Sunday, December 18, 2011
Kim Jong Il is dead
As you've probably noticed, I don't really blog over here very much but I have a big post up at my podcast's website, dontworry.tv, about the death of Kim Jong Il. If you're interested, read it.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Best NFL helmets
Looks like ESPN has ranked the top NFL helmets. Steelers and Colts are 1 and 2, according to them.
Apart from inexplicably putting the Dolphins in the top 10 and leaving off the Rams, who invented the helmet logo, for goodness sake, it's a pretty good list. And it inspired me to make my own. This list is below. This is harder than my previous NFL uniforms list because no NFL team has a truly bad helmet design at this point. Even the Bills, who I rank lowest because of their annoying multi-shade-of-blue thing, have pretty cool helmets. But once again, you'll see that I have a preference for the classic old-school look, as well as helmets of distinction (eg. Steelers' logo only on one side, the Eagles' wings, the Rams' horns). Heeere's my list:
1. Steelers
2. Colts
3. Raiders
4. Packers
5. Rams (they were better with blue and yellow, not blue and gold)
6. Chargers (would rank higher if they went to the old 60s helmets with the numbers on them)
7. Browns
8. Eagles
9. Bears
10. Cowboys
11. Giants
12. Vikings (would rank higher if I didn't spend most of my childhood trying to figure out what the heck their logo was)
13. Saints
14. Bucs
15. Jets
16. Broncos
17. Redskins
18. Bengals
19. Dolphins
20. 49ers
21. Titans
22. Lions
23. Ravens
24. Patriots
25. Panthers
26. Jaguars
27. Texans
28. Cardinals
29. Chiefs
30. Seahawks
31. Falcons
32. Bills (will jump in the rankings as soon as they get rid of the horrible 3-shades-of-blue thing they've currently got going)
Apart from inexplicably putting the Dolphins in the top 10 and leaving off the Rams, who invented the helmet logo, for goodness sake, it's a pretty good list. And it inspired me to make my own. This list is below. This is harder than my previous NFL uniforms list because no NFL team has a truly bad helmet design at this point. Even the Bills, who I rank lowest because of their annoying multi-shade-of-blue thing, have pretty cool helmets. But once again, you'll see that I have a preference for the classic old-school look, as well as helmets of distinction (eg. Steelers' logo only on one side, the Eagles' wings, the Rams' horns). Heeere's my list:
1. Steelers
2. Colts
3. Raiders
4. Packers
5. Rams (they were better with blue and yellow, not blue and gold)
6. Chargers (would rank higher if they went to the old 60s helmets with the numbers on them)
7. Browns
8. Eagles
9. Bears
10. Cowboys
11. Giants
12. Vikings (would rank higher if I didn't spend most of my childhood trying to figure out what the heck their logo was)
13. Saints
14. Bucs
15. Jets
16. Broncos
17. Redskins
18. Bengals
19. Dolphins
20. 49ers
21. Titans
22. Lions
23. Ravens
24. Patriots
25. Panthers
26. Jaguars
27. Texans
28. Cardinals
29. Chiefs
30. Seahawks
31. Falcons
32. Bills (will jump in the rankings as soon as they get rid of the horrible 3-shades-of-blue thing they've currently got going)
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
I saw Sucker Punch
Definitely, it's the best music video I've seen since "Hypnotize" by the Notorious B.I.G. Wait, you're telling me Sucker Punch wasn't a music video and was actually supposed to be a movie? But movies, they have... plot. Dialogue. Characters. Sometimes they have character development. And... acting. And Sucker Punch didn't have any of these things. It was like Bizarro Inception.
But as a music video, it's kickass and top notch.
But as a music video, it's kickass and top notch.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
What to call Africa's newest country
UNITED NATIONS - Today's Security Council meeting on Sudan highlights the remarkably peaceful referendum on independence that southern Sudan just completed. While much remains to be done, a peaceful transition now seems a likely outcome, something unthinkable even a few months ago.
That said, a serious problem remains: what to call the new country. According to U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice today, the nation will be called the Republic of Southern Sudan. Does anyone else find this a rather blase name? Really, you don't get to be a new nation every day. Put the past behind you. Don't define yourself by the nation you were once a part of. And most of all, be creative!
Here are some helpful suggestions for the nascent state:
Option 1: North Sudan becomes Nubia (the historical Nubian kingdoms were in northern Sudan and southern Egypt), while south Sudan gets the "Sudan" moniker. And most of the oil.
