Degrees of Richness

Being pretty rich is apparently not all it's cracked up to be. For any real benefits, you have to be very rich.

80's Movie Line of the Week

From arguably the best 80's comedy of them all, Ghostbusters:

Dr Ray Stantz: Symmetrical book stacking. Just like the Philadelphia mass turbulence of 1947.
Dr. Peter Venkman: You're right, no human being would stack books like this.

2007 Movies

Back in the spring, I mentioned that 2007 should be a much better year for movies than was 2006. For much of the year, however, it seemed as though I might have spoken a bit prematurely. Sure Live Free or Die Hard was fun, Knocked Up was weirdly grown-up funny, and Superbad was a pitch-perfect sophomoric comedy, but I still hadn't seen much that just blew me away.

October is proving worthy to cure that trouble, however. Within the last week, I have seen Into the Wild, Michael Clayton and The Darjeeling Limited. All three were incredible. I particularly liked Clayton. It was a thriller that talked about important stuff without being sanctimonious about it. The Darjeeling Limited was classic Wes Anderson, and kind of an affirmation of what it means to be family. Into the Wild was a great story, and Emile Hirsch did a fantastic job of creating a character I admired and wanted to strangle at the same time.

I am excited about Before the Devil Knows You're Deadd, Gone Baby Gone, and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. I just hope I can fit all of them into my movie watching schedule. 2007 is indeed, restoring my hope after dismal 2006.

We Got Stuff

David Brooks has an amazing column. Somehow almost every week he bases the entire thing upon conjecture. He always tells us that he knows what John Q. Public is thinking, and somehow he has some special insight. Today he says:

Their homes are bigger. They own more cars. They feel more affluent. In a segmented nation, they have built lifestyle niches for themselves where they feel optimistic and fulfilled.

I believe he thinks A + B = C here, but how could he know that? Isn't it just as likely that people have bigger homes and more cars and are now incredibly stressed out about how they keep those things? Or couldn't they have them and be wondering why their bigger houses and extra cars aren't the ultimate answer to happiness?

Or maybe he does have his finger on the pulse of the nation, and that is how shallow we have become. I hope not.

Exhibit A...

...of why our political process is in trouble.

So Democrats have gone from 30% of all health industry donations in 2000 to 44% in 2004 to 57% this year. This is, obviously, good news and bad news. The good news is that lobbyist money follows winners, and the healthcare lobby seems pretty confident that a Democrat will become president next year. The bad news is that they might just get what they paid for.

Republicans? Democrats? Doesn't matter if you have the money to pay them all. And they need your money to keep getting elected. I can't see any flaws in that, can you?

The Finest Sport

Tomorrow officially marks the beginning of basketball season. The NBA has three games on tap tomorrow. College will be starting soon afterward. High school not long after that. Even Park Board is probably just around the corner. I'd watch any of it.

It's also the start of the fantasy NBA season. Like everyone else who has ever played fantasy sports, I started with football. It did not take me long to discover basketball, however, which is vastly superior. Never will I have to worry about some scrub catching a meaningless pass and running 50 yards for a TD, thereby turning my 10 point win into an unfathomable 1 point loss. The players earn their points is fantasy basketball.

The downside to fantasy basketball is that sometimes you have to go by the numbers instead of with your heart. This season for instance, I will be forced against my will to root for the unmitigated success of one Kobe Bryant. Yeeesh.

Make Believe

From the same story:

“This is not what Congressional leaders promised when they took control of Congress earlier this year,” the president said. “Congress needs to keep their promise, to stop wasting time and get essential work done on behalf of the American people.”

and

“It is clear that President Bush’s priorities are simply not those of the American people,” Mr. Reid said.

I know we aren't going to get everyone to get together in a room and work things out. But in trading barbs, could we not at least cut the charade that anyone's first priority is the American people.

It Depends

Would I ever consider voting for Rudy Giuliani? Let's say it depends on how he answers this.

Ms. Gustitus said: “He said he didn’t know if waterboarding is torture.”

Mr. Giuliani said: “Well, I’m not sure it is either. I’m not sure it is either. It depends on how it’s done. It depends on the circumstances. It depends on who does it..."

Looks like the answer is "no", I would not consider voting for Rudy. Though I am quite sure the rest of the world would be pleased to hear that we have decided to hold ourselves to a different standard than everyone else.

Found via Kevin Drum.

Basketball Lesson

For those of you who aren't basketball fans, let me impart some (probably unwanted) knowledge. I can tell you today that the Houston Rockets will not be NBA champions. How do I know this?

Starting PG Mike James and backup PG Steve Francis took 31 of the teams 99 shots in a preseason game yesterday. They also had 5 assists between them (James played a remarkable 27 minutes at PG without a single assist).

The fact that Steve Francis is a Rocket at all probably should have been enough, but when your primary "ball distributors" instead function as your primary "ball heavers" you can write off your season immediately.

I'm Not Sure What to Say About This

This is the "Terrorist Buster" logo used by the CIA. For what, I'm not sure. Via Matt Yglesias.

80's Movie Line of the Week

From one of my very favorite 80's comedies, Three Amigos:

Rosita: I was thinking later, you could kiss me on the veranda.
Dusty Bottoms: Lips would be fine.

Vomiting a Little in My Mouth

I just flipped on the Republican debate on Fox. I watched less than 3 minutes before I couldn't take anymore. I understand that everyone has to pander to their base in a primary, but it just seems so egregious and yet unnatural with these guys. Rudy G. was even dogging the town he was once mayor of. I suppose he figures none of them are going to vote for him anyway. Geez.

Hillman!

The Royals have found the right man to carry them to the promised land. How do I know that?

"He won at every level, was manager of the year at three different levels," Moore said. "In Japan, the first two years, his team (Nippon Ham Fighters) showed improvement. The fourth year they won the Japanese Series and this year they're back in the Japanese Series with a team that's virtually last in every offensive category."

That team is exactly like the Royals!

On a side note, perhaps the Royals should change their name to the Kansas City Tenderloin Warriors. It has a ring to it.

Dilemma

This is the unfortunate question of politics.

"There is a great deal of angst about who will come forward and be electable, and also close to the social views and moral views we believe in," Page said.

