On Ann Coulter and face punching

My lawyer (eg Mom) has advised me to retract my previous statement that I would go over and punch Ann Coulter in the face next time she complained against the liberal media. Besides the fact that this is practically impossible (I'd have to travel to New York on a weekly basis, and eventually my knuckles would get sore), and despite the fact that she's in need of a good bitch-slapping, I cannot, nor would not, ever condone the use of violence to settle such disputes.

But man, if we're ever in the same room, Ann Coulter is getting such a menacing glare that she wouldn't believe. Take that!

O'Reilly truly is a conniving son of a bitch

I usually don't like Media Whores Online. They're commentary is too often too close to propaganda to really consider it a part of the greater legitimate debate, even if I do agree with their issues, but they have a good commentary on Bill O'Reilly, who had this to say about his patriotic duty to help ensure a rigorous public debate on policy issues, which is the foundation of democracy:

Once the war against Saddam Hussein begins, we expect every American to support our military, and if you can't do that, just shut up.

Americans, and indeed our foreign allies who actively work against our military once the war is underway, will be considered enemies of the state by me.

Just fair warning to you, Barbra Streisand and others who see the world as you do. I don't want to demonize anyone, but anyone who hurts this country in a time like this, well. Let's just say you will be spotlighted.

Talking points invites all points of view and believes vigorous debate strengthens the country, but once decisions have been made and lives are on the line, patriotism must be factored in.

My thoughts on this is we should try to have a national campaign, a la Virtual March on Washington, to stuff Bill O'Reilly's e-mail with messages that say, "Fuck you, Bill O'Reilly, and go to Hell." I don't see that that would accomplish anything, but man it would feel good.

No War Blog

Just because I haven't linked to it yet, I thought I'd inform my vast readership of the No War Blog, a politically neutral (as in neither right, left or center) everybody-posts kind of anti-war motivated blog. The pro-war crowd that comments there can get a bit annoying, but I've been cruising around the past few days, posting comments, getting into extended debates of whether or not Bush is moving toward a fascist regime, and the like. Hooray.

Mr Rogers died

Article here. He was such a part of popular culture, that he was the constant butt of sarcastic humor. But he was a fond memory of my childhood, and I'm surprised how much I'm affected by the news.

Update: Jeanne D'arc at Body and Soul writes a beautiful eulogy for him. Read it.

National Mood Ring Switches to Yellow

So the US downgraded the terror warning to yellow. Yippee. Now we merely have to have some level of heightened awareness, as opposed to severe awareness, or something like that.

Okay, forgive my cynicism, but isn't this just a transparent plan so that they can raise the Terror Level without having to move to "red"?

A Worthy Read

Kevin Moore is a damn good cartoonist. I was thinking of linking to an individual cartoon, but they're all so good, just go to his site and read through the archives.

Virtual March

Coverage now by CNN Europe, MSNBC, Salon, even the uber conservative Washington Times. Although it is interesting to note how old Rev. Moon's goons give the whole thing a little spin.

Still, the fact that the Virtual March did so well makes me glad even though I tragically woke up too early today. I mean damn.

War Posters?

I don't always actually visit my own site very often, I just open a separate page that allows me to edit my blog. But I just looked at it in order to look at one of my older posts, and realized that there was an ad at the top to buy War Posters. On my left-wing, anti-war blog site. THERE'S right-wing conspiracy for you.

I guess that's the price I pay for having this blog for free. So, suck it, The Man.

Man, those liberals in the media just don't quit, do they

While "Donahue" does badly trail both O'Reilly and CNN's Connie Chung in the ratings, those numbers have improved in recent weeks. So much so that the program is the top-rated show on MSNBC, beating even the highly promoted "Hardball With Chris Matthews."

Although Donahue didn't know it at the time, his fate was sealed a number of weeks ago after NBC News executives received the results of a study commissioned to provide guidance on the future of the news channel.

That report--shared with me by an NBC news insider--gives an excruciatingly painful assessment of the channel and its programming. Some of recommendations, such as dropping the "America's News Channel," have already been implemented. But the harshest criticism was leveled at Donahue, whom the authors of the study described as "a tired, left-wing liberal out of touch with the current marketplace."

The study went on to claim that Donahue presented a "difficult public face for NBC in a time of war......He seems to delight in presenting guests who are anti-war, anti-Bush and skeptical of the administration's motives." The report went on to outline a possible nightmare scenario where the show becomes "a home for the liberal antiwar agenda at the same time that our competitors are waving the flag at every opportunity."

Article here. Via Tom.

This is ridiculous, of course. When I heard that Donahue was canceled, despite the fact that his ratings weren't really that bad, and were in fact pretty good, I avoided jumping to the conclusion that the corporate overlords were just silencing a liberal voice because, well, to be honest Donahue's show was worthless garbage. That doesn't mean that MSNBC aren't a bunch of evil, biased assholes. Oh, and next time Ann Coulter mentions liberal bias in her column, I'm personally heading over to her home so that I can punch her in the face.

Wow, we were sure lucky to survive that thermonuclear blast, now let's get the insurance

August has the most bizarre story of the night:

State Farm, the nation's largest auto and residential insurer, recently began mailing its California customers renewal notices explaining that it doesn't cover auto losses stemming from nuclear attacks.

Company spokesman Rudy Rodriguez said he didn't know why the clarification was being issued now, other than "to make sure we let our customers know what is covered and what is not."

Previously, State Farm's auto policies only said damage caused by "acts of war" were ineligible for coverage. Its homeowner's insurance already carried a nuclear-specific exclusion, an exemption that has been standard for most liability companies since the Cold War.

Such clauses were designed to release insurers from the responsibility -- and the cost -- of rebuilding whole towns, said P.J. Crowley, a vice president for the New York-based Insurance Information Institute.

Article here. Excuse me, my brain is trying to escape through my ears.

Oh and that whole practical joke/experiment turned out to be much less eventful than I had hoped. I'll get into it later. Now I have work.

Thank you caffeine.

Take that Ari

Ari Fleischer was laughed offstage by the Washington Press Corps.

Transcript here, and also the video. You'll have to skip to about 28 minutes into it. It's worth it.

Virtual March on Washington

I'm calling Senator Wyden in five minutes. Ah the tension. Then it's Senator Smith five minutes later followed by the White House.

The details on what this is are here.

Update: Just called Wyden. Moving on to Smith.

2nd Update: Senator Smith's office all circuits are busy, so my call can't be connected. This is a good sign. It means things are going well. Now I need to collect myself and get ready to call the White House.

