I haven't drank a 40 since I was old enough to drink

This weekend was full of surprises. That’s for sure. I received an unexpected call on Thursday night that Nimit would be flying in to surprise everybody and he would need to be picked up from the airport. Elyse only works half days so she actually went and picked up Nimit from the airport. When I was done with work, we went to an outdoor restaurant near Lake Minnetonka, Maynards. It was nice to watch the boats come in, enjoy good food, and catch up. On Friday night, we all met up with a bunch of people at a pub in downtown Minneapolis called Brit’s Pub. They open up their roof in the summer so we could see the Minneapolis skyline view. It got really windy but it was still a lot of fun. After sleeping in, Nimit and I worked out and played some basketball. After showering, changing, and eating a late lunch, we headed over to see Jim and Sarah for a little bit. That was fun. Saturday night we all headed over to Andrew’s house for a fun house party. I was introduced to this game called Rock Band. I have played Guitar Hero a couple of times in Best Buy but Rockstar is like a much more fun game. Besides guitar, they have a bass, drums, and a microphone. It would be fun sober. It was really fun buzzed. We stayed until about 1:30 and then went home. Sunday morning I dropped Nimit off at the airport and I thought in terms of new experiences, that the weekend was complete. I was mistaken. Elyse called and said we should go get ice cream. I said that’s fine, but let’s go to Uptown and go to Sebastian Joe’s and then walk over to Loring Park. She picked me up and while walking and enjoying my ice cream I noticed something a bit strange while walking to the park. There were an unusual amount of stickers advertising things like, Obama is for equality for all, rainbow stickers, and even an attractive woman with a shirt that read, I did your girlfriend. For those of you who are not familiar, Uptown is an area that is a popular destination for Minneapolis gays to live and be social at but this was a bit strange. And then I got to Loring Park and I saw a massive gay pride festival. There were hundreds of booths and literally thousands of people. Naturally, I was curious. (Yes, I understand curious was probably not the correct word choice.) Anyway, I also remember hearing at church last week that Westminster was going to have a booth so I wanted to walk by. Walking through the gay pride festival was one of the most unique experiences of my life. Lots of same sex hugging, kissing, holding hands, et cetera. I was not grossed out or uncomfortable, I was just… surprised for a lack of a better word. I had never seen that. There were a lot of stereotype gays but there were a lot of “normal” gay people too. It was an experience I will never forget.

In the words of Shaq, "Hey McHale, how does my @$$ taste?!"

I am done with the Minnesota Timberwolves. The management is full of incompetent boobs that it makes it impossible to be a fan.

I absolutely hate the Kevin Love trade!!! We only have one good player, a power forward in Al Jefferson. So what do we do? We draft another power forward?!?! Plus, who is Love going to effectively defend in the league. At 6'8 he is too small to guard power forwards and too slow to guard small forwards. Think of the PF's in this league: Ben Wallace, Jermaine O'Neal, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Chris Bosh, Charles Boozer, LaMarcus Aldridge, Dirk Nowitzki, Elton Brand, Josh Smith, Al Horford, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, David West, et cetera. At the number three pick in the NBA Draft, you expect to draft a guy who is a future all-star. Kevin Love wasn't even the first UCLA Bruin picked, that honor goes to Russell Westbrook. Love is short, slow, and will be at best, a solid role player and sixth man but he will not be a star. And to top it all off, the Wolves had the first pick and the fourth pick in the second round. The first pick they chose a player who is under contract to play in Europe until 2011 at the earliest!!! And they traded Mario Chalmers, a solid, but not spectacular point guard who fits a need for the Wolves, with the fourth pick to the Miami Heat for the Heat's 2009 and 2010 second round picks. They could have taken Chalmers, or Chris Douglas Roberts, Bill Walker, or Deandre Jordan and they traded it away for a bag of doughnuts basically. Kevin McHale has always been a terrible GM and this trade just continues his downward spiral. Let's look at this past few first round draft picks. Randy Foye (bust), Rashad McCants (bust), Corey Brewer (probable bust). The only reason he has any talent on the team, Al Jefferson, is because he traded Kevin Garnett for him because McHale did such a lousy job putting talent around him. Mark my words, the Wolves will have the worst team record in the NBA next year. Congratulations McHale, you fucking idiot. I have about twenty more pages of thoughts on the NBA draft but I will wait and calm down a bit first.

top ten reasons to be against gay marriage

01) Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning.

02) Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.

03) Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.

04) Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn't changed at all; women are still property, blacks still can't marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.

05) Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed; the sanctity of Britany Spears' 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed.

06) Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn't be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren't full yet, and the world needs more children.

07) Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.

08) Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That's why we have only one religion in America.

09) Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That's why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.

10) Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven't adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans

Let's talk about Corn

Well just go ahead and call me the next Sean Hannity because I am about to write another opinion piece in which I favor John McCain over Barack Obama. This John Fidler editorial is about ethanol.

Ethanol has been around for literally thousands of years as the primary ingredient in all alcoholic beverages. Archaeologists have found the dried residue of ethanol in Chinese pottery that is over 9,000 years old. However, I am not writing today about the grain ethanol you use to get your buzz on while badly dancing at Room 22. The ethanol I am talking about is the kind you can put in your car. Since the beginning of the automobile, there has been talk of putting ethanol as the primary fuel source instead of petroleum. In fact, Henry Ford when he invented the Model T, originally planned for the car to run 100% on anhydrous (a form of ethanol). Ford said that ethanol is the "fuel of the future". Now, let's talk about corn.

One way to obtain ethanol is through corn. However, one gallon of petroleum is needed to make two gallons of ethanol. Don't get me wrong. This was a huge scientific breakthrough. We could literally cut down our use of petroleum by 50%. But is there a way we could do even better?

Thank you for asking! As a matter of fact we can do better. There is more then one way to get ethanol. Various types of wheat and grasses called switchgrass could do the trick. But a really good way is through sugar cane. You can convert eight gallons of ethanol made from sugar cane only using one gallon of petroleum. Wow! That is an amazing improvement over corn. Unfortunately, this is where politics come in and this is where I disagree with Barack Obama.

Some of the biggest lobby groups are the groups that represent the American farmer. In response, most politicians are very afraid of farmers. Obama represents the state of Illinois. Most of Illinois is farm land, primarily corn fields. There is no doubt that one way that Obama got elected to congress was to sucking up to the farmers and basically giving in to their every want and demand. Unfortunately, this is not good for the rest of us non-farmers. Here is what Obama and other suck up congressmen and women have done. Despite it being good for the environment to import Sugar Cane. The senate and the house of representatives placed a 54 cent a gallon tax on importing any ethanol from foreign countries. Think about that. 54 cents a gallon!!! Even though it is good for the environment, Obama and other politicians are so afraid of what the American farm vote will do. Think about what this has done for the farmers. Two years ago, a bushel of corn cost $1.96. I just looked and it now costs about $4.00 a bushel for corn. There have been a lot of rich farmers out there who have made a lot of money on ethanol. This has also hurt the normal American in other ways. Obviously restaurants and consumers have to pay more for corn or corn based products. Corn production has doubled in two years from 1.2 billion bushels in 2006 to 2.6 billion already in 2008. This has also increased the cost of chicken because chickens eat a corn based diet. The cost of corn syrup has sky-rocketed. Think of how many things have corn syrup in them.

This really upsets me. To give Obama a break, Obama probably has to say these things to secure the farm vote in Illinois while running for election and he can't flip flop now. Plus, John McCain is a senator from Arizona. There aren't a lot of corn farmers in Tucson. There are many ways to reduce the cost of gasoline at the pump and one way to do them is listen to John McCain and other politicians from both side of the political aisle and eliminate the tax on importing Ethanol. Obama has been criticized on this issue and said well this still won't make us energy independent as now we will have to rely more on Brazil for our energy needs. Wouldn't you rather rely more on Brazil and less on Saudi Arabia???

Superheroes, Carlin, and two guys watching rhythmic gymnastics

Wow! I had an absolutely delightful weekend. Friday night began with my high school’s five year reunion. To offer an understatement, I was quite nervous about whether I should go at all. I had several discussions weighing the pros and cons with various friends and family members on whether I should go at all. I am so glad I did. Elyse influenced my final decision saying that she really wanted to go and what did I have to lose. We got to Bootlegger’s in downtown Minneapolis at about 8:00 and left at about midnight. We have the whole top level reserved. I graduated with about 400 people and probably 100 showed up. The people I didn’t care about in high school, it’s not like I was forced to talk to them. I just talked to the people I wanted to and I had a great time. Saturday was fun too. I went to Valleyfair with my family and had a great time. VF has done a great job as amusement parks go to add more fun rides. Saturday night I went to Cool Tieds’ pad to chill for a while and a few Sprite and Vodka’s later, I was ready to head home. Sunday I did something I have not done in years. I slept in until after noon. It felt wonderful. It was a beautiful day so after a little Baja Sol, I enjoyed a nice walk near Lake Calhoun before relaxing for the afternoon/evening. What a wonderful way to spend the weekend.

I have never enjoyed reading comic books but for some reason I absolutely love comic book movies. I loved all of the Spiderman movies. I loved the X-Men movies. I have loved every Batman movie. I like Superman movies. I liked Iron-man. Okay, I think you get it. I am pretty excited for the next round of superhero movies. We have Thor, Iron Man 2 and 3, Ant Man, Captain America, Nick Fury, and of course The Avengers. I’m pretty geeked out.

