Once you go Barack, you never go back.

I almost fell out of my car laughing today. I was flipping channels when I stumbled across Rush Limbaugh’s program. Today, he was comparing America, and more specifically George W. Bush to Batman. The basic premise of his argument is that both Bush and Batman defeat evil-doers despite most people around them hating their guts. They know the difference between right and wrong, good and evil, moral and immoral, and they are not afraid to sometimes break the rules in the name of protecting liberty and all that is right with the world. There is collateral damage when Batman fights the Joker’s henchmen and sometimes innocent bystanders get hurt. Sometimes when Bush bombs Iraq and Afghanistan, innocent people are hurt. It sucks but oh well. The press and ordinary citizens don’t like Batman. They fear him. They mock him but when they are in trouble, they know they can count on him. Rush went on to explain that although most countries mock and ridicule America, they also know they can count on the U.S. when they are in trouble. Obviously Rush is an idiot and there are many many holes in his argument. I just thought you might like to know.

1. I saw the movie Semi-Pro yesterday. Most times, even if a movie is not good, I will stick it out to the end and hope it turns around. However, after an hour of Semi-Pro, I had had enough and turned off the DVD. I really enjoy Will Ferrell and I know everybody has bad movies but c’mon! This really leaves a bad taste in my mouth and now I’m not sure if I even want to watch Step-Brothers that comes out today. I still think Will Ferrell is hilarious. Did anyone see him on the ESPY’s. His impression of Tiger Woods at the end of the show was one of the funniest things I have ever seen.

2. Speaking of the ESPY’s, I hate to admit it but Justin Timberlake did a phenomenal job hosting. He was funny, but did not hog the spotlight. He was gracious but also commanded the stage. I might find his music to be moderately over-rated but entertaining. I won’t buy his CD but I don’t deny that the man has talent. Here is a guy who is a great dancer, dates beautiful woman, has good vocal abilities, and now he’s funny too? Damnit! Some guys just have it all.

3. Today is a strange day. It is day one of the Minnesota Vikings training camp. Not only does this mean that autumn is right around the corner, but also, this is day one of the historic 2008-2009 Minnesota Vikings Superbowl run. Adrian Peterson, Chester Taylor, Jared Allen, Steve Hutchinson, Bryant McKinnie, Pat Williams, Kevin Williams, Bernard Berrian, Darren Sharper are all pro bowl players. The first and only question is… How will T-Jack do as quarterback? I think just fine. He has the easiest job in football. Hand off to Adrian Peterson and let him do his magic. What are my fearless sports picks for the upcoming NFL season? Dallas Cowboys defeats the Pittsburg Steelers (or maybe the Chargers) to win the Superbowl. Adrian Peterson wins the MVP. Rashard Mendenhall wins rookie of the year. And the Chicago Bears win the Tim Tebow sweepstakes and finish 2-14.

4. I am off to Washington D.C. I’ll write when I get back.

Time to do the right thing

I apologize for taking so long to post an update on my blog. I am going on vacation next week to Washington D.C. and I have been really busy at work. Last weekend was really fun. Through my Mom’s work, she had some extra tickets for us to sit in a suite at a Twins game. Unlimited, large quantities of food, unlimited drinks, and a suite in between home plate and the first base line… What a way to spend an evening. After several Coronas and Buffalo wings, I enjoyed a nice 5 – 0 Twins win before retiring for the evening. On Saturday night, I rented the movie Vantage Point. I had heard mixed reviews but I would give the movie a solid B+. It is a bit repetitive but it is an enjoyable action movie that is certainly worth renting. Yes, I am one of only a dozen Americans to not see The Dark Knight. I am excited to see it though. I do not know one person who has not given it at least an A-. Sunday, I went to church, played some basketball, and just relaxed the rest of the day.

