Why baseball is the greatest game on Earth!

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/chris_ballard/10/16/rockies.clinch/index.html

Go Rockies!

If anyone ever comes across Tulo-Whiskey in a store, please buy some for me. Or a Rocktober t-shirt. That's amazing.

this is a NEWS story?!?!?!?!?!?!

Read this:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,301168,00.html
If you can manage to finish the short article without vomiting, please try to defend it (with information, not opinions from your gut).

I've got some issues with this article and this schmuck...

First and foremost, it doesn't say "blog" anywhere. I don't see anywhere that it states the word "opinion." This is spun as news? I can't argue with this man's opinions, they're opinions. But I can argue with the Fox "News" story as any sort of news. I don't even see any facts whatsoever in it (although I guess it is a fact that Al Gore is nominated and Arafat and Carter both won one... You like how he grouped Arafat and Carter together?)

I guess the FCC can't say anything about it because it's a for-profit cable channel and Fox doesn't broadcast a national news program on their Fox affiliates, but if they did, wouldn't Fox be breaking some sorts of laws? Isn't the whole reason that the government allows channels to broadcast is because they serve some purpose for the greater good, which has been defined as broadcasting a news program. But JESUS CHRIST MAN! WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS! Is there anything anyone can do about it? Can Al Gore sue for slander? Can Arafat? Can Carter? Can the Nobel committee? Can me as an offended citizen? Can someone punish them for lying to the country? Or is the punishment going to be for the whole country as our society continues to plummet deeper and deeper into the void of fact-based news?

What can be done to fix this? Is it possible? If they made it clear, or even mentioned, that the majority of the words being spewed from the morons who get paid handsomely to convince the country to elect politicians to fatten Rupert Murdoch's already over-stuffed pockets is not news but is rather opinions of individuals who's primary objective is money, fame, and power, then I'd be ok with it all. Truth in advertising should apply not only to toothpaste and automobiles, but should also apply to "news" channels and television programs.

What am I doing?

What am I doing with myself? I'm 23 years old, and from one standpoint, I have my whole life ahead of me. From another standpoint, I should be on my way towards something. Some end. Some goal. At the very least I should have some idea what I want to do with myself, shouldn't I? All I've ever been able to come up with is that I want to make an impact. No definition of what "impact" I want to have. My whole life I've consistently worked really hard to satisfy others. I've always been under the impression that it's a "middle child" thing. Some sort of striving for affection. I can't suggest that I've had some terrible life, quite the contrary. But I've had a difficult time deciding what or how to purely satisfy myself. That's what this rant is rooted in. Satisfying myself. Although not instantly...

Shortly after my twentieth birthday I took on a new attitude that, looking back, consumed my being. Instant gratification. I did things that made me feel good. I saw that my life to that point had been very planned (whether by myself or by someone else.) This led me down many roads, some physical, some spiritual, some emotional, and some dead ends. I did "good" things. I did "bad" things. Today, I feel that I've reached a reasonable conclusion based on these trips and journeys. I have far from abandoned this ideology. I've tried to incorporate it into my worldview. There are great things that have been a result of this attitude.

...but it's not enough. It's not fully satisfying.

I'm at a loss. That's all I've got. The only thing I can come up with is to consume as many ideas as possible. I've always been a collector. Legos, baseball cards, Jone's Soda bottles, Grateful Dead concerts, etc. My newest obsession is media. Movies, books, music. Documentaries. Drama. Comedy. Ideas. Intellectual property. But now I've come to the problem that there are only 24 hours a day. A third of them sleeping. A third of them working to pay the bills. That leaves very little time to satisfy all of my other desires.

Desires I either can't define or simply can't understand how to define or am terrified to define.

I've read (or heard, I can't quite remember) that one of the biggest problems with my generation is that we want what we want and we want it now! Think Veruca Salt..............but I can't quite grasp the balance I need to take. I want to know everything about many things. But I feel an sense of urgency to know it now. I guess I never have been good at putting in the work necessary to master things. I don't quite buy that I'm purely lazy. I think I'm highly intellecutally destractable. But that seems silly. This whole thing seems silly...

Maybe I'm just unsure. And absurdly nervous about it all. I guess I'm just restless.

I am only 23...I suppose I have a bit of time to make an impact. At least I'm going to keep telling myself that, until I have a clue or a path...

comments on an article

So I found this article on my friend’s web site and I felt like I needed to respond these so called “Random Thoughts,” although they were very intelligently ordered for maximum effect. Joseph Goebbels would be proud.

