Rear Window Ethics

WaPo: Fixing D.C.'s Schools

2007-11-09T08:57:00.000-05:00

I don't usually write about municipal issues in other cities, namely because I don't have as thorough an understanding of the problems facing cities other than the ones I have lived in. A recent series of stories in the Washington Post, however, grabbed me due both to their tragic nature, as well as their familiar-sounding themes.

Every American city has problems with accountability, and every American city has trouble with its education system. My hometown of New Haven has long had the stink of bureaucratic corruption. As the city's schools continue to suffer from budget cuts, worthless administrators, and a hapless superintendent, they are simultaneously being renovated and remodeled -- obscuring the problems within under nice, shiny new exteriors!

New Haven's problems, of course, pale when compared to those of Washington, D.C. The city has been long known for its suffering schools and neglected students. The school system itself has shrugged off countless reform attempts.

A series in the Washington Post illuminates some of the most eggregious and shameless corruption that I have heard of in a long time:

As Coolidge High slashed its budget for teachers and supplies in spring 2003, the struggling school received a welcome infusion of cash from one of its biggest benefactors. The AOL Time Warner Foundation sent a check for $50,000 to hire a technology expert who would ensure that students had working computers.

The money went into Coolidge's student activity account, which enabled school administrators to use it to stage a gospel fundraiser. Fewer than 50 people attended.

Coolidge has a history of losing charitable contributions.

Science teacher Terry Nostrand raised $20,610 from the Tony Hawk Foundation and Project Learning Tree in 2003 to build a skateboarding park at the high school. She deposited the money into the student activity fund. When she tried to retrieve the money the following year, she "kept getting one story after another," Nostrand recalled. "Runaround, runaround, runaround."

And if gambling $50k away on a fundraiser that raised no funds wasn't bad enough, the performers who were hired claim they didn't even get paid the $20k they were promised. So where did the money go? It seems the guy who had this ridiculous idea in the first place decided to run it by another of the system's gems.

Alston said he took his plan to Lorelle S. Dance, who at the time was a parent volunteer at Coolidge and the chairman of an advisory committee known as the Local School Restructuring Team. She worked as a business manager at six other District schools.

Dance was using her position at other schools to defraud the District. She falsified documents and directed hundreds of thousands of dollars in business to a contractor who sometimes performed no work and paid her kickbacks, according to court records. She eventually pleaded guilty to those crimes.

At Coolidge, Dance and Alston were the driving force behind the gospel concert.

That's pretty fucking awful. But it only gets worse. Here's another story of shameless greed coming out of the District's school system:

On May 21, 2004, Emerson Crawley ran up a $225 tab at one of the District's swankiest strip clubs.

Then he stuck schoolchildren with his bill. He turned in a reimbursement request to the school system describing his visit to Camelot Show Bar as a "school planning meeting."

Over two years, Crawley and his colleague William R. Jones billed more than $13,000 worth of expensive meals, drinks and entertainment to a student activity fund at Shaw Junior High School, audit records show.

Crawley and Jones work at DC Afterschool for All, a program that provides extra instruction and afternoon supervision for thousands of impoverished children at more than 80 schools. For years, program activities were funded by depositing federal grants and local money into student activity accounts at dozens of schools District-wide.

When auditors found the fraud, they recommended that the two men repay all the student activity money they spent. That seems fair, right?

But their new supervisor, Esther Monclova-Johnson, instead put Jones and Crawley on 90-day probation and initially required that they repay just the $518 spent on alcohol, records indicate. She devised a plan for them to work overtime to repay the money that was spent on food and entertainment.

"These guys are extremely talented, and the work that they give to the program is not worth them being dismissed over a practice that may have been approved . . . by past directors," Monclova-Johnson said. "They weren't doing anything that they felt was wrong at the time, but maybe it was."

Maybe. Maybe!? What the fuck is wrong with you!? It's one thing to let them keep their jobs, another to let them bullshit their debt in "overtime", but it's absolutely absurd that Ms. Monclova-Johnson can't even decide whether or not the practice of spending money for student activities on strippers and booze is fucking wrong!

Unbelievable.

Commercial Pilots Fall Asleep Mid-Flight!

2007-11-02T09:33:00.000-04:00

I can't figure out whether this makes me sympathetic to pilots unions -- given that the incident was due to a taxing schedule of four 8-hour red eye flights in a row, or whether it makes me pissed off at the pilots unions -- your job is to not fall asleep in a metal can going 600+ mph at 30,000+ feet, people!

Yahoo!

DENVER - Two commercial pilots allegedly fell asleep on a flight between Baltimore and Denver, with one pilot waking up to "frantic" calls from air traffic controllers warning them they were approaching the airport at twice the speed allowed.
"Last 45 mins of flt (flight) I fell asleep and so did the FO (first officer)," according to the narrative in the report.

The captain noted they were approaching a point where they were to begin their descent into Denver International Airport about 60 miles southeast of there at 35,000 feet, much higher than required, and at Mach .82, or 608 mph, instead of a required slower speed.

"I woke up, why I don't know, and heard frantic calls from ATC ... I answered ATC and abided by all instructions to get down. Woke FO (first officer) up."

He spiraled the jet down to a lower altitude as ordered, then landed "with no further incidents."

The pilot had been switched to three nights in a row of flying the overnight, eight-hour round trip.

TDS: Cupcakes are Killing our Kids!

2007-11-01T07:58:00.000-04:00

Rob Riggle explains why exploding rates of child obesity and diabetes can all be traced back to... cupcakes.

"Anti-freeze and cupcakes have a lot in common. They both taste great, they both have fun colors. One will kill you today, and the other will kill you years from now, but the end result is the same."

"4 out of 5 children chose to poison themselves with cupcakes instead of antifreeze..."

Westboro Baptist Church -- Pay UP, Bastards!

2007-10-31T20:50:00.000-04:00

All I can say is thank God someone stood up against these people. The only things more disgusting than their politics are their methods.

NYT

BALTIMORE (AP) -- The father of a fallen Marine was awarded nearly $11 million Wednesday in damages by a jury that found leaders of a fundamentalist church had invaded the family's privacy and inflicted emotional distress when they picketed the Marine's funeral.

For those of you not familiar with their philosophy and tactics, they're pretty easy to describe and pretty hard to understand.

Basically, they believe that "God Hates Fags". Okay.

Here's where it gets a little trickier. So "God Hates Fags", but because the US is so tolerant of homosexuality (you know, the US is SOOO tolerant, right?), God hates America, and shows His anger by allowing US soldiers to die in the Middle East.

Hmm, seems like a stretch. So if God were happy with our treatment of homosexuals, there would be no US casualties in a protracted, destructive, region-wide engagement?

But get this: Because "God Hates Fags" so much that He kills US soldiers to teach America a lesson, the Westboro Baptist Church picket the funerals of fallen soldiers -- right in front of their loved ones. Yep, they wave signs saying "Thank God for Fallen Soldiers".

So let's recap: The families of dead American soldiers need to be taught a lesson -- one beyond the tragic death of their loved one -- because America is too tolerant of homosexuals.

Seems logical enough, doesn't it?

So here's a big fuck you, Westboro Baptist Church. I hope you get served with as many of these lawsuits as funerals you disrupted with your awful, insane, and Godless ways.

World Series Champs 2007!

2007-10-30T08:04:00.000-04:00

In case you missed it, the Red Sox swept the Rockies on their way to their second world championship in four years.

Strange sounding, isn't it?

It was a great season, an amazing post-season, and a gratifying, all-hands-involved series. Guys who had been disappointing all season stepped up and played like October was a different universe. Lugo, Drew, even Kielty all played with renewed purpose, and supported the youngest members of the team who were the stars of the post-season.

I don't think there's anyone in this town who would say that this year could match the energy that exploded onto the streets after they won in 2004. The excitement was real as Papelbon threw that last pitch, but let's just say I didn't spend the next hour hugging, high-fiving and crying while on the phone.

That's not to say it was a let down in any way. This was a completely new feeling. It was an enjoyable feeling. It was all the excitement and gratification of a World Series victory without the years of pressure and anguish simultaneously rupturing out of your body. There's no comparison between 2004 and 2007, but I'm happy about this new era because the weight off of each moment has been lifted.

If that means that the Red Sox are now just another winning baseball team, then so be it. Sure, it changes a Red Sox fan's identity completely, but you know what? I'll gladly make the trade.

Oh... and of course, Wins Needed for Free Couch: 0, Baby!

Just 1 More Win, Sox!

2007-10-28T01:50:00.000-04:00

What a great night for the young guys! Pedroia and Ellsbury: 7/10 with 4 RBI. Round it out with another good night for Lowell, and the Sox are one game away from winning it all.

Boston's hitting in this series is so timely. Very different from the first half of the ALCS. There was a scary moment when Colorado came within one, but just in time we tacked on some insurance in the next frame.

Interesting pitching match up tomorrow between two players who have had to overcome serious health issues -- Lester's cancer and Cook's blood clot problems. A great (paraphrased) quote from Wakefield about not being on the WS roster and Lester's start tomorrow:

Things happen for a reason. Maybe it's John Lester's turn to shine.

Maybe.

Wins needed for free couch: 1 (!!!)

World Series Game 1

2007-10-25T10:28:00.001-04:00

That was just total domination. I know it was probably our best scenario -- what with Beckett as nasty as that and the hitters still locked in from last series -- but if we could get something like that even once more we'd be in great shape.

Granted, Colorado may have had some rust on their bats, but the way Beckett was throwing he could have silenced almost any offense in baseball.

That is not to say that I think this series will be a blow out. I'm quite wary of how the Sox will fare in Denver, with that huge outfield, NL rules, and the altitude. Winning tonight is very important, because I could see them dropping a few out West.

Could be Schilling's last game at Fenway tonight. Here's hoping he'll dig down and give a classic "Schilling in the spotlight" performance for posterity.

Wins needed for free couch: 3

White House Censored CDC Climate Change Testimony

2007-10-24T13:31:00.000-04:00

With everything the public knows about global warming, is this really necessary or effective?

WaPo:

Documents obtained by The Washington Post show that White House officials heavily edited testimony on global warming delivered to Congress yesterday by the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, downplaying the specific health problems that could arise.

Bush administration officials cut CDC director Julie L. Gerberding's testimony to the Senate Environment and Public Works committee on "climate change and public health" from 12 pages to six, removing sections that detailed how global warming would affect Americans and suggested the government has yet to fully respond to the potential risk posed by climate change.

Apparently the administration didn't want the testimony to include the fact that

"...the public health effects of climate change remain largely unaddressed. CDC considers climate change a serious public concern."

or that the Northern US

"...will likely bear the brunt of increases in ground-level ozone and associated airborne pollutants. Populations in mid-western and northeastern cities are expected to experience more heat-related illnesses as heat waves increase in frequency, severity and duration."

Also cut was the belief that

"...people of lower socioeconomic status are particularly vulnerable to extreme weather events [...] Members of racial and ethnic minority groups suffer particularly from air pollution as well as inadequate health care access, while athletes and those who work outdoors are more at risk from air pollution, heat and certain infectious diseases."

It's one thing for the administration to push back against attempts at climate control -- it is unconscionable, but not pathetic. But to try and obscure information from Congress and the American People, at a point in time when Nobel Prizes are awarded for awareness of global warming, is just too ridiculous.

Boston Community Boating Sail Season

2007-10-24T09:43:00.000-04:00

The end of this month marks the end of the Community Boating 2007 season. If you're new to Boston or just looking for something new and fun to do during next year's fair-weather months, do yourself a favor and go down for a free orientation to the program.

Sailing this past year was probably the best bargain activity I've ever found in the city. Unlimited sailing, seven days a week, April through October, all classes included... for $200. It's insane! You can't get a kind of deal like anywhere in Boston.

If you needed any further encouragement, the staff is almost all volunteer, everyone is incredibly nice, and your membership fee goes toward subsidizing their Boston youth program (where kids sail all summer for $1).

So go check it out, either before they close on 10/31, or when they open up in April.

Community Boating

Red Sox: ALCS Champs!

2007-10-22T00:39:00.000-04:00

What a series, what a game, what a ride. It's really eerie the way this post-season has mirrored 2004. A crushing sweep of the Angels in the ALDS. A rough stretch through the ALCS ending in a streak of wins to grab the series.

You can't say enough about Josh Beckett's performance in October. 3 Wins, 26Ks, 1.17 ERA, 0.61 WHIP. Ridiculous! His start in Game 5 absolutely turned the series. Clearly the MVP, even with Youkilis' outstanding work at the plate.

I'd like to take this time to thank everyone involved for the wonderful barrage of text messages I received between the hours of 11:01 and 11:37.

"Yes!"

"FUCK YEAH!"

"Make it Rain!"

"F Yeah!"

"Go Sox! World Series Here We Come!"

... and many more...

Wins Needed For Free Couch: 4

DonorsChoose: 3rd Graders Make Movie Magic

2007-10-20T12:27:00.000-04:00

DonorsChoose.org has been a recent phenomenon in the teaching world. Educators post a proposal for a project, or piece of classroom equipment that they need, and people just like you and me directly fund them. How simple!

It just so happens there's a Boston-area project near and dear to my heart that I'd like to promote: 3rd Grade Producers, Directors and Actors Make Movie Magic!

Take a look and see if you'd like to contribute toward the class's project. It's a good one!

A New GI Bill for a New Military

2007-10-18T10:58:00.000-04:00

When US troops came home from their WWII tours in Europe and the Pacific, they received something more than the thanks of a grateful nation. America's appreciation for its veterans was made tangible in the GI Bill -- a measure that not only rewarded returning soldiers, but also helped create what we today consider the "middle class".

The GI Bill provided money for tuition at any university or trade school program a veteran was accepted in, as well as funds for living expenses, books, and associated fees. Almost 10 million veterans used the GI Bill to advance their education, when previously only 5% of the country's population had earned college degrees before the war.

It's true that there were many more complicated reasons for enacting the GI Bill -- most notably to avoid over-saturating the post-war job market -- but those objectives can't take away from this list of accomplishments by GI Bill recipients:

14 Nobel Prize Winners
3 Supreme Court Justices
3 US Presidents
12 Pulitzer Prize Winners
230,000 teachers

The GI Bill did cost a substantial amount of money: $50 Billion (in today's dollars). The result, however, was actually a net gain in government revenue, as the increased earning of the new middle-class created $350 Billion in additional income tax dollars.

That was then.

In its current form, today's GI Bill pales in comparison. It pays active-duty veterans roughly $1,100 per month for 36 months. Anyone even remotely familiar with today's tuition costs knows that doesn't measure up. Military pay is better today, and members of the all-volunteer force receive an enlistment bonus, but it all boils down to this: We can do better.

Sen. Jim Webb, himself a veteran and former Navy secretary and whose son is currently serving, has proposed the most generous update of the GI Bill to date. The bill is stuck in committee and may remain there for the foreseeable future, but the members of our strained military deserve for it to see the light of day.

Some detractors of Webb's bill point out that making the transition from the military to higher education more accessible would impact re-enlistment rates. Regardless of that possibility, the men and women who return home from performing the duty asked of them by their country deserve options. They deserve opportunities. They deserve more than to be funneled back into service because its their only available course of action.

ALCS Freak Out!

2007-10-16T08:18:00.000-04:00

The baseball playoffs are a funny thing. One day you're riding high, confident as ever that your team might have dodged two Cy Young bullets, and a few hours later you're not sure if they'll win another game this season.

I don't think I'd recovered from Saturday's marathon loss to Cleveland -- even by the first pitch last night. Even if I had, however, last nights anemic offensive showing would have scared any confidence away.

So it comes down to this: Timmy Wakefield, whom I love, but who also hasn't pitched in almost a month. The bats need to wake up tonight, or we'll be down 3-1, and that's not good for anyone.