1. It’s been very interesting reading about Barack Obama’s big trip to Europe and the Middle-East. I have been pleasantly surprised for a variety of reasons. One, I couldn’t believe how wildly popular Sen. Obama is in Europe. Countries like Germany, Italy, England, et cetera, Obama has a 30 point lead in the polls in those countries which leads me to believe that the public relations of the United States would greatly improve with the election of Obama. Secondly, I was surprised by the how well Americans are embracing Obama’s trip. They are using words like “looking presidential” when describing his meeting with foreign leaders. I never thought about it that way. I just thought Obama wanted to answer questions about his lack of foreign policy experience. But I suppose when he is seen this morning shaking hands with the German Chancellor, and walking with Israeli leaders while deep in discussion does look very presidential. I know it is only July but I am starting to get excited but what I see.

2. Yes, I went to Iowa State and I am and will be a lifelong cyclone fan. Because of that, I have become engrained to loathe the University of Iowa Hawkeyes. This is not about sports though. I legitimately feel that what the University of Iowa Athletic department has done in the past twelve months deserves several resignation letters. If you are unclear of what I am referring to, in October of 2007, a woman was allegedly raped in a dorm by two U of I football players, Abe Satterfield and Cedric Everson. (They have left the team by the way.) After the victim went to the hospital for an examination, she and her father set up a meeting with Gary Barta, the athletic director, Kirk Ferentz, and a few other members of the athletic association. The woman claims that she was pressured to keep the case "informal" or within the athletics department. Or basically she was told to keep the rape on the DL. Her mother claims the athletics department said that if the case was a "formal process" it would be "long and arduous" compared with the "swift" informal process led by the athletics department. Basically, they wanted to shut her up and have her not tell the police or the press. Maybe out of fear, she agreed. It took six months before the two players were charged. Funny, they weren’t charged until after the football season and the recruiting season was complete. In the mean time, the girl, who lived in the same dorm with the football team was taunted daily, called a whore, and other such despicable names. Again, the athletic department did nothing to protect her, help her, or speed up the process. By this time, the family was so furious with the University of Iowa that they went to the press, more specifically, a series of stories by the Iowa City Press-Citizen. Fortunately, the board of Regents for the University of Iowa is absolutely furious and probably humiliated. They have called this a “serious breach of ethics and trust.” Hawkeye sports website, blackheartgoldpants has said it best, “Here's the new plan: Resign, all of you. That's non-negotiable. We trusted you with our children and you betrayed us. You've shamed the state of Iowa, the university, the athletic department, the fans, and yourselves. Every day you continue to be employed at the University of Iowa is a day that the UI tells the world that at this school, integrity takes a back seat to PR at all costs. This isn't a football issue, this is a human issue. All of you need to start over, elsewhere, and preferably not in a profession that leaves the well-being of young adults as part of your responsibilities. You don't have to admit that you did anything wrong, just that you're ready to do something right. This must have been a long nightmare for all of you. We don't envy any of you, nor do we know what it's like to be in your position. Further, we do not hold you responsible for what happened to that young woman. This isn't about that. This is about everything after. From the moment the victim personally relayed the incident to you, until now, you've done the wrong thing, every step of the way. How any of you can look yourself in the mirror is unfathomable. You're supposed to be leaders. You're supposed to be educators. You're supposed to be a family. Yet when you had an opportunity to do the right thing, you did the wrong thing. You didn't look out for the victim. You didn't look out for her family. You didn't even look out for the players involved. You just tried to cover it up and make it all go away. You thought suspensions and transfers would suffice in lieu of actual punishment. But that's over now. No more cover up. No more denials. No more "no comments". No more disingenuous prepared statements. It's time to do the right thing. ” Kirk Ferentz is a brilliant coach but clearly a shady individual. He is a man who would rather field a winning football team, then protect a woman who so badly needed protection. Maybe in the SEC Ferentz, but not here. Good riddance.

If you drive they'll tax the street and if you walk they'll tax your feet.