The regular text are the words of Thomas Sowell. The bold lines, started with two dash marks, are my comments.

September 04, 2007
Random Thoughts
By Thomas Sowell

One of the painful signs of years of dumbed-down education is how many people are unable to make a coherent argument. They can vent their emotions, question other people's motives, make bold assertions, repeat slogans-- anything except reason.
---this guy seems to be a master at spitting out nonsense with no explanations or context…

Barack Obama is the newest face on the political scene, expressing some of the oldest notions. Virtually everything he says is vintage 1960s rhetoric, as if he has learned nothing from the many disasters that 1960s notions have led to in the decades since then.
--valid political argument, I disagree with his opinion...every piece of "1960s rhetoric" put into place primarily by Lyndon Johnson and his great society, were, in fact, working...of course functional programs become disastrous when all funding is cut to them before they have time to come to completion. People on welfare and foodstamps were right in the middle of their job retraining courses when my good friend Richard Nixon came into the White House and unfunded every single piece of legislation that made up the Great Society. No one has any idea if those programs will or will not work because they were only given a couple of years… What is most likely is that this man is so offended by the fact that the 1960s culture has become so mainstreamed through our media-drenched culture that anything associated with it is inherently wrong.

People who lament the small percentages of women in some high-end jobs seem unaware that top jobs often involve 70 or 80 hours of work per week. A mother may work that many hours at home taking care of a family, without adding the same number of hours at the office.
--reasonable point…ceo’s work crazy jobs…more women take care of families then men…it makes perfect sense that this does in fact contribute to the male dominated c-officer world

A recent study showed the median income of major corporate CEOs to be about $8 million a year. That's less than a third of what Alex Rodriguez earns and less than one-thirtieth of what Oprah Winfrey makes. But no one is denouncing them for "greed."
--this was placed here to distract most middle and lower middle class people into focusing on celebrities they know and not focusing on the fact that two thirds of the shit this man spews is actually affects how and why they live the way they do (Alex Rodriguez only affects the way you live based on how many Yankee tickets or ARod jerseys you buy)

It is amazing how many people who want us to get out of Iraq want us to go into Darfur.
--true. We should do neither. But since we’re already in Iraq, threatening to go into Darfur is meaningless. So we’ve lost our greatest weapon (a weapon that has been losing power since Vietnam), the threat of the “great American army.” Kind of loses it’s allure after losing our last 2 wars (or conflicts, if you prefer).

A joke says that a poll was taken in California, asking if people thought illegal immigration was a serious problem. The results showed that 29 percent said, "Yes, there is a serious problem." But 71 percent said, "No es una problema seriosa."
--another diversion from the main point…immigrants aren’t scary…where did your family come from? The only reason Republicans are so tough on keeping illegals illegal is because it keeps wages lower for their constituents.

People who refuse to face the reality of hard choices are forever coming up with some clever "third way"-- often leading to worse disasters than either of the hard choices.
--he’s complaining about other people’s rhetoric? Does he have a point with this?

Sometimes it looks as if the Democrats are out to win at all costs, while the Republicans are out to compromise at all costs.
--Proof. I want proof. I will not defend the Democrats, they’ve spent many years watching themselves get beat by Republicans and have learned some tricks from the masters along the way. But really, give me some examples here. I really want to know. If this is true, I may have to rethink my entire political philosophy. Seriously.

Although I am ready to defend what I have said, many people expect me to defend what others have attributed to me.
--What does this mean? Please defend what you have said. I want to know where you’re coming from. Or if you’re selling books. Or what.

A reader says that Connecticut's "Three Strikes" law is so weak that it is more like "30 strikes and we'll think about it while you strike again."
--Yeah, those damn liberal New Englanders letting criminals roam the streets! I feel so lucky that in Texas they just kill the bastards! But for real, Connecticut needs tougher laws if this is true, especially for violent criminals.

Wise people created civilization over the centuries and clever people are dismantling it today. You can see it happening just by channel surfing on TV or hear it in rap music or read it in the pompous nonsense of academics and judges.
--Rap music and academic writings and judges decisions. What do these three things have in common? All things the “average” American can’t, or more likely, doesn’t want to understand. What you don’t understand WILL kill you! Knowledge is the enemy!

Tennis star James Blake never seems to be relaxed during a match. Maybe he would be ranked even higher if he could relax. Most sports require some combination of concentration and relaxation-- and too much of either is a big handicap.
--Meaningless. Like he’s saying that it’s ok for YOU to sit back and watch tv because you need to relax. (Even if it is destroying America…no, not all tv, not the shows that help me sell books.)