Rest in Peace George Carlin. Carlin was a comedic genius whether you liked him or not. He certainly rubbed people the wrong way, including me at times, but I always appreciated his witty one-liners and brevity. For a man who dropped out of 9th grade, Carlin won numerous Emmy’s and Grammy and hosted the first Saturday Night Live. Not bad. I think Mr. Carlin would still have his same love/hate relationship with America today as he did when he first broke onto the scene 35 years ago. On the one hand he would love the fact that people like Howard Stern and other shock jock hosts are doing great but on the other hand he would despise the FCC. He will be missed.

Olympic Fever is almost here. I love the Olympics especially the summer Olympics. I remember four years ago, Nimit and I had no cable for about the first couple of weeks of schools and we both love sports and the Olympics and we literally were watching probably six hours a day of the Olympics. I remember one time after we had watched about six hours of Nimit where I grabbed the remote and shut off the TV and said we should go outside and play catch or something and Nimit was mad I turned off the TV. I looked over and said, “Do you realize that we just watched about 45 minutes of rhythmic gymnastics?” That is a true story. Regardless, I can’t wait for the Olympics. Especially basketball. Think about the American team. Our starting line-up is Chris Paul at point guard, Kobe Bryant at Shooting Guard, Lebron James at Small Forward, Chris Bosh or Charles Boozer at Power Forward, and Dwight Howard at Center. With guys like Jason Kidd, Carmelo Anthony, Michael Redd, and others on the bench. It is going to be an amazing team and there is no reason they won’t cruise to a gold medal.

John McCan has developed the first brilliant new idea I love. I have always said that a solution to the petroleum crisis in America is possible but we are not spending the time and resources on it. John Kerry, when he was running for president in 2004 had an interesting idea. He said when America really need a major scientific breakthrough, the atomic bomb in 1945, America hired the best scientists in the world, put them in a little “bubble” in New Mexico with the assignment that they needed to find a solution to this war. They had an unlimited budget and were given every resource known to man. Sure it took a few years but they developed the atomic bomb. John Kerry suggested in 2004 that we do this regarding finding a solution to petroleum. John McCain has come up with a little incentive to develop an alternative. He would like to create the Clean Car Challenge. There would be a world wide contest to develop a workable solution and the winner would win a check from the United State government for $300,000,000. If that is not motivation for universities or businesses, then I don’t know what is.

When life gives you lemons...

Tuesday night, a wave of emotions hit me as I watched the Boston Celtics win their 17th NBA championship over their arch-rival, the L.A. Lakers. No, I could care less about the Celtics and I am tired of Boston winning everything. The Patriots have won three of the past six Superbowls, the Red Sox have won two out of the past four World Series, the Celtics won another NBA championship, the Bruins are an up and coming NHL team, and Boston College had a tremendous football season and they won the national championship in men's hockey. I'm sick of Boston. But what I am not sick of is seeing Kevin Garnett win. No, he did not have a great series but he did the little things that needed to be done for his team to get the ring. For thirteen years, I watched this future hall of famer dominate the post like no other power forward in the NBA. He is probably the most coordinated, and fasted 7'1 player to ever play the game. Besides winning another defensive player of the year award, his infectious good attitude and leadership qualities were display for the world to see. I also marveled at how Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and KG all sacrificed their own personal statistics so the team could play better. KG typically averaged about 23 points, 14 rebounds, and 5 assists a game. He had career lows yet he finished second or third in MVP voting. What makes me so sad is that his talent was wasted by terrible management with the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Timberwolves have wasted their first round draft picks, traded good players like Ray Allen, Brandon Roy, Stephon Marbury, Tom Gugliatta, Sam Cassell in his prime, and other great players for basically a hacky sack, in afghan, and a $10 gift certificate to T.G.I. Friday's. They have overpaid players who did nothing like Troy Hudson, Michael Olowokandi, Ricky Davis, and Mark Blount while losing good players like Chauncy Billups, Wally Sczcerbiak, Trenton Hassell and others to free agency. The Wolves are the worst managed sports team in all of professional sports and it makes me so sad that in the 12 years that KG was with the wolves, they only got out of the first round of the playoffs one time. A few days ago, I read this article in Sports Illustrated about KG that said he never asked to be traded. His wife is from here, he has a house in Orono, his son was born here, and he liked it here in Minneapolis. He never wanted to leave but the Wolves knew they were caught in a Catch 22. With just KG and his monster salary, they would never be bad enough to get a top five pick in the NBA Draft, but with his salary, and other bloated salaries on the pay-roll, they couldn't get top free agents either. Regardless, I am happy for Kevin Garnett, and I am looking forward to the NBA draft in a few days to see who the next top five bust will be for Kevin McHale and the rest of the T-Wolves' brain-trust.