Nobody likes paying taxes. That’s kind of a given. Of course I fully understand that taxes are important to pay for the police, our military, protecting the environment, road construction, et cetera. But maybe I agree with legendary radio broadcaster, Arthur Godfrey who said, “I’m proud to be paying taxes in the United States. But I could be just as proud for half the money.” In the last couple of years, the Minnesota congress has spent a lot of tax money on border line superfluous pork projects; including, but not limited to two new stadiums (one for the MN Twins and one for the University of Minnesota football team). Oh yeah! That 35W bridge project was kind of spendy as well. The Metrodome was home to not only the Twins and the Gophers, but also the Minnesota Vikings. By almost all accounts, the Metrodome is the worst baseball stadium in the country and I will happily pay more taxes just so we are not the laughing stock of the sports world. Almost daily I drive by construction and I beam with delight. The Gophers also unfortunately played on an off campus downtown Minneapolis site. This took away from game-time experience, and was unpopular with recruits. Also, there is a difference between an NFL stadium and a college stadium. The Metrodome has definitely a corporate, NFL feel to it. However, I have always enjoyed going to Vikings games at the dome. It’s loud, has had sellouts for over two decades, and is perfect for the Vikings. However, the owner of the Vikings hate it for reasons that only owners care about. (i.e. not enough luxury suites so they can make more money.) The Vikings have to play in Minnesota until 2011 and then they are free to move anywhere they want. Cities like San Antonio, Portland, and Los Angeles are all begging to have a football team. The owners could in theory, and probably will, blackmail the state of Minnesota into spending one billion dollars to build them a new stadium. A new stadium will of course make the team more valuable to future sellers. Zygmunt “Zygi” Wilf by all means is a likeable guy who is committed to winning a Superbowl. He has hired top free agents and has demanded a win-now attitude which I love. As much as I would dislike to have my taxes raised, I would absolutely hate the Vikings leaving for LA. I have posted a link below which has a great article on the subject but even if you don’t read the article. Take a look at some of the pictures of what it would look like. It would be the coolest stadium in the NFL.

http://www.minnpost.com/jayweiner/2008/07/17/2601/vikings_stadium_debate_takes_a_decidedly_new_turn

1. Speaking of the ridiculous cost of sports. Very few fans are as loyal as college football as University of Florida fans. However, guess what season tickets cost? For two season tickets for the 2008 football season, the price tag is an enormous $8,848! That comes out $640 per ticket for the season. That is more then ten times the cost of an Iowa State ticket. Unless this University of Florida student is sitting next to you http://www.bustedcoverage.com/?p=5887 it just isn’t worth it.

2. My belt broke. Before the fat jokes begin, it has nothing to with the waistline. Anyway, does anybody have any tips on where I should go? I am thinking Macy’s for the sole reason that it is convenient and I don’t know anything better.

3. My goodness is America fat. Mississippi came in as the fattest state in the country according to the U.S. Center for Disease Control with Alabama and Tennessee close behind. In those three states, more then 30% of the population is over 100 lbs overweight. In part, experts blame Southern eating habits, poverty and demographic groups that have higher obesity rates. The healthiest state in the country is Colorado. IN CO, “only” 19% of the population is more then 100 lbs overweight. That is amazing to me. Nationwide, 26% or basically one out of every four Americans is more then 100 pounds overweight.

4. According to the Des Moines Register, Jason Berryman's personal problems mounted today as he was charged with possession of marijuana after Ames police sought out the former Iowa State and Iowa Barnstormer football player on a charge of operating a motor vehicle without a license. Ames police reports disclosed that Berryman, 23, was arrested after police received a telephone call at about 2 a.m. Friday alleging Berryman had been seen "supposedly looking through the window watching a woman undress." Now in the past four years, Berryman has been arrested for theft, two separate assault charges causing bodily injury, marijuana, operating a motor vehicle without a license, not paying child support, and drinking underage. This was a guy who was the Big 12 freshman of the year in 2003 with incredible athletic ability but no common sense. He was 6’3, bench press over 300 pounds, run a 4.5 40 yard dash and I saw him dunk a basketball despite weighing in my estimation between 230 and 250 pounds. What a knucklehead. He could have been a first round draft pick and now he is facing prison time.