Option 2: Go with the "the." It's like the Justin Timberlake scene in The Social Network, in reverse. "The Sudan" seems cooler somehow, albeit a bit more colonial, than just "Sudan."
Option 3: A long, specific and optimistic list of all the things your country will most likely not be. Eg. Shiny Happy Democratic People's Free and Independent United Sovereign Multinational Republic of Southern Sudan. A name that all but guarantees failed statehood.
Option 4: Democratic Republic of Sudan. So that generations of American schoolchildren can be even more perplexed in geography class than they were already. The Congos already do this, so why not you?
Option 5: Guarantee war with the North by either including the words "and Abyei" in the title of your country (eg. Shiny Happy Democratic People's Free and Independent United Sovereign Multinational Republic of Southern Sudan and Abyei) or, better, have a map of your country with the disputed region included on your flag. Kosovo did the latter with Mitrovica even though Mitrovica is 90% ethnic Serbs, and nobody's called them on it yet.
Option 6: To borrow from Gregg Easterbrook's solution for the Macedonian name issue, you should really call yourselves "The Greatest Country In History." The tourism ads just write themselves.
Update: Looks like Joshua Keating at Foreign Policy already sorta beat me to it on this topic.
That said, a serious problem remains: what to call the new country. According to U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice today, the nation will be called the Republic of Southern Sudan. Does anyone else find this a rather blase name? Really, you don't get to be a new nation every day. Put the past behind you. Don't define yourself by the nation you were once a part of. And most of all, be creative!
Here are some helpful suggestions for the nascent state:
Option 1: North Sudan becomes Nubia (the historical Nubian kingdoms were in northern Sudan and southern Egypt), while south Sudan gets the "Sudan" moniker. And most of the oil.
Option 2: Go with the "the." It's like the Justin Timberlake scene in The Social Network, in reverse. "The Sudan" seems cooler somehow, albeit a bit more colonial, than just "Sudan."
Option 3: A long, specific and optimistic list of all the things your country will most likely not be. Eg. Shiny Happy Democratic People's Free and Independent United Sovereign Multinational Republic of Southern Sudan. A name that all but guarantees failed statehood.
Option 4: Democratic Republic of Sudan. So that generations of American schoolchildren can be even more perplexed in geography class than they were already. The Congos already do this, so why not you?
Option 5: Guarantee war with the North by either including the words "and Abyei" in the title of your country (eg. Shiny Happy Democratic People's Free and Independent United Sovereign Multinational Republic of Southern Sudan and Abyei) or, better, have a map of your country with the disputed region included on your flag. Kosovo did the latter with Mitrovica even though Mitrovica is 90% ethnic Serbs, and nobody's called them on it yet.
Option 6: To borrow from Gregg Easterbrook's solution for the Macedonian name issue, you should really call yourselves "The Greatest Country In History." The tourism ads just write themselves.
Update: Looks like Joshua Keating at Foreign Policy already sorta beat me to it on this topic.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Sewage backup delays UN meetings
The UN's many critics who have called it a septic tank of corruption and incompetence were vindicated this morning, when UN meetings were postponed and the UN was partially evacuated as suspicious smells of methane and sulfur were reported. (The UN smelling of sulfur... didn't Hugo Chavez have something to say about this? Should we all cross ourselves?)
According to the UN Spokesperson's office, FDNY and hazardous material experts were brought in and determined that high tides in the East River had created a sewage problem by backing up the pipes. Gases were released from the sewage backup but were deemed not hazardous. Press were allowed back into their offices around 11:30 a.m.
So basically, the UN smells like shit.
Sidenote 1: The UN declined to speculate if the lunar eclipse had anything to do with the tides.
Sidenote 2: The UN declined to say if its sewage system was pumping directly into the river.
Sidenote 3: The UN declined to say if this had anything to do with construction or methane leaks caused by the Capital Master Plan, the UN's ongoing renovation of its own building.
Sidenote 4: The UN announced that tours will be resumed. Now the general public too can come smell the United Nations.
Sidenote 5: The United States had meticulously organized a UN "youth day" where children and teenagers would submit comments to the Security Council and participate in a Security Council open meeting. That meeting has been moved to the Economic and Social Council chamber in the North Lawn Building and is not being telecast. As a result, no one will cover this and a generation of international kids will remember the day they came to the UN and were evacuated by the smell of shit. I rather think they will all become neocons, no?
