Ramblings' Journal

Happy Memorial Day

Remember that Freedom is not Free.

The quote here has even greater meaning for me; General Stark is a distant ancestor of mine, by way of the Wilkinson family.

I'm part of the "woodpile."

Portland State prof offers "Post Traumatic Slave Disorder" as reason for murder

America's courts are filled with shady shrinks paid by sleazy shysters ready to spout off any convenient theory for the bad behavior of pathetic people.

Add a new theory to the list: "Post Traumatic Slave Disorder."

Joy DeGruy-Leary, an assistant professor in the Portland State University Graduate School of Social Work put forward the theory, which is being used in the murder case of Isaac Cortez Bynum.

Bynum is charged with the beating death of his two year-old son Ryshawn last June. Bynum's lawyer, Randall Vogt, claims that suffering by African Americans at the hands of slave owners is to blame for little Ryshawn's death, not Isaac Bynum.

The theory is not accepted by the courts, nor by psychologists as a verifiable disorder. But a little thing like that won't dissuade DeGruy-Leary.

DeGruy-Leary testified this month in Washington County Circuit Court that African Americans today are affected by past centuries of U.S. slavery because the original slaves were never treated for the trauma of losing their homes; seeing relatives whipped, raped and killed; and being subjugated by whites.

Because African Americans as a class never got a chance to heal and today still face racism, oppression and societal inequality, they suffer from multigenerational trauma, says DeGruy-Leary, who is African American. Self-destructive, violent or aggressive behavior often results, she says.

"Post traumatic slave syndrome is rather unique; it's not that everybody has it," DeGruy-Leary testified. "If you are African American and you are living in America, you have been impacted."

DeGruy-Leary said she thinks post traumatic slave syndrome can be proven scientifically once the politics of race are set aside and the white research establishment takes time to study it.

She has been studying the disorder for two decades, and claims that even though no black person alive today has ever been a slave, that the historic stress is passed down genetically through the generations.

Anything to keep from dealing with personal responsibility. And mind you, she's even getting paid to "research" it!

A new curse enters the lexicon: Abu Ghirab

Thanks to Son of Nixon, we can inform the populace of a new expletive in the American lexicon: Abu Ghraib.

I was watching the Red Sox game versus the Oakland A's last night when all Abu Ghraibin' hell broke loose. The motherAbu Ghraibin' Sox pitchers gave up Abu Ghraibin' 15 runs last night.

Abu Ghraibin' New York. Abu Ghraib A-Rod and Jeter. They're probably Abu Ghraibin' each other after games anyway. Those rotten little Abu Ghraibers.

Al Gore can go Abu Ghraib himself. Kerry too.

Equality is just as much a black responsibility as a white one.

Dr. Carol Swain, law and political science professor at Vanderbilt University, is putting the big hurt on the black educational status quo, much as Bill Cosby did a couple of weeks ago.

Swain was a part of a panel that met in New York City shortly after the 50th Anniversary of the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision, to talk about some of the obstacles facing students and schools in the urban landscape.

Swain identified affirmative action as currently practiced by universities -- lower admissions standards for blacks and Hispanics -- as part of the problem. These policies, she said, have "created a negative incentive structure for African-Americans who have either internalized societal messages about inferiority or have chosen an easier path of not exerting themselves too vigorously" since they don't have to meet higher standards.

"Do liberal blacks worry about being tokens for the status quo?" she replied. "I doubt it. I call things the way I see them."

A&E Special: The Horror of Hussain; where're the moonbats now?

The Horror of Hussain goes into detail about the true atrocities of Iraq.

It shows the horror and the evil of Saddam and his sons. It talks about the executions. It talks about the torture. It talks about the sadism. It talks about the butchery.

The moonbats conveniently forget that when they talk about "a few photographs."

Charles Barron conveniently forgot that when he tried to challenge me on Fox News Channel's Hannity & Colmes last month.

A&E's evening of specials doesn't sugar coat the truth; it doesn't try to paint the Bush Administration as the bad guys. It tells the truth: That Saddam was an evil, brutal man, who deserves what awaits him.

And it tells an even greater truth: that Saddam killed far more Iraqis than Coalition forces ever could have killed. That Saddam brutally murdered thousands of his own citizens in cold blood.

That literally thousands more were tortured and terrorized at his hand and on his word. Men. Women. Children. Saddam didn't care. Obviously the moonbats don't care either.

Easy Reader drives the pace car at Indianapolis

I'm showing my age, ain't I?

"Any black who votes for Bush should be strung up and shot"

Shay at Crispus has been dealing with friends -- not unlike I have -- who are so vehemently against President Bush that their hatred is tangible.

"Voting for Bush is Voting Against Your People"
This is what the husband of one of my best friends told me yesterday, and my friend concurred. The husband also said, "Any black who votes for Bush should be strung up and shot" (I kid you not). Ouch!

This comment was in response to portions of this Washington Times article that I was reading to them. They're hotly opposed to the war in Iraq, and absolutely hate President Bush. In fact, awhile back my friend's husband said that he hoped the economy doesn't improve just so it would help Bush lose.

Many are lost in the strawman arguement over the Electoral College, and even when faced with the reality of how the Electoral College works in general, along with how it played into the 2000 election, their emotion gets beyond any semblance of logic they may have.

It's pretty sad that so many allow their emotions to rule over and above any sense of logic they may have.

Denver-based idiot equates military service with slavery

Former Denver Broncos player Reggie Rivers penned an insulting screed in the Denver Post equating military service with slavery.

You heard me. He thinks that military service is slavery, because he insists (along with most other moonbats) that they were "lied to" about the situation in the Middle East.

Yes, our slaves signed up of their own free will, but most of them were as misled about their job as the rest of us were about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Our armed forces recruiters are quite adept at making military service appear beneficial (it mostly is) and safe (it's not). The threat of war is minimized, because few rational people actually want to fight.

Oh. I guess Rivers is exempt. After all, he collected a hefty paycheck from the Denver Broncos.

Perhaps he would do well to speak to his cohorts in the League who have participated in the armed forces. He might talk to some of the thousands of veterans who have made something of themselves as a result of their military service during both war and peacetime.

Perhaps Rivers might find it useful to speak to someone who doesn't have the level of selfishness that Rivers himself has found so useful in his day to day walk through life. After all, Rivers ought to respect his elders, yes? Maybe not.

Then again, perhaps Rivers and his disdain for those with a greater sense of honor than he has might better be served if he were to be ignored.

Saturday morning in the King Treehouse

Saturday mornings are quiet around the treehouse.

I can usually sit downstairs with a cup of coffee before the house stirs, and surf or listen to music or think or piddle or some other such thing.

This morning, I'm given to doing half of all the above simultaneously. Life will intrude soon enough -- I've got a couple of letters that have to be done today, She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed wants to go to the new Home Depot Landscape Warehouse (which just opened close-by); the Angst-ridden, love-smitten teenager wants to go to the mall (when does she NOT want to go?); Number One Son (who scowls at his older sister when she calls him Lemonhead) just wants to get out of the house, and The Baby (who dances so much to the Badger-Badger-Badger song that her older sibs call her Badger) just wants some attention.

Add to that the wedding Rae and I have to attend this afternoon (I'm not in the mood for a frelling wedding, but She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed frowns at me when I subtly hint at other activities instead; which, of course means I'm going). Then the market journey intrudes...

But all that is yet to come this morning. Dad has yet to call - his phone call usually signals the rest of the household to stir all at once.

No, this morning, I'm actually trying to hash out in my mind, the real first chapter of the book.

The book has been playing with itself in fits and starts in my mind for more than two years now, with bits and pieces playing itself out in my articles, both online and not. I've got many of the chapters outlined in relative detail, and ongoing events push around those details like so many rubber ducks floating in the bathtub.

But the opening chapter has always eluded me.

I'm finally finding some measure of foraging in that direction though. I hope. Maybe.

OJ the killer is now offically also "money grubbing scum."

According to Star Magazine, OJ Simpson's lawyer, Yale Galanter, is shopping around paid interview and photo ops for his client, as we approach the 10th anniversary of the brutal murders of Simpson's wife Nicole and her friend, Ron Goldman.

"It will be expensive," the mag quotes Galanter. "TV rights are going for $100,000. For print rights, between $20,000 and $25,000."

Nothing if not classy, Galanter adds that O.J. might even be willing to do a photo shoot at the Brentwood crime scene and at Nicole's grave site - if the price is right.

"It would have to be a multimillion-type deal," Galanter says. A grave site photo would be "worth $500,000 ... Our preference is a standard interview ... but it's just money."

Nicole Simpson & Ron Goldman were murdered June 12, 1994.

Michael "The Cryptkeeper" Jackson looks for reduction of $3 million bail

Michael Jackson's lawyers have formally asked for a reduction of the $3 million bail placed on the singer in his child molestation case. This despite fears by the prosecution that MJ might flee if faced with conviction.

Jackson's legal team claim the singer is not a flight risk (yeah, right!), and should get the same level of bail that any other individual would receive.

"As the day of trial approaches and Mr. Jackson makes a hard-headed assessment of his chances for an acquittal and ponders the unhappy but inevitable consequences of a conviction, he may well conclude that life as a wealthy absconder ... is preferable to what might amount to a life term in a California prison," prosecutors said in court papers.

Prosecutors argued in their motion that Jackson was an international celebrity "whose lifestyle to date would not have prepared him to adapt readily to a prison environment and routine and whose physical stature would present its own problems for him in making the necessary adjustments."

I'm thinking that MJ would either try to go live with fellow convicted child molester Roman Polanski overseas, or try to kill himself.

Then the question is how many of the fawning fans who worship the ground the has-been performer walks on would follow the Cryptkeeper-lookalike into oblivion...

Cincinnati City Council objects, says Cops has to leave

Cameras for Cops stopped rolling in Cincinnati this afternoon, after members of the Queen City's city council objected over what the show might depict.

The Saturday night Fox staple is finishing it's 15th season on the air. It shows real-life police officers from around the nation during "ride-alongs," so viewers can see what the officers see.

The crew began filming Tuesday, and today, Cincinnati Police Chief Tom Streicher "changed his mind" about allowing the crew to continue filming.

Streicher's decision came after Wednesday's City Council meeting, during which council members Alicia Reece, Christopher Smitherman and Pat DeWine expressed concern about the filming, which they feared would portray the city poorly. Reece said a show that "sensationalizes" crime could hurt the city's ability to attract tourists and businesses.

They also said they were concerned city council was not consulted or were not able to provide input on Streicher's invitation to the show to film his officers.

You can never satisfy treehuggers

Piedmont Park in Atlanta is a park not unlike New York's Central Park or Chicago's Lincoln Park in terms of size and scope. It's midtown Atlanta's back yard amid the zillions of trees in this part of the country.

The northern part of the park has been nearly overgrown with kudzu (remind me to tell you about kudzu one day) and other plant life; very few people go over there. There's a city of Atlanta maintenance garage over there, and it backs up to subdivisions and a shopping area on the northern end of the park.

Also adjacent to the park is the Atlanta Botanical Garden. The Garden along with the Park as a whole, are in need of additional parking space.

The Garden has designed a garage with six levels of parking for 800 cars that will stretch over an acre; the garage will be built in a way that minimal impact will be placed upon the land. People will still be able to enjoy the park, and there will be less impact on the surrounding area as people try to find places to park. The garage will be built in a way that it is concealed from the surroundings, with an earthen berm and 25-foot tall trees surrounding it.

But, as you can imagine, the treehuggers are still not happy.

"We don't care that it's green and beautiful," said Susan Abramson of Friends of Piedmont Park. "We know it's concrete and steel underneath, and we know there will be cars coming in and out."

Just damn.

Black gay Republicans stage protest against gay marriage

I wouldn't have believed this one if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. My jaw is still stuck to the keyboard.

The Abe Lincoln Black Republican Caucus, a group of "young Black gay, bisexual and 'down lo' males" has been protesting across the nation against gay marriage.

"It is an international disgrace and an affront to every Black man, woman and child in the United States for the Massachusetts' Supreme Court to start marriage for gays on the 50th anniversary of the Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education Decision," stated Don Sneed, the political mentor for the ALBRC and a member of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (Bush Appointee). "I am sick and tired of seeing the white gay rights movement continue to hijack the Black civil rights movement and make these situations one and the same," stated Anthony Falls, Chairman of the ALBRC and recently elected the first Black openly gay Republican Precinct Chairman in Texas.

On last Saturday, at a huge rally held in the Oak Lawn area in support of Marriage for Gays and against the constitutional amendment for defense of marriage, the ALBRC staged a highly vocal and visible counter protest and demonstration against what it considers 30 years of unchecked and unbridled racism by the White gay community against Black gays and lesbians. The protest march was again taken through the heart of the Oak Lawn community to the astonishment and amazement of the local gay patrons and shopkeepers. The protesters were met with some racial slurs and threats.

"We are not afraid of the white gay economic and political behemoth that continues to treat us like third class citizens and trash. It is the epitome of hypocrisy for White gays and lesbians to base their claims for rights to marry upon prejudice, discrimination and civil rights violations, when they are prejudiced, discriminatory and disrespectful of Black gay's and lesbian's human rights each and every day," stated Mr. Sneed. "The White gay community is one of America's last strongholds for White Supremacy. We will begin the dismantling of that stronghold today in downtown Dallas," stated Willie Beard, an ALBRC member.

I had no clue that such an organization existed in the black gay community. I am certainly familiar with white gay members of the GOP, and by extension groups like the Log Cabin Republicans, but this completely surprises me.

Pandering of the highest order -- only in America, and only by the GOP!

GOP Chairman Ed Gillespie, in his "infinite wisdom" (he said while rolling his eyes), is sending out three "leading" black Republicans to talk to business leaders around the nation.

This four-city trip is billed as an economic development tour, and is apparently geared toward minorities.

The problem -- and it's a big freakin' problem as I see it -- is that of the three blacks chosen, only one (Texas Insurance Commissioner Michael Williams) has any sort of credibility, and is the only one of the three that has the kind of political, business and social experience that the general public might even listen to.

The other two? Glad you asked.

The 2003 Miss America (that's right, a former beauty queen) Erika Harold and Don King.

You can close your mouth now.

Don King. As in "Only in America!"

As in the stick-your-finger-in-a-light-socket hairdo. And as in boxing promoter and heir to P.T. Barnum's salesmanship himself.

Gillespie is pushing this with a straight face.

With bullshit like this, is there any wonder that the GOP continues to play out of a hole when it comes to black America? Likewise, is there any wonder why many others (both black and white) find it hard to take black conservatives seriously?

