Saturday, June 14, 2008

Tiger Woods is leading a golf tournament!!!

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"Mugabe pledges to fight 'lackeys'" (Fung?)

Sounds like we can count on a fair election:

President Robert Mugabe has vowed that the main opposition party will never lead Zimbabwe and said he was prepared to "go to war" for his country.

a shocking percentage of Lou Dobbs viewers agreed with Lou Dobbs last night (cont'd)

Do you believe enforcing the law is scapegoating?
Yes 6% 184
No 94% 2773
Total Votes: 2957
(Sublimely idiotic though it may be, this is not a scientific poll)

where's the gratitude?

Maliki raises possibility that Iraq might ask U.S. to leave

BAGHDAD — Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki raised the possibility that his country won't sign a status of forces agreement with the United States and will ask U.S. troops to go home when their U.N. mandate to be in Iraq expires at the end of the year.

Phillies, Squirrels Crush Cardinals

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Three big swings from Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell set the tone. Then the rest of the Philadelphia Phillies joined in the fun.

Utley, Howard and Burrell homered in successive at-bats in the first inning and the Phillies had a season-high 21 hits in a 20-2 rout of the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night.

"I think that definitely got us going, yeah," manager Charlie Manuel said. "If that don't get you going, I don't guess nothing will. Well, except for my wife's
crunchy baked squirrel. Dangummit, that's some tasty squirrel."

Friday, June 13, 2008

Making news out of no news (cont)

June 13, 2008
Where has Clinton gone?
Posted: 05:25 PM ET
From

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Her every step over the last 17 months was captured by a legion of cameramen and a press corps of journalists from around the world.

But for the last seven days, Hillary Clinton has been nowhere to seen, and Washington is speculating about where exactly the ubiquitous New York senator has gone.

Is she camping out in her Georgetown home or is the former presidential candidate back at her Chappaqua estate? Perhaps she ventured to an isolated vacation spot, far removed from cable news and the political chattering class.


Members of her formal presidential campaign and her Senate staff aren't saying.

If she'd been out & about all week, they'd probably say she's taking attention & the limelight away from Obama. So she disappears, and now that's news? Where is she? Why the phokk do we care? She lost. She's not relevant anymore. Don't we have enough to think about? Leave Hillary alone! I'm serious!

remember dis at the holidays...

Lee Pocket T

Also note the trucker hat and sticker. I can't get a quality image, so click on da link.




God smites the wretched people of... Iowa?

Floodwaters Push U. of Iowa to Evacuate Library and Cancel Classes

The University of Iowa was forced to cancel classes for the next week and evacuate its main library as floodwaters continued to rise today in Iowa City.

The university is using sandbags to protect campus buildings from a swelling Iowa River. Efforts are under way to remove special collections from the library.

Administrators canceled classes from June 14 to June 22 and called off a number of other campus events, according to a Web site set up to provide flooding information.

You'll get nothing and like it.

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - Heterosexual couples are rushing to get married in a conservative California county that plans to halt all civil wedding ceremonies as gay marriage is set to be legalized.

Kern County Clerk Ann Barnett says Friday is the last day the county will perform civil weddings.

Starting Tuesday, when the California Supreme Court's order legalizing same-sex marriage takes effect, Kern will issue new gender-neutral marriage licenses as required by law. But couples seeking to get hitched will have to go somewhere else for the ceremony.

Barnett says the increased demand for ceremonies would overwhelm her staff and pose office security risks. She made the announcement after learning she could not marry only couples of her choosing.
*
You don't get to claim "office security risks" when you are the motherphockers creating the security risks. And I'm sure all the gay people are rushing to get married in Bakersfield. Well, they probably weren't, before this article. Congratulations to Ms. Barnett for basically calling down the thunder on herself. Now I have no idea if she is married, but it's a darn good thing that whoever granted her her marriage license didn't eliminate dumbasses based on their own "choosing."

Free at Last

R. Kelly acquitted on all 14 child pornography charges.

Can we all now agree that racism in this country is a thing of the past?

Was it K-Mad's wine-pickled brain or Smiff's mucous-filled head? both?

Troglodyte Homunculi (Players to Trade)

Heath Bell
(SD - RP)
Roy Halladay
(Tor - SP)

Lord Viper Elefantes (Players to Trade)

Chris Iannetta
(Col - C)
Johnny Cueto
(Cin - SP)
Yovani Gallardo
(Mil - SP) DL

the shame of it all

News item: China increases lead as biggest emitter of carbon dioxide

China is rapidly extending its lead over the U.S. as the world's largest emitter of carbon dioxide, according to figures released by the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency.

