Random Musings About Nothing In Particular

So this weekend I have been wondering a few things...

1. Is "Grey's Anatomy" titled after the anatomy book or after it's particularly annoying lead intern, Meredith Grey? She annoys me more than Ally McBeal, a feat I thought nearly impossible.
2. Why does Bode Miller keep screwing up? He seemed cool in his "60 Minutes" interview, but at the Games he just keeps choking. Why? Is it the worst week of his life? Has he been partying Turino style? Did all the publicity give him nerves?
3. Since when has speed skating been so full of drama? Watching the US men's team is like watching a reenactment of "Mean Girls" minus the pretty people.
4. In this post-9/11 world and given our war on terror, why on earth are we letting the U.A.E manage our ports? How can it be in our national security to let an Arab nation that produced terrorists control entrance into our country. Republicans and Democrats both think Bush, Chertoff, and Cheney are on crack. Credit my intelligence that I realized this much earlier.
5. How to male athletes in the Winter Olympics feel about their all spandex get-ups?
6. Is there something in the water in Iowa? or is Alford feeding his team 'roids? When did Iowa get good? I wonder if Alford will guest on Knight's reality show. That would be awesome. Maybe they could have a chair throwing competition.
7. Are Unions good or bad? Tough one. Wal-mart says no. Democrats say yes.
8. How funny is it that Nick Lachey is suing Jessica Simpson for spousal support? Talk about a wuss... although he probably deserves it for putting up with her for so long. Nancy Sinatra should sue her for slander - way to bastardize "These Boots Were Made For Walking".
9. Did Alexander Hamilton have the right idea?
10. Why are Muslims still rioting about the cartoons? Perhaps they should riot over the fact that many of their countries are corrupt (Pakistan, Bangladesh), engaged in mass genocide (Sudan), lack a truly free press (Iran, Egypt), etc.

Cheney's Got A Gun

There are far more important stories out there than that of Veep shooting a Republican donor. For example, did Tom and Katie really break up? How did all the medalled pairs teams suffered from major injuries this year? and what does that say about the competition? Is Billy Zane really that hard up that he has to act as an American thug in xenophobic Turkish movies? What are those conversation hearts really made out of? Seriously, there are real pressing issues facing this country.

But still I can't resist. During the 2004 election, the Democrats hammered Cheney on the five deferments he received during the Vietnam War. At the time, it seemed odd that a man who had never seen combat had no qualms about sending our troops into battle. But now, I wonder if it was for the best. Given his shooting abilities and abundant lack of aim. It is unclear that he could have hit any Commies. And God only knows how many of our own troops would have been hit by Cheney (friendly) fire.

Insanity Runs in the White House

I always thought George W. was a bit crazy, perhaps even nuts (on the order of Tom Cruise)? And now it appears that there is evidence suggesting that it may be true.

According to a study by Duke Medical School, almost half the presidents from 1789-1974 suffered from some form of mental illness at some point of their life. (side note: They only looked at dead presidents... I wonder why.) Depression was the most common affliction. Although I recall from history class that Lincoln, and more particularly his wife Mary Todd, suffered from depression (understandable given the situation of the country and the death of their son), I did not realize how widespread the problem was. It is suspected that Teddy Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson suffered from a bipolar disorder. The case of Teddy Roosevelt is especially surprising given that history has always portrayed him as vigorous and energetic. It is hard to reconcile that with today's Prozac addicted bipolar patient. Other presidents thought to have suffered from mental illness include Calvin Coolidge (depression), Ulysses Grant, and Tricky Dick.

I would be curious to see a similar study run for First Ladies. Many of them suffered as well. Which leads to the question of whether the symptoms researchers found are related to genetics or environment and stress induced.

So does this prove that George W is insane? Perhaps that is wishful thinking. But the results to seem to suggest that there is a propensity for American Presidents to become mentally ill. And in the interim, we can certainly agree that while not mentally ill, George W is mentally challenged.

The Music Genome

My friend introduced me to Pandora (http://www.pandora.com) today. Provide it with the name of your favorite song/artist, and it will return a radio station that will play all your favorite songs.

The creators of this website have broken music down to its fundamental components or "genes" based on melody, harmony, rhythm, lyrics, arrangement, etc. and grouped similar sounding songs together.

I tested the system with "Gwen Stefani" and received mixed results. I do like Depeche Mode and Garbage. However, I was a bit surprised when Lindsay Lohan's "To Know Your Name" came up. I'll have to test the system out a bit more.

Who Gave Dick A Gun?

Talk about absurd. Dick Cheney shot is friend in the face while hunting. Remember Dick (if I was his friend I would really be calling him Dick). Guns don't kill people, people kill people. And being friends with Dick Cheney is apparently hazardous to your health.