This statement came from an evangelical, but it actually could have come from people with a variety of politics. Do you stand by your values, or do you be realistic about who is the electable lesser of two evils?

Why don't people vote again?

80's Movie Line of the Week

A good recommendation from a friend.

From Weird Science:

Wyatt: Garry, don't you feel like a chicken?

Garry: Wyatt, if I could shoot an egg out my ass right now, I would! Look we can deal with shame, death is a much deeper issue.

Is That Extra Memory in Your Pocket or...

I challenge anyone to say they wrote a more bizarre thesis than this.

In his thesis, "Intimate Relationships with Artificial Partners," Levy conjectures that robots will become so human-like in appearance, function and personality that many people will fall in love with them, have sex with them and even marry them.

The chorus of Hallelujahs you hear is from geeks the world over... and possibly married men:

Keeping a robot for sex could reduce human prostitution and the problems that come with it. However, "in a marriage or other relationship, one partner could be jealous or consider it infidelity if the other used a robot," Levy said. "But who knows, maybe some other relationships could welcome a robot. Instead of a woman saying, 'Darling, not tonight, I have a headache,' you could get 'Darling, I have a headache, why not use your robot?'"

If you still call your partner "Darling" they should be automatically entitled to a robot.

Colbert

Stephen Colbert stood in for Maureen Dowd yesterday. He was very insightful. For instance:

And Fred Thompson. In my opinion “Law & Order” never sufficiently explained why the Manhattan D.A. had an accent like an Appalachian catfish wrestler.

Why So Long in the Face?

Is the president wearing down? Don't know about the real one, but the WSJ illustrated version sure is. Maybe this version has a valid conception of reality.

From Slate.

Great Show

I feel supremely confident that I saw the best show in KC on Saturday night, and I was not at Elton John. Wilco and Andrew Bird put on the best concert I've seen in some time. It was the first time I had seen Bird, and he blew me away. He played several instruments and looped them together in nice arrangements, and he displayed whistling ability that bordered on supernatural.

After an opening like that, I was concerned that Wilco might actually seem a little flat. No worries. I've seen Wilco before, but this show was the best by a wide margin. They played a nice mix of songs from their now 6 albums, and they also put in two encores. Dan thought the encores (complete with fireworks) were a cheap gimmick. He may be right, but I could care less (and would add that I haven't been to a show without such a pre-planned encore in a long time). The band was on all night, and they seemed to step it up another notch in each encore.

Sure the band was probably pandering to the crowd when they said it was the best crowd they had on the tour, but as someone who has been a part of several crowds at music shows I would argue it was a pretty damn good crowd. When the crowd is totally into the show, it makes a difference. The energy was good.

The only gripe I have is that Stretch (proprietor of Grinders and Crossroads KC) took to the stage both before and after the show determined to make me believe I was at a Ted Nugent show. He screamed like he was MCing a monster truck rally and he killed a good vibe at the end of the show by yelling "F*#% You Elton John!" Everyone in the crowd was just looking around wondering what the hell was going on. Stretch has a couple of really cool businesses, and I even like his art. But man, stay off the stage.

The Morals of Molars

From the NY Times, via Kevin Drum:

For American dentists, times have never been better.

The same cannot be said for Americans’ teeth.

With dentists’ fees rising far faster than inflation and more than 100 million people lacking dental insurance, the percentage of Americans with untreated cavities began rising this decade, reversing a half-century trend of improvement in dental health.

How many positive trends can be turned around in a matter of 8 years? Several, apparently.

Fighting Someone Their Own Size

I guess I'm feeling kind of anti-conservative today. Maybe it's because I read this:

The right is unapologetic. "The Democrats chose to outsource their airtime to a Seventh Grader," wrote National Review's Mark Steyn. "If a political party is desperate enough to send a boy to do a man's job, then the boy is fair game."

This is in relation to the 12 year old who gave the Democrats reply to a radio address by the president concerning SCHIP. His family has subsequently been ripped a new one by conservative bloggers and radio hosts.

I really want to believe that we all want basically the same things and we just have different ideas of how to get there, but then I read something like this and I just don't know.

Gored

Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize. What did the leading conservative magazine have to say about that in their blog?

Al Gore should hand it over to General Petraeus and the U.S. military.

Al Gore should share it with Osama bin Laden, because bin Laden is also anti-global warming.

The Nobel Prize might as well be a prize at the state fair.

It's important to remember that this isn't a fringe site, and these aren't the commenters. These are leading conservative "minds". Classy bunch.

Methusela

I know interest in the NBA is low, but I like it. So if you want to read this blog, you'll occasionally have to deal with an NBA story.

Training camp is back in session, and pre-season games are underway. This does not excite my wife at all, incidentally. Anyway, I was checking box scores and came across the fact that getting significant sub minutes for the Denver Nuggets was Stacey Augmon. That is the same Stacey Augmon who was part of the the great UNLV teams of the early 90's. He's 39 years old. Somewhere Kevin Willis is smiling.

Lewis Black

Every time he is on the Daily Show he's good.

But last night was over the top good. If the link changes it will be the video titled Limbaugh.

Best Line (in reference to the flap over Obama not wearing a flag pin):

I'm not comfortable with any idea that can't be expressed in the form of men's jewelry. If it takes more than two cuff links to say it, you lost me.

Watch until the end to see the Fox Anchor bring Bill Clinton into it, and conflate two unrelated issues by pointing out they both contain the word "that".

They Eat Their Own

When asked to do so, right-wingers will take a break from hating lefties and focus on their own kind. So who do they find vile on their own side of the aisle (all the while spitting bile and ready to pile on those who's style is... ok enough)?

Ranking is on the left, er, the other side of right, and the number of top votes for each person is, naturally, on the far right:

18) Ted Stevens (4)
18) Olympia Snowe (4)
18) Mel Martinez (4)
18) Sean Hannity (4)
18) Lincoln Chafee (4)
17) Bill O'Reilly (5)
14) Lindsey Graham (6)
14) George W. Bush (6)
14) Mitt Romney (6)
12) Arnold Schwarzenegger (9)
12) Rudy Giuliani (9)
8) Andrew Sullivan (11)
8) Chuck Hagel (11)
8) James Dobson (11)
8) Ann Coulter (11)
6) Arlen Specter (12)
6) Pat Robertson (12)
4) Larry Craig (13)
4) Michael Savage (13)
3) John McCain (17)
2) Pat Buchanan (18)
1) Ron Paul (23)

That's a pretty weird list right? The funniest part to me is that four of the poll respondents still hate Lincoln Chaffee enough to vote him number one.