Thank you, George W. Bush. Without your dark and spectacular failures, we wouldn't be so ready to leap forward. Kudos!

Because America has, figuratively speaking, had its legs blown off at the knee. We have been hobbled and traumatized and numbed, our once indestructible ego ripped away, had our entire moral and ethical infrastructure blasted out from under us in the most bloody and irresponsible and ignoble way possible.

And the primary explosive that did it? A deadly and useless war. Wait, that's not quite right. It was the inept leaders and disastrous reasoning behind the war, the pathetic cadre of hawks and neocons and insular kill-'em-all demagogues in the Bush Administration who veered the nation so far off course we ended up in a bloody ditch just outside Purgatory, a place teeming with recession and torture and homophobia, Patriot Acts and surveillance and fear.

Friday 13th not more unlucky, study shows

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Unlucky for some? Dutch statisticians have established that Friday 13th, a date regarded in many countries as inauspicious, is actually safer than an average Friday.

A study published on Thursday by the Dutch Centre for Insurance Statistics (CVS) showed that fewer accidents and reports of fire and theft occur when the 13th of the month falls on a Friday than on other Fridays.

"I find it hard to believe that it is because people are preventatively more careful or just stay home, but statistically speaking, driving is a little bit safer on Friday 13th," CVS statistician Alex Hoen told the Verzekerd insurance magazine.

that Nuri -- what a kidder!

AMMAN (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Friday talks with the United States on a long-term security pact were at a stalemate because of U.S. demands that encroached on Iraq's sovereignty.

who can we liberate next?

News headline: Cuban oil production could be a catalyst for a change in relations with U.S.

gutless

Republican Ron Paul drops White House bid

he clearly has no idea what he's doing

Obama moves quickly to reshape DNC

I wish we had a proven veteran running things.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

this came early this year

News headline: Calif. wildfires threaten homes, force hundreds to evacuate

I guess this rules all of us out for VP

Obama starts Web-rumor response site

The campaign this morning unveiled a web site, www.fightthesmears.com, devoted to countering damaging material it deems false. The site features campaign responses to rumors and asks supporters to upload their address books to email those rebuttals to friends, family and colleagues.

The top of the list of "smears" this morning is a report that a video exists of an angry Michelle Obama denouncing "whitey."

Hendry vindicated

No doubt: Jim can do it
Edmonds no longer a star, but play answers critics -- and himself

Jim Edmonds is 37 years old, can't run anymore, can't hit. That's what the critics were saying when he signed with the Cubs. Stupid critics. The least they could have done was give the guy a chance, and ...

Yes, I was the one who wrote that four Wednesdays ago. I also said he couldn't make his signature diving, back-to-the-infield catches anymore. At least I wasn't booing, like the fans.

In other words, it was ''Welcome to Chicago, Jim.'' And while he's still 37, still can't run, still can't make the highlight dives, he has been a big catch for the Cubs. Edmonds still has something left after all.

And it's something the Cubs needed: a left-handed hitter to share the job in center field.

no stopping these End Times

Woods double bogeys to start US Open

Tiger Woods is at even par as Phil Mickelson struggles at the U.S. Open.  Steve Stricker and Patrick Sheehan lead. 

Who is Mr. Burns for?

What is your political affiliation? My state has non-partisan registration, so I am not registered as anything. I vote for Democratic candidates the majority of the time (though by no means always; my 2006 governor's ballot was cast for a Republican). I have been a supporter of Barack Obama in the Democratic presidential primary.

Winning Hearts and Minds! (WHAM!) (cont'd!)

83 percent of countries in 2002 had a plurality of citizens judging the United States favorably; by 2006 only 23 percent of countries had a plurality saying that U.S. influence is positive.
-- "The Decline in America's Reputation: Why?" - House Committee on Foreign Affairs; Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight - June 11, 2008

they're out-clevering us

Congressional computers are said to have been hacked from China

The Associated Press
Wednesday, June 11, 2008

WASHINGTON: Multiple congressional computers have been hacked by people working from inside China, lawmakers said Wednesday. They suggested the Chinese were seeking lists of dissidents.

Two congressmen, both longtime critics of Beijing's record on human rights, said the compromised computers contained information about political dissidents from around the world. One of the lawmakers said he had been discouraged from disclosing the computer attacks by other U.S. officials.