According to the UN Spokesperson's office, FDNY and hazardous material experts were brought in and determined that high tides in the East River had created a sewage problem by backing up the pipes. Gases were released from the sewage backup but were deemed not hazardous. Press were allowed back into their offices around 11:30 a.m.
So basically, the UN smells like shit.
Sidenote 1: The UN declined to speculate if the lunar eclipse had anything to do with the tides.
Sidenote 2: The UN declined to say if its sewage system was pumping directly into the river.
Sidenote 3: The UN declined to say if this had anything to do with construction or methane leaks caused by the Capital Master Plan, the UN's ongoing renovation of its own building.
Sidenote 4: The UN announced that tours will be resumed. Now the general public too can come smell the United Nations.
Sidenote 5: The United States had meticulously organized a UN "youth day" where children and teenagers would submit comments to the Security Council and participate in a Security Council open meeting. That meeting has been moved to the Economic and Social Council chamber in the North Lawn Building and is not being telecast. As a result, no one will cover this and a generation of international kids will remember the day they came to the UN and were evacuated by the smell of shit. I rather think they will all become neocons, no?
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
UN Women and hypocrisy
Today the UN member states voted to decide which countries should serve on the board of the new UN Entity on Women. Note the use of the word "entity." The member states could not agree whether the new body should actually do anything, so heaven forbid it be called an "agency" because it might have, you know, agency. So it is an "entity." It exists. Whether it does anything else is an open question.
So Iran, for some reason, decided that it wanted to be on the board. Why Iran did this I do not know. It's like being the unpopular kid in school and writing a sign that says "kick me!" on your own back, just to make a point. Naturally, the West jumps on the opportunity. Days before the vote, they nudge tiny Timor-Leste into running against Iran for the last remaining seat on the board. (Stop me when this sounds like your middle school student government. What, it already does? Yeah, mine too.)
Western nations then browbeat, bribe and cajole every undecided country into swinging against the Iranians (footnote: I'm not kidding about the bribes. On voting day every delegation found a nice brown package of I-don't-know-what in red-white-and-blue ribbon on their desk. This is standard UN procedure, here.) In the end, little Timor-Leste — which barely even has a government — wins going away. Afterward, US Ambassador Susan Rice smugly speaks of how Iran was defeated, "and defeated handily."
Why is this hypocrisy? Because here are the countries that got elected unopposed, with no complaint or opprobrium by anyone:
- Libya, where women can technically own property but in practice don't, and where Muammar Qadaffi is escorted about by a phalanx of all-female bodyguards
- Saudi Arabia, ranked second to last among 93 countries on the Gender Empowerment Index, a country where women still aren't allowed to drive cars or go anywhere without a male family member escort
- Democratic Republic of Congo, where pretty much everybody — government soldiers, ethnic rebels, foreign militias, even the occasional UN peacekeeper — uses rape as a weapon of war. Three months before the vote, several hundred women were systematically raped in a 24 hour rampage in the country's lawless east and the UN didn't even find out about it for a fortnight. Five DAYS before the vote, the mass rape of over 600 women on the Angolan border was uncovered.
Rice, asked to explain why the Congolese and the Saudis got a free pass, said "I am not going to deny that there were several countries that are going to join the board of U.N. Women that have less than stellar records on women's rights, and indeed human rights."
Fair enough, Ambassador. Iran getting on the UN Women board would have been ridiculous. But DR Congo getting on was an atrocity.
So Iran, for some reason, decided that it wanted to be on the board. Why Iran did this I do not know. It's like being the unpopular kid in school and writing a sign that says "kick me!" on your own back, just to make a point. Naturally, the West jumps on the opportunity. Days before the vote, they nudge tiny Timor-Leste into running against Iran for the last remaining seat on the board. (Stop me when this sounds like your middle school student government. What, it already does? Yeah, mine too.)
Western nations then browbeat, bribe and cajole every undecided country into swinging against the Iranians (footnote: I'm not kidding about the bribes. On voting day every delegation found a nice brown package of I-don't-know-what in red-white-and-blue ribbon on their desk. This is standard UN procedure, here.) In the end, little Timor-Leste — which barely even has a government — wins going away. Afterward, US Ambassador Susan Rice smugly speaks of how Iran was defeated, "and defeated handily."