1. I think like all of you, I am tired of paying over $4.00 a gallon for gasoline. Being a proud environmentalist, previous to this, I could never imagine that we drill in the rocky mountains, off shore in the ocean, or in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. However, in the mode of national security, is it time that we think about drilling in these places. I was starting to think yes... until I read this Time article. http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1815884,00.html?xid=site-cnn-partner
Basically it says that even if we said today we will start drilling, we would not be able to see the gas in our stations until 2027 at the earliest. Plus, it would likely only reduce the cost of gas per gallon by 3 or 4 cents. I'm sorry President Bush and John McCain. But destroying the Coral Reef, Alaska, and the Rocky Mountains for a measly 3 cents off a gallon is just not worth it to me. Great article.

2. Every day it seems I read another terrible article about the situation in Darfur, Sudan. Today I read in this cnn.com article: http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/06/19/darfur.rape/index.html
That relief workers claim almost 100% of women in Darfur have been raped or sexually assaulted, and most say it has started at a young age. They are raped by the government, and they are raped by the rebels. Relief workers say there is nothing that they can do. It just amazes me. This is 2008!!!! I just don't understand. I don't understand rape and I never will. Rapists disgust me sometimes more so then murderers. At least sometimes murderers feel that what they are doing is just and fair and they are "helping the world". But rapists are just barbaric beasts that don't deserve to walk in a free society. I don't know what to do about Sudan. I just don't know.

I didn't get turned on I just got turned. I wasn't as aroused as I was concerned.

I have found a really cool website.

http://www.electoral-vote.com/index.html

It really doesn’t matter how as a country, we vote on Obama vs. McCain. What is much more important is how individual states are voting. What this website does is tell us on a state by state level, how the country is planning on voting. The website updates daily with the newest state polling data. Interesting enough, if the election were today, Senator Obama would win the total electoral vote 317 – 221. Obama would absolutely crush McCain and have almost 100 more points then McCain. Fortunately for McCain, the election is not today and is in fact a long way away. As you can see, if the election were today, Obama would win Colorado, Iowa, Missouri, New Mexico, Ohio and Virginia. Those are all states that Bush won. McCain would not win one state right now that Kerry won. Obviously, many states that Obama is winning in his lead is under three percentage points which really mean too close to call. I plan on following this website closely over the next six months. This website also has very interesting opinion articles that are updated daily plus updates on battle ground house and senate races. Here are a couple of ways that Obama and McCain can win.

-If the economy doesn’t improve then Obama will win. Right now, the most important issue to Americans is the economy. It is the first time war/terrorism has not held the top spot since before 9/11. Obama will pound the image that voting in John McCain is like electing George W. Bush. Bush and McCain do have very similar views on the economy and very different views then Barack Obama. Bush and McCain feel are both proud supporters of Reaganomics and that if we tax businesses and the wealthiest amongst us, then this will have a trickle down effect that will in turn help the middle and lower classes. Unfortunately, the trickle down effect does not work. There is healthy evidence that by allowing free market economics regarding taxing big business, this will help the economy by creating more jobs, stimulating growth in research and development, and obviously lower unemployment. However, giving lower tax breaks to the wealthiest does nothing but make the rich richer. Obama is for getting rid of the Bush tax breaks for the wealthy.

-If gas prices keep going up, this will help John McCain. Another key difference is that John McCain is for drilling in Alaska, making more refineries, drilling off shore in the ocean, and other places which have been off limits. Obama says this is not a good long term solution but will permanently destroy the environment. However, the more gas prices keep going up, the less Americans will care about the long term and the polar bears.

-I think this election will be won or loss on the Iraq War issue. McCain has been a huge supporter of military action in Iraq and the next six months will be critical. If there are heavy casualties and no end in sight, then that looks good for McCain. Because Bush is president, I would not be surprised if reports of HUGE troop reductions and major successes in Iraq begin to be reported, starting with Fox News and the Washington Times in about four months.

1. It is Game 6 of the NBA Finals tonight. I am not to be disturbed tonight as I plan to spend some alone time tonight with my 42 inch HD TV, chips and salsa, and a bottle of red win I bought at lunch today. What a way to spend a Tuesday evening.

2. Speaking of basketball, how great are the Univ. of North Carolina Tar Heels going to be next year? Besides having the Naismith Award Winner (player of the year) Tyler Hansbrough returning, they also have three men, Danny Green, Wayne Ellington, and Ty Lawson, who all would have been drafted in the NBA draft in nine days, coming back. Oh yeah, and they have a top five recruiting class coming in to hang out on the bench including five star recruits Tyler Zeller and Ed Davis. It will be a good time in Chapel Hill next year.

3. My beloved Rolling Stone magazine took a turn for the worse. They have been criticized the past five years for going less and less from their rock and roll roots to be much more mainstream and pop putting singers and young actresses over musicians. I was informed yesterday that the cast from the MTV show, The Hills, is gracing the cover. You have got to be kidding Jann.