Craigslist Fun: M&M Wars

2007-10-14T19:30:00.000-04:00

My good friend Vanessa sent me this amazing craigslist post a while back:

Whenever I get a package of plain M&Ms, I make it my duty to continue
the strength and robustness of the candy as a species. To this end, I
hold M&M duels.

Taking two candies between my thumb and forefinger, I apply pressure,
squeezing them together until one of them cracks and splinters. That
is the "loser," and I eat the inferior one immediately. The winner
gets to go another round.

I have found that, in general, the brown and red M&Ms are tougher, and
the newer blue ones are genetically inferior. I have hypothesized that
the blue M&Ms as a race cannot survive long in the intense theater of
competition that is the modern candy and snack-food world.

Occasionally I will get a mutation, a candy that is misshapen, or
pointier, or flatter than the rest. Almost invariably this proves to
be a weakness, but on very rare occasions it gives the candy extra
strength. In this way, the species continues to adapt to its
environment.

When I reach the end of the pack, I am left with one M&M, the
strongest of the herd. Since it would make no sense to eat this one as
well, I pack it neatly in an envelope and send it to M&M Mars, A
Division of Mars, Inc., Hackettstown, NJ 17840-1503 U.S.A., along with
a 3x5 card reading, "Please use this M&M for breeding purposes."

This week they wrote back to thank me, and sent me a coupon for a free
1/2 pound bag of plain M&Ms. I consider this "grant money." I have set
aside the weekend for a grand tournament. From a field of hundreds, we
will discover the True Champion.

There can be only one.

YouTube Fun: Stacey Hedger's Star Wars

2007-10-11T21:35:00.000-04:00

Thanks to my friend Ed for sending this beauty along.

It's actually some kind of spectacular feat that she never manages to play a single not in tune the entire time...

TDS: Lewis Black on Congress

2007-10-10T21:09:00.000-04:00

MoveOn.org, Rush Limbaugh, flag pins -- these are the important things our elected representatives spend their time debating.

Lewis Black takes them to task:

CharlestownSingles.org

2007-10-10T17:05:00.001-04:00

Signs of the same quality and sketchiness as the "Sell Your House in 2 Days!" and "Lose 50 Pounds Fast!" placards have cropped up around the neighborhood. Their message?

SINGLE?
CharlestownSingles.org

I love the idea that dating websites with a larger sample size -- say America, or even Boston -- clearly weren't cutting it in Charlestown. How can you expect to find a partner on eHarmony who'll go to Old Sully's with you every night? You would probably never meet someone seriously into Youth Hockey leagues and scratch tickets on Match.com. No, somehow a 1 square mile neighborhood was too big for you to meet your Townie mate through conventional means.

So here's to you, CharlestownSingles.org! You're doing the most important job there is: Making sure Chucktown never loses its clannish, self-absorbed, introverted spirit.

Tufts to Repay Loans for Do-Gooders

2007-10-09T17:17:00.000-04:00

Jumbo says, "I'll give you straight cash, homie."

Boston Globe:

Tufts University is offering graduates an unusual deal: Take a job as a public school teacher or social worker, or work for any nonprofit, and the university will help pay off their college loans for years to come.
While some law and medical schools across the country have offered similar incentive programs, the effort at Tufts, a university that has long promoted public-service careers, is unprecedented. It marks the first time a university has extensively promoted relatively low-paying public service careers to undergraduates seeking bachelor's degrees in all majors.

Too late for me, sadly. You could have definitely classified my first few years of self-employment as not profiting me...

Paranoid Townie: Defend Old Ironsides!

2007-10-08T17:16:00.000-04:00

Went on the Charlestown online bulletin board today and found this gem. (All spellings are left as originally posted.):

Navy Yard Protection

Smebody better look at this computer. This is tshe t h ird messagae that I have been unable to finish whast I have had to say. I wlill send the major messge , which no doubt reached your office, to many of the Senators and Congresseen. It is past midight. I have to get some rest. At 91, my age catches up to me.

Why do they make it so difficult to write an e-mail. I got to a certain point and I could not write anymore. My message is extremely serious We are at war.Yet, I saw no semblance of any security, No Jersey barriers to stop suicide bombers. No armed military to down a terrorist should one or more enter the navy yard, and no apparent armed gunboats should terrorists ventusre into those waters to sink the Constitution What a victory that would be for the Anti-Americans all over the world.. Can you imagine the uproar in Muslim countries? It would be a significant blow to the American spche.I have a feeling Osama Ben Ladin may signal terrorists in America to sssts

Yep, I'm sure Osama's #1 target is a relic of the War of 1812 that gets tugged out into the harbor once a year to shoot off cannons, like the naval equivalent of an old guy in a Viagra commercial.

Not sure what 'spche' is (psyche?), but I'm pretty sure the only people that know Old Ironsides exists here are history buffs and Bostonians.

On to the ALCS...

2007-10-07T19:13:00.000-04:00

Great ALDS for the Sox. Game 2 was probably the best baseball game I've ever been to. Manny killed that ball! Top it all off with the fact that Beckett and Schilling were top notch, and that the bullpen was able to rescue a very mediocre start by Dice-K, and I'm feeling very good.

Indians or Yankees? To be honest, I don't think the Yanks will pull this one out. It's for the best, because I don't have the energy for another epic, 7-game series with each game lasting until the wee hours of the morning. Those weeks are absolutely draining, to the extent that whatever emotions come from the end result are wildly out of control. (Hopeless Despair = '03, Amazed Freak Out = '04).

That's not to say that the Sox are easy favorites to win ~~me a free couch~~ it all. Cleveland has pitched really well and played hard baseball. Even if we were able to beat them, we could face Colorado -- the hottest team in baseball -- in the World Series.

Games to win for a World Championship and Free Couch: 8

GI to Her Familiy: Ask Many Questions if I Die

2007-10-05T14:20:00.000-04:00

This has been somewhat of an underground story in Boston, but I'm glad that it's starting to make waves on the national stage.

Spc. Ciara Burkin was found dead by a single gunshot to the head last week at the Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan. Because she was killed inside a secure base, and because she was part of a finance unit, the circumstances surrounding her death are quite suspect. If that wasn't enough, she told her family while on leave last month:

"I discovered some things I don’t like and I made some enemies because of it [...] If anything happens to me, you guys make sure it gets investigated.’’

Understandably, her family wants a full investigation into any event that may have lead to her death. They have enlisted Massachusetts Senators John Kerry and Ted Kennedy. Kerry recently submitted a letter to Sec. Def. Gates containing the following questions, which the family has asked:

-Why had the family not gotten a response to its request for an independent autopsy?

-Why did the family not receive the results of the Army’s autopsy when it was told it would?

-Why had the Army not made Durkin’s will and other paperwork available to the family so they could plan her funeral?

It isn't right to speculate or fly off into conspiracy theories. It is, however, important to keep this story in the forefront of the often amnesic Media's mind.

The Patriot Ledger

Red Sox Fan Beaten in New York

2007-10-05T09:24:00.000-04:00

Boston Globe:

BOSTON --A Quincy man is nursing multiple facial fractures after a group of men who had earlier asked him if he was a Red Sox fan went on to attack him in New York.
Police in Yonkers say two men from Pennsylvania were arrested and charged with second-degree felony assault.

Wait a minute... two guys from Pennsylvania?! What the hell do they care about the Red Sox/Yankees rivalry? This seems fishy...

He was watching a Red Sox-Angels playoff game with colleagues at a bar when another patron asked them if they had pride in Boston.
That man was later joined by two other people who approached the construction workers from behind as they left the bar.
Police said they attacked Ortez after he parted ways with two colleagues. The assailants fled after the two returned to help him on witnessing the assault.

Hmm... still doesn't make any sense. The Yankees hadn't even played their game against Cleveland at that point. Wait a minute... I know what it is! Philly fans! The worst fans in sports! Think about the timeline:

6:15pm - The Phillies lose to Colorado in Game 1 of their series.
6:20pm - Notoriously angry Philly fans are pissed.
6:30pm - Red Sox game starts, beginning a beautiful shutout by Beckett
6:31pm - I'm enjoying the game at Fenway Park (just had to throw that in there. Going tonight too.)
?:?? - Philly fans decide to take out their anger on nearest sports fan enjoying a team that is winning.
10/4/07 - Newspapers immediately suspect NY/Boston rivalry as the source of the conflict, without using their brains to deduce what I just did.
10/5/07 - I gloat about deducing what they didn't, and in doing so, totally draw my own ridiculous conclusions based on 3 paragraphs of information.
8:30pm - I go to the game at Fenway tonight (told you, I can't help myself).

Daily Show: Starting Kids Young (In Partisan Politics)

2007-10-04T10:04:00.000-04:00

It's not a secret that I hate parents indoctrinating their children into partisan politics, especially doing it years before they can even comprehend the concept. Jocelyn teaches at a school where kids, in a "guess the famous person" game that included George W. Bush, shouted clues of "We all hate him!!!"

The Daily Show took on the new trend of political children's books.

"Who wants to be segregated by constraining sense of pre-defined political beliefs?"

Kids: "Meeee!"

Myanmar Update: Nighttime Roundups

2007-10-04T09:34:00.000-04:00

More troubling news from Burma. Violent crackdowns and death, intimidation of reporters, full internet blackout, and now this:

Myanmar's junta stepped up its campaign to intimidate citizens Wednesday, sending troops to drag people from their homes in the middle of the night and letting others know they were marked for retribution.

"We have photographs! We are going to make arrests!" soldiers yelled from loudspeakers on military vehicles that patrolled the streets in Yangon, Myanmar's biggest city.

Link

One of the overnight arrests targeted a U.N. worker and her family. Protest groups have estimated that over 6,000 people have been detained since the uprising began.

Craigslist Fun: New York Dating and Marriage

2007-10-03T17:06:00.000-04:00

Another fabulous find by my friend Vanessa. This episode: A 25 year old New Yorker looks for love... and money.

Original Post:

What am I doing wrong?

Okay, I'm tired of beating around the bush. I'm a beautiful
(spectacularly beautiful) 25 year old girl. I'm articulate and classy.
I'm not from New York . I'm looking to get married to a guy who makes at
least half a million a year. I know how that sounds, but keep in mind
that a million a year is middle class in New York City, so I don't think
I'm overreaching at all.

Are there any guys who make 500K or more on this board? Any wives? Could
you send me some tips? I dated a business man who makes average around
200 - 250. But that's where I seem to hit a roadblock. 250,000 won't get
me to central park west. I know a woman in my yoga class who was married
to an investment banker and lives in Tribeca, and she's not as pretty as
I am, nor is she a great genius. So what is she doing right? How do I
get to her level?

Here are my questions specifically:

- Where do you single rich men hang out? Give me specifics- bars,
restaurants, gyms

-What are you looking for in a mate? Be honest guys, you won't hurt my
feelings

-Is there an age range I should be targeting (I'm 25)?

- Why are some of the women living lavish lifestyles on the upper east
side so plain? I've seen really 'plain jane' boring types who have
nothing to offer married to incredibly wealthy guys. I've seen drop dead
gorgeous girls in singles bars in the east village. What's the story
there?

- Jobs I should look out for? Everyone knows - lawyer, investment
banker, doctor. How much do those guys really make? And where do they
hang out? Where do the hedge fund guys hang out?

- How you decide marriage vs. just a girlfriend? I am looking for
MARRIAGE ONLY

Please hold your insults - I'm putting myself out there in an honest
way. Most beautiful women are superficial; at least I'm being up front
about it. I wouldn't be searching for these kind of guys if I wasn't
able to match them - in looks, culture, sophistication, and keeping a
nice home and hearth.

it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial
interests

The Response:

Dear Pers-431649184:

I read your posting with great interest and have thought meaningfully
about your dilemma. I offer the following analysis of your predicament.
Firstly, I'm not wasting your time, I qualify as a guy who fits your
bill; that is I make more than $500K per year. That said here's how I
see it.

Your offer, from the prospective of a guy like me, is plain and simple a
crappy business deal. Here's why. Cutting through all the B.S., what you
suggest is a simple trade: you bring your looks to the party and I bring
my money. Fine, simple. But here's the rub, your looks will fade and my
money will likely continue into perpetuity...in fact, it is very likely
that my income increases but it is an absolute certainty that you won't
be getting any more beautiful!

So, in economic terms you are a depreciating asset and I am an earning
asset. Not only are you a depreciating asset, your depreciation
accelerates! Let me explain, you're 25 now and will likely stay pretty
hot for the next 5 years, but less so each year. Then the fade begins in
earnest. By 35 stick a fork in you!

So in Wall Street terms, we would call you a trading position, not a buy
and hold...hence the rub...marriage. It doesn't make good business sense
to "buy you" (which is what you're asking) so I'd rather lease. In case
you think I'm being cruel, I would say the following. If my money were
to go away, so would you, so when your beauty fades I need an out. It's
as simple as that. So a deal that makes sense is dating, not marriage.

Separately, I was taught early in my career about efficient markets. So,
I wonder why a girl as "articulate, classy and spectacularly beautiful"
as you has been unable to find your sugar daddy. I find it hard to
believe that if you are as gorgeous as you say you are that the $500K
hasn't found you, if not only for a tryout.

By the way, you could always find a way to make your own money and then
we wouldn't need to have this difficult conversation.

With all that said, I must say you're going about it the right way.
Classic "pump and dump."
I hope this is helpful, and if you want to enter into some sort of
lease, let me know.

Iran? Are They Serious?

2007-10-02T18:29:00.000-04:00

I'll be writing a more thorough series of posts about Bill Richardson in the next weeks, but his recent remarks on the administration's PR ramp-up toward Iran gave me good blog fodder.

Last week the Senate overwhelmingly passed a resolution that stated the Senate should be prepared to use military force against Iran in response to their actions in Iraq. (This after they deemed a bill giving soldiers more time at home... to not support the troops.)

Meanwhile, President Ahmadinejad's visit to New York provided an opportunity for every maniac to express a level of hyperbolic outrage that could only aid the US and Iranian administrations in their hard-line politics.

Bill Richardson responded to the sudden escalation of rhetoric on Face The Nation:

"I believe it would be enormously unwise for the Bush administration to start
another war before ending this tragic war we're in today and it does sound
like the administration is ramping up. You can just see it.

"Once again the administration seems to be preparing the American people for a ramp-up in action, and it would be, I believe, another disastrous foreign policy decision.

"Calling them names, labeling them terrorists, drawing up military options is just making the situation worse and inflaming the Muslim world"

Seems pretty reasonable to me, considering Ahmadinejad's public statements are just base-stirring politics. As Richardson points out, 40% of the vote in Iran's latest presidential election went to a moderate candidate.

Oh, and for those of you keeping score, frontrunner Hillary was the only candidate in the Senate to vote for the aggressive resolution...

Wetshaving

2007-09-30T22:00:00.000-04:00

After a gift of some basic equipment a few months ago, I decided to explore the world of traditional wet shaving. True, I've been "wet shaving" in some form or fashion since 13, but I've recently learned that there's much more to the experience than canned gel and Gillette's latest multi-blade razor.

First off, shaving for me has always been a fight. Razor bumps, razor burn, ingrown hairs and more. Since 13 I hadn't gone a day without dealing with one or more of those problems. This led to fewer shaves, longer beard growth, and general shagginess. Fortunately my job doesn't require a clean cut shave every day, but when you're 5 years out of college you want to keep from looking like a disheveled undergrad.

I won't go into specifics or tutorials -- other sites have done that much better than I could -- but I will list some basic equipment that can make your shaving much more enjoyable and leave your face much less irritated. In fact, I actually enjoy shaving now. What!?

