I could be wrong on this pick
I luckily won second out of 12 participants in the NCAA tournament pool this year that my best friend had at his work. Thanks to the Memphis Tigers' imploding at the free throw line and a poor decision not to foul a Kansas Jayhawk player at the end of regulation, I made the right pick with Kansas for the Men's NCAA Division I Basketball Championship. The same held true for the Boston Celtics. So, who is going to be Obama's VP pick?
I like Evan Bayh, Democratic Senator from Indiana. He chairs the Senate Finance Committee, and issue #1 in this campaign is the economy. He's the right pick, because he is a centrist. On social issues and his stance on the Iraq War, I disagree with him. He will get hammered for co-chairing with McCain the regime change in Iraq and for his support of the occupation. However, he is soft spoken and like many VPs in the past, won't steal the spotlight away from Obama. As a staunch supporter of Hillary, I'm hoping along with the Clintons, he will bring back the vast majority of those Hillary supporters who are still ticked off after her narrow defeat.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Bill Maher gets it
Bill Maher appeared again on CNN's Larry King Live last night and didn't disappoint. Much of the discussion delved into his new documentary, Religilous. Conservatives, no doubt like Limbaugh, will plug plenty of soundbytes into their program for trying to portray Maher as an evil secularist. Oh, he's from Hollywood. He's just another latte sipping liberal. Ever notice how these hosts never have the spine to debate guys like Maher on their shows? Hmm. Perhaps, it's because he would rip them a new asshole on any debate.
King played a few clips of Maher's film last night. Both were just absurdly humerous. Here is a video from King's show where King plays two short clips of Maher's upcoming film:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CWiASiqDdU
Prove to me there is a Heaven and Hell. Why has there been a war, diseases, and famine throughout human civilization? What was happening in the area of the world where and when The Bible was written? Is religion a means for self-restraint? If we're all created in God's image, why do people commit such atrocities? Evil can disappear if it's God's will, right?
As someone who was born and raised Catholic, I have my own interpretations of faith. I don't condone The Vatican's oppressive stances on many issues. Personally, I view The Pope as more of a spiritual guide than someone who is practically viewed as being annointed by God. The point is we all have differing views on religion and its role on our society. It should remain that way.
Last week, I was disappointed to see Barack Obama and John McCain's first appearance together would be on a church's grounds. Thomas Jefferson authored our Constitution and the last thing he would want to see is a fusing of politics and religion. James Madison and Jefferson made that very clear when Madison authroed the Virginia Statue for the Separation of Church and State. Yes, the vast majority of this country is Christian. How ironic is it that religion plays such a major role in our discourse when so many people fled Europe due to religious persecution. For the past eight years, Republicans have injected their personal faith countless times inside Congress. It hasn't led to Christ-like acts. Instead, it's a deterrent used for avoiding our reality-based problems. And yes, I can genuinely tell you that these Republicans who push their values are anti-American.
Living in the Bible Belt, I know firsthand how nutty people are with their faith. The vast majority of these people I've met are selfesh. They praise Jesus while playing the role of Judas at the same time. One of my old colleagues used to persistently make bigoted comments and felt it was fine. He was a self-proclaimed Born Again Christian. He was upset one day when I reminded him, "I don't recall Jesus ostracizing anyone. He sat at the same table with criminals, prostitutes, and the lepars."
Bill Maher appeared again on CNN's Larry King Live last night and didn't disappoint. Much of the discussion delved into his new documentary, Religilous. Conservatives, no doubt like Limbaugh, will plug plenty of soundbytes into their program for trying to portray Maher as an evil secularist. Oh, he's from Hollywood. He's just another latte sipping liberal. Ever notice how these hosts never have the spine to debate guys like Maher on their shows? Hmm. Perhaps, it's because he would rip them a new asshole on any debate.
King played a few clips of Maher's film last night. Both were just absurdly humerous. Here is a video from King's show where King plays two short clips of Maher's upcoming film:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CWiASiqDdU
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Our unique differences coming together as one
Conventions are grand pep rallies. They're filled with unfettered postive enthusiasm, charisma, and opportunities for Party members and supporters to pledge their support for their Party's Presidential ticket. One of the main reasons I'm proud to be an American is our ability to accept and embrace all walks of life. To this day, there are some who don't embrace this concept and choose to be homogenized with those like them. So, our struggles continue despite huge gains we've made in recent history. It hasn't been easy, and there are too many unnamed heroes who helped champion human rights (unions, Civil Rights, etc.). Barack Obama's convention in Denver is right around the corner. I was impressed to read about the 10 different Americans selected to join him backstage. They all have unique backgrounds, and it's encouraging to see how they truly believe, like myself, Barack is a transformational leader.
