THIS BLOG HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED

(pick it up here)

Peachy. Iran's President-Elect May Have Been Involved in '79...

"There's no question about it. You could make him a blond and shave his whiskers, put him in a zoot suit and I'd still spot him."

Live 8

On R.E.M.'s set: Something about the earpieces Michael Stipe was wearing, coupled with the bizarre blue makeup mask...makes him look like Batman.


Floyd reunion story. http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2005/07/live_8s_histori.html

So...Pink Floyd just finished up. They played Breathe, Money, Wish You Were Here, and Comfortably Numb. During Comfy, some little irritant from MTV Europe started talking, and then so did her irritant cohart from VH1. Further proof that both of these channels need to fucking go away. There is no respect for the artform they claim to carry the flag for.

Now the irritants at the show in Philly are talking over Stevie Wonder. I'm sure they're doing all of this because they want to keep people from creating their own MP3s, and therefore not buying the inevitable album. But it's just sad.

Tsunami Alert System

Nice to read some good news once in a while...

Make that Four

2005/07/02 04:11 M 5.9 COAST OF NICARAGUA Z= 36km 11.21N 86.55W

Earthquakes

Three of 'em , between 5 & 7 on the scale, off the coast of Central America in the last 29 hours.

2005/07/02 02:16 M 6.7 COAST OF NICARAGUA Z= 46km 11.18N 86.40W
2005/06/30 21:26 M 6.0 PANAMA-COSTA RICA BORDER REGION Z= 61km 8.41N 82.74W
2005/06/30 21:26 M 5.8 PANAMA-COSTA RICA BORDER REGION Z= 43km 8.40N 82.79W

Last month it was California and Alaska. And I'm noticing there's one of that strength every day (at least one) in or near Indonesia.

Fascinating stuff. I've been on the email list from http://earthquake.usgs.gov/ for months now. Interesting to see where they hit every day.

Livan 12-2

July 1, 2005
Washington 4, Chi. Cubs 3 at Wrigley Field

Winning pitcher - Livan Hernandez (12-2)
Losing pitcher - Mark Prior (5-2)
SV - Hector Carrasco (2)

Watched most of it. Great game. Cubs made me pretty nervous in the 6th: Livan gave up 2 homers in that inning...

AIDS in Asia

Twelve million extra people could be (AIDS) infected in Asia within the next five years - an increase of 150%...

Nats/Cubs

Three games at Wrigley this holiday weekend, just a few hours away, and I can't get out there. Damn.

Nationals and Politics

Saw this in my local newspaper and decided I had to bring it here for future reference. Again: not my work, and I'm not claiming it. This was written by Jason Kelly.

The level of stupidity at work here is amazing...

DC wants owner as red as the uniforms
COMMENTARY

By JASON KELLY

No less a partisan political figure than George W. Bush once owned the Texas Rangers.

One of his partners in that enterprise, Fred Malek, now wants to buy the Washington Nationals.

Malek's political leanings -- Hits: Right, Throws: Right, Votes: Right -- do not impugn the integrity of his bid in the minds of elected representatives looking out for the national pastime.

Lefty George Soros, on the other hand, represents a contaminating danger to peanuts and Cracker Jack.

Not to mention the republic.

Hence the Congressional high heat intended to brush his group back from the negotiating table in the sale of the Nationals.

Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) told Roll Call that "Major League Baseball understands the stakes" of selling the team to Soros.

With more bully than pulpit he added, "I don't think they want to get involved in a political fight."

So Congress might consider a bench-clearing brawl -- unrelated to battles over judicial nominations -- to prevent a baseball team from falling into liberal hands.

Implying they might pull out the heavy lumber, Rep. John Sweeney (R-N.Y.) offered a subtle reminder that baseball's antitrust exemption could be revoked over politically polarizing ownership.

Specifically Democratic ownership, because anything worth hundreds of millions of dollars should be reserved for Republicans, who retain the twin freedoms of expression and expenditure.

A managing general partner of the Rangers while his father served in the White House, President Bush's partisan politics didn't summon Congressional review of his ownership qualifications. Those connections probably got him the gig in the first place.

Now the hubris his political success created in the Republican party has seeped into the business of baseball.

As Washington Post columnist Sally Jenkins put it: "I must have been napping, and that's why I missed the part where we became a country in which Democrats are no longer allowed to buy things."

Worse than a mere Democrat -- at least they have to register, so the government can keep an eye on them -- Soros actually funds liberal causes.