Badger Hair Shaving Brush. This little guy is probably the best tool you can add to your arsenal for an immediate improvement. It gets rid of dead skin, and makes sure the shaving cream gets into and under your whiskers.
Shaving Cream/Soap. No, not aerosol gel. No canned goop. Good, old-fashioned shaving cream (or soap) will help the razor glide across the face instead of halting at every tough patch. Your brush will whip up a slick lather that is more than enough for a few passes of the blade. Yes, the good creams and soaps are more expensive, but a tub or a puck of soap will last for months and months.
Old Timey Double-Edged Safety Razor. Here's where it gets serious. You can take those first two items above and drastically improve your shave while sticking with your current razor. Or you can go the extra mile and use a razor like your grandfather and his father and before used. It's not scary light a straight razor (the word safety is in the title), but it does have a learning curve. The single blade will irritate your skin far less than multiple blades, which rip hair up and out of your face instead of slicing it. The initial investment is higher than today's razors, but here's the catch: replacement blades run $0.10-0.50 a pop. Compare that to Quad and Quintuple blade systems that cost about $5.00 per cartridge. For me that's about 40 weeks of shaves for the price of one Fusion replacement package.

There are great resources online, such as:

Guide to Gourmet Shaving

Getting the Perfect Shave

Wet shaving Youtube Tutorials

Shaveblog.com

Still not convinced? How about the fact that your tub of cream and single razor blades are much more environmentally friendly than aerosol cans and uber-packaged cartridges? Or the fact that traditional wet shaving can make you more like Cary Grant and Humphrey Bogart? (Maybe).

So go ahead and try shaving the way it was done by generations of men across the world, for over a hundred years. More and more guys are finding out that the old way just might be the best way.

Red Sox Win Division

2007-09-29T10:58:00.000-04:00

12 years ago I was at the height of teenage awkwardness, the OJ trial was in full swing, Ripken broke the record, and the Red Sox won the Division.

Today, I'm fairly confident, OJ is back in the news, Cal Ripken is a US envoy to China (???), and the Red Sox won the Division again.

I would like to say here and now that my rooting interests in the Red Sox are 90% pure and good, and 10% about my desire to get my recently purchased couch for free.

Onto the ALDS! Mamma needs a free couch!

One Last Time

2007-09-28T18:21:00.001-04:00

According to the logs here, it's been almost a year since my last post. Bad Travis.

So here we go. I'm going to give RWE one last jumpstart in the hopes that I'll again have something (moderately) meaningful to say. I'm going to make a concerted effort to write often for the next month or so. I may stick with it after that, or I may decide that this was an effort whose time has passed. I guess we'll find out.

Now the real question. Which will happen first?

A) RWE Blog finally bites it.
or
B) Powerbook finally gives up the ghost, giving me 3rd degree CPU burns.

Maroon Death

2006-07-24T18:39:00.000-04:00

So Joc and I are in a parking lot, driving across one of those central parking lot lanes as the nearest car traveling in it is about 200 yds away. Suddenly we realize he is going at least 45 mph in the parking lot, and by the time we're in the middle of the lane he's coming up on us pretty quickly. I get a little flustered and my finger falls away from the scan button on the radio, leaving Maroon 5's "She Will Be Loved" on in a moment of panic.

And as the tank-sized SUV barrels down upon us, driver with a cell phone to his ear, the thought that flashed through my mind was only "I can't die with Maroon 5 on... I can't..."

Luckily we didn't, because Joc hit the gas hard and got us out of the way. I then changed the radio station as fast as I could, just in case it was like a Final Destination moment and something like a huge Maroon 5 Billboard might have come crashing through the windshield cutting my torso in half while the song was still playing.

In other news, after 2 fucking hours at the RMV I am now a licensed Masshole, as is Jocelyn. Pissah.

Filthy Pigs!

2006-06-21T14:51:00.000-04:00

WOW! I saw this sign today about a block away from the (soon-to-be old) apartment. And I thought I was angry about the neighborhood in general. These people are fucking livid. I particularly love that the lines "filthy pigs" are highlighted and underlined. Thanks, we get your point, Mamma Furioso. Oh, and you might want to talk to your son and his friends who leave raw meat in the middle of the street and throw their pizza crusts on the ground every day.

You're cool for now, though, Mamma. I don't think discarded scratch tickets and cigarette butts get rats too excited.

Apartment Updates:

2006-06-15T00:59:00.000-04:00

Carpet: cut the hell up and out
Mildew: still here, but retreating like a bitch
Landlord: remains unimpressed by the situation
Landlord's "guys": good dudes who finally gave in to our demands of carpet cutting
Anger: severely diminished

The Blog Strikes Back (or How I Got So Angry that I Returned to a Once Forgotten Venting Location)

2006-06-12T22:54:00.000-04:00

Quick back story so I can get to the ranting section of this post:

Apartment leakage happened on a small scale about 8 months ago, landlord was called, no one found the leak.

Freak rain storm last week dumped at least 80 gallons of water through a much larger leak in the same location, destroying most of the wood and staining the ceiling, not to mention soaking roughly 36 square feet of carpet. Landlord was called, no response.

Ranting Section:

For real, what landlord gets a voicemail on Wednesday night with the message:

"Hey, landlord, there's some pretty bad leakage coming in from the ridiculous three-day-long rainstorm and the carpet is getting wet and we're using 6 large Pyrex containers to bail water every 5 minutes to keep it from getting worse," then receives subsequent messages over the next 48 hours with worse and worse news, and doesn't get back to ANYONE!?!?

I ended up talking with him on Saturday and he explained that he wouldn't be able to get his "guys" over to look at it until Monday. Fine, I was lucky enough to stay on an air mattress in my new (and very empty) apartment for free. [Thanks, new (and clearly humane) landlord!]

So the "guys" came today, put some big ass fans and heaters under the carpet to dry up the 6 day-old moisture and mildew, and the apartment smells like absolute shit. (The fans are actually blowing the air toward our as yet unaffected bedrooms.) They looked and looked at the brutally water-damaged ceiling and somehow couldn't find a leak area anywhere... WOW, these guys are clearly pros.

They're coming again tomorrow to "try and get rid of the smell". Great. Except that I just read a bunch of EPA/FEMA websites that explicitly state the following:

Any and all wet carpet and rug areas must be dried out within 24-48 hours of the flooding.
If you don't do that, mildew inevitably forms on the roots of the carpet, pretty much forever.
Mold and mildew are generally terrible for your health. Effects range from simple allergies and headaches to serious respiratory problems and even possible infection.
The best you can do once you completely botch the first step (hey, that's us!) is to take a professional HEPA vacuum and suck up all the mold and mildew, then professionally steam clean the carpet with a disinfecting agent and/or a bleach solution.
This last solution isn't even guaranteed to fix the problem. (Yay!)

Bear in mind, these are the guys who can't find a leak in the apartment that dumped about 80+ gallons of water in 24 hours. I'm not optimistic. I haven't met them yet, but I'm guessing they're pretty much Bill & Ted meets Mario & Luigi.

I've been too patient about this, and way too understanding so far. I have never asked for anything from the Landlord (except for the dog thing, which we anted up lots of $$$ for) and now I have one simple request:

Dear Landlord,

Please don't try to be cute about this shit and pretend like sending your "guys" over to dry and Febreeze® the carpet is going to make this all better. I don't ask for much, but what I would really love for the remaining 15 days in which I will be eking along in this slowly imploding shit hole that we pay f $1400 a month for is to be able to
FUCKING BREATHE WITHOUT GETTING LIGHT-HEADED AND CONGESTED.

If you or your "guys" try to bullshit your way out of this things are going to get a lot worse here, and I seriously won't stop to think about taking a large utility knife and cutting the whole festering shit-stained section out. And if you even think about charging our security deposit for that, I will seriously punch you in the face before going to the EPA.

Sincerely,

One former sucker

Netflix Landmark!

2006-02-06T13:54:00.000-05:00

I have just rated my 1001st movie on the Netflix database. Yes, it is indeed a tremendous accomplishment in my life, ranking right up there with graduating from college, running my own business for 3 years, and finally learning to make the perfect omelette (thanks Calphalon!)

A few people I'd like to thank:

BJ but especially Nish, for helping me plow through the Netflix queue in the early years, and for allowing me to bestow so many 1- and 2-star ratings to all their Final Destinations, Leagues of Extraordinary Gentlemen, AVPs, and of course Soul Planes.

Jocelyn, for giving me a great excuse and a blame patsy for renting such films as Love Actually and Spanglish, not to mention flicks like 13 Going on 30, The Notebook, and Bend It Like Beckham. ***I would also like to mention that I am by no means saying these movies are bad, because 1) Many aren't bad, and 2) If I did say that about a few, I'd be in trouble. One I am in fact legitimately indebted to her for.

My sister Phoebe, for taking our family to some of the worst movies ever when she was younger. Those mid-90s Romantic Comedies were good for countless 1-star ratings. She's gotten a lot better taste since she got her braces off (like 10 years ago).

Rachel and Ed, because I never would have been able (or willing) to rate an instructional Yoga DVD without them. That 1001st one is all you guys.

And of course, to television, for sucking so badly for so long -- especially in the pre-DVR years -- that I could actually watch 3 movies a week for over a year.

Lastly, I'd like to thank Netflix. Only Netflix's DVD queue can store ridiculous amounts of movies at once, and (most importantly) instill a sense of accomplishment and productivity to watching movies. I mean, they're movies! But somehow they figured out that, despite being a poor, pathetically self-employed, out of shape, lazy, lazy man, I could convince myself I was doing something important by mowing down a 500+ movie queue one by one.

If Santa can fit down a chimney...

2006-01-03T15:21:00.000-05:00

Someone was pretty much all done with the holidays when they passed by the 7-11 down on the corner. Can't you just hear them as they stuffed the trunk of the tree into the can?

"Yep. I'm done." [sound of them wiping their hands in satisfaction as they continue down the street]

Craigslist Fun: Boston MBTA Rant

2006-01-02T19:45:00.000-05:00

For any of you familiar with the good old T here in Boston, this anonymous craigslist rant will ring horribly true.

It's one thing to be shuttled around the city in aging, sputtering cars -- some of which are squeaking their way through the oldest subway tunnels in America -- but the insanity that happens aboard the trains is quite another.

So enjoy the rant, and remember: As bad as it is, at least you don't have to park your car once you get where you're going.

Classic Moments on the T

Maybe there is justice...

2005-12-14T10:50:00.000-05:00

Not a lot. Just enough to bring a great show back on the air. Although it is worrisome that on Showtime it would lose some of the cleverness born out of the FCC's constraints over broadcast.

Either way, the sun hasn't set on Arrested Development quite yet.

Link

Holiday Pops

2005-12-13T16:38:00.000-05:00

I had my first experience with the holiday variety of the Boston Pops over the weekend, and it is an understatement to describe it as a frenzied assault of Christmas insanity.

Holiday Pops is a necessary evil that accompanies the opportunity to sing with the Boston Symphony Orchestra on actual pieces of real music. You want to sing Stravinsky, Beethoven, Mozart and Mahler? Then you have to sing the Pops' "Sleigh Ride" 15 times, and put on Santa hats while swaying on stage to the Christmas Sing-a-long.

What's amazing about the whole affair is the frenzy the audience is whipped into over the course of an evening. They start off dressed in their nice little Christmas sweaters, sitting at their tables ordering a drink or two.

Then the insanity begins as inane arrangements of Christmas song after Christmas song (with repeats!) are blared into their faces by a stage full of musicians who could not look less excited. After a few more rounds of drinks, the audience reaches intermission, hungry for more...

After another few rounds of drinks, another 20 minutes of crappy music, and prodding from an overly enthusiastic conductor, Santa walks in mid-song. Symphony hall experiences a collective climax of screaming, flailing and pawing at ol' St. Nick. Even certain members of the chorus (who shall remain nameless) can't refrain from waving at Santa as he enters.

After Santa leaves, the entire audience is easily convinced to join in the sing-a-long as the conductor takes a wireless mic out into the crowd to be mauled by drunken women shrieking the chorus of "Jingle Bells". And once the sing-a-long is over and the audience has raucously demanded an encore or two, they finally walk out of Symphony Hall onto Mass Ave, strung out and wasted.

So there you have it. I just saved you between $50 and $200 by summarizing an experience at the Boston Holiday Pops complete with helpful visual aids.

An early Christmas from me to you!

The Bitch Is Back

2005-12-13T03:11:00.000-05:00

For some reason I've been absent from these pages for a while. Some say it's the monotony caused by the never-ending ridiculousness going on these days (read: The "War on Christmas" frenzy, endless Alito business, & The White House doing their thing). Still others claim that I've lost my edge, that I don't have the same kind of lateral movement in the open field, or that I've lost something off my fastball. I, however, prefer to go with the simplest route:

I'm fucking lazy.

Sure I've been busy here and there with various projects, trips to New Haven, working actual 8 hour days even. But the long and short of it is that I just stopped having anything to say that was even mildly serious for a good while.

But, as the title so states, the bitch is back. Hopefully.

So to tide you over if I never return again, here's a lovely bit from craigslist that I found:

Things you do for your dog when you love her

Civil Discourse

2005-10-18T15:05:00.000-04:00

As I walked down the street this afternoon in front of a local Catholic church, a man stopped me and asked me, "are you registered to vote in Massachusetts?"

"Yes," I replied.

"Would you like to sign a petition to add a referendum to the ballot next year that defines 'marriage' as a union between a man and a woman only?"

"No, sorry. I don't agree with that," I told him.

"Alright. Have a nice day," the man said as he turned away.

And it was that moment today that made me feel better about people. Sometimes I become convinced that people are all pretty much horrible. When my neighbors tell their kids not to apologize for bumping into the elderly, or when those same elderly people lean out of their windows, scowling at me, it can build up. Anyway, I much prefer today's encounter to this:

Civility. Civility...

Katrina's Truths

2005-09-06T10:15:00.000-04:00

James Carroll had a spectacular op-ed in yesterday's Boston Globe which pretty much covers the bases on what this nation and this world has witnessed in the past week. It may be a bit melodramatic in places, but these are fairly dramatic times and it is impossible to suppress emotion when reflecting on the recent failings of our government -- failings which doomed many people to death simply because our leaders didn't think about people without SUVs and money for emergency airfare.

In the last week the world saw behind the curtain of the most powerful country in the world, and what we saw was misery. We saw political leaders either still on vacation, or at least acting like it -- promising help in the future for people who needed it days before. We heard our fellow citizens referred to as refugees. We witnessed shot after shot from helicopter cameras of survivors stranded atop rooftops the as water climbed toward them, and then astoundingly saw the same scenes days later with little or no change.

If it all wasn't so tragic, if the toll of this debacle was not counted in thousands upon thousands of lives lost, I imagine we as a country might just close the curtain and go about our rebuilding in private. Unfortunately, the outcome is that tragic, and people all over the world saw it happen here as our government was exposed as incapable of aiding its own citizens. We saw the most powerful nation on the earth -- an international leader -- with no real power or leadership at all.

Here is the op-ed:

Katrina's Truths
by James Carroll
Boston Globe - 9/5/05

LABOR DAY is the true American New Year's, the day of fresh beginnings -- and this year it's just in time. The broader culture takes its cue from school children, who leave the house this week believing in possibility itself. We, their parents and grandparents, need the reminder that change for the better is the business of human life. Change for the worse, alas, has been the rule of the season past, which is why the time is ripe for something new.

Hurricane Katrina was more than a natural disaster. It was a political epiphany, laying bare difficult truths from which, mainly, the United States has been in flight. Most obviously, the flooding of the cities and towns along the Gulf Coast has pulled a curtain back on a huge population of desperately impoverished people. The ''other" America, as Michael Harrington called it a generation ago, has shown itself as hardly ever before. The wealthiest nation on earth has its hidden legion of have-nots, and all at once the rest of us saw them. The scandal of rank poverty was exposed, and if beholding it was like seeing something indecent, that's because such poverty in this nation is exactly that -- indecent.