3rd Update: Can't connect to the White House either. I figured as much. Wyden and Smith are only going to be called by people in Oregon, the White House all over the country. But I got my word into Wyden's office. Now I will go eat lunch.

Take that France, part II

We'll be eating our freedom toast, thank you very much. No food items are going to be named after cheese eating surrender monkeys on my watch.

A Haunting Look into Things to Come

I just performed a massive practical joke/experiment on the school. I'd tell you about it now, but there might be other Reedies reading this, and the experiment comes from people not knowing that it's an experiment. Don't worry, it's nothing bad, but man it's fun.

More details at the end of Wednesday.

This is hilarious

Here's a response from an op-ed editor, an op-ed EDITOR here, on an article by the Future of Freedom Foundation entitled "The French Got it Right This Time":

YOU ARE AN IDIOT and it is apparent your LIBERAL MIND has totally overloaded any common sense you may have ever possessed...Please DO NOT forward any more of your trash toward my e-mail address, it is one thing to be assumed stupid totally another matter to put stupidity into words so anyone reading knows beyond a shadow of doubt you are... How many more World Towers, Oklahoma government buildings, foreign diplomats, HOW MANY MORE is enough???

The irony is of course self-evident.

Article and comments here. Via Cursor.

Virtual march on Washington

Link here.

On February 26th, every Senate office will receive a call every minute from a constituent, as they receive a simultaneous flood of faxes and e-mail. Hundreds of thousands of people from across the country will send the collective message: Don't Attack Iraq. Every Senate switchboard will be lit up throughout the day with our message -- a powerful reminder of the breadth and depth of opposition to a war in Iraq. And on that day, "antiwar rooms" in Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles will highlight the day's progress for the national media, while local media can visit the "antiwar room" online to monitor this constituent march throughout the day.

I'm signed up to call a few Senators from 3:35-3:45 EST, follow the link. Support for war is still waning. No matter how determined America is, there is a limit to their power. So do this.

No, Xupiter, fuck YOU!

I have no idea how this happened, but apparently there's some search engine called xupiter.com that installed itself into my computer, so that whenever I try accessing a webpage that isn't up, it switches to the Xupiter search engine and puts up a pop-up ad. Yeah, that's exactly what I want there, let's have popup ads that randomly cause my internet explorer browser freeze up.

Anyway, is there anyone reading this, whether I know you or not, who knows how I can get this software, which, by the way, I never agreed to have installed into my computer, uninstalled? Just e-mail me here.

Also, I still urge you to e-mail me if you have any comments/reactions to stuff on this page.

Thanks.

This CAN'T be real, can it?

August links to this site which asks its readers, to, well read this:

Recently, our family watched as our nation chose a president. Now that George W. Bush is in, I can only hope and pray that the scandals that happened to President Clinton will not happen to him. George W. Bush is a believer and carries our Father’s reputation in the actions he takes. (I can only wish we had been doing this for President Clinton.)

It is because our heavenly Father is jealous for his glory (Exodus 20:5) that I write to you.

Recently I have felt the Lord speak to me (remember, I’m a conservative Presbyterian, I rarely use those words) that our President needs someone fasting for him every day in the office for his holiness. This will not only cover him through our prayers and fasting, but also give him encouragement (and accountability) knowing that there is someone (and hopefully multitudes) fasting for him each day.

I mean, in my assumption that people are overall rational beings, I figured this was a joke, like the whole General JC Christian thing, but I can't find anything on the site that is so blatantly ridiculous as to say, "man, this is such a total joke. I can't believe you actually fell for it."

So in contrast to the Christian dogmatist bullshit offered by this site, I ask my readers to join me in the following prayer:

Ahem.

God help us all.

Race in the US - or "Exactly how fucked up ARE we?"

Tom Tomorrow does a great cartoon on racism in America. (Yeah, you'll have to click through a multi-part ad to read the entire cartoon - deal with it). And proving his point over on Washington Times way, we have this insightful rant by Fred Reed:

As a matter of logic, blacks either (a) are, or (b) are not, as intelligent as whites. For evident reasons, though not necessarily good reasons, people evade the question in public speech. But this is like not telling the doctor about the lump growing somewhere on one's person: current ease of mind exacts the price of later disaster.

The measured disparity in measured IQ between the races is about fifteen points. If the inequality accurately reflects a real difference in intellectual ability, the consequences will be enormous, for reasons growing out of the overlap of bell-shaped curves. The mathematics is not easily conveyed in a newspaper column. For the moment, suffice it to say that, if the fifteen-point difference means what it purports to mean, blacks, short of a miracle of genetic re-engineering, will be forever excluded from the higher intellectual reaches of a techno-industrial society.

And notice, the possibility that blacks are MORE intelligent than whites never enters as a logical possibility. I mean, of course, right?

And this remains ever-pertinent here at Reed, because, well this:

The editors of Reed College's student newspaper were asked to step down when a parody based on the popular website Hotornot.com misfired, drawing charges of racism. "Academic or not?" a full-page spread in the Feb. 6 issue of The Quest posed questions about the teaching style and academic leanings of five professors.
"We thought it would prompt debate and that it was readily obvious as being a satire," says Quest co-editor Jesse Hoffman.

The flap centers on the satire of Pancho Savery, English department chair and one of several professors teaching the required freshman course Humanities 110. Hoffman says Savery, who is African-American, is known for criticizing the humanities curriculum and fellow Reed faculty for failing to credit ancient Egyptians and Africans as the predecessors to Greek and Roman civilization.

----snip-------

The Quest satire asked readers to vote on whether Savery is an "Incendiary afrocentrist with alarmist concerns? Enlightened intellectual with informed opinions?"

That whole comment that it was designed to prompt debate is bullshit. I saw the page in question (hell, it was posted angrily all over campus) and all it was was a stupid joke, conceived in very bad taste, and blatantly unfair to the various profs that were parodied. I wasn't quite as outraged as many on campus, but I could see where they were coming from.

And Jesse Hoffman and his co-editor have formally resigned, just for your knowledge.

I suppose here is where I'm supposed to offer my insightful commentary that links all this together, but I really don't have anything. Plus I have work to do. I guess we're just fucked.

That is, unless Trogdor comes to the rescue!

Burninate it all!

Wars and Protests

So, this afternoon I signed a pledge that, if and when the bombing starts in Iraq, I will on that day at 2:00 join a group of other Reedies to walk downtown and join a larger anti-war ralley. So hopefully Bush won't deciede to exercise his Imperial Mandate on a monday, wednesday or friday, 'cause then I'd miss my History of Vietnam class.