One woman is a self-described evangelical Christian who believed until now she is supposed to vote Republican. This time is different. She is engaged, she said, for the first time in politics and will vote for Barack. Another man comes from a small town in the South who strongly supported John McCain back in 2000. He is a veteran who connected with John, but John's recent adoptions of Bush's policies has him turning to Barack. These are just a couple examples of those who will be backstage, and it's people who aren't hardcore Democrats that simply tout the Party's beliefs -- they simply see a man who has the potential to lead this country back to prosperity.
Conventions are grand pep rallies. They're filled with unfettered postive enthusiasm, charisma, and opportunities for Party members and supporters to pledge their support for their Party's Presidential ticket. One of the main reasons I'm proud to be an American is our ability to accept and embrace all walks of life. To this day, there are some who don't embrace this concept and choose to be homogenized with those like them. So, our struggles continue despite huge gains we've made in recent history. It hasn't been easy, and there are too many unnamed heroes who helped champion human rights (unions, Civil Rights, etc.). Barack Obama's convention in Denver is right around the corner. I was impressed to read about the 10 different Americans selected to join him backstage. They all have unique backgrounds, and it's encouraging to see how they truly believe, like myself, Barack is a transformational leader.
One woman is a self-described evangelical Christian who believed until now she is supposed to vote Republican. This time is different. She is engaged, she said, for the first time in politics and will vote for Barack. Another man comes from a small town in the South who strongly supported John McCain back in 2000. He is a veteran who connected with John, but John's recent adoptions of Bush's policies has him turning to Barack. These are just a couple examples of those who will be backstage, and it's people who aren't hardcore Democrats that simply tout the Party's beliefs -- they simply see a man who has the potential to lead this country back to prosperity.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Bush to Costas: 'I don't see America as having any problems' and Madden '09 review
I love what my girlfriend's father said one time about George W. Bush, "There's dirt under every Bush." Combine that with Bush's recent stupefied interview he had with one of the all-time great sportscasters, Bob Costas, and it sums up the entire Bush administration. Ignore intelligence that could've very well thwarted al-Qaeda's attack -- no problem. Outing an undercover CIA agent, Valerie Plame -- no problem. Ignoring the 4th amendment for warrantless wiretapping and detaining suspects for an indefinite time -- no problem. Federal response to Hurricane Katrina -- Alan Chertoff is having dinner, don't disturb him. No problem. Invading a sovereign country who posed no imminent threat -- No problem. Record-high mortgage foreclosures, jobs shipped overseas, high unemployment, record-high gas prices -- No problem. Continuing to serve the best interests of the oil companies and military contractors -- priceless for the Bush administration.
A few nights ago after watching the Red Sox and heading home, I turned on Alan Colmes' radio show. He discussed Bush's interview at length and as usual hit home on some very good points. "Oh, I know what the Conservatives are going to say. You liberals, you want everything to go bad, so you can elect your left-wing, liberal extremists." He began listing the obvious like the Iraq War, economy, etc. He went on to say that it's simply the reality things aren't going well. Unfortunately, listening to his predominant Conservative callers, they won't be swayed by reason and continue using illogical, irrational innuendos to defend a Bush position dear to their hearts: "We're winning in Iraq." (what was the strategy the Bush administration had for winning the Iraq War? I can't count on both hands how many times their position changed.). Another one is cherry picking one Obama vote a few years ago that favored tax cuts to the oil companies. O.k. He expected another bill to come that would rescind those tax cuts from the original bill. That original bill also supported a comprehensive approach to alternative energy sources, so there.
I still haven't figured out how to do a blogroll on here yet, so I recommend you check out alancolmes.com and click on liberalland at the top of the screen. You'll find under his previous posts a nice pic of Bush staring at one of our American beach volleyball player's asses. It is a nice one, though. I agree with the President. Shocker. However, he's a married man who supposedly is a culture-valued Conservative. I guess the mainstream media, like they've done with John McCain's extramarital affair during his first marriage, will have to ignore Bush's silly shenanigans to cover John Edwards' over two-year-old affair. News flash: Edwards isn't running for office. McCain is.
Here is Bush's interview with Costas in its entirety. Also, notice in this interview how he subtly pimps out HIS religious belief AGAIN to drive home a point. Before the Madden review, congrats to Michael Phelps again. This guy is unbelievable. I've only been able to catch the U.S. playing Japan in women's volleyball and swimming thus far.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keN12U2coK8
The Madden '09 game for the Playstation 3 console exceeded my expectations. For one, the game speed is much smoother for this year's version. Online gamers last year experienced some lagging speed and on occasion, the game would nearly freeze up. Also, the designers did well this year to seemingly ensure cheat codes and glitches are kept to a bare minimum. A few plays last year were commonly used throughout a game. One main one was a wide receiver screen that would automatically have your defenders move away from the receiver and the screen immediately moves to an overhead shot of the field. It looks like that has been eliminated.
