

None of it seemed important. I had just signed a contract with Leeds Music giving it the right to publish my songs, not that there was any great deal to hammer out. I hadn't written much yet. Lou had advanced me a hundred dollars against future royalties to sign the paper and that was fine with me.

Chronicles: Volume One
Simon & Schuster

Confidential for Chuck.

Welcome to Miami...

who this week join the winner's circle, with QB Cleo Lemon leading the team to victory in OT. How sweet it is!, eh?

With the early season dismissal of ex-Vikings QB Daunte Culpepper, QB Trent Green knocked out early on with a concussion, and QB draftee Jon Beck stuggling (despite his age, he's still a rookie, remember?)... they struggled mightily. But today, the team won.

There's talk owner Wayne Huizenga will sell -- he's a smart businessman (Waste Management, Blockbuster) and in the past has always practiced "Sell High". (Blockbuster, Marlins, Panthers). But they say if he gets his price, it wouldn't be so bad to sell while the team season record is in the cellar. Still, one of the potential buyers "talked", the media picked up on the deal, and a guy like Wayne H. has no need to cash in his chips just yet...

So while it's not the Super Bowl, I'm betting there are some pretty toasted fans in Florida right now savoring the sweetness. You forget how much winning really matters until you've gone about a full year without a "W". Congrats to Lemon and the rest!
-----------------
Dave George on the win.

Hey, humor helps...

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Republican Mike Huckabee is questioning the Bush administration's policy on Iraq, criticizing what he calls the White House’s “arrogant bunker mentality.”

“Much like a top high school student, if [the United States] is modest about its abilities and achievements, if it is generous in helping others, it is loved. But if it attempts to dominate others, it is despised"

...

The former Arkansas governor has poked fun at his own lack of foreign policy experience, saying earlier this month that while his grasp of foreign policy might be thin, he “did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night."

Question of the day.

Will the Barry Bonds asterisk crowd go after Roger Clemens in the same way now, after his name too appears on the alleged list of steroid users? If not, why?

Seven Cy Young awards, two more than any other pitcher, sayeth Google. So it can't be that Bonds is just a bigger fish to fry...

Maybe the distinction is one's a batter, one's a pitcher? And the strength helps more to give an advantage to the home run slugger over the pitcher? Is the idea that Clemens had already well established his credentials prior to the alleged steroid use? Is it that Bonds was seen more as a role model for youngsters than Clemens? Or will the asterisk crowd be after Clemens now too, pushing to keep his records out of the Hall of Fame as well?

I don't know, but it sure will be fun to see if consistent logic is applied by that crowd and just how blotted up the record books get after release of the Mitchell Report showing Bonds, allegedly, was in good company (ie/ Lenny Dykstra, Andy Pettitte, Chuck Knoblauch, David Justice, Mo Vaughn, Miguel Tejada, Eric Gagne, Rondell White)*.

ASIDE: Here's a funny one off Clemens' Google page I hadn't heard:

In 1986 his 24 wins helped guide the Sox to the World Series and earned Clemens the American League Most Valuable Player award for the regular season. He also won the first of his seven Cy Young Awards.

Hall of Fame slugger Hank Aaron angered the pitcher by saying that pitchers should not be eligible for the MVP.

"I wish he were still playing," Clemens responded. "I'd probably crack his head open to show him how valuable I was."[2] Clemens remains the only starting pitcher since Vida Blue in 1971 to win a league MVP award.

And I'm pretty sure he wasn't a 'roid boy at the time.
Spirited, sure.
------------------
* If true, I wonder what these guys -- and Clemens -- were thinking as the Bonds saga wore on. Were they sympathetic to his bearing the brunt of it as the face of the scandal, or were they somehow all for his takedown, like some of the closet gay Republicans you would see pushing for further societal discrimination against fellow gays who dare ask for equal protection of the law?

Stubborn is as stubborn does.

or, Waste Not, Walk Not.

BERLIN (AP) -- A man nearly died from alcohol poisoning after quaffing a liter (two pints) of vodka at an airport security check instead of handing it over to comply with new carry-on rules, police said Wednesday.

The incident occurred at the Nuremberg airport on Tuesday, where the 64-year-old man was switching planes on his way home to Dresden from a holiday in Egypt.

New airport rules prohibit passengers from carrying larger quantities of liquid onto planes, and he was told at a security check he would have to either throw out the bottle of vodka or pay a fee to have his carry-on bag checked as cargo.

Instead, he chugged the bottle down - and was quickly unable to stand or otherwise function, police said.

You made me ... promises, promises.

or Was SCOTUS duped?

Ilya Somin of the Volokh blog spends some time quality time reading the New London Day, the local newspaper of the Kelo property condemnation. Guess what the follow-up tells us?

However, two and one half years after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the city and some seven years after the condemnation proceedings were first initiated, little or no economic development has occurred on the condemned land. ...

(T)he New London Development Corporation (the city agency responsible for the condemnations) and its designated private developer Corcoran Jennison have missed repeated deadlines to begin construction of the new housing that they were supposed to build in the area. Indeed, as The Day points out, no construction at all has taken place on the site since the Supreme Court's decision was issued in June 2005.