Certificate of appreciation

Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed last night. The movie Wall-E was very hyped to me by several friends and co-workers. I guess I just missed something. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad movie but I guess I would recommend waiting for rental. The visual effects were incredible and at times I forgot that it was Pixar computer animation and not a “real” movie. What brings it back is when humans are brought into the movie. Also, I couldn’t believe the blatant attacks on Americana. The basic plot is that Americans become so fat and lazy that we destroy our own planet and we have to go into space to escape death. Maybe I was expecting a comedy like the other Pixar movies Shrek and Toy Story while this movie is deeper, but less humorous. All in all, I would give it a B-/B. Good enough to rent, but not enough to pay $10 on a Friday night to go see.

1. It’s interesting following the different candidate’s fund-raising. For the month of June, Obama raised 55 million dollars and John McCain raised about 22 million. Both of those are absolutely astounding numbers. Despite that, the McCain campaign has more money in the bank then the Obama campaign. The reason being obvious enough, that Obama spent so much money in the primaries, while at the same time McCain was not spending money and raising money. Obama’s 50 state approach actually appears to be gaining ground. Not only is Obama doing well in battle ground states like Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, et cetera. He is basically in a statistical tie (+/- four percentage points) in states that nobody thought would be battle ground states (Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, New Mexico, and Virginia.) The only state that John Kerry won that McCain might win is Michigan. McCain also has a big lead in Florida so that state looks out of reach. The good news is that John Kerry did not get crushed by Bush, and Obama doesn’t have to win all of those states. If he could win half of those states that are a statistical tie, he will easily cruise to the white house. However, we are still four months away from the election so obviously a lot can happen.

2. As a fan of college basketball, I have found the story of Brandon Jennings really interesting. There is a rule in the NBA that says a player must be one year removed from high school before he enters the NBA draft. This has created the one and done effect as a lot of the star players that would have gone right to the NBA, are now doing one year of college, and then going to the NBA. Brandon Jennings, the top high school point guard in the country, who committed to Arizona, has said that he really has no interest in going to school so he signed a one year deal making almost a million dollars year to play in Europe. However, that’s not where he is going to make his big money. Because he is not in college, he has a right to do endorsement deals and while the other top high school players will be doing Calculus in Durham or Sociology in Chapel Hill, Brandon Jennings will be inking a deal to make millions of dollars a year. Obviously, this story will be heavily watched by many people. University of Arizona basketball coach Lute Olson is furious and he says he is done with the one and dones. Another one of his top players, Jerryd Bayless left this past year after only playing one year to be a top pick in the draft. He would like to have basketball do what college baseball does. If a player wants to play in the NBA, they have to either commit right out of high school, of if they sign of letter of intent, they cannot leave for the NBA for two years (or three for Major League Baseball). I agree. I think everybody wins in this scenario.

3. My goodness does Andy Dick need some professional help. Two nights ago he was arrested at 2:00 am completely drunk in the parking lot of a Buffalo Wild Wings. He also was found with Xanax and Marijuana and was arrested for not only public urination, but also for misdemeanor sexual battery for pulling up the shirt of a 17 year old patron. This has been a nice few years for Andy Dick. Besides the latest arrest, he has been arrested for Cocaine, driving while intoxicated after crashing his car into a telephone pole, more public urination, exposing himself on two different occasions while doing his stand-up routine, and groping patrons at comedy clubs. Let’s not forget the infamous Jimmy Kimmel incident where he had to be removed from the set by security after he kept groping Ivanka Trump. It’s sad because clearly Andy Dick is wasting his talent and that in his case, I do not think that prison is the best option. What he needs is to check himself into a good rehabilitation center.