Why is this hypocrisy? Because here are the countries that got elected unopposed, with no complaint or opprobrium by anyone:
- Libya, where women can technically own property but in practice don't, and where Muammar Qadaffi is escorted about by a phalanx of all-female bodyguards
- Saudi Arabia, ranked second to last among 93 countries on the Gender Empowerment Index, a country where women still aren't allowed to drive cars or go anywhere without a male family member escort
- Democratic Republic of Congo, where pretty much everybody — government soldiers, ethnic rebels, foreign militias, even the occasional UN peacekeeper — uses rape as a weapon of war. Three months before the vote, several hundred women were systematically raped in a 24 hour rampage in the country's lawless east and the UN didn't even find out about it for a fortnight. Five DAYS before the vote, the mass rape of over 600 women on the Angolan border was uncovered.
Rice, asked to explain why the Congolese and the Saudis got a free pass, said "I am not going to deny that there were several countries that are going to join the board of U.N. Women that have less than stellar records on women's rights, and indeed human rights."
Fair enough, Ambassador. Iran getting on the UN Women board would have been ridiculous. But DR Congo getting on was an atrocity.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Did Than Shwe's astrologer predict this one?
What is it with Myanmar getting leveled by horrendous cyclones right before shame elections? We all remember Cyclone Nargis (see all my "Burma and the Death of Responsibility To Protect" posts from a while back) striking right before the vote on the new constitution, but now category 4 cylone Giri has hit the country barely a week before its sham democratic election.
I blame the new flag.
Speaking of elections, I'm off to vote now myself. And you should do the same.
I blame the new flag.
Speaking of elections, I'm off to vote now myself. And you should do the same.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Week 7 Picks
The spread:
sunday
steelers (-3) over DOLPHINS
FALCONS (-3.5) over bengals
jaguars (+9) over CHIEFS
TITANS (-3) over eagles
redskins (+3) over BEARS
SAINTS (-13) over browns
RAVENS (-13) over bills
49ers (-3) over PANTHERS
BUCS (-3) over rams
SEAHAWKS (-6.5) over cardinals
patriots (+3) over CHARGERS
BRONCOS (-8.5) over raiders
vikings (+2.5) over PACKERS
monday
COWBOYS (-3) over giants
Last week: 7-6-1
Season: 41-44-5
sunday
steelers (-3) over DOLPHINS
FALCONS (-3.5) over bengals
jaguars (+9) over CHIEFS
TITANS (-3) over eagles
redskins (+3) over BEARS
SAINTS (-13) over browns
RAVENS (-13) over bills
49ers (-3) over PANTHERS
BUCS (-3) over rams
SEAHAWKS (-6.5) over cardinals
patriots (+3) over CHARGERS
BRONCOS (-8.5) over raiders
vikings (+2.5) over PACKERS
monday
COWBOYS (-3) over giants
Last week: 7-6-1
Season: 41-44-5
Friday, October 15, 2010
Week 6 picks
Well, I finally got over .500 for Week 5. Let's see if I can keep it going and get back to .500 for the season. You know, so that my guesses will be more accurate than actually guessing. Here's the spread again:
sunday
STEELERS (-13.5) over browns
saints (-4) over BUCCANEERS
chargers (-8) over RAMS
PACKERS (-3) over dolphins
falcons (+2.5) over EAGLES
PATRIOTS (-2.5) over ravens
chiefs (+4.5) over TEXANS
GIANTS (-10) over lions
BEARS (-7) over seahawks
raiders (+6.5) over NINERS
jets (-3) over BRONCOS
VIKINGS (-1.5) over cowboys
colts (-3) over REDSKINS
monday
titans (-3) over JAGUARS
Last week: 8-6
Season: 34-38-4
sunday
STEELERS (-13.5) over browns
saints (-4) over BUCCANEERS
chargers (-8) over RAMS
PACKERS (-3) over dolphins
falcons (+2.5) over EAGLES
PATRIOTS (-2.5) over ravens
chiefs (+4.5) over TEXANS
GIANTS (-10) over lions
BEARS (-7) over seahawks
raiders (+6.5) over NINERS
jets (-3) over BRONCOS
VIKINGS (-1.5) over cowboys
colts (-3) over REDSKINS
monday
titans (-3) over JAGUARS
Last week: 8-6
Season: 34-38-4
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Week 5
The spread:
broncos (+7) over RAVENS
jags (pk) over BILLS
COLTS (-7) over chiefs
rams (+3) over LIONS
falcons (-3) over BROWNS
bucs (+6.5) over BENGALS
PANTHERS (-1) over bears
packers (-2.5) over REDSKINS
TEXANS (-3) over giants
saints (-6.5) over CARDS
RAIDERS (+6) over chargers
titans (+7) over COWBOYS
eagles (+3) over 49ERS
JETS (-4) over vikings
Last week: 7-7
Season: 26-32-4
broncos (+7) over RAVENS
jags (pk) over BILLS
COLTS (-7) over chiefs
rams (+3) over LIONS
falcons (-3) over BROWNS
bucs (+6.5) over BENGALS
PANTHERS (-1) over bears
packers (-2.5) over REDSKINS
TEXANS (-3) over giants
saints (-6.5) over CARDS
RAIDERS (+6) over chargers
titans (+7) over COWBOYS
eagles (+3) over 49ERS
JETS (-4) over vikings
Last week: 7-7
Season: 26-32-4
Friday, October 1, 2010
Week 4 picks
Here's the spread.
