Did I ever mention I love soccer? 

C'mon Folks - Show Them You're More Than Just Talk

Seriously, if you think this war is so noble and you're in good health, go sign up. Don't let others die for you.

What the Hell is going on at The University?

There's been a surge in racist incidents at my alma mater, UVa. What the hell? Read some more articles on the racial strife at UVa. Here, here and here.

How I Spent My Vacation

So, I went to San Diego over the weekend to visit my kid brother and his (pregnant) wife. I had a great time, though it's still weird for me to see my brother as a grown-up, married man. He's still a 11 year old kid in my mind - that's how old he was when I left home for college. And now, well he's going to be a dad next month! Before me! My little sister also became a parent before me, so I'm going to be getting advice from them for the 1st time in my life whenever the FW and I have a child. Not sure how I'm going to handle that!

Anyway, San Diego was fantastic. The weather was perfect, around 70 degrees each day, with brilliant sunshine. The 1st thing we did, of course, was go play hoops. When my brother was in high school and college, whenever we got together we would play hoops - it was our way of fighting (you know, like animals in the wild, establishing dominance). Up until this weekend, he'd only beaten me once, and he's still talking about it. Well, my dominance is over. He won 3 out of 5 games. I just can't hang with the young bucks anymore. I "retired" from my men's soccer team this season because I realized I just can't run as fast as want to and my recover time has increased to the point that I'm stiff for days (no Viagra jokes, please).

Went to see the Nats play the Padres Friday night - luckily it was the night Washington won before they began their tailspin. The weirdest thing about the trip was waking up Saturday morning, turning on the TV at 9:00 am, and seeing UVa vs. Syracuse. Something's wrong with football on that early!

So here's to my little brother, who's now a married man and a father to be. You've done good, boy (but I'll still whip that ass!).

Mmm, mmm, mmm!!

So, my Fab Wife bought me a bottle of "Ultimate Seasonings". It's "an exotic combination of fresh herbs and vegetables that bring the true taste of Africa to your table."

Trying to get me in touch with my roots, I guess. Whatever the reason, I'm using it now to make a chicken stew and rice. It'll be done in a few minutes, but man, it smells awesome!!!

Mission Accomplished

Um, no. Not really. As of today, over 1900 Americans have died in Iraq since the invasion. Is it worth it?

Great Start

Well, my trip to San Diego has gotten off to a great start. Not!!! The other night, I made reservations on SuperShuttle, to get me to Dulles (didn't want the FW to have to drive me all the way out here and then fight traffic to get back to work). The van was scheduled to pick me up between 4:50 and 5:05 am. Yep, A.M. !!! Around 5:15, no sign of the van, and no call from SuperShuttle. At 5:25, I called to see what was going on. No problem, they told me, the van is on the way - you're the last pick-up and he's just running a little late. He'll be there in 10-15 minutes. Well, at 5:50, still no van, so I called again. This time, I was asked "no one called you? You're going to have to call a cab or have your wife take you, we don't have any drivers today". WTF? They've already charged my card for the shuttle. They told me to get a receipt from the cab and fax it to them. So now, I'm out of close to $100 - $35 for the original reservation and $60 for the cab ride. I'm not a happy camper. But I made it to Dulles, where I am now sitting, drinking my coffee and chillin'. I'll holla from the left side later today.

Going West

Leaving in a few hours to visit my little brother and his wife in San Diego, so I'll be blogging from the other coast for a few days.

I believe!!

The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

This is great - I urge everyone to read it and check out the website.

Open letter to the Kansas School Board:

I am writing you with much concern after having read of your hearing to decide whether the alternative theory of Intelligent Design should be taught along with the theory of Evolution. I think we can all agree that it is important for students to hear multiple viewpoints so they can choose for themselves the theory that makes the most sense to them. I am concerned, however, that students will only hear one theory of Intelligent Design.

Let us remember that there are multiple theories of Intelligent Design. I and many others around the world are of the strong belief that the universe was created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster. It was He who created all that we see and all that we feel. We feel strongly that the overwhelming scientific evidence pointing towards evolutionary processes is nothing but a coincidence, put in place by Him.

It is for this reason that I’m writing you today, to formally request that this alternative theory be taught in your schools, along with the other two theories. In fact, I will go so far as to say, if you do not agree to do this, we will be forced to proceed with legal action. I’m sure you see where we are coming from. If the Intelligent Design theory is not based on faith, but instead another scientific theory, as is claimed, then you must also allow our theory to be taught, as it is also based on science, not on faith.

Some find that hard to believe, so it may be helpful to tell you a little more about our beliefs. We have evidence that a Flying Spaghetti Monster created the universe. None of us, of course, were around to see it, but we have written accounts of it. We have several lengthy volumes explaining all details of His power. Also, you may be surprised to hear that there are over 10 million of us, and growing. We tend to be very secretive, as many people claim our beliefs are not substantiated by observable evidence. What these people don’t understand is that He built the world to make us think the earth is older than it really is. For example, a scientist may perform a carbon-dating process on an artifact. He finds that approximately 75% of the Carbon-14 has decayed by electron emission to Nitrogen-14, and infers that this artifact is approximately 10,000 years old, as the half-life of Carbon-14 appears to be 5,730 years. But what our scientist does not realize is that every time he makes a measurement, the Flying Spaghetti Monster is there changing the results with His Noodly Appendage. We have numerous texts that describe in detail how this can be possible and the reasons why He does this. He is of course invisible and can pass through normal matter with ease.

I’m sure you now realize how important it is that your students are taught this alternate theory. It is absolutely imperative that they realize that observable evidence is at the discretion of a Flying Spaghetti Monster. Furthermore, it is disrespectful to teach our beliefs without wearing His chosen outfit, which of course is full pirate regalia. I cannot stress the importance of this enough, and unfortunately cannot describe in detail why this must be done as I fear this letter is already becoming too long. The concise explanation is that He becomes angry if we don’t.

You may be interested to know that global warming, earthquakes, hurricanes, and other natural disasters are a direct effect of the shrinking numbers of Pirates since the 1800s. For your interest, I have included a graph of the approximate number of pirates versus the average global temperature over the last 200 years. As you can see, there is a statistically significant inverse relationship between pirates and global temperature.

In conclusion, thank you for taking the time to hear our views and beliefs. I hope I was able to convey the importance of teaching this theory to your students. We will of course be able to train the teachers in this alternate theory. I am eagerly awaiting your response, and hope dearly that no legal action will need to be taken. I think we can all look forward to the time when these three theories are given equal time in our science classrooms across the country, and eventually the world; One third time for Intelligent Design, one third time for Flying Spaghetti Monsterism, and one third time for logical conjecture based on overwhelming observable evidence.

Sincerely Yours,

Bobby Henderson, concerned citizen.

Brownie quits

Only took him 2 weeks to do something right.

Brown heads back to DC

Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael Brown is being removed from his role managing Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, NBC News and The Associated Press reported Friday.

Two federal officials who wouldn't be identified told the AP that Brown is being sent back to Washington from Baton Rouge, La. He was the primary official overseeing the federal government's response to the disaster. NBC learned the same thing from a relief official.

1995

1994-95 was a damn good year for music. I've got MusicMatch on my computer, at home and at work. I can listen to just about any album ever, and today I'm listening to "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness". I haven't listend to the Smashing Pumpkins in awhile, and forgot just how damn good they were. Other albums I played a lot during 1995 were "Sixteen Stone" by Bush, "Tragic Kingdom" by No Doubt, "Seal" by Seal, and "Crazysexycool" by TLC. Remember these tunes - Gangsta's Paradise, Fantasy, This is How We Do It, Bullet with Butterfly Wings, and of course, Boombastic? Good times folks, good times. I was a no everything 26 year old sharing an awesome house in the Palisades section of DC, overlooking the Canal, with Derrick and Robbin - two of the best roommates I ever had. We seemed to have a party or cookout just about every weekend, regardless of the weather. Hot? Let's have a cookout. Raining? Let's have a party? Snowing? C'mon over! Yep, things were pretty good - Bill in the White House, economy rolling along, we thought the good times would last forever (wow, this sounds like some sappy show Fox would make - oh wait, it is. Reunion debuted last night).

Oh damn, gotta go - "1979" just came on!

Do you really think

this would have happened in Salt Lake City?