80's Movie Line of the Week

Apropos to the day I'm having.

Rick Moranis as Dark Helmet in the Mel Brooks sci-fi spoof Spaceballs:

Out of order? F***! Even in the future, nothing works!

Obama V. Hacks

Dan over at Gone Mild has a great post about political hacks and their attempt to degrade Barack Obama for the crime of being right. Dan runs a large section of Obama's 2002 speech denouncing the war. I had heard a couple of quotes from the speech, but had never seen all the context. No matter what you think of him, this is pretty impressive prognostication.

Setting the Bar Low

The Economist has a story about the positives and negatives of a Hillary Clinton presidency. The main negatives are the legitimate concerns about the dynastification and continued polarization of American politics. Among the positives is this line:

Mrs Clinton is the anti-Bush: a woman who speaks in clear sentences, who has a formidable command of the facts, and who, on health care, is willing to learn from her mistakes.

Quite a statement about where we stand today.

Run Off the Field

The Chiefs ran for 10 yards today. All day. That was the total for the whole game. Yet on several occasions the offensive coordinator killed offensive momentum by insisting on trying something that hasn't worked all year. Probably time to start looking for a new offensive coordinator. Or maybe the head coach made that call.

Learning

I attended a conference this week. Conferences are interesting because you usually learn something, but not always what you assume you will. Here are a few things I learned at mine.

Steak is the worst food to serve at a conference banquet.

Trade show floors would be easier to navigate if you were deaf or rude.

There is apparently a large group of people who spend more time and effort worrying about and improving their "virtual life" than their real life. And they are stoked about it.

I don't really like magicians.

People often ask you what you like or dislike, but they would learn more about you if they asked what you're indifferent about.

Same Ol' Story

President Bush will veto the SCHIP bill today, setting the stage for a battle in Congress to override the veto. In all likelihood, the president will prevail.

There have been several arguments as to why the president thinks SCHIP expansion is a bad idea. As usual, most are misleading.

But one is true. The president's people claim that if SCHIP is expanded, some families who already have private insurance will be tempted to switch to public insurance. According to CBO estimates, 35% of children eligible under SCHIP also have access to private insurance.

And this is where the philosophical difference between liberals vs. conservatives comes squarely into view. Liberals believe that a system where some who don't need a particular benefit (in this case health insurance) but receive it anyway is a worthy trade off to ensure that all who need the benefit receive it. Conservatives turn that philosophy on its head. They believe that a system where some who need a particular benefit but do not receive it is a worthy trade off to ensure that no one receives a benefit they do not need.


There are many other examples of this, from classic "entitlements" to imprisonment. It reallys is the core of the stereotypes about "bleeding heart" liberals and heartless conservatives. The interesting question, though one likely not soon answered, is what sorts of life experiences or brain hard-wiring does it require for us to come to such radically different value judgements?

Radiohead

The band is releasing its new album on its own website. How much?

"It's up to you."

Pretty cool.

Movie Lines

At a nice dinner party this weekend, I was told that Andrew Sullivan had been running a poll about best movie lines ever. I haven't found it on the blog, but from the conversation in sounded like the top five were contained to generally well respected movies. That's fine, but don't the generally well respected movies get enough recognition already. How about great lines from ridiculous movies?

More specifically, how about great lines from 80's comedies? For members of my age group (particularly male members), these movies were the foundation for our media habits. Maybe that signals awful times ahead for the country, but I suspect it is harmless. It's also funny.

I thought this would be a post including many of the great lines from 80's comedies, but it just grew and grew. No matter how big it got, however, I still didn't think it was complete. So, I think 80's comedy quote for the week is in order. You could certainly do it everyday, but I don't want a blog that is half movie quotes.

To kick things off let's go to the Coen brothers' classic Raising Arizona:

H.I.: There's right and there's right and never the twain shall meet.

Qualified Pessimism

I haven't completely come around on the Royals, however. Now that the season ending stats are in, you can make a case that the Royals are the hardest working team in baseball. I say that because of two statistics: home runs, and strikeouts.

Home runs make run scoring much easier. When you can hit the ball out of the park, you don't have to string as many hits together to score runs. The Royals were 27th in the league in runs scored, and they were dead last in home runs. They hit 102, which was 16 behind the next closest team (Minnesota) and roughly 100 less than the top five teams (of which 4 were NL teams oddly enough).

Strikeouts make run stopping easier. The less the ball is put in play, the less chance something bad will happen. The correlation between K's and runs allowed isn't as strong as the one between home runs and runs scored, but it exists. The Royals finished 26th in strikeouts.

The other thing about these stats are that they seem to be two pretty good indicators of physical talent. Batters who hit home runs are physically gifted. Pitchers who strike batters out are usually physically gifted. The Royals would seem to have a paucity of physically gifted players. I think there is reason to be cautiously optimistic about the Royals future, but until we see more physical talent it will be hard to expect too much.

Cautious Optimism (And Increduility)

I'm generally not a big pessimist. Yet, when I posted on the KC sports scene all looked as bleak as could be. And now, only three days later things seem a bit better.

First of all, the Mike Sweeney era is most likely over. Mike took out an ad in the Star thanking KC fans, which was no doubt a class move. The problem with Sweeney was never his class, it was his general inability to play baseball for longer than 2 months at a time. You can argue that isn't his fault, but you also have to recognize that it was a killer for a franchise that decided to make him the franchise.

Second, I was wrong about the Chiefs (for a week anyway). I was totally unprepared to see the Chiefs open up the offense in San Diego. The personnel favors a passing attack right now, but I really thought Herm and Mike Solari would let their philosophy get in the way of a change of scheme. Let's hope they recognize that it isn't just a good idea when they're behind two scores at halftime. The defense is playing really well right now.Amazing what a difference a pass rush makes.

