Friday News Links

Foxnews.com reports that 1 in 99 Americans is incarcerated. We are the world leader in terms of % of our population in jail or prison! Hip hip hooray! That is something to be proud of, right?
Can you hear my sarcasm?

Andruw Jones reported to camp with Dodgers at a whopping 240 lbs. He told Joe Torre that he would lose the weight as the season progressed.... apparently he was too lean last year during his year-long slump...hmmmmm.

Listening to Herman Cain fill in for Boortz this morning, and if you have never heard him you should listen to his show on AM 750 weeknights from 7-9pm. He threw out this stat earlier today: 1/3 of US citizens end up owing zero taxes, and of the other 2/3, half of this group pays 97% of the annual tax revenue to the federal government. So let me help you. The top 33% of earners pay 97% of the tax revenues. Do you still think that the 'evil rich' don't pay enough. And I have news for you... the top 33% likely includes many people just like you, maybe even you. Gotta love it.

John Lewis (D-ATL) announced Wednesday that he would be using his superdelegate vote to back Barack Obama. This is only news because he had been supporting Hillary openly until now. 80% of his district voted for Obama in the primary. While it is in some ways good to see a congressman representing his district's wishes, it also scares me a bit to think that he can't think for himself and vote how he believes to be correct. Its a difficult issue: do you want a congressman who will stand for his beliefs, or do you want one that cater to the whims of his constituency? Bottom line on this one is that Lewis and others don't want to back a loser, and unless something miraculous happens this coming Tuesday, Hillary is going to be done... one socialist down, one more to go.

Semi Pro opens today nationwide. Will Ferrell as Jackie Moon looks pretty funny so far in the trailers and Old Spice/Bud Light commercials. Can't wait to see this one.

Ranting during the Tech-Duke game

Great call turning pro Javaris... thanks a million.

I hate to sound like a bitter loser, but I find it absolutely absurd that Georgia Tech is shooting their first free throws vs. Duke tonight with 9 minutes left in the game. 31 minutes played, and GT has 2 free throw attempts and Duke has 19. Coach K and his crew get so many calls their way it is sick. I have found myself rooting a bit for Duke this year, as they are on all the time and are a fun team to watch. Tonight just reminds me why I have hated that squad since I was four. They get every call. Oh, that and they dominate the Jackets.

So, they throw a stat up during the game, bragging about how the ACC has 7 black coaches out of 12, something unprecedented in college hoops. They start oooing and aaaing over these guys, and how great a job they have done. Of the seven, I'd say four are or will be very good college coaches. The others, not so much. It drives me nuts when race is an issue at all. There shouldn't even be a debate about this topic. Get the best guy to coach your team: black, white, asian, mexican, I don't give a rip.

John McCain yesterday denounced Bill Cunnigham's comments about Obama at a Cincinnatti rally in McCain's honor. Cunningham, a syndicated conservative radio host, has now stated that he would support Hillary's candidacy for president. Get a grip dude, and get your pride off your shoulders. You are a poor excuse for a conservative if you get your feelings hurt over that. Granted, McCain is playing the nice politician right now, and throwing one of his supporters under the bus. But get over it. He is still a better alternative regarding economic policy, health care, tax reform, and especially the war on terror than either of the two clowns on the left. Bill would serve his country best if he would forget about personal stuff and focus on the issues.

Ok, I am ranting, and this could go on all night. There is about 3 minutes left in the game and I am just pissed. GT has lost 4 games in conference by a total of 6 points. They just can't get it done late, and they again are letting this one slip away.

Newt on terror

Alright, so I can't post this video directly into the blog (thank you CNN), but I wanted to get this up for viewing. Click on the link and listen to a short speech by Newt Gingrich about the state of our foreign affairs and his fears about our appeasement approach to fighting the radical Islamic terrorists. The speech is from an address he gave back in August of last year.
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2007/08/07/sot.newt.gingrich.cnn?iref=videosearch
Chilling as it may be, I hope it makes us realize the truly important issues we are facing and voting on this election year. Personally, I wish Newt had thrown his name into the hat for President.

And a special thanks to Charis for shooting this link over to me. Keep 'em coming...

Par for the course

This state senator from Wisconsin claims to be a 'big supporter' of Obama, but can't name on freakin thing he has accomplished in that illustrious career so far. Pretty much sums up every answer I get as to why someone supports this guy. Go figure. If I wanted a motivational speaker, Obama would be my guy. For president, not so much...

Bud Light Jackie Moon Commercial

Great stuff.

Interesting take

I had to get this article up and posted after I read it today. It is an opinion post from a writer at the Aspen Times Weekly, Gary Hubbell. The article is entitled, "In election 2008, don't forget the angry white man".
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/2008198091324

Don't want to cut and paste the whole article here, so just click the link and read it. You will find it sums up a group of people in this election year that the candidates, for the most part, take for granted. I will give you a quick excerpt here to pique your interest.