But there is one gaping flaw in the logic involved in this pledge, though, which is, in order for bombing to start in Iraq, wouldn't that mean that previous bombings campaigns against Iraq would have stopped? 'Cause that ain't happened yet.

George Bush the Elder on Atheists

The following exchange took place at the Chicago airport between Robert I. Sherman of American Atheist Press and George Bush, on August 27 1987. Sherman is a fully accredited reporter, and was present by invitation as a member of the press corps. The Republican presidential nominee was there to announce federal disaster relief for Illinois. The discussion turned to the presidential primary:

RS:
"What will you do to win the votes of Americans who are atheists?"
GB:
"I guess I'm pretty weak in the atheist community. Faith in God is important to me."
RS:
"Surely you recognize the equal citizenship and patriotism of Americans who are atheists?"
GB:
"No, I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God."
RS:
"Do you support as a sound constitutional principle the separation of state and church?"
GB:
"Yes, I support the separation of church and state. I'm just not very high on atheists."

Great isn't it. This is the current Imperial Family, after all, and Bush II makes Bush I look reasonable as far as religious zeal.

Article here. The site has a bunch of arguments about atheism in general. I was pleased when I noticed the post on Godel's Incompleteness Theorem didn't try to oversimplify Godel's work to the extent that it can relate to all our lives.

Here's a laugh for you

Check this out. Link comes via Atrios. Again.

Bummer

Tonight is the Masquerade Ball, which is a tacet part of Reed Arts Week. It's a fun-filled night of dancing, substance-abuse, regrettable sex and all out good old fashioned revelry.

For everyone else that is. For me it serves merely as a modicom into how the massive amounts of work I'm stuck with this semester have eaten away my social life. So while everyone else is dancing and enjoying themselves, here I am reading and trying desperately to finish REU applications.

And in case I used the word "modicom" incorrectly, or just make it up, I'll add fuck you. There's is a massive on-campus party tonight, and I'm missing it due to studying. I should be allowed a portion of quasi-intellectualism!

Sorry for the rant. I'll try some posts that hold a moderate significance soon.

Update: And it's Cowboy Bebop to the rescue. Nothing like Mushroom Samba to get you out of a bad mood.

John Lott is an embarassment to academia

Fortunately for me, my field of Academics is Math, so I don't have to compare myself to John Lott, whose field apparently is complete, utter bullshit.

The INS is full of racist, homophobic assholes who should not be given the power they have in anything short of a totalitarian regime

Just from reading this:

A Toronto woman coming home from India says she was pulled aside at Chicago's O'Hare Airport, accused of using a fake Canadian passport, denied consular assistance and threatened with jail.

In tears and desperate, Berna Cruz says she told U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS) officers she didn't want to go to jail. She told them she had to get home to her two children and was expected to be at work the next day at a branch of a major Toronto bank where she works as a loan officer.

Instead of jailing her on Jan. 27, an INS officer cut the front page of Cruz's passport and filled each page with "expedited removal" stamps, rendering it useless.

She was photographed, fingerprinted, barred from re-entering the U.S. for five years and immediately "removed."

Not to Toronto, but to India, where she had just spent several weeks visiting her parents.

It took four days, and help from Canadian officials in Dubai and a Kuwaiti Airlines pilot, to get her back home.

I'd comment on this, but instead I thought I'd pass on some anecdotal information.

A friend of mine in the Budapest program (hi Ryan if you're reading this) told me about a Hungarian he met who came to visit America for his birthday in November 2001, to see his friends who he made while staying in America over the summer. The thing is he left the country on September 10, the day before Iraq nuked San Francisco. (with big nukes, and really badly, that's why we're going to war, right?)

Anyway, due to the date of his previous departure from the country, and maybe because he was gay (he's Hungarian, so I'm assuming he doesn't look Arab at all), the INS jailed him for about a week (exact dates I don't have, remember this is anecdotal).

This time of being jailed was of course, needlessly unpleasant. Since he was gay, the guards would often physically intimidate him, one would keep saying to him after grilling, "I'm going to go fuck my girlfriend" and the like. Finally they released him, and shipped him back to Hungary.

Which is all to say, the INS has gotten too powerful, and they are abusing innocent people in the name of "security". But you know what? This is supoposed to be America, where people aren't randomly jailed, and anyone can come who wants to live peacefully. Give us your tired masses yearning to breathe free, right?

Not anymore. Let's face it, America's grown too powerful. And Bush is a dick. And we're founded on centuries of white supremacy. And the uber religious have a stranglehold over politics.

Essentially, we're fucked.

Ben Tripp on rigged elections

Ben Tripp writes a great article about the frightening state of the current American election system. Go read it. Now. As usual, he does a great job of offsetting horrifying, enraging events with humor.

Why aren't you reading it yet?

Go!

New Get Your War On!!!

Okay, they're more than a week old by now, but come on. Postings of GYWO are infrequent. Still, check it the fuck out!

Communist Propaganda

As I listened to the Hungarian commie propaganda songs from my "Best of Communism" CD I got while in Budapest, I had no idea that the commies had already infiltrated my beloved childhood video game system. The expose is here.

General JC Christian is a true patriot

Check him out here.

Funniest blog ever.

I am totally crushing.

It's really late, I'm heavily caffeinated and working on finishing the first three chapters of my novella for Creative Writing tomorrow. Plus there's tons other work to do. One thing I find is that communist propaganda music is very good music to work to.

Anyway, note the time of this blog. I'm letting you know that I'm a Reedie here, and we work hard. Nothing important to say to that. But I'm really lagging behind in work right now, so I do anticipate a few slow blog days ahead. I recommend Atrios to fill the void. Also, don't forget Tom and August are still both very high quality bloggers as well. And while you're at it send me an e-mail and let me know I'm loved. Back to writing. And those of you reading this who know me and are not in my immediate family, and are interested in receiving a copy of this beginning of a novella of mine, let me know and I'll send it via e-mail.

Buh.

Hey Fox News, maybe you should try utilizing some journalistic integrity!

I mean, Jesus Christ, Fox News.

Portland baseball?

Espn.com features a good e-mail debate between Rob Neyer and Jim Caple on the issue. Check it out. I'd comment but I should really go eat and go to class. Have fun you all.

Add another four to the list

Because there was even an antiwar ralley in Antarctica.

Link via Tom.