Local Sports Pessimism

Perhaps it is because I lost my "Royals will win at least 72 games" bet last night as the team wheezed to a 10-0 loss to the worst other team in the division, but I'm not feeling good about our KC sports these days.

The Royals seemed as though they might have turned a corner earlier this year playing over .500 baseball for a couple of months. Things have fallen apart at the end, however, and much of the (at least my) enthusiasm has waned. The rookies have been decent, which is nice, but after all that has happened the Royals are only going to be 6 to 9 games better than last season. That isn't huge improvement when you're coming from 100 losses.

The Wizards meanwhile perfected the disaster that was the Beckham "event" by losing a game they really needed to win 1-0 to one of the worst teams in professional soccer. Not the kind of showing you want to have in front of your largest crowd ever. The great Wizards blog Downthebyline hasn't even posted about the game yet. Hopefully, he (or she) isn't comatose after the disaster. The Wizards are still officially in the playoff picture, but by no means are they a "sure thing".

The Chiefs are adding to my depression by being one of the 2 or 3 worst teams in football. I'll suck it up and say I was wrong if they go beat San Diego this weekend (and with Norv Turner on the opposing sideline perhaps I am being too negative), but I give the Chiefs roughly zero chance of beating a desperate Chargers team in San Diego. Beating the Vikings 13-10 at home is not the kind of win that portends great things for your season.

There is also no word, and little hope, of the city adding a franchise to play in the Sprint Center. Until a new pack of teams needs to sucker us into to leveraging their demands, that front should stay silent.

Finally, since there are a few more of you reading this than there were the first time I posted on the subject, I want to show the (updated) list of what other multi-sports franchised cities have done since 1985 when we last had a team playing for a title (I didn't count soccer as one of the 4 major sports, the Wizards have won an MLS title).

Atlanta 6 app. (1 title)
Baltimore 1 app. (1 title)
Boston 11 app. (5 titles)
Buffalo 5 app.
Charlotte 3 app. (1 title)
Chicago 10 app. (8 titles)
Cleveland 3 app.
Cincinnati 2 app. (1 title)
Dallas 6 app. (4 titles)
Denver 7 app. (4 titles)
Detroit 10 app. (6 titles)
Houston 4 app. (2 titles)
Indianapolis 2 app. (1 title)
Los Angeles 13 app. (8 titles)
Miami 4 app. (3 titles)
Milwaukee/Green Bay 2 app. (1 title)
Minneapolis 3 app. (2 titles)
Nashville 1 app.
New York 20 app. (11 titles)
Oakland 4 app. (1 title)
Philadelphia 4 app.
Phoenix 2 app. (1 title)
Pittsburgh 4 app. (3 titles)
San Diego 2 app.
San Francisco 5 app. (3 titles)
Seattle 2 app.
St. Louis 5 app. (2 titles)
Tampa 2 app. (1 title)
Toronto 2 app. (2 titles)
Washington D.C. 3 app. (2 titles)

New Orleans is still the only other city with multiple franchises not to make a championship game, and they have only had two teams for 5 years. That will make you pessimistic.

Headlines

The New York Times has is currently featuring a story with the headline:

Blackwater Shooting Scene was Chaotic

If the point of the headline is to make me want to read the story, then this one gets an F. You can't take the one thing I probably already knew about incident and use that as bait to read the story.

Blackwater Shooting Scene was Serene would be headline worthy. Otherwise, the mood of the scene probably shouldn't be the feature.

Italian Food?

The Star has a story about a new tenant for the Power and Light District.

Bice Bistro will be a sophisticated, urban, upscale Italian bistro featuring authentic Italian cuisine with an international touch. The 6,000-square-foot space will feature mahogany floors, outdoor dining and a private dining mezzanine overlooking the main dining area. The moderately-priced menu will include pastas, pizzas and entrees such as Sesame Ahi Tuna – tuna loin in a sesame crust, light miso sauce with grilled asparagus, and Risotto con Gamberi – Arborio Italian rice with fresh prawns and asparagus.

Boy, one thing I know is that miso is the quintessential Italian ingredient. Those attending an event at the Sprint Center might want to find the Cupini's location downtown, head down Grand to Anthony's, or be really adventurous and go over to Columbus Park.

Are Republican Voters Racist (Part 2)?

Bob Herbert agrees with the Republican presidential nominees.

With statements like this it had can be hard to disagree:

“You start out in 1954 by saying, ‘Nigger, nigger, nigger,’ ” said Atwater. “By 1968, you can’t say ‘nigger’ — that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states’ rights, and all that stuff. You’re getting so abstract now [that] you’re talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you’re talking about are totally economic things, and a byproduct of them is [that] blacks get hurt worse than whites.”

Kevin Drum puts it best saying, "Lovely man, Lee Atwater."

I actually find this quote fascinating. One way to read it is that Atwater is making the case that Republicans are for cutting taxes because it is the best way to screw with black people. I don't think you would find too many people to buy that line of thinking, but it might be fair to ask if it was at least Lee Atwater's line of thinking.

The Proof is in the Peanut Butter

Via Andrew Sullivan:



I never know what's real anymore.

Arrrgh, Sweeney!!!

Given my predilection to blame the woes of the Royals on el capitan Mike Sweeney, its hard to believe I hadn't considered the correlation earlier. But as the evil St. Louisan stood on the edge of victory in our wager, he pointed out that it seemed to him that the Royals' swan dive at the end of the season seemed to coincide with the return of the perpetually injured one.

Good looking out ESL, you were right on. Sweeney played with the team from opening day until June 17 before going down to injury. He made his triumphant return to break up a Twins no-hitter on August 31. Records for each portion of the Royals season follow:

April 2 - June 17: 28-42
June 18 - August 31*: 32-31
August 31* - September 25: 8-16

Total Winning Percentage With Sweeney: .383
Total Sans Sweeney: .508

*The best part is that on August 31, the Royals played a double-header. Sweeney did not play in the first game, which the Royals won. He returned for the second game, and the Royals were shut out.

Matching

One of the more nefarious tools available on the web is the political comparison survey. In these contraptions, you answer a set of questions and are subsequently told which politician/candidate you are most like. People have put these up for some time, but USA Today has a particularly questionable one now.