Each candidate is carefully pandering to a smorgasbord of special-interest groups, ranging from gay, lesbian and transgender people to children of illegal immigrants to working mothers to evangelical Christians.

There is one group no one has recognized, and it is the group that will decide the election: the Angry White Man. The Angry White Man comes from all economic backgrounds, from dirt-poor to filthy rich. He represents all geographic areas in America, from urban sophisticate to rural redneck, deep South to mountain West, left Coast to Eastern Seaboard.His common traits are that he isn’t looking for anything from anyone — just the promise to be able to make his own way on a level playing field.

I'd love to get some feedback from all three of you who read my blog.

Feb 14th is Valentines Day and....

The start of spring training for the Atlanta Braves pitchers and catchers. I've got to say that I am excited about the 2008 season and the expectations for this squad should be to win the East, and then see what happens in the postseason.

I'll fill many more posts throughout the spring and summer about the team, so today just a few thoughts about the man at the helm, Bobby Cox. They were discussing him and his accomplishments and failures today on sports talk radio, and I was shocked at the number of people here in ATL that think Cox is a failure and should be ousted if they don't win the division. Unlike most Atlantans, I am a born and raised second generation native. That means I was here for the 80's (all of them) and watched some of the worst baseball teams ever to step foot on a MLB field. Names like Andres Thomas, Brad Komminsk, and the like, all with high expectations and zero results. The Braves finished in last place virtually non-stop from '84 to '89, and the key to the change was Cox. He took over as GM of the Braves in '86, and began to build the Braves farm system from the ground up. He took over the managerial duties in '90, and for those of you who can remember '90, the Braves were led primarily by homegrown talent. Names like Gant, Lemke, Glavine, Smoltz (minor league trade a year earlier) were key players on the NL Champion and worst to first team.

Cox proceeded to lead the Braves to 14 straight division championships, 5 NL titles, and the World Series title in '95. Naysayers will say it is his fault they lost in so many postseason battles, but I will lay that blame on the players underperforming when it counted most. Bobby Cox didn't hang a slider to Jim Leyritz in '96 to begin the slide vs. the Yankees, and he didn't get faked out by Chuck Noblauch in the '90 series to negate what would have been the World Series winning run. (Mark Wohlers and Lonnie Smith, respectively).

Cox has won more games than all but three managers in the history of baseball, and his players stand by him through thick and thin. I have never heard a ballplayer ever say anything negative about the man, and players love getting traded to/signed by Atlanta. Bobby Cox deserves a tremendous amount of respect from this city, and he consistently gets the best from his players. Even at his ripe old age, he does his job better than most, and for that he deserves to step down when he wants to, not when the city demands it. I say this not b/c he is a legend, but because I trust that he will get out of the way when he can't do it anymore.

So here's to you Bobby, good luck on the upcoming season. And one more thing. He holds the record for most ejections ever... player or coach. Can't wait to see a few more of those this year.

Intemperate Thoughts

Overheard a very interesting comparison today on the radio between JFK and Obama. Back during Kennedy's term as President, he uttered the phrase 'Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.' Today, nearly every talking head has called Obama the modern-day JFK, capable of wooing crowds with an outstanding stage presence and charisma. They compare the odd couple's terms as senator and how closely they really do relate with each other. But I ask this: Does anything, and I mean anything, that Obama stands for have to do with putting one's country over self? Easy answer to that one, and if you don't know, I'm not going to tell you. Universal health care, tax increases, anti-war, among other things. Obama's campaign slogan should be 'Ask not what you can do for your country, but what your country can do for you'.

I just heard Kenny Smith from the TNT tv NBA pre-game show broadcasting in New Orleans (all star game weekend) say that the government was too slow to respond to the poor people in the 9th ward, so he decided to help them out himself this weekend with donations and rebuilding efforts. I say good for Kenny. That is what a rich guy should do. What he should not do is sit there on tv and blame the government for what happened. GW could not have prevented Katrina from happening. If he wants to bitch, do it about that freaking moron mayor they had down in the 'Chocolate City' (Mayor Nagin's words, not mine). His efforts have helped keep New Orleans from ever getting back the people that left.

On a lighter note, should be an excellent 'Lost' episode tonight. That show is the closest thing I have to a TV addiction. I can't get enough.

Super Tuesday? More like Dupe 'er Tuesday

So like many Americans in the 24 states holding primaries on this Super Tuesday, I headed to the voting booths this morning, trying to get in early and beat the rush. After reading some of my previous posts, you can safely assume that I knew well in advance who I would be voting for. Mike Huckabee on paper makes perfect sense for me. The fact that he fully supports and wants to push the Fair Tax is my primary reason for supporting him. Like many others, I believe this change in our tax policy would drastically change and improve our economy and the ability of many families, poor included, to move upward in the social classes while still providing the gov't enough revenue to operate. So of course I hit the touch screen by his name, happy with myself, and headed from the voting booth.