Many on the political left are so entranced by the beauty of their vision that they cannot see the ugly reality they are creating in the real world.
--I need an explanation on this one. All I see here is him saying that the word “left” is equivalent to “ugly.” Wasn’t this the same guy who was telling me at the top of this article that we need to learn how to argue with reason and not “make bold assertions” or “repeat slogans?” Hypocrite. I’ll listen to your point when you use reason.

With all the old movie favorites being shown again and again on television, it is remarkable that the old movie classic "Alfie" is seldom shown. Could it be fear that the scene where cold-blooded Alfie breaks down and cries at the sight of an aborted baby is something that would unleash the furies of the feminazis?
--Alfie was a great movie, although I really doubt being against abortion was really the point of the whole movie.

It is amazing how many people see no problem with having pay levels determined according to what third parties would like to see, instead of according to supply and demand.

One of the great non sequiturs of the left is that, if the free market doesn't work perfectly, then it doesn't work at all-- and the government should step in.
--I actually agree. I am an economist by education and I believe in the concept of supply and demand. I also believe in the free market. And I also KNOW that Adam Smith (and I) believe that there are significant flaws with the free market, and this is where it is appropriate for government to step in: police, EDUCATION, and to ensure that the economic losers (which is part of free market theory) don’t starve to death.

Despite people who speak glibly of "earlier and simpler times," all that makes earlier times seem simpler is our ignorance of their complexities.
--Sure. That seems reasonable. That whole “grass is always greener” thing. It’s true. What isn’t sitting in front of you right now seems so much easier than what is. He must be a man of the people.

We all believe that people are innocent until proven guilty. Some on the left believe that they are innocent even after being proven guilty.
--True. The farthest of either side is bat-shit crazy. From the far left, Joseph Stalin and Socialism. From the far right, Benito Mussolini (and Bush Jr. http://www.heartheissues.com/images/world3.gif) and Fascism. The center? Milton Friedman, JFK, Bill Clinton, and Reagan.

Chutzpah department: When disbarred former D.A. Michael Nifong mailed his Bar card back to his state Bar Association, he included a note decrying "the fundamental unfairness" with which the Bar had treated him. This from a man who was ready to ruin three lives and polarize a community, in order to win an election.
--It’s true. Screw the corrupt. They are damaging to society. Many, many politicians are corrupt. Many businessmen, Hollywood directors, Evangelical leaders, 80% of all Catholic Popes.

As you can probably tell, I consider myself a Democrat. I place myself on the left socially and moderately conservative/right fiscally. Neither party speaks directly to me. Neither party speaks directly to ANYONE. You have to decide which issues are most important to you and choose for yourself. I am of the opinion that the role of a society is to improve the lots of everyone. I am happy to pay my taxes because I know that I am in a fortunate position and feel privileged to help pay for public services, roads, bridges, teachers, insurance for the poorest in our nation, parks, monuments, food for the hungry, help for the deranged, and prison for the criminals. If doing all of this means that I can’t buy a 42” plasma tv or a king sized sleep number bed, well, I’ll do just fine thanks. I do not support nationalized housing. I do not support wage guarantees. I understand that European social policies of post World War II have been detrimental to the overall growth of the European economy. But it is the responsibility of the government to prevent starvation, health epidemics, unchecked violence, and protect personal freedom. There is a balance. A very delicate balance…

A Show Worth Seeing

I’m sitting here watching a video, taped off of French television (Canal+) and downloaded from my favorite BitTorrent site, of one of my top five favorite bands of all time, the Arcade Fire. I’m completely amazed every time I have the good fortune to listen, watch, or experience what this musical collective has been able to produce. This performance was filmed early in 2007, at the very beginning of their Neon Bible tour to promote their album of the same name. I know all the songs they are playing. I’ve listened to them hundreds of times. But every time, I can’t help but become enchanted by the music and the energy that is so apparent, even through a gray box with digital images streaming across it.

I’ve seen a lot of live music in my relatively short life. I’ve been fortunate enough to see some pretty great live acts. Only two bands have ever left me speechless. Phish and Arcade Fire. The difference in my mind? Phish usually leaves me speechless. Aracde Fire ALWAYS leaves me breathless. Even videos. Now, the last thing I want to do is imply anything even bordering on negative about Phish. That’s not my point. My point is this: Arcade Fire is the greatest live act I’ve ever seen. The energy this band exudes while on stage is overwhelming.