Republican Rep. Frank Wolf said four of his computers were compromised, beginning in 2006. Rep. Chris Smith, a senior Republican on the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives, said two of his computers were attacked, in December 2006 and March 2007.

Wolf said that after one of the attacks, a car with license plates belonging to Chinese officials went to the home of a dissident in Fairfax County, Virginia, outside Washington and photographed it.

During the same time period, the House International Relations Committee, as Foreign Affairs then was known, was targeted at least once by someone working inside China, said committee spokeswoman Lynne Weil.

U.S. authorities continued to investigate whether Chinese officials secretly copied the contents of a government laptop computer during a visit to China by Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez and used the information to try to hack into Commerce Department computers.

The U.S. Defense Department acknowledged last month at a closed House intelligence committee meeting that its vast computer network is scanned or attacked by outsiders more than 300 million times each day.

Wolf said the FBI had told him that computers of other House members and at least one House committee had been accessed by sources working from inside China. The Republican suggested that Senate computers could have been attacked as well...

China denies hacking U.S. lawmakers' computers

BEIJING (Reuters) - China on Thursday dismissed accusations from two United States lawmakers that it had hacked their office computers as alarmist and unfounded.
.....

"Is there any evidence? Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said at a regular news conference in Beijing. "... China is still a developing country. Does that mean we have already mastered such high-end technology? Personally I don't believe that."

God is getting totally out of control these days...

Tornado hits Iowa Boy Scout camp; kills at least 4, injures 40




Wednesday, June 11, 2008

the elitist menace among us

we don't want nobody nobody sent (cont'd), or, since when is the Wall Street Journal wid da tarrists?

Mister Maverick, Meet Da Machine
By THOMAS FRANK

...True, there is a clique of professors in Hyde Park who are "alien" to working-class interests, as I know from having lived there for 15 years. Those professors are conservatives, however: members of the University of Chicago's law and economics departments who have given that institution much of its world-wide fame.

Their hostility to the working class is not to be doubted. They have dreamed up ways to get the New Deal ruled unconstitutional. They have railed against labor unions and higher minimum wages while cheering lustily for Nafta and grotesque pay inequality. At this very moment, in that diabolical neighborhood of Hyde Park, the university is setting up a lavishly funded Milton Friedman Institute in order to better worship the greatest free-market evangelist of them all. (Fittingly, it will occupy what used to be the Chicago Theological Seminary.)

But these professors get a pass when Hyde Park's "academic world" comes under fire. These are intellectuals conservatives love; indeed, if the GOP ever was the "party of ideas," as many insist, those ideas pretty much came from Hyde Park.

What the culture warriors mean is something much cruder: that the neighborhood of Hyde Park (1) harbors a lot of academic types and (2) has a very liberal political tradition. Stereotype, meet cliché: Professors plus liberalism equals "elitism."

Maybe it will work. But first our Republican friends should know something about the company they are keeping as they line up with the neighborhood's detractors.

The distinguishing characteristic of Hyde Park's political history – the feature that sets it apart from every other neighborhood in the city – is its longstanding defiance of the Chicago machine.

Over the years, the neighborhood stubbornly insisted on sending a series of independents and clean-government types to be its representatives in Congress and on the City Council. They have included alderman Leon Despres, who fought the machine for years; mayor Harold Washington, who finally beat the machine; and Sen. Paul Douglas, whose endless battles against corruption won him the appellation – yes – "maverick."

The machine hated them right back. It gerrymandered Hyde Park to dilute the neighborhood's vote; it routinely shut off Mr. Despres's microphone when he spoke in the City Council. Abner Mikva, whom Hyde Park sent to Congress in the 1970s (he is now an informal adviser to Mr. Obama), later wrote of his own introduction to the Chicago machine when he tried to volunteer in 1948:

"'Who sent you?' the committeeman said. I said, 'Nobody.' He said, 'We don't want nobody nobody sent. . . . Where are you from, anyway?' I said, 'University of Chicago.' He said, 'We don't want nobody from the University of Chicago in this organization.'"

And now, 60 years later, comes John McCain to embrace the same noble sentiment. Apparently he has seen a glimmer of promise in that stale hate and is ready to pick up where the machine left off. Some maverick.

Then again, why shouldn't he? His party embodies the motto of Chicago politics – "Where's mine?" – even better than the machine's patronage army did 50 years ago.

Wanting to be sure, I contacted the McCain campaign with an email query addressed to two officers, which unfortunately bounced back. But I also emailed Mark Salter, the candidate's right-hand man. Mr. Salter replied in under a minute, both to the others I had addressed and, considerately, to me as well: "Do not respond," he ordered.