At the same time, the abstraction of ''poverty" has been made concrete. Face after anguished face appeared on television to tell us, This is what it is like to live with absolutely no margin of safety or comfort. There was dignity in those faces, at times nobility. Mostly, though, there was pain. Diabetics without insulin, babies without diapers, evacuees with no mode of transport, urban hospital workers entirely without backup. America has its river of refugees now, tens of thousands of people who, herded into sports palaces-turned-charnel-houses, are alike in having nothing to return to.

The spectacle of failure, how for days the government was powerless to help such people, only put on display how government was already failing them and everyone else. Here was Katrina's second main epiphany -- what it means that the United States, after a generation of tax-cutting and downsizing, has eviscerated the public sector's capacity for supporting the common good. The neglect of civic infrastructure, the destruction of social services, the abandonment of the safety net, the myth of ''privatization," the perverse idea, dating to the Reagan era, that government is the enemy: It all adds up to what we saw last week -- government not as the enemy, but as the incompetent, impotent bystander. The bystander-in-chief, of course, is George W. Bush, whose whining self-obsession perfectly embodies what America has done to itself.

One cannot see the devastated cities or that river of refugees or those harried National Guard soldiers without seeing something even more disturbing -- Katrina's third epiphany. This is what war looks like, and the harsh reality is that the United States has been the source of exactly such devastation elsewhere. Obliterated cities, populations pushed into refugee camps, young American soldiers overwhelmed by the impossibility of their mission -- this is Iraq today. Oil is part of the Gulf Coast story and part of Iraq's story, too. We are at war for oil, a war we cannot win. Four dollar gasoline. The truth is crashing over us, a tsunami of it.

Assessed only in terms of US casualties, last month was the most violent of the year in Iraq, even as the Iraqi political system hit the wall of the failed constitutional process. The American political system, meanwhile, remains in moral lockdown, with Democrats every bit as feckless as Republicans, leaving the urgent public debate about the war to the heartbroken parents of dead GIs.

Labor Day marks the turn of the season, with its promise of change. Epiphanies abound, however, and the promise has become a demand. Cruelties of our own making have crashed through the levies of complacency and denial. If our children believe in possibility this week, who are we to shrug? Change for the better begins by reckoning with the worst, which Katrina helped us do. A bystander nation must reclaim itself, accepting responsibility for the unnecessary impoverishment of millions, accepting responsibility for an unjust war.

Today, the biennial American political season also begins, aiming at next year's elections. The issues are as clear as water in the streets, as blood in the gutters. Even as candidates seek to avoid those issues, citizens must force them. The role of government. Taxation not as a bane, but as the ground of commonwealth. The overdue end of poverty in America. The cry for peace. Peace.

Olbermann

2005-09-06T09:53:00.000-04:00

If the Boston Globe op-ed resonated within you, you might want to read Keith Olbermann's commentary from last night's Countdown.

Louisiana is a city...

Yoga

2005-08-28T11:32:00.000-04:00

I never thought I'd ever really do yoga. I went to one class once in college, and they turned the heat up so high that I thought I was going to puke sweat before it was over. I sweat when it's hot, and turning up the heat just to make stretching better has absolutely no appeal to me.

Besides, after years of training my body to be powerful and strong for football, after squatting and bench pressing hundreds of pounds at a time, the whole thing seemed a little lightweight for me.

Fast forward a few years...

I'm out of shape, not as strong anymore, and still fairly inflexible thanks to years of plyometrics, bench presses and power cleans. After loading up so much strength and weight onto my arms and shoulders, my back hurts every morning when I wake up, and many nights as I go to sleep. My posture is bad, and my middle back only stops hurting when I distract myself with something else.

My friend Ed (another former lineman) told me how his back had been feeling so much better thanks to the yoga practice he had been doing. So I finally tried it for real, 5 days a week for the past 2 weeks, and my back is sore but feeling better. Sore from stretching and strengthening, not sore from bad posture and disproportional weight. I still wake up stiff every morning, but after 45 minutes of my usual dvd routine and some additional stretching, my back feels elongated and relaxed.

Not to mention the fact that Baron Baptiste's Power Yoga is no fucking joke. It's as good a workout as I ever got in college during those hellish "speed school" sprinting, agility and plyometric workouts. My arms feel about as tired after my routine as they did on any normal lifting day, but since I'm not power lifting they're not bulking up any more than they already are.

So I guess if there are any ex-football players out there who have endured the pretty normal fattening, stiffening, and painful transition from working out 6 days a week to 0 days a week, give it a shot. It's not a miracle cure. My back still hurts, but it certainly feels better and so does the rest of my body.

Post-war Stress Hits Home

2005-08-15T09:06:00.000-04:00

A former "U.S. Marine of the Year" suffering from post-war stress after serving in Iraq shot into a crowd from his window outside a Boston nightclub. A 15-year-old girl and a 20-year-old man were wounded.

Now, I have been known to shoot water balloons at loud, obnoxious groups of people, but this was clearly more dangerous.

Marine Sergeant Daniel Cotnoir says he fired a "warning shot" after 30 people had gathered below his window and someone threw a bottle, shattering his window. His lawyer claims that Cotnoir cracked under post-war stress in the mob-like situation, responding in a military manner to what was a civilian situation.

Cotnoir was awarded the 2005 Marine of the Year award by the USMC Times for his work as a military mortician -- working with the remains and belongings of fallen soldiers, most killed by explosions. Speaking with the Boston Globe last year, Cotnoir said, "What you see out there, it's a real smash to reality," as he described retrieving charred pieces of Marine bodies.

Boston Globe: Marine Held in Shooting

Tort Reform Legends

2005-08-15T00:54:00.000-04:00

There was a very interesting story in the LA Times on Sunday about the fictitious nature of many famous "legal jackpot" stories that circulate online and in the columns of so many mindless pundits.

Now, I'm not one to say that some true stories of jury pay-outs can be incredible, but the fact that the tort reform lobby has used complete fiction to convince the country that people are fleecing our poor corporate friends and lining the pockets of trial lawyers is pathetic.

Maybe you've heard of this one:

Merv Grazinski set his Winnebago on cruise control, slid away from the wheel and went back to fix a cup of coffee. The rudderless, driverless Winnebago crashed. Grazinski blamed the manufacturer for not warning against such a maneuver in the owner's manual. He sued and won $1.75 million.

Outrageous! And completely false.

LA Times:

Legal Urban Legends Hold Sway

Shields: Moral Logic of Common Sacrifice

2005-08-11T11:51:00.000-04:00

Mark Shields wrote a very interesting piece this past Monday on the vast socioeconomic chasm that lies between those who make the decisions to go to war and those who are most impacted by those decisions.

The people who make the fateful decision for the nation to go to war are, themselves, subject to no personal consequences. Their children and the children of their friends are not at risk. Without apparent embarrassment, they champion a policy of military escalation with no personal participation.

...
Not surprisingly, the overwhelming majority of enlistees come from the lower-middle-class and blue-collar families. The affluent stand above and apart from military service, especially from the enlisted ranks -- the privates and the sergeants, from whose ranks have come more than 90 percent of the casualties and fatalities. This class exemption from service and from sacrifice produces an ethical failure that a democratic and moral people cannot tolerate.

...
Citizens on the home front who do not have loved ones in the service are asked to pay no price, to bear no burden. The Bush administration does not even ask us to pick up the cost of the war, already in the hundreds of billions. That burden will be borne instead by our children. We, patriots, will keep our tax cuts. Do our leaders think so little of us that they are afraid to ask us to make any real sacrifice?

I've said some of this before. Where is the common cause? Where is the call for this country to sacrifice -- even just a little bit -- for something that is being shouldered by so few? Where are this war's versions of victory gardens? Instead, we just get a few tax dollars back and a pat on the ass, saying, "Go on, spend money! Buy that new television! Or maybe a nice American flag or ribbon magnet to show you support the troops..."

That those who called most loudly for this war are not standing in line to volunteer at the recruiting offices is noted by the nation's premier military sociologist (and ex-Army draftee) Charles Moskos.

"Only when the privileged classes perform military service, only when elite youth are on the firing line, does the country define the cause as worth young peoples' blood and do war losses become acceptable," observes Moskos, adding that "the answer to what constitutes vital national interests is found not so much on the cause, itself, but in who is willing to die for that cause."

Let's look back in history. How many sons of powerful families fought in America's wars of the past? Washington, Teddy Roosevelt, John Kennedy, HW Bush, Pierce, Benjamin Harrison... and those are just former Presidents. Contrast that to a scene I witnessed several years ago:

I was visiting a friend at Stanford University, and at an on-campus party we witnessed an extremely drunken frat boy stumble onto the dance floor, running into people and spilling beer as he shouted out mangled lyrics to the song playing at the time -- Outkast's "Bombs over Baghdad". My friend turned to me, and said, "You want to know something funny? That's Paul Wolfowitz's son."

Full Article

Marc Cohn Shot

2005-08-09T09:25:00.000-04:00

--Poor Taste Warning--

"Walking in Memphis" singer shot "driving in Denver."

In an apparent outburst over seeing the famous walking musician driving -- and driving in a city other than Memphis, no less -- a man tried to jack Marc Cohn's rented van and then shot him in the head.

Miraculously, Cohn's doctors removed the bullet from his temple and he is said to be recovering with his attractive news anchor wife at his bedside.

Just goes to show, when you contradict the lyrics of your own hit song, you're going to get it.

This incident serves as a warning to such artists as Tom Petty, Jackson Browne and of course Will Smith. They could be in danger's way should they be found by the wrong fan to be: paying for skydiving, driving with a full tank of gas, or generally not jiggy wit it, respectively.

E!: Singer Marc Cohn Shot in Denver.

Bad News Alarms

2005-08-08T11:26:00.000-04:00

My computer alarm that automatically wakes me up to NPR's Morning Edition every day has been a real downer lately.

Last week the first words I heard while waking up were, "14 Marines are dead after a deadly explosion..."

Not long after that I woke up to, "US casualties in Iraq especially heavy this week..."

Then this morning, "Peter Jennings died last night, succumbing to cancer..."

I know the news media tends to focus on the negative things in our world as they occur, with the sporadic "kids selling acrobatic kittens to raise money for tsunami victims" story thrown in on occasion. But just one morning I want to wake up to this:

"In a series of stunning developments this morning, Islamic militants have become a non-violent political party, the Pentagon has surrendered a percentage of its budget to the department of education, and the streets of Greater Boston today are a little bit sticky after an overnight downpour of Starburst and Reese's Pieces..."

That would be the best (and most delicious) morning wake up ever.

Belated Anniversary Fun

2005-07-20T21:22:00.000-04:00

So Rear Window Ethics' one year anniversary came and went, and I was busy doing work and forgot about it. Work: who needs it?

I was reading this in the New Yorker tonight while waiting for my clothes to dry at the laundromat, and I actually started laughing out loud -- causing more than a few uncomfortable glances in my direction.

The piece is entitled, "My Dog is Tom Cruise":

I have to tell you, things are good. I am . . . I am . .

Whooo!

. . . I am very good. I just returned from a walk and . . .
ha! Things. Are. Good. I’ve got a bowl of hard kibble with some soft stuff mixed in. My name’s on the bowl! I am passionate about this lamb-and-rice recipe. What’s been going on?
haha! I’m so in love with this bitch!
hahaha! I can’t . . . I’m so . . . I can’t restrain myself.
hahahahahaha! We met at the park. She was in the run for little dogs . . . ’cause she’s, well . . .
ha! She’s petite. And I was over in the big run and . . . I am in

love

. I can’t be cool. This bitch is . . . I have total respect for her.

Continued...

Rove: With Us or Against Us?

2005-07-13T20:25:00.000-04:00

I wrote a letter to the Boston Globe today:

Surely no one has forgotten President Bush's repeated proclamations following the attacks of September 11th, 2001. "You are either with us, or you are against us, " the President declared to the world as he sought to enlist international involvement in the "war on terror".

As the story of Karl Rove's involvement with the identification of an undercover CIA agent unfolds, it is time to put Mr. Bush's famous declaration to the test. Less than a month after Mr. Rove suggested that liberals were not outraged by 9/11 and that any criticism of the administration's war plan is tantamount to supporting terrorists, the question now is whether Karl Rove is "with us or against us."

I would be equally outraged if a Democrat or an Independent had compromised an undercover agent and their contacts in a time of war for political gain. This is not a partisan matter, nor is it a legal one. This is a matter of whether the President will stand up as Commander-in-Chief and show that undermining our national security is not a permissible political play in his White House.

Breaking: Snap, Rove!

2005-07-10T11:37:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure yet whether this will end up being a smoking gun or not -- it's hard to tell most of the time -- but this surely can't be good for old Rove. And I can't say I feel the least bit bad if he gets crucified over it. After all, he is the mastermind who managed to turn the Republican Party of limited government, individualism and financial prudence into the Republican Party of federal pork, personal intrusion, and financial retartitude.

This may not be the smoking gun, as I said. But it goes in the right direction. If they keep digging, you know he's going to come up dirty.

Snap, Rove!

London Attacks

2005-07-07T15:17:00.000-04:00

In the wake of the attacks this morning that will likely rouse the West from our recent attack-free lull, a few friends and I discussed whether the dark cloud of violent international terrorism is going to hang over us for the rest of our lives and the lives of future generations.

Some of my thoughts:

It seems apparent that having a large military presence in the Middle East certainly doesn't help matters. At the same time, I doubt if we pulled our military out of the region completely that the jihadists would really decide to cease terror attacks. And there's really no solution to the problem. Until the communities that tolerate the presence of terror organizations decide as a whole to actively renounce them, until they stop allowing their young children become inducted and initiated into the violent ideologies of these groups, then there is no way to stop the cycle. It happened that way with the IRA, and it just might happen in the future.

I don't think we can tell people what to do, though. Even if I thought it was a good idea, I don't think it's possible. They have to decide on their own, and they'll only do that when they tire of the violence extremists preach.

Otherwise, we better get moving and fast on some alternative energy. At least if we found some way to reduce and eventually rid our selves of the dependence this alliance with Saudi Arabia and Middle Eastern oil we could attempt to isolate ourselves more until that area of the world can work itself out.

It's ironic, because in the lead up to the G8 summit a big argument against the large and necessary aid to African countries was the rampant corruption in many of the governments. But at the same time we've relied on a very tenuous alliance with the Saudi royal family -- which very well may lose power in the near future -- without requiring them to fulfill the same standards we demand of countries like Nigeria before we give them aid.

Seriously, though. We're America. We can be smart, we can be hard-working, and we can do what is necessary when we really try. Why can't we launch a Manhatttan Project-esque endeavor to find a source of alternative energy that will only benefit our national security and the security of all nations that rely so heavily on people that hate us? It won't solve everything, but at least it will keep us from giving money hand over fist to the people that in turn give it to those who kill us.

Think about how that could improve our world image. We develop a clean, reliable energy that eventually allows us to lower our greenhouse emissions, and rid ourselves of addiction to foreign fuel that is now costing us so dearly. Then we give the technology to the world.

Hybrid-Hydraulic Power?

2005-06-29T13:53:00.000-04:00

A small company in Deerfield has developed a hybrid-hydraulic powertrain that they say is much more efficient than the standard electric hybrid powertrains in cars like the Toyota Prius.

It's definitely a long way away, but this could be huge.

Story

Canada Approves Same-Sex Marriage

2005-06-28T22:55:00.000-04:00

Canada's Parliament passed PM Martin's bill allowing gay marriage nationwide. It was mainly a way to formalize what Canadian courts had essentially ruled on in most provinces.