You mean to tell me that the only viable black Republican voices that Ed Gillespie could find to talk to businessmen and women around the nation are Don King and the former Miss America?

This, truly is an insult to my intelligence, and to yours.

I just got another letter in the mail from the GOP begging for money. With crap like this, they'll be begging a long damn time before I throw good money away on 'em.

UPDATE (5/27, 9:30A): After sleeping on it, and talking to my wife (She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed), I've calmed down a little.

While I still think that this is a bad move, perhaps I should sit back and watch what happens. After all, the people who attend are at least going to listen to the trio's message. And quiet as it's kept, there are a lot of folks who would listen to a Don King sooner than a Michael King. They certainly wouldn't call Don King an "oreo," though they'd be quick to call me one.

We'll have to see.

Enterprise cliffhanger....

"I hate Illinois Nazis..."

Be on the lookout for these bad guys -- they want to kill you

Here are the pictures everyone's been looking for.

Attorney General John Ashcroft says these folks -- and quite probably others -- are in the US and are leading up to an attack on American soil that would overshadow 9/11.

If you see these folks, get in touch with law enforcement immediately!

The bad guys wanna hit us real hard, real soon...

The bad guys wanna hit us here. On shore. In the states.

They want to hit us hard this summer and inflict as many civilian casualties as they can muster.

The faces and names of seven individuals will be released at a 2P ET press conference this afternoon, acoording to Attorney General John Ashcroft and FBI Director Bob Mueller.

The alerts name people being sought for questioning -- not necessarily suspected of plotting attacks. They include descriptions and basic biographical information along with the photographs.

The photographs and information will be sent to law enforcement agencies across the country and around the world, the sources said.

There are several high profile events this summer -- the G8 Summit next month down at Sea Island, GA, of course plenty of Independance Day celebrations across the nation, the opening of the World War II Memorial on the Mall in Washington this weekend, not to mention the Democratic National Convention in Boston in July, and the Republican National Convention in New York City in early September.

There is also major concern relating to the Summer Olympic Games in August in Athens, Greece.

Other stuff television-wise

The Futon Critic continues it's look at the fall television season with some additional info that didn't show up in the upfront presentations last week.

It's a no-go on "Transylvania." Despite a hefty put pilot commitment when it was originally announced, NBC has opted not to go forward with the small screen spin-off of the current Universal feature "Van Helsing."

-- UPN will look to expand to six nights starting next year. (CBS Head Leslie Moonves) wasn't specific on whether the new night will be Saturdays or Sundays.

-- "60 Minutes II" will drop the "II." "The Roman numeral II created some confusion on the part of the viewers and suggested a watered-down version," CBS News president Andrew Heyward told Daily Variety.

-- "The Simpsons" will once again earn a post-Super Bowl berth...after the game ends on February 6, 2005.

-- "Alias" is set to run repeat-free beginning in January. Aside from pre-emptions due to the Super Bowl and the Oscars, the fourth-year drama is set to run for 20 weeks on the network beginning in January.

-- UPN's "America's Next Top Model" and NBC's "The Apprentice" are both set to air two cycles next season. Both reality hits are slated to run for two cycles with "Model" running 26 installments and "Apprentice" a whopping 34 episodes over the course of the 2004-05 season.

-- "24" will open and close with two-hour installments as well as feature a two-hour special event episode in the middle of the season. Said moves are designed so that "24" will be able to run for 21 consecutive weeks beginning in January and close by the end of May sweeps.

Straight had another four or five segments; Eden had another 16 to 18 episodes left to run.

It would make sense to play 'em out on FX if nowhere else, but hey, who knows what evil lurks in the mind of a network television programmer?

Islamic Call To Prayer to sound through streets of Detroit suburb

The Islamic Call To Prayer will go forward in the Detroit suburb of Hamtramck, MI, starting Friday, after a petition drive by residents failed to stop it.

The petition drive was intended to stop a noise ordinance amendment regulating the religious messages. The City Council voted unanimously to reject the petitions and place the issue before city voters in the next election.

“I am appalled by the level of racism I have seen,” Councilman Scott Klein said. “The people opposing this amendment (that allows the calls to prayer) have nothing on the boys from Birmingham (Ala.).”

But Robert Zwolak of Hamtramck, who led the petition drive, was just as upset by the council's actions.

“The damage has been done. This is Chernobyl,” Zwolak said, referring to the nuclear power plant disaster in Ukraine in 1986. “The fallout will last for many years.”

The Muslim Call to Prayer will be announced in Arabic by loudspeaker five times per day beginning Friday afternoon.

The council fails to recognize that in their zeal to promote "diversity," that personal property rights are being trampled. Doesn't an individual have the right not to be disturbed by moose-like wailing five times per day in their own home?

This not a racial issue, as the liberal member of the city councl quoted above would have you believe, but a issue of community peace.

Yes! Yes! Man-In-Freakin'-Suit! Yes!

Toho is making their final Godzilla flick as we speak, and they're pulling out all the stops.

All I can do is point at this picture and scream "LOOK!" (while I'm drooling)

The movie premieres in Tokyo in December; I'm sure it'll be at the art houses here by this time next year.

The Watchers have been watching...

Watcher of Weasels has published it's weekly nominations, and despite my "link whorage" from earlier in the week, I got nominated outright.

This week's nomination is for my post from yesterday about the Missouri Democrats and their race-baiting billboard.

The Watcher's Council weekly awards will be released by Friday.

No longer an e-mail refugee...

BellSouth finally fixed my e-mail last night -- no one has a clue as to what happened, although after my call to the President of Customer Operations' office probably had a lot to do with it getting handled quickly.

I'm sure more than a few hands got slapped and nasty e-mails got sent around.

And I'm sure Clark Howard would be proud of how well I handled those knuckleheads.

In any event, with my old e-mal address mhking -AT- bellsouth -DOT-COM restored, I'm back in business, and not bouncing e-mails all over God's green earth.

Good night, Doctor Franklin, rest well.

Actor Richard Biggs, known to science fiction audiences for his role as Dr. Stephen Franklin in Babylon 5, passed away suddenly over the weekend.

B5 creator J. Michael Straczynski broke the news to fans on the moderated B5 Usenet Group.

"I was awakened today with several phone calls from cast members and Doug [Netter] to pass along the terrible news that this morning, Richard Biggs passed away.

"We're still gathering information, so take none of this as firm word, but what seems to have happened, happened quickly. He woke up, got up out of bed...and went down. The paramedics who showed up suggested it was either an aneurysm or a massive stroke.

Biggs was 43.

Missouri Democrats place race baiting billboard, then say "Who, me?"

Democrats in Missouri actually have the gall to insist that a new campaign billboard is not "race baiting."

The billboard, pictured here, has a black man's face dourfully looking out next to the words "Missouri Republicans have a plan. You are not a part of it." -- all of this is splashed across an American Flag graphic.

Now I've been called naive, I've been called gullible, and I've been called a lot of other things that I won't print nor say in mixed company in my years. But I'm not so dim as to believe that this is not meant to be racially driven.

Yet, Missouri Democrats insist that this is not the case.

“We stand very much with what's behind the billboard,” said the Democratic Party's executive director, Jim Kottmeyer. “It has nothing to do with race.”

The same message, he said, applies to other groups, such as young people and seniors. “They do have a plan,” he said of Missouri Republicans. “Average Missourians are not part of it.”

A different billboard company, Waitt, placed the billboard near 14th Street and Troost Avenue in Kansas City. Presently, it is the only one in the state of Missouri.

“Even after they were rejected by one of the state's largest advertisers, Democrats continued to press forward with a campaign that targets African-Americans in a hateful and vile manner,” said Ann Wagner, chairwoman of the Missouri Republican Party.

Even Microsoft gets hacked once in a while

Microsoft Press' UK site has been hacked by a group calling themselves the "OutLaw Group".

The front page of the site has the messages "Owned OutLaw Group by Pharoeste e Wolfblack" and "Owned by OutLaw Group" repeated several times on the page.

Now that Michael Moore has left, new cracking sounds coming from collapsed CDG terminal building

Officials in France are now saying that fresh cracking sounds are coming from the same terminal building that partially collapsed at Paris' Charles De Gaulle Airport yesterday, killing four people. The new noises have prompted a complete evacuation of the new Air France terminall at CDG, where a 98-foot section collapsed at about 7 yesterday morning.

Air France officials are saying that they are considering scrapping the entire building. Terminal 2E was opened amid much fanfare 11 months ago. The construction project cost an estimated $890 million, and was touted as a showcase of design and architecture.

According to French network LCI, the opening of 2E had been originally delayed due to safety issues.

(There's no truth to the rumor that French officials were afraid of Paul Prudhomme's arrival on the heels of Michael Moore's departure...[g])

Ready for a FIFTH BCS Bowl?

As much as everyone hates the Bowl Championship Series (myself included), it is a financial bonanza for the metropolitan areas that host the collegeate football championship. So there is no surprise that there is much jockeying for position among the cities who are vying for the possible fifth game to join the championship rotation (after the Rose, Sugar, Orange & Fiesta Bowls) in January 2006.

SBC COTTON BOWL

Location: Dallas

Upside: Traditional New Year's Day Bowl in a major market....Geographically centered, and as the Big 12's anchor bowl, would be shorter trip than the Fiesta for most. ... A new stadium is coming, probably in Fair Park.

Downside: Unpredictable weather has kept Cotton out of the BCS.... Current stadium is past its time, and the new all-weather stadium won't be built for years. ... Big 12 may not want to relinquish its top-paying bowl to the BCS.

CAPITAL ONE BOWL

Location: Orlando Fla.

Upside: The top-paying non-BCS bowl. ... Disney/ABC connections. ... Great tourism area and accessible to ACC, Big East and SEC fans.

Downside: SEC and Big Ten won't want to give up a $5 million bowl. ... Stadium is below average for a BCS bowl. ... Would be a second BCS bowl in Florida.

TOYOTA GATOR BOWL

Location: Jacksonville, Fla.

Upside: Could serve as the Big East's anchor bowl. ...Good stadium.

Downside: Although it's in Florida, weather is a concern. ... Not the tourist destination Orlando is.

HOUSTON BOWL

Location: Houston

Upside: Great stadium. ... New owners have the resources to make this a much bigger bowl. ... Successfully hosted the last Super Bowl.

Downside: Not much bowl tradition.

CHICK-FIL-A PEACH BOWL

Location: Atlanta

Upside: Domed, Super Bowl-worthy stadium. ... Lots of college football interest in an SEC-ACC market.

Downside: Already hosts the SEC title game. ... Like the Capitol One and Gator bowls, would give the South a third BCS bowl.

ALAMO BOWL

Location: San Antonio

Upside: Great tourism town with momentum from the Final Four. ... More centrally located than other BCS bowls. ... Relatively new, domed stadium.

Downside: Stadium is undersized for a BCS bowl.

INSIGHT BOWL

Location: Phoenix

Upside: Run by the Fiesta Bowl, so the organization is already in place. ... A shorter trip for fans of at-large teams from the Pac-10, Mountain West and WAC.

Downside: Would mean two BCS bowls in the same metro area (Fiesta Bowl is in Tempe). ... Played in a baseball stadium.

HOLIDAY BOWL

Location: San Diego

Upside: Great tourism city. ... Like the Insight Bowl, would be an easier trip for western teams.

Downside: Fans of western teams aren't known for traveling, anyway.

BRAND-NEW BOWL

Location: Most likely St. Louis

Upside: The BCS could opt to create a new bowl in a market that doesn't currently have a bowl. ... New domed stadium that will host 2005 Final Four. ... Central location with good access for the Big 12 and Big Ten.

Downside: Start-up costs and lack of an existing organization. ... St. Louis is a baseball town with little college football tradition. ... Not much to do there in the winter.

Yes, THAT liberal media!

Someone in their infinte wisdom lobbed me a note on a message board over the weekend, insisting that there was no such thing as "liberal media," pointing at Rush, Boortz, Hannity, Savage and Medved on the radio, and screeching about Fox News Channel on television.

After I finished laughing, I pointedly asked them about Katie Couric, Peter Jennings, Wolf Blitzer and Dan Rather. And let's not forget the admission in ABC News' daily political analysis column, The Note a couple of months ago, where the writers unabashedly admitted to a liberal bias in their reporting, as if they had an obligation to be liberal and to attack the Bush Administration.

A new Pew Research study has found that liberals outnumber conservatives in America's newsrooms by a wide margin.

At national organizations (which includes print, TV and radio), the numbers break down like this: 34% liberal, 7% conservative. At local outlets: 23% liberal, 12% conservative. At Web sites: 27% call themselves liberals, 13% conservatives.

This contrasts with the self-assessment of the general public: 20% liberal, 33% conservative.

And we are the ones that get beat up all the time? Just damn, indeed!

Walkway collapses at Paris' CDG Airport; Michael Moore not the cause

A relatively new terminal building walkway -- it opened less than a year or so ago -- collapsed this morning at Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris, killing at least five people.

Full Of Crap had the best description, by far, of the carnage

Neither terrorism nor filmmaker Michael Moore being a gigantic fat fuck were suspected as causes. Mr. Moore will actually be traveling back to New York via FedEx Freight reinforced cargo container later this evening.

Greedy link whorage - it's "a long story," you had to be there

As you may or may not already be aware, members of the Watcher's Council hold a vote every week on what they consider to be the most link-worthy pieces of writing around... per the Watcher's instructions, I am submitting one of my own posts for consideration in the upcoming nominations process.

Here is the most recent winning council post, here is the most recent winning non-council post, here is the list of results for the latest vote, and here is the initial posting of all the nominees that were voted on.

All hail the King! I even got my own palace!

The Commissar has had his loyal mapmakers busy lately -- the newly commissioned map of Kablogh, the Holy City of Blogistan has been released.

Would you believe that I've got a whole palace to myself!? Mind you, he linked it to the OLD site, but what the hey? I rate being right in the middle of things this time!

A salute to the Commissar is due, indeed!

MLK hearse for sale on eBay

The hearse that carried the body of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. after his death is up for auction on eBay.

The car, a 1966 Cadillac Fleetwood, still runs, and is being sold by a St. Louis lawyer for his client, a car dealer.

Presently, there are no museums who have expressed an interest in acquiring the vehicle, and the current bid this afternoon, with under 10 hours remaining, is over $54,000.

My big question is how long it'll take for Coretta Scott "professional black widow" King to demand that she and her family receive proceeds from the sale of the hearse. After all, they seem to feel that the only people who can profit in any way, shape or form from anything even remotely related to Dr. King is them.

Remember, this is the same family that demanded that proceeds from fundraisers tied to a King Memorial in Washington, DC go into their coffers. I'd put nothing above them in this respect.