But I will respond anyway. Here is my advice to Mr. Salter, as he travels about burnishing his boss's image as a "maverick" who is unafraid to talk to the press. If you're going to drum up some Chicago-style hate, you need to learn some authentic Chicagoese. Next time you brush off a reporter, do it right. Repeat after me: "We don't want nobody nobody sent."

together at last: bacon and alcohol

bacon bloody mary
homemade hickory-smoked bacon cordial,
homemade spicy bloody blend, smoked bacon salt rim

a shocking percentage of Lou Dobbs viewers agreed with Lou Dobbs last night (cont'd)


Do you believe that Senators Obama and McCain should accept my challenge to end the influence of lobbyists?

Yes 96% 5168
No 4% 243
Total Votes: 5411

This is not a scientific poll (but is supremely idiotic)

Dis explains a lot (baby seal-clubbing edition)

Officials tipped toward Pens' favour in final

While nobody really wanted to say so, how could you have possibly watched the calls in that series and not had the feeling that somehow, consciously or more likely unconsciously, there was a slant toward favouring the Pittsburgh Penguins?

there is probably a painfully dull story behind that

News item: Emoticons have medieval roots

Expect Delays (cont)

CTA airport express plan crippled

$100 million in cost overruns cited

The CTA's original budget on the project was $130 million in 2005.

The CTA has spent about $250 million to date "for a shell in the middle of the city," said CTA board member Susan Leonis, a longtime opponent of the "airport express" plan devised by former CTA president Frank Kruesi.

"This project has been a disaster," Leonis said.

I'm Voting Republican...

...and i think i'm speaking for everyone here: because i want to hasten the arrival of The End Times.



More about the movie.

Dis explains a lot (cont'd)

Sleeping at work -- more of us are doing it

(LifeWire) -- At Jason Keith's last job, he discovered a colleague sound asleep at work -- head back, mouth open, snoring loudly -- while his co-workers laughed and snapped photos with their cell phone cameras.

"At first I thought he was faking it, but he was completely passed out," says Keith, 31, who works for a digital printing company outside Boston, Massachusetts. "He left the company about a month after that episode." (Woops! -- ed.)
.....

"We are a sleep-deprived nation," says Rubin Naiman, a sleep specialist with a doctorate in blah blah blah...
.....

Naiman recommends avoiding caffeine after lunch. About alcohol, he says, "Less is better, earlier is better and with food is better." (Know what would be even better? For you to go phokk yourself... Sorry but I'm grouchy when I'm sleepy... ed.)

Dat's it: I'm voting for da elf...

Writing his name in & all, coz Osama and Hamas have dis state locked up...

Kucinich introduces Bush impeachment resolution

Though dis is like, what, years too late?

Dis explains a lot (cont)

Disgraced NBA referee alleges 2002 playoff conspiracy

NBA referees manipulated Game 6 of a 2002 playoff series to favor the Lakers and bring about a seventh game against the Sacramento Kings, disgraced former referee Tim Donaghy alleged in court papers filed Tuesday.

Describing two former referee peers as "company men," Donaghy claims in a letter filed by his lawyer that "it was in the NBA's interest to add another game to the series."

Think this year's NBA finals will go 7? Hmmm...

will there be savage retribution?

Those loyal to the Clintons take note of those who were not

"The Clintons get hundreds of requests for favors every week," said Terry "Fullas#i+" McAuliffe, the chairman of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. "Clearly, the people you're going to do stuff for in the future are the people who have been there for you."

McAuliffe, who knows of Band's diligent scorekeeping, emphasized that "revenge is not what the Clintons are about." The accounting is more about being practical, he said, adding, "You have to keep track of this."

Band, who declined to comment, is hardly alone in tallying those considered to have crossed the former candidate or the former president in recent months by supporting Obama. As the Obama bandwagon has swelled, so have the lists of people Clinton loyalists regard as some variation of "ingrate," "traitor" or "enemy," according to the associates and campaign officials, who would speak only on condition of anonymity.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

kick @SS

John McCain: The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat

McCain: “I will veto every single beer”

“I will use the veto as needed. I will veto every single beer — bill with earmarks,” he said, as rumblings from the crowd could be heard. “And every single bill that we have come across my desk I will make them famous. I will veto them, you will know their names.”