"The helicopters wouldn't stop."

Meanwhile

13 Americans have died in Iraq this month - and we're only a week into September. That's 1,895 American sons and daughters dead to keep us "safe".

Sure, no one thought the levee would break

From the St. Petersburg Times:

Just last year, FEMA hired a private company, IEM Inc. of Baton Rouge, to help conduct an eight-day drill for a fictional Category 5 hurricane in New Orleans named Pam. It included staging a helicopter evacuation of the Superdome, a prediction of 15 feet of water in parts of the city and the evacuation of 1-million people.
But the second part of the company's work - to design a plan to fix unresolved problems, such as evacuating sick and injured people and housing thousands of stranded residents - never occurred because the funding was cut.

This is absolutely gut wrenching

They thought they were being sent there to die (again, thanks to Daily Kos):

Sent: Saturday, September 03, 2005 10:13 AM
Subject: a survivor's story: Katrina in New Orleans

I heard from my aunt last night that my cousin Denise made it out of New Orleans; she's at her brother's in Baton Rouge. from what she told me:

Her mother, a licensed practical nurse, was called in to work on Sunday night at Memorial Hospital (historically known as Baptist Hospital to those of us from N.O.). Denise decided to stay with her mother, her niece and grandniece (who is 2 years old); she figured they'd be safe at the hospital. they went to Baptist, and had to wait hours to be assigned a room to sleep in; after they were finally assigned a room, two white nurses suddenly arrived after the cut-off time (time to be assigned a room), and Denise and her family were booted out; their room was given up to the new nurses. Denise was furious, and rather than stay at Baptist, decided to walk home (several blocks away) to ride out the storm at her mother's apartment. her mother stayed at the hospital.

she described it as the scariest time in her life. 3 of the rooms in the apartment (there are only 4) caved in. ceilings caved in, walls caved in. she huddled under a mattress in the hall. she thought she would die from either the storm or a heart attack. after the storm passed, she went back to Baptist to seek shelter (this was Monday). it was also scary at Baptist; the electricity was out, they were running on generators, there was no air conditioning. Tuesday the levees broke, and water began rising. they moved patients upstairs, saw boats pass by on what used to be streets. they were told that they would be evacuated, that buses were coming. then they were told they would have to walk to the nearest intersection, Napoleon and S. Claiborne, to await the buses. they waded out in hip-deep water, only to stand at the intersection, on the neutral ground (what y'all call the median) for 3 1/2 hours. the buses came and took them to the Ernest Memorial Convention Center. (yes, the convention center you've all seen on TV.)

Denise said she thought she was in hell. they were
there for 2 days, with no water, no food. no shelter. Denise, her mother (63 years old), her niece (21 years old), and 2-year-old grandniece. when they arrived, there were already thousands of people there. they were told that buses were coming. police drove by, windows rolled up, thumbs up signs. national guard trucks rolled by, completely empty, soldiers with guns cocked and aimed at them. nobody stopped to drop off water. a helicopter dropped a load of water, but all the bottles exploded on impact due to the height of
the helicopter.

the first day (Wednesday) 4 people died next to her. the second day (Thursday) 6 people died next to her. Denise told me the people around her all thought they had been sent there to die. again, nobody stopped. the only buses that came were full; they dropped off more and more people, but nobody was being picked up and taken away. they found out that those being dropped off had been rescued from rooftops and attics; they got off the buses delirious from lack of water and food. completely dehydrated. the crowd tried to keep them all in one area; Denise said the new arrivals had mostly lost their minds. they had gone crazy.

inside the convention center, the place was one huge bathroom. in order to shit, you had to stand in other people's shit. the floors were black and slick with shit. most people stayed outside because the smell was so bad. but outside wasn't much better: between the heat, the humidity, the lack of water, the old and very young dying from dehydration... and there was no place to lay down, not even room on the sidewalk. they slept outside Wednesday night, under an overpass.

Denise said yes, there were young men with guns there. but they organized the crowd. they went to Canal Street and "looted," and brought back food and water for the old people and the babies, because nobody had eaten in days. when the police rolled down windows and yelled out "the buses are coming," the young men with guns organized the crowd in order: old people in front, women and children next, men in the back. just so that when the buses came, there would be priorities of who got out first.

Denise said the fights she saw between the young men with guns were fist fights. she saw them put their guns down and fight rather than shoot up the crowd. but she said that there were a handful of people shot in the convention center; their bodies were left inside, along with other dead babies and old people.

Denise said the people thought there were being sent there to die. lots of people being dropped off, nobody being picked up. cops passing by, speeding off. national guard rolling by with guns aimed at them. and yes, a few men shot at the police, because at a certain point all the people thought the cops were coming to hurt them, to kill them all. she saw a young man who had stolen a car speed past, cops in pursuit; he crashed the car, got out and ran, and the cops shot him in the back. in front of the whole crowd. she saw many groups of people decide that they were going to walk across the bridge to the west bank, and those same groups would return, saying that they were met at the top of the bridge by armed police ordering them to turn around, that they weren't allowed to leave.

so they all believed they were sent there to die. Denise's niece found a pay phone, and kept trying to call her mother's boyfriend in Baton Rouge, and finally got through and told him where they were. the boyfriend, and Denise's brother, drove down from Baton Rouge and came and got them. they had to bribe a few cops, and talk a few into letting them into the city ("come on, man, my 2-year-old niece is at the Convention Center!"), then they took back roads to get to them.

after arriving at my other cousin's apartment in Baton Rouge, they saw the images on TV, and couldn't believe how the media was portraying the people of New Orleans. she kept repeating to me on the phone last night: make sure you tell everybody that they left us there to die. nobody came. those young men with guns were protecting us. if it wasn't for them, we wouldn't have had the little water and food they had found.

that's Denise Moore's story.

Lisa C. Moore
Update [2005-9-6 22:51:57 by ch2]:: The accounts rang true to me, and I'm a professional skeptic (a scientist), but I respect anyone who wants to approach these stories carefully. I'm initiating an email trackdown of Lisa Moore. If I get a confirmation, I will urge the original author (Lisa Moore), or better yet the survivor herself (Denise Moore), to post at Daily Kos. peace, ch2.
Update [2005-9-6 23:25 by ch2]: Claude B in the comments found the same story in "Libération", a French newspaper. They have additional information about the Moore family. Here's my translation:

The Moore family is large and long established creole Catholic family in New Orleans, the Moores are musicians - Deacon John (Moore) is the most famous one of them - professors, nurses... Their houses are now submerged by flooding, and most of them have lost everything following Katrina's passage. Lisa Moore, editor (Redbone press), has collected the testimony of her 43 year-old cousin, Denise Moore, once an education counselor, now a refugee in Baton Rouge. Here is her tale of a dive into Hell

This always makes me feel better

The past week has been horrible. As I wrote earlier, I was in a rage over what happened last week in in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. I'm still pretty mad about it. But whenever I get really angry, I listen to this, my favorite sound in the world, and feel a whole lot better about the world.

Take a look

Via Daily Kos:

"It makes no sense to spend billions of dollars to rebuild a city that's seven feet under sea level....It looks like a lot of that place could be bulldozed."
--House Speaker Dennis Hastert (8/31/05)

"I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees."
--President Bush (9/1/05)

"The federal government did not even know about the convention center people until today."
--FEMA director Michael Brown (9/1/05)

HALLIBURTON GETS KATRINA CONTRACT
--Headline (9/1/05)

"Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job."
--President Bush (9/2/05)

"Days before Katrina nearly wiped New Orleans off the map, 9,000 Jewish residents of Gaza were driven from their homes with the full support of the United States government. Could this be a playing out of prophesy?"
--Rick Scarborough (9/4/05)

"I remember on Tuesday morning picking up newspapers and I saw headlines, 'New Orleans Dodged The Bullet.'"
--Chertoff (9/4/05)

"...but the media has a fascination with the blame game and instead of looking for what can we do to help now there's a lot of why didn't we do something different?"
--George H.W. Bush (9/5/05)

"What I'm hearing which is sort of scary is that they all want to stay in Texas. Everybody is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway so this...this is working very well for them."
--Barbara Bush (9/5/05)

"I dropped a twenty in the bucket."
--Millionaire Jeb Bush, speaking from the broadcast booth on a collection for hurricane relief at the Miami-Florida State game. (9/5/05)

"I understand there are 10,000 people dead. It's terrible. It's tragic. But in a democracy of 300 million people, over years and years and years, these things happen."
--GOP strategist Jack Burkman defending Bush (9/6/05)

If you ignore it, it doesn't exist

FEMA won't allow reporters to photograph the dead.