Here's my picks:
sunday
TITANS (-6.5) over broncos
STEELERS (-1.5) over ravens
bengals (-3) over BROWNS
lions (+14.5) over PACKERS
SAINTS (-13.5) over panthers
FALCONS (-7) over 49ers
seahawks (-1) over RAMS
jets (-5.5) over BILLS
JAGUARS (+7) over colts
texans (-3) over RAIDERS
CHARGERS (-8.5) over cardinals
EAGLES (-6) over redskins
GIANTS (-4) over bears
monday
patriots (-1) over DOLPHINS
Last week: 7-9
Season: 19-25-4
Here's my picks:
sunday
TITANS (-6.5) over broncos
STEELERS (-1.5) over ravens
bengals (-3) over BROWNS
lions (+14.5) over PACKERS
SAINTS (-13.5) over panthers
FALCONS (-7) over 49ers
seahawks (-1) over RAMS
jets (-5.5) over BILLS
JAGUARS (+7) over colts
texans (-3) over RAIDERS
CHARGERS (-8.5) over cardinals
EAGLES (-6) over redskins
GIANTS (-4) over bears
monday
patriots (-1) over DOLPHINS
Last week: 7-9
Season: 19-25-4
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Week 3 NFL picks
OK, so Week 2 was a total fiasco, let's see if I can get this under control for Week 3. Once again, against the spread. Home team in CAPS.
SUNDAY
titans (+3) over GIANTS
PATRIOTS (-14.5) over bills
RAVENS (-10.5) over browns
steelers (-2.5) over BUCCANEERS
bengals (-3) over PANTHERS
SAINTS (-3.5) over falcons
CHIEFS (-3) over 49ers
lions (+11) over VIKINGS
TEXANS (-2.5) over cowboys
redskins (-3.5) over RAMS
eagles (-2.5) over JAGUARS
colts (-5.5) over BRONCOS
chargers (-5.5) over SEAHAWKS
raiders (+4.5) over CARDINALS
DOLPHINS (-2) over jets
MONDAY
packers (-3) over BEARS
Last week: 5-9-2
Season: 12-16-4
SUNDAY
titans (+3) over GIANTS
PATRIOTS (-14.5) over bills
RAVENS (-10.5) over browns
steelers (-2.5) over BUCCANEERS
bengals (-3) over PANTHERS
SAINTS (-3.5) over falcons
CHIEFS (-3) over 49ers
lions (+11) over VIKINGS
TEXANS (-2.5) over cowboys
redskins (-3.5) over RAMS
eagles (-2.5) over JAGUARS
colts (-5.5) over BRONCOS
chargers (-5.5) over SEAHAWKS
raiders (+4.5) over CARDINALS
DOLPHINS (-2) over jets
MONDAY
packers (-3) over BEARS
Last week: 5-9-2
Season: 12-16-4
Monday, September 20, 2010
the spread
I went 5-8-2 on Sunday. Horrible. Worse than guessing. I gotta right this ship before I start putting any money down. We'll start with New Orleans blowing out San Francisco tonight.
MUTANT FISH!!!!!