K-Mad's work here is done (cont'd)

Padres designated LHP Wilfredo Ledezzzma for assignment. This means Cha-Seung Baek will stay in the rotation following Jake Peavy's return, probably on Thursday. Ledezma gets booted even though he had a 3.15 ERA in 20 innings as a reliever earlier this season. He wasn't very good in five starts, going 0-2 with a 5.66 ERA, but it's a surprise the Padres didn't just put him back in middle relief.

They would probably be calling him WINfredo by this point if K-Mad would just stop drafting him...

Look! who's totally sucking again tonight...

Florida Inning Summary
- H. Ramirez homered to deep left
- J. Hermida walked
- J. Cantu homered to deep left, J. Hermida scored

Tell Bill O'Reilly: Stop Pretending to be a Journalist

Smiff in Chicago redux

I think i'm going to plan for another weekend seeing as 1) Sarge says he will be around for the summer and 2) K-Mad went ahead and planned a trip despite my explicit instructions (i wonder if he has trouble finding his ass wiff boff hands sometimes? ok, all the time). Also, it's about $100 more to fly over 4th of July weekend. Plus, i'm an AmeriCANT and really should be flying on the most nationalist holiday. I also don't like fireworks.

Still trying to figure out a trip to Florida as well, and that's looking like late July/early Aug. I suppose the Phillies/Cubs series (a preview of the playoffs??) over the last weekend of August has been sold out for months.

Anyway, let me know when you might be gone for the rest of the summer and i'll try to plan accordingly.

Also, don't all volunteer at once for letting me crash somewhere. Perhaps, Corms' swinging bachelor pad will be up and running by July? Udderwise, i may have to stay at a motel with hourly rates. Or pitch a tent in Grant Park. Stay wiff Da Mare, sumpfing...

Obama veep vetting team looks at retired military

"We talked about many names," Conrad said, including "some that are out of the box, but I think would be very well-received by the American people, including former top military leaders."

how to sustain the illusion of a middle class

See also: totally phokked, an empire in decline, da tarrists are winning, we are living in a golden age (cont'd), it's wartime - we all have to sacrifice (unless you're a plutocrat), trickle-on economics, etc.

On the one hand, there is what the report calls the investor class. It has tax-deferred savings plans, as well as an army of financial advisers. On the other hand, there is the lottery class, people with little access to 401(k)’s or financial planning but plenty of access to payday lenders, credit cards and lottery agents.

Glad he's sticking to baseball

ESPN's Quintong: "I've always been fascinated by the voting for the All-Star Game starters."

It's a Brave New World

A text message has been sent to Smiff scion of the 21st century. And he's responded.

No amount of evidence would suffice to satisfy a brain-dead nation so why bother?, or, his middle name is Hussein by the way (or is it???)

Oh yeah, one other thing... this whole country of troglodyte phokks can go phokk dereselves. Sometimes it's not funny anymore. Oh yeah, I ain't putting the National Review link in neither... Dey can go phokk dereselves espatially...

Rumors to Rest
By Tobin Harshaw

Good advice from the enemy? Jim Geraghty of National Review’s Campaign Spot blog thinks Barack Obama would be wise to release his birth certificate, thus quelling “unlikely” rumors circulating on the right side of the Web.

Rumor one: Obama was born in Kenya. Rather unlikely, as it would require everyone in his family to lie about this in every interview and discussion with those outside the family since young Obama appeared on the scene. However, if it were true, it would probably raise a major question of “does he qualify as a natural-born citizen”? If Obama were born outside the United States, one could argue that he would not meet the legal definition of natural-born citizen under because U.S. law at the time of his birth required his natural-born parent (his mother) to have resided in the United States for “ten years, at least [five] of which had to be after the age of 16.”

Ann Dunham was 18 when Obama was born – so she wouldn’t have met the requirement of five years after the age of 16.

(Interestingly, apparently there isn’t much paperwork on Obama’s parents’ marriage. Obama: From Promise to Power, page. 27: “Obama later confessed that he never searched for the government documents on the marriage, although Madelyn (Obama’s maternal grandmother) insisted they were legally married.” Also note that Obama’s father apparently was not legally divorced from his first wife back in Kenya at the time, a point of contention that ultimately led to their separation.)

Rumor Two: Obama’s middle name is not “Hussein” but “Muhammad.”

As Politifact notes, all available public records going back to 1991 refer to the candidate as “Barack H. Obama.”