What a thought! A national legislative body agreeing with the courts on something instead of threatening to re-write the constitution over a specific issue.

Martin had a great quote on the day: "We are a nation of minorities, and in a nation of minorities, it is important that you don't cherry pick rights. A right is a right and that is what this vote tonight is all about."

American Exceptionalism vs. American Action

2005-06-27T15:38:00.000-04:00

Remember when Jan Egeland suggested that Western powers were being "stingy" with their tsunami aid pledges? Remember when many Americans became hysterical over that comment, and blogs posted pictures of kids selling lemonade to raise money for tsunami victims with large headlines reading "WE AREN'T STINGY!"? People got so angry when a UN official simply stated that we could afford to do more.

A very interesting article today mentions the fact that many Americans think our country is more generous than it tends to be in actuality.

Polls over the last decade show most Americans believe 10 percent of the federal budget is spent on humanitarian and economic aid for the world's poor and that America gives more than any other country.

But the world's richest economy actually spends just over one half of 1 percent of its budget on aid to the world's poor, less per capita than every other wealthy nation.

"Americans believe they are giving a lot already and that they are giving more than other countries on a percentage basis," said Steven Kull, director of the University of Maryland's Program on International Policy Attitudes, which has compiled data on Americans' aid views.
...
The United States was criticized for giving too little government aid after the deadly tsunami that hit Southeast Asia last year. U.S. President George W. Bush said America gave a lot more when private donations were included.

But even when private giving is counted, American aid on a per-capita basis ranks 19th out of 21 rich countries, according to Foreign Policy magazine's 2004 Ranking the Rich survey.

I certainly don't want to belittle any donation -- public or private, large or small -- made by people in this country, nor do I dare oversimplify the complexities of giving aid to some nations run by corrupt governments. There is, however, something fascinating about the American obsession with the feeling of superiority, as well as our anger towards those that challenge that "exceptionalism", both home and abroad.

To be sure, I love this country in which I live. I love that I can grow here, learn here, find work here, and eventually raise a family here -- all while enjoying freedoms that to many people in this world are only fantasies. But all my love for this country doesn't blind me into believing that it is superior in every way and thus has no obligation for improvement.

At the center of this issue is the division between those who think our best days are past us, and those who think our best days should be ahead of us -- visions of America as the land of Superman, Lady Liberty and "The Greatest Generation" and America as a future leader in charity, medical and scientific breakthroughs, and true social equality.

If we we are intentionally deaf to all criticism of our country, if we define ourselves exclusively by our selective, idealized past, if we balk at the notion that to be a truly great nation is to bypass self-satisfaction and continually strive to make our world better, then this so-called "city upon a hill" will slowly fade into obscurity.

Dachau

2005-06-24T01:44:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned a few times before, there was a deeply sobering portion of our otherwise fun-filled Europe trip. My brother and I felt the need to visit memorial site of the former Dachau concentration camp while in Munich, and though seeing the ruins of such a place was deeply disturbing, beholding the tourist-like spectacle of it might have been worse.

I was amazed that the town of Dachau is active and fairly normal while sitting just outside the gates of a place that worked so many to death and sent so many others to death camps by rail. There's a soccer field next to the entrance to the camp, and one side of the camp's museum is bordered by a neighborhood of houses. I can't imagine living next to something like that.

I don't know what I expected as we pulled into the parking lot near the entrance, but a line of coach busses certainly wasn't it. The lot had the same feeling as many of the touristy sites we visited on the trip. There's a long gravel road that leads from the lot to the old camp gates, and while I think most people on that trail remained relatively quiet and serious, there was enough of the opposite behavior for it to stick out.

At the front gates of the camp, near the rusted remains of a rail system that had sent so many to their death, two teenage girls stood primping and giggling before having their picture taken. There they posed, after they'd made sure to look cute, smiling in front of the gates of the camp.

Inside the gates the atmosphere was much the same. The distinct sound of laughter broke otherwise muffled silence on a number of occasions. Large groups of high schoolers on a class trip sat and ate their lunches next to a large sculpture memorializing the multitude of prisoners that starved to death on the surrounding grounds.

As you can see, I took a few pictures. I was hesitant at first, but decided that I would photograph those images that were particularly powerful to me, as my own way of taking in the horrific reality of what was before me. I took pictures on the grounds, in The Bunker, and outside the gates, but I immediately stopped once we reached the sheltered enclave surrounding the crematorium.

The site where thousands and thousands of bodies were disposed of in as quick a manner as possible was enclosed in a beautiful wooded garden complete with a winding path which itself is surrounded by scores of small memorials. As I walked around the building, past the old shooting range where so many were executed, past the multitude of small flowery gardens, thousands of birds sang together so beautifully.

The crematorium itself, complete with a gas chamber that was (by most accounts) never used for mass murder, stood surrounded by such placid, natural beauty. We four stood there slightly dazed, a few with tear-stained faces, when a couple came up and asked my sister in broken English if she could take a picture of them standing in front of the open ovens of the crematorium.

It was a haunting moment. A horrible moment. Even in that small vestige of peace surrounding a building of such grave consequence, the feeling that we were simply at another tourist attraction swelled up around us and tainted the moment forever.

After that we quickly exited the front gates of the camp and made our way down the gravel road toward the parking lot. As we walked, stone-faced, hoards of tourists -- young and old, of all nationalities -- walked towards us on their way to the camp. Many of them were smiling and chatting away as if they weren't on the same road upon which so many had marched to their deaths.

Frontline: Private Warriors

2005-06-23T11:57:00.000-04:00

I got around to watching the most recent Frontline, entitled Private Warriors. In it, a Frontline reporting team follows private contractors in Iraq, both specializing in industry/infrastructure as well as private security. The level to which we depend on these private companies, their supply lines and their security teams is simply staggering, and the lack of transparency and accountability in their mission is deeply disturbing.

Watch the program now, online, here.

The Most Delicious Disaster Ever

2005-06-22T15:20:00.000-04:00

My friend Changmo saw this and noted that the article is at its best when you read it out of context:

"Firefighters closed off several streets and used hoses to wash away the sugary goo."

"What was unsettling was that the fluid just kept coming...it was quite a lot of fluid."

Snapple, while made from the best stuff on earth, apparently isn't made from the most structurally sound stuff on earth. Still, I bet it would have been fun to see it ooze all over everything.

AP: Giant Popsicle Melts, Floods New York Park

Lobbyists HEART Bush

2005-06-22T09:34:00.000-04:00

In an entirely unsurprising article today, the Washington Post quoted some of the biggest firms on K Street as saying that the presidency of George W. Bush has been a petrie dish of sorts for their industry -- allowing it, nay, encouraging it to germinate, expand and thrive while the rest of the American economy sits in a continued slump.

And it all makes sense. Clearly if ever one group of Americans needed help getting their voices heard in Washington, it was board members of multi-national corporations. It breaks my heart to hear CEOs, down on their luck and destitute, say to me, "You know, Travis, sometimes I feel like those politicians in D.C. just don't care about me at all," right before they hop in their Aston-Martin and head on over to the picnic at Dick Scrushy's house.

It's not surprising, and it's certainly not encouraging, but read it anyway just so you can have your daily fix of vomiting up in your mouth.

Washington Post: The Road to Riches is Called K Street

Europe Pics

2005-06-21T15:49:00.000-04:00

I got back from my trip a few days ago and have spent the time sleeping and moving Joc into her new apartment (which she will immediately leave for the summer, ironically). So the trip was wonderful, and everyone we met was generally great.

The one thing I really really wanted to write about was our visit to Dachau concentration camp, which was very powerful, very unsettling, and very strange as a "tourist" site. I'll elaborate on that later this week.

Anyhow, here are some of the pictures I took once we left Paris.

Clay and myself availing ourselves of the biggest beer haus in Munich.

A view from the fortress on the cliffs over Salzburg, Austria. The most beautiful city we visited, in my mind.

The canal in Strausberg, France, once you get out of the really touristy part near the Cathedral.

Salzburg at night from our hotel window looking over the canal.

A view from a little cafe in Austria at the top of a low-lying ridge in the Alps.

Paris

2005-06-09T08:48:00.000-04:00

We're leaving Paris today to travel to Munich. It's been lovely, and we're going to swing back here after the German leg of the trip.

Biggest things I've noticed while being here:

1) Americans can either be very polite and congenial to Parisians, or they can be bastards. I've seen multiple instances of Americans frantically raising their voices to scream "you don't speak English either? What's wrong with you people?" or some variation thereof. At the same time, with my limited middle school French knowledge, the Parisians really appreciate my attempt to speak their language.

2) Open container laws are for pussies. Being able to buy a bottle of wine and sit in a park to drink it leisurely is completely underrated. And for the homeless here, it allows them to drink without the aid of a crumpled paper bag like back home. It's a win-win situation for everyone.

(Then again, Bostonians with no open container laws might be dangerous...)

Some pictures I've taken while I've been here:

The clock facing the river at the Museé d'Orsay

Just some terraces facing the Seine

I forget who this is and who sculpted it, but it was at the Louvre (which is insane and too large and too full of people, never go there).

These are the kind of idiots I'm hanging out with all day long. It's great.

We're off to Strausbourg and Munich now. Apparently "weir trinken Bier" is just what it sounds like, and we'll be doing much of it.

Bon Voyage!

2005-06-01T23:05:00.000-04:00

I will be on vacation in Europe over the next two weeks or so, and won't be posting with any kind of regularity. I'll probably get some pictures up at some point, however, as well as any fun stories I have.

Time to see how much I remember from 8th grade French...

A Modern Leopold and Loeb?

2005-05-31T11:16:00.000-04:00

HOLLY HILL, Florida (AP) -- Two Florida teenagers found a homeless man in the woods and beat and kicked him to death "to have something to do," according to Volusia County sheriff's investigators.

Christopher Scamahorn, 14, and Jeffery Spurgeon, 18, confessed to beating the 53-year-old victim with their fists and sticks and kicking him, sheriff's spokesman Brandon Haught said Sunday.

The pair were charged with murder Sunday. Spurgeon was being held without bail in Daytona Beach. Scamahorn taken to a juvenile jail.

The teens said they attacked the man "for fun" and "to have something to do," Haught said. They went back to the woods three times after the initial attack to beat the man again, he said.

This is disgusting.Worse than Leopold and Loeb. At least L&L were egomaniacal crazies who had some sort of strange motive (no matter how hideous) for their crime. These kids just beat and killed a man because they were bored? For Gods sake, couldn't they have just read HUSTLER, or made prank phone calls, or even thrown rocks at tin cans in their back yard? A fucking XBox is only a few hundred dollars...

Any bets on how long it'll take Law & Order to air an episode "loosely" based on this case?

The facial expressions of Jeffery Spurgeon (top) and Nathan Leopold (bottom left) are eerily similar, though...

CNN: Teens accused of killing homeless man 'for fun'.

Nikka Costa

2005-05-25T22:48:00.000-04:00

One of the better artists you have heard but probably don't know of that well. The songs from her first album were all over the place in commercials, movies and TV shows, and they were used for a reason -- they're catchy as hell.

Her music is a mix of Prince-like funk and Lenny Kravitz rock, with a poppy icing on the top. She was Joss Stone before Joss Stone existed. do yourself a favor and check her out, and then I dare you to tell me you don't bop your head while listening.

iTunes store links below:

Her debut album Everybody Got Their Something

Her sophomore album Can'tneverdidnothin'

May Nor'Eaaster

2005-05-25T13:58:00.000-04:00

Ah, Boston in May. Sun, warmth without being too hot, people start breaking out the shorts and staying outside in the late evening to throw the ball around or perhaps BBQ...

Except this year.

No, this year May has been rainy every single weekend. Currently there is a nor'easter sluggishly blowing wind and rain all over Boston. A Nor-freaking-EASTER! It's May! Yesterday the temperature fell to 42 degrees. The temperature in Fairbanks, Alaska was 64 degrees yesterday.

I haven't gone outside in two days, which is one of the small benefits of working from home. It's just too nasty out there.

CNN: Nor'Easter

Train pt. 2

2005-05-24T11:40:00.000-04:00

So that's what happened on the way down. This is what happened on the way back:

The train was relatively full for a Monday, so I was forced to sit next to someone rather than lucking out with an empty set of seats.

After sitting for about 45 minutes -- somewhat uncomfortably behind a german man who had his seat back all the way -- I noticed this woman about five rows up who seemed to be stretching her arms up in the air while wearing those black gloves with the little grip spots on them.

Strange, but nothing that odd.

Across the aisle from me is a college-aged girl with a very revealing shirt, a very fake tan, and a very large tattoo on her back. She's on the phone with various people, and no matter who she talks to the conversation goes like so:

Girl: (question) [is there any food at home? can you pick me up? how much did you drink? etc.]
response on the phone
Girl: Are you SERRRIOUS? SERIOUS?

Repeat about 12 times.

Then, the woman with the gloves starts coming back towards me and asks me if she can use my phone for a minute just to activate her cell phone since she forgot to before she left. I say sure, and give it to her.

As she walks back to her seat, the woman next to me (who had been silent so far) says that this gloved woman is really strange, that she freaked out when she got on the train before I did, that she screamed and threw things, and that she's been giving people the finger during the ride.

Great. So I had just given my phone to a crazy woman.

I figure I'd let her use it for a little while, and then check in on her to get it back. After about 10 minutes she looks back to me and says the signal cut out, so she'll have to try again. Fine. 15 minutes after that I walk up the train to get the phone back and she's talking quite angrily with someone who I assume is customer service. She gives the phone back and thanks me.

When I get back to my seat I check the call logs, and see... That this woman didn't call a single 800 number, but in fact called about seven people in my phone book for a few minutes at a time. What the fuck!?

So if my phone called you and some crazy woman swore at you or something, I'm sorry, people.

Then for the rest of the trip she keeps coming back asking to use it again, and I tell her it's out of batteries because God knows what kind of fit she'll throw if I just say no. Then I notice she has latex gloves on UNDERNEATH her grippy gloves, and that she is walking around slyly giving people the finger, and staring at them with a weird look on her face.

When my train pulls into Boston, she is nowhere to be seen, and the woman behind me starts laughing with me about the whole situation. We're walking down the aisle of the car talking about it, and then, just like in a horror movie, the crazy woman appears behind the door between cars and stares at us, blocking our way out.

We quickly wipe the smiles from our faces and awkwardly walk around her while her staring eyes follow us. And as we walk away down the gangway, I turn to see that she's giving us the finger.

Train pt. 1

2005-05-23T18:20:00.000-04:00

I took the train down to the Have for the weekend. The train is usually very relaxed, people are relatively quiet, and it's an all-around unsurprising experience. Not so this weekend.

On the way down, I was sitting in a packed train across the aisle from two girls about 25 who were talking on their phones. Now, many people talk on their phones in the train, but most don't use their Nextel walkie talkies with the loud ass beeps and speakers. These girls did. They talked to everyone they knew the whole ride down on these loud motherfuckers.

One girl was pregnant, it turned out, and she complained about how she was gaining weight. The other had had a baby a few years before, apparently, and told the other how she never lost all the weight. Bitching ensued. Then the one who had a kid called him on her nextel. From the sound of it he must have been about 8 or 9. She proceeded to tell him that she was going away on the train to do something very important, and that he should make sure to eat some dinner and play video games and watch tv all night long. It seemed like he was home alone.

After he hung up, she immediately told her pregnant friend, "I can't wait to get to New York and get me those new red Jordans!". Important, indeed.

The one who was pregnant then called her friend in New York, some guy who I couldn't understand because the walkie talkie was all fucked up. She asked him if he was single, and if he or his friend wanted to hook up with her girl. And these girls were surprised that they'd gotten pregnant and were gaining weight. Then the guy starts playing music from a stereo THROUGH THE WALKIE TALKIE for minutes at a time. Fucking ridiculous.