Shatner may guest star on Enterprise in Season 4

Continuity is a foreign word to Star Trek: Enterprise show runners Rick Berman & Brannon Braga.

They've tossed out many parts of the show's established history to come up with shady storylines, although much of the Xindi storyline established for Season 3 has been pretty well plotted (even thouh such a massive terrorist incident as portrayed as having happened to Earth would most probably at least have been mentioned over the remainder of Trek lore's backstories, you would think).

With the Season Finale of Enterprise's Xindi mission coming up this week, word is starting to leak out about a possible major guest star for next season: William Shatner.

Berman confirmed that he had indeed been in talks with TREK star William Shatner about a guest starring role in Enterprise, and is hoping to fit a William Shatner Guest appearance into Enterprise's 4th season.

"Bill is busy doing 'The Practice' right now, and he's going to be doing the spin - off next season." Berman said. "We have had discussions in the last week, when we were talking with the studio about areas and directions we would like to go in next season, and there were two different ideas that we think could be developed into a good vehicle for Bill. And hopefully we're going to pursue one of them for next season."

No word on whether Shatner would play (as some have suggested) Jim Kirk's grandfather, or perhaps maybe playing good ol' Captain Kirk himself.

Cos clarifies himself even further

Noted entertainment rep firm The Brokaw Company, representing Bill Cosby among other folks, released a statement this weekend further clarifying Cosby's position on the continuing fallout on Cosby's speech last week in Washington.

Cosby's attack on those in the black community who de-emphasize education as a means of creating advancement in black America was met with mixed reaction from many quarters. As a result, Cosby reiterated and expanded on his position.

"I think that it is time for concerned African Americans to march, galvanize and raise the awareness about this epidemic to transform our helplessness, frustration and righteous indignation into a sense of shared responsibility and action."

"I travel the country and see these patterns in every community-stories of 12 year old children killed in the cross fire between knuckleheads selling drugs, the 14 year olds with a sealed envelop as their first step into the criminal justice system, the young males who become fathers and not held responsible, the young women having children and moving back in with their mothers and grandmothers, and the young people who choose not to learn standard English."

"My question: Is Bill Cosby hoping that the drop out rate will reach 70% soon and teenage single parenthood will grow to 80% in the lower economic neighborhoods? Or is he clanging a bell and warning that this is an epidemic that has to be stopped? Are we so worried about what others think about us that we are unwilling to address this disease that is inflecting our people more and more every day?"

There are some who feel that Cosby's statements are an affront; the statements certainly fly in the face of some who insist that "ebonics" and other separatist educational philosophies should be the norm for black students today.

Cosby points out that media critics such as Christopher Farley at Time Magazine are flawed in their argument that African American literary greats such as Langston Hughes and Zora Hurston honored the dialects that Mr. Cosby criticized as a lack of language proficiency that further denies opportunity to inner city blacks. "Clearly, Mr. Farley did not speak in dialect on 'Good Morning America' nor would he probably have been hired by Time if he spoke that way. Secondly, someone should question Mr. Farley whether Mr. Hughes or Ms. Hurston knew standard English and chose to write in dialect."

"I feel that I can no longer remain silent. If I have to make a choice between keeping quiet so that conservative media does not speak negatively or ringing the bell to galvanize those who want change in the lower economic community, then I choose to be a bell ringer."

I love their DSL, but they've hosed my e-mail account!

I'm rapidly losing my patience with BellSouth.

I've had my e-mail address, mhking@bellsouth.net for seven years. I've corresponded with literally thousands of people from that address; I've gone through a lot with it.

First of this past week, in their infinite wisdom, some rocket scientist at BellSouth decided to yank the address without saying anything.

Seems that when I got my DSL put in, the tech was not on straight with me regarding my old address; I asked if I could retain the old address. They said yes.

Mind you, this was a year ago.

So this week, a year to the week, mind you, someone, cleaning up house, figured out that this old address was hanging out there. So they yanked it. (or so it seems from what I've been able to piece together)

They claim that it'll be back up and running later today, though I'm still skeptical.

Anyhow, in the meantime, if you want to get to me, use my Google-Mail account at mhking@gmail.com.

Cos won't apologize for tough talk

In an interview yesterday, Bill Cosby stood behind his harsh words from earlier in the week. In a speech at an NAACP event this past Monday in Washington, Cosby criticized black Americans who were more willing to spend $500 on gym shoes as opposed to spending the same kind of money on educational items that can help their children.

Cosby said he was chagrined that conservative radio talk shows seized on his comments and recirculated them. Yet he said he was more concerned about protecting children in unsafe neighborhoods.

"If I weigh a loudmouthed conservative racist announcer's thoughts and opinions against a 12-year-old child being shot," concern for the child wins, he said.

"I didn't want to throw cold water on the celebrating," said Cosby, but he stressed that many African-American neighborhoods were in crisis. "We've got to help these people," he said. "We've got to get the neighborhood back."

Cosby blamed lack of education on many ills that he sees in black communities.

"We should look and see how many males are incarcerated and look and see how many of them are illiterate," he said.

Of course, when I say the same thing, I'm branded a sellout; when someone white says the same thing, they're branded a racist.

Go figure...

OK, so I was wrong. Sue me.

So I was mistaken in my take on Taco Bell's contest and the language they used to describe the desired entries.

Even I pull my tin foil on tight once in awhile.

I'm just as human as the next guy.

To Taco Bell, I'm sorry.

To you folk visiting from DU to bitch/gloat, I'm human, and I don't walk on water. I even make mistakes once in awhile.

I'm man enough to admit it, and own up to 'em.

Life goes on.

Doesn't the Bible say "Anoint him with oil?"

From Eugene, OR (those crazy left coasters): 19 year-old Angela Morris gets into an argument with her boyfriend over a verse in the Bible.

She gets up to go make herself some french fries.

Hapless boyfriend follows, still yammering away.

While she's cooking, he grabs her from behind, pissing her off even more.

Then he goes to sleep (idiot!).

Still pissed, she goes to the room where he's sleeping and pours the boiling oil over him!

Morris is in jail on $250,000 bail for domestic violence assault. The boyfriend is in hospital with severe burns on his neck, face & chest.

Where's Al Green when you need him?

Hey, Taco Bell! Yo quiero up yours!

Taco Bell has just openly declared war on conservatives.

They've got a new contest (don't they always?); this one is for contest entrants to put their "sauce wisdom" -- quick little sayings & witicisms -- on their sauce packets.

Sounds good, right? But get this.

From May 19 to June 18, customers can enter the national contest by registering their “sauce wisdoms” at www.tacobell.com. Taco Bell defines a sauce wisdom as a humorous look at reality through the eyes of the Taco Bell brand. The message should be simple, left of center and provide insight on the little things in life – anything from going on a date to eating a meal -- and it should not exceed 70 characters. All sauce wisdoms will be judged according to humor, originality, length and suitability of use.

They are going to have to come up with an awful lot before I and a lot of other conservatives darken their doors again...

UPDATE (3:45P): Amy Ridenour at The National Center for Public Policy Research (parent organization of Project 21) dropped a note in the talkback; keep in mind that Taco Bell's parent company is also the parent of KFC, Long John Silvers, A&W and Pizza Hut. (damn! I just had some fish from Long John's first of the week; and I was about to order pizza tonight!)

Some people just need killin'

Some rocket scientist manager at a Hooters location in Florida has come up with an idea that makes me physically ill.

Now I'm all for going to Hooters and chugging down a beer or three along with inhaling a few wings (and yes, even stealing a gander at the tightly clad wait staff -- at least when She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed is looking in the other direction, lest I get smacked), but some people are just dead between the ears.

The sign on the verge advertising the Little Miss Hooters contest is, however, beyond the pale. We called this evening, asked for details. The contest is for girls 5 and under, and will require they be dressed in little orange spandex shorts, and a tied up Hooters t-shirt.

Dim bulbs like these make me want to get in the car, track 'em down and punt their gonads up into their throats.

Morons like this are what the Southern phrase, "He just needed killin'," was invented for.

Stacy Tabb (who originally saw this in her home town) has alerted her local media, and I'm sure the local constabulary has been alerted as well. Hmmmmm. I wonder if any federal laws regarding child endangerment are in potential violation here...

Oh, by the way. Hooters corporate offices are here in Metro Atlanta. Their e-mail address is: hooterspr@hooters.com.

UPDATE: Some folks bring up a good point (and one I happen to agree with): any parents would dare put their little ones into any sort of depravity like this need to be dealt with. Harshly. And with extreme prejudice.

UPDATE (3:15P): In an update, Stacy says that the Lakeland Hooters, where this was going to be held, has quietly changed their tune, and their sign.

The sign now promotes a swimsuit contest, and has no more mention of the "Little Miss Hooters" contest.

Here's hoping they changed their manager as well.

Oh, and a Hooters PR lackey e-mailed Stacy back:

Thank you for expressing your concern regarding the contest in Florida.

A store manager decided to host an event for the employee's childrenwhich is not a part of Hooters National Marketing promotions, and has been cancelled.

Best regards,

Alexis Aleshire
Marketing
Hooters of America
1815 The Exchange
Atlanta, GA 30339

Good job puttin' the heat on 'em, folks!

TechTV's Call For Help, R.I.P.

That's it. It's over and done.

TechTV's Call For Help taped their last show Wednesday. It's set to air tomorrow.

By Monday, TechTV, as we know it, will be history as well.

G4techTV premieres Monday, and CFH is one of the shows that won't make the transition.

Host Leo Laporte waxed poetic on it's fate today.

G4 is shopping the show and it's possible another network willpick it up. I pray someone does. I'll keep doing it if I have to fly toSandusky twice a week. Somehow, somewhere, Call for Help has to live on, if only for the folks who have come to depend on the show for their computer help. I know so many moms and grandfathers and kids
and just plain folks for whom Call for Help was an introduction to technology. The show helped get so many people on track, and I feel like we're letting many more down by not doing it any more. Cross your fingers that some network executive somewhere is willing to take a chance on a funky little show that makes such a big difference in people's lives.

Meanwhile G4 has asked me to keep doing the daily 90-second pre-taped tips on The Screen Savers indefinitely. I said yes, of course. It's better than nothing, and it
will leave me lots of free time to try to find somewhere else to do what I do. Vinnie Longobardo, the VP Programming for G4, also asked me to ask you to stop filling his inbox with mail. I appreciate your efforts but at this point it's probably useless to keep harassing the poor guy. G4 is going for a different audience and my work is not really part of those plans. I understand that - I even agree with them. It's time for all of us to move on.

But for now, it's time to say goodbye to Leo for the second time in two months.

Be well, m'friend. I'm sure we'll see more of you soon. (And yes, I'm sure I'll hang 'round your site a bit more...[g])

Volume and more volume

The TLB Ecosystem is back up and running properly; no long outage like last time.

But with the move from BlogSplat over here and all, I've had to rebuild my status in the Ecosystem.

But just like that, I've passed my high on the old site; not only am I listed as a "Large Mammal," but I'm well on my way toward the top hundred blogs on the net.

Just a quick word of thanks to all of you who have linked to me in some form, and I hope that I continue to bring you what you want to read.

UPN: Star Trek lives...for now, at least...

UPN rounded out Upfront week by announcing their fall schedule this morning.

The biggest question over UPN was what would happen to Star Trek Enterprise, who limped through their third season on Wednesday nights, while getting creamed even among science fiction fans by WB's Smallville.

Well, Trek-fans, your pleas have been heard and answered, with Enterprise moving to Friday nights at 9.

UPN is relying on breakout hit America's Top Model and Smackdown as their powerhouse shows.

UPN 2004-2005 PRIMETIME SCHEDULE

MONDAY
8:00-8:30 PM ONE ON ONE
8:30-9:00 PM HALF AND HALF
9:00-9:30 PM GIRLFRIENDS
9:30-10:00 PM SECOND TIME AROUND

TUESDAY
8:00-8:30 PM ALL OF US
8:30-9:00 PM EVE
9:00-10:00 PM VERONICA MARS

WEDNESDAY
8:00-9:00 PM AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL
9:00-10:00 PM KEVIN HILL

THURSDAY
8:00-10:00 PM WWE SMACKDOWN!

FRIDAY
8:00-9:00 PM AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL (R)
9:00-10:00 PM STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE

Current word is that the "suits" at Paramount have given the word that this year will be the last for Enterprise and by extension, for the Star Trek franchise for the forseeable future.

Congratulations, Berman & Braga (franchise runners - and egomaniacs - Rick Berman & Brannon Braga): You've killed the golden goose. I hope you both enjoy great agony for your honorless "work."

Fox: Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, all year long.

Fox one-upped the other networks recently by announcing an "all year round, seasonless" show introduction schedule. They stuck to their guns in their 04-05 Upfront presentation this morning.

Fox continues to crank out one reality show after another, starting in June with The Casino and The Simple Life 2: Roadtrip. The Fox reality wheel copies other formats as well, with Virgin's Richard Branson as The Billionaire (not unlike The Apprentice) and Oscar De La Hoya's The Next Great Champ (which mirror's NBC's upcoming Sylvester Stallone vehicle, The Contender).

Fox plays fast and loose with scheduling as well, with the biggest point being the move of 24 to Mondays beginning next January.

Fox has broken out their scheduling into three parts, June-October 04; November-January 04/05 and January-June 05.