The whole family is f***ed up

Via Atrios:

NEW YORK Accompanying her husband, former President George H.W.Bush, on a tour of hurricane relief centers in Houston, Barbara Bush said today, referring to the poor who had lost everything back home and evacuated, "This is working very well for them."

...

In a segment at the top of the show on the surge of evacuees to the Texas city, Barbara Bush said: "Almost everyone I’ve talked to wants to move to Houston."

Then she added: "What I’m hearing is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed with the hospitality.

"And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway so this (she chuckled)--this is working very well for them."

It's just unbelievable what the bastard will do

It's a fuckin' Potemkin village going on:

From Senator Landrieu's office -

But perhaps the greatest disappointment stands at the breached 17th Street levee. Touring this critical site yesterday with the President, I saw what I believed to be a real and significant effort to get a handle on a major cause of this catastrophe. Flying over this critical spot again this morning, less than 24 hours later, it became apparent that yesterday we witnessed a hastily prepared stage set for a Presidential photo opportunity; and the desperately needed resources we saw were this morning reduced to a single, lonely piece of equipment. The good and decent people of southeast Louisiana and the Gulf Coast - black and white, rich and poor, young annd old - deserve far better from their national governmeent.

And from warandpeace.com:

September 03, 2005
If he could go to Baghdad, why didn't Bush go to the New Orleans Superdome or the Convention Center? It was bizarre for all of the country and much of the world to be watching those scenes for days on our TVs and news reports, and for Bush's photo ops to be in areas that were far less critical. I know there are security considerations but his visit seemed extraordinarily hollow even by this administration's standard of ultra-stage managed events.

Dutch viewer Frank Tiggelaar writes:

There was a striking dicrepancy between the CNN International report on the Bush visit to the New Orleans disaster zone, yesterday, and reports of the same event by German TV.

ZDF News reported that the president's visit was a completely staged event. Their crew witnessed how the open air food distribution point Bush visited in front of the cameras was torn down immediately after the president and the herd of 'news people' had left and that others which were allegedly being set up were abandoned at the same time.

The people in the area were once again left to fend for themselves, said ZDF.

Bush blames state and local officials

And takes no blame for the Feds. Despite the fact that last Saturday, FEMA was authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency. From the White House's own website:

The President's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives, protect property and public health and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe

So true

via Wonkette:

the GOP could ensure Republican dominance to the end of the century if instead of heading to the airport, George Bush took Marine One to the Convention Center and just started handing out water. Democrat black vote? What Democratic black vote.

Rage

I'm in a slow-burning rage right now. Part of me can't believe that the government (federal, state and local) weren't prepared for this, can't believe that Guard units still haven't secured the city of New Orleans, can't believe that Americans are dying from dehydration and lack of medicine, can't believe any of this. But another part of me believes it, and isn't too surprised. After all, these are poor, black folks suffering. Looks like Africa, right? I know, deep in my soul, that if the Great Salt Lake flooded and Salt Lake City was in the shape of New Orleans, help would have arrived by now. You may say I'm playing the "race card", and you know what, I am. Because black folks have been fucked over by this country since day one. Slavery may just be something you read about in history books, but not to us. My Dad's father was born in 1871, 6 years after the Civil War ended. My great-grandparents were slaves. My parents had to march to get the right to vote, to be allowed to eat where they wanted to. I was born in 1968 - my wife and I couldn't have married each other the year I was born. Race and poverty are the pink elephants in the room, and no one wants to talk about it. We all think the entire country is white and middle class. No, it isn't. And the scenes from New Orleans are showing that to the nation.

And I don't give a damn that Bush is Republican. If he was a Democrat, I'd be raging against him. This is FUCKED UP!! The hurricane was Monday, damnit, and he's just now getting ready to go and view the damage? C'mon, man. Forget the politics, screw your advisors. Be a fuckin' human being. Help these people. Don't give bullshit press conferences. Open up some military bases, house these people in barracks. GET OFF YOUR ASS AND GET TO WORK!! Your the President of the United States, not President of the people who voted for you. Don't tell us bullshit about no one knew this would happen. We new for days a huge storm was gonna hit the Gulf Coast. Just fucking tell the truth. We weren't prepared, we fucked up, and we're going to do whatever it takes to fix this shit.

I don't cry. I just don't. Yet watching the news coming out of New Orleans, and Biloxi, tears are just streaming down my face.

This isn't supposed to happen here.

And today's "No Shit Sherlock Award"

Goes to our Commander-in-Chief:

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- President Bush told reporters on Friday that millions of tons of food and water are on the way to the people stranded in the wake of Hurricane Katrina -- but he said the results of the relief effort "are not acceptable."

Not acceptable? How about the results are a major fuck-up of epic proportions? I remember a few years ago when DC was hit by a blizzard and Mayor Barry was in San Diego at the Super Bowl. He got shit about that for years. And now W stays on vacation for 2 days after Katrina hit. What the hell?

Meanwhile,

While Rome burned:

George H.W. Bush, appearing with Bill Clinton on CNN today, said that he thinks that members of his son's administration are "taking all the right steps" on Hurricane Katrina. They'll certainly look good doing it. As conditions continue to deteriorate in New Orleans, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was spotted today in New York, where she reportedly spent several thousand dollars on new shoes.

From salon.com

A note from Louisiana

My wife sent me this, from a co-worker of hers:

Ask everyone you know to donate to the Red Cross. They are staged in Baton Rouge with FEMA. Things are rapidly getting out of control here. Looting, home invasions, car jackings. People are desperate. If you have any pull with the president, get the federal troops here NOW. Low on gas, food and other creature comforts. But our families and properties are safe. It is all such a mix of emotions. People needing help and people causing trouble.

So ask anyone you know to make a donation and to give til it feels like they gave something. Our city's in ruins.

Craig

Folks, this is a tragedy like we've never seen in this country. Please, click on the link to the right and donate now to the Red Cross. Open up your home to those who need shelter. These are Americans. This isn't right.

You can help

If you have space in your home, please, please help out the victims of Katrina. Adopt a family if you can. Click here to find out how.

And now some good news

We've all been barraged with bad news. Well, here's some good news. Rev Run (Run from Run DMC) has an album coming out in October, and here's his 1st single. Takes me back to Gar-Field High School in the '80s!!

I can't imagine

what these people are going through. Absolutely horrible.

Things are getting bad, really bad

We just paid $2.99 a gallon here in Alexandria. The worst part is, pretty soon we're probably gonna run out of gasoline. It's already started in North Carolina and West Virginia.

This picture was taken yesterday in Georgia. Incredible.

Why they stayed behind

I've heard lots of folks wondering why so many people stayed behind in New Orleans and didn't evacuate. It's because they're poor! Not everyone has a car and money for a hotel room, people. New Orleans isn't all Bourbon St. It's one of the poorest cities in the country.

From today's Washington Post:

Many of the residents left in New Orleans are poor, and while some people have criticized them for failing to heed mandatory evacuation orders, many residents say they were simply unable to get out for financial or medical reasons.
"People are saying that those stuck in New Orleans now are those that wanted to stay, but that's not true," said Danelle Fleming, a New Orleans-based social worker. "They wanted to leave, but they couldn't."

She said that the city's Greyhound station was closing Saturday afternoon -- even as people without cars were trying to leave.

After being rescued from her roof, Moses said she was among those unable to evacuate before the hurricane. "My mother-in-law went out of town, but I didn't have any money, so I couldn't," she said.

Please Help the Victims of Katrina

Give to the Red Cross.

So, let me get this straight...

White people "find food" in grocery stores hit by Katrina. Black people "loot" grocery stores hit by Katrina. That's pretty f***ed up.

Help New Orleans

The Red Cross is taking donations now. Click here to help out.

42 years ago today

"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today."

More on the Lounge

From the Post...