Not to be alarmist, but I'm a bit leery of this new genetic advancement on salmon that makes them grow twice as fast as normal salmon. To wit:
I hate to break it to these guys, but I'm pretty sure they relied on that trick in Jurassic Park and it didn't work then either. How long before mutant mega-salmon are roaming the earth, seeking revenge on their human creators? FDA, thou shalt reapeth what thy soweth.
As Shaggy 2 Dope of Insane Clown Posse memorably opined, "I don’t want to talk to a scientist, y’all mother fuckers lyin, and gettin me pissed."
"There is virtually no possibility of escape and interaction with wild populations,” says Stotish.
That’s because the fish eggs will be sterile, and they will all be female. Plus, they'll be grown in tanks on land, rather than nets or pens, floating in the ocean, the way most conventional farmed fish is raised.
I hate to break it to these guys, but I'm pretty sure they relied on that trick in Jurassic Park and it didn't work then either. How long before mutant mega-salmon are roaming the earth, seeking revenge on their human creators? FDA, thou shalt reapeth what thy soweth.
As Shaggy 2 Dope of Insane Clown Posse memorably opined, "I don’t want to talk to a scientist, y’all mother fuckers lyin, and gettin me pissed."
MDG Summit in twitter form
Live-tweeting the silliest highlights of the UN Summit on the Millennium Development Goals. I'm here so you don't have to be.
Friday, September 17, 2010
puts it in perspective
Remember reading a few weeks back about those Chilean miners that were trapped a third of a mile underground?
Well, they're still there. And it'll be a few weeks before anyone can get them out. Amazing story...
Well, they're still there. And it'll be a few weeks before anyone can get them out. Amazing story...
Thursday, September 16, 2010
I hope that "unnamed team" is the Bears
So ESPN is reporting that the Chargers' Vincent Jackson's suspension will be reduced if he's traded and that an "unnamed team" is already in talks with San Diego.
Chicago needs a deep threat and already has the NFL's 3rd-best collection of screw-ups and head cases (trailing only Cincinnati and the New York Jets).
Sidenote: what sense does it make to reduce a guy's drunk-driving suspension if he's traded? Like, if he goes to New York and it's a public transport city, he's less of a risk? I don't really get it.
Chicago needs a deep threat and already has the NFL's 3rd-best collection of screw-ups and head cases (trailing only Cincinnati and the New York Jets).
Sidenote: what sense does it make to reduce a guy's drunk-driving suspension if he's traded? Like, if he goes to New York and it's a public transport city, he's less of a risk? I don't really get it.
NFL picks week 2
In other obvious news, it's much harder to pick against the spread in the NFL than it is to just pick the winners outright. Nonetheless I'll be trying again, and here's my best shot for Week 2:
Sunday
kansas city (+2) over CLEVELAND
GREEN BAY (-13) over buffalo
baltimore (-2.5) over CINCINNATI
TENNESSEE (-5) over pittsburgh
philadelphia (-6.5) over DETROIT
chicago (+7.5) over DALLAS
CAROLINA (-3.5) over tampa bay
arizona (+6.5) over ATLANTA
miami (+5.5) over MINNESOTA
OAKLAND (-3.5) over st. louis
DENVER (-3.5) over seattle
houston (-3) over WASHINGTON
jacksonville (+7) over SAN DIEGO
new england (-3) over NY JETS
INDIANAPOLIS (-5) over ny giants
Monday
new orleans (-5) over SAN FRANCISCO
Last week: 7-7-2
Sunday
kansas city (+2) over CLEVELAND
GREEN BAY (-13) over buffalo
baltimore (-2.5) over CINCINNATI
TENNESSEE (-5) over pittsburgh
philadelphia (-6.5) over DETROIT
chicago (+7.5) over DALLAS
CAROLINA (-3.5) over tampa bay
arizona (+6.5) over ATLANTA
miami (+5.5) over MINNESOTA
OAKLAND (-3.5) over st. louis
DENVER (-3.5) over seattle
houston (-3) over WASHINGTON
jacksonville (+7) over SAN DIEGO
new england (-3) over NY JETS
INDIANAPOLIS (-5) over ny giants
Monday
new orleans (-5) over SAN FRANCISCO
Last week: 7-7-2
The discomforts of terrorism
Today in the Security Council meeting on Somalia, the Kenyan Ambassador said:
I don't know about you, but "uncomfortable" is a word I use when, say, the air conditioning is too high, or when I try on a pair of shoes and they do not fit. Not when a militia dedicated to wiping me off the face of the earth seizes control in a large neighboring nation.