FOX BROADCASTING COMPANY 2004-2005 PRIMETIME SCHEDULE
(All times PM ET/PT)

JUNE TO OCTOBER 2004

MONDAY
8:00-9:00 NORTH SHORE (Premieres June 14)
9:00-10:00 THE CASINO (Premieres June 14)

TUESDAY
8:00-8:30 THE BERNIE MAC SHOW
8:30-9:00 METHOD & RED (Encores, starting June 22)
9:00-10:00 THE JURY (Premieres June 8 with back-to-back episodes)

WEDNESDAY
8:00-8:30 THAT '70s SHOW
8:30-9:00 QUINTUPLETS (Premieres June 16)
9:00-9:30 THE SIMPLE LIFE 2: ROAD TRIP (Premieres June 16)
9:30-10:00 METHOD & RED (Premieres June 16)

THURSDAY
8:00-9:00 NORTH SHORE (Encores, starting June 17)
9:00-10:00 TRU CALLING

FRIDAY
8:00-8:30 TOTALLY OUTRAGEOUS BEHAVIOR
8:30-9:00 WORLD'S CRAZIEST VIDEOS
9:00-10:00 THE JURY (Encores, starting June 11)

SATURDAY
8:00-8:30 COPS
8:30-9:00 COPS
9:00-10:00 AMERICA'S MOST WANTED
11:00-Midnight MADtv

SUNDAY
7:00-7:30 OLIVER BEENE (Starting June 6)
7:30-8:00 KING OF THE HILL
8:00-8:30 THE SIMPSONS
8:30-9:00 ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT
9:00-9:30 MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE
9:30-10:00 QUINTUPLETS (Encores, starting June 20)

NOVEMBER 2004 TO JANUARY 2005

MONDAY
8:00-9:00 NORTH SHORE
9:00-10:00 THE SWAN 2

TUESDAY
8:00-9:00 THE BILLIONAIRE: BRANSON'S QUEST FOR THE BEST
9:00-10:00 HOUSE

WEDNESDAY
8:00-8:30 THAT '70s SHOW
8:30-9:00 QUINTUPLETS
9:00-9:30 THE BERNIE MAC SHOW
9:30-10:00 METHOD & RED

THURSDAY
8:00-9:00 THE O.C.
9:00-10:00 TRU CALLING

FRIDAY
8:00-9:00 THE NEXT GREAT CHAMP
9:00-10:00 THE JURY

SATURDAY
8:00-8:30 COPS
8:30-9:00 COPS
9:00-10:00 AMERICA'S MOST WANTED
11:00-Midnight MADtv

SUNDAY
7:00-7:30 KING OF THE HILL
7:30-8:00 MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE
8:00-8:30 THE SIMPSONS
8:30-9:00 ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT
9:00-10:00 THE PARTNER

JANUARY TO JUNE 2005

MONDAY
8:00-9:00 ATHENS
9:00-10:00 24

TUESDAY
8:00--9:00 AMERICAN IDOL
9:00-10:00 HOUSE

WEDNESDAY
8:00-8:30 THAT '70s SHOW
8:30-9:00 RELATED BY FAMILY
9:00-9:30 AMERICAN IDOL

9:30-10:00 THE BERNIE MAC SHOW

THURSDAY
8:00-9:00 THE O.C.
9:00-10:00 TRU CALLING

FRIDAY
8:00-9:00 THE INSIDE
9:00-10:00 JONNY ZERO

SATURDAY
8:00-8:30 COPS
8:30-9:00 COPS
9:00-10:00 AMERICA'S MOST WANTED
11:00-Midnight MADtv

SUNDAY
7:00-7:30 KELSEY GRAMMER PRESENTS: THE SKETCH SHOW
7:30-8:00 KING OF THE HILL
8:00-8:30 THE SIMPSONS
8:30-9:00 MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE
9:00-9:30 ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT
9:30-10:00 AMERICAN DAD

Notice that though 24 is moving to Monday, it won't show up until after Monday Night Football finishes its' run for the year. They're definitely shrewd, I have to hand that to 'em...

You tryin' to tell us somethin', Chris?

Chris Muir has removed the banner asking readers to help get Day By Day syndicated. And this strip appears on the Day By Day page today...

Fascinating...

Andy Kaufman? Bull.

Someone claiming to be the late Andy Kaufman surfaced this week, 20 years after the comic's death.

Before he died, Kaufman claimed he'd return "twenty years from now" -- which would be May 16, 2004.

Well, someone is following through on Kaufman's stunt.

Sorry about faking my death. I always knew my biggest supporters would play along until it was the right time for me to return. Yesterday, being the 20th anniversary, was a long enough time to go away. No one has ever gone away that long before. I've been documenting my adventures for the last twenty years in journals and will be posting some of the best stories from here. Mostly though, I've just been practicing transcendental meditation throughout various parts of the world while working odd jobs and keeping a low profile.

Now for your obvious first question. "How can I know this is the real Andy Kaufman, and not some prankster punk kid?" Well, all I can say is that definitive proof that I am the real Andy Kaufman will be forthcoming. For now, you'll just have to trust me.

It's good to be back.

But color me beyond skeptical.

First, let's kill all the lawyers...

Remember Sgt. Hasan Akbar of the 101st Airborne?

He was the ass-clown that lobbed a grenade into a tent full of sleeping GIs shortly after the war started last year.

Sgt. Asshat had just converted to Islam, and was distraught (at least according to his family) over not being liked by his fellow soldiers. So he blew them up.

Sgt. Butthole's civilian lawyers have already won a change of venue from Ft. Campbell, KY (where the 101st is located), to Ft. Bragg, NC. Now they want to change venue again.

They want to not only move it away from Ft. Bragg, but out of US Army jurisdiction. They claim that the publicity would unduly influence an Army judicial officer, and would prefer one from another branch of the service.

I prefer what Allan over at Barking Moonbat suggests.

What would General Patton do in this situation? Let's ask him .......

"General Patton, what should we do with this man?"

"TAKE THIS MENTALLY RETARDED CRETIN OUTSIDE, STAND HIM UP AGAINST THE WALLAND SHOOT HIS SORRY ASS! THEN SHOOT HIS FUCKING LAWYER TOO."

"Sir, yes sir!"

Case closed.

Santa? Can I have one under the tree?

This puppy was seized along with a batch of other weapons in a raid by Australian Customs officials in Sydney yesterday.

The four-bladed knife has a silver-studded cuff wrapping around the wrist while the hand grasps the handle.

The handle is connected to two small flick-knife sized blades and two 25cm larger knives, with a total length of 50cm.

It is believed the knives were bought over the internet.

Where!?

I want one!

Actually, with myluck, I'd cut off something vital if I got ahold of one of those things...

For once, Cosby ain't so liberal...

Monday night, at Washington's Constitution Hall, Bill Cosby was part of a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision.

Some of his comments, though, didn't sit well with members of the Soul Patrol.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal," he declared. "These people are not parenting. They are buying things for kids -- $500 sneakers for what? And won't spend $200 for 'Hooked on Phonics.'...

"They're standing on the corner and they can't speak English," he exclaimed. "I can't even talk the way these people talk: 'Why you ain't,' 'Where you is' ... And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk. And then I heard the father talk ... Everybody knows it's important to speak English except these knuckleheads ... You can't be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth!"

The Post's Hamil Harris reports that Cosby also turned his wrath to "the incarcerated," saying: "These are not political criminals. These are people going around stealing Coca-Cola. People getting shot in the back of the head over a piece of pound cake and then we run out and we are outraged, [saying] 'The cops shouldn't have shot him.' What the hell was he doing with the pound cake in his hand?"

Shaw told the crowd that most people on welfare are not African American, and many of the problems his organization has addressed in the black community were not self-inflicted. Figures. Taking responsibility is obviously not one of Shaw's strong suits.

All I can say is that it's about damn time that Cosby spoke up.

CBS: Eye on battle Wed. at 10

First place network CBS released it's fall schedule this morning in New York, with designs on setting up a battle for NBC's coveted Law & Order audience Wednesdays at 10. CSI: NY will go head to head in what promises to be a real battle.

L&O lead detective Jerry Orbach is leaving on tonight's episode (with plans to most likely come back to the L&O fold in the new Law & Order: Trial by Jury, set to premiere this winter), with new lead Dennis Farina set to replace him on the franchise mothership.

The Tiffany network figures they've got a shot at dethroning the longevity champ by placing its' own new francise player CSI: NY in the slot. CSI: NY stars Gary Sinise & Melina Kanakaredes in a slightly different take on the CSI formula, focusing on the two leads more than the other two franchise series' (CSI & CSI: Miami) do.

Reality powehouse Survivor remains on Thursday, with CBS' other "big" reality piece, The Amazing Race taking over Saturdays from the now-cancelled The District. CBS will round out Saturday with reruns of the CSI franchise & Cold Case (ironically, NBC is using a similar strategy with L&O franchise shows on Saturdays).

CBS TELEVISION NETWORK 2004-2005 PRIMETIME SCHEDULE
(N=New; NT=New Time; all times ET/PT)

MONDAY
8:00-8.30 PM STILL STANDING (NT)
8:30-9:00 PM LISTEN UP (N)
9:00-9:30 PM EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND
9:30-10.00 PM TWO AND A HALF MEN
10:00-11:00PM CSI: MIAMI

TUESDAY
8:00-9:00 PM NCIS
9:00-10:00 PM CLUBHOUSE (N)
10:00-11:00 PM JUDGING AMY

WEDNESDAY
8:00-9:00 PM 60 MINUTES II
9:00-9:30 PM THE KING OF QUEENS
9:30-10:00 PM CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE (N)
10:00-11:00 PM CSI: NY (N)

THURSDAY
8:00-9:00 PM SURVIVOR: VANUATU
9:00-10:00 PM CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION
10:00-11:00 PM WITHOUT A TRACE

FRIDAY
8:00-9:00 PM JOAN OF ARCADIA
9:00-10:00 PM JAG
10:00-11:00 PM dr. vegas (N)

SATURDAY
8:00-9:00 PM 48 HOURS MYSTERIES
9:00-10:00 PM THE AMAZING RACE (NT)
10:00-11:00PM CRIME TIME SATURDAY

SUNDAY
7:00- 8:00 PM 60 MINUTES
8:00- 9:00 PM COLD CASE
9:00-11:00 PM CBS SUNDAY MOVIE

Everybody Loves Raymond will have a shortented season as it's swan song; that seems to be the norm any more; The Parkers took that route this past season, and NYPD Blue looks to do the same this year.

Rocket launcher found at MARTA station in Atlanta

A spent rocket launcher was found near the H.E. Holmes MARTA station on Atlanta's west side this afternoon.

Local police and the FBI said that since it was already spent, there was no threat to the public, but of course, they want to know (hell, I wanna know!) where it came from.

The big kick is that the location where they found the ordinance was less than a quarter mile from Interstate 20, just inside I-285. Also, the MARTA tracks are adjacent to a freight line, which is used by military transport trains among others.

I may be pulling the tin-foil on a bit tight here, but my wife and I travel that stretch of the freeway every day. As you can imagine, the pucker factor went up a notch.

The WB: A couple of froggy surprises

After much hinting and telegraphing, neither of The WB's highly touted pilots of classic TV remakes (Dark Shadows, & John Woo's The Robinsons: Lost in Space) made the Frog's fall schedule.

Two new shows that I am looking forward to are slated to join Smallville on Wednesday, though.

Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvall and Larry the Cable Guy will headline The Blue Collar Comedy Tour, based on their successful comedy tour. The stand-up series is a departure for series television, but given the success of the original tour, this looks like it could have some serious potential.

Drew Carey's Green Screen Improv Show takes off on the improvisational talents of Carey and some of his familiar cohorts (Ryan Stiles, Colin Mochrie, Greg Proops & others) from the US run of Who's Line Is It Anyway.

THE WB's 2004-2005 PRIMETIME PROGRAMMING SCHEDULE
(All times ET)

Sunday
5:00-6:00 p.m. Easy View presentation of "One Tree Hill"
6:00-7:00 p.m. Easy View presentation of "THE MOUNTAIN"
7:00-8:00 p.m. "Steve Harvey's Big Time"
8:00-9:00 p.m. "Charmed"
9:00-10:00 p.m. "JACK & BOBBY"

Monday
8:00-9:00 p.m. "7th Heaven"
9:00-10:00 p.m. "Everwood"

Tuesday
8:00-9:00 p.m. "Gilmore Girls"
9:00-10:00 p.m. "One Tree Hill"

Wednesday
8:00-9:00 p.m. "Smallville"
9:00-9:30 p.m. "BLUE COLLAR TV"
9:30-10:00 p.m. "DREW CAREY'S GREEN SCREEN SHOW" /p>

Thursday
8:00-9:00 p.m. "THE MOUNTAIN"
9:00-10:00 p.m. "STUDIO 7"

Friday
8:00-8:30 p.m. "What I Like About You"
8:30-9:00 p.m. "COMMANDO NANNY"
9:00-9:30 p.m. "Reba"
9:30-10:00 p.m. "Grounded For Life"

$1.86 and rising...damn.

I tend to pay the cheapest for gas, even among the rising prices that we've all been beholden to lately. But today, one of the cheapest places in my tony little suburb is up to $1.86 a gallon (I know, there are those of you out on the left coast who are significantly higher than that, but work with me here).

Georgia has some of the cheapest gas prices in the nation, but it ain't lookin' good for the summer.

I keep hearing about some sort of gas boycott tomorrow (5.19), but I have my serious doubts as to whether or not it'll work. The real test will come Memorial Day weekend -- will people get out on the roads in droves like they have in past years? I don't think so. I'm guessing that the first sign of people staying off of the roads will be seen then. I mean, why spend the bucks for a pleasure trip when you can do just as well close to home?

Well, in any event, I'm sure you've seen the AtlantaGasPrices.com sticker on my navbar. The same outfit does similar gas price trackers for most areas around the nation; you can find it at GasBuddy.com.

Use it; there's no reason that you can't at least find the best prices in your own local area.

It worked better in Blazing Saddles

Distraught people, politicians and otherwise, upset with Sonia Gandhi's dropping out of the presidential race in India, are on the verge of desperation, as shown by the caption for this picture.

Gangacharan Rajput, a Congress party member, threatens to shoot himself if Sonia Gandhi backs out of becoming India's prime minister, outside the party's headquarters in New Delhi, earlier in the day.

ABC: We're number four, we can't get any worse!

ABC released their fall sked this morning in New York.

As the last place "big network", and with Disney's "suits" looking over their colletive shoulders, ABC is under a lot of pressure to come up with a hit or three this year.

A couple of surprises from the Mouse: Alias won't be back until mid-season, with a new night time soap, Desperate Housewives, getting that Sunday night slot.

8 Simple Rules and Less Than Perfect move to Fridays to anchor ABC's faltering reemergance of the TGIF comedy franchise; My Wife & Kids & George Lopez move to Tuesdays, allowing ABC to get rid of comedy on Wednesday nights.

David E. Kelley's The Practice: Fleet Street will inherit the 10P Sunday slot from The Practice. David Spader and Rhona Mitra return from The Practice, going to work for William Shatner's high-powered law firm.

NYPD Blue comes back for it's final season; the series finale is presently set to air during February Sweeps.