"Popular Capitol Hill hangout Capitol Lounge was devistated by a fire early
this morning. A jogger called 911 to report smoke coming from the windows of
the bar, located at 231 Pennsylvania Ave. SE, around 6 a.m., and all
residents who live on the upper floors of the building were evacuated
safely. The bar's interior, filled with political memorabilia (Nixon signs,
Kennedy campaign badges, a Marion Barry poster) is completely gutted.

Initial media reports have suggested that a improperly extinguished
cigarette was the source of the fire, but longtime Capitol Lounge bartender
and manager Tony Tomelden said he suspects "faulty wiring" was responsible
for the blaze. "It seems from what firemen and the cops are telling me, it
started in the back, and there's no reason anyone would have been smoking
back there," he said.

D.C. Fire and EMS spokeswoman Catherine Friedman said, "Investigators have
indicated they don't believe it's suspicious, but beyond that, I don't have
anything concrete."

Cheap happy hour food and drink specials (those 25-cent tacos frequently hit
the spot on Wednesday evenings), friendly bartenders and kitschy decor made
the Lounge an after-work favorite of Hill staffers and interns. But it was
also a favorite gathering place for soccer fans -- a collection of scarves
representing foreign teams hung over the bar -- and alumni groups, who
gathered to watch college football over pizzas and pitchers of beer.

It will be missed.
-- Fritz"

Sad Day

One of my favorite watering holes, The Capitol Lounge, has burned down. I started going there 10 years ago when I lived on the Hill. Always a good place for some suds - they poured a nice Guinness. It's the place I 1st bought my little brother a beer. They're also the sponsor of my soccer team, The Capitol Lounge Rovers.

"Investigators determined an improperly discarded cigarette that was tossed into a trashcan by a workman caused the fire." Smoking sucks, people.

Joke of the Day

How many members of the Bush administration does it take to change a light bulb?

Ten.

1. One to deny that a light bulb needs to be changed;

2. One to attack the patriotism of anyone who says the light bulb needs to be changed;

3. One to blame Clinton for burning out the light bulb;

4. One to tell the nations of the world that they are either for changing the light bulb or for eternal darkness;

5. One to give a billion dollar no-bid contract to Halliburton for the new light bulb;

6. One to arrange a photograph of Bush, dressed as a janitor, standing on a step ladder under the banner 'Bulb Accomplished';

7. One administration insider to resign and in detail reveal how Bush was literally 'in the dark' the whole time;

8. One to viciously smear No. 7;

9. One surrogate to campaign on TV and at rallies on how George Bush has had a strong light-bulb-changing policy all along;

10. And finally, one to confuse Americans about the difference between screwing a light bulb and screwing the country.

A little help please?

Can someone tell me what those yellow "Support Our Troops" stickers are for? Do they mean support the war? How do we support our troops? Pressure W to give them body armor? I think the best way to support them would be to bring the home, but Vietnam veteran Gary Knudson, 64, of South Dakota, who attended W's rally in Salt Lake City yesterday, takes issue with with that stance, shared by Cindy Sheehan, of supporting the troops but being against the war. "You can't have it both ways," he said. "I think she's misguided."

I think we should all drive around with this ribbon.

Damn, he makes Nixon look good!

W's latest numbers suck!

His overall job approval ratings have dropped from a month ago even as Americans who approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president are turning more optimistic about their personal financial situations according to the latest survey from the American Research Group. Among all Americans, 36% approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president and 58% disapprove. When it comes to Bush's handling of the economy, 33% approve and 62% disapprove.

Richard Nixon’s approval rating in the summer of 1973 (when the Watergate scandal was in full swing) was 39%.

Don't be surprised if we go to a "Code Red" soon to scare us into loving him again.

I still want to know why those in the 36% range still support him.

I gotta get me some of those!!

So, I'm sitting here watching the EPL Preview show on Fox Soccer Channel - the greatest channel ever, by the way, and they just did a story on a new development from Nike. The Nike Maxsight Contact Lenses. Now, I've been playing soccer since I was about 6 years old and have played goalkeeper for most of that time, and anything that will help my game is great. I can't tell you how many times I've lost the ball because of the sun or because it blends into the grey sky - this is gonna rock!

The Beer is Nasty

But the ads kick ass!! Check 'em out.

On a happier note...

My old roommate Marc finally asked his lady, Siobhan, to marry him last night. And she said yes!!! Congrats, kids. You're both awesome!!

Call your parents

Tell them you love them. Now.

My mother-in-law had a heart attack early this morning and is in surgery now. The FW (fabulous wife) is at the hospital while I keep an eye on things here at home. My mom had a biopsy today of some lesions on her leg. She'll get the results on Thursday.

My parents 40th wedding anniversary is next week, my Dad turns 65 a few days later, my grandmother turns 81 tomorrow. Call your loved ones and let them know how much they mean to you. Seriously.

Shocking!!!!!

Rich people are happier than the poor!

August in DC

It's hot - Amazon hot, Congo hot, f'ing hot. I've been playing in my softball tourney this weekend - saved the field yesterday on the Ellipse in 95 degree weather and today it felt even worse. Someone today posed the question "What did people do before A/C?" The FW, correctly, said that they worked and dealt with it. Someone else said maybe, but they surely didn't work too hard. I had to remind them that if you had someone on horseback whippin' your ass, you worked hard.

It's hot.

Inter (fill in the Blank) Marriage and Dating

So, on today's Kojo Nnamdi show, the topic was inter-racial marriage, a topic very near to my heart, right FW? Anyway, a recent study found that the metropolitan Washington D.C. region has the highest rate of interracial marriage in the country. Something I always suspected but was never sure of. Reason #1 why the wife and want to stay in the area to raise our kids.

I was wondering about other inter______ marriages/relationships. I think inter-racial, inter-faith, whatever marriages are cool, obviously. But I don't think I could have ever dated, much less married, the FW if she was Republican. I just think our worldviews would have been so different. Race is just a social construct, as far as I'm concerned. Yes, my wife and I have cultural differences, but she would have had them with anyone she married - she's 1st generation American, the daughter of two immigrants. Our biggest difference is our socio-economic background. Also, despite all outward appearances, most religions, at their most basic, also teach the same lesson - love each other. So that's not really a big issue when you think about it, apart from all the pageantry and symbolism different religions wrap themselves in and the way people interpret them. But political differences, I don't know. That's huge - it encompasses so many different things - your views on race, religion, gender, sexuality, economic policy, poverty... I could go on forever.

If anyone out there is dating someone "other", other religion, race, politics, let me know how it's going.

Priceless

Parking at Municipal Garage in Annapolis - $2.50

Lunch for two at Buddy's Crabs and Ribs - $58.00

Spending a Friday roadtrip with Dad - Priceless

How much vacation time do you have?

W's about to go on a 5 week vacation. Yep, 5 weeks. He's been on the job for 4 1/2 years, and he gets a 5 week vacation? I can see if he'd never taken any time off, but he's already take a total of 319 days for vacations, that's almost a whole year!! Or 20% of his total time in office. Lazy SOB.

How's that Mandate?

From the USAToday:

President Bush's job approval ratings have hit the lowest point of his tenure and the number of Americans with an unfavorable opinion of him has reached 50% for the first time, according to a Gallup poll released Friday....

Coolest site ever!!

Just found this great little site, Feeling Retro. If you were born sometime in the 60's, these toys should bring back some great memories. Some are especially poignant for me, including my best friend "Gunky" (I couldn't pronounce monkey).

I really had a great childhood (thanks Mom and Dad). Tons of friends, lots of toys, playing outside until it got dark in the summer, not afraid of being abducted - though we did have an urban myth back in the day (the mid-to-late 70's) about The Man In The Van, a guy who supposedly drove around in a white panel van looking for kids to steal. We spent hours outside, playing kickball, king of the mountain, war (with bb guns and cap guns - somehow, no one ever got really hurt) in the model homes being built in our sub-division. We were fit back then, well most of us, and even if we did get Atari later on, we still spent most of our time outdoors. Aaah, nostalgia!