I saw them in 2005 at the Vegoose music festival in Las Vegas. I had never heard their music before. I skipped a band I was actually looking forward to seeing in order to see this band (that’s the beauty of music festivals). I had no idea what was about to happen to me. This music that came booming from this stage in the desert was nothing short of astonishing. During their hour and a half set, I was taken on an emotional roller coaster from the highest of highs to sitting on the ground with tears streaming down my face. All the while this band was running around the stage, switching instruments and banging scaffolding with drum sticks. After their set ended, my friend and I were the last two people in the field (except for a girl who had a broken foot and couldn’t really move to easily). Apparently there was another band playing (one of the headliners, Widespread Panic, maybe?). I didn’t notice. Or care. I was basking.

I saw them again spring of 2007 in Atlanta. A very different music scene awaited me at this show. The crowd was a lot younger than it was in Vegas. There was a lot more black clothing and “indie” sensibility (whatever that means), but the excitement level was so much higher. These people were there for just one reason, not a whole festival of reasons. The venue was a real music venue, not a stage in a grassed-over parking lot. This time around the band was clearly much more confident in themselves and their music. They had a new album that had debuted at #2 on the US Billboard charts. They had a bigger stage show. Cooler lights. Video projectors. But when it came down to the show, nothing had really changed. The energy was better than ever. The music was fantastic. They built their show perfectly. Started slow and worked their way into a frenzy. The next thing I knew I was catching my breath in the warm southern night, unable to describe what had just happened to my friend I was with, totally shocked that I was seriously considering what I had just seen to a Phish show.What’s my point in all of this? Well, go see this band if you can.

Their music is extremely powerful and can resonate deeply. It’s an experience on par with the great rock and roll acts ever.

Music Festivals and Memories

I’m sitting here in my apartment listening and watching one of the first great music festivals, the Monterey Pop Festival of 1967, and feeling absolutely ebullient thanks to some of the greatest live music news I’ve read in quite a long time. It’s been over a year since the last music festival I’ve attended (Bonnaroo ’06, my 5th and, somewhat sadly, final ‘Roo). Ever since the summer of 2002, music festivals and multi-night concert runs have been significant time markers in my life. I remember amazing friends, Once In A Lifetime experiences, wonderful romances, recovering from heartache, life-altering and eye-opening moments all connected to music events from Miami to Tennessee to Las Vegas. And now, I’m ecstatic for the chance for one more, in my very own backyard (although I guess we’ve kind of done the backyard thing before, too...if you want to hear that show, let me know, I've got a decent recording from a taper I once knew).

The Echo Project, featuring some of the greatest live music acts currently touring, is coming to Fairburn, Georgia this October. And I can’t wait. Phil Lesh & Friends, The Killers, The Roots, moe., Umphrey's McGee, Cat Power & the Dirty Blues Band, the Disco Biscuits, Cypress Hill, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Polyphonic Spree, ALO, the Avett Brothers, Stephen cMarley, Brazilian Girls, Lyrics Born, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Perpetual Groove, Spam All-Stars, RJD2, The Flaming Lips, Thievery Corporation, Les Claypool, The Bravery, Secret Machines, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, MSTRKRFT, JJ Grey & MOFRO, Son Volt, The Egg, The Album Leaf, MAN MAN, Tea Leaf Green, Benevento/Russo Duo, Lazaro Casanova, and Telepath. What a list. What a weekend it's going to be.

I decided to move back to Atlanta last winter when I found myself at the Atlanta airport making friendly conversation. A simple moment in a generally complicated life. I said to myself, I didn’t make small talk at the airport in Boston or Vegas or LA or New York or DC. Atlanta has a certain comfortable appeal that I know I’ve always needed, whether or not I’ve always appreciated that fact. One of the more interesting aspects of all the concert experiences I’ve had is that every part of the country has a unique flavor. Each music scene, while generally appreciating similar styles of music and identical bands, is very different. And of all the scenes I’ve found myself in the middle of, none have felt quite like home the same way Atlanta’s does. And sure, I grew up in Atlanta, so it kind of is home. But I didn’t want it to be home. I wanted to find home somewhere different. Anywhere, really. But I knew that when I found it, I would know. And a couple of friendly moments in the World’s busiest airport made me know.
I couldn’t pick a better location for a music festival. I’d be hard pressed to pick a better line-up for a music festival. I couldn’t pick a better time to spend a weekend outside in the South then the middle of October.