Imagine the ways Soros might Kerry-fy the franchise to his bleeding heart's content:

1) Change their name from the Washington Nationals to the United Nations, so as not to appear so ... unilateral.
2) Replace general manager Jim Bowden with Hillary Clinton to assemble a roster that "looks like America."
3) Fire manager Frank Robinson. Hire Jesse Jackson.
4) Design a new rainbow color scheme for uniforms.
5) Reject season-ticket applications from John Bolton and Karl Rove.
6) Janet Reno, relief pitcher.
7) At every April 20 home game, the first 10,000 fans arriving before 4:20 receive free "medical" marijuana.
8) Move out of RFK Stadium and build new Teddy Kennedy Park. Lobby local government to raise taxes on tobacco to pay for it.
9) Two words: Recycled bats.

Soros should just stick to Major League Soccer, the Euro pseudo-sport he helped finance in the United States. Or so Congressional power hitters Davis and Sweeney seem to be saying with their threatening rhetoric.

Admitted liberals like Soros with the net worth to buy a baseball team need to watch what they say or risk government interference with their purchasing power.

It takes integrity, not just money, to stand with the noble owners of Major League Baseball. Try saying that out loud without hacking like Marge Schott herself.

It takes principled leadership, not just power, to put personal interests aside for the good of the game. Try saying that out loud without whimpering like Bud Selig himself.

If Congress felt so inclined, it could just deport the Nationals, considering they were born north of the border.

Come to think of it, that probably explains why Soros wants this particular team.

It's Canadian.

French-Canadian.

Now that the franchise represents the nation's capital, it needs a red-meat, red-state sort of owner whose money will not support the campaign of anyone to the left of Rudy Giuliani.

Not some practicing Democrat who feels entitled to buy the team on the dubious basis that he and his partners can come up with $400 million to pay for it.

Because then, regardless of the standings in the American League East, the terrorists win.

Meanwhile...

June 30, 2005

Pittsburgh 5, Washington 7 at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium

Winning pitcher - Esteban Loaiza (4-5)

Losing pitcher - Kip Wells (5-8)

SV - Chad Cordero (28)

washington nationals

LIVE 8

Pink Floyd, reunited with Roger, are expected to spend their 15 minutes of the concert thusly:

• Breathe/Speak To Me
• Comfortably Numb
• Wish You Were Here

Justifiable Warfare

I missed the President's speech about the War In Iraq last night. But from what I hear, it laid out exactly why the war in Iraq is important and must continue.

A country with a history of violent activity, some of it even perpetrated against it's own people, found to be in posession of weapons of mass destruction. Worse yet, the country has direct influence on your country's economy. It's citizens are constantly over your border. The livelihood of your people hangs in the balance.

It only stands to reason. Invasion is the only option. This kind of dangerous element has to be erased.

Piano Balls

Playing Piano with his balls. And why not.

Clickity-click.

Earthquake Science

(found in outgoing email from June 17th)

All the talk of earthquakes lately prompted a discussion at the
bar a little while ago about whether or not California could
ever actually fall off.

I came back, and while my production crap is loading, I found
this: http://www.moorlandschool.co.uk/earth/tectonic.htm

Nifty science stuff.

FNC Alert

This continues to be a shitty week for helicopters...both civilian and military.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: BREAKING NEWS <breakingnews@foxnews.com>
Date: Jun 28, 2005 12:52 PM
Subject: FNC Alert
To: BREAKINGNEWS Subscribers <mailto:BREAKINGNEWS-Subscribers@foxnews.com>

U.S. MILITARY HELICOPTER WITH 16 ON BOARD CRASHES IN AFGHANISTAN

Tribe.net update.

Yes. So far, it's fairly useless. But I have hope that I will see some good conversations eventually.

Iran elects hardline new leader

Someday, we'll reflect on how incredibly sad it was that this went virtually unnoticed in the US...

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: BBC Breaking News Alert <dailyemail@ebs.bbc.co.uk>
Date: Jun 24, 2005 8:08 PM
Subject: Iran elects hardline new leader
To: writtenword@gmail.com

Iran elects ultra-conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president in a landslide vote, the interior ministry confims.

For more details: http://www.bbcnews.com

Captain's Log, Stardate 48576.2. I'm going windsurfing. Striker is in charge until I return.

Oops!

U-2 Crash in SW Asia

Hmmm...

Re: Hockey Team For Sale. First of many?

Yeah, I figured their would be casualties in this war, I just wasn't sure how many there would be. The whole fiasco is heartbreaking, not to mention frustrating. To be honest, I've been tuning out all NHL updates and I will continue to do so until I hear that that negotiations are over and the season is on.

Dot (disgruntled fan)

Hockey Team For Sale. First of many?

"...The Blues and their home, the Savvis Center, have made losses of more than $225m (£122.8m) since 1994..."

 

I'll be impressed if most of the teams south of Washington make it in the New NHL...assuming there is one...and that includes the current champs.

 

I enjoyed ESPN's Virtual EA Sports 2006 Stanley Cup report this week, by the way, if you missed it.  Colorado over Toronto in 5.

Pterry quote from Maskerade

This one got my attention last night:

 

Hate is a force of attraction.  Hate is just love with its back turned.