It is theoretically possible, if not plausible, that Obama changed his name at some earlier point in his life, as he was sorting out his issues of culture and identity. But this would mean that Obama recognized how emotionally-charged the name “Muhammad” would become in American life long before the 9/11 attacks. And if you’re going to change your middle name from that of the central figure in Islam because you fear controversy, picking the last name of the highest-profile anti-American dictator in the Middle East (Saddam) doesn’t seem like a huge improvement.

Rumor Three: His mother did not want to name him after his father, and his birth certificate says “Barry.” Perhaps the most plausible of the rumors, as Obama was known by that name through much of his childhood and young adulthood. If true, this would spur a new round of “When Barry Became Barack” stories – a minor headache for the campaign, but hardly a major scandal.

Something called "EIA" takes WAG

They probably just looked at the futures prices, but it's still silly...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. gasoline prices will continue to march to record highs this summer before peaking at $4.15 per gallon in August, the Energy Information Administration said on Tuesday.

Last month, the EIA projected gasoline prices would peak in June at $3.73 per gallon of regular grade fuel.

The EIA is also predicting that there will be 14 named storms in the Atlantic during the upcoming hurricane season, that John McCain will win 274 electoral votes in November, and that the world will end on January 26, 2033.

That wacky northern suburb of ours...

Head-to-head: Refuge for deserters?

On 3 June, Canada's parliament passed a non-binding motion in favour of allowing deserters to stay

Politicians - always copping out. They should be fined for non-binding motions, they're a waste of time. Either pass a law saying deserters can stay or send them away. Or maybe they're scared of their southern neighbors whose words are backed by nucular weapons. I's not Canadian, so not like I can tell them what to do, but as Fung sees it, if you're for the war, you send the deserters back. If you're against the war, you let them stay. Since Canada's against the war (and therefore, are for the terrists) then it's clear that all dem deserters should stay. Then we can retaliate with tariffs on, er, maple syrup?

Pot Calling Kettle Black (cont)

Sun-Times colleagues go after Jay Mariotti

Sports writers need to learn to ignore each other...

T H E R E M U S T B E A G O D !

Woods looks sharp in practice

During a practice round for the 108th U.S Open early Monday morning, a relaxed-looking Tiger Woods plays the Torrey Pines South Course and looks fully capable of attacking Torrey Pines with his full game.

Monday, June 9, 2008

Now here's a man I'd like to have a beer with.


If only Smiff had a campus parking pass...

...so i could be a smug jerk and bleed some plutocratic golf c@ck$uc#er dry...

UCSD Parking Pass + UCSD ID for U.S. Open - $500 (La Jolla)

Reply to: sale-713128735@craigslist.org
Date: 2008-06-09, 3:26AM PDT

So you've come from near and far to see Tiger. Unfortunately, by now you've probably realized that there are about 10,000 less parking spots available than there actually should be.

There is hope...

I am selling my UCSD "Student" Parking Pass along with my UCSD ID. This means you can park in any "S" spot on campus and even get closer to the Torrey Pines shuttles than the coveted "Parking Lot U." Without a UCSD pass, you will be forced to go to Qualcomm, where shuttle lines and traffic will probably cost you 2+ hours each way, everyday.

Other posters have put up their parking passes for sale. But without a UCSD ID, a parking pass by itself is worthless, since they will be checking IDs at all campus entry points along with the parking pass. I am selling BOTH the parking pass and the ID.

Of course, you may not look like me (I'm white with brown hair). So all you have to do is tell the intellectuals at UCSD Parking that you are going to help your stepson move out of his on-campus dorm (it's finals week here). Present the valid UCSD Parking Pass and UCSD ID that I have supplied you and you're in baby. Problem solved, traffic avoided.

Call David at (714) 496-9229.

Well, it was on Foxsports.com...

Found this link on the Fire Joe Morgan site. I didn't know that msn.foxsports.com stood for "The Onion" in sports journalism. And we all know what we think about sports journalism...

Will get a Fox noise label even if it's not quite Fox noise since it's noise coming out of Fox...

Smiff to invade Chicago??

Is everyone going to be around over the 4th of July weekend? I'm thinking of the 3rd thru the 7th or 8th. Since flights are out the wazoo now, i want to make it a very long weekend ($450 the last i checked). Also, who can put Smiff up? Decker claimed he may be there dat weekend (and remaining WC funds will help fund my trip:)

Also, Smiff is now An Annoying Cell Phone Zone. Check comments for da number, and please make a note of it. If any of your digits have changed recently, lemme know...

Lee Elia: moving on up; manager next?