4. Damnit VH1. I used to enjoy watching your quirky shows and music videos ten years ago but now you are destroying America with your filth you put out. Your stupid reality shows are terrible for America. Thank goodness you are bringing back Bret Michael to make Rock of Love III. You f’ing idiots.

Peanut butter jelly with a baseball bat

I know that most people are completely bored with Brett Favre. I, however, find the whole thing fascinating. I was in the camp a few months ago when he retired that this time Favre really was going to put away the cleats and pads for good. I was mistaken when last week, the rumors were confirmed that Brett Favre wants to come back and play football. The problem is his team, The Green Bay Packers, want nothing to do with him. He then asked for an unconditional release and the Packers said not only would they not release him, but that if he decides to come back, he would be Aaron Rodger’s back-up. I understand that this is a lose-lose situation for the Packers but surely they could have handled this situation better. I understand that Favre kind of is screwing them by waiting until July to decide he wants to come back, but why not at least trade him? According to Peter King of Sports Illustrated, the number one reason he will not be released is that he would sign with the Minnesota Vikings. This would of course be a public relations nightmare for the green and gold. Best case scenario for the Pack is he changes his mind and retires. Second best case scenario is they trade Favre, and his 13 million dollar a year contract to an AFC team that has expressed interest (presumably Baltimore or New York Jets) and they get some sort of fourth or fifth round draft pick out of the deal. If I was the Packers I would welcome him back as the starter. He finished second in the MVP voting last season, was the Pro Bowl NFC starter, has won three MVP awards, one Superbowl ring, and has the record for starts, touchdowns, and wins. Geez! What more do you need from a guy? Maybe the Packers are afraid of hurting Aaron Rodger’s feelings? This is the NFL, a win now type of league where players are discarded quicker then Alex Rodriguez’s mistresses. And if Rodgers demands a trade, they have two other good young quarterbacks (Brian Brohm and Matt Flynn) waiting in the wings. I do feel a little bit bad for GM Ted Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy. They practically begged Favre to come back for another year. Then when he retired they still wanted him to come back but they said if you are going to come back, please do so before the draft. Training camp is only about four weeks away. As a Vikings fan, I love it.

1. Jesse Jackson, you are the idiot of the week. Last week, a Fox News reporter secretly recorded Jesse Jackson saying that Obama was talking down to black people and that he wanted to “cut his nuts off”. Later that night on Bill O’Reilly’s program, the secret conversation was aired. Jackson was mad that Obama gave a speech to a group of African American leaders that Black men needed to become better fathers, and basically grow up. As a man who grew up without a father figure, Obama might know a thing or two about that. Obama did this for several reasons, one it is a brilliant political move. He tapped into the hidden racism in many of the blue collar white voters who he lost badly to in the primaries to Hillary Clinton. Second, I think he does agree with other African Americans like Bill Cosby and JESSE JACKSON that there needs to be more leadership from the men in the African American community. Fortunately, Jackson did right away apologize and Obama graciously accepted the apology. This is just a note to liberals out there. Fox News wants to destroy liberalism and help John McCain in any way possible. Why even go on FN at all? They will try to trap you, trick you, and blatantly insult you to your face in the hopes that you will embarrass yourself. If I was Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic Party, I would completely boycott Fox News. I am all for balance in the media. I have no problem with conservative leaning radio programs or newspapers like the National Review or The Washington Times. What bothers me is that Fox News pretends they are something that they are not. You are a radical right wing TV station, with blatant propaganda and smear attacks. Stop pretending you are not what you are.

2. I saw two good movies this past weekend. The first movie I saw a light comedy called Be Kind Rewind with Jack Black, Mos Def, and Danny Glover. I give it a B+. It is pretty silly. The basic plot is that Jack Black becomes magnetized and thus erases all data from the videos in the video store Be Kind Rewind, which is owned by Danny Glover. Naturally, Mos Def (a store employee) and Jack Black, while Danny Glover is on vacation, decide to make their own versions of all the videos in the store. It is definitely worth renting. The other movie I saw this weekend was The Great Debaters starring Denzel Washington and Forrest Whitaker. I also give this movie a B+. It was very emotionally heavy but has a touching ending and great acting. Another good rental for a rainy day.