The results themselves didn't end up that bizarre. My top 3 were Obama, Biden, and Clinton. I'm not sure they are in that order currently in my mind, but that is a pretty accurate triumvirate. Likewise, my polar opposites are apparently Tom Tancredo and Mitt Romney's current persona. Fair enough.

The problem is that I can't really know if any of this is accurate because of the 11 questions, I probably would have answered "none of the above" to at least 4 (and probably more). Also at issue is which questions are asked. Much to my horror, Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel were in the lead for a while based entirely on the fact that they are the only two guys who have said that gays should be allowed to marry.

I'm pretty sure that 11 questions are not enough to determine which candidate should earn your vote. On the other hand, it's probably 11 more questions than many people bother with at all.

Laughing Matters

Slate has an interesting piece up about sitcoms and the laugh track. Contained within is this line:

For the past few seasons, the most talked-about television comedies—The Office, 30 Rock, My Name Is Earl, Curb Your Enthusiasm—have looked and sounded more like films than sitcoms.

It just so happens that the shows listed in the quote constitute an almost complete list of my television watching schedule. It also happens that Three and a Half Men has a pronounced laugh track, and despite its status as one of TV's top rated comedies, couldn't entice me to watch another episode if it featured the second-coming.

What does this mean? Does it mean that I have a knee-jerk reaction against laugh tracks? Does it mean that the shows without laugh tracks have writers who work harder because they don't have built in laughs? Is the problem that I am too easily distracted by 100 strangers laughing in my living room? Is it an age thing? Are there laugh track and non-laugh track people in the world?

Your Local Ads, Er News

I have completely broken myself of the habit if watching local news on weeknights. This gives me at least 2.5 hours of life that I can better spend doing almost anything. Unfortunately, I have not been able to get rid of Sunday night local news. I just want to see a live weather forecast from time to time, and I like to hear a weekly wrap on local sports.

My inability to break this happen means that I end my weekend with one of the most infuriating experiences of my life. I guess it's a nice way to let myself know that fun time is over. I know I will see stories about house fires three states away, something awful that happened to an animal somewhere, and probably a live shot of a field reporter standing in some unidentifiable, pitch black location. I have, to an extent, made my peace with that fact.

Last night on KSHB, however, these asinine stories were in short supply. "Did they have real news on," you might be asking yourself. Of course not. What they filled a considerable portion of the newscast with was advertising. There is a series KSHB runs every Sunday night called "Business in Action" that is simply an advertising vehicle. It hit a new low Sunday night when I was "introduced" to one of these action-oriented businesses for the second time. Gallup Map Company may be a fine maker of Kansas City street maps, but are they so great the should be featured twice on this already ludicrous segment. If Channel 41 is going to pimp local businesses on their newscast, shouldn't they at least spread the wealth?

Had it only been this BIA report, the newscast might have faded into memory as most newscasts do by the next morning. But after explaining the virtues of a local business to me for the second time, KSHB went on to do a long "news" segment about two new shows this fall on NBC.

If this is how they are going to conduct a news program why waste money on a set and anchors. Who will be the first news organization brave enough to just have a weather forecast surrounded by 25 minutes of advertising? At least it would be a little less disingenuous.

So, Now You're Complaining About It?

Regarding the president's intimation that he would veto the SCHIP bill being bipartisanly put together in Congress:

"I'm disappointed by the president's comments," said Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), who urged Bush, in an early-morning telephone conversation yesterday, to support the emerging bipartisan compromise. "Drawing lines in the sand at this stage isn't constructive. . . . I wish he would engage Congress in a bill that he could sign instead of threatening a veto."

Yeah, how could the president do that after such a distinguished record of compromise?

Are Republican Voters Racist?

I don't know the answer, but apparently the GOP front-runners for president think they do. Their verdict seems to be an emphatic "yes." It's got some party leaders nervous.

"We sound like we don't want immigration; we sound like we don't want black people to vote for us," said former congressman Jack Kemp (N.Y.), who was the GOP vice presidential nominee in 1996. "What are we going to do -- meet in a country club in the suburbs one day? If we're going to be competitive with people of color, we've got to ask them for their vote."

This was all in response to the Republican candidates skipping several debates hosted by either African-American or Lation groups. So if you are a Republican voter who isn't racist, just remember that your candidates think you are. That might lead others to believe the same thing.

Government By People Who Hate Government Part 3,222

Hackery strikes again.

“One consistent element in these allegations is that you believe your foremost mission is to support the Bush administration, especially with respect to Iraq and Afghanistan, rather than act as an independent and objective check on waste, fraud and abuse on behalf of U.S. taxpayers,” Mr. Waxman wrote.

Maybe he believed that because someone in the Bush Administration told him it was true.

The best part of this particular story is that one of the allegations is that this particular hack helped hinder the investigation of another more celebrated hack.

Bonanza!

Americans may once again feel free to spend with impunity.

The Federal Reserve cut a key interest rate today, aiming to prevent turbulence in the housing and credit markets from slowing the U.S. economy...That, Fed policymakers hope, will encourage households to spend money and businesses to invest in the future, despite turmoil in the financial markets, a sour housing market and moribund job growth.

So in a country with a savings rate of 0, we are going to solve our economic woes by spending more. We are to do this despite most other economic indicators suggesting that it might not be such a great idea.

If you will excuse me, I need to take out a couple of car loans.

I Hate These Kinds of Problems

Slate's Dear Prudence column features a particularly disturbing scenario this week.

There is one person, whom I will call Pierre (for one who pees through the air), who stands an uncomfortable (for the rest of us) distance from the urinal. I estimate that he's about 20 to 24 inches away from the porcelain when he goes. Since there are two urinals, if one of us is second into the bathroom we can go to one of the stalls to do our business. But there are times when a person can be trapped at the first urinal, as Pierre mans up to the second one, which makes it more uncomfortable trying to slide between him and the wall to get out.

I shudder just imagining what the floor of this bathroom must look like. Comfortable restrooms outside the home are the Holy Grail of the largely unimportant but necessary portion of our lives. If you have one convenient to you, remember that you are among the fortunate.