Mo to the, E to the

I am exhausted. I never really got to sleep in this weekend and I am dragging a bit. I really had a great weekend though. Friday night was pretty casual. Elyse came over, I cooked, and we watched the movie Walk Hard: The Legend of Dewey Cox. I think I can safely speak for Elyse when I say that the movie was absolutely terrible. It was not funny, it was stupid, and it was boring. Yes, I woke up early on Friday, yes, we had been drinking lemonade and vodka, but that is no excuse for me falling asleep before 11:00 with a half hour of the movie left. Saturday morning, I got up, read the paper, mowed the lawn, and went to the Minnesota Zoo. They have a new Russian animals exhibit. Normally, the animals are like 100 yards away, but I got to see three enormous grizzly bears that were literally five feet away from me. Naturally, I was quite safe behind a large sheet of glass. The MN Zoo also has two Amur leopards as part of the new exhibit. There are only thirty left in the wild. The only negative of the zoo was the guilt factor. It seemed almost every animal was endangered and all of them were due to humans destroying their wildlife, or humans polluting their environment, or humans poaching. America has had great success in helping with their endangered species (i.e. bald eagle, timberwolf, bison, et cetera) but other countries could care less. I suppose if you are the Rwandan government, you have more to worry about then the rhinoceros populations. I just always feel a little guilty. But it was a beautiful day and the zoo was fun. Saturday night, after a quick walk near Medicine Lake, I saw movie number two, The Savages. Normally, I love everything that Philip Seymour Hoffman does but I thought this indie film was only okay. It wasn’t terrible and it is worth renting, but it is not going to blow anybody away. On Sunday, a message was sent to me that I should spend my morning giving food and talking with the homeless on Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis. I really feel it is important for us as Christians to help the least amongst us. This is from Matthew 25: 31-46:

31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory.
32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' 44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
46"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."


Sunday was Father’s Day after all, so my Dad and I decided to go see the movie Iron Man. This was the movie highlight of the weekend. I thought it was really fun. The movie was completely non-believable but it is a superhero movie. I would definitely recommend seeing it. I guess the next movie to see is The Incredible Hulk. I know two people who saw it this weekend and they both thought it was good.


1. Emilia sent me this great article this morning about sexism in the media regarding Hillary Clinton. I thought it was a fascinating article relating Sex and The City to Hillary Clinton. The article is not very long and I highly recommend you read it. http://warner.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/05/woman-in-charge-women-who-charge/?emc=eta1

2. On the way to work, I was listening to the sports talk station and they were talking about who is the second most dominant athlete in their particular sport. Clearly, right now it is Tiger Woods number one and nobody is even close. But that got me thinking about who were the most intimidating, dominant, most feared athletes in their particular sports. Here is what I think without giving it more then 30 seconds of thought.

-Boxing – Mike Tyson. Sure, other fighters might have been good but Tyson was not only really really good, he was also crazy. At one point, he threatened an opponent by saying when he was done, he was going to eat his children’s hearts.

-Baseball – Barry Bonds and it is not even close.

-Basketball – This one was tough. The easy choice would be MJ, but I think I would rather try to guard Michael Jordan then Shaquille O’Neal in his prime. He was just a force that was completely un-guardable. It was possible to double and triple team MJ and slow him down, but when Shaq was on a role, he was a beast.

Hockey – Gretzky

Football – This is really tough. Do you go with Randy Moss? Walter Payton? Adrian Peterson? Ray Lewis? This is really difficult.

I think in other sports, when Lance Armstrong was in his prime, he was completely unstoppable. Anyway, just some interesting things to think about.

Don't phunk with my heart

Sometimes I forget how proud, lucky, and fortunate I am to be an American citizen. This is especially true as I follow the life of Zimbabwean dictator, Robert Mugabe. I first learned about this man, if you can even call him a man and not a beast, in a political science course I took as a freshman in college. For extra credit, we had to pick a leader of a country we knew little about and write a 5 – 10 page biography about him or her. For some reason, the country of Zimbabwe was on my mind so I decided to write about their leader. Mugabe has been a war criminal basically his whole life and unfortunately his legacy just took another terrible turn when he and his cronies orchestrated to mutilate and eventually burn alive the wife of the opposition party’s leader. 66 members of the opposition party have been murdered since 1980 when Mugabe, a former guerrilla leader, took control of Zimbabwe after their independence from Great Britain. As much as I despise certain aspects of America, I am so honored to live in a country where I have food on the table, clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, and a general sense of safety and security.