Mariners fired hitting coach Jeff Pentland.
The Mariners have the game's worst record despite a top-10 payroll, and it's obviously Pentland's fault. He'll know better next time not to overpay for Richie Sexson, Carlos Silva, Miguel Batista and Jarrod Washburn. Also, he never should have traded for Jose Vidro and put together a ridiculous bench that included Miguel Cairo and Willie Bloomquist. And that's glossing over his biggest mistake of all: he saw two lesbians kissing at Safeco Field and did absolutely nothing to stop them. Lee Elia, his replacement, is very capable of putting the fans in their place when he needs to
.

This reminds me that i forgot to mention when my high school friend, Guy,  from Italy, was in town about a month ago, we were in a neighborhood wine bar--drunk--and got to talking with this table full of people who were there to celebrate a teacher's retirement. Turns out this guy was also a baseball coach, and used to play for Arizona State in the late 60's with Jeff Pentland et al. (he was surprised when i knew the name of the guy--Lenny Randle--who punched the crap out of Manager Frank Lucchesi). Anyway, i asked him if Slammin' Sammy was on the juice, and he responded, "Oh yeaaaahhhhhh."


K-Mad's boy, bringing it...

Countdown Redux: Richard Clarke On Bush Administration - “We Can’t Let These People Back Into Polite Society”



Clarke: “Well, there may be some other kind of remedy. There may be some sort of truth and reconciliation commission process that’s been tried in other countries, South Africa, Salvador and what not, where if you come forward and admit that you were in error or admit that you lied, admit that you did something, then you’re forgiven. Otherwise, you are censured in some way.”

“Now, I just don’t think we can let these people back into polite society and give them jobs on university boards and corporate boards and just let them pretend that nothing ever happened when there are 4,000 Americans dead and 25,000 Americans grievously wounded, and they’ll carry those wounds and suffer all the rest of their lives.”

asking the probing questions, or, a shocking percentage of Lou Dobbs viewers agreed with Lou Dobbs last night (cont'd)

Do you believe $139/barrel oil, a 400 point loss in the Dow and the biggest increase in the unemployment rate we've seen in two decades suggest we need new economic leadership?
Yes 96% 6735
No 4% 264
Total Votes: 6999
This is not a scientific poll

Glue Factory?

Following Steve Trachsel's ugly relief outing Saturday, the Baltimore Sun reports that the Orioles "could make a decision shortly on the veteran's roster status." Trachsel was asked to close out an eight-run lead and allowed four runs before being yanked. The newspaper notes that he "appeared incredulous" when manager Dave Trembley came out to the mound to remove him from the game. Trachsel has an 8.39 ERA and the team made a big deal about moving him to the bullpen after a career spent as a starter, so there's seemingly little reason to keep him around at this point.

are dey making fun of da way we talk in da city dat works?

News item: Da'Tara wins Belmont States

one problem with the prediction that future generations will look favorably on his prezzziduncy: they will all be dead

News item: Citing History, Bush Suggests His Policies Will One Day Be Vindicated

As the door begins to close on his tenure, Bush is increasingly drawing on selected events of the past to argue that history will vindicate him on Iraq, terrorism, trade and other controversial issues.
.....

White House aides say Bush, who majored in history at Yale, likes to emphasize historical comparisons because they are easy for the public to understand and illustrate in dramatic fashion how differently future generations may come to view him.

Unfortunately for the president, many historians have already reached a conclusion. In an informal survey of scholars this spring, just two out of 109 historians said Bush would be judged a success; a majority deemed him the "worst president ever."

you knew this would start...

News item: Rather than exchange a traditional handshake, Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-TX) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) bumped fists at the conclusion of their joint appearance on CNN's Late Edition yesterday. The move appeared to be "a reference to Barack and Michelle Obama's celebratory fist bump on Tuesday."

So don't get too excited...

From one of those MLB Notes things:

Braves third baseman Chipper Jones is hitting .420. The last player to have that high of a batting average on this date was Paul O'Neill, who was hitting .431 for the 1994 Yankees.


Anyway - it's fucking balls-hot here. Miserable shit weather - exactly the kind there was here when Corms helped move me here exactly six years ago today (Monday, 9 June). I actually live in a smaller apartment now - so what that says about things I don't even know.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Joe Morgan's "trivia question" of the night

What player hit the hardest line drives the most consistently?