Slip of the Tongue

Normally network news tries to be unbiased (obviously, Fox News is not "normal") to the point where they almost withhold the facts, but today Bob Schieffer slipped. He was questioning a correspondent about the role of the administration's secret wiretap - spy program in averting a potential terrorist attack in LA. When the correspondent replied that he believed the intelligence was gathered through "vigorous questioning", Schieffer queried, "Torture?". The silence was audible. He did try to dig himself out, by saying something to the extent of "not in this country". But the exchange was clearly odd, and the correspondent seemed rather surprised. Still while the right may decry Schieffer's comment as part of the liberal bias of main stream media, I say, slip of the tongue or not, at least someone spoke the truth.

Privacy on the Net

Apparently, Yahoo! has been providing information to Chinese law enforcement that has enabled the government to jail political dissidents. Google and Microsoft have been engaging in similar behavior as well. Google made adjustments to their search algorithm to comply with China's restrictions on free speech. Microsoft shut down a popular blog at the request of the Chinese government. Not only are these companies enabling the Chinese government's policies of censorship, but they are also earning a hefty profit. At the very least, they should be punished in the court of public opinion.

In the US, the government is threatening to sue Google to get records of search queries. Ostensibly, this is to find and prosecute pornographists, which seems like a noble enough cause. But when does it become more than that? What if the data is stored and mined? What if the data is used to track down those less than thrilled with the government for monitoring people? I have conducted key word searches with strange combinations like "bomb" and "Al Qaeda", does that mean I would be watched?

Much Ado About... Cartoons?

Is it just me or are Muslims at times over sensitive? It seems that the Palestinian Street and the masses of the Arab world more broadly are always ready to explode. Strangely, rather than the War in Iraq, it was cartoons (depicting Mohammed) that led Muslims across the world (through predominantly in the East) to take to the street. Is all this furor over "lack of sensitivity" in a drawing really justified? How is it that a cartoon showing Mohammed with a missile in his turban is more offensive than Saddam Hussein building mosques with minarets that look like Scud missiles?

True. Islam prohibits all images of Mohammed. But in America you are not allowed to burn flag, yet it happens time and again in the Middle East. Americans do not take to the streets in response to flag burnings. We do not start riots, foment violence, or attack foreign embassies. So when Arab leaders claim we, Americans, need to more sensitive to local cultures, I say, should you not too.

In the West, we constantly push the envelope and subject different groups of people to mockery. Rolling Stone latest cover features Kanye West with a crown of thorns on his head and the title 'The Passion of Kanye West'. Yet Christian Conservatives are not up in arms. In fact, American Muslims while perhaps upset by the cartoons have not been enraged enough to protest. Why is that?

If the Arab Street wants respect then they should protest respectfully. Their current behavior does nothing to help their cause in the eyes of those in the West who would speak for them. Attempts by the Iranians to further trivialize the Holocaust with their own malicious version of a cartoon contest is nothing short of heinous and points to their hypocrisy.

Anti-War Idol or Anti-American Icon

Like most people, I was more than sympathetic to Cindy Sheehan. I was cheering her on. Her protest at President Bush's ranch last year raised awareness about the cost of the Iraq War. Through her personal tragedy, she highlighted the failings of the administration in a way that Democrats could not, after all how can anyone attack a mother who lost her son. However, some where along the line, Cindy Sheehhan went from a mother mourning her son to a woman with a dangerous agenda.

Although not a fan of President Bush, his administration, his war, his policies, or anything even remotely related to him, I am a great believer in the strength and fundamental goodness of America and its citizens. There is no other country in the world that affords the opportunity and freedom that American does. So while people have the right to whole heartedly bash the administration and their decisions, I question whether people living in this country have the right to bash America. Unfortunately, as of late, Cindy Sheehan has started doing just that.

• Just this week, Sheehan stood side-by-side with President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, who is no friend of America, as he said, "Enough of imperial aggression. We must tell the world, down with the US empire."

In addition, Sheehan has made a number of statements meant to equate Bush's mistakes (which were many and in some cases deliberate) to the crimes of Osama bin Laden. As much as I dislike Bush, I find Sheehan's statements to be ignorant and offensive. Agreeing that Bush is "the greatest terrorist in the world" in a worldwide forum in a country hostile to the US is in poor taste. As is her suggestion that Bush is ten times worse than Osama. Sheehan has become not a symbol of the anti-war movement, but rather a symbol of the anti-America movement. She represents something far more insidious in the left. Hatred of Bush and the war cannot become hatred of America and what we stand for (freedom, peace, and justice).

Democrats must avoid association with Sheehan. Her attempt to run in the Democratic primary against Senator Feinstein will damage the party even further beyond belief and create more fodder for the Rove machine. In addition, Nancy Pelosi should rebuke her colleague from California for even inviting Sheehan to the State of the Union. Sheehan's arrest for wearing an anti-war t-shirt to the speech, as trivial as it may seem, shows just how far from the center Democrats are. I am very sad for my party.