Being the political junkie that I am (or at least thought I was until now), I then tuned into the radio shows most of the afternoon and found some interesting reading about the candidates and their positions. Then I heard the results from West Virginia, and then things got interesting. Rumors floating around talk radio and the internet about a possible 'alliance' between the Huckabee camp and the McCain camp have been going around, but I have dismissed them casually until now. Huckabee probably can't win a general election, and all he is doing is splitting the social-conservatives up and getting more votes to McCain. This is bad news for the conservative base. When looking at the votes coming in, its quite clear to see that with Huckabee out of the race, Romney would get most of his votes, and I would much rather see Romney than McCain come November. I don't care of Huckabee gets the VP nod from McCain, it won't change his stance on free speech, tax cuts, or any other position in which McCain looks more like a liberal than a conservative.

What also distresses me is that people associate Huckabee with Christianity first, rather than his position on issues. Don't get me wrong, I am not in any way saying his faith shouldn't be an issue, but not THE issue. All these votes for Huckabee should be driving the talk of the Fair Tax, but no one is talking about this at all. This basically negates the vote of millions of us who support Huckabee based primarily on his economic stimulus and tax policy, the key issue determined by the thousands of pollsters throughout the election process to date.

James Dobson came out on the Laura Ingraham show and stated that he cannot in good faith endorse (or vote for) McCain under any circumstances. http://www.citizenlink.org/CLtopstories/A000006444.cfm Millions of social conservatives may take this same approach, thus opening the door for Obama/Hillary to get sworn in next January. While in the short term this may lead to an administration that will ignore the voice of the conservatives in America, it could also lead to a revamping of the Republican party over the next few election cycles, as they will finally realize that they cannot sweep their core voters under the rug. It may take a wake up call as drastic as this to make this happen. Republican leaders and strategists better get their ducks in a row and get it done fast.

How about fix a real problem!!

Reading the ajc.com tonight, and came across a story that the Georgia House of Representatives today pushed a resolution to the floor that stated the BCS (Bowl Championship Series for college football) was 'the greatest disappointment of the 2007 college football season.'...... House Resolution 1066.

Are you freaking serious???????????????
http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/metro/stories/2008/02/01/collegeplayoffs_0201.html On a side note, the article refers to House Resolution 1037, which is incorrect. HR 1066. Check it out at http://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2007_08/search/hr1066.htm

What in the name of anything sacred is the state House pushing a resolution about college football for? I am beyond pissed off about this, and I am completely embarassed right now to call GA my home state.

There are dozens of key issues right now facing the state of Georgia that need to be dealt with... drought problems, economic growth, housing issues, just to name a few. And our lawmakers choose to put this up for discussion? Go to a damn bar and have a few drinks debating this with your buddies, as me and my pals do. But do not under any circumstances use my tax dollars to put this up for resolution. House members who sponsored this resolution should be permanently barred from attending any sessions of the Congress and get the hell out of the Capitol building.

Just so you know, it was sponsored by Reps Steve Davis (R-McDonough), Matt Ramsey (R-P'tree City), Doug McKillip(D-ATHENS), Clay Cox(R-Lilburn), John Heard (R-Lawrenceville), Tommy Benton (R-Jefferson), and others. 5 Republicans!!! I thought we believed in less government interference, not more!!

This is absolutely, 100% infuriating to me.

And what makes matters worse, it is simply a case of sour grapes for these buffoons. I have no doubt that if UGA had not been partially in the national championship picture, this would never have come up. Well guess what UGA fans (state lawmakers especially), you shouldn't have lost to South Carolina and gotten destroyed by Tennessee. You didn't even win your division of the SEC, so shut the crap up. Great team, but you blew your chances. And these lawmakers making this a political issue???? I think I am going to vomit.

This just goes to show what power and authority in the wrong hands can lead to. If these idiots were concerned with fixing real problems, we wouldn't be facing a lot of the issues that the state government is trying to address. But heaven forbid that UGA get left out (due to their performance during the season, but I digress) of the national championship picture. That obviously means that the system is broken, not that the team should have played better. Typical group-think from the morons that are taking over our republic: Instead of working to achieve, let's fix the system to come down to where our constituency is.... Nobody is bitching to Coach Richt about why they played so poorly against Tennesee or South Carolina (2 average teams for you non-football fans), but our lawmakers (now that is hard to say and be proud) find it in the state taxpayers' best interest to waste time for a resolution like this. I propose a resolution that UGA should have had their A-game ready for all opponents, and that the reps responsible for this crap be banned for life from public office.