Some numbers for you

While Free Republic is bragging over it's pro-war protest march attracting over 50 people (click on the link, the photos are really quite hilarious), here's some estimates of anti-war ralleys from around the world:

500,000 - New York, United States
25,000 - Vancouver, Canada
5,000 - Buenos Aires, Argentina
1,300,000 - Barcelona, Spain
660,000 - Madrid, Spain
2,000,000 - Rome, Italy
50,000 - Athens, Greece
1,000,000 - London, England
100,000 - Paris, France
500,000 - Berlin, Germany
10,000 - Toulouse, France
60,000 - Oslo, Norway
50,000 - Brussels, Belgium
100,000 - Montreal, Canada
35,000 - Stockholm, Sweden
10,000 - Toronto, Canada
3,000 - Quebec City, Canada
100,000 - Dublin, Ireland
70,000 - Amsterdam, Netherlands
60,000 - Seville, Spain
40,000 - Bern, Switzerland
12,000 - Edmonton, Canada
1,000 - Moscow, Russia
30,000 - Glasgow, Scotland
25,000 - Copenhagen, Denmark
100,000 - Seattle, United States
15,000 - Vienna, Austria
20,000 - Montreal, Canada
15,000 - Toronto, Canada
5,000 - Cape Town, South Africa
4,000 - Johannesburg, South Africa
30,000 - Los Angeles, United States
5,000 - Tokyo, Japan
2,000 - Dhaka, Bangladesh
10,000 - Mexico City, Mexico
500 - Prague, Czech Republic
25,000 - Baghdad, Iraq
200,000 - Damascus, Syria
2,000 - Tel Aviv, Israel
5,000 - Havana, Cuba
10,000 - Beirut, Lebanon
3,000 - Chicago, United States
2,000 - Kiev, Ukraine
10,000 - Philadelphia, United States
100 - Mostar, Bosnia
10,000 - Calcutta, India
5,000 - Amman, Jordan
1,000 - Puerto Rico, United States
150,000 - Melbourne, Australia
5,000 - Auckland, New Zealand
2,000 - Sao Paulo, Brazil
20,000 - Belfast, Northern Ireland
2,000 - Dhaka, Bangladesh
100,000 - Sydney, Australia
1,000 - Hong Kong, China
5,000 - Canberra, Australia
1,500 - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

That's 6,986,100 worldwide, or about the scope of 139,722 pro-war ralleys, and this does ignore many smaller scale marches occurring in smaller cities around the world, I know my parents did something of the sort in Flagstaff.

Damn, I hate being in the minority like that.

Numbers from Body and Soul who got the numbers from Atrios' comment page. Damn you Atrios, and your superior blog! I cannot escape.

Update: My Mom reports from the frontlines that 1500 people marched in Flagstaff, which encompasses maybe a fortieth of the population. So make the worldwide tally 6,987,600, or 140,022 pro-war ralleys. If anyone else has any info on ralleys and marches that occurred on Saturday,

Enjoy those Valentine's Day chocolates?

Well I'm sure that the child slaves in West Africa will be glad to know their work is appreciated.

Salon premium required to read the article, which now you can get for a whole day just by clicking through a few annoying ads. Or just subscribe to it, cheapwads.

Rumsfeld is sooooooo evil

This from The Observer:

America is to punish Germany for leading international opposition to a war against Iraq. The US will withdraw all its troops and bases from there and end military and industrial co-operation between the two countries - moves that could cost the Germans billions of euros.

The plan - discussed by Pentagon officials and military chiefs last week on the orders of Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld - is designed 'to harm' the German economy to make an example of the country for what US hawks see as Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's 'treachery'.

Read the rest, of course members of the State Department are pissed off by Rummy's plan, but that's never stopped the bastard before.

Link via Atrios again. Always Atrios.

Take that, France!

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- A Pennsylvania lawmaker wants to ban state-owned liquor stores from selling imported French wine and spirits, saying he's fed up with France's opposition to a possible U.S.-led war on Iraq.

State Rep. Steve Barrar, a Republican from Delaware County outside Philadelphia, said he will introduce a resolution this month ordering the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board to prohibit state stores from carrying and selling French booze.

---------------------------------------------

"I even said to my kids I'm not buying french fries, I'm so mad at the French."

Article here via Atrios, who I am convinced is the most amazing blogger in the history of time.

A Busy Day

My friend Ian told me last year that Reed is part of a right-wing conspiracy - get a bunch of leftist activists together, and put them in a school so rigorous they spend all their free time studying instead of participating on activism. So the Reedie reaction to the World Peace Day was one of sitting around and studying as opposed to going out there and taking part in the activism. As for Ian, well the Psych qual is this weekend, so he's probably busy as hell.

So despite Amper Sand providing a convenient list of activism to do this weekend here in Portland, I've stayed where I haven't left for the past week or so, on campus, as I tried to finish the first three chapters of a novella by Tuesday, not to mention all the reading, and I haven't started grading yet. C'est la vie, huh?

Well, the good news is my parents made it to a protest in Flagstaff, good for them, and as Tom and August happily report the rally in New York drew hundreds of thousands, not to mention the huge rallies all over the country and world to protest a war that hasn't begun. The city of New York succeeded in getting an injunction against a march, but all they got was massive protesters blocking most of Manhattan. I suppose there's nothing to say to that other than: suck it Mayor Bloomberg! (also John Ashcroft)

It's that time of year again

August has a pretty good comic this week that more or less expresses my reaction to Valentine's Day.

Apparently spending most of my time in the library is not the ideal way to gain a girlfriend. Damn you, fate.

E-mail

Since I'm not sure how I put up a link page, here's my request for e-mails from my loyal fans. Let me know how I'm doing, especially if you haven't e-mailed before and/or don't know me. I know at least maybe five or six people read this, and they all know me personally (thanks Mom).

Buhleeted!

So, the Boston Globe is wary of the mass e-mails from GOP team leaders as noted in this Team Leader action alert:

Help President Bush
Call Them Out!

Last week, the paper (Boston Globe) announced that it would no longer publish letters to the editor sent through GOP Team Leader and its letters editor admitted that letters "that just say ‘George Bush is a great guy’ – will be a red flag."

Every week, thousands of Team Leaders get involved using the tools at GOPTeamLeader.com. But the Boston Globe seems to believe that because you use our online tools that your opinion doesn’t matter. Write the Boston Globe and let them know that your opinion does matter!

Click here to write them today!