I still remember everyone's names, 30 some years later - David Clinton, Chris Daniels, Trevor Evans, Rodney Speaks, Jeff Parker, Pat Cooper, Alex Lombardo (who moved to Hong Kong in the 4th grade), Jay Gholson. I remember being terrified of everyone's older brothers (especially Trevor's brother Brett - man, he was a sadistic SOB), though Jeff's brother Dwayne was like a big brother to most of us, looking out for us and making sure no one picked on us too much. We'd have sleep overs, with the inevitable "fart contests", which my baby brother inevitably won (he had the advantage of still wearing training pants, so if something more than methane came out, so be it)! Is there any wonder why boys and girls don't like each other when they're 7-10 years old? Though, I have to admit, I did have a crush on Jana Lauchenstrader (sp?) up the street, as well as Tammy Brandt, but I think we all had a crush on Tammy Brandt.

On Saturday mornings, Dad would make breakfast, and we'd run to the den and turn on the TV to watch "real cartoons", not thr 1/2 hour long commercials they have now. Then, we'd pile into the car (an aircraft carrier sized Chevy Impala Wagon! - I was oldest, so I always got the tailgunner seat) and head to either the library or drive into the city and visit the Smithsonian. Unless, of course, it was soccer season. And yep, I'm still playing.

Non-White Woman Missing

From the Allspinzone:

Missing Pregnant 25 YO Mother Alert (Non-White Division)
TO: Ms. Nancy Grace, Headline News / CNN Host

Dear Ms. Grace,

Latoyia Figueroa is still missing after 8 days. And as tragic as the Natalee Holloway case might be, Natalee doesn't have a seven year old child wondering where she is, nor was Natalee (to the best of our knowledge) 5 months pregnant.

Here's an overview of the important details in this “missing woman” case:

1) Latoyia (we should only use her first name) is not white.
2) She does not have blonde hair.
3) She was not scheduled to get married last weekend.
4) She's from West Philadelphia.
5) There may actually be a lead or two in her case.
6) HER UNBORN BABY, HER UNBORN BABY, HER UNBORN BABY.
7) To the best of our knowledge, no one from Texas has yet offered to bring in cadaver dogs to search for Latoyia, nor have forensic dive teams volunteered to scour the Schuylkill or Delaware rivers.
8 ) Also to the best of our knowledge, the FBI hasn't been requested to participate in the investigation (even though Philly actually is in the US of A), nor have any DNA samples been rushed to Washington, DC.
9) HER UNBORN BABY, HER UNBORN BABY, HER UNBORN BABY.

I hope this enough for you to run with - certainly, the crackerjack CNN research team available to you can fill in any speculative details or obscure leads of prurient interest. While it's doubtful that Latoyia's family can offer $100 reward, much less $1 million (as has Natalee's), I'm sure they'd still have an undying gratitude for any of your viewers who could turn up a lead on Latoyia.

Perfection

Just sitting here, listening to some tunes, and my favorite song of all time is playing. "God Only Knows" by the Beach Boys. It's just perfect - the lyrics, the music, the harmonies. Everything about it works. It was on my list of songs to play at my wedding reception, but I don't think it got played.

Take a listen. You'll be happy you did.

One could only wish

Take a look at Sunday's Doonesbury.

Interesting take on Roberts

Here's an interesting look at SCOTUS nominee John Roberts from BagnewsNotes.

Today's lesson

This is for the self-righteous folks who love to quote scripture and tell us how to live our lives,complain about folks on welfare, and worship the almighty dollar:

And if your brother becomes poor, and cannot maintain himself with you, you shall maintain him; as a stranger and a sojourner he shall live with you. Take no interest from him or increase, but fear your God; that your brother may live beside you. You shall not lend him your money at interest, nor give him your food for profit. I am the Lord your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God. (Leviticus 25:35-38)

The community of believers were of one heart and one mind. None of them ever claimed anything as his own; rather, everything was held in common. With power the apostles bore witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great respect was paid to them all; nor was there anyone needy among them, for all who owned property or houses sold them and lay them at the feet of the apostles to be distributed to everyone according to his need. (Acts 4:32-35)

That's my boy!!

Just wanted to give a shout out to my baby brother and his band, Los Able Minded Poets. Their website is up an running. Check it out.

W's SCOTUS Nominee

So, W has finally picked a nominee for the Supreme Court. And the timing has nothing to do with the Rove story, right? Right. Anyway, the thing that jumps out at me about Roberts isn't his politics - did we really thing W would nominate another Thurgood Marshall - but rather this: He's only been a judge for 2 years!!! 2 friggin' years folks!! You can't tell me he's the most qualified person in this country to sit on the Supreme Court when he has next to no judicial experience. Damn, this is just ridiculous.

I'm back

From Canada, that is. I had a wonderful time - the FW's family is really awesome, and just as welcoming as her family in Ireland.

Canada is a beautiful country, at least the parts I saw (Ottawa, Kitchener/Waterloo and Goderich). Visiting Canada was a bit strange, I have to admit. Everything seemed familiar, but was just a bit off - enough to make you tilt your head a bit. Remember that Seinfeld episode when Elaine met the "Bizzarro Jerry"? It was like that. The 1st thing I noticed was the French radio stations and the bi-lingual road signs. It was also interesting to drive through small farm towns and see the Maple Leaf flying, when my brain was expecting to see the Stars and Stripes (or even the Stars and Bars - I'm a Virginian). There's also a general lack of pigment. Every time I saw another black face in Ottawa, we'd do the "Brother Nod" - the universal Black Man acknowledgement when there aren't too many of us around - seen most commonly on college campuses and hallways across corporate America. Stopping to eat in small diners in rural Ontario, I'd get a few looks, but mostly I was told because they're just not used to seeing a black face except on TV, not any "what the hell are you doing here" looks.

More on my Canuck travels later.

Hot, Hot, Hot!!!

So today it was 101 degrees in Ottawa (at least according to the thermometer in the car). Yikes!! We toured Parliement today and saw the changing of the guard. Very cool. Aunt Rita is something else! She's an 82 year old nun and has been running circles around us. I have no idea where she gets this energy! Yesterday, we arrived in Ottawa around 3:00 pm after driving from Syracuse. At 3:13, Aunt Rita had us back in the car, headed downtown. No time to rest, no sir! We had an agenda we had to keep. We had a great time yesterday - crossed the river into Quebec and went to the Museum of Civilization. Very cool. Later, we went back into Ottawa (after getting lost in Quebec looking for the new casino - Why can't they use English signs in Quebec? Had dinner at a Scottish pub, then went to the light and music show at Parliement. Very nice.

We have 7 hours of driving tomorrow as we head to Kitchener. More later.

Almost there

We've stopped in Syracuse tonight on our way to Ottawa. It was a beautiful drive up 81 today, until we caught up with the storm that hit DC on Friday around Scranton.

Leaving early tomorrow AM, will write much more once we reach Ottawa.

Canada, eh 

Headed to Canada

The FW and I are headed to Canada tomorrow - driving from DC to Ottawa. Her father's family all live in Ontario, so we're going for a little family visit. I've never met this side of her family before - they're all pretty old and weren't able to come down for the wedding, except for Aunt Rita, who we're going to visit 1st in Ottawa. I'm bringing our laptop along, so I'll keep updating as we travel around Ontario. Should be pretty interesting.

Attack in London

As you're all aware, there was an attack in London this morning. Just got an e-mail from my friend Shona:

"Hey guys

Thank you, its mad. We're waiting in work at the
moment for the transport to start again to get home.

We knew it would happen at some point but its very
scary when it does.

S x."

For more 1st hand accounts of the attack, check out The Guardian's Blog.

For ECAG

I thought it was a wonderful gesture by the Yankees to erect a statue of Bernie Williams in centerfield.

Then I realized that WAS Bernie Williams.

Love ya, Denhardt!

Wahoowa! 

The Declaration of Independence

In CONGRESS, July 4th, 1776.

The Unanimous Declaration of Independence of the thirteen united States of America.



When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, having its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. Such has been the patient suffrance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their acts of pretended legislation.

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offenses:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighboring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally, the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with Power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever:

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizen taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connection and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Happy Independence Day!! 

It's gonna be a long summer

So today, Sandra Day O'Connor resigned from the Supreme Court. Folks, it's about to get really, really ugly. Will W do the sensible thing and nominate a moderate, much like O'Connor herself? Or will he give the wingnuts what they want, a hardline conservative? My heart tells me he'll do the right thing for the country and appoint a moderate. My brain says no effin' way he'll do that. Just what the country needs now, more hatred, from both sides. Yeah, I'm a liberal, but I don't agree lock-step with everything the Dems do. For instance, I think it's a mistake to make abortion rights such a huge issue. But then again, I'm a man and will never have to worry about getting pregnant, unless something extraordinary occurs in science (remember "Junior" with the Governator?). Yep, it's gonna be really ugly.