One woman asks them to turn down their phones and they immediately turn to me and ask if I think they are too loud. I say yes. Then they suck their teeth and hiss, "whatever."

These two girls go to the cafe car. Minutes later another girl comes storming into the car, screaming into her cell phone. "Fuck you! Fuck you, i'll sue your ass, bitch!" she yelled. She saw the empty seats that the girls had left, threw her large pink duffel bag onto them, and stormed out of the train car.

You can see where I'm going with this...

Yes, the girls come back and freak out about the bag. Yes, the third girl comes back, sees her bag is now up in the bag rack, and flips her shit. Bitching ensues once again, but on an entirely larger scale. Once that fight is over, the third girl gets on her phone and yells at someone about how this train is "shit" and there is no first class car, and that she's never "fucking taking the train" ever again.

Stay tuned for the story about what happened on the ride back...

Preggers Grad Walks

2005-05-18T22:32:00.000-04:00

A pregnant student who was banned from her graduation called out her own name and walked across the stage at the close of the ceremony.

Alysha Cosby’s decision prompted cheers and applause Tuesday from many of her fellow seniors at St. Jude Educational Institute.

But her mother and aunt were escorted out of the church by police after Cosby headed back to her seat.

Good for her! Not that I think it's good for people to get pregnant at that age, but if she fulfilled the requirements of graduation, why shouldn't she be allowed to walk with the rest of her classmates (including the baby's father!)?

When I graduated high school, a girl in our class who had a baby sewed a little cap and gown and the child wore it as she carried him across the stage to accept her diploma. Some people had a problem with it, for various reasons, but I thought that if she could complete the requirements while raising a child, she should be commended.

Where I grew up, plenty of teenage mothers dropped out altogether, despite the fact that our high school had a daycare center. Shouldn't we recognize student mothers who care enough about their babies' futures to graduate?

AP: Pregnant Grad Defies Ban From Ceremony

Bipartisan Budget Woes

2005-05-18T12:51:00.000-04:00

While cable news will surely spend the day fixated on the impending "nuclear option" in the Senate, there was an unnerving (and yet unsurprising) article in today's Washington Post on the growing budget "nightmare."

The conservative Heritage Foundation and the more liberal Brookings Institute sat down jointly yesterday to explain that in less than 40 years, if taxes are not raised and spending is not cut, the United States economy will near collapse as the country will be only capable of paying interest on the growing federal debt.

Meanwhile the White House has been touting the fact that the deficit will shrink in the next year. What both groups that spoke yesterday agree on is the fact that after the few years of possible deficit shrinkage (for lack of a better word), it will skyrocket after that.

What ever happened to worrying about future generations? Didn't leadership in both parties talk about that a lot in the not too distant past? Just a few years later all they seem to be able to do is worry about Terri Schiavo and a handful of judges, while they happen to pass a pork-filled highway bill without anyone noticing.

Washington Post: Almost Unnoticed, Bipartisan Budget Anxiety

The Electorate

2005-05-17T21:32:00.000-04:00

A week of crazy work, one new hard drive and a few scary moments installing it into my laptop and I'm back.

The Pew Research Center came out with their map of the U.S. electorate this week. Here's how things seem to break up according to the number crunchers:

Republicans:
Enterprisers
Social Conservatives
Pro-Government Conservatives

Democrats:
Liberals
Disadvantaged Democrats
Conservative Democrats

Undecideds:
Upbeats
Disaffecteds
Bystanders

Probably the most notable statistic is that each party has its own hierarchy of wealth. Enterprisers and Liberals at the top, Pro-Gov. Cons and Disadvantaged Dems at the other end. The political realignment of the last few years has rendered coalitions in each party that span socioeconomic borders.

Anyway, i just decided that this is boring. I'll post it just because I've written this much, but I think behemoth political parties that advertise to their consumer base and shift with the winds just to retain power do a disservice to America.

Memory of the Camps

2005-05-06T23:37:00.000-04:00

Tonight I watched possibly the most powerful film I've ever laid eyes on. It was a rebroadcast of an incomplete film produced by British and American filmmakers – including Alfred Hitchcock – about the atrocities that took place in Nazi concentration camps.

Sixty years ago, in the spring of 1945, Allied forces liberating Europe found evidence of atrocities which have tortured the world's conscience ever since. As the troops entered the German concentration camps, they made a systematic film record of what they saw. Work began in the summer of 1945 on the documentary, but the film was left unfinished. FRONTLINE found it stored in a vault of London's Imperial War Museum and, in 1985, broadcast it for the first time using the title the Imperial War Museum gave it, "Memory of the Camps."

Many people my age have studied this subject. We've watched films on it, read books, and even heard survivors speak to us in person. Still, nothing that I've ever seen or heard prepared me for the impact Memory of the Camps had on me.

In its incomplete state, missing part of the sound track and several pieces of the film, it is a raw documentation of the horrors committed during the second world war. There is nothing slick, and nothing new about it. It is simply biting footage of the dead, the dying, and the living – all taken within hours and days of the liberation of the camps.

Tonight was one of the last broadcasts of the film on PBS' Frontline, but they have it up in its entirety on their website: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/camp/ No matter how difficult it is to watch (and I had to look away more than once) it is worth watching. No story, no picture, no music or film has ever left the impression upon me that this program did.

Few people seek out this kind of experience, and even fewer desire it. I simply happened upon the film as it was being broadcast, and could not make myself turn it off. The images haunt me as I try to go about my evening. I can only imagine how they will do so as I sleep.

Watch this film.

UK Elections, American Reflections

2005-05-05T11:56:00.000-04:00

The Daily Show had a great comparison of US and UK "town hall meetings" last night. So apparently Tony Blair lets people with dissenting views into meetings to discuss their beliefs with him and to voice their criticism. And here I thought town hall meetings were just about reading off of scripts once everyone has been searched and made to sign a loyalty oath...

Crooks and Liars has the Daily Show video here.

Today, as Britain votes, it will be interesting to see the voter turnout numbers. While I would be quite surprised if Labour lost its majority, most experts in the UK think it will win by a much slimmer margin than in the last election.

Voter turnout in the UK dropped from 71% in 1997 to a post-WWII low of 59% in 2001. Of course, the United States had the highest turnout in recent history this past November with 60% of eligible voters going to the polls, the highest percentage since 1968. Between the UK's strangely legitimate debates and town hall meetings and the fact that our turnout high is their turnout low, well I feel a bit frustrated.

Even their campaign ads are better...

Granted, the vast population disparity between the two nations is cause enough for the percentage difference, but can't we do better than 60%? Why is it that our leaders expend so much hot air extolling the virtues of spreading democracy throughout the world when we seem so disenchanted with our own? With our staged, lifeless campaigns where being forthright and honest are considered politically dangerous, it's no wonder people don't care enough to walk a few blocks to their local polling station. With two major parties deciding who we can vote for, then leaving us to choose the most inspiring stuffed shirt available, it's no wonder 40% of eligible Americans don't give a shit.

Oh, but did you hear about Paula Abdul!? Have you listened to the Pat O'Brien recordings!? And Britney's pregnant!!!

The Corporation

2005-05-03T14:46:00.000-04:00

I finally got around to watching The Corporation, a documentary based on the book by Joel Bakan of the same name. While it was a bit preachy at times, overall the film was a nicely woven exposé of some of the more horrific moments in corporate history (the privatization of water, the IBM/Holocaust connection, Fox News cover-ups and Monsanto biotechnology).

Perhaps the film is a little over the top with its message, a left-slanted, anti-establishment cry that moderates and conservatives often dismiss, but the mountains of information this movie provides keep you thinking long after some of the more paranoid moments are over.

The Corporation IMDB listing
The Corporation Rottentomatoes.com

Old Idea For American Energy Needs: Book Burning!

2005-04-28T02:28:00.000-04:00

Yes! President Bush came out with a new energy plan for America today, citing dependence on foreign oil, ever-rising gas prices, nuclear power and refining on old military bases. What he didn't mention was a plan raised by Alabama lawmaker Gerald Allen – book burning!

That's right, Allen says homosexuality is an unacceptable lifestyle, and under his bill, public school libraries could no longer buy new copies of plays or books by gay authors, or about gay characters.

Wait, you say. I thought the Republican party was the party of liberty and freedom? Didn't President Bush use those two words a total of 4,728 times in his second inaugural speech? What does Rep. Allen have to say for himself?

"I don't look at it as censorship. I look at it as protecting the hearts and souls and minds of our children."

There you have it. I mean, as long as you put it that way, I don't think we really need to be reading Tennessee Williams plays, James Baldwin novels or Walt Whitman poetry. At least we'll still have Shakespeare, right?

"Allen originally wanted to ban even some Shakespeare. After criticism, he narrowed his bill to exempt the classics, although he still can't define what a classic is."

I see. Oh, and a classic? That's a book that probably wouldn't be around today if every book-burning maniac in the world had their way whenever they wanted. Just so you know, Mr. Allen.

Not to be deterred by semantics, Allen explained that he's fed up with literature that pushes the "homosexual agenda" on us, our freedom, and our liberty. Freedom, liberty, freedom. (Those words are starting to lose meaning the more people use them).

"It's not healthy for America, it doesn't fit what we stand for, and they will do whatever it takes to reach their goal."

Honestly, what the fuck do we stand for these days!? Freedom and liberty, right? What is that!? What the fuck are these people talking about!? When is everyone going to wake up!? When am I going to stop shouting questions using alternating punctuation!?

CBS Evening News: Alabama Bill Targets Gay Authors

Congress v. Steroids II: Pomp in the Swamp

2005-04-27T10:45:00.000-04:00

For the second time in months, the white knight of American governance has challenged the "bad boy" of professional sports: steroids. Yes, in a move that truly shows our government is devoted to the major issues facing Americans today, the House Government Reform Committee is once again spending its time admonishing professional sports leagues – clearly one of the greatest threats to our nation.

"Steroids and other illegal drugs have tarnished baseball for a generation of fans," said Republican Rep. Joe Barton of Texas.

Am I insane!? Is this the most ridiculous quote ever!? Yes, it's sad that Barry Bonds' and Mark McGuire's record-breaking home run feats will forever be tainted by steroid allegations, but is this honestly a critical issue we need to address right now? "Baseball isn't as good as it used to be, because of steroids. Let's investigate it." What shit.

"What kind of message are we sending our kids when professional sports leagues look the other way?" asked Rep. Fred Upton, a Michigan Republican. "A new national standard modeled after the Olympic policy will remove all doubt on whether athletes are cheating and restore the faith and confidence of the American people."

How about we restore faith and confidence in the American people by GOVERNING, For God's sake, the Majority Leader in the House sending the message to kids that lobbyists will take care of you and your family if you do whatever they want. A raving, threat-making maniac may soon become America's chief diplomat to the UN. Our President is flying all over the country on the tax-payers' dime to promote a plan that almost no one wants. And of course, gas prices show no sign of descending so to further our addiction, we drill in Alaska and whisper sweet nothings to the Saudi royal family at Camp David. Talk about tarnishing stuff for generations.

Reuters: Anti-Steroid Rules Proposed for U.S. Pro Sports

DeLay Joins Social Security Tour

2005-04-26T10:14:00.000-04:00

CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) -- President Bush is adding a helper to his Social Security road tour: House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who is facing allegations of ethical improprieties but is seen by the White House as crucial to pushing Bush's plans through Congress.

In Galveston, Texas, on Tuesday, Bush was discussing his proposal to add private investment accounts to Social Security. DeLay was scheduled to attend the event with the president and, along with a few other Republican members of Congress from Texas, fly back to Washington with him on Air Force One.

I don't quite understand this move by the Bush administration. This is either just a way of showing support for DeLay without expending any real effort, or it's a new phase in the administration's promotion of privatization.

Perhaps, with the photos of DeLay and the President pitching privatization, they're hoping for Americans to draw a visual conclusion: "Let us put your money in your own private accounts, or else this guy will use it to fly overseas on a luxurious trip with his family and lobbyist friends."

CNN: Bush adds DeLay to Social Security tour

Québécois Anthem Singer

2005-04-25T12:58:00.000-04:00

My friend Nish found this clip of a memory-challenged Canadian singer at a hockey game who started and stopped the American anthem twice, then went to go grab crib notes for the lyrics and took a header on the ice.

Great stuff! Watch the video. Click on the link to the lower right of the story.

Texas Bans Gay Foster Parents

2005-04-21T09:32:00.000-04:00

Due to the state's heart-warming overabundance of foster families eager to take in abandoned children, the state of Texas House of Representatives passed a bill banning homosexuals, bisexuals and transsexuals from being foster parents.

What's that you say? There isn't an overabundance of foster families in the state of Texas, or really anywhere else in the nation? Impossible. If that were true, why would the Texas legislature knowingly exclude potential families who are loving and stable because of the parents' sexuality?

Oh, right, because they might turn those foster children gay, or worse, molest them because they're gay and gay people love themselves some molestin'!

Unbelievable.

Link

Favorite Cities List

2005-04-19T13:10:00.000-04:00

I was talking with Jocelyn yesterday as we walked around Chicago, and we started working up a list of our favorite major North American cities that we've been to. No hard feelings to those of you in my least favorite cities, but I'm just being honest.

Faves:

Boston
Chicago
San Francisco
Montreal

Fine:

Philly
Baltimore
Denver
Providence
D.C.
Cincinnati

Not So Much:

Los Angeles
New York
Cleveland
Phoenix

Boat Rides

2005-04-18T01:50:00.000-04:00

While shooting 8 hours a day for a week in New Haven I didn't post at all last week. Now I'm in Chicago visiting family, so I'll leave you with one simple thought:

What is it that impels people to wave while on a boat? It happens even on the dinkiest of boats. I mean, we're on a little sight-seeing fairy floating down the Chicago River, and EVERY bridge we pass under fills them with the need to wave to the people on land as if they've just spent the last three months crossing the Atlantic toward Plymouth Rock and the sight of terrestrial natives is miraculous.

I was just happy to see the city's architecture, ride down the river, and not get a shower of Dave Mathews Band sewage in the process. Forget waving.

Wal-Mart Dating?

2005-04-08T18:20:00.000-04:00

It seems that in addition to undermining the social and economic fabric of our nation, Wal-Mart has become interested in steamrolling over yet another niche market: the dating service.

According to Amy Wyatt, spokeswoman for the retailer's international operations, Wal-Mart's been running its "Singles Shopping" campaign in all of its 91 stores in Germany.

Here's how its works.

On Friday nights, singles looking for romance, mindless flirting or just a new friend head over to their neighborhood Wal-Mart where they're given a big bright red bow to attach to their shopping cart or shopping basket.

Then it's up to the willing participants to approach one another and take it from there.

But if that's too intimidating, Wal-Mart has set up "flirting points" around the stores stacked with "romantic" merchandise, such as chocolates, wine and cheese, to help with that first awkward step.

Wal-Mart says publicly that its "Singles Shopping" campaign is simply about bringing people together -- with each other, and of course with low low prices. I can't help but wonder, however, whether the concept of dating at Wal-Mart was brought about by all of those single employees working extra overtime without pay. That seems like the only way you could really think, "Hey, if you're interested, why don't you swing by Wal-Mart this friday so we can get to know each other? I have to stock some items while I'm there, but it will be fun!" is a good pickup line.

Then again, with everything a Super Wal-Mart has to offer, you could very well go on a date, while working un-paid, and get your girl's car fixed, her groceries bought, her pictures developed, not to mention the gift possibilities of jewelry, flowers, music, books, and any other item that damnable floating smiley face decides to slash prices on.

CNN: Singles Night at Wal-Mart

Bishop Denies Saying Jesus Was Possibly Gay

2005-04-06T00:43:00.000-04:00

AP: Concord, N.H. - The first openly gay Episcopal bishop said Tuesday he is being falsely accused of suggesting Jesus might have been homosexual.