So, when the Boston Globe is aware of people sending identical e-mails around the country, they're countering this by sending the Boston Globe hundreds of identical e-mails. Man oh man, whatever will the Boston Globe do? I guess they'll have to either listen to these Republicans' unoriginal demands or utilize the delete button.

I'm so screwed

This week, I signed for my $12,000 student loan check to help pay for the semester, realizing I'm going to be paying for that for a looooong time. But my financial future is not as dismal as it could be - since I'm going for my PhD, it's still five or six years until I have to start paying off my debts. And since I'm a math student, my graduate degree is pretty much paid for. From what I hear, getting accepted in a graduate math program without a full ride is essentially the same as being rejected.

Still, that doesn't mean Ted Rall's latest column on the student loan problem in this country isn't pertinent to my own situation, excerpted below:

The pre-bankrupting of America's best and brightest, the young men and women who attend private colleges and public universities, is one of our nation's enduring, quiet scandals. Momentarily breaking the silence was a Jan. 28 New York Times profile of young adults who, because of their student loans, are forced to choose jobs solely based on pay. Margot Miles, a legal secretary who borrowed $25,000 to attend UPenn, wants to go to law school but "just can't imagine taking out any more loans." Anisa Brophy, an aspiring cartoonist, ran up a $70,000 tab attending Wilson College in Pennsylvania. Even Connie Chavez, whose $10,000 student loan Hofstra bill doesn't seem so bad, "has virtually given up on her dream of going to business school."

-------------------------------------

Average tuition and fees at a private college or university is $18,000 and rising at twice the inflation rate. Meanwhile, what students call "real" financial aid--grants and scholarships, not loans--keeps falling. The result is two-fold. The Rand Corporation estimates that 6 million Americans will be "priced out of the system" over the next two decades. And for those who bite the bullet, more students than ever (46 percent in 1990, 70 percent in 2000) end up taking out college loans.

-----------------------------------------------

College tuition is free or nominal in most industrialized, and many Third World, countries. The United States' insistence that students assume huge debts to pay for their college education is unusual enough that the Chinese government included it in its 2001 report of American human rights violations.

Until the U.S. joins the civilized world, our big-spending government can make things easier on twentysomething graduates by abolishing the student loan industry.

Eliminating the debt racket wouldn't be difficult. Calling off the invasion of Iraq, for instance, would save an estimated $200 billion---that's six years of fiscally emancipated youth right there. Eliminating last year's $1.5 trillion tax cut--money that would have gone to rich people who won't miss it--would pay off everyone's student loans for the next 50 years.

Ahh such a life. And of course, this is another thing that won't be fixed because someone is getting rich off of it. Is this a great country or what?

North Korea and Iraq

Yet again, in my history class, that is History of Vietnam, more information comes out pertinent to current events. In this case, it was discussed directly. I thought I'd pass this info onto my loyal readers.

So, why do we keep on moving towards war with Iraq on the grounds that they probably have weapons of mass destruction and might possibly build more, whereas we seek diplomatic solutions with North Korea who DO have nuclear weapons, plus a delivery system and ARE working on building more?

I won't continue the debate as to why we want Iraq (cough cough oil cough cough imperialcontrolofthearabpenninsula cough), but I'll look into the reason we don't attack North Korea, and it's summed in one word: "detterrence".

Not nuclear deterrence, that's what will prevent North Korea from sending a nuke to San Francisco, and we know they won't do that. But since the cease fire that ended the Korean War, North Korea has kept a large artillery just outside the demilitarized zone, and this artillery is within the range of Seoul, a city with a population of 14,000,000 people. We go to war, Seoul is destroyed. Whereas if we attack Iraq, the only US ally Iraq could possibly attack is Israel, and probably not very well. His weapons program now is probably not nearly as advanced as it was in 1991, and his attempts to attack Israel then were pretty fruitless.

So, right now, we can't conceivably attack North Korea, and Kim Jong Il realizes this, and oppurtunistically announces his nuclear plans now, when America, the only country that really has the power to stop him, is already a bit muddied diplomatically with it's attempt to unilaterally attack Iraq. Let's face it, North Korea having nukes creates an unnecessary difficulty, even if in the short term it does at least delay a war with Iraq. But Bush has never been the most able diplomat, and he and his administration is really to blame for allowing North Korea to jumpstart its weapons program. He announced that North Korea was part of an "axis of evil", hence hurting diplomatic relations with North and South Korea, and in his rampant drive for conquest and power, he has alienated the rest of the world, hence giving North Korea the diplomatic freedom to develop nuclear weapons. And North Korea as a nuclear power means we'll have to start listening to them.

From The Onion

Saddam Enrages Bush With Full Compliance
WASHINGTON, DC—President Bush expressed frustration and anger Monday over a U.N. report stating that Iraqi president Saddam Hussein is now fully complying with weapons inspections. "Enough is enough," a determined Bush told reporters. "We are not fooled by Saddam's devious attempts to sway world opinion by doing everything the U.N. asked him to do. We will not be intimidated into backing down and, if we have any say in the matter, neither will Saddam." Bush added that any further Iraqi attempt to meet the demands of the U.N. or U.S. will be regarded as "an act of war."

--------------------------------
Just thought this would be a nice humorous break from the recent posts regarding, "we're all doomed" and what not.

This should keep you awake at night

Daily Rotten has a complete draft of Patriot Act II. I read the first clause, about classifying individual terrorists, whether or not they are affiliated with a group as "foreign powers". It's great since they haven't exactly given an official definition of terrorism, so now instead of declaring citizens as "enemy combatants" we'll be "foreign powers."

This is such a scary piece of legal work, and you'd notice, it's supposed to be confidential. This could be a minor version of the Pentagon Papers if the "liberal media" would acknowledge its existence.

Ah late night

I drank too much coffee to go to bed yet, and I spent the last more than 4 hours on work, so hopefully I'll be able to get more homework done before going to bed. This is the benefit of having all afternoon classes.

In the meantime, August has a link to the actual video of O'Reilly "interviewing" Jeremy Glick, you know a founder of the Not in Our Name ad whose father was killed in the September 11 attacks? Man, Bill O'Reilly is a complete asshole, but view it anyway, just to let him know.

The exciting thing is this is getting a considerable amount of attention in Blogistan. Maybe, like the whole Trent Lott fiasco, we, the community of bloggers, although I am but a recent member, can bring O'Reilley down.

Suck it, Bill.

Bush on Religion

He speaks to the Evangelical Christians pretty well, but apparently the strength of his providence isn't felt so much by the Catholics.