Chutes too narrow

I woke up this morning really early to go to a meeting at the airport. While getting dressed and flipping channels, I encountered a news clip on beauty pageants. The older I get the more and more disgusted I am at the thought of beauty pageants. Yes, I also understand that pageants are cultural thing that are much more popular in the South then the North and who am I to judge. To me, that argument holds as much weight as saying I should turn a blind eye to cock fighting in Central America and Dog Fighting in Black America because after all, those are just cultural things. But I started wondering where the idea of child beauty pageants even started? Whose idea was it to compare the beauty of one seven year old next to the beauty of another seven year old by whoring these girls up with as much make-up as a hooker on the East side of Los Angeles? Then the girls strut around, dance in a quasi-sexual manner, with hip thrusts and other dance moves they mimic from their idols on Music Television, while being judged by adults. Who is the winner in all of this? Obviously many girls are left feeling crushed, unattractive, and silly which is already setting up for problems later in life with eating disorders, and depression. And the “winner” gets her ego inflated and the belief that they “win” by being pretty. This sets up for future cattiness, and insecurity. I am all for competitive events for children whether it be talent shows, ballet competitions, sports, science fairs, et cetera. Little girls are more sensitive then their male counterparts and when I am a father someday, I most definitely want the best of my girl. She should be showered with affection, love, attention, but for the right reasons. She should learn that the inner beauty of a person is much more resplendent then any fake tan, lipstick, or hair extensions ever could be.

1. One of the most sophomoric movies I have ever seen is Borat, starring Sacha Baron Cohen. That doesn’t mean I didn’t find it hilarious. The infamous wrestling/elevator/chase scene was probably the funniest two minutes I have ever seen. Reports have begun to leak about Cohen’s new movie, Bruno. In Bruno, Cohen plays a homosexual fashion correspondent for an Eastern European TV station. In the leaked scene, he organizes a Mixed Martial Arts contest in Texarkana, Arkansas with the promise of hot girls and $1 beer. After a few fights, a fighter named “Straight Dave” (probably played by Cohen) comes out and challenges any man in the audience to a straight up fight. Obviously the man Straight Dave picks is a planted male actor, and once the two actors are in the ring, instead of fighting, they begin making out and ripping clothes off. As to be expected, the audience jeers intensely and they are pelted with food and beer before police officers (who were forewarned about the “romantic embrace”) come and rescue the actors and whisk them off to safety. Okay, this movie will probably be really juvenile but it will also probably be hilarious.

2. I really became a fan of the satirical magazine, The Onion while a freshman at Iowa State where there were free copies around campus. I love their new headline: New VH1 show cancelled for “not being pathetic enough”. http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/new_vh1_show_canceled_for