And I can already tell, this is gonna be a good one.

Should America try a multi-party political system?

What’s Wrong with the America’s Electoral Process?
LACK OF CHOICE
Every election Americans get two choices at the polls. Red or Blue. Democrat or Republican. Conservative or Liberal. Us or Them. We are one of the few “democracies” who have come to the conclusion that too many parties, too many candidates, quite literally too many idea are WAY too difficult to handle. The result has been obvious. Instead of having any sort of choice at the polls, Americans choose between two virtually identical candidates. Moderate-Left. Moderate-Right. The most frightening aspect of this ridiculous (dichotomy?) is that the result has been to alienate many groups of people who have so much to lose (and, in a more positive world, so much to gain). No one gives a shit. No cares about what’s going on in the world around them. Many people choose not even to vote. Granted, there are MANY reasons that this has occurred (one day I’ll approach some of these) including the poor quality of information about the world and nation around us, a general self-centered way of life we’ve created for ourselves, technology which has created virtual communities at the expense of real communities, and, the one most relevant to this here rant: total apathy based on the assumption that who cares who gets elected, nothing will change. All the candidates are the same.
What if we decided, the whole country, that this two party system we’ve grown up with, we’ve grown to accept, needs to change? What if we could change our country to a multi-
party system? What if we could join parties that were focused on specific issues?
What I’ve gleaned from the country around me is that most people aren’t as disinterested as the low voter turnout would suggest. People are just disinterested in politics and politicians who are so busy trying to please everyone that no one is happy. The truth of the matter, most people are fiercely passionate about issues. People are fiercely passionate about a handful of issues affecting their lives directly. I care greatly about the strength of the American economy on the world stage. I care greatly about maintaining (and fixing) the United States’ role as peace maker around the world. I care greatly about creating a highly educated populace through quality public education readily available to everyone. If you speak with many people about the issues that matter to them, you’d hear everything from education to economics to the “War on Terror” to national security to saving hungry children in Asia and Africa to gay marriage to abortion rights (or lack-there-of).
How would these people respond if politicians were divided into smaller camps that cared about certain issues? Let’s take a look at the current presidential candidates and see how the election would look in this new America. John Edwards would be leading the “Roosevelt Democrats” or, to take a page from German democracy, the “Christian Democrats,” focusing their energy on the needs of middle class America. Americans who are more focused on health-care, higher wages, and education. This group would include much of the Democratic strength still remaining in the Midwest and South. Clinton and Biden would be fighting it out for the nomination of the “Moderate Democrats.” Giuliani and McCain would be the power names among the security minded, fiscally responsible version of the Republicans. Newt Gingrich and Fred Thompson would be crusading for the “Reagan Republicans.” And then there would be other smaller parties focused on more specific issues. The Evangelicals would back a party focusing on a Pro-Life / Anti-Gay agenda. Think Al Gore and the Environmentalists, Kucinich and Howard Dean with the Anti-War Party. There would be a legitimate place for the Green Party, the Libertarian Party, and every other group of people who wanted their opinions not only heard, but acted upon.
How would this work? Well, we’d have to change some major aspects of our current system. Congress would have to be chosen proportionally based on national votes. No more 5 representatives from this state and 26 from that state. I understand the idea of the Confederacy, but shouldn’t the National Government have the interest of the National Government in mind? Not the interests of the corn farmers of Iowa or the technology industry of Silicon Valley? I am certainly not suggesting we take away rights from the States. The relationship between the states and the federal government would hardly change (except a likely side-effect of less reason for pork). The greatest change, at least in my mind, would be that NO PARTY WOULD HOLD A MAJORITY! Congressmen and women would be forced to compromise based on the core wishes of their constituents. One day John Edwards and Hillary Clinton would compromise on health-care proposals, because health-care is a key issue for each party. The next day Giuliani and Biden would agree on foreign policy initiatives. Additionally, elections would no longer have to be a huge rush for the middle. If an issue is important to a party, they would stand by. This will force some to turn away from their party, but it will encourage others to get into the game of politics in the first place because their voice is heard.
Isn’t that the first lesson in Democracy 101? Isn’t that what our elementary school teachers tried to teach us about why America broke away from England in the first place? George Washington and Thomas Jefferson wanted their voices heard. That’s what Democracy is all about. That’s what the American dream is all about. The current system doesn’t allow this.
LET THE PEOPLE BE HEARD!