Question: What does the most religious president in collective memory say when the Pope condemns his actions? Does he call the Catholic Church irrelevent? Didn't we already know this?

Interesting article

In the Arizona Republic, Robert Robb seems to suggests America mellow out:

What if we in the United States were no longer to regard it as our responsibility to thwart whatever ambitions Saddam might have so long as he left us alone? If other Arab countries regarded Saddam as a threat or a menace, they would have to do something about it themselves.
--------------------------------------------------
Similarly, what if the United States took the position that a nuclear-armed North Korea was primarily a regional threat and it was up to South Korea, China and Japan to figure out what to do about it?

The United States would be willing to talk directly to North Korea, as it has demanded. But what we'll say is that freedom and democracy are what will improve conditions for the people of North Korea and that its government isn't getting a dime from American taxpayers.
----------------------------------------------------
This is not, as commonly alleged, isolationism. We would remain diplomatically and commercially engaged throughout the world, even in countries we currently give the cold shoulder to, such as Cuba and Iran.

We just wouldn't try to manage the world's affairs or be willing to act as the world's security force anymore.

We would return to being what the Founding Fathers intended: a peaceful trading nation. An example of liberty for the world, but defender and protector principally of our own.

Here's what I find interesting about this, under the current political climate, this seems to be a moderate, centrist view. But it's not. It's a classical conservative view, but America has by now moved so far right, it feels like it's closer to center.

My mother told me last night she was becoming radicalized. I told her she wasn't. If she was in most European democracies, her views would be much closer to center, possibly conservative. America has become radicalized, or at least the government has. At it's making levelheadedness appear to be extremism.

More on the New York protest

The city of New York has denied the protesters a permit because, I guess, Mayor Bloomberg is a Washington whore.

Ruminate This has more. Read it. Now.

The problem with fabricating evidence. . .

Is that it can turn and bite you in the ass.

Thanks to Hesiod for the link.

You mean to say Bill O'Reilly is not the unbiased journalist he claims to be?

Tom Tomorrow already mentioned about a Bill O'Reilly interview where he yells at his interviewee to shut up and tells his producer to "cut his mic." And if that's not enough, he's now referring to Mexicans as wetbacks. Does anyone still take this guy seriously. I suppose now is the time to pledge support to NOSBOIS.

Update: It appears that NOSBOIS is now closed for business. I pine for the loss.

United for Peace update

Tom informs us that the city of New York still refuses to grant United for Peace and Justice a permit to march on the fifteenth of this month.

I urge all my readers (yes all five of you) to sign this petition to allow New Yorkers to march at once!

Do it.

The Vote

Alex Koronknay-Palicz, president of National Youth Rights Association writes in Counterpunch on lowering the voting age:

The movement to lower the voting age has begun. On January 28th, an ordinance was introduced to the Anchorage, Alaska city council that will lower the voting age to 16 for city elections. After a short but busy period collecting signatures to put the measure on the ballot the local group led by high schooler Corey Rennell has asked the city council to enfranchise them as local voters. If the council decides to pass the ordinance it will become just the second government body to lower the voting age since the 1970s. Last year the city council in Cambridge, Massachusetts passed an ordinance lowering the voting age to 17 for local elections. Local youth groups in North Dakota and Washington, DC are busy working on the issue in their areas as well.

The success of any or all of these campaigns may spawn similar campaigns in cities and states all across the nation. It is coming. Youth are demanding a voice, they are demanding the vote. Allow me to explain why. The last decade was the worst decade for youth in our collective national memory. Despite a great increase in wealth, the public lashed out at our teenage minority in what has grown to be a national hysteria. Curfew laws restricted movement, dress codes silenced individuality, zero-tolerance polices made crimes out of trench coats and saying "bang", and boot camps emerged as prisons to send anyone who resisted. Against all evidence to the contrary, the public readily accepted Columbine shooters Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris as standard bearers for an entire generation. Despite a plummeting rate of youth crime and a skyrocketing rate of youth volunteerism, the 90's saw an anti-teen witchhunt that is persisting even now into the next decade. Tired of no respect, many youth are determined not to let the last decade repeat itself.

What the article doesn't mention is that along with this have been movement to try kids as adults without giving them any rights as adults. It's all part of the whole vengeance fetish people in this country have developed to fuel their whole moral-superiority-lust. But so long as we do this, why not let the kids have a voice on it.

Who's asking the important questions? Where are they going to ask them?

A Washington Post editorial notes that Bush hasn't been too forthcoming to the press to put it lightly.

The president has not held a solo news conference since Nov. 7. He appears before a small group of reporters at times when he meets with foreign leaders, as he did for 13 minutes on Friday with British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Bush allowed a total of six questions, three to each leader, from U.S. and British reporters. On other occasions, he takes a few questions from reporters for a few minutes. He has given a few long interviews to selected journalists -- two of whom were Washington Post reporters working on journalistic reconstructions of the periods immediately after the 2000 election and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. But the president has been able to make his case for war to the public in these last crucial and escalating months essentially without the press being able to mount any serious, concentrated follow-up questioning.

Also, out on the blogosphere, courtesy of Ruminate This, we learn the following:

After Colin Powell spoke to the UN Security Council yesterday, a bi-partisan bill was introduced in Congress by Reps. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) and Ron Paul (R-TX). It wasn't just any bill - this is legislation that looks to repeal the Iraq Use of Force Resolution passed by Congress in October.

If you're wonkish about these things, you might recall that similar legislation was put forward a couple of weeks ago by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX). It didn't get more than a mention here or there in the press, but it's important to note that DeFazio and Paul's bill is different. Jackson's "sense of the Congress" bill, if passed would have taken the body's "temperature" on the issue. That's all.

DeFazio and Paul's effort goes beyond the thermometer. Faced with the administration's Rush to War, DeFazio and Paul are looking for a prescription. If they were to get this one passed, the outcome would be legally binding, and the October bill then outright repealed. Congress could at that point thoughtfully revisit the issue of Iraq - the danger it presents and the costs of war.

But where was the media? DeFazio and Paul attempted to hold a press conference announcing the bill, but no one came. They were too busy covering Powell's iron tight case for war against Iraq to bother reporting that maybe, just maybe, someone might disagree with the Bushies' world view.