MONDAY:
8:00 p.m. "The Benefactor"
9:00 p.m. "Monday Night Football" (through January)

(Following the culmination of Monday Night Football in January)

8:00 p.m. ABC Monday Night Movie (in January after football)
10:00 p.m. "Grey's Anatomy" (in January after football)

TUESDAY:
8:00 p.m. "My Wife and Kids" (new night)
8:30 p.m. "George Lopez" (new night and time)
9:00 p.m. "According to Jim"
9:30 p.m. "Rodney"
10:00 p.m. "NYPD Blue" / "Blind Justice" (midseason)

WEDNESDAY:
8:00 p.m. "Lost"
9:00 p.m. "The Bachelor"
10:00 p.m. "Wife Swap"

THURSDAY:
8:00 p.m. "Extreme Makeover" (new time period)
9:00 p.m. "Life As We Know It"
10:00 p.m. "Primetime Live" (new title)

FRIDAY:
8:00 p.m. "8 Simple Rules" (new night)
8:30 p.m. "Savages"
9:00 p.m. "Hope & Faith"
9:30 p.m. "Less than Perfect" (new night)
10:00 p.m. "20/20"

SATURDAY:
8:00 p.m. "Wonderful World of Disney"

SUNDAY:
7:00 p.m. "America's Funniest Home Videos"
8:00 p.m. "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition"
9:00 p.m. "Desperate Housewives" / "Alias" (midseason)
10:00 p.m. "The Practice: Fleet Street"

Wife Swap, formerly known as The Swap, tried not once, but twice to recruit me & my family through my affiliation with Project 21 ("It would be good to get a black conservative family; people would be able to see a different picture..."). Yeah. Right. Don't even think it.

NBC: Something old, something new...

NBC announced their fall schedule yesterday with Matt LeBlanc's Joey getting the Thursday 8P slot formerly occupied by he and his cohorts on Friends.

Blair Underwood & Heather Locklear get a new drama, LAX, as in the airport -- they run the place, and butt heads over how it's done.

The Peacock has also announced a "limited series" (i.e., miniseries) for next winter/spring, Revelations -- as in the last book of the Bible. Bill Pullman and Natascha McElhone are racing Biblically prophetic events as they try to thwart Armageddon.

Veteran character actor Dennis Farina joins the cast of Law & Order, replacing Jerry Orbach, who departs in this week's season finale. Orbach will retun this winter in the fourth series in the Dick Wolf-L&O franchise, Law & Order: Trial by Jury.

All times listed below are Eastern/Pacific time:

NBC PRIMETIME SCHEDULE FOR 2004-05

*New programs in CAPS

MONDAY
8-9 p.m. "Fear Factor"
9-10 p.m. "Las Vegas"
10-11 p.m. "LAX"

TUESDAY
8-9:00 p.m. "Average Joe"/"THE CONTENDER"
9:00-9:30 p.m. "FATHER OF THE PRIDE"
9:30-10 p.m. "Scrubs"
10-11 p.m. "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"

WEDNESDAY
8-9 p.m. "HAWAII"
9-10 p.m. "The West Wing"/"REVELATIONS"
10-11 p.m. "Law & Order"

THURSDAY
8-8:30 p.m. "JOEY"
8:30-9 p.m. "Will & Grace"
9-10 p.m. "The Apprentice 2"
10-11 p.m. "ER"

FRIDAY
8-9 p.m. "Dateline NBC"
9-10 p.m. "Third Watch" - new time
10-11 p.m. "MEDICAL INVESTIGATION"

SATURDAY
8-11 p.m. "NBC Saturday Night Movie"

SUNDAY
7-8 p.m. "Dateline NBC"
8-9 p.m. "American Dreams"
9-10 p.m. "Law & Order: Criminal Intent"

10-11 p.m. "Crossing Jordan"

NBC is going to begin their fall season the day after the Closing Ceremonies of the Athens Olympics -- August 30.

Of course, some shows will get preempted right away; the Republican National Convention is the following week in New York. [shrug]

Wither the Amish, welcome the Crap-filled

Amish Tech Support is dead; all hail Is Full of Crap!

Sleep well, Felix...

From WNBC-TV New York:

Actor Tony Randall has died. That word came from his publicist.

Randall was best known as Felix Unger in the TV series "The Odd Couple."

Randall, 84, died in his sleep Monday night at NYU Medical Center of complications from a long illness, according to his publicity firm, Springer Associates.

He is survived by his wife, Heather Harlan Randall, who made him a father for the first time at age 77, and their two children, 7-year-old Julia Laurette and 5-year-old Jefferson Salvini.

I did some work for Holiday Inn's parent company last year, so I can appreciate this...

Put Chris Muir's Day by Day in your newspaper! Contact one of these national syndicators and your local paper today!

(Chris, you still gotta change my address on your front page! [g])

Grumble,Grumble,DamnBellSouth,Grumble,Grumble

BellSouth politely (or not so politely as the case may be) fnorted my e-mail six ways to Sunday yesterday; So if you've e-mailed me, I'm not ignoring you. They claim [rolling eyes] that they'll have it fixed later today.

Feh...

I got yer stinkin' WMD right here!

Watch PJ, Tom "Broke-Jaw", Aaron "AnchorGod" Brown and Dan "Kenneth" Rather all conveniently ignore the sarin gas in the roadside bomb detonated near American soldiers in Iraq today. I'm sure their lead story will try to stick with the prison photos if they can get away with it.

You can be sure that the left-wing bloggers and DU crowd will try to insist that the sarin was planted by the "eeeeeevil" Bush Administration. The mainstream media will have to settle for trying to look the other way and pretending it didn't happen.

After all, if they don't, it means they've gotta pony up and admit that Saddam had WMD after all. And that won't play into Ketchup Boy's grubby little waffle-stained paws, now, will it?

Oh, and while we're talking about Canada, AQ says they're next...

Al Qaeda, by way of a spokesman (spokesman? Next they'll have a PR agency!), Khalid Khawaja, a friend of Osama bin Laden, says that our northern neighbor is a "selfish" nation committing "terrorism" against Muslims around the world.

"It is very simple," he said. "As Bush says, either you are a friend or you are an enemy. So if you are not my friend, you are our enemy. So it is very simple. When you are supporting the enemy [the United States] then you are a target."

"Look at these Canadians. They have millions and millions of dollars to fight against Muslims, to send their troops, to send their weapons, and all of them put together, they have objections to giving treatment to this 14 year-old-boy who has been a victim of your terrorism."

Many Canadians were against offering medical help to the boy, who is, like his late father, a Canadian citizen.

"You have all the money to kill the people, you have all the billions of dollars to make the people slaves, you have billions of dollars to torture the people, you have billions of dollars to put up in the media to create false enemies and you have no money to give treatment to one of your victims. So what treatment do you deserve?

"Your civilization is selfish and self-centred. Just you want to live and enjoy yourselves and that is all, you don't give."

The radical Islamists have but one goal. That all of us in the Western World die horribly.

It's not like I said 'Blame Canada' or something...

Who is this Antonia woman and what the hell is her major malfunction?

Rice speaks at Vandy despite protest

National Security Advisor Dr. Condoleezza Rice spoke at the Vanderbilt University "Senior Class Day" services last week in Nashville, but her appearance was soundly and resoundingly denounced by many in the Vanderbilt community.

A general protest letter was circulated and signed by many on the campus.

"This event runs the risk of simply serving as PR for the current administration's efforts to portray their doctrines in a favorable light," the general protest letter reads. "Furthermore, we believe that many of Dr. Rice's doctrines and actions are contrary to the principles of Vanderbilt University."

Others wrote their own specific letters to the chancellor.

"And because the administration she serves shamefully co-opts religious images and ideals to further justify its ideological objectives in the world, I am saddened that Vanderbilt University is not taking a more prophetic stance against such wanton abuse of power," wrote the Rev. Mark Forrester of the university's Wesley Foundation.

Keep this in mind -- it's OK, in the minds of liberals, to insult, defame, protest, and otherwise denigrate any black person who has the audacity to think independently; to leave the "plantation" of liberal thought. After all, were she part of the Soul Patrol, and part of the black liberal elite (i.e., part of the majority of blacks in politics today), those same protestors would drop to their collective knees and kiss the ground she walks on.

When you thought reality TV couldn't get any dumber, it's "Seriously Dude! I'm Gay!"

Fox sinks to a new low in crass taste. The network has scheduled yet another intelligence-insulting, mind-numbingly bad reality series: Seriously Dude, I'm Gay, a two-hour special, hosted by Amanda Bynum (host of the equally inane The Swan, also on Fox). The Rocket Science Laboratories-produced special is set to air Monday, June 7.

Oh, the premise on this dumb-fest?

Glad you asked!

For one week a pair of straight guys will immerse themselves in "the gay lifestyle." Each will move into separate West Hollywood lofts, complete with three gay roommates, to experience what it's like to live life as a gay man.Each day the guys will complete a challenge that tests their ability to pass for gay. They'll come out of the closet to their best friends; they'll mix, mingle and dance in gay nightclubs; and they'll even go on a romantic blind date with another man.If they master each of their challenges, they'll stand before a panel of judges made up of gay men from all walks of life. This jury of their queers will declare which of the two guys they believe is actually gay...and that guy will win fifty thousand dollars!

What you bet they get good ratings on it?

I can't see how anyone would call this funny...

Some moron has come up with a site called America's Dumbest Soldiers, and lists each of the soldiers killed in Iraq on a separate page with a description of how they met their demise, along with a "Am I Hot" type of rating system for you to determine just how "dumb" the soldier pictured is.

And this is supposed to be for someone's amusement? It's supposed to be make someone laugh?

This is mean.

This is brainless.

America's Dumbest Soldiers is simply evil.

Can you imagine the families of these men and women stumbling across this site, their sons; their daughters; brothers; sisters; friends being called "dumb" for someones' amusement?

My God.

Herman Cain says he's in 2nd place and gaining ground in GA Senate race

Pizza maginate Herman Cain, owner of the Godfather's Pizza chain, is continuing to criss-cross the state of Georgia in his quest to win the Republican nomination for the US Senate seat being vacated by Zell Miller.

Friday, Cain, joined by former US Presidential candidate Steve Forbes, appeared at a Savannah fund-raiser, where he touted his standing in some recent polls that put him in second place.

"Today we are closing in on the front-runner," said Cain, virtually unknown when he launched his campaign last year. "He represents more of the same. This campaign represents a passion for change."

The audience nodded approvingly and applauded some, but its loudest ovation was for Cain's defense of President Bush's foreign policy.

"I'm glad we have a president who took the war on terrorism to the terrorists rather than waiting for the terrorists to bring it here," he said.

The Georgia primary is July 20.

That cute little girl does WHAT today!?

Jaimee Foxworth is a name that you won't recognize right off, but she's the answer to a Jeopardy! question.

"Who is the actress who played forgotten daughter Judy Winslow on the ABC sitcom Family Matters?"

She's the sibling that showed up in the credits for the first few seasons of the series, then quietly disappeared.

Like Richie Cunningham's older brother Chuck in Happy Days, she just completely disappeared, never to be heard of or from again.

But more recently, Foxworth has gone by the name "Crave."

I doubt you've seen her more recent work. Flicks like Hot Girlz and Adventures of Peeping Tom that can be found in the sticky floor section of your local (well maybe not so local) video stores.

Actually, she got into, then out of adult films after she found that her trust fund had been eaten up by greedy individuals. She has said in a more recent interview that she regrets having entered dirty movies, but hey. Go figure.

Look what the pretty rich kids are driving in Peachtree City!

Peachtree City, GA is a planned community about 30 miles south of Atlanta.

The bulk of the community was designed around golf/bike paths, which allows the residents to get around town without cars. There are golf cart garages planned into most homes and golf cart parking at most local establishments.

The city is a more affluent enclave, where the sorts of kids you see on shows on The WB come from. You know the kind. My wife calls 'em "Pretty white kids with problems." (just take a look at any of WB's dramas: Dawson's Creek = pretty white kids with problems; 7th Heaven = pretty Christian kids with problems; Smallville = pretty superhero kids with problems; One Tree Hill = pretty basketball playing kids with problems; Gilmore Girls = pretty white girls with problems; Angel = pretty vampires with problems)

Anyway, take a look at what the well-heeled Peachtree City homeowner is going to buy his kid this year to tool around town in...

Just damn.

Iron Blog, Battle Rumsfeld: "Who's spleen vents supreme!?"

Battle Rumsfeld was the mystery theme topic this week as challenger Ara Rubyan took on Iron Blogger Republican, Rosemary Esmay, "The Queen of All Evil".

The Chairman was impressed by the opening gambits by both sides, and watch with great intent the rebuttals that flew back and forth.

Unfortunately, one of the judges had to excuse himself, leaving the Chairman in the fourth judge slot. Scoring was close, with only 10 points separating our combatants. And now, the verdict.

Two friends and rivals took the field in this, the first ever battle at Iron Blog. Their nerves were showing with jittery openings, but each made a stronger case with each post. Challenger Ara Rubyan made a passionate, multi-pronged case for the dismissal of Rumsfeld, but the Iron Blogger responded with her own strong points and trademark razor tongue. Only one can walk away victorious. Who takes it? Whose spleen vents supreme?

Iron Blogger, Rosemary Esmay!

Jim D scores it 59 - 55 for the Challenger, Jheka scores it 71 - 64 for the Iron Blogger, Urthshu scores it 52 - 46 for the Iron Blogger, and The Chairman scores it 65 - 64 for the Iron Blogger; a close battle to be sure, but a well won first victory for the Iron Blogger!

Other challengers wait in the wings; other views are waiting to be heard. The Iron Blog's doors are open; And join us Sunday as new battles are on the way!

"Google-lanche" continues on many sites; people searching for Berg video

People are still searching for links to the Nick Berg decapitation video (WMV format, if you've just got to see it - the link may change, but this is via FreeCache, so it may hang around longer).

Northeast Intelligence Network has a full translation of what Abu Mus'ad Al Zarqawi said just before murdering Berg.

A number of talk show hosts (most notably syndicated hosts Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, Todd Schnitt, Michael Medved & Glen Beck among others) have played the chilling audio on their radio programs; that's far more than enough for me.

These people are simply evil. There is no other word for it.

On the other side of the coin, the increased traffic over this continues. I find it hard to believe that there are that many people who are interested in this, but for nothing else than the sheer horror and evil of it.

Wizbang is averaging more than 20,000 visits per hour.

Wizbang's numbers are not unique. The Google & Yahoo search engines are driving people to sites across the blogosphere.

To any spillover we get, welcome, and I hope you'll find something that'll keep you coming back. I'm just sorry that you've found me under such dire circumstances.

FEC says pay us back; Crazy Al says "NO! NO! NO! MINE! MINE! MINE!"

The six-member Federal Election Commission ordered former Democratic Presidential Candidate Al Sharpton to repay $100,000 in matching funds he received during his White House bid.

An investigation found that Sharpton had exceeded a $50,000 limit that candidates may spend on their own campaigns.

Sharpton plans to fight the Commission.