By the way, I can totally understand why Matthew Perry got hooked on Vicodin. I'm taking it now for the pain from having my 4 wisdom teeth pulled. The best way I can describe is that it's like living in a marshmallow. Totally, totally mellow and relaxed. Not a care in the world. I can still feel the pain, but it's like it's happening to someone else, not me. It's almost like an out of body experience. I've just taken my 1st of the day. I'm trying not to take too much, but the pain has won out this time. I only took 2 yesterday. The 1st night, I was eating them like candy. Can't wait until the pain goes away.

This is my dog Kaleb, who, in my humble opinion, is the best dog in the world. I had my 4 wisdom teeth pulled yesterday and have been at home all day in horrible pain (helped somewhat by Vicodin). Well, Kaleb has not left my side this whole time. When I'm on the couch, he's there with me. When I'm in bed, there he is. I don't know what I'd do without him and the FW. 

Out of commission

I won't be posting much today or tomorrow - getting my wisdom teeth pulled this afternoon and will be out of commission for a day or so (yeah, I'm a wimp).

I can't get enough of this

I'm sitting here crying, I'm laughing so hard:

No. 17
1998: After Houston takes Turkey's Mirsad Turkcan near the end of Round 1, Majerus compares Turkcan to Moses Malone and officially gets cut off by the bar at Vancouver's GM Place.



(Note: This was the same draft where Majerus described Kings pick Jason Williams by gushing "He's got great 'feel for the game,' and you can't coach 'feel for the game.'" We later found out that Williams also had great "feel for the bong.")

More draft greats

No. 37
2001: The Clips trade the rights to No. 2 pick Tyson Chandler to Chicago for Elton Brand. That's right, after 47 years, Elgin Baylor finally made a good trade! Watching the draft live, Dad and I immediately start stockpiling water and canned goods and preparing for the apocalypse.

The Sports Guy

One of my favorite lunchtime activities, other than eating, is reading the Sports Guy's (Bill Simmons) column at espn.com. Today, he ranked the top 60 NBA draft moments. My favorite:

No. 45
2004: Before the draft even starts, Bilas describes Dwight Howard as "very ball friendly" and announces he has graded potential draftees in a number of categories from 1 to 5, including "Intangibles," prompting my buddy Jacko to wonder, "How do you rank intangibles from 1 to 5? Intangibles are the great unknown. And yet he ranks them. Is he clairvoyant?"

Flip Flop Much?

From Thinkprogress.org

1999, George W. Bush criticized President Clinton for not setting a timetable for exiting Kosovo, and yet he refuses to apply the same standard to his war.

George W. Bush, 4/9/99:

“Victory means exit strategy, and it’s important for the president to explain to us what the exit strategy is.”

And on the specific need for a timetable, here’s what Bush said then and what he says now:

George W. Bush, 6/5/99


“I think it’s also important for the president to lay out a timetable as to how long they will be involved and when they will be withdrawn.”

George W. Bush, 6/24/05:

“It doesn’t make any sense to have a timetable. You know, if you give a timetable, you’re — you’re conceding too much to the enemy.”

And now baseball?

So now the GOP is threatening Major League Baseball. George Soros, a big Democratic donor, is part of an ownership group that wants to buy the Washington Nationals. But Republicans don't want him to have it. Read it here.

So it was okay for W to own the Rangers, but it's not okay for one of us to own a team? It's a slippery slope my friends.

Let me explain my anger

at Karl Rove's recent remarks. I'm a liberal. I'm proud to be a liberal. Without liberals, women wouldn't be allowed to vote, we wouldn't have public education, there'd be no 5 day work weeks, or sick leave, an integrated military, neighborhoods or school systems, health care for the poor and elderly. Hell, without liberals, Jeb Bush and Clarence Thomas wouldn't have been allowed to marry their wives. And when we were attacked on 9/11/01, I was ready to strike back. And we did - in Afghanistan.

So don't tell me I'm helping getting our troops killed. I lived about a mile south of the Pentagon that day. My apartment stank of the smoke from the explosion for days. I drive by the Pentagon every day on my way to work, and for too long, that black scar served as a reminder to me of that day.

This mess in Iraq has nothing at all to do with 9-11, and we all know it. So don't say liberals want our troops to die and are in collusion with the enemy. You're getting desperate, and know that you're living in a house of cards. The emperor has no clothes, ladies and gentlemen.

Hey Karl Rove,

If we liberals really wanted to get our troops killed in Iraq, we'd support your fucked up war! By the way, aren't Jenna and Barbara Bush eligible to enlist in the military? W, if this war is so righteous, why aren't your kids fighting?

F*** You, Rove

So, Karl Rove thinks liberals are aiding and abetting the enemy?

You know what I say to that? F*** you!! It's so apparent now what this administration wants - no dissent. Republican Party = God = right. It's like I woke up in an alternate universe, except it's real.

Contact your Representative or Senator now and ask them if they agree with Rove!!

Is Tom Cruise Darth Sidious?

You tell me!

Happy Summer!!

It's now officially summer, so crank up the A/C!!

Glad to be an Episcopalian

Just read the Rev. John Danforth's op-ed in today's NY Times. Danforth was once Senator (R) from Missouri and he's also an Episcopal priest. Reading this, it reminds me of the ideas and beliefs my father instilled in me:


It would be an oversimplification to say that America's culture wars are now between people of faith and nonbelievers. People of faith are not of one mind, whether on specific issues like stem cell research and government intervention in the case of Terri Schiavo, or the more general issue of how religion relates to politics. In recent years, conservative Christians have presented themselves as representing the one authentic Christian perspective on politics. With due respect for our conservative friends, equally devout Christians come to very different conclusions.

It is important for those of us who are sometimes called moderates to make the case that we, too, have strongly held Christian convictions, that we speak from the depths of our beliefs, and that our approach to politics is at least as faithful as that of those who are more conservative. Our difference concerns the extent to which government should, or even can, translate religious beliefs into the laws of the state.

People of faith have the right, and perhaps the obligation, to bring their values to bear in politics. Many conservative Christians approach politics with a certainty that they know God's truth, and that they can advance the kingdom of God through governmental action. So they have developed a political agenda that they believe advances God's kingdom, one that includes efforts to "put God back" into the public square and to pass a constitutional amendment intended to protect marriage from the perceived threat of homosexuality.

Moderate Christians are less certain about when and how our beliefs can be translated into statutory form, not because of a lack of faith in God but because of a healthy acknowledgement of the limitations of human beings. Like conservative Christians, we attend church, read the Bible and say our prayers.

But for us, the only absolute standard of behavior is the commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves. Repeatedly in the Gospels, we find that the Love Commandment takes precedence when it conflicts with laws. We struggle to follow that commandment as we face the realities of everyday living, and we do not agree that our responsibility to live as Christians can be codified by legislators.

When, on television, we see a person in a persistent vegetative state, one who will never recover, we believe that allowing the natural and merciful end to her ordeal is more loving than imposing government power to keep her hooked up to a feeding tube.

When we see an opportunity to save our neighbors' lives through stem cell research, we believe that it is our duty to pursue that research, and to oppose legislation that would impede us from doing so.

We think that efforts to haul references of God into the public square, into schools and courthouses, are far more apt to divide Americans than to advance faith.

Following a Lord who reached out in compassion to all human beings, we oppose amending the Constitution in a way that would humiliate homosexuals.

For us, living the Love Commandment may be at odds with efforts to encapsulate Christianity in a political agenda. We strongly support the separation of church and state, both because that principle is essential to holding together a diverse country, and because the policies of the state always fall short of the demands of faith. Aware that even our most passionate ventures into politics are efforts to carry the treasure of religion in the earthen vessel of government, we proceed in a spirit of humility lacking in our conservative colleagues.

In the decade since I left the Senate, American politics has been characterized by two phenomena: the increased activism of the Christian right, especially in the Republican Party, and the collapse of bipartisan collegiality. I do not think it is a stretch to suggest a relationship between the two. To assert that I am on God's side and you are not, that I know God's will and you do not, and that I will use the power of government to advance my understanding of God's kingdom is certain to produce hostility.