Both of these stories represent the current problem with the state of affairs, which is that the administration has zero-accountability. Take the State of the Union Address, Bush went over all his policies so much he forgot to mention the, oh, STATE OF THE UNION. Meanwhile the absolutely left-wing biased pundits decided to focus on whether or not Bush made his case against Iraq, which of course makes way to no new debate, because Bush just gave a rehash of all his old arguments. "If Saddam had the means to attack New York with a nucular missile, and he really wanted to, and either he could afford to do so diplomatically, or thought he could, or didn't care, then Saddam would nuke New York. Plain and simple." How can you argue with that?

But in the meanwhile, Bush does not take the American public at all seriously. And for that matter, neither does anyone in Washington. It's agree with Bush, or be ignored. The idea that Americans are thinking people capable of making their own decisions. As this article pointed out, an anti-war protest featuring hundreds of thousands of people didn't have a single politician attend it. You'd think that a politician would be a little more enterprising than that, noting that if they become the political voice of the anti-war faction, that's a hell of a lot of free votes. But instead, these people continue to be ignored.

But, Bush, you're about to send us into a war, a lot of Americans could die from this, either as soldiers, or from newly inspired terrorist attacks. If you're going to sentence us to death, at least give us some semblance of respect before you do.

[Note: this last paragraph in case George W Bush actually reads this blog, and you know he does.]

Hmm

I notice that there are no serious political essays on my blog view page as is, you'd have to go into the archives for that. There are two factors to blame:

1) Increase of studying cuts into my time in general

2) Video games take up the rest.

My brother sent me Baseball Mogul 2003, and the game has this great play-by-play feature that makes the postseason last at least 2 hours when I get that far, and my Diamondbacks are repeat World Champions from 2013-2014! Then if that's not bad enough, I made the mistake of asking my friend Tom if I could borrow Red Factor, and he said yes, so now I'm playing that instead of working. Damn. I'll try to mention something on the political world over the weekend. Stay tuned, Raznor fans.

Update: Ha ha, look above this, long political essay. I'm still a legitimate left-wing blog. Take that, fate.

Progress kicks ass!

A Japanese scientist is working on a cloak of invisibility. Check it out.

That's it, we must go to war IMMEDIATELY

After I saw this satellite photo taken over Baghdad, I knew that Saddam must be stopped at all costs.

Link via Cursor.

Clams are the way of the future

Worried about war with Iraq. No biggie, just send some clams!

Anyone reading this from New York area?

Here's a United for Peace update on an attempted peace rally to take place in New York:

We are, however, facing a major fight over our basic democratic right to public protest. At our February 4 meeting with lawyers for New York City and the NYPD, our request for a march permit was again refused. We have asked to assemble near the United Nations, march directly past the U.N., and then continue through Manhattan to a rally at Central Park. We are consulting with our lawyers and will announce our next step late on Wednesday, February 5.

With only 10 days remaining before February 15, the continued stonewalling by the police can only be seen as an active effort to prevent us from voicing our opposition to this war. We will not be silenced -- the streets of New York will be filled with a cry for peace.

What can you do? Make more phone calls (numbers below). Make your travel plans. Recruit your friends. Donate some money. Fill more buses, hand out more leaflets -- and we'll see you in New York City on February 15.

**NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg: 212-788-9600, 212-788-3010, 212-788-3040
**NYC Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly: 646-610-8526
**NYPD Chief of Department Joseph Esposito: 646-610-6710

Courtesy of Tom Tomorrow.

Attention Cincinnati Reds Fans

If you walk on the field of your new ballpark, you will get fired.

Seriously, though, this picture the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati looks simply beautiful. I'd love to see a ballgame there. I've been to four ballparks in my life. Here's how I like them:

1. Dodger Stadium: The $6 seats are the cheapest and best.
2. The BOB (Arizona): I will never be convinced that any retractable dome is better than the BOB, it's gorgeous.
3. The New Comiskey Park (Chicago White Sox): Just kind of boring, a bit small, and so boring, plus now it's going to be called US Cellular Field. Worst ballpark name ever, or at least rivalling Minute Maid Park nee Enron Field.
4. Edison Field (Anaheim): Disney turned this into a huge entertainment show with a bit of baseball on the side to distract you. The waterfall in center field is ridiculous. Hey, more power to the World Champion Angels, but man.

And for the parks I'd most like to see:
1. Wrigley: you gotta see Wrigley man.
2. Fenway: see Wrigley
3. Yankee Stadium: Giuliani was pushing for legislation to give millions of dollars to the Yankees to get a new park, which is besides the fact that if any team needs a financial hands up, it is NOT the Yankees, is idiotic, since Yankee Stadium has so much history and already seats nearly 50,000 fans anyway.
4. Pac Bell: With McCovey Cove in the background, it's just amazing.

And there you have it. Have to do work soonish.

Heroes and People

August posted on his blog sometime ago about a rather childish legal squabble between Ted Rall and Danny Hellman. The sheer idiocy of it, he conveys in his post, has shook him seeing as he looks up to these guys, as editorial caroonists whom he would like to one day call colleagues.

This shook and disillusioned me as well. I really don't know much of Danny Hellman's work, but I'm a great admirer of Ted Rall, and this lengthy law suit seems just foolish. This is a guy who's essays have had a great effect on me, who's comics I've always turned to when I needed a comedic spin on the crap of the world (along with Get Your War On, but those are less frequent). I still admire his work, and August does say he seems to be a decent guy, but still this foolishness seems unbecoming of someone who's profound impact on me comes through his intellegent, well-informed rhetoric.

But I guess it's another case of admiring someone for their work, not their personality.

It reminds me of my relationship to Gottlieb Frege.

Anyone who knows me, and I'm sure most of my readers do - and on a personal level (anyone who doesn't e-mail me and let me know) - will know that I strive to be a mathematician/professor at some point in my life. I wish only to research and teach math at some university or college or something, and maybe on the side be a starting pitcher for a major league ballclub. And logic is one of the most interesting fields for me, so Gottlieb Frege serves as a major influence to me.

Although Frege is mostly known for the way he exited the field of mathematics - Bertrand Russell sent him a problem he had, which later became known as Russell's Paradox, and unable to reconcile what this problem meant to his work, Frege simply quit his study - Frege was still a very strongly accomplished mathematician/philosopher. Russell sent Frege the problem in the first place because he was a great admirer of Frege's work, after all. Frege was the first person to offer a precise mathematical definition for a number, and his Foundations of Arithemetic provided the background needed for Russell's Principia Mathematica, that being among the most influential math text of the twentieth century. If ever in my career I publish something even half as profound as foundation as Foundations of Arithemetic, I'd be quite pleased.