I only play this at a married friend's house who has two children about twice a month. So, it was nice timing we were able to do it yesterday when it was first released. My first game was played in the rain at Irving, Texas, home of the Dallas Cowboys. It was realistic. On three to four different plays, my receivers were wide open and simply dropped the ball. Then again, I was using the Tennessee Titans who aren't known for their receiving core.
Defense can dominate this game. If you're like me who mixes up the run with the pass, you'll find that running the football is difficult, especially up the middle. But, there is one nice new feature this year. You can direct your linemen to block to the direction you want to run off tackle or off guard.
Overall, the graphics have improved once again, plenty of plays to select on offense, and games that should be very close even from opponents who play every day opposed to the occasional player like me. I give this game an A+. Great job again Electronic Arts.
I love what my girlfriend's father said one time about George W. Bush, "There's dirt under every Bush." Combine that with Bush's recent stupefied interview he had with one of the all-time great sportscasters, Bob Costas, and it sums up the entire Bush administration. Ignore intelligence that could've very well thwarted al-Qaeda's attack -- no problem. Outing an undercover CIA agent, Valerie Plame -- no problem. Ignoring the 4th amendment for warrantless wiretapping and detaining suspects for an indefinite time -- no problem. Federal response to Hurricane Katrina -- Alan Chertoff is having dinner, don't disturb him. No problem. Invading a sovereign country who posed no imminent threat -- No problem. Record-high mortgage foreclosures, jobs shipped overseas, high unemployment, record-high gas prices -- No problem. Continuing to serve the best interests of the oil companies and military contractors -- priceless for the Bush administration.
A few nights ago after watching the Red Sox and heading home, I turned on Alan Colmes' radio show. He discussed Bush's interview at length and as usual hit home on some very good points. "Oh, I know what the Conservatives are going to say. You liberals, you want everything to go bad, so you can elect your left-wing, liberal extremists." He began listing the obvious like the Iraq War, economy, etc. He went on to say that it's simply the reality things aren't going well. Unfortunately, listening to his predominant Conservative callers, they won't be swayed by reason and continue using illogical, irrational innuendos to defend a Bush position dear to their hearts: "We're winning in Iraq." (what was the strategy the Bush administration had for winning the Iraq War? I can't count on both hands how many times their position changed.). Another one is cherry picking one Obama vote a few years ago that favored tax cuts to the oil companies. O.k. He expected another bill to come that would rescind those tax cuts from the original bill. That original bill also supported a comprehensive approach to alternative energy sources, so there.
I still haven't figured out how to do a blogroll on here yet, so I recommend you check out alancolmes.com and click on liberalland at the top of the screen. You'll find under his previous posts a nice pic of Bush staring at one of our American beach volleyball player's asses. It is a nice one, though. I agree with the President. Shocker. However, he's a married man who supposedly is a culture-valued Conservative. I guess the mainstream media, like they've done with John McCain's extramarital affair during his first marriage, will have to ignore Bush's silly shenanigans to cover John Edwards' over two-year-old affair. News flash: Edwards isn't running for office. McCain is.
Here is Bush's interview with Costas in its entirety. Also, notice in this interview how he subtly pimps out HIS religious belief AGAIN to drive home a point. Before the Madden review, congrats to Michael Phelps again. This guy is unbelievable. I've only been able to catch the U.S. playing Japan in women's volleyball and swimming thus far.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keN12U2coK8
The Madden '09 game for the Playstation 3 console exceeded my expectations. For one, the game speed is much smoother for this year's version. Online gamers last year experienced some lagging speed and on occasion, the game would nearly freeze up. Also, the designers did well this year to seemingly ensure cheat codes and glitches are kept to a bare minimum. A few plays last year were commonly used throughout a game. One main one was a wide receiver screen that would automatically have your defenders move away from the receiver and the screen immediately moves to an overhead shot of the field. It looks like that has been eliminated.
I only play this at a married friend's house who has two children about twice a month. So, it was nice timing we were able to do it yesterday when it was first released. My first game was played in the rain at Irving, Texas, home of the Dallas Cowboys. It was realistic. On three to four different plays, my receivers were wide open and simply dropped the ball. Then again, I was using the Tennessee Titans who aren't known for their receiving core.
Defense can dominate this game. If you're like me who mixes up the run with the pass, you'll find that running the football is difficult, especially up the middle. But, there is one nice new feature this year. You can direct your linemen to block to the direction you want to run off tackle or off guard.