"If the Transitional Government would fall, the group called al Shabaab would take over and export an ideology dedicated to the destruction of all non-Muslim people in the region. And we would be uncomfortable with a situation like that."
I don't know about you, but "uncomfortable" is a word I use when, say, the air conditioning is too high, or when I try on a pair of shoes and they do not fit. Not when a militia dedicated to wiping me off the face of the earth seizes control in a large neighboring nation.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Dispatches from the 9/11 Memorial Circus
NEW YORK - The road to lunacy is paved with good intentions.
Before today's 9/11 ceremonies, several 9/11 family groups had requested people not to protest, either in favor of or against the proposed "Ground Zero mosque," out of respect to the sacredness of the day. Good intention, right? Well, the end result was that all the reasonable people stayed home and the crazies came out of the woodwork like a horde of termites. Today was the political equivalent of World's Deadliest Swarms. A complete three-ring circus.
Qurans? We got 'em. You want to stomp on them? There was a guy doing that on Chambers street. You want free ones? A Muslim group was handing them out on Broadway outside the Duane Reade. I almost took one, but let's face it, I'm a bit behind in my summer reading list, and I already read the most inflammatory bits in Sam Harris.
Costumed heroes? Yeah, we got those. A guy dressed in a homemade Captain America costume, complete with USA flag cape. Affiliation? Unknown. Some guy showed up with a gorgeous blue and yellow parrot on his arm. "Does it talk?" we asked. "When it wants to," he said. We got clowns, too. Loony Lenny showed up in full costume. I know his name because it was on his hat. Not sure which side he was on either. Not everybody had one. One guy was just holding up a peace sign at the midpoint between the two protests. All he wanted to know from me was whether I'd seen any violence. Not here and not today, I said. Not in 9 years, actually.
Completed unrelated causes turned out, because, hell, it's a protest, right? Anti abortion groups arrived in matching t-shirts and a decked-out minivan. 9/11 family groups were literally screaming at 9/11 Truthers. Nothing like wearing a "9/11 Was An Inside Job" t-shirt to rile up a crowd of flag-waving patriots. An ironic bunch of college kids trolled about with signs that read "Bigots are Americans too!" and "Bigotry is a right!" So there!
Religiously, the full gamut was on display. Between Broadway (site of the pro-mosque protest) and West Broadway (anti-mosque) was the ironically named Church Street, and that's where the crazier elements of each protest gathered to shout at each other. One Christian group came to decry the sins of abortion and homosexuality. Atheists came out to support the First Amendment. Jews came out to support Israel. Or protest Israel. Or whatever. One man wanted to burn all religious books. He got into a shouting match with a Muslim cleric who said, "Hitler burned all religious books! It was called Kristallnacht." Since the old debate adage says that the first side to mention Hitler loses, I'm afraid the book-burning guy took that argument.
The anti-mosque protesters were certainly better organized. They had a giant TV screen. They had far more people. That didn't, of course, make their speakers make any more sense. At least the aldermen and activists had enough media experience to avoid saying anything incredibly awful. But cue the groans when some speaker gets up there and begins "I'm just an ordinary American citizen and I want to have my say..." That's really what this day was about. But it's kind of like Terry Jones in Florida. The guy can have his say if he wants to. It's a free country. But I'm free to ignore him.
Moving east to City Hall, Broadway was blanketed in a pu pu platter of leftist causes from the past 40 years. Free Palestine! Free Lynne Stewart! Works of the world unite! Islamophobia is Racism... So Join The Socialist Workers Party! USA Exports Ground Zeroes In Iraq and Afghanistan! Viva Chavez and Ahmadinejad! These were actual signs, by the way. It was all so caricatured, I began to suspect this was actually a right-wing crowd pretending to be a left-wing crowd. I'm still not convinced it wasn't. I mean, viva Ahmadinejad? Really?
One speaker lamented that "the revolution" was being undermined "because we can't get organized!" Which was painfully obvious from the disparate causes jockeying for elbow room. Right after him, an activist lawyer attempted to get the crowd riled up about the rights of Guantanamo Bay inmates — what does this have to do with Park51 exactly? — but was drowned out when the protest was buzzed by a giant motorcade of anti-mosque biker guys in leather revving their engines at north of 100 dB. Since when did the Hell's Angels join the Tea Party?