"We expected this. They've been under pressure from these right-wing hate groups for months now," said Sharpton campaign manager Charles Halloran. "We planned all along to appeal this decision and have met extensively with counsel. The statutes are clear and convincing about the reverend's donations to his own campaign, and we've followed them to the strict letter of the law."

"The FEC is trying to deny me the right to earn a living," said Sharpton last week in response to the commission's earlier ruling. "All my life I have been traveling as a civil rights leader and minister trying to speak out for those for whom no one is representing. Now the FEC wants to call those trips political if I spend 2 hours at a fund raiser out of four days of speaking to civil rights groups. This will not stand."

Anything for Crazy Al to keep the money already in his grubby little paws.

Not just "No," but "Helllll naw!"

Paul Bremer, US Administrator of Iraq, said in an interview this week that the US would leave Iraq if "asked to do so" by the Iraqi government.

“If the provisional government asks us to leave we will leave,” Bremer said, referring to an Iraqi administration due to take power June 30. “I don’t think that will happen, but obviously we don’t stay in countries where we’re not welcome.”

(Courtesy Baldilocks)

Destroyed Iraq's infrastructure? Not bloody likely...

New York City councilman Charles Barron looked like raving lunatic when he went up against me on Fox News Channel's Hannity & Colmes a few weeks ago.

Moonbat Barron tried to claim that the infrastructure of Iraq was destroyed by the US; that the nation of Iraq is far worse off now than it was under Saddam Hussain.

While we're talking about Iraq's infrastructure, let's talk about what the mainstream media, the Democrats on the Hill and the moonbats in the streets do not want you to know:

Over 4.5 million people have clean drinking water for the first time ever in Iraq.

Over 400,000 kids have up to date immunizations.

Over 1500 schools have been renovated and ridded of the weapons that were stored there so education can occur.

The port of Uhm Qasar was renovated so grain can be off loaded from ships faster.

School attendance is up 80% from levels before the war.

The country had its first 2 billion barrel export of oil in August.

The country now receives 2 times the electrical power it did before the war

100% of the hospitals are open and fully staffed compared to 35% before the war.

Elections are taking place in every major city and city councils are in place.

Sewer and water lines are installed in every major city.

Over 60,000 police are patrolling the streets.

Over 100,000 Iraqi civil defense police are securing the country.

Over 80,000 Iraqi soldiers are patrolling the streets side by side with US soldiers.

Over 400,000 people have telephones for the first time ever.

Students are taught field sanitation and hand washing techniques to prevent the spread of germs.

An interim constitution has been signed.

Girls are allowed to attend school for the first time ever in Iraq.

Text books that don't mention Saddam are in the schools for the first time in 30 years.

That doesn't sound like a country that is falling apart at the seams. That doesn't sound like a land that is worse off today than they were one, two or ten years ago.

But the moonbats don't want you to know that.

Why? Because it would make George W. Bush look good.

Sure there are some negative things happening. But the media is choosing to use those incidents to overshadow the good.

First screen shots of GTA: San Andreas released; Soul Patrol not boycotting it -- yet

As most people had surmised from the name the game will be set in a version of Los Angeles. What hadn't been known 'til now was the timeframe and storyline.

Only parts of the storyline are starting to emerge, with the setting of the early 1990s in a gangland-type of Los Angeles-analogue called San Andreas.

Five years ago Carl Johnson escaped from the pressures of life in Los Santos, San Andreas...a city tearing itself apart with gang trouble, drugs and corruption. Where filmstars and millionaires do their best to avoid the dealers and gangbangers.

Now, it's the early 90s. Carl's got to go home. His mother has been murdered, his family has fallen apart and his childhood friends are all heading towards disaster.

On his return to the neighborhood, a couple of corrupt cops frame him for homicide. CJ is forced on a journey that takes him across the entire state of San Andreas, to save his family and to take control of the streets.

Such as life. I'm going to be in line on 10/18 to pick the game up and have at it. After Liberty City & Vice City, San Andreas looks ilke it'll be fantastic!

Doonesbury to run strip with "head on platter" on 4/23

The Sunday, April 23 strip of Garry Trudeau's comic strip Doonesbury will feature the "image of a head on a platter."

Lee Salem, editor of Universal Press Syndicate, referred to the strip's content as "an unfortunate coincidence," explaining, "Given its timing following the recent grisly tragedy in Iraq, and the realities of Sunday color-production cycles, we felt we should call this to your attention."

According to Universal, Trudeau plans to post this message on his Web site the morning of May 23.

"Most Sunday sections are prepared five to six weeks in advance, and today's strip was unfortunately overtaken by events. I regret the poor timing and apologize to anyone who was offended by an image that is now clearly inappropriate."

Clueless Portland jocks fired over Berg comments

A couple of rock & roll disc jockeys who go by the names Marconi and Tiny along with their sidekick Nickie J., were fired from KNRK in Portland, OR after the morning show goons laughed at and made fun of the decapitation murder of Nick Berg this week.

Wednesday, they repeatedly ran audio of the murder, and laughed at it on the air.

KNRK owner Entercom has issued an apology for the incident.

The actions of the KNRK News Morning Show were insensitive, inappropriate and repulsive. On behalf of Entercom Portland and KNRK, I apologize to our listeners.

Many Portland area listeners are still outraged though.

Portland area talk host Lars Larson of KXL also played the audio of the Berg murder on his show, but not before a strong warning to his listeners.

"I don't think that the America news media can decide for you what you can and cannot see. On the other hand, I don't think this should be on the air and then laughed at and made fun of," Larson told KATU News.

The Watchers' Council has spoken!

Woohoo! I've placed!

Watcher of Weasels has posted their awards for this week -- I tied for fifth place for my post on the billboard controversy outside CNN Center here in Atlanta.

Oh, and by the way, the "Come Home Connie" message is still there -- and there's no word on how that is going to play out.

The Watchers' Council has nominated...

I got nominated again this week!

This time it was for the Fox News Suing Over Billboard At CNN Center piece from earlier in the week.

Yeeeehhhaaaaahhhh!!! (Sorry, I'm not quite as loud as Howard Dean...)

Nick Berg traffic surge for some bloggers

Some bloggers are experiencing traffic surges, thanks to the continued uproar (in the blogosphere, at least) over the cold-blooded murder of American Nick Berg by terrorists in Iraq.

I’ve never seen anything like the deluge that’s hit from the Nick Berg tragedy. I went from averaging 4,000 or so unique daily visits (as calculated by SiteMeter) to over 11,000 yesterday, starting with a huge surge around 9 last night. For some reason, this OTB post is the #2 result on Google for “Nick Berg.” I’ve had over 22,000 today and it’s not even 7 a.m.

Apparently, this spike is widespread. Jeff Quinton is getting so much traffic that he’s worried about his bill for excess bandwidth charges. If you can help him out, please do. Kevin Aylward, which has a direct link to the video, is experiencing so much traffic that he’s experiencing technical problems with the site. Kate McMillan is getting a ton of referrals and didn’t even mention Berg by name in her post.

G4techTV is coming, but are we ready for it?

More info is starting to come out about what will emerge from the ashes of Comcast's purchase of TechTV.

As most folks know by now, the entire staff of TechTV was given a 60-day notice last week, that they all would lose their jobs. Inside word says that there will be a skeleton news staff remaining in San Francisco, while the bulk of production will move to G4's facilities in Los Angeles.

The new network will be called G4techTV, and will go live on 5/28.

The existing TechTV and G4 networks have a number of programs that will migrate to the new network -- shows like The Screen Savers, Fresh Gear, Robot Wars & Unscrewed from TechTV (no Call for Help on the list! [sniff!]); Cheat!, Cinematech, Portal, Judgement Day and others from G4.

The networks are each giving viewers a taste of some of the other network's programming this week and next; at 5P & 10P ET on TechTV; 4P & 11P ET on G4. A variety of programs are being shown so you can get a sample of what is going to show up on the new network.

I'm hopeful, but not optimistic. I'll give it a chance though -- the inner geek in me demands it.

"Oh, well, move on to something else."

The World Wildlife Fund (I still haven't forgiven them for swiping WWF from WWE) swears up and down that there will be no more cod left on earth within 15 years.

"Overfishing of cod continues because fisheries policies are driven by short-term economic interests," said Scott Burns, director of WWF's Marine Conservation Program. "In several areas, like the North Sea and the Barents Sea, scientists are calling for lower fish quotas and cod fishing bans, but they are ignored, and business carries on as usual. The onus is on Russia and Norway to prevent the Barents Sea cod stock from suffering a similar fate to that of the North American cod stock which imploded in the 1990s and has not recovered yet."

"Oh, well, move on to something else that tastes good!"

And per the norm, the media still doesn't get it...

Blogger still sucks

I see BlogSpot picked Monday (the day I also picked to finally divorce myself from them) as the day to launch their "newer, friendlier" Blogger interface.

'Course, no matter how you dress it (and how pretty it looks), under the hood, it's still BlogSpot.

I'm still looking for a decent "BlogSpot Free" button for my button bar on the left rail... If you know of any, let me know.

MoveOn.org non-partisan? Since when!

Looks like Bubba is lending his support to anti-Bush groups across the board.

He appeared at a fund-raising rally for MoveOn.org and Voices for Working Families yesterday in New York. You know the spiel: "Bush is evil. If you vote for John Kerry, you can get the evil Republicans out. Just donate "X" for these organizations doing yadda-yadda-yadda..."

Feh.

But the interesting thing that came out of it was that while MoveOn.org is working against the President's reelection bid, they are "non-partisan."

Groups like MoveOn, the Media Fund and America Coming Together have raised more than $25 million for advertisements that criticize Bush's policies. Republicans contend the groups are "shadow parties" created by Democratic supporters to raise soft money.

Wes Boyd, a founder of MoveOn.org, said those accusations are unfounded and that what they are doing is legal.

"The Republican National Committee has been trying to intimidate opponents of the Bush agenda," said Boyd who maintains his group is nonpartisan. "Those charges are ridiculous."

Boyd is about as non-partisan as Al Franken's shoe. But of course, since ABC said it, it must be true, right?

Yeah. Right.

The evil that American media ignores

This is actually a double-edged sword.

CBS broke all sorts of taboos by showing the Iraqi prisoner torture/humiliation photos on 60 Minutes II, justifying it by saying that it was important to show because of what it represents.

Of course, they haven't and aren't going to show the murder of Nick Berg. They are too busy looking over their shoulders with the FCC's "decency club" held high over their heads.

But seriously, there's the principle of the thing. It's easy enough for them to bash the President and the Administration, but when it comes to showing how truly evil these animals are, they drop the ball. They're not concerned -- they still got to bash Bush.

Not to worry though; Say Anything has the video if you really feel the need to see how evil these animals are.

Which is worse? A few naughty pictures, or the videotaped beheading of a prisoner?

Nick Berg owned a business in suburban Philadelphia. His dad, his brother and his sister live in the Philadelphia area. He was a contractor who went to Iraq to help out in the rebuilding of the infrastructure of that war-torn nation.

Nick Berg's face was seen today on a web-site known to belong to Al Qaeda. Berg was sitting in front of a group of masked thugs, who forced him to give his name, then promptly decapitated him.

And we're stuck listening to whining and crying about Iraqis being humiliated.

Perky Katie Couric keeps trying to tell us how evil the Bush Administration is every morning; Snotty Peter Jennings makes sure you know the same thing as you eat dinner each evening.

Nancy Pelosi screeches the same thing with all the presence of a mynah bird. John "Ketchup Boy" Kerry fusses about it -- at least between sessions of bitching about how pundits, commentators and other politicians need to leave his wife alone (when I hear Ketchup Boy try to play tough, I keep seeing Robert Conrad from the old Eveready commercials -- you remember the ones, with the battery on his shoulder, daring you to knock it off).

But none of them will reserve the same level or intensity of anger for Nick Berg's life.

Oh, we'll hear Al Franken and Whoopi Goldberg make light of Berg's death all over the place; we'll see postings from Democratic Underground and retardedly scrawled cartoons from Ted Rall insist that Berg deserved what he got because he worked for "eeeeevil" Halliburton or some other defense contracting firm -- after all, if he's associated with the defense industry in any way, shape or form, he's gotta be evil too, right?

My God, a man's life was taken by barbaric animals! Animals who have no concept of the meaning of the words "honor" or "integrity." No idea what "freedom" really means. "Truth" and "justice" are just some misbegotten notion to them.

And we're left with people like Jesse Jackson insisting that since a few prisoners in custody were harassed by their jailers that we are all of a sudden worse than the cretins who took Nick Berg's life.

Hand-wringers like Tom Daschle will show up on the Sunday morning talking head shows to try to tell us that we deserve anything we get, because we, as a nation, didn't do what the United Nations wanted us to do; because we didn't do what the Democrats on the Hill and across the nation wanted us to do.

What do you say to Nick Berg's family? Huh?

Oh, I know -- you'll want to lay the blame for his death at President Bush's feet.

Never one to place blame where it truly lies.

President Bush didn't stand over Nick Berg with a mask on. Donald Rumsfeld didn't raise a large knife over Berg's head and cut it off -- mind you, yelling "Allah Akbar" in the process. The Republican Party didn't plaster this on their web site, claiming that this fate awaited all other Americans.

But the liberals in this nation are going to place the blame squarely at the feet of those of us on the conservative side of the fence. "If we hadn't gone to war in the first place, none of this would have happened," is what they'll say.

If we hadn't gone to war, would Washington or New York or Los Angeles be a smoking crater right now? Huh?

A new CNN survey touted on the news this morning, indicates that more than 50% of Americans believe that the Iraqi war was not "worth it." How many more Americans' deaths will it take before it becomes worth it?

To hear John Kerry tell it, we would do better to pick up our toys and go home; a veritable modern-day Monroe Doctrine, if you will. Are you ready to wall off America from the rest of the world? Are you ready for the bad guys to come knocking on your door?

After all, the city council in Hamtrammack, MI has already given the OK for the Islamic Call to Prayer to be pronounced on loudspeakers in that sleepy little Detroit suburb. How much longer will it be before the city council in Hamtrammack "encourages" people to go to the mosque on a daily basis?

Bill Cosby unwittingly came up with the best analogy to this in his classic routine, Lights Out: "It's in your home state...[bump-bump, bump-bump]...It's outside your front door...[bump-bump, bump-bump]...and it's going to eat you up!"

You want to stop it now? Or wait until it's "outside your front door?" [bump-bump, bump-bump]

Iraqis get Saddam by 7/1; televised execution on 7/2??

The head of Iraq's war crimes tribunal says that the US has pledged to hand over Saddam Hussain along with about 100 other criminals by June 30. That is the same day that soverignty would be returned to an Iraqi government by the United States.

