Monday, June 30, 2008

Response to MoveOn.org

NY Times opinion writer William Kristol has some pointed criticism of MoveOn.org's latest ad campaign. Though I often agree with what MoveOn is trying to accomplish, I have to acknowledge that Kristol is right on here.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Since When Was America Not Better Than This?

I'm pissed. The United States has always prided itself on being a haven for law and human dignity. We've always supposed to be better and more fair than the global standard. I mean, wasn't that the point of the "American Dream?"

Then I read this.

We've all heard it rumored that torture existed in Gitmo, but the most the media had ever reported was that there was possible waterboarding and sleep-deprivation. Neither practice can be condoned, in my mind, but at least then the argument existed that these were excusable discomfort-techniques to extract information valuable to America's security.

Frankly, I think that's bullshit, but I was at least willing to hear that argument out. If what the above article says is true, however, then we are seriously fucking things up as far as human rights go.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

More 'Economist'

The 'Economist' is awesome. This particular article touches on two of my favorite issues: race relations in America and hip-hop.

As always, some excerpts:

*"So a columnist approaches the subject of hip-hop (which includes rap) with caution. One cannot hope to capture its sound or fury on the page. Instead, Lexington will ask what it signifies."

*"Mr McWhorter also thinks people take hip-hop far too seriously. Those who disapprove of it vastly overestimate its capacity to corrupt. And those who expect it to foster a political revolution that will dramatically improve the lot of black Americans are going to be disappointed."

*"Earnest hip-hop fans often argue that “commercial” rappers such as Lil Wayne are beside the point. Hip-hop’s revolutionary potential is best expressed by “conscious” rappers who focus on important issues rather than babes, bling and booze."


Would love to hear your thoughts.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Pinky & The Brain

This is an episode of one of my favorite childhood TV shows, "Pinky & The Brain." My friend Mark and I have recently taken up a custom of watching a cartoon every morning at work and I want to pass the joy on to you.




Enjoy!

Thursday, June 19, 2008

A Step Back

Now that we're a few days removed from the firing of former mariners GM Bill Bavasi, I realize that me glee at the axing caused me to say things a couple of posts ago that I don't necessarily feel. Namely, the "smug, incompetent" part.

Bill Bavasi is not smug.

He did, however, wield executive power over my favorite sports team from a throne built on lies. I did mean that.

Update: The Mariners have finally fired manager John McLaren.

Monday, June 16, 2008

YES!!!

I never use three exclamation points in a row. I consider it superfluous and it reminds me of middle-school instant-messaging. That said, today is one of the happiest days of the year. Here's why:

The Mariners fired Bill Bavasi!!!

The smug, incompetent architect of the worst team in baseball has been removed from his throne that was built on lies. Rejoice Mariners fans, because there is now a bright new hope for the future.

Here's hoping the M's can hire a servicable replacement.

!!!

Three 6 Mafia: 1, Johnny Depp: 0

Saw a cool movie with Terrence Howard in it last night. It reminded me of another awesome movie with Terrence Howard in it:



And yes, the Three 6 Mafia did win an Oscar for this song.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Sherman Alexie Rules!

In reading an article about the lawsuit to keep the SuperSonics in Seattle, I came across this fascinating paragraph:

Pechman (the presiding judge) did grant the city one small victory — ruling that author Sherman Alexie can testify as a witness in the June 16 trial. Alexie, winner of the National Book Award, is a Sonics season-ticket holder who is expected to testify on the team's importance to Seattle.

Awesome.

Now go back one post and watch those Griffey videos again.

I Wept... Seriously

If you know me very well at all, you're familiar with my uncomfortably fond admiration for Ken Griffey Jr. Well, today Griffey became the 6th Major League player to hit 600 career home runs. I could probably start up a whole other blog just about Junior, but for now, I'll give you all a highlight-reel of "The Kid"'s remarkable career.

This video takes you from Griffey's first game in Seattle through his 599th homer.


This is the video of historic #600.


And just for fun, an old Nike commercial featuring my hero.

Monday, June 9, 2008

Flobots

I finally figured out how to embed videos in these posts. Apparently I'm still behind the technological wave a bit. Anyhow, this song is called "Handlebars" and it's by the Flobots. This video gave me goosebumps and is one of the rare music videos that perfectly accompanies the song. I hope you all like it.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Why Yes, That Is The Mayor of Cincinnati (Link #4)

If writting a blog has taught me one thing, it's that success has everything to do with appealing to the lowest common denominator. It's the same reason that newspapers are written at a 5th grade level, that Danielle Steel has sold 550 million copies of her books, and that this can be the #1 movie at the box office.

It's clear to me that Roland Fryer doesn't strike a chord the same way Mariah Carey does. Consequently, I present you with more awful ceremonial first pitches.

#1
#2
#3
#4

This post is brought to you by fart jokes.

Monday, June 2, 2008

Roland Fryer

I've been reading the Economist lately and I highly recommend that the rest of you do as well. I just read a really interesting article about ghetto-survivor/tenured-Harvard-professor Roland Fryer. I know that these social-issues posts don't generate the same kind of responses that videos of high-heeled debutantes making fools of themselves do, but I hope you all check this article out.

Here it is.

Some highlights:

*Mr Fryer now applies his supple mind to the touchy, tangled issue of racial inequality. Why are African-Americans so much less prosperous than whites? Why do so many black children flounder in school? Why do so many young black men languish behind bars? Why are stories like Mr Fryer's considered so surprising?

*What ails black America? Public debate falls between two poles. Some academics and most civil-rights activists stress the role played by racial discrimination. It may no longer be overt, they argue, but it is still widespread and severe.

*Mr Fryer eschews histrionics in favour of hard data. He is obsessed with education, which he calls “the civil-rights battleground of the 21st century”.

*His most striking contribution to the debate so far has been to show that black students who study hard are accused of “acting white” and are ostracised by their peers.

*A study by Richard Sander of the University of California, Los Angeles, found that when the bar is lowered for black applicants to law school, they are admitted to institutions where they cannot cope. Many who drop out of top-tier colleges might have thrived at slightly less competitive ones.

*In 2000 the average white household in the bottom fifth of income-earners had net assets of $24,000. The figure for blacks was a piffling $57.

*The proportion of black babies born out of wedlock has nearly doubled since 1970, to 69%. And 70% of these births are to mothers who are truly alone, not cohabiting.

Please read the whole article. I hope some of you find it as fascinating as I do. Would love to hear your thoughts.