The allegations arose from Web log comments posted after Bishop V. Gene Robinson's remarks at a Feb. 13 forum on sexual issues at Christ Church in Hamilton, Mass.

"(Jesus) lived a very untraditional lifestyle," Robinson told The Associated Press. "Which is not to say that I in any way asserted that he was gay, or anything about his sexual orientation."

He went on to say:

"Interestingly enough, in this day of traditional family values and so on," Robinson says in one of the recordings, "this man that we follow ... was single as far as we know; who traveled with a bunch of men, although there were lots of women around; who had a disciple who was known as 'the one whom Jesus loved'; who said my family is not my mother and father, my family are those who do the will of God — none of us like those harsh words. That's who Jesus is, that's who he was, at least in his earthly life."

Sounds like some blogger has been reading a little too much Terence McNally. All the bishop said corresponds with biblical scripture, yet this blogger is imagining scenes from McNally's Corpus Christi, where the gay character "Joshua" leads a group of gay disciples, setting themes from the New Testament in early 1980s Texas.

In posting this, I don't want to have to explain myself like Robinson did. I know some of you apparently know exactly what Christ meant in all of his teachings and precisely what the Bible implies concerning everything in our lives. But for those of us that didn't receive the heaven-sent set of appendices and footnotes clarifying biblical interpretation, I think the bishop's comments are valid and interesting.

An Open Letter To My Lost Wallet

2005-04-03T03:58:00.000-04:00

Wallet,

I know you're out there. I imagine you sitting back, bloated to capacity with my important cards and dry cleaning receipts, openly mocking me. I've never lost you before, and I find it hard to believe that I have suddenly done so after so many years together. Granted, I was past a certain level of inebriation on the fateful night that I (think I) lost you, but that certainly does not excuse the fact that you've disappeared without so much as a fare-thee-well.

I've turned my entire apartment upside down looking for you because I know, deep in my heart, that I couldn't have left you anywhere out of the ordinary. Forget that my memory is foggy about whether I actually put you back in my pocket after buying those delicious pastries at the all-night bakery down the street; I cannot seem to surrender the belief that you're simply in some uncharted crevice of my room awaiting your retrieval.

But what if you aren't? What if you're currently held hostage by a thief or some overly-curious pastry aficionado practicing the age-old law of "finders keepers"?. Then I would have to commend you for your bravery in protecting the precious information you hold within your pockets. That's right, I've been checking my online credit card statements and so far you have proved yourself a worthy ally against those who would do me financial harm. If this is the case, you need only hold out another day or so before I forfeit my remaining hope of your recovery and void your precious cargo -- your own cyanide pill for use when captured by the enemy.

All the same, it's proving quite difficult to disregard my motherly intuition that you are somewhere just out of sight, chuckling to yourself every time I make a frantic attempt to locate you. I don't know whether this is just your way of enjoying an extended vacation from my pocket or whether you are truly in danger somewhere. I fear that I'll take the drastic measure noted above, only to discover you a day later in a crushing Romeo and Juliet-esque tragedy.

You have your ultimatum. Show yourself within the next 36 hours, or be made impotent by a series of phone calls to certain financial institutions. The choice is yours.

- Your agitated (former?) owner.

D.C. PD Gay and Lesbian Unit Video

2005-03-29T15:53:00.000-05:00

The Washington Post has a great video on its site about the country's first Gay and Lesbian Liaison Police Unit. It follows Sgt. Brett Parson on the job in the metro area as he works to educate the rest of the department and the district about LGBT affairs.

Click for Video

Shiavo

2005-03-28T02:31:00.000-05:00

I had no intention of writing about the national uproar concerning Terri Shiavo and the terrible circumstances that have befallen her and her family. To be honest, I felt it was a non-story that tragically occurs every day in America -- a single occurrence that had been hijacked by various people of influence to promulgate their ideologies. Perhaps my aversion to the issue itself was responsible for my week-long draught of posts.

As I said, I had no desire or intention to chime in on what I consider to be a private family matter that has become a national spectacle, because I think the only people that should really talk about it are the people closest to and most informed of the situation. After hearing a sermon on the resurrection at Easter services, however, I decided I had to get some things off of my chest.

The sermon did not take sides on the medical diagnosis in the Shiavo case, nor did it bring up the issue of separation of powers or Federalism as outlined in our constitution. It simply noted the fact that, according to the New Testament, this mortal life was never meant to be the end of our journey. The argument of the religious right somehow neglects this concept. That Jesus died, was buried, and rose to eternal life is not only the message of Easter, but it's also the over-arching tenet of Christianity as a whole. The faith that we go to a better place upon death is the basis for Christianity, yet that very belief has been absent from the arguments of those that so vehemently claim to espouse Christian principles.

As for the secular left, they shouldn't see religious beliefs as scary or dirty. The resurrection of Christ, according to scripture, was an event difficult to believe by even some of Jesus' own followers. Faith cannot be debated, and it most certainly cannot be imposed by those in power. When matters of faith and religious belief are brought forth in such a way that those who choose not to believe are truly threatened, it is an improper application of those principles.

It's a terrible situation that this woman and her family are going through, though it is a situation that many people face every day. If their faith can help them come to terms with the inevitability of death for each of us, it is a good thing. If their belief in the resurrection and the life in the world to come helps them in this time, it is a good thing. Their faith and the faith of others should not, however, be dictated or imposed upon this nation's citizenry by law, no matter how passively.

Bush Chooses Wolfowitz for World Bank

2005-03-16T14:52:00.000-05:00

Just about a month after Bush traveled to Europe in an attempt to improve relations between the EU and the US, he seems to be actively sabotaging any goodwill created by the trip. By naming Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz as his choice to head the World Bank, Bush is asking for a public, international fight between his administration and other World Bank members.

Bush's reasons for for the selection are unclear, as Wolfowitz's extensive history with the Department of Defense doesn't seem to make him a fit for the World Bank. Then again, this is the same administration that gave the nation's highest civilian honor to former CIA Director George "Slam-dunk" Tenet, whose intelligence failures before 9/11 and running up to the Iraq War are anything but laudable.

The World Bank has enough critics in the world without one of the Bush administration's most hard-nosed hawks running the show. The Bank's past failures to consider the social and environmental factors of its actions in developing countries will certainly be noted while members consider Wolfowitz -- a man who rarely listens to alternate opinions or admits his own mistakes.

PFA Social Security/Miller High Life Mashup

2005-03-15T01:16:00.000-05:00

After watching too much CNN and seeing the same "Iceberg" Progress For America Social Security commercial with the same Miller High Life voice-over artist about thirty times, I decided to try and experiment. I took audio clips from several PFA ads, and several Miller High Life ads, and spliced them all together.

Sometimes even I forget which clips are which. It makes perfect sense to use the same voice-over artist, since the PFA spots are probably targeting the same demographic as the Miller ads.

Listen to it!

Progress For America Voter Fund Media
Errol Morris: Commercials

Lebanon Martyrs Square Rallies (Lebanese Idol)

2005-03-14T14:38:00.000-05:00

Well, it appears as if the future of Lebanon's government is in the hands the people. And I'm not talking about democratic elections, no no, my friend, I'm talking about American Idol-style popularity. Ryan Seacrest has expressed little interest in moderating the civil unrest, however, so the Lebanese people have had to abandon their text messaging campaigns in favor of a more traditional approach.

Since former Prime minister Hariri was killed four weeks ago there have been multiple rallies expressing either anti- or pro-Syrian sentiment. The first major rally in Martyrs Square demanded a full pull-out by the Syrian military. Another rally last week, organized by Hezbulla and much larger than the previous week's gathering, showed support for the Syrian-backed government in Lebanon. And finally, today the largest gathering to date amassed to again turn the tide of visible public opinion, demanding a full Syrian pull-out of Lebanon.

Reached for comment, Randy Jackson said of the latest demonstrators, "You know, it was hot, dog. You got shown up last week, but you really hooked it up this week."

Only time will tell if yet another, larger pro-Syrian rally will take place to sway public opinion back. Until then, it's all up to the American viewing public. The numbers to call, according to FOX, are:

1-800-SYRIA-NO
1-800-SYRIA-YES

Phone lines will be open after tonight's evening news broadcasts.

Reuters: Anti-Syrian Protesters Flood Lebanese Capital

U.S. Congress: "All Sports All The Time!"

2005-03-10T17:35:00.000-05:00

Look out, ESPN! House Resolution 10894 today stated that from now on the United States Congress is going to focus solely on sports and nothing but sports. In the wake of a much publicized battle over baseball steroid use, members of the House committee investigating the abuse called for widespread reform throughout all of America's major professional sports.

"Our elite athletic organizations, both professional and amateur, should establish uniform, world-class, drug-testing standards that are as consistent and robust as our criminal laws in this area [...] Nothing less should be tolerated."

Another committee spokesman chimed in:

"House rules give this committee the authority to investigate any matter at any time, and we are authorized to request or compel testimony and document production related to any investigation."

Not to be outdone, today the US Senate Commerce Committee approved legislation to establish a commission to oversee health and safety rules for boxing. Tomorrow they hope to tackle WWE wrestling, and with any luck, they will corner the market on ESPN 2's Pool and Poker tournaments.

Members of the House, intent to stick with more mainstream sports, issued a statement applauding the recent NBA All-Star Slam Dunk Contest as one of the best in recent years.

Several members of Congress have also raised the possibility of building luxury boxes inside the chamber of the House of Representatives to create revenue from such "hot ticket events" as the annual State of the Union address as well as any other joint-session gatherings.

By mimicking the financial success of newer sports stadiums and arenas, they believe they can chip away at the national deficit by both gearing ticket sales for more affluent clients, as well as by raising the price of hot dogs, pretzels and soda.

No word yet on when cheerleader auditions will begin for House and Senate chambers, or whether C-SPAN will begin covering the coming MLB season with its traditional "one angle" camera style.

A Senate committee has been established to audition potential cheerleaders to begin pep rallies after spring recess.

(...It's not like they have anything more important to do on The Hill...)

Movie Geek Quiz

2005-03-08T17:52:00.000-05:00

This quiz will cut even the most self-assured film nerds down to size...

http://www.storyoffilm.com/

Wellesley Students Go To Hospital! (And Are Lesbians!)

2005-03-07T10:06:00.000-05:00

For those of you in the Boston area, I don't think you'll find a more fitting headline lately to show how much of a rag the Herald is.

How many college students end up in ERs across Boston every weekend? The Herald picks this particular story up for only one reason: lesbians. That's right, the "Dyke Ball", as they call it, was hosted by a lesbian, bisexual and transgender group. Let's all be shocked.

Herald: Wellesley Girls Gone Wild

College Spain Summer Program Canceled

2005-03-07T01:24:00.000-05:00

Tom Fuentes, former chair of Orange County's Republican Party for 20 years and currently a trustee for the South Orange County Community College District, decided to end study-abroad programs to Spain last week, citing the country's troop withdrawal from Iraq.

"Many of our students in this college, and of its sister college [...] fight on the battlefield of Iraq under the flag that is behind us. Spain has abandoned our fighting men and women, withdrawing their support. I see no reason to send the students of our colleges to Spain at this moment in history."

In addition to his demands regarding the program, which had afforded community college students the opportunity to study Spanish language and culture for fifteen summers, Fuentes also mentioned (off the record) several other activities in which the colleges should discontinue their participation: The screening of any films starring Canadian actors (as their nation didn't join the coalition), the academic study of Catholicism (due to the Pope's stance on war in general), and of course the traditional 'Belgian Waffle Fridays' in the cafeteria (because most Belgians know French).

Fuentes' actions were a boon for upstanding Americans everywhere who agree wholeheartedly that knowledge of other cultures -- specifically ones that dare to disagree with ours on occasion -- is of little importance compared to the unifying force of petty political gestures.

Fuentes did not comment on whether or not he would be changing his name to Tom Sources in the near future.

"Yes, this is Mr. 'Sources'. I'm going to need some more flags. The six up here just don't convey the amount of patriotism it requires to withhold life experience from students."

Orange County Weekly
CNN

Syria Nuke Comment a Joke

2005-03-05T11:53:00.000-05:00

Congressman Sam Johnson (R-Texas) stated that his comments made at a church pancake breakfast on Feb. 19th about wanting to drop a nuclear bomb on Syria were a joke. Johnson originally said:

"Syria is the problem. Syria is where those weapons of mass destruction are, in my view. You know, I can fly an F-15, put two nukes on 'em and I'll make one pass. We won't have to worry about Syria anymore."

But it was just a joke! Whew.

That makes it so much better. I mean, I know that at my church we always talk about dropping nukes on people -- even on entire nations -- but it's always in jest. The public needs to understand that. In actuality, it's a little-known tradition at many church pancake breakfasts to make lighthearted wisecracks about the slaughtering of millions of people. The flippancy of apocalyptic nuclear hellfire jokes, all washed down with delicious blueberry pancakes and maple syrup, well, that's my kind of fellowship.

I like my pancakes nice and hot...

AP: Congressman Says Syria Nuke Comment a Joke

Battlestar Galactica

2005-03-04T15:37:00.000-05:00


	"It's tag-team robot wrestling, featuring the mighty robots from Battlestar Galactica vs. the gay robots from Star Wars!"

I've posted a new review of Sci-Fi network's Battlestar Galactica on Rear Window Reviews. Cue all nerd and geek jokes now. But seriously, it's probably one of the best dramas on television, and no one really knows about it.

Excerpt:

"The irony that a drama with such a surreal setting can often seem more honest than other shows about doctors and lawyers is easy to disregard. The truth, however, is that Battlestar Galactica is no longer just for the geeky. It is, in my opinion, one of the very best dramas in an otherwise mediocre television season."

Click for review

Spitzer Down on Social Security Privatization

2005-03-03T14:03:00.000-05:00

Today, New York Attorney General (and NY Gubernatorial candidate) Eliot Spitzer came out with one of the most important criticisms of President Bush's Social Security privatization plan. Chiding the Bush administration for opposing his efforts to clean up corruption on Wall Street in the wake of a number of high-profile scandals, he cited the instability of the market and the danger such a dramatic change would cause.

"You have an administration that failed to protect investors. Failed to protect them. And yet they are the administration that is saying take the safety net that we have and invest it in a system that was fundamentally broken before others stepped in to try to save it," Spitzer said.

"On the one hand, they are saying the system does not need to be fixed, there was nothing wrong with it, they fought against the changes that we wanted, and then they say, 'Take your savings and put it into that very system.' Where would we be if those who are retiring had had their money in Enron and Worldcom?"

This, to me, is the more important point in the argument against Social Security privatization. People can haggle all year about which studies suggest what kind of timeline for what percentage of benefits decrease. The most pointed reason to avoid privatization -- aside from the enormous amount of money it would cost to enact -- is the fact that the stock market just isn't safe enough.

Social Security was created to support those whom capitalism had failed. It wasn't an attack against capitalism, it just served as a lifeboat for people that had trusted the stock market with their life savings.

Creating private accounts essentially takes that lifeboat and nails it to the larger ship that sails through icy waters. Sure, there's a good chance you'll get to your destination, but if the Titanic hits an iceberg, you're going to want those lifeboats away from the wreckage.

Newsday Article

22-pound Lobster Caught off Nantucket

2005-03-02T14:13:00.000-05:00

A 22-pound lobster, affectionately known as 'Bubba' was caught off the coast of Nantucket. There was a dispute at the airport over whether Sandpiper Air or Aeromass would fly the beast to Pittsburg, but after Helen talked to Roy and smoothed things over, Brian ended up getting the job done once Lloyd fixed his plane. [Cue credits.]