Rumfeldisms

I was not paying attention in class today, which is actually nothing new, and was instead reading my friend's Bushisms calendar. And it got me to thinking that Rumsfeld in the past has sounded an awful lot like Bush. Perhaps they are friends because no one else can understand them...

Without further ado, here are some of my favorite Rumsfeldisms.

• "Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns -- the ones we know we don't know."
• "There's another way to phrase that and that is that the absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence. It is basically saying the same thing in a different way. Simply because you do not have evidence that something does exist does not mean that you have evidence that it doesn't exist."
• "I don't know what the facts are but somebody's certainly going to sit down with him and find out what he knows that they may not know, and make sure he knows what they know that he may not know."

If that's not enough Rumsfeld for you. Check out the Rumsfeld doll. It even talks and says things like "What they do with themselves is up to them and what people around them do with them is up to the people around them." Sweet. Enlightenment.

Or if you are of a more intellectual bent, check out The Existential Poetry of Donald H. Rumsfeld. It contains quotes similar to the ones above as well as real "poetry".

Has Tom Cruise Gone Completely Nutters?

The list of reasons to think he may be completely bonkers has been growing, especially as of late.

• Being part of a couple nicknamed 'TomKat'
  Jumping up and down on Oprah's couch because he is so in love with the amazing afore mentioned Kat
• Calling Brooke Shield's use of prescription drugs for postpartum depression "misguided"
• Lecturing "Matt, Matt, Matt, Matt,..." Lauer on how he knew the history of psychiatry
• Buying a sonogram machine (dude if you got $20K just laying around, donate it to charity!)

And apparently now, he has deleted a "racy" sex scene from Katie Holmes new movie. It was more dirty than he felt comfortable with, and he wasn't even there when they were screening it. What's going on? Is he her dad now? God knows he's almost old enough to be...

Is Oprah Full Of Herself?

I don't often watch Oprah, but with all the previews for today's show - Oprah Confronts the Author who Conned Her - I couldn't resist. I wish I could determine what about this annoys me. Is it that the fact that Oprah's "I've been conned" story or "I feel so betrayed/humiliated/hurt" story has been dominating the airwaves instead of other stories like the War in Iraq, Political Corruption, etc.

Oprah's pretension really annoys me sometimes...

PS. When I ran the spell check... it tried to turn Oprah's name into Ovaries. Now that's funny!

Cheating, cheating, cheating

Why are they always cheating down in Ann Arbor?

Remember the Fab Five? They were a bunch of cheater and liars who together with Steve Fischer first brought down the Michigan basketball program.

Then there was last year's football game where Michigan decided that rather than play defense against Stanton they wanted to get him out of the game. No better way to do that than busting his shoulder.

Today, Michigan beat State 72-67 in a game where MSU had 27 fouls to 16. Something is wrong with this picture. Even the announcers said the calls were bad. It wouldn't surprise me if some refs had their hands in UMich's pockets.

Brokeback Bush

Bush is supposed to be the John Wayne President. With his "my way or the highway" attitude, big belt buckles, and cowboy hats that dwarf his head, Bush relishes his role as a rancher clearing brush.



So Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhall wore flannel, but ranchers are ranchers, right?









So then why won't he go see 'Brokeback Mountain'? It's one of the year's most honored films. Does he not like gay people? That does not seem very compassionate. Maybe the movie makes ranchers look less manly. Does it bother him the a same sex couple has been portrayed so movingly on the big screen? Someone should ask him if he has seen 'Capote' or 'Transamerica'. Isn't it strange that as right-wing conservatives dominate America, the most critically praised movies are all about homosexuals (and transsexuals)?

Random Smart-ass student from KSU: You're a rancher. A lot of us here in Kansas are ranchers. I was just wanted to get your opinion on 'Brokeback Mountain,' if you've seen it yet.

Bush: You would love it. You should check it out.

The same awesome KSU student: You would love it. You should check it out.

Bush: grimace. pause. wince. I haven't seen it. I'd be glad to talk about ranching, but I haven't seen the movie.

You gotta love that guy from Kansas State.

Showtime Lakers Or Show-off Kobe

81 points in one night. Even if you are a Kobe hater (like me!), you have to have some respect for that. My respect, however, is grudgingly given. Some how with his 81 points, Kobe is at his worst. He is back to being the ball hog, playing a team sport, but forgetting that he has a team. Kobe is most certainly a star, but he will never be a superstar if he cannot take him team all the way without Shaq. He needs to help the rest of team step up instead of trying to go down in the record books where even after last night Wilt is still king.

Be a Pistons fan. The Bad Boys are back again... well technically they have been back for awhile... and here to stay.