As the anti-mosque protest dispersed, along came a 4th-of-July-parade-style float that can only be described as an anti-Islammobile. "America Repent!" its placards screamed. "Islam is a false religion." And at the top, larger than anything else: "STOP THE INSANITY!"
My thoughts exactly.
Before today's 9/11 ceremonies, several 9/11 family groups had requested people not to protest, either in favor of or against the proposed "Ground Zero mosque," out of respect to the sacredness of the day. Good intention, right? Well, the end result was that all the reasonable people stayed home and the crazies came out of the woodwork like a horde of termites. Today was the political equivalent of World's Deadliest Swarms. A complete three-ring circus.
Qurans? We got 'em. You want to stomp on them? There was a guy doing that on Chambers street. You want free ones? A Muslim group was handing them out on Broadway outside the Duane Reade. I almost took one, but let's face it, I'm a bit behind in my summer reading list, and I already read the most inflammatory bits in Sam Harris.
Costumed heroes? Yeah, we got those. A guy dressed in a homemade Captain America costume, complete with USA flag cape. Affiliation? Unknown. Some guy showed up with a gorgeous blue and yellow parrot on his arm. "Does it talk?" we asked. "When it wants to," he said. We got clowns, too. Loony Lenny showed up in full costume. I know his name because it was on his hat. Not sure which side he was on either. Not everybody had one. One guy was just holding up a peace sign at the midpoint between the two protests. All he wanted to know from me was whether I'd seen any violence. Not here and not today, I said. Not in 9 years, actually.
Completed unrelated causes turned out, because, hell, it's a protest, right? Anti abortion groups arrived in matching t-shirts and a decked-out minivan. 9/11 family groups were literally screaming at 9/11 Truthers. Nothing like wearing a "9/11 Was An Inside Job" t-shirt to rile up a crowd of flag-waving patriots. An ironic bunch of college kids trolled about with signs that read "Bigots are Americans too!" and "Bigotry is a right!" So there!
Religiously, the full gamut was on display. Between Broadway (site of the pro-mosque protest) and West Broadway (anti-mosque) was the ironically named Church Street, and that's where the crazier elements of each protest gathered to shout at each other. One Christian group came to decry the sins of abortion and homosexuality. Atheists came out to support the First Amendment. Jews came out to support Israel. Or protest Israel. Or whatever. One man wanted to burn all religious books. He got into a shouting match with a Muslim cleric who said, "Hitler burned all religious books! It was called Kristallnacht." Since the old debate adage says that the first side to mention Hitler loses, I'm afraid the book-burning guy took that argument.
The anti-mosque protesters were certainly better organized. They had a giant TV screen. They had far more people. That didn't, of course, make their speakers make any more sense. At least the aldermen and activists had enough media experience to avoid saying anything incredibly awful. But cue the groans when some speaker gets up there and begins "I'm just an ordinary American citizen and I want to have my say..." That's really what this day was about. But it's kind of like Terry Jones in Florida. The guy can have his say if he wants to. It's a free country. But I'm free to ignore him.
Moving east to City Hall, Broadway was blanketed in a pu pu platter of leftist causes from the past 40 years. Free Palestine! Free Lynne Stewart! Works of the world unite! Islamophobia is Racism... So Join The Socialist Workers Party! USA Exports Ground Zeroes In Iraq and Afghanistan! Viva Chavez and Ahmadinejad! These were actual signs, by the way. It was all so caricatured, I began to suspect this was actually a right-wing crowd pretending to be a left-wing crowd. I'm still not convinced it wasn't. I mean, viva Ahmadinejad? Really?
One speaker lamented that "the revolution" was being undermined "because we can't get organized!" Which was painfully obvious from the disparate causes jockeying for elbow room. Right after him, an activist lawyer attempted to get the crowd riled up about the rights of Guantanamo Bay inmates — what does this have to do with Park51 exactly? — but was drowned out when the protest was buzzed by a giant motorcade of anti-mosque biker guys in leather revving their engines at north of 100 dB. Since when did the Hell's Angels join the Tea Party?
As the anti-mosque protest dispersed, along came a 4th-of-July-parade-style float that can only be described as an anti-Islammobile. "America Repent!" its placards screamed. "Islam is a false religion." And at the top, larger than anything else: "STOP THE INSANITY!"
My thoughts exactly.
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