Give me fuel, give me fire, give me that which I desire

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend. I had a wonderful weekend. On Thursday afternoon, Andrew, Elyse, and I loaded our things into the Accord and headed to Chicago. I think this is my 5th or 6th trip to the Windy City in the past twelve months; not that that’s a bad thing. Elyse stayed with her Mom and Andrew and I were picked up by Nimit near Hoffman Estates, IL and we drove to Nimit’s apartment in Wrigleyville (an area just North of downtown Chicago). We stayed there for the remainder of the trip. Thursday night, we were all pretty exhausted and when we finally got to Chicago a little after Midnight, we talked for a while and then were ready to go to bed when some of Nimit’s friends’ friends came into the apartment after a long night of partying and they kept us up another couple of hours. It was all good though. Friday morning we slept in for a while and then took the train downtown to experience The Taste of Chicago. The Taste is a food festival with rows and rows of booths from everything from exotic Asian foods to pizza to hot dogs to enormous BBQ turkey legs. Needless to say we feasted. I have always enjoyed walking around college campuses so I wanted to check out DePaul University. I was less then impressed with DePaul’s urban campus. It just lacked something… After that, and still feeling grossly full from lunch, we decided to take the 30 minute walk back to Nim’s apartment. While on the walk we passed through an area of Chicago called Boystown (which is Chicago’s gay friendly bureau). In Boystown, I had a very very odd experience, one in which you will have to ask Nimit or Andrew about some other time. We hung out for a little bit downtown and then decided we needed to eat again. Eating was most definitely a central theme on this trip. My favorite Chicago pizza place is Lou Malnati’s and we went back there with Nimit’s roommate Ann Fergus, and had some delicious pizza. After that we showered up and decided we should go somewhere fun. We went to two bars Friday night, Mad River which was a fun, sports bar, and Kirkwood which was just a loud, noisy, mess. It had potential but it was so crowded it became unbearable. After a couple of captain and coke’s, we were ready to call it an evening. On Saturday morning, Josh Koo came over and a bunch of played some epic basketball games in the humidity before heading back to Nimit’s place to relax for a while before more eating would consume. Later that afternoon/night, we went over to Nimit’s cousins’ house and I ate more then I have in a long long time. We had chips and dip, steak, shrimp, burgers, chicken, and more! Everything was delicious. After the basketball in the heat and the gorge-fest, we were all pretty tired. We headed back and met some of Nimit’s friends in a bar near his house but we weren’t there for more then 30 minutes and went to bed early that night. On Sunday, Andrew and I left at about 9:30, met Elyse, and headed back to Minnesota. We made a pit stop in Madison, Wisconsin. Andrew and Elyse had never walked around the city and I think they both really enjoyed it. I have always really enjoyed Madison, WI and it is definitely a mirage in the dairy state. Great restaurants, attractive campus, plenty of things to do, beautiful lakes, and let’s not forget that UW has great academics as well. Had I been in a different state of mind in high school, there is a good chance I would have ended up at UW-Madison. After that, we headed home and here I am.


1. Have I ever mentioned that Fox News is the biggest joke American media has ever seen? It seems every week they hit a new low but this one might be the worst. Every morning, there is this ridiculous corny news show called “Fox and Friends”. This past week, the New York Times posted that Fox News ratings have dipped a bit and apparently this greatly offended the producers of Fox and Friends. The morning crew of Fox and Friends apparently offered doctored photos of reporter Jacques Steinberg and Times TV editor Steven Reddicliffe. According to Media Matters, Steinberg was shown with yellowed teeth, "his nose and chin widened, and his ears made to protrude further"; Reddicliffe was also given yellow teeth and "dark circles under his eyes, and his hairline has been moved back." How sophomoric is Fox News that they doctored photos in their show just to get back at Fox News. They are a bunch of clowns.

Excellence in Broadcasting Network

I think I vomited in my mouth a little bit. I opened the paper today and I see that Rush Limbaugh just signed an eight year, $400,000,000 contract with Premiere Radio Network to keep him making sophomoric Hillary Clinton jokes and racist Obama jokes. That contract also includes a $100,000,000 signing bonus. Rush also makes tens of millions of dollars a year on his newsletter, several major endorsement deals, and his website. Modern talk radio really blossomed in 1987 with the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine. To overly simplify it, the Fairness Doctrine required the media on any given controversial topic to also have an opposing viewpoint be given equal time. Or basically, if Rush Limbaugh wanted to spew four hours of hate every day, that radio station would have to allow someone with an opposing viewpoint equal time to refute. However, Ronald Reagan, in all his brilliance, saw potential great success with conservative talk radio, plus he wanted to destroy the federal government, basically single handedly repealed the Fairness Doctrine. At the time, Rush Limbaugh was just a traveling radio DJ doing stints in Sacramento, Kansas City, and Pittsburgh. It took about seven years and the dawn of the Clinton administration for Rush to begin his era of dominance. Interestingly enough, in the past few years, numerous Democrat senators like Durban of Illinois, John Kerry, and Dianne Feinstein have pushed for the Fairness Doctrine to be reinstated but surprise surprise, conservatives have always blocked attempts. Rush Limbaugh currently averages 13.5 million listeners per day making him the most listened to radio program of all time. Rush’s listeners per day count is actually down. In 2003, he was averaging almost 20 million listeners per day. I will leave my Limbaugh’s thoughts on feminism. "Feminism was established so as to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream of society. Regarding feminists, to whom the most important thing in life is ensuring that as many abortions as possible occur.” Yes sir Rush. You are a true patriot.