If It Looks Like A Duck And It Quacks Like A Duck

Then it might just be a duck.

Despite President Bush's desire to recast his domestic spying program as a "terrorist surveillance program", the fact remains that it has been used in a rather Nixonian fashion. If the US Government taps the conversations of it's citizens, stores the information, and then mines it, as evidence the administration has not refuted has shown, then what you have is not a tool in the war against terror, but Big Brother. This "terrorist surveillance program" (read: domestic spying program) points to the worst excesses that can occur when one administration consolidates power in the way this administration has.

The administration has even had the nerve to claim that if this system had been in place prior to 2001, the 9/11 terrorist attacks would have been prevented. This is offensive on multiple levels. It is an attempt to once again portray the opponents of the program as unpatriotic and to placate and brainwash their base at the expense of the victims. To date the administration's "terrorist surveillance program" has yielded no arrests of indictments of Al Qaeda members. Rather is has led to eavesdropping on liberal student groups, anti-war protestors, and those with opinions differing from the administration. Clearly, Mr. President, you have a duck. A domestic spy program.

And Then There Were None

Florida is no longer in the ranks of the unbeaten.

How The Mighty Have Fallen

Pitt lost today, but frankly I don't much care about them. I have much bigger fish to fry.

Duke also lost today. This pleases me on multiple levels. Coach K has annoyed me since he started doing all those annoying American Express commercials. (The repeat use of the word of annoyed should help signify the extent of my annoyance.) And he is supposedly a CCC (a "crazy", Christian conservative). And I am so tired of the Duke fans "yukking" it up every year. Plus Georgetown is cool. Big John Thompson used to coach there, and now Little John Thompson does (although he is actually kind of big too) and he used to play and coach at Princeton. Far cooler than Coach K.

All that's left is for Florida and their used car salesman coach to lose today. Why does he have to slick his hair back so much? If he stopped, I wouldn't dislike them quite so much.

The Strategy For Reelection

According to Karl Rove, the Republican strategy for reelection should focus on national security. While that is all fine and good, aside from posturing, has there been any real improvement in national security? The Bush administration continuously points to the fact that there have been no other terror attacks since 2001. But it is unclear if this can be credited to our Intelligence agencies, which we have discovered are not really intelligent, or to the fact that terror organizations were simply busy elsewhere (e.g., Spain and London). In which case all we have succeeded in doing is making the US safer at the expense of our Allies (if they still call themselves that).

Recordings from this week alone, already prove that that Osama bin Laden is still alive. Osama, the mastermind behind 9/11 and, aside from Pearl Harbor, one of the greatest breeches in American security, has alluded the world's only super power for over 5 years now. Bush promised not to rest unless he was captured dead or alive. Yet pictures of him clearing brush from his ranch suggest that Bush has "flip-flopped" on the issue. In his own words, "I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority." - March 2002. Now how can we trust the Republicans with security when their leader makes such statements?

Under the watch of Bush and the Republicans, we seem no closer to breaking down Al Qaeda's extensive terror network. Nor have there been any meaningful convictions of Al Qaeda operatives. Instead, to show progress, the US government has been relegated to shuffling suspects between military and civilian courts, incarcerating individuals with little to know evidence in Guantanamo, and sending suspects in secret to countries known to practice torture. In fact, the attorney general seems closer to indicting members of "terrorist" environmental organizations who cut power lines and start fires than to convicting suspected bombers.

Under the Republican administration, there has been a significant increase in global nuclear capabilities. Aside from their questionable attempts to address the Iraq situation, the outcome of which may lead to even greater problems, the other two members of the axis-of-evil have been left to their own devices. North Korea (e.g., Kim Jong Il) remains aloof to the disapprobation of the world and the suffering of his people. Safe in the knowledge that the US is spread far too then between Iraq and Afghanistan, that China and Russia refuse to lift a finger against them, and that they have nuclear weapons. Likewise, Iran with the assistance of Russia, has been able to develop nuclear capabilities for questionable purposes (either the destruction of Israel or the energy, the true purpose remains a mystery). So do I feel safer? Not really, in fact, the catastrophic scenario described in On the Beach seems far more likely now than it did during the Cold War.

So Mr. Rove, if you want to make the next election on national security, as your fearless leader once said, I say "bring it on". You surely cannot win this election on facts, though I suppose that hasn't stopped you before.

Take That

What was Larry Brown thinking when he left the Pistons last year? Well if he didn't ask himself that question earlier, he certainly had to be asking himself that question tonight. The Pistons to put it quite simply kick ass, while the Knicks on their best days only show glimmers of potential. And without Marbury there's not even that. If the papers are to be believed, Isaiah, the original Bad Boy himself, is hoping to add K.G. to his roster. With Garnett, the Knicks could be contenders. Unfortunately for them, now, as Larry Brown put it, they are just J.V.