By contrast, moderate Christians see ourselves, literally, as moderators. Far from claiming to possess God's truth, we claim only to be imperfect seekers of the truth. We reject the notion that religion should present a series of wedge issues useful at election time for energizing a political base. We believe it is God's work to practice humility, to wear tolerance on our sleeves, to reach out to those with whom we disagree, and to overcome the meanness we see in today's politics.

For us, religion should be inclusive, and it should seek to bridge the differences that separate people. We do not exclude from worship those whose opinions differ from ours. Following a Lord who sat at the table with tax collectors and sinners, we welcome to the Lord's table all who would come. Following a Lord who cited love of God and love of neighbor as encompassing all the commandments, we reject a political agenda that displaces that love. Christians who hold these convictions ought to add their clear voice of moderation to the debate on religion in politics.

Travelogue

Today, while cleaning up some files on my PC, I came across some e-mails I sent to friends and family a couple of years ago while the FW (Fab Wife) and I went to London and Ireland for Xmas and New Year's. Of course, she wasn't the FW back then, just the FF (Fab Fiance'). Anyway, I'm going to post them below, for posterity's sake:

Hi all,
Well, today jetlag got the better of us, as we didn't wake up until 11:00 am, despite the alarm going off at 7:00. Our tour of Parliament was cancelled, as they are closed for Christmas. Oh, well. Anyway, we decided to walk around the part of town we are staying in (Bloomsbury). It was a bit wet - okay it was really, really wet - but we toughed it out. Had a pretty lunch at Cafe London on Southampton Road, then walked over to see the house Dickens lived in (pretty appropriate for Xmas, eh?) Went to the drugstore for Amber to get some contact solution (loads of fun) and took a nap around 4:00.
Tonight, we met our friends Emily and Shona for dinner and drinks at Piccadilly Circus. They took us to a pretty cool little bar, then we went to a fantastic Thai restaurant for dinner. And the portions were normal sized, not our crazy American super sized dinners!! Afterwards, we went to Soho for more alcohol!! You wouldn't believe the number of drunks we've seen stumbling down the street - and the bars and pubs close at midnight!!
Tomorrow, we're headed to see Arsenal play Middlesborough, the real reason we're in London!! After the match, we're going to visit Amber's Aunt Hillary, who lives very near Highbury (Arsenal's stadium). Her son, my future cousin-in-law, is also a huge Arsenal Supporter. Guess it's a family trait!!
I'll fill you in tomorrow night our journey to my soccer Mecca!!
love,
Charlie

Greetings from London, everyone.
Well, today was the day I've been dreaming about. I was at Highbury Stadium, home of Arsenal Football Club - Premier League and FA Cup Champions. Amber and I took the Tube to Finsbury Park in Islington, North London, where the team is based. Think of Adams Morgan, but substitute West Indians for Latinos. Very cool. About time I saw some color here!! Anyway, we met Jeff Lancaster, our connection for the tickets at the Moray Arms Pub. The owners, Sheila and Pat, are an older couple from Cork in Ireland. Jeff is great, by the way. He has 6 season tickets, and offers any Yanks who may be in London 1st dibs on any extras he has available. After downing a few pints with Jeff, we headed to the stadium. Oh, my God!! I was in heaven. Finally, after years of supporting Arsenal, we were at Highbury. Not only that, but our seats were in the famous North End, right behind the goal, 12 rows back. Words cannot describe how awesome it was to be there. I took a whole roll of film, and will have the prints scanned when I get home so I can share them with you. That may help show how close we were to the field. Arsenal didn't play their best game, but they still won comfortably, with a superb diving header from Sol Campbell just before halftime and a sublime finish from Robert Pires just before the game ended. After the game, we went with Jeff to Arsenal Fish and Chips for an after game meal. Delicious!!! The cod was fantastic, and Amber enjoyed her fried rice with veggies. We then headed over to the Gunners Pub for another pint. The pub is wall to wall Arsenal memorabilia. Awesome!! We then went to visit Amber's (and soon to be my) Aunt Hillary and her kids Paul and Siobhan. Again, we went to a couple of pubs and had the best time! It's great having relatives over here!
Tomorrow, we head to the South Bank of the Thames and will take a ride on the London Eye. I have no idea what else we're going to do, but we'll keep you posted, I promise. On Monday, we leave for Dublin.
love,
Charlie & Amber

London - Day 3
Well, today we become something that all of us who live and work in DC hate - tourists!!! I booked tickets for us on the London Eye (www.londoneye.com). It's a huge Ferris Wheel on the south bank of the Thames that you can see the whole city from. Each "flight" takes about 30 minutes. It was pretty amazing. Can't wait to see the pix we took. Afterwards, we walked across Waterloo Bridge to Parliament and Westminster Abbey, followed by a stroll through St. James' Park to Buckingham Palace (at which Amber informed me it's my duty to buy her a palace. Uh Oh!). And the strangest thing happened while we were watching the ducks and swans - the sun came out!! Woo Hoo!! Didn't know it actually happens in London, but sure enough, the clouds cleared, the sun came out, and people started smiling!
Amber's not feeling to well today. She's had a sore throat the last few days and today she has no voice - something you'd think I'd be happy about, but amazingly am quite bummed over ;-). She took a long nap after our day of walking around, and we're about to get some dinner.
We leave tomorrow for Dublin. Don't know how much access I'll have to the 'net while in Ireland, but I'll try to keep you posted on my adventures of driving on the left side of the road.
love,
Charlie
PS - I think I've discovered the secret behind the whole idea of the English being reserved and having a "stiff upper lip". It's because they never see the sun and are suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder!! Seriously! Other than 2 hours this afternoon, it's been dark and raining non-stop. And not a regular rain. More like a fine mist that just soaks you to your core. And this would also explain why they drink so much. They'd put any fraternity back at UVa to shame!

Hello all,
We got to Dublin yesterday afternoon - only a 45 minute flight from London. The 1st thing that I noticed when we got off the plane was the amount of smoke!! More smokers here than in London, if that's possible. Amber's Aunt Ellen and Uncle Charlie met us at the airport and drove us to their home, our base in Dublin. They're really good people. After dinner, more of Amber's family came over and we proceeded to talk and drink. And drink. And drink. And a little more drinking. I think by night's end, I ended up doing UVa proud by drinking 10 pints of Guinness, along with a shot of Jameson’s, and God knows how much German wine. The Ricards (Amber's family) were duly impressed by their "Yank" cousin!!
Today, we're just walking around the city with Amber's sister Vienna, whose also in Dublin. She's on her way home from spending the past 2 years in Ghana with the Peace Corps. Activism runs in the family!! We're in the Temple Bar area, kinda like Georgetown. Very trendy. Tonight, Uncle Charlie is taking me to his favorite pub to show me off and buy me a "real" Guinness (the stuff last night was canned). I'll let you know how it goes!
I won't be writing again for a few days, so everyone have a very Merry Christmas.
Charlie

Howdy,
We've just arrived in Killarney, in southwest Ireland after driving all day from Galway. We got to Galway Friday night, and I, Charlie Hundley, stayed in a hostel. Never again!! I don't think the concept of showering has caught on in Europe, at least not among people under 30!! We hit a few pubs in Galway, and yesterday morning, caught a ferry to Inishmore, largest of the Aran Islands (off the coast of Ireland). Inishmore has only 800 inhabitants, and they survive mainly by fishing and knitting the famous Aran Sweaters (Mom, Dad - you got me one last year for Xmas). We got a great tour of the island from Tom O'Toole, who was about 100 years young! He knew everything there was to know about the history of the island, and was full of wisecracks. We toured Dun Aengus, a 2500 year old fort on the south shore of the island, on a very steep cliff. Can't wait to see how the pictures turned up. Since nothing was open on the island but the pubs, we created our very own pub-crawl and ran into a guy who lives in Mt. Pleasant!! Small world, huh? We left this morning and drove south about 4 hours to see the Cliffs of Moher, but the fog was so thick we couldn't see our own hands, much less the cliffs, so we hit the road again and are now in Killarney. Tomorrow, we do the Ring of Kerry and we head back to Dublin on Tuesday morning, about a 5 hour drive.
If I don't write back before Wednesday, have a safe and Happy New Year. We'll be home Saturday afternoon, and can't wait to see you all.
Charlie

Just in case you forgot

or were distracted by the missing teen in Aruba, Schiavo's autopsy, or any other "important" news, 1714 Americans have died in Iraq to date, including 5 today. But hey, if you've got a yellow ribbon on your car, everything's okay!!