Now sure, you can blame the "unexpected" crash of the housing market's irrational exuberance being brought to heel, but if you're going to kick folks out of their family homes (remember: big or small, property rights is still a biiiiiggggg thing we count on in America), shouldn't you have done your homework first, calculating in the possibilities of an economic downturn on your promised plans? Or do the wise men developers get a pass because they have money and therefore know more than the rest of us?

Ilya Somin sheds more light:

Yesterday, the NLDC and Corcoran reached an agreement under which the developer must meet a May 29, 2008 deadline to secure financing for the construction of 66 luxury apartments and 14 townhouses in the area. If it fails to do so, it will forfeit its right to develop the property and the NLDC will be free to pick a new firm to develop the area.

Even if Corcoran Jennison and the NLDC finally get their act together, it is unlikely that their project will produce enough economic development to offset the more than $80 million public funds that have already been spent on the project...

And that estimate does not include the economic damage inflicted on New London by the destruction of the precondemnation uses of the property, including a significant number of homes and businesses. It also does not include the economic costs of letting the area lie unused for a period of several years while the NLDC and Corcoran tried to find a way to finance their planned development project.

If the Kelo condemnation ultimately ends up creating more economic costs than benefits, that would not be a surprising development. ...

(E)conomic development takings often harm local economies more than they benefit them. Local governments and the private interest groups that seek to acquire condemned land have strong incentives to overstate the benefits of such condemnations, while understating the costs. And it is extremely difficult - often impossible - for voters to assess their self-serving claims accurately.

What is striking about the Kelo takings is that this pattern held true even in a case where intense nationwide media scrutiny was focused on the local government and its chosen developer. The Day also deserves credit for providing some excellent local coverage of the controversy. In more typical cases, where there is much less media attention, local governments have even less incentive to actually produce the "economic development" that supposedly justified condemnation in the first place.

Thanks to the Ilya Somin for following up on this story of national importance. Good job!

(See links at Somin's post on Volokh)

Pursuing peace... Israeli style.

When I heard Israel's building plans for East Jerusalem, I thought "What a gamble. Betting it all..."

If you win, you win big. But when you bet like that and lose, you suffer tremendous losses. The sad thing is, until you pay the price for those consequences, take responsibility for the actions which led to it, you still see yourself as a victim crying out for support from others. The exact opposite of independence.

It's like the CEO's who run the company into the ground, but are insulated by golden parachutes from their actions. Or people who choose to live in volatile areas, then suffer property losses they want shared by all via catastrophic insurance coverage. There's no true assumption of risk, if somebody else is always there to pull your nads out of the fire.


History tends to repeat itself, and the wise learn from mistakes. Poor Israel, again setting herself up for sacrifice. I still think that is the main difference between the Jews and the Gentiles, in their religious tales: Abraham put his son up, but ultimately G-d intervened and the boy was saved. Mary too knew what was coming, and her son was sacrificed. Perhaps that detail has made all the difference...

Will America hue more to the Christian or to the Judeo traditions? I'm thinking Christianity is the more dominant of the two -- a more secure, long-lasting and community-building faith. The Jewish tradition is a fine one, but clearly a minority religion; it only works for a few, not for all. Hence the New Testament, with Jesus overthowing the hypocrisy of money changing in the temple, his Father's house, and opening the doors to all who would believe, not just those genetically qualified as Chosen.

Clearly, Israel faces trouble ahead. In a region where her people's ways are outnumbered, and in a tradition that places more emphasis on suspicion toward neighbors rather than loving them, I suspect no fence, not even a sterile dome, will provide security. In the meantime though, it must feel powerful to beat up on olive farmers, thinking this is a sign of military might.

Remember, when you gamble big, even with special protections and victim status, sometimes you still lose ... big. And even with the goodwill of other stronger traditions, whose beliefs lead them to help the weak, there're a lot of awful good reasons for looking to the past to reconsider the current costs of grabbing for more than you're due.

I just hope the Israelis love their children too. And remember than though Isaac was saved, his father honestly believed his son's life was at stake. It's sadder when people offer up sacrifice, but ultimately don't understand what they're risking or that their sacrifice will be accepted. Look at what longstanding values ("thou shalt not murder") of their own already have been discarded merely for the land value. What does a man or religion really "win" if he or it ultimately loses his soul, and the reason for the traditions?

Israel regularly carries out brief ground incursions and airstrikes in Gaza in a bid to stop Palestinian rocket and mortar attacks on southern Israeli towns.

Tuesday's operation, in which tanks and bulldozers pushed 2.5 miles into southern Gaza, was the broadest push since the Hamas takeover. Early Wednesday, the troops had withdrawn to a buffer zone along the Israeli border.

The Israeli forces left behind heavy damage to al Fukhari, a farming community near the southern town of Khan Younis.

About 75 acres of olive trees and orange groves were uprooted, greenhouses and the outer walls of homes were damaged, and homes were left without power, said Ouda Alomar, mayor of the community. Repair crews were trying to restore electricity and reopen roads that were closed with dirt mounds put up by the troops, he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert convened his security Cabinet, a group of top political and defense officials, to discuss the Gaza situation. One Cabinet member said Israel was leaning toward continued incursions into Gaza, but would not launch a broad invasion of the area.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, said officials are concerned that an invasion would cause heavy casualties to Israeli troops and damage the prospects for peace talks.

Autumn snow cover...

or, "Yeah, baby!"
























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