1. By the way, I am still fuming over what I wrote about yesterday regarding Bush vetoing and McCain voting against allowing our troops to have a free public university education if they serve their full term in the military. Can you even imagine if this was a bill that McCain wrote, instead of a Democrat senator, and Obama voted against it? He would be accused of being unpatriotic, not supporting the troops, and hating America. Fox News would have an absolute field day! In typical Fox News fashion, they have remained absolutely silent. Apparently, even the wackos at FN are stunned by the absolute despicable display of partisan politics by John McCain and George W. Bush. This issue really bothers me. A year and a half ago, I was in a car with Rus and we were talking politics and we said for the good of the country, we hoped that the final candidates would be Obama for the Democrats and McCain for the Republicans because both of these senators were above partisan politics, ruthless, smear based campaigning, and were both good statesmen. Senator McCain, sir… Prove me right because this latest show of arrogance and loyalty to the Bush Administration may cost you big. The last thing you need is for the military and retired military personnel to be angry with you. The Star Tribune just had a great editorial yesterday about the issue: http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentary/19799439.html?location_refer=Homepage

2. What a meltdown by the Los Angeles Lakers yesterday? Did anyone else watch the game? Don’t get me wrong, Kobe Bryant is most definitely the best player in the game. There isn’t anyone even close. The Lakers did not lose because of Bryant, the rest of the team needs to step up big and they are definitely missing Andrew Bynum in the middle. But don’t get me wrong, I’m a Kevin Garnett fan and I can’t wait to see #5 get his championship ring he so richly deserves. We miss you here KG. I’m sorry the Timberwolves’ mgmt team is a bunch of clowns.

3. Great news everybody! Actor Alec Baldwin has officially endorsed Barack Obama. I have a question for all of you. Has one celebrity endorsement of a candidate influenced any of you with who to vote for? Oh wow! Scarlett Johannsen likes Obama? Oh wow! Chuck Norris likes Mike Huckabee? I mean c’mon. Who really cares?

4. I am looking for a fun summer drink to make for this evening. Does anybody have any suggestions? No whiskey or tequila though.

5. I can't believe Tim Russert died! He was a maintstay of American politics for decades. He was only 58 years old. He had a massive heart attack and died on the set of Meet the Press. 58 is only four years older then my Dad. Life is so short.

Don't fool yourself. Comcast knows exactly what you have been downloading.

Here’s a total shocker. The Republicans have done something that irritates me. A few months ago, Democrat Senator from Virginia, Jim Webb, put together a pretty basic piece of legislation. His claim was that if you attend a military academy (he attended, with John McCain, the Naval Academy) your school is paid for. If you commit to going to the military or the national guard after college you have your college paid for, then wouldn’t it make sense if you have already served in the military for you to be able to go back to college and have it paid for? After all, if you spent a few years in Iraq, the least you should be able to receive is a free public university education. However, in a blatant partisan move, President Bush vetoed the bill and Senator McCain voted it down. The Republican response is that this will significantly reduce the number of men and women who re-enlist in the military. What a crock of shit! Had a republican senator put together this legislation and the Democrats voted against it, the Democrats would be accused of being unpatriotic and not supporting the troops. To Bush and McCain, if you want more people to re-enlist in the military, then end the wars! Fortunately, there looks to be a decent chance that congress will overturn Bush’s veto because enough Republicans see the value in this.

1. Speaking of politics, I am about done with hearing all of these women say that the reason Hillary Clinton lost was because of sexism in the media. Just yesterday, Katie Couric said, However you feel about her politics, I feel that Sen. Clinton received some of the most unfair, hostile coverage I've ever seen." Give me a break! The opposite of sexism is when the media bashes all of the candidates equally and doesn’t go softer on one candidate just because she’s a female. Hillary Clinton was a master at dishing out with the best of them but whenever someone went after her, or questioned her to intensely, then it must have been the media. Here’s a thought Katie Couric, could it be that a lot of reason people don’t like her is because of her last name and not because she’s a woman? Yes, the media was hard and took cheap shots at Hillary. But guess what, you don’t think there have been cheap shots at Obama (The Jeremiah Wright scandal, his middle name, his wife’s patriotism, et cetera). You don’t the media has been hard to John McCain (his age, his health record, his family income, et cetera.) Running for politics is tough Ms. Couric. Hillary Clinton should not, and did not, get a free pass for easier coverage because she is a female. And that Ms. Couric, is a good thing. Treating all candidates equally is a good thing.