Salem Chalabi told reporters that trials would begin early next year, and that judges would receive "files" on the suspects at the end of this year.

Chalabi is in Kuwait to collect evidence against the suspects.

"FUKUI-SAN!" -- "Go ahead, big guy!"

"Iron Blogger Republican has opened with a skewering of Pelosi, peppered with a light comparison to Leona Helmsley and a strong hint of Rumsfeld's defense!

"Also, from the Challenger's side, several dishes with a deeper history than Iraq are begun, capped off by a question of whether or not the US will win the war at all!

"Back to you...."

"Thanks, Ohta! The opening volleys in Battle Rumsfeld are complete! The Iron Blogger Republican and the Challenger have until midnight tonight to give rebuttals to the opening posts!

"You can join in and comment on both sides as we continue on Iron Blog! We'll be right back!"

Yes, Democrats DO take black folks for granted

Finally, some liberal blacks are starting to see what I've been trying to say for the longest time: that the Democratic Party takes black America for granted.

"They really don't care about us," said Delegate Tony E. Fulton, Baltimore Democrat. "We are used every four years, then thrown back."

"The Democratic Party acts as if they own black people," said Delegate Clarence "Tiger" Davis, Baltimore Democrat. "The state party is racist to the core."

Another insult, said Delegate Nathaniel T. Oaks, Baltimore Democrat, is that party leaders press black candidates more than white candidates to vote for tax increases, which could cause them to lose their seats in coming elections.

"I think the Democratic Party takes black people for granted," Mr. Oaks said. "I think what [the Democratic Party] does in the state is just a reflection of what it does as a whole on the national level."

I wish more would take to heart what one of the more liberal black legislators (US Rep. Charles Rangel, D-NY) said; that black America as a whole would gain much more political power once a true two-party dialog asserts itself.

What the--!!??

Am I the only one who's seen commercials for the upcoming MGM movie, Soul Plane and asked, what the hell is that?!?

The description of the movie leaves my jaw hanging down to my keyboard.

Why just fly when you can soar with soul? After a humiliating experience on an airplane, Nashawn Wade sues the airline and is awarded a huge settlement. Determined to make good with the money, Nashawn creates the full service airline of his dreams, complete with sexy stewardesses, funky music, a hot onboard dance clud, and a bathroom attendant. Departing from all-new Terminal X in Los Angeles, Soul Plane gives "fly" a whole new meaning taking it's passengers on a maiden voyage full of comedy.

This sounds and looks like what my father would call a "waste of good electricity."

Crossing over for most blacks is a matter of discovery

Willie Talton, chief deputy of Houston County in Middle Georgia, is unopposed in his run for the Georgia House as a Republican.

"I have voted for lots of Democrats," says 60 year old Willie L. Talton, of Warner Robins, chief deputy sheriff of Houston County. "But in the last two or three years, I have been an independent voter. And as you start voting, you start learning things. I realized all of the candidates I was voting for were Republicans, so I started watching them and I started attending meetings. It seemed like it was the party of opportunities and very family-oriented. That attracted me."

Other black Republican candidates are looking to join Talton, like 30 year-old Nick Chester of Mableton (a friend of mine who lives nearby).

"I wish I could tell you that being a black Republican for me was some sort of epic adventure, but the truth is, it is not," says Chester, the son of a career military family who spent eight years in the military himself before settling with his wife, Donna, in Cobb.

"Most African-Americans are naturally conservatives," he says. "I believe in smaller, more efficient government and I believe in the traditional family as defined as one man and one woman. I am a Bible-based Christian . . . I trust that the people, when given the opportunity, make the best decisions, not the government."

"I often tell my African-American friends that we believe in the same things, except I belong to the party that cares about those things," says Chester, who is running in House District 33 against white incumbent Democrat Don Wix. The district is 31 percent black with a Republican base of about 43 percent.

Jesse Jackson looking for more face time; this time in Europe

As if this would surprise anyone, Jesse Jackson has now called for the withdrawl of troops from Iraq.

The Gypsy appeared this weekend at a conference in Greece, where he made a number of statements critical of the Bush Administration's handling of the Iraq War.

During the opening session of a conference on religions and cultures in Greece, Jackson said Bush must “end the occupation of Iraq and return sovereignty to the Iraqis as quickly as possible in cooperation with the United Nations and Europe.”

“The US bias toward Israel and its support for (Ariel) Sharon’s aggressive policies have obstructed peace and triggered violence and hate in the region,” he said.

Leave it to Jesse to grab an international spotlight when he can't get a domestic one.

More black & Hispanic kids fall out of buildings; in other news, Sky is blue

From Sunday's New York Newsday:

Minority children are more likely to be hurt in falls from buildings than white children, according to a study by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center.

Young Latino and black children were twice as likely to be seriously hurt in a fall from a building than white children, the study found.

It also found that children in low-income ZIP codes were more likely than those in more affluent neighborhoods to suffer injuries in a fall from a building.

I'd better not say that too loud, the Soul Patrol may pick up on that and try to use it for real!

Queer Eye for the Troy Guy? Uh, no.

Actor Brad Pitt says that he thinks fashion conscious men (read "metrosexuals") will wear Greek-style skirts after his new movie, Troy hits theaters next weekend.

At a recent press conference hyping the flick, Pitt was asked about appearing as the nearly naked Achilles.

``I'm naked all the time at home.''

``Men will be wearing skirts by next summer. That's my prediction and proclamation,'' he said with a laugh. ``The film answers to both genders. We were going for realism and Greeks wore skirts all the time then.''

No, I figure this trend is reserved for the Queer Eye set. (Can you imagine a 350 pound denizen of far north Georgia making the trip down just to get his Troy skirt?

Just damn. Now I need Draino to get that image outta my mind.

"Pseudo-journalists?"

The media industry has been infested by the rise of pseudo-journalists who go against journalism's long tradition to serve the public with accurate information, Los Angeles Times Editor John S. Carroll told a packed room in the Gerlinger Lounge (at the University of Oregon) on Thursday.

Guess.

In a scathing critique of Fox News and some talk show hosts, such as Bill O'Reilly, Carroll said they were a "different breed of journalists" who misled their audience while claiming to inform them. He said they did not fit into the long legacy of journalists who got their facts right and respected and cared for their audiences.

Remember? We're supposed to be the bad guys.

Part of the problem of the mainstream media with FNC is that Fox doesn't pretend to be impartial in the same way that many of them pretend to be.

Fox doesn't pretend that the rest of the field is as pure as the driven snow either. Fox dares to cross the line and let everyone else in on the joke: that most of the media are liberal, and that they (Fox) are only providing an alternative.

Does that make them evil "pseudo-journalists," to use Mr. Carroll's terminology?

Of course not! Fox is but an alternative -- and judging by the ratings, an alternative that a significant portion of America is interested in listening to.

It's too bad that Carroll and others like him are so wrapped up in their own self-flaggelation that they don't see that truth.

And if they don't see that; if they only want to report what they feel is "right and just," then the question becomes who actually are the "real" journalists and who are the rumor-mongering "pseudo-journalists?"

(Courtesy Wizbang & blogoSFERICS)

"Tell me your politics, and I'll tell you who you are..."

Ten days ago, a man's fantasy became reality in a form never before seen, Iron Blog, a giant debating battlefield.

The motivation for spending his fortune to create Iron Blog was to encounter new, original thought, which could be called true, artistic creations.

To realize his dream, he started choosing the top bloggers of various schools of thought. And he named his choices the Iron Bloggers, the invincible bloggers of debating skill.

Iron Blogger Democrat is Jay Bullock; Iron Blogger Green is R.G. "Robin" Pratt; Iron Blogger Libertarian is Vinod Valloppillil; and Rosemary Esmay is Iron Blogger Republican.

Iron Blog is the battlefield where the Iron Bloggers await the challenges of master bloggers from all over the blogosphere.

Both the Iron Blogger and the Challenger have twenty-four hours to first tackle the theme topic of the day. Using all their senses, skills and creativity, they're prepared to present intelligent arguements never heard before.

And if ever a challenger wins over the Iron Bloggers, he or she will gain the people's ovation and fame forever.

Every battle, reputations are on the line in the Iron Blog, where supreme debaters pit their skill against each other.

What inspiration will today's challenger bring, and how will the Iron Bloggers fight back?

The Heat Will Be On!

Joe Biden is overstepping his bounds

US Senator Joe Biden (Moonbat-DE) may be inviting a Zot from the Almighty in his zeal for getting to the Bush Administration over the Iraqi prisoner fiasco.

Once those people are identified, Biden said, Bush must "demand the resignations for whoever is involved in this policy, and that includes Lord God Almighty himself. It includes anybody involved."

If Rumsfeld is gone, don't count on a replacement anytime soon

Juliette brings up a fascinating point about the confirmation process (or with this Administration, lack of confirmation process) in the Senate.

If Rummy leaves, it ain't gonna be pretty.

Say Donald Rumsfeld resigns or is asked to do so. (Highly unlikely, I know. But humor me.) What are the chances of the US having a new SecDef confirmed by the senate between that hypothetical date and January 20, 2005?

Fox News suing over billboard at CNN Center

Fox News Channel has had an ad on a billboard facing CNN Center & Centennial Park in downtown Atlanta for more than five years now (I remember it from when I worked at CNN). The billboard, at the corner of Marietta St. and Centennial Olympic Park Dr., has continuously had messages mocking CNN and encouraging CNN employees, and Atlanta locals alike to watch Fox News.

Most recently, the billboard has said "Come Home Connie. CNN Needs You." -- a reference to Connie Chung, whom CNN fired abruptly in March 2003, after her show, Connie Chung Tonight simply tanked. Even Ted Turner called her "awful."

FNC wants to put a new billboard in place of the current one: "Now That CNN's Ratings are Gone With the Wind, Our Work on This Board Is Done. We Love You Atlanta. Brought to you by your friends at FOX News Channel."

By itself, that doesn't sound any worse than any of the other billboards out there -- certainly not one to really get anyone's goat.

But the zinger comes below that text: "Sign Up with America's Newsroom! Forward resumes to resumes(at)foxnews.com."

Current notion is that CNN doesn't like that. Fox has accused CNN of putting pressure on the billboard company to prevent the new sign from going up.

In a letter obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, Fox lawyer Dianne Brandi suggests Atlanta company Camfaux LLC may have buckled to pressure from CNN not to put up the message.

"Should you choose not to put up the billboard immediately, we will consider all options available to us, including, of course, legal options," Brandi wrote.

Boardworks is silent on the matter -- at least to the press.

Stay tuned -- the billboard is around the corner from my new client's office, as well as from my wife's office in downtown Atlanta. I'll see the message if and when it goes up.

'Pay What You Want' airfare? Where's Clark Howard?

German-based Hapag-Lloyd Express has new service in the UK that -- believe it or not -- allows you to pay "what you want" for the fare.

It's a promotional gimmick, of course, but on the three-day Newcastle-Hanover sightseeing run last Sunday, cabin crew came down the aisle, and passengers literally got to pay what they wanted for the flight.

60 passengers took up Hapag-Lloyd on the offer.

The average fare paid by the passengers was £13 (US$ 23) on the run. The highest amount paid was £45 (US$ 80), while another paid only £1 (US$1.80) for the 1600 km (864 miles) roundtrip journey.

I wonder whether consumer guru (and notorious spend-thrift) Clark Howard was the one who paid £1 for his flight.

Baseball fans 3, Spider-Man 2

Major League Baseball & Sony Pictures have backed off of the previously announce plans to place logos for Spider-Man 2 on bases, pitchers' rubbers and on-deck circles for all games played the weekend of June 11.

Sounds like saner heads prevailed.

The plan started to fall apart when the Yankees (Yeah, I hate 'em, but they are the paragon of traditionality) announced that the special bases would only be used during batting practice.

Add to that, the uproar from baseball purists, including former MLB Commissioner Fay Vincent, and the plan was kaput.

I understand marketing, having studied it enough in my years, but some things are better left alone.

Scare America misses payroll; Cohen resigns

From Drudge:

In yet another sign of trouble for Air America Radio, the liberal talk network entering its fifth chaotic week on the air, co-founder and chairman Evan Cohen resigned Thursday, as did vice-chairman and investor Rex Sorensen.

The CHICAGO TRIBUNE is planning to report in fresh editions: The company also failed to make its scheduled payroll, leaving its staff roughly 100 radio personalities, writers, and producers unpaid until Thursday.

I guess I won't win in the pool...

"So-called Saddam" - or More lies from the moonbat fringe

US Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA), part of the radical moonbat sector of society, and one of the chief moonbats of the Congressional Black (Democratic & Liberal) Caucus, appeared on Pacifica's (a whole den of moonbats if there ever were any) Democracy Now radio program yesterday and had the audacity to infer that Saddam not only wasn't a bad person, but that he didn't even exist.

"Everywhere we go we seem to be creating a mess. We've created a mess in Iraq, and our soldiers are dying every day. Now we find that we are violating the prisoners. We're treating them worse than so-called Saddam had treated them."

"So-called?" Did I miss something somewhere?

Congresscritter Waters actually seems to be implying that not only is the US military as a whole complicit in the Iraqi prisoner mess, but then goes as far as to imply that Saddam didn't exist, by way of her veiled statement.

In that same interview, Waters directly contravenes official US foreign policy by encouraging active rejection of the new government in Haiti. She suggests that she knows better what US foreign policy should be regarding Haiti, far better than the State Department, and far better than the White House.

As of this morning, I have 22 members who join with me in no recognition of this illegitimate Prime Minister. There have been no elections. He was supported essentially by the United States, with the support of France and Canada, to take over the post of Prime Minister after the coup d'etat, and I believe, as other members apparently believe, that he is illegitimate. He's but a puppet, and we should not recognize him.

With constant and continued crud like this, Waters has firmly cemented her spot as one of the most brainless moonbats on the Hill.

A FRANK guide to polite political discussion

One of Frank's guidelines (and I quote)

DON'T punch the other person through the chest, pull out his heart, and show it to him before he dies when you feel run into a corner. That's usually a non-sequitur to the debate... unless the debate is whether you can actually pull someone's heart out and show it to him before he dies.

DON'T pile drive the other person into a folding table when you find a topic you vehemently disagree on. Though it would be cool, it's just not civil.

DON'T silently lower the other person in a slow dipping device into a pit full of ravenous monkeys until he admits you're right.

Newsweek has lost their collective minds

Newsweek is in a full-court press against the Bush Administration. They've never been as blatant as they are this week.

Fineman: Osama's winning!

Dickey: Run away!

Liu: A culture of impunity!

Alter: Show us the bodies!