But then, his diaries were published. Martin Davis writes, with hope and optimism, that seeing as Frege had been out of mathematics for more than twenty years when his published diaries were written, and near the end of his life, perhaps he had by then gone senile and insane. But it doesn't affect how disillusioning it is to learn that someone as brilliant as Frege was would write such hate-filled, nazi-sympathizing, nationalistic writing as was found in Frege's diaries. The amount of racist and anti-semetic comments are disgusting and, considering the source, quite frightening.

But what can we do with this? I cannot in my mind condone Frege's attitudes in his late life, even if they were, as Davis hopes, due more to senility than emotion. But nor can I simply reject Frege's work, and ignore his brilliance he so displayed. So I must reconcile these thoughts in my mind.

Once in high school, I was speaking with my drama teacher, Wayne Watkins, about Orson Welles. I mentioned that Welles was, by all accounts, a pretentious asshole. To which Wayne responded, "If your as brilliant as Orson Welles was, you're allowed to be an asshole." And I think that's a good attitude to take. It doesn't matter if I would have hated Orson Welles if I were to meet him, I can still, and should still enjoy his work for the brilliant pieces of film that they were. And that's the attitude one must take with anyone who's work has aspired them to dream. Keep aspiring, and keep wanting your work to be on the level of their work. But these people, the role models, are not you, and their personality, for good or ill, is not your own so shouldn't come into play as to how you admire them.

I guess if August is reading this, what I'd say to you is keep dreaming the dream, man. And e-mail me. For the love of God e-mail me. Some confirmation that my words are going to someone who doesn't know me personally would be nice.

The State of the Union

Tom Tomorrow's got a pretty good summary of it.

Trickle Down Economics at work

The latest Tom the Dancing Bug has the details.

Tragedy

I woke up at 2:30 in the afternoon to find out that the Challenger had disentegrated in re-entry, ending the lives of the 7 astronauts on board.

I have nothing to say to this. I didn't even know about the mission, although I do somewhat remember about the first Israeli to go into space. My thoughts now lie with their families and loved ones, for whom life still goes on as it ever has.

Update: Okay, it's the Columbia. I'm up till four doing work, and I'm tired. Sorry, I knew it was the Columbia, not the Challenger, and I guess I could just delete and re-edit, but that would be dishonest.

Thank God for baseball

I just participated in a spirited and angering debate on Bush, Iraq, North Korea, etc. with a couple of my dormies, and needed a downer. So, playing Radiohead's "Kid A" I went to espn.com and read Jim Caple's list of why the World Series is better than the Superbowl. The memories it provoked in me sure brightened my mood, but here are some examples, quotations followed by my own reaction.

16: Weather. The Super Bowl is always played in a sunny, warm city or a domed stadium protected from the elements, which provides bland weather. The World Series is played in all types of weather -- warm California evenings, chilly New York nights, damp, rainy St. Louis, cold Cleveland snowstorms -- that affect the game and make each unique.

We all know I'm a huge Diamondbacks fan, so of course my favorite World Series come from 2001, so let me relate my weather-related memory for that:

Game 7, bottom of the 9th, Diamondbacks down by one, and the best closer to ever enter October on the mound for the Yankees in the form of Mariano Rivera, the tension is high, and it looks like a 4-peat for New York. I'm already going over in my head justification, like, "well, I guess New York deserves it with the terrorism and all," and "it was still a trip to make it to the World Series anyway."

Then it starts to rain.

Not much, only a drizzle, but understand that Bank One Ballpark has a retractable roof, and the rain season in Phoenix is in July and August, when the roof is closed anyway to stifle the horrible heat. To my knowledge, this marked the first time it had rained in the BOB (I like calling it the BOB because I can ignore the corporate sponsorship). Sitting in my dorm room in Portland, watching on my small TV, I had the feeling that something a change in fate was in the air.

Sure enough, Mark Grace hits a single, he's replaced at first with Alex Cintron. Damian Miller bunts, Rivera throws to Jeter covering second, and the ball rolls into the outfield, E-1, first and second, no one out. Then Jay Bell, batting for Randy Johnson, lays down a bunt, 1-5 and an out at third, first and second, Bautista pinch-runs for Miller.

Then Womack, who had already hit a game winning double in Game 5 of the Division Series against St Louis, hits a game-tying double to keep Arizona alive, second and third, one out. Infield in, Counsell is hit by a pitch, and Luis Gonzalez breaks his bat, the ball lands in the shallow outfield, and the game is over, Arizona 3, New York 2.

Long explanation, and probably they won't be so long here on out, but let's go on:

2: Hometown fans. The World Series is played in the teams' cities where local fans paint their faces, stomp their feet, bang their thunderstix, fold their hands in prayer, exchange hugs and high-fives, deafen the opposing team with their roar and generally create a true sense of community that is too seldom seen in modern society. The Super Bowl is played at a neutral site where corporate executives sip their wine, sit on their hands, exchange business cards and create fantasy expense reports that bear no relationship to reality.

I watched footage of the postgame party in Phoenix after the D-backs won the Series. It was the only time I wished I was going to Arizona State instead of Reed, I should have been there.

11: The ceremonial first pitch. President Bush's strike to Jorge Posada before Game 3 of the 2001 World Series was an inspiring moment that showed the world that the country still stood strong and that baseball remained our national pastime. The only pitch thrown at the Super Bowl is when the commissioner tells the host city to build another stadium or else.

I add this to demonstrate how good I felt reading this, I don't even mind Jim Caple's subtle, indirect praise of Bush, even though I was pissed off by less amiable stances on Bush than this, I didn't care at this point. Why, because it just further reminded me of the 2001 World Series, and was therefore happy.

29: Ticket prices. While expensive, World Series tickets are still within reach of many fans. At $400 face value, Super Bowl tickets are prohibitively expensive but it makes little difference since the average fan never even gets a chance to buy them -- the tickets are already distributed to corporate sponsors, city officials, players, ticket brokers, media bigwigs, celebrities and other special friends.

This is a good point. Last season when I went to a Diamondbacks game with my Dad, taking notice of all the advertising that inescapably surrounded us, my Dad asked me how I reconcile my love of baseball with my distaste for corporations. I said something like I'm able to ignore it, and concentrate on the game. But here's a better reason. Baseball is by its nature a very populist sport. Bill James writes there's something in it for everyone. Sure corporations exploit it for their gains, but then again they exploit everything for their gains. Including the non-comformist movement, for the love of Mike.