(Sorry, that's pretty much the only thing I know about Nantucket...and it's not even real... I hate myself.)


	Bubba's future as the main attraction of a delicious bisque was changed to being the main attraction at a far less mouthwatering freak show.

In reality, the huge lobster was donated to an aquarium at Ripley's Believe It or Not museum, despite pleas from PETA to release him back into the Atlantic Ocean.

Incidentally, (and I'm not making THIS part up) another group called 'People For Eating Tasty Animals' offered market-price for the animal -- at almost $15 a pound.

Estimates to the age of 'Bubba' have spanned from 50-100 years. If that's the case, it's a good thing PETA (the hungry one) didn't buy him after all. That would have been some seriously tough meat.

Incidentally, I just looked it up and Wings was actually on the air for 6 seasons! 6 seasons!? That's horrifying.

Full (true) story

CNN Rambo 2005

2005-03-01T13:14:00.000-05:00

Boingboing posted an interesting video combining CNN footage of the Iraq war with audio tracks from the Rambo movies. It's pretty chilling.

Link

Federal Cable Decency Standards?

2005-03-01T12:41:00.000-05:00

Anyone who watched Sunday's Academy Awards could tell you that the show was...well...bland. And not just normally bland. Blander than the normal levels of Oscar blandness. The likely cause? Broadcast networks' continual fear of the FCC's wrath (strong-armed by the PTC's junta of form letter-senders).


	"That's right honey! No more Sopranos! Just Judge Judy and General Hospital all day."

ABC forced Robin Williams to cut a song he was going to perform from the show because it made fun of Sponge-Bob Square-Pants' alleged homosexuality in the eyes of James Dobson. The song in question included lines such as "Fred Flinstone is dyslexic, Jessica Rabbit is really a man, Olive Oyl is really anorexic, and Casper is in the Ku Klux Klan."

Even Chris Rock was entirely tame (read: boring), possibly influenced by new legislation that raises fines to $500,000 and allows for performers to be fined.

But this is all at least understandable. Broadcast television is sent out over the airwaves for any and all to see. Governmental authority over the broadcast industry is as old as the industry itself. Most people don't throw their hands up that the PTC and the FCC make broadcast television more boring than watching fly paper on a hot summer's day, because, thank goodness, they have cable.

Today, however, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R), Alaska, is beginning a push to apply the same stringent standards, which render network programming so flaccid, upon cable and subscription radio and television. That means no programming TV-14 and up until "late-night" hours.

"Cable is a much greater violator in the indecency area...I think we have the same power to deal with cable as over-the-air. There has to be some standard of decency."

Let's put it this way: If people who even occasionally watch television during the day (including those who work at home, ahem) are forced to watch programming akin to what the networks air before 8pm, we're not going to watch.

Washington Post story

Live-Blogging: 77th Academy Awards (Oscar Blog)

2005-02-27T22:35:00.000-05:00

8:20 - The show hasn't started yet, obviously, but I'm already in front of the television with my ballot sheet in hand. We'll see how far I go in the family pool this year. I feel quite confident a lot of the pics, generally.

I wonder if Chris Rock can handle the pressure of hosting tonight. It can ruin people. Look at Letterman. He never recovered after his mediocre job hosting, and he's one of my favorite show-biz personalities. I'm convinced that's why Leno and other high-profile host-type people have stayed at arms length from the Oscars. We'll see what Chris Rock can do...

8:30 - I can't believe they make all those people clap while the ads are going on the screen. It must be dubbed in.

8:35 - I'm not a huge fan of this montage. And I LOVE montages. That's weird. Maybe because they're playing it on 49 small screens and showing people watching it. Dustin Hoffman, end it. Shrek and Chaplin, not hot.

8:36 - Cue P-Diddy looking uncomfortable.

8:38 - All the actors are laughing uncomfortably because they're worried they're going to get made fun of next. Classic Chris Rock standup: repeat one line OVER and OVER.

8:43 - That's right, everyone, clap politely for the troops in your $2,000 gowns.

8:44 - So in this new "speedy" Oscar plan, nominees in "uninteresting categories" stand on stage and the winner steps forward to accept.

8:45 - Art Direction. I picked Aviator. Winner - Aviator. My roommate just remarked, "Oh, right, I forgot the Oscars are boring..." 1/1

8:50 - Supporting Actor. A weak category this year. I picked Morgan Freeman. If he doesn't win I'll punch something. This man is one of the best supporting actors in this decade, and he hasn't won yet. Also, Lloyd from Wings will never win an Oscar. Winner - Morgan Freeman. Damn straight. 2/2

A well-deserved standing o for Morgan. And a short and sweet speech to boot.

8:51 - Great Pepsi parody of Sparticus.

8:57 - Animated Feature. Obviously picked The Incredibles. Only Shrek 2 came close, and it was not close. Winner - The Incredibles. 3/3

Cue first "forgetting to mention people" joke in speech. Although, I NEED that Incredibles Pin this guy has on his lapel. That is hot shit.

9:00 - If Chris Rock keeps making "the black version of _____" jokes, this audience is going to be more uncomfortable than whatever bombshell they hired to give out the nerd awards that they show on tape later.

9:02 - Makeup. I picked The Passion of The Christ. Oops. Lemony Snicket won. I haven't seen the film, but I was pretty sure that no makeup could be more important than that in Passion. Oh well. 3/4

9:05 - Choirboys don't sit and sing. What the hell do these people know? Whoever blocked this song is an idiot. Choirboys stand straight. Trust me, I know. Good God, Beyonce is attractive.

9:08 - I wonder what happens at the Oscars during commercial? Is it like a Pro or Division IA sport during a TV timeout, where you just sit in palpable silence because the stadium doesn't feel the need to entertain you even though it's the 12th timeout in the last 10 minutes? I am fairly confident, however, that the Kodak theater doesn't sell the stadium nachos with the plastic cheese. Too bad, that stuff is good.

9:12 - This "real people" Oscar segment at a theater somewhere else was pretty good. You always have to thank Harvey Weinstein.

9:14 - The NERD AWARDS! Scarlet Johansen was who they had host it. And...yes, yes she looked uncomfortable there! God, this is too easy. I love the acceptance speeches. "I make crane. I'm happy crane work well."

9:17 - Costume Design. I picked Aviator. Hollywood loves its own Golden Age. Edna Mode. Love her. Then again, period English costumes are always a good pick for the Oscar. This might be tougher than I thought. Winner - Aviator. That's right, bitches. I'm on. 4/5

9:19 - Great jab at Tim Robbins: "When he's not impressing us with his acting, he's boring us with his politics."

9:21- Supporting Actress. I picked Virginia Madsen. Blanchett would have been the obvious choice, and even though I thought she did a great job, it was still an imitation. For some reason I can't dig imitations. Madson is one of my upset picks tonight. Could be a tough choice. Winner - Blanchett. This is definitely one of those "oops, of course I should have picked her" categories. 4/6

9:25 - Jim Gaffigan! Yes! He'd kick Michael Ian Black's ass any day.

9:30 - Documentary Feature. I picked Born Into Brothels The only one I saw was Super Size me, which was good, but I figured the "pop documentary" phase was over now and it was time to get back to serious documentaries. Winner - Born Into Brothels. My roommate thinks this chick looks like a female Adrian Brody. 5/7

9:32 - "Please welcome Kirsten Dundst and Orlando Bloom." Worst sentence ever.

9:33 - Editing. I picked Million Dollar Baby. The academy likes editing in boxing movies. Winner - Aviator. Why does The Academy always think that "most editing" means "best editing"? Oh, right, because The Academy is made up of actors who are stupid. 5/8

9:35 - Counting Crows. I can honestly say I didn't think I'd ever see them playing on TV again after 1996. Apparently I was wrong. Come on, boys, just slip into a little "Mr. Jones" while you're up there. For the kids...

9:42 - Hahaha, get it? Chris Rock is a man, but he's reading Catherine Zeta Jones' words. She's really sexy and hot. He's a man. Hahaha. Wow. Not funny.

9:45 - Adapted Screenplay. I chose Sideways. A very smart script, a great film, and it should get SOMETHING tonight even after being overshadowed by the big-money movies. Million Dollar Baby could get this one, however. Winner - Sideways. Back on track. 6/9

9:47 - Visual Effects. Nerd award! I picked Spiderman 2. I think it's a lot harder to make visual effects that look real and are based in this world, rather than fantasy creatures and futuristic robots. Also: Spidey flying around the city is pretty cool. Winner - Spiderman 2. Woah, he's one of those weird, awkward, joking nerds. 7/10

9:49 - Mickey Rooney's skin is slowly collapsing into his seat. They won't be able to get him out.

9:50 - Honorary Oscar. Sidney Lumet. 12 Angry Men and Network are quite enough on their own to win him this award. Not to mention Dog Day Afternoon. This montage should be great. Roomie: "Maybe they shouldn't have ended the montage on Vin Diesel." Lumet: "I'd like to thank the movies." I like that. Not as much as I like Lumet's daughters and their shamelessly fake breasts, though.

10:04 - Why do I want a Dyson vacuum cleaner so badly? I vacuum like five times a year.

10:05 - Emmy Rossum, don't fall! I would make a comment about her looks, but I just made one about Lumet's daughters, and one more would put me at my quota for the past 20 minutes.

10:06 - Beyonce sings her second song of the night. She probably should have sung Accidentally In Love instead of Counting Crows, too. Roomie: "All the phantoms who are independent, throw your masks up at me..." I can't believe Beyonce is younger than me. I'm old.

10:10 - Live Action Short. I haven't seen any of these films. I picked Everything In This Country Must. I liked the title because it didn't finish its sentence. Winner - Wasp. Oh well. Should have aimed for brevity. It was a live action short, after all. 7/11

10:12 - Animated Short. I haven't seen these either. No one does. It's not my fault. I picked Birthday Boy because the stills I saw online looked cool, and because my birthday is coming up soon. Winner - Ryan. Crap. I'm falling apart here. 7/12

10:15 - Cinematography. I actually thought Passion of the Christ has the best cinematography, but I picked Aviator because I'm a pussy. Winner - Aviator. Being a pussy isn't so bad, I guess. This guy is weird and creepy. 8/13

10:16 - I can't tell you how much I am LOVING the soft orchestral version of the Terminator 2 theme right now as we go to commercial.

10:20 - Thankfully by the time Penelope Cruz and Salma Hayak got up here my 20 minute window had shifted and I was under quota. I can't believe I'm watching them right now, together. I love them.

10:22 - Sound Mixing. Picked The Aviator. It was loud and there was lots of crashing and planes. Winner - Ray. I suppose they had a lot of music in that movie, and that music had to be mixed. Tough loss. My ratio is getting harsh. 8/14

10:24 - What, they're still on!? I can't handle this! I'm looking away because I'm so amazingly smitten.

10:25 - Sound Editing. I picked Spiderman 2. I don't know why. I liked Incredibles more, even though Spiderman 2 was leagues better than its predecessor. Winner - Incredibles. Damn, I suck. I am quickly plummeting to 50% accuracy. 8/15

10:26 - Salma, just get off stage. Get off. Stop sticking your breasts in my face and shoving your wonderful accent in my ears. No, don't translate! Just get off stage!

10:27 - Wait, so Beyonce isn't going to perform the spanish song as well? What the hell? Antonio can't sing. And he's not as good looking as Beyonce. (I am about 8 references to attractive women over my quota now. Damnit.)

10:35 - Documentary Short. Natalie Portman: "I applaud them" except she didn't applaud. I picked Autism Is a World in a category that can pretty much be summed up as "what is the most heartbreaking true story we can tell". Winner - Mighty Times. I am down to fifty percent. I am worthless. 8/16

10:30 - Roomie: "John Travolta, how can one botch a third comeback?"

10:40 - Original Score. I didn't really like any of the scores I heard this year, so I picked one that I didn't. Finding Neverland. Winner - Finding Neverland. Back over 50%, baby. 9/17

10:45 - Humanitarian Award. What? This exists? Ok.

10:48 - Film Eulogy. Yo Yo Ma. There is no sarcastic quip to make now. He's too good.

10:51 - Somehow I got through that entire segment without a surprise "Wait, he/she died!? No way!"

10:56 - Yes! Beyonce should win an award for most Oscar songs sung. Josh Groban should win an award for worst person ever.

11:01 - Best Song. I honestly loved Learn To Be Lonely the most, just as a song. I don't know what else could win. Counting Crows should not win an Oscar. The spanish song sucked. Choirboys don't sit down, damnit. Winner - Al Otro Lado Del Rio. Please, that song blew. His acceptance song was better than the one he won for. 9/18

11:04 - Best Actress. If Hilary Swank doesn't win, I'll be furious. Granted, I haven't seen some of the other films, and I'm sure they're great, but come on. Perhaps the crazy PR campaigns for her and Bening will screw both of them. Winner - Hilary Swank. Absolutely well-deserved. I mean, she made me cry. Annette Bening is pissed. Crappy speech, but what are you going to do? 10/19

11:12 - Blind Justice looks like the stupidest premise for a tv show in the last...month.

11:14 - Foreign Language Film. I didn't see these. I picked The Sea Inside. I don't know why. Winner - The Sea Inside. A little luck never hurt anyone. 11/20

11:17 - Original Screenplay. I picked Eternal Sunshine because honestly, it was one of the most innovative scripts I've seen on screen in a long time and Charley Kaufman is long overdue for this. Winner - Eternal Sunshine. "I don't want to take my time, I want to get off the stage." Classic. 12/21

11:20 - Ah, it was about time for a McDonald's commercial about the hilarity of teenage motherhood. I am now waiting for the Coors Light commercial that shows how funny it is to drop out of high school.

11:23 - Best Actor. Smart money is on Jamie Foxx for Ray. It was pretty much an imitation, and parts of the performance was pretty good. Clint was, as usual, unbelievable. DiCaprio was fine, he serviced the movie, but he didn't make the movie. I picked the smart money because I'm a loser. Winner - Jamie Foxx. Not a surprise. Foxx: "Thank you Ray Charles, for living." Can't go wrong with that, I suppose. Oprah just gave a "power to the people" fist to someone off camera. 13/22

11:34 - Best Director. I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times. Clint Eastwood deserves this because he did the best job. Scorsese could win it because he is Scorsese. I picked Clint. Winner - Clint Eastwood. I can't believe Clint Eastwood's mom is still alive and is there. He really has the best movie in the field, and if Scorsese wants to win this he needs to start directing movies like he used to. 14/23

11:38 - Best Picture. It would be a shock if The Aviator won this one now. With all the big awards going to Million Dollar Baby, it seems like it's in the cards. I picked Baby because I loved it. Winner - Million Dollar Baby. This is the right choice, but I have to admit that now I'm kind of pissed off because it means that the film will be in theaters longer, which then means I'll have to wait longer to buy it on DVD. I'll have to go see it a second time in theaters. 13/24

Last Words - It was a good, speedy show. Chris Rock did a fine job, but didn't really blow my socks off. I'm coming out of this show feeling exactly the opposite of what I did last year when I smoldered each time Lord of the Rings won another award. The Academy actually recognized the best film, not the most glitzy film.

Final tally: 13/24. Not great. Not enough for me to win, unless everyone else picked while drunk.

And, as the credits roll, what Oscar telecast would be complete without a THIRD reprise of the Terminator 2 theme, done in a soft orchestral manner.

Pre-Oscar Blog

2005-02-27T20:12:00.000-05:00

I hate the pre-show crap they have on ABC. Everyone is talking but not listening to each other as they fake smile to the camera.

Warren Beatty hasn't seen the spotlight in so long, he was speechless.

Halle Berry is here, straight from last night's Razzies where she actually accepted her "worst actress" award in person.

I don't think Laura Linney even saw her own movie...

This is just crap.

I'll be liveblogging the actual awards show when it starts.