Joe's conjecture on this? He saw him play and he hit the ball hard the most consistently. That's the key. Also, he won a batting title. One of only dozens of players to do so. Sounds pretty good to me. And lo and behold, when i looked up this player's "hard line drive rate" i found he did in fact have the highest career percentage of hard line drives - a whopping 63%.

So who is this line drive God? Several hints: he is not in the Hall of Fame, he was a 7-time All Star, and finished with 2743 career hits. No peeking! If you know the answer, consider yourself as smart as Joe Morgan.


finally, some good news

How the World Will Look in Late January

Amongst udder pfings...

Amtrak Expansion Bill Approved by Senate
New York Times - 2 hours ago
The Leahy-Kyl Transportation Act passed handily in the Senate this afternoon in a 92-5 bipartisan triumph, with its companion House bill poised for approval tonight. Efforts to improve Amtrak to "Japanese levels of service" are expected to begin as soon...
AZ solar fields a key source of railway energy Arizona Republic
Not your father's Amtrak: New trains quiet, clean, and f
ast

Things That Continue to Suck

The New York Muts, who were swept in FOUR games by the punchless San Diego Padres. Just pathetic.

Tony Clark hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning to propel the Padres to an 8-6 win over the Mets on Sunday. The Mets were up 6-4 entering the inning, but Duaner Sanchez gave up a double and a walk before departing with two outs. Billy Wagner entered, but a single by Jody Gerut scored one run and then Clark hit a homer to center to put the Padres ahead. The homer allowed rookie 'Che' Guevara to pick up his first big league win, and Trevor Hoffman pitched a scoreless ninth for the save. The Padres have won five straight games.

The Atlanta Braves, who were taken out behind the woodshed by the streaking Phillies (wtahc out, Cubbies!) in a three game sweep. Howard is starting to hit, and even Adam Eaton hasn't been awful. Wife-beater Bobby Cox was his usual pissed-off self in the dugout.

Shane Victorino drove in the game's go-ahead run with an RBI single in the top of the ninth of a 6-3 win over the Braves on Sunday. The two teams were tied at 3-3 until Victorino's single to center scored Eric Bruntlett to make it 4-3. Ryan Howard then added two runs of insurance with a double. Victorino also had two other singles, a stolen base, and three runs scored in the contest. Ryan Howard doubled three times to drive in four runs. With 49 RBI and 42 runs scored Howard is on pace to approximate his totals from last season.

She also enjoyed eating Chinese takeout during those years

from the Wikipedia entry for "John Mellencamp":

Prior to the 1985-86 Scarecrow Tour, during which he covered a bunch of 1960s rock and soul songs, Mellencamp added fiddle player Lisa Germano to his band to accent and deepen his overall sound. Germano would remain in Mellencamp's band until 1994, when she left to pursue a solo career. During this time, she learned how to speak Chinese. One of her favorite sayings was the words for a small horse "tai ni po ni". She also enjoyed telling people the word for peach "tah osi".

Be Very Qwiet

Dey's huntin' Muslims...

Rural Democrats refuse to give backing to Obama

"We'll end up slaves. We'll be made slaves just like they was once slaves," he said. Telvor, a white Democrat who supported Hillary Clinton in West Virginia's primary, said he planned to vote for Republican John McCain in November. "At least he's an American," he added with a disarmingly friendly smile.

Was there anything Obama could say during the coming campaign to convince him? "Nope," Spence replied. Then he broached the one issue many Americans consider off-limits: the potential security threat to Obama. "Look, someone will kill him. Whoever Obama picks as running mate will end up being president." Spence's ready smile and chatty manner on the thorny issue of Obama's possible murder gave little clue as to whether he thought it would be a bad thing or not.

Little, a maintenance man for local offices, had one simple reason why he too was rejecting his long family history of voting Democrat. "McCain is one of us. Obama ain't,": he said, leaving little doubt as to who he meant by "us".

Fung's gettin scared...

Did they just say "trained weatherspotters?"

How can I get training in tracking twisters? Where is this school? How much does that pay?

Well, at least it works...

Fung was just sitting at home, trying to watch him sum Lou Daaabs on the TV, but it kept getting interrupted. Sumthin about turnadas sweeping thru da sout suburbs, den da nort suburbs. Da cable box even sed EAS on it to emphasize da point. Had a sexy computerized woman's voice & everything. And looks like more of dese thunderstorms will be flying thru da area today. But I do know the EAS works. Even when watching a blowhard.

I'd ask Smiff to pray for us, but I'm not sure how he's doing after the last cloud showed up in San Diego. It also looks like K-Mad knew to get outta town, hmmm....