Overall, the graphics have improved once again, plenty of plays to select on offense, and games that should be very close even from opponents who play every day opposed to the occasional player like me. I give this game an A+. Great job again Electronic Arts.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Rate Me
Every Friday, I want to do an interactive bit with all of you. This is the premier of rate me and it's quite simple. I'll provide a very scant description of a person, place, or thing that somewhat interests me and it's your job to do two things: 1.) Who, What, or where the hell am I talking about? 2.) Rate on a scale of 1-5 what you think of this person, place, or thing. At the end of this, I'll reveal who this is from a short YouTube clip.
This first one is based on a person. His name has been mentioned on the news recently. He starred in one of my favorite 80s series, Our House as Gus Witherspoon. There were two episodes that recently came to mind. First, Gus literally went ol' school in one episode and demanded his entire family avoid any modern technological device for a month. So, the kids had to take cold showers, couldn't watch MTV, listen to music on headphones, etc.
The second episode featured Gus and his neighbor, Joe "Jew" Kaplan. I'm not a bigot, but apparently Gus was in this one. While inside a pharmacy waiting to be checked out, Gus made an anti-semitic rant to Joe. Joe didn't take it very well. It was puzzling how they mended their differences at the end of this one. Gus never apologized for the comment, and Joe did something like help one of Gus' family members out of a conflict (Joe was known for that and coming over to the home for a fresh cup of coffee.) Who is this guy? Please rate.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXEi7wN-Qug
Every Friday, I want to do an interactive bit with all of you. This is the premier of rate me and it's quite simple. I'll provide a very scant description of a person, place, or thing that somewhat interests me and it's your job to do two things: 1.) Who, What, or where the hell am I talking about? 2.) Rate on a scale of 1-5 what you think of this person, place, or thing. At the end of this, I'll reveal who this is from a short YouTube clip.
This first one is based on a person. His name has been mentioned on the news recently. He starred in one of my favorite 80s series, Our House as Gus Witherspoon. There were two episodes that recently came to mind. First, Gus literally went ol' school in one episode and demanded his entire family avoid any modern technological device for a month. So, the kids had to take cold showers, couldn't watch MTV, listen to music on headphones, etc.
The second episode featured Gus and his neighbor, Joe "Jew" Kaplan. I'm not a bigot, but apparently Gus was in this one. While inside a pharmacy waiting to be checked out, Gus made an anti-semitic rant to Joe. Joe didn't take it very well. It was puzzling how they mended their differences at the end of this one. Gus never apologized for the comment, and Joe did something like help one of Gus' family members out of a conflict (Joe was known for that and coming over to the home for a fresh cup of coffee.) Who is this guy? Please rate.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXEi7wN-Qug
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Amazing story of one of nature's most revered and feared creatures
Thank you Robin (girlfriend) for forwarding these following videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvCjyWp3rEk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjWtRYaxmWM
Thank you Robin (girlfriend) for forwarding these following videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvCjyWp3rEk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjWtRYaxmWM
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Mrs. Buffalo Chip
One trip John McCain might actually remember is his recent visit to the Black Hills area of Sturgis, South Dakota. If any of you have seen Deliverance, many from this area have similar appearances to that creepy kid playing the banjo. About 50,000 bikers drove into town probably ready to raise some hell and drink some beer. At one point, McCain brought his Joker clone (wife) on stage to deliver a big announcement.
McCain said his wife could be the first woman to be the first lady and Mrs. Buffalo Chip. Hmm. So, if she wins this contest, we should call her Mrs. Buffalo Shit. That's what Buffalo Chip means. Women competing in this contest were shown topless and bottomless. Go Cindy, go. You go, girl. I'd love to see it. Not that Cindy is a sexy beast (well, beast might apply), but that plasticky appearance she has only entices the viewer to see what's underneathe. Is the skin shiny? Bubbly? McCain might forget about his positions on energy and the economy from the day before, but I'm sure this is one rendezvous he will retain for a long time.
One trip John McCain might actually remember is his recent visit to the Black Hills area of Sturgis, South Dakota. If any of you have seen Deliverance, many from this area have similar appearances to that creepy kid playing the banjo. About 50,000 bikers drove into town probably ready to raise some hell and drink some beer. At one point, McCain brought his Joker clone (wife) on stage to deliver a big announcement.
McCain said his wife could be the first woman to be the first lady and Mrs. Buffalo Chip. Hmm. So, if she wins this contest, we should call her Mrs. Buffalo Shit. That's what Buffalo Chip means. Women competing in this contest were shown topless and bottomless. Go Cindy, go. You go, girl. I'd love to see it. Not that Cindy is a sexy beast (well, beast might apply), but that plasticky appearance she has only entices the viewer to see what's underneathe. Is the skin shiny? Bubbly? McCain might forget about his positions on energy and the economy from the day before, but I'm sure this is one rendezvous he will retain for a long time.
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