1. The economy takes another hit. As the stock market continues to tumble, the United States Department of Labor reported a net loss of 62,000 employees. There is no doubt about it, the economy is a in big trouble and economic forecasters are predicting very little light at the end of this tunnel. The airline companies are going bankrupt, General Motors stock is at its lowest point in 50 years and might hit bankruptcy in a year, and even big companies like Microsoft are suffering from lay-offs.

2. I will be off for a few days from the blogging front while I vacation in Chicago for the next few days. I will talk to you all soon.

From concentrate

When asked before if there is one good thing George W. Bush has accomplished I have always laughed and said no. “We are in multiple wars, we are less safe, our economy is tanking, we have major issues with immigration, health care, rising tuition costs, failing schools, more inner city violence, increased global warming, et cetera,” I would say. However, there was one issue I always thought was smart. I always liked Bush’s plan of Faith Based Programs. America has billions of dollars that they give away each year to help the less fortunate. Some of it goes to third world countries, or those who have just been hit with a natural disaster. But other monies are to be spent in America. For the ease of this blog post, let’s say we have $100 to spend on America’s poor. With all of the red tape, and other costs, only $60 of the original $100 might be able to be used to help the less fortunate, the rest is wasted. In addition, because the government has so many different agencies, and so many people have to approve things, the needy might not get the money until too late. What Bush did was create an agency that will instead just give the money to religious groups to distribute the money instead. Did this help him with the evangelical vote? Of course, but I will give him the benefit of the doubt on this one. Religious organizations and churches already have a system in place to efficiently and effectively spend the money to help the less fortunate without all the red tape. In addition, Faith Based Programs like churches already have ground troops on the war on poverty in place that are usually properly trained and have a clear goal in mind. I was reading the Star Tribune this morning and I saw that Barack Obama agrees with me and would like to continue FBR and even expand funding. Naturally, the liberals are not happy as the comments below are less then positive. I would argue that liberals don’t dislike the idea of FBR, they just hate any idea that came from the Bush White House so clearly it must be a bad idea. I congratulate Obama for reaching across the aisle. On that same issue, I congratulate him for putting down www.moveon.org ‘s (a very liberal website) advertisement that badmouths General Petraus, the general in charge of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. The ad hinted that Petraus betrayed his country and Obama had every right to condemn the ad.

1. Speaking of politics, the Star Tribune publishes what McCain and Obama have raised so far. McCain has raised a respectable $81,000,000. Obama, however, has raised an astonishing $240,000,000 so far. This raises speculation that Mitt Romney will be picked as VP for McCain. Besides being a phenomenal fund raiser, Mitt Romney would be an asset in several ways to McCain. He’s from the North (McCain’s from the South), he’s a governor (McCain’s a senator), he’s younger (McCain’s older), his strength is the economy (McCain said his weakness is the economy), and there are other reasons too. In addition, he would be able to campaign well in close battle ground states like Virginia, New Hampshire, Connecticut, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. In addition, Romney’s father was a very popular governor of Michigan, another battleground state. Romney won the Republican primary in Michigan by a lot! Right now, I have to think he is the favorite.

2. Elton Brand opted out of his contract today. Please listen Chicago Bulls. He is exactly the type of player you need! I know money will be tight so you will have to find a way to dump some of these salaries.