2. A word to the wise. I got lucky on Saturday night. As I was driving to go see the movie, I was on highway 494 which is a three lane highway. I was in the right hand lane and it was quite busy. Up ahead, I saw two police cars had pulled over a car about a mile ahead. I slowed down so I was going a few miles per hour under the speed limit. When I drove past the squad cars, the officer in the back still had his sirens on and got right behind me. I figured he wanted to pass me so I merged to the center lane. He followed me. Confused, I went back to the right hand lane and he quickly followed me back. I figured, I must have a light burnt out or something and I pulled over. The officer asked if I knew what my offense was, I said I didn’t, and he informed me that it is illegal when a fire truck, ambulance, or police officer is on the side of the road, to be in the lane next to them. Basically, by law, I had to merge over to the middle or left hand lane. I honestly said I have to plead ignorance to which the officer said ignorance is not a legitimate excuse. The officer took my license and registration and went back to his car while I nervously waited. About ten minutes later, he opened his door and I saw a small sheet of paper and I was crushed that I got a ticket when I didn’t even know I was doing anything wrong. Fortunately, the officer just gave me a written warning and we went over the rules. He said officers are very passionate about this as they all have heard stories of their fellow policemen getting hit. I apologized, said it won’t happen again (which it wont) and I went on my way. Learn from my mistake, if you are on a highway, even if it is busy, and you see an emergency vehicle on the side of the road, get over ASAP.

slow your roll

I have always been a casual supporter of energy drinks. Not as much as when I was in college, but it is not uncommon if I am dragging in the office to run to the gas station across the street and grab an energy drink. For an advertising class, we studied the marketing campaign of Red Bull and actually worked with Red Bull and they were really really cool to our class and gave us free promo stuff and lots of Red Bull of course. Naturally, I am a bit partial to Red Bull but my all time favorite Energy Drink is the melon flavored Rock Star. I think this is for purely nostalgic purposes. Rockstar twice sponsored trips for Nimit, Nick Wilson, Anay (I think) and others to drive a bus with about fifty Iowa State basketball fans on Tuesday nights from Ames, Iowa to Lincoln, Nebraska for huge cyclone wins. Here, we were allowed unlimited Rock Star and melon flavored Rock Star drinks. I smile every time I buy a can. My favorite energy drink memory is the second University of Nebraska trip when Nimit, and I am not exaggerating, had somewhere between ten and twelve energy drinks and it took him about 36 hours later to fall asleep. Those were the days... Which brings me to my next point.

1. Obviously energy drinks are wildly popular, but what about an anti-energy drink that is designed to relax you, relieve stress, and "slow your roll". I think this is brilliant. Click here for this drink that is growing in popularity very quickly. http://www.slashfood.com/2008/06/09/drink-drank/?loc=interstitialskip

2. Multiple friends of mine have brought up the idea of just breaking out of the proverbial bubble and going on a fun trip. Unfortunately, ticket prices is outrageous now because of rising fuel costs. Last night, when I got home, I sat outside for a while and enjoyed a nice Blue Moon beer on my deck while relaxing and I had an idea... I think we should take a beer tour!! We could start with the grain belt brewery in Saint Paul, then head over to Leinkugel in Chippewa Falls, WI, Pointer Beer (very underrated, but excellent beer) in Stevens Point, WI, head down to Milwaukee for a tour of the Miller plant before heading home. It wouldn't be all that expensive and it could be a lot of fun. Plus, it might be possible for the Minnesota and the Wisconsin people to meet up somewhere. I know all of you have outrageously busy schedules (please note sarcasm) but I think this could be a fun thing to do. If you're interested, let me know.

3. Gas went up 19 cents a gallon in seven days. It's getting to be too much to do anything fun. It really is making me upset.

The Early Buzz

What a whirlwind weekend. I am completely exhausted after staying up to watch the finale of game two of the NBA Finals. Friday night was pretty relaxed for me. I worked out, watched some TV, visited with my Grandpa and Grandma who were in town for the weekend from Milwaukee before a little Champs and Conan to finish the evening. Saturday was a blur. The highlight was watching the movie You Don’t Mess With the Zohan. I came into this movie not expecting much but I left pleasantly surprised. I saw the movie with Jim and Sarah and we all thought it was really funny. It is stupid, ridiculous, zany, kooky, et cetera. If you like movies like Tommy Boy, Borat, and Billy Madison, then you would probably like Zohan. It’s not a big action flick so probably save your $9.00, which is what I paid, and rent it.

1. I did watch Hillary Clinton concede the Democratic nomination to Barack Obama. As happy as I was for Obama, I really do feel for Senator Clinton. I agree almost 100% on the issues with Sen. Clinton and I think she would have made a terrific president. I just feel that Obama has a better chance to beat Senator McCain. Hillary Clinton was born in a working class, blue collar area on the South Side of Chicago. Clinton grew up a conservative and even at the age of 13, in 1960, she was canvassing for conservative Barry Goldwater for president. She continued throughout high school and early in college at Wellesley to be a strong conservative until gradually issues like the Vietnam War and the Civil and Women’s Rights movements helped permanently cement her as a champion for liberal causes. After graduating from Yale Law School, she spurned numerous lucrative attorney positions instead to work primarily in child custody cases, often times pro bono. If I fast forward several years, Hillary Clinton still never lost her zeal for family and child issues and her primary issue as first lady, senator, and candidate for president has been universal health coverage. This issue also happens to be my number one domestic issue. All is not lost for Ms. Clinton though. I have no doubt that she will find a role in the Obama administration, and if not, she could run for governor of New York, or replace Harry Reid as the senate majority leader. I would be very surprised if Obama asks her to be her running mate.