Photo gallery: "Anatomy of a quagmire!"

(Courtesy AllahPundit)

I guess I hit a nerve

Amy Ridenour over at the National Center (parent organization of Project 21) got some interesting "hate mail" the other day, ostensibly in the wake of my appearance last week on Fox News Channel's Hannity & Colmes.

You call youselves "conservatives!" What do Black Americans have to conserve in America? You should be looking to be "progressives"? Black Americans need a lot more progress in order to gain as compared to the White Americans. We don't need to "conserve" things the way they are right now. GET A GRIP, YOU BUNCH OF "UNCLE TOMS."

Paulette Clarke PPClarke@proskauer.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This message and its attachments are sent by a lawyer and may contain information that is confidential and protected by privilege from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient, you are prohibited from printing, copying, forwarding or saving them. Please delete the message and attachments without printing, copying, forwarding or saving them, and notify the sender immediately.

According to Google, Christopher Wolf [the lawyer in question --M] wrote an essay published on GigaLaw.com entitled “Racists, Bigots and the Law on the Internet.” The piece describes the legal limitations on prosecution for Internet hate speech and advises that the “best antidote” to hate speech is “more speech.”

So, in the spirit of taking his advice, here’s some more speech:

Dear Proskauer Rose LLP,

It is rude to call black conservatives “Uncle Toms.”

Please inform your staff.

Thank you.

Prez pauses to comfort teen

It was a moment lost on most; the media, for the most part, missed it -- they're too wrapped up in trying to pin the Iraqi abuse photos on him.

President Bush, at an appearance near Cincinnati yesterday, paused for a moment and morphed from the "leader of the free world," and became "simply" a father and a man.

As the President walked down a line of supporters and well wishers, he passed Lynn and Ashley Faulkner, and their neighbor, Ashley Prince.

Prince said to him, "This girl lost her mom in the World Trade Center on 9-11."

Bush stopped and turned back.

"He changed from being the leader of the free world to being a father, a husband and a man," Faulkner said. "He looked right at her and said, 'How are you doing?' He reached out with his hand and pulled her into his chest."

Faulkner snapped one frame with his camera.

"I could hear her say, 'I'm OK,' " he said. "That's more emotion than she has shown in 21/2 years. Then he said, 'I can see you have a father who loves you very much.' "

"And I said, 'I do, Mr. President, but I miss her mother every day.' It was a special moment."

"I'm a pretty cynical and jaded guy at this point in my life," Faulkner said of the moment with the president. "But this was the real deal. I was really impressed. It was genuine and from the heart."

"The way he was holding me, with my head against his chest, it felt like he was trying to protect me," Ashley said. "I thought, 'Here is the most powerful guy in the world, and he wants to make sure I'm safe.' I definitely had a couple of tears in my eyes, which is pretty unusual for me."

Those folks will call this a "convenient photo op."

But it's obvious that it is something more. Otherwise, the networks wouldn't go out of their way not to show it. They don't show it, because it makes him more human, not less. And they want to make him as "inhuman" and "inhumane" as they possibly can.

I'm all for marketing, but this is just plain going overboard

Major League Baseball and Sony Pictures are teaming up on a new kind of promotion.

Bases at 15 ballparks around the nation will be stamped with an ad promoting the upcoming motion picture Spider-Man 2 the weekend of June 11-13.

The image, as seen here, will adorn bases in all the MLB parks where games are taking place that weekend. Spider-Man logos and designs will also adorn pitchers' mounds and on deck circles at the ballparks.

"This is the perfect alliance between two quintessential national pastimes -- baseball and movie-going," said Geoffrey Ammer, president of worldwide marketing for the Colombia TriStar Motion Picture Group. "This partnership celebrates superheroes, whether they are on the field or on the big screen and we are extremely excited about the opportunity to create this unique promotion with Major League Baseball."

"Over the past year and a half, we've been doing substantive research to determine the best ways to market the game into the 21st century, and we have overwhelming evidence that we have a property that's . . . never been stronger," said Jacqueline Parkes, senior vice president of advertising and marketing for MLB. "One thing that came out of the research is that we have a huge opportunity with kids, to bring them into the game. We needed to engage them in relevant and meaningful ways.

What's next? Team logos on baseball uniforms, along the lines of what you get from NASCAR uniforms and cars?

Bobby to stand trial for smacking Whitney

Bobby Brown was ordered to stand trial today by a Fulton County judge for physically assaulting his wife, singer Whitney Houston.

Judge Barry Zimmerman made the ruling in a five minute long hearing this afternoon in Atlanta.

Brown was ordered to turn himself in to Fulton County authorities in July for fingerprinting when he would be released on a $2,000 bond. Zimmerman also warned Brown again having "violent contact" with Houston.

Houston called 911 from their Alpharetta home in early December to report that Brown threatened to beat her "and then struck the left side of her face with an open right hand," according to Fulton County police officials.

Brown addressed the report's specifics in an April interview with Dateline NBC.

"I got big hands, man. I would hurt her, you know? It would be more than just a little cut on the lip."

Brown further described the incident as a "little spat." He said the two were playfully "slap boxing" and Houston took one of his jabs a "little serious."

Moonbats trying to Google-bomb Republican National Convention

Leave it to the leftists to try something after the fact.

Since the ongoing ad-hoc "Google-bomb" campaign to get John Kerry's site to come up first when someone Googles the term "Waffles" is working so well, the left is trying it themselves.

The "Counter Convention" group devoted to disrupting the Republican National Convention in New York late this summer is suggesting that anyone using the term "Republican National Convention" should link it to their site (http://www.counterconvention.org/) as opposed to the real site at http://www.2004nycgop.org/.

So, in order to beat the moonbats at their own game, when you use the term Republican National Convention from here on out, please link it to http://www.2004nycgop.org/.

The moonbats need to be shown that they aren't the ones driving this boat.

A flowery high

North of the Canadian border, some kids are getting creative about how they get their high. They're using morning glory seeds.

You heard me. Morning glory seeds.

From what I understand, the seeds contain lysergamide, a less-potent version of LSD. The potency depends on the batch, but typically a dose equivalent to 75 micrograms of LSD requires 200 seeds or so.

A 14-year-old recently tried to buy the seeds from a Canadian Tire store near Halifax, NS.

"He was pretty nervous and once he was questioned what he was using them for, he finally admitted he wanted to crush them and put them in a drink," says clerk Adam Peters.

Asking for five to ten pounds of seeds at one fell swoop is a dead giveaway.

Whatever happened to Mad Dog, Champale, Colt 45 & 151?

Double-bagging posts

Yes, for now, I'm double-posting new entries.

I'm working on a new home for Ramblings' Journal, courtesy of the humble folks at mu.nu.

Moving over to Munuviana does pose some issues; not the least of which is learning the intricacies and nuances of Movable Type.

My only exposure to using MT up to now is my infrequent post over at Blogcritics. Which reminds me that I'm overdue for something new to post over there. I've had this part-finished review of SSX 3 (one of the best sports-based video games out there, save the Madden franchise) sitting on my drive for the past few months, which needs a jolt from me to get finished.

Then again, I'm also dealing with trying to get the first chapter of my book finished as well (if nothing else, than to keep She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed off of my back).

Add to that two job interviews so far this week, at least one more tomorrow, and a radio interview on Friday (I'm scheduled to be on Lee Rodgers' morning show on KSFO San Francisco in the 8A PT hour, take a listen if you get a chance!), plus the kids' various practices (Mitchell's choir; Jasmine's orchestra), and keeping up with an active 2 year-old between job-search activities, and you can see that my hands and plate are pretty full.

But enough of that.

The new home will still be called Ramblings' Journal (http://mhking.mu.nu/), and yes, I'll eventually paint and spruce up the place with something more than the basic MT template soon enough.

I'm actually pretty jazzed about it, and thrilled to be throwing off the yokes of BlogSpot and the headaches associated with it!

Oliver, welcome to the Right Side

Former Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX) Congressional Chief of Staff Oliver Kellman can't hook up with his former boss these days.

Not that anyone was expecting her to truly call him back.

Why the switch? To put it bluntly, Kellman got tired.

"After I left the Hill, I opened up a lobbying shop [Kellman & Associates]. As a lobbyist, you work with people on both sides of the aisle....Really, I just got fed up. We’ve raised some money for the party, and just the attitude of the DNC [Democratic National Committee] toward returning our phone calls" was surprising.

Does that make Kellman somewhat shallow? Perhaps; no more so than former Clinton staffer Dick Morris appears to be.

But the bottom line for Kellman: “I’m being ignored. There are a number of African-American lobbyists and we all say the same thing — we are being ignored.”

Black America is taken for granted by the left. And an increasing number of black folks are getting sick and tired of it.

I'm glad to have him on our side of the aisle. Let's hope that his voice can add to the rest of ours.

What part of "isolated incident" do you not understand?

Everyone has seen the photos. Everyone in the US. Everyone around the world.

The photos of a pile of naked bodies, with two beaming soldiers smiling as they stand over it.

Photos of a prisioner standing on a box, while wired to God knows what.

Photos of men, whose sole desire for Americans is that we all die.

Photos of men with more in common with the animals that flew planes into buildings two and a half years ago, killing thousands here.

People across this nation are reacting in shock and horror at those photos, and, while they continue to be fed by a willing and complicit press, those same people are starting to compare our military and the Bush Administration with the Saddam regime.

I have heard people -- some otherwise very intelligent people -- insist that the President and the Administration are no better than Saddam Hussain and his sons, because of this incident. This isolated incident.

These same self-righteous people are so wrapped up in their images, fed by the loathing of reporters from CBS and CNN, from ABC and the Washington Post, from NBC and the New York Times. Fed by Pacifica and Indymedia. Fed by Ted Rall and Michael Moore. They are so wrapped up with the constant barrage of hatred that they forget the reality: that this was an isolated incident which was soundly denounced by officials from the President on down.

The radicalists are trying their damnedest to not only try to paint this isolated incident as standard operating procedure for our military, but to insist that this is how we treat prisioners in this country, too. That police departments across the nation use these so-called procedures as the normal course of business for law enforcement.

Everyone trots out the Geneva Convention as a sort of blanket to throw over this situation.

The vast majority of people fail to recognize that the Geneva Convention does not apply to this situation. That's right. Does. Not. Apply.

The Geneva Convention was designed as a sort of "Marquis of Queensbury" rules for engagement for countries and entities in military conflict.

The problem is that the Islamists do not subscribe to the Convention -- that is, until their thugs get caught.

The Geneva Convention says that a captured individual is and must be treated as a military prisioner of war only if he is reporting to a commander, if he wears a distinctive insignia recognizable at a distance, if he carries arms openly, and if he, himself, conducts himself according to the rules of war. The Islamists do not do that. They dress as the remainder of the civilian population. They do not report to a commander. They do not have a recognizable insignia. They do not carry arms openly.

They do not conduct themselves according to the rules of war.

They throw the rulebook out the window. They hit below the belt. They headbutt. They try to bite off their opponent's ear, to coin an expression.

Are we, as a nation, obligated to use the rulebook, when our opponents have thrown out the same rulebook? Are we obligated to hamstring ourselves while dealing with an enemy who wants nothing more than to kill each and every last American soul?

I'm not condoning what happened in those isolated incidents in Iraq. On the contrary. Those activities are reprehensible.

But those activities are not indicative of our fighting men and women. They are not a part of the concept of truth, justice and the American way.

They are not a part of "normal."

And at the same time, for someone to try to not only equate that isolated incident with SOP, and to then say that we are worse than Saddam has no logical concept of what "normal" is. They have no concept of what Saddam was.

Saddam had rape rooms. Saddam had torture chambers. Saddam had children's prisons. Saddam had mass graves. Saddam used giant shredders to feed living, screaming people into, in order to prolong their pain and agony. Saddam was a tyrant. Saddam was an evil man.

Saddam today, is a sad, old man awaiting his fate; undoubtedly in front of a firing squad.

Contrary to Charles Barron's incessant screeching in my ear on Hannity & Colmes last week, the Coalition of the Willing has rebuilt the infrastructure of the Iraqi nation in less than one year. Schools are open. Hospitals are open. Newspapers are printing. Markets are opening. Telephone service has been restored. Mail service has been reestablished. Internet and e-mail service, believe it or not, is coming.

This does not sound like the activities of a tyrant. This does not sound like the activities of an Administration that is "worse than Saddam."

This is the picture that Katie Couric and others in the press do not want you to see. This is the reality that John Kerry and Hillary Clinton do not want you to know.

This is the truth of the victory of President Bush and the Coalition.

Al "Log! Log! Log!" Gore finally ready to close on NWI

From Wonkette:

A Wonkette operative tells us that Al Gore plans to annouce at
noon CST today that he and partner Joel Hyatt have successfully
acquired the Newsworld International cable channel from Vivendi. Gore
will make news of the sale to his company, "IndTV" (clever!), public at
the annual convention of the National Association of Broadcasters
[I'm an idiot. That was last week.] National Association of Cable &
Telecommunications. The content of channel will not change, says our
operative, "They bought a full-functioning network. . . they're
probably gradually going to change it." (Well, someone's learned something from Air America...)

NWI is available on digital cable systems nationally as well as on DirecTV (Channel 366).

Let me lug this box in......

[thump!]

Oops...sorry.... didn't mean to trip over that...

I'll be moving furniture in and around over the next little bit, while I try to get the hang of MT and figure out where I want stuff (although with my luck, I'll probably move it around once I get it in and look at it a bit. (one of the hazards of having a wife who likes to move stuff around...)

No matter.

A Song For Kilts

Robert Service

How grand the human race would be
If every man would wear a kilt,
A flirt of Tartan finery,
Instead of trousers, custom built!
Nay, do not think I speak to joke:
(You know I'm not that kind of man),
I am convinced that all men folk.
Should wear the costume of a Clan.

Imagine how it's braw and clean
As in the wind it flutters free;
And so conducive to hygiene
In its sublime simplicity.
No fool fly-buttons to adjust,--
Wi' shanks and maybe buttocks bare;
Oh chiels, just take my word on trust,
A bonny kilt's the only wear.

'Twill save a lot of siller too,
(And here a canny Scotsman speaks),
For one good kilt will wear you through
A half-a-dozen pairs of breeks.
And how it's healthy in the breeze!
And how it swings with saucy tilt!
How lassies love athletic knees
Below the waggle of a kilt!

True, I just wear one in my mind,
Since sent to school by Celtic aunts,
When girls would flip it up behind,
Until I begged for lowland pants.
But now none dare do that to me,
And so I sing with lyric lilt,--
How happier the world would be
If every male would wear a kilt!