Tough Call

I have a bet with a friend and evil St. Louisan about the Royals final record. Before the season started we set an over/under at 72 games. I took the over and he took the under. The first two months of the season things looked really bad for me, but the next three were awesome. As August ended, I looked to have the wager in the bag. Unfortunately, the Royals apparently only play good baseball when children are out of school. They have gone 4-10 in September, and I need them to go 8-6 over the last 14 to get at least a push.

It just so happens that after yesterday's debacle, the Chiefs need to go 8-6 over their last 14 games just to finish .500 (the same St. Louisan pointed this out to me).

So the question is which team has a better shot. I don't like the odds of either, but I would probably put the Royals at somewhere around 10 times more likely to achieve the the feat than the Chiefs.

Question

The Star has an article which states that Kansas City ranks 84th on a list of 500 cities with the best savers. It also includes this tidbit:

The state rankings showed many Midwestern states in the top tier, and many southern states near the bottom... Four of the bottom five states were in the South. Alabama ranked 46th followed by Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi, with an index score of 86.50.

This prompts a question. Are there any lists that you would generally like to be at the top of that don't find the Southern states bringing up the rear?

You Think You Know More Because You're There?

I hate it when a right-winger lectures me on how little I understand about the Iraq war, and about why it is such a great moment in American history.

But it is hard to imagine how much more it would irritate me if I was Hassan Khalidy, an Iraqi citizen, getting lectured by Ken Grant, my cyber-pal from Texas.

NPR has been running Khalidy's audio diary entries this week. The whole thing is really interesting, but the entry about Khalidy and Grant is almost inconceivable.

Well if You Compare Him to Those Guys...

Robert Draper, author Dead Certain, is fielding questions on the Washington Post website right now. Draper was the first author to have really good access to the Bush and many others in the administration. This question and answer from today's session is unintentionally hilarious.

Palo Alto, Calif.: Your book is wonderful work that leaves me shanking my head and full of questions. I have to believe your expressed fondness for your subject is sincere, but I can't for the life of me figure out how that can be. This president has created nothing but disaster for our nation, a disaster that has bled the military, the nations treasury, and erased our good standing in the world of nations and cost countless lives and limbs. Given these unmistakable facts, how can you maintain this fondness?

Robert Draper: I don't want to paint myself as some kind of saint--that would be laughable--but I do think I've been able over the years to write humanely about subjects who are controversial and even contemptible. For Texas Monthly and GQ, I've profiled pedophiles, stalkers, serial rapists, prison gang members and corrupt politicians. I didn't find it difficult to suspend judgment about President Bush and take him on his own terms. And I have to say, he's a likable fellow, whatever else one thinks of his deeds.

Heady Times

Daniel Gross has a column on Slate that considers whether the spending of the wealthy could keep the economy afloat.

So, should we fear an impending collapse in consumer spending? Recent sales figures from retailers like Wal-Mart, J.C. Penney, Dollar General, and Sears have been less than encouraging. But the huge mass retailers may not be the best indicators of overall spending...

At Saks, same-store sales in August were up a stunning 18.2 percent; at Tiffany, same-store U.S. sales rose 17 percent in the second quarter. Indeed, luxury retailers are in an expansive mood. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week (subscription required) that "this year, some 30 high-end retailers have opened boutiques in Austin [Texas], including Tiffany & Co., Michael Kors, Ralph Lauren, David Yurman, Louis Vuitton and Burberry." These stores are located in a new mall anchored by Neiman Marcus, where same-store sales rose a healthy 4.6 percent in August. Among the strongest performers: "designer handbags, shoes, designer jewelry, women's fine apparel, and men's."

Of course, the wealthy spend less of their income than the poor do but the point of the article wasn't really to lay out the case for upward distribution of income. The point was simply to look at the paragraphs excepted above and think for a second about what they mean.

Brain Science Isn't Rocket Surgery

The point of this story in the LA Times is that conservatives and liberals actually have brains that function differently. The story is really interesting and you should read it. But I'll choose to simply make a snarky observation about this passage.

Participants were college students whose politics ranged from "very liberal" to "very conservative." They were instructed to tap a keyboard when an M appeared on a computer monitor and to refrain from tapping when they saw a W.

M appeared four times more frequently than W, conditioning participants to press a key in knee-jerk fashion whenever they saw a letter.

Each participant was wired to an electroencephalograph that recorded activity in the anterior cingulate cortex, the part of the brain that detects conflicts between a habitual tendency (pressing a key) and a more appropriate response (not pressing the key). Liberals had more brain activity and made fewer mistakes than conservatives when they saw a W, researchers said. Liberals and conservatives were equally accurate in recognizing M.

So liberals see the letter "W" and their brain tells them something is amiss while conservatives see "W" and everything seems equally right with the world. Is this simply a coincidental hilarity? Maybe the scientists should pick a less loaded letter.

Oh boy.

It is going to be a long season.

The offense put up 219 yards, 4.5 yards per pass, and they were 3-11 on 3rd down.

But they'll be fine I'm sure. The guys on sports radio said so.

Sunday Morning Talk Shows 2

A while back I posted this about the guest scheduling tendencies of the Sunday morning talk shows:

Why is the debate on the Sunday talk shows between reporters whose job it is to at least attempt impartiality and right-wing pundits whose job it is to pundit right-wingedly?

Well it may surprise you to find out that me posting about a problem doesn't necessariy mean the end of said problem. From Steve Benen on Talking Points Memo:

On its face, it's rather mystifying that "Meet the Press" has made David Brody a regular contributor. While progressive voices have been effectively absent from the Sunday morning shows in recent years, Tim Russert has invited the Capitol Hill correspondent for TV preacher Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network on for political analysis three times in as many months.

Priorities

Apparently, putting an appropriately patriotic bumper sticker on your car does not mean you actually care about the Iraq war. From the Fox and Friends show, via the Corner:

FRED BARNES: Something happened in August that Democrats didn't expect. They expected Congress would adjourn, recess, and Republicans would go out and particularly hear from voters that they better get right on Iraq and oppose the war, and start withdrawing troops. . . .

Republicans didn't hear that at all. They heard practically nothing about Iraq. And I've talked to a number today. What they heard about was immigration. People are mad about the Bush administration and others on immigration and the border being leaky, and so on. That's what they were mad about.