Englin wins!

Yep, David Englin won the Democratic Primary to run for the House of Delegates. It was a close one, Libby Garvey gave a strong showing and only lost by 366 votes. Turnout was very, very low. In our precinct, David won by 2 votes, thanks to the FW (Fabulous Wife) who drove home from the polling station to pull 2 of our neighbors down to the polls just before they closed!! Did I mention how much she rocks?

Happy Flag Day

Wave it, fly it, burn it, do what you will. It belongs to you!

More on dinner with the BR

Okay, back with more on dinner with the BR. Over the course of our conversation, he asked didn't I care if we (the US) weren't the #1 economic power in the world. I have to admit, I've never thought much about that. But my heartfelt answer was that no, I didn't care. If we're #1, that means some other nation is dead last, and that's not right. This isn't some game we're playing. We're all citizens of the earth - national boundaries are artificial.

Rome used to be #1, Britain was #1, Egypt, Greece, Mali, and Mongolia have all been #1. Even Iraq has had its moment in the sun. I don't think folks in Finland, Sweden or other European nations with high standards of living care too much that they're not #1. They're just concerned with making sure everyone within their borders are taken care of and have a good life. BR also said that this is the 1st time that our technological advantage is evaporating. I responded that all of the nations I mentioned before also had a technology advantage - their weapons and means of waging war. The Roman legions, the British navy, the rifles Europeans used to enslave entire continents. Having a technological advantage doesn't impress me very much. You know what, our main tech advantage is still our military. Other countries have computers, cell phones, etc. But we have the best military, right now. That's what separates us - our ability to kill others more efficiently. He looked at me like I was crazy.

Saturday Night

So Saturday night, the Fabulous Wife (FW) and I went out to dinner with her Former Roommate On the Hill (FROTH) and her new beau. We ate at a wonderful new restaurant (Del Merei Grille) in Alexandria. The food was great, the company was fun. Just one thing - the new beau is a Black Republican (BR). Now, there's nothing that bothers me more than BRs (not completely true, just using some hyperbole). I just want to shake some sense into them. "Don't you get that the leaders of your party wanted to keep us down? That it was against their objections and obstruction that we got the right to vote, to live where we want to live, to marry who we want to marry, to go to equal schools? That the leaders of your party, who were all Dems in our lifetime, switched parties because they couldn't stand the fact that the Democratic party became the party of the oppressed? What the hell is wrong with you???!?!?!?!"

But, because I promised FW that I would be on my best behavior, I almost bit my tongue off during dinner. BR owns his own software firm, so he's pro-business. Among his varied ideas are 1) We need to do something about India, because they're going to overtake us economically. By this he means send in special forces to disrupt India. Maybe start a war between them and Pakistan. 2) Do the same to China, 3) abolish minimum wage, because it's the workers fault that companies outsource work overseas. Just crazy ass shit like that. I finally lost it and went off on him, but in a, for me at least, subdued manner. I'll fill you in later, but I said something along the lines of life being about more than making money, that we as citizens need to show some altruism, and eveyone on earth has a responsibility to assist those less fortunate that ourselves. What some might call crazy liberal talk.

Brilliant

So, as I've posted earlier, I met Nick Hornby last night. And now I'm reading his latest book, "A Long Way Down". I'm only on page 37, but as my English friends would say, "It's brilliant"!

“Traditional American values are progressive values”

So says David Englin, who is running for the Democratic nomination for the the House of Delegates seat in the 45th District. Which just happens to be my district. He's a good guy, and the only candidate that actually came and knocked on our door. He talked to me and my wife at length about a number of issues and really impressed us. So much so that we threw a cookout for him to meet other people in our neighborhood and my wife has become a volunteer for his campaign, knocking on doors in the horrible heat and humidity we've been suffering through. Grassroots is the only way we're going to make a change in this country and David understands that fact. He takes pride in being a Progressive.

As Raising Kaine states, Englin is running as a proud progressive who, nevertheless, describes himself as politically in sync with both Governor Warner and DNC Chair Howard Dean. Englin describes himself as a “fiscally responsible Democrat…concerned with social justice and tolerance” and interested in “promoting fresh new ideas to improve people’s lives.” Englin believes the death penalty should be abolished, that localities “should be able to enact their own reasonable gun safety measures,” and that the so-called “Dillon Rule” (restricting localities from making their own decisions) should be repealed. Englin supports Metrorail to Dulles, exploring “creative new ideas” for solving the region’s transportation mess, and looking to “additional dedicated revenue sources for transportation.” He supports maintaining “the current car tax structure” to avoid “the kinds of financial problems we had before Mark Warner turned things around.” More than anything, Englin says he is running to protect his five-year-old son Caleb’s future “if the Republicans in the House of Delegates have their way.”

Another nice evening

So tonight, I was at Olsson's Books in Arlington, VA to see my favorite author, Nick Hornby (Fever Pitch, High Fidelity, About a Boy, How To Be Good). He was reading from his newest book, A Long Way Down. It was very, very cool to meet and hear him. I always thought he'd have a Posh accent for some reason, like Hugh Grant or Tony Blair. Nope, he's a true Islington man, with a proper working class accent. And he's a little fella, no taller than 5ft. 5in. or so.

The store was packed, I don't think they expected a crowd quite so large. A bunch of Arsenal fans were there, of course. The Arsenal America club was in full force. I posted a note on the forum a few days ago letting them know he would be here in town. As he was signing my books, he told me he thinks Arsenal are in for another long summer. Afraid he's probably right on that count. He also believes English football is changed for good because of the money Abramovich has pumped into Chelsea. He doesn't see how other clubs will be able to compete with them. I hope he's wrong. I hate Chelsea!!! He did agree with me that once Arsenal's new stadium is completed (next year) they'll be able to make and spend alot more money.

So, Tuesday night I saw the Nats beat the A's. Tonight, I met Nick Hornby. Not a bad week, eh?

Nats

Went to the Nats game last night vs. Oakland. They won 2-1 and are still in 1st. Had a great time, but damn it was muggy - which is why they invited beer, right? Gotta love DC in the summer. Just one negative thought. Could someone, please, spend a few bucks and fix the broken seats at RFK?

Bizzaro World

So my wife and ex-wife met yesterday. A bit weird. Tara came over to get some little ceramic bears she used to collect and I've had for the past 5 years in a box. We e-mail every now and then and I told her I found the box of bears. She doesn't work too far away from our place, so she stopped by yesterday on her way home from work to get them. She and Amber got along fine (don't know what I was expecting, actually). They even started sharing tips about me - truly strange. Hmm.

Things are getting better in Iraq

At least that what W and friends are telling us. I have a feeling they may be a bit off on this one:

Suicide bomb attacks kill 19 in Iraq

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Insurgents killed at least 19 people in three suicide car bomb attacks on Thursday, one targeting the bodyguards of Iraq's Kurdish deputy prime minister and another killing a deputy provincial governor...

Since a new Shi'ite Islamist-led cabinet was announced in late April there has been a sharp escalation in insurgent violence, and the number of suicide bombings has soared.

More than 700 Iraqis and 78 U.S. soldiers were killed in May, making it the deadliest month in Iraq since January.

I wish I had written this

But I didn't, it's from the King County Journal:

Kids should be taught both sides of controversial topics.
Let's require that science classes teach that a flood covering the Earth would have left an even layer of silt in the substrata around the globe -- but that no such layer exists. And that any such flood would have saturated the soil with salt, making it impossible to grow food -- starving any humans or animals who managed to survive the flood.

Let's have the English classes explore the contradiction of a loving ``ruling person'' who supposedly cares for each of his subjects who nevertheless annihilates whole cities of them -- children included -- because he's irritated with the behavior of some of the adults. Let's teach them that homosexual behavior occurs quite naturally in dozens of animal species.

Do all this and I'll have no objections to lessons exploring the ``weaknesses'' in evolutionary theory.