2. Which brings me to my next point. Who will Obama ask to be his Vice President? Should he take someone from a large battle ground state? Perhaps governor Tim Kaine of Virginia. He would be an excellent choice. What about a senator with more centrist, conservative credentials like popular Indiana senator Evan Bayh? He’s a good choice but I think with Obama being a senator that he should not pick another senator. This philosophy eliminates Senator Bill Nelson of Florida. Plus, I think there is no way Obama has a chance in Florida anyway. What about doing what Kerry did and choosing John Edwards? Nah. Well, what about popular New Mexico governor Bill Richardson. He is from a small state, has been a loyal Obama supporter, and might do well to bring in the Hispanic vote. The Hispanic vote, long a Democratic stronghold, is in danger of going to McCain because of McCain’s very relaxed immigration views. This has potential, especially if Richardson could help Obama win in Colorado. However, my choice is a bit of a wild card. If I were Obama, I would go with the governor of Kansas, Kathleen Sebelius. She is a popular liberal governor in a VERY conservative state. Besides satisfying the Hillary Clinton supporters who from my unofficial polling are much more saddened that a woman won’t be president then they are that Hillary Clinton won’t be president. Plus, I think Governor Sebelius would be popular in battleground states such as Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Iowa, Ohio, Minnesota, and Michigan. Regardless, Obama has several good possibilities.

A short history from a friend of mine

For those of you who missed World History in school....

Humans originally existed as members of small bands of nomadic hunters/gatherers.

They lived on deer, elk, bear, and other wild animals in the mountains during the summer and would go to the coast and live on fish and lobster in the winter.

The two most important events in all of history were the discovery of grain and the invention of the wheel.

Once grain was available, it led immediately to the discovery of beer.

The wheel was invented to get man to the beer more quickly.

These were the foundations of modern civilization and together were the catalyst for the splitting of humanity into two distinct subgroups:

1) Liberals, and 2) Conservatives.

Neither the glass bottle nor aluminum can were invented yet, so while our early humans were sitting around waiting for them to be invented, they just stayed close to the brewery.

That's how villages were formed.

Some men spent their days tracking and killing animals to BBQ at night while they were drinking beer.

This was the beginning of what is now known as the Conservative movement.

Other men -- who were weaker and less skilled at hunting -- learned to live off the conservatives by showing up for the nightly BBQs and doing the sewing, fetching, hair dressing, and dancing around the fire.

This was the beginning of the Liberal movement. (Some of these Liberal men eventually evolved into women.
The rest became known as girlie-men .)

Some noteworthy Liberal achievements include the domestication of cats, the invention of group therapy, group hugs, and the concept of Democratic voting to decide how to divide the meat and beer that the Conservatives provided.

Over the years Conservatives came to be symbolized by the largest, most powerful land animal on earth, the elephant.

Liberals are symbolized by the jackass.

Modern Liberals like imported beer (with a slice of lime), but most prefer white wine or imported bottled water. They eat raw fish, but like their beef well done.

Sushi, tofu, and French food are standard Liberal fare. Another interesting evolutionary note: most Liberal women have higher testosterone levels and hairier legs than their men. Most social workers, personal injury attorneys, journalists, dreamers in Hollywood , and group therapists are liberals.
Liberals invented the designated hitter rule in baseball because it wasn't fair to make the pitcher also bat.

Conservatives drink domestic beer. They eat red meat and still provide for their women.

Conservatives are big game hunters, rodeo cowboys, lumberjacks, construction workers, firemen, medical doctors, police officers, corporate executives, athletes, Sailors, Soldiers, Marines, and generally anyone who works productively. Conservatives who own companies try to hire other conservatives who want to work for a living.

Liberals produce little or nothing. They like to govern the producers and decide what to do with the production.

Liberals believe Europeans are more enlightened than Americans. That is why most of the Liberals remained in Europe when Conservatives were coming to America
These Liberals crept in after the Wild West was tamed and created a business of trying to get more for nothing.

Here ends today's lesson in world history.

It should be noted that a Liberal may have a momentary urge to angrily respond to the above before forwarding it; this is because he is more feminine and touchier than a conservative. A Conservative will simply laugh and be so convinced of the absolute truth of this history that it will be forwarded immediately to other true believers and to more Liberals just to piss them off.

Huh?

I know it has been a little while since I blogged and I promise a long post is in the works... However, I had to quick post this link about the new club drug - preperation H. No joke!

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,362304,00.html