So if you vote Republican, you apparently are much more concerned about the sandy south than the sandy east. So, is this an appropriate time to question the support of troops by our country's Republicans. I mean, if they really supported the troops wouldn't they be talking about that instead of talking about illegal immigration?

Of course, what I just said was completely ridiculous. More ridiculous, however, is that it is exactly the kind of argument they might use to beat down those with varying philosophies.

*********

Also great in this exchange is Mort Kondracke's assertion that the report by General James Jones - which said the Iraqi army would be unable to take over for at least a year and that the Iraqi police force should be disbanded - was "basically supportive of Bush." Huh.

Lots of Money

That is what is involved in a proposal to build a stadium for the Wizards and a mixed-use development on the former grounds of the Bannister Mall.

I would love for the Wizards to have a new stadium. I would love for that stadium to be in Missouri. I would love to see the mall building and the couple of hundred acres of pavement around it redeveloped. I would love for the area my grandparents lived when I was a kid to get new life.

But I would also love for Kansas City not to cost itself a large chunk of change on a project with questionable prospects. There are still serious questions about the viability of the downtown project, so shouldn't we see which way that one goes before committing to a similar proposition? In the Star article there are comparisons to the Kansas Speedway project. There are two problems with that analogy.

The first is that the Kansas Speedway draws as many people to one event as the soccer stadium is likely to draw to anywhere between 4 and 6 matches. Of course, the Wizards stadium likely wouldn't be the biggest draw in the complex. The 12 field "tournament-style" soccer complex would potentially bring in families with little soccer players from spring through fall. But is that traffic the same kind of traffic as the people coming to watch a sporting event? Do parents with 5 games in two days have time to hit Cabela's or Nebraska Furniture Mart?

That leads us to the second problem; the Speedway development already exists. What businesses can go into a new development site that aren't already at either the Speedway or going in downtown? How many destination shopping districts can a city use?

I don't know the answers to these questions. I just want to know that someone who can find the answers will really give them some consideration before we proceed.

(Tony thinks it might work given the quite funny "Country Music" theory.)

The Real Problem

Kevin Drum has a post up about a new book by John Chait, The Big Con. This is what he excerpts from the book:

After six years of following the Bush administration with probably unhealthy intensity, I've come to a couple of conclusions. First, as much as the Christian right sets my teeth on edge — and oh man, do they set my teeth on edge — I've become less and less convinced that they have as much influence over the Republican Party as we secular humanist types often fear. Sure, they get plenty of symbolic bones tossed their way (abortion funding overseas, Plan B mischief, and so on), but in terms of big, substantive policy changes, they haven't exactly been winning political battles left and right, have they? Basically, they get bought off with Supreme Court appointments, and since John Paul Stevens has remained improbably hale and hearty and the next president seems likely to be a Democrat, they're probably never going to reach their Holy Grail: a court willing to overturn Roe v. Wade. Howling about this, along with continuing to fight their losing war against gay people, will probably keep them occupied in impotent (but lucrative) rage for the next decade or so.

Second, George Bush has not turned our country into Amerika. This case is a little harder to make, since there's no question that he and Dick Cheney have pursued a relentless policy of using 9/11 as an excuse to engineer ever more monarchal powers for the White House. Just to name a few: Bush routinely uses signing statements to gut laws he doesn't like but doesn't have the nerve to veto outright; the NSA is apparently data mining millions of phone calls without even a pretense at probable cause; and habeas corpus has been suspended for American citizens on Bush's mere say-so. Still, compared to the Palmer raids of the 1920s, the internment camps of the '40s, McCarthyism in the '50s, and COINTELPRO in the '60s, it's frankly remarkable that our national response to 9/11 has been as muted as it has. America may be a bit the worse for wear in the democracy department compared to six years ago, but it's still America.

If you think I'm crazy, I guess you can stop right here. But as odious as these things are, the truth is that fears of Bush the Fascist and Bush the Theocrat are little more than minstrel shows that distract us from truly taking notice of Bush the Plutocrat — and that's the Bush that really matters.

Isn't this what has been so frustrating about this administration? The sheer volume of chicanery makes it impossible to maintain the proper level of outrage at everything. That means policy and action that might normally be met with scrutiny are simply overlooked while outrage rages about other outraging outrageousness. If you like the idea of elaborate conspiracies this sounds like an ingenious plan. I suspect they just got lucky.

Breathtaking

If you were in charge of a war that at best was progressing so slowly that even its supporters believe that it may take an unrealistic amount of time, and at worst is continuing to regress, what do you think you might have your mind on?

If you're Bush or Cheney, you apparently have your mind on starting another war:

After a brief interruption of his New Hampshire vacation to meet President Bush in the family compound at Kenebunkport, Maine, French President Nicolas Sarkozy came away convinced his U.S. counterpart is serious about bombing Iran's secret nuclear facilities. That's the reading as it filtered back to Europe's foreign ministries.

The story was written by conservative Arnaud de Borchgrave in the also conservative Washington Times. So anyone suggesting this is a liberal media conspiracy has even less credibility than usual. The best part of the story is two paragraphs later:

A ranking Swiss official privately said, "Anyone with a modicum of experience in the Middle East knows that any bombing of Iran would touch off at the very least regional instability and what could be an unmitigated disaster for Western interests."

No No-hitter

Mike Sweeney ruined Scott Baker's bid for a no-hitter with a single in the 9th inning of yesterday's Royals vs. Twins game.

It was nice to see the captain ruin something other than a Royals season.

Wizards Magically Produce Angry Fans

So it seems that David Beckham will not be "bending it" in Kansas City. One has to wonder if the Wizards now regret charging over 100% more than regular price for a ticket to the match. You have to imagine that at least 1 or 2 of the 25,000 people who have already purchased tickets might be just a bit upset.

So far the Wizards' response has been to go into denial.

Wizards president Robb Heineman remained steadfast in all possibilities until he’s heard officially that Beckham won’t be able to play, but said, “Regardless, it’s going to be a great game with the Wizards and Galaxy and going to be a great night at Arrowhead Stadium.”

The Wizard website is still up touting the game as the "Midwest Sporting Event of the Year." An hour ago they still had Beckham's picture up. They just now finally replaced him with Landon Donovan.

I do feel sorry for this the Wizards PR guy. His quote from the Star article:

“Obviously, it’s a disappointment for David Beckham, the Galaxy and the Wizards,” said Wizards director of communications Rob Thomson. “We still have a lot of live music and contests … we’re still going to blow up this game into a big event.”

I'm sure that the thousands of people who have never even payed regular price for a Wizards game will feel just fine about paying more than twice as much if there is music and contests.

It's depressing how the Wizards handled this because it should have just been an opportunity to get more fans out than ever before and show them what a good time MLS games are. Instead, they decided to turn it into their profit generator for the year, and now they may set soccer back even further in this town.

Here's to hoping they figure out a way to resolve the issue. I'd like to see soccer succeed in spite of the Wizards' previous efforts.

Hey We Could Be Lesotho

I mentioned yesterday new census numbers that showed median household income rising slightly in 2006 despite wages for each earner decreasing slightly for the 3rd consecutive year.

Kevind Drum points out that not all wages decreased actually. Wages near the bottom fell and wages near the top increased. What does that mean? It means our income inequality number (Gini) continues to rise. It is up 3.3% in the past 10 years as a matter of fact.

If the CIA's Gini numbers are correct, and assuming all other countries were stationary, that would move us from 83rd out of 118 measured countries to 86th out 118 measured countries. We're sandwiched right between the Dominican Republic and the Philippines.

Now I understand the argument that we are still the richest nation in the world, and that income equality sucks if it means everyone is poor. On the other hand, while we are actually 9th (out of 229) in per capita GDP, the top 5 in Gini coefficient average a not too shappy 37th place (and Norway who is 6th in both stats just misses the cut), while the block of 5 countries of which we would be the center would average out to 108th.

That is some pretty rudimentary statistical figuring to be sure. But is it possible to look at the numbers and not, at the very least, think about where we are headed.

People Really Do Listen To It

I was headed home last night around 10, and because the Royals were comfortably ahead in the top of the 9th, I decided to see what was going on in the bizarro-world of conservative talk radio. It seems 710 AM features one Rusty Humphries at 10 pm. Rusty is most famous for writing radio jingles apparently, though his star is ascendant in right-wing radio.

In his online bio, it says that Rusty has "been a contestant on The Wheel of Fortune, a tour guide at Universal Studios in Hollywood and was even a candidate for U.S. Senate." With credentials like radio-jingle writer, and Wheel of Fortune Contestant, you have to wonder how he didn't get elected to the Senate.

Anyway, the couple of minutes I listened to the show were the usual right-wing blather. They were talking about Sen. Craig's bathroom rendezvous and how all it really proved was that Republicans stood for good because they wanted to step down and that Democrats were morally deficient because William Jefferson was still employed.

No mention that Republicans also defended the raid on Jefferson. No mention of the long fight to keep DeLay or Scooter around. No mention that conservatives weren't nearly as loud when David Vitter was accused of sexual misconduct. No mention that Democrats yanked Jefferson's committee appointment, and have pressured him to step down. Only Democrats are reprehensible and Republicans are messianic.

But that isn't the point of this post. The point is that you must, absolutely must hear the theme song to Rusty's show. I personally think it is a joke. Probably not a joke that many of the listeners are in on, but a joke nonetheless. If it isn't a joke, then Rusty is truly one of the biggest songwriting hacks of all-time. But it has to be a joke, right? I desperately wanted to link to it, but I have been unable to find it. For those of you in KC, try to listen at 10pm to 710 AM. If you do you'll be treated to a chorus of "Heck yeah's" and a line about Rusty making you a millionaire. Honestly. If I can find the audio, I'll get it put up here.

Family Values

I know many people read a headline about gays getting married or schools teaching children about contraception and get all worked up that families are under attack. I think that is ludicrous, but that doesn't mean I don't see evidence of an assault on the institution of the family. Today's Washington Post features such evidence:

The statistics offered a mixed picture of the economy's ongoing recovery from the recession of 2000-2001. While median household income rose for the second consecutive year in 2006, the increase appeared to be driven by a jump in the number of people in each household taking on full-time jobs, rather than a rise in wages.

The addition of 2.2 million people to the roster of the uninsured was attributed largely to continuing declines in employer-sponsored insurance coverage.

So, last year, the average American family became more likely to need to send another family member to work to keep up, and yet they also became less likely to be insured. I'm no scientist, but I am going to guess that decreasing time with family and losing insurance create more strain on families than sex ed.

Not Satire

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the two sides of the political blogosphere would probably be more accurately described as two wholly different spheres. The subject matter on the left and right is almost never in sync. There are certain stories that bring the worlds into alignment, such as today's news that AG Gonzalez is resigning. In an effort to see how both sides would react, I began a trek across the vast blog landscape.

I didn't make it far. The reason is that I went to NRO's The Corner early in the search. Right at this very moment, they have two stories that I almost cannot believe are for real.

First is a blog entry with one simple line: "Kris Kobach for AG."

The statement links to a Michelle Malkin post with these words: "Another nomination from the comments section that I’d second: Kris Kobach. Yes, we can dream."

I can only assume that the commenter referenced was, in fact, Kris Kobach. If he can write his own bio on the UMKC website, surely he could nominate himself for AG.

The second puzzlement-inducing post is one about the fall of G.I. Joe.

Premise of post:

But of course, in the liberal land of Hollyweird, a Real American Hero is just unacceptable. Nope, it's gotta be a global hero. G.I. Joe will be a global operation, not an American one, and G.I. Joe now stands for Global Integrated Joint Operating Entity.

Story quoted in post:

So why the changes? Hasbro and Paramount execs recently spoke about the challenges of marketing a film about the U.S. military at a time when the current U.S. administration and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are at a low-point in global polls. When a studio makes a film as expensive as G.I. Joe will likely be, they want to know that as many people as possible around the world will want to see it. In other words, G.I. Joe -- "A Real American Hero" -- is a tough sell.

Conclusion of post:

Nothing is sacred to liberals. Nothing patriotic or American is worth preserving. And I'm sure it never crossed their little liberal minds that perhaps if Hollywood made movies in the vein of those released during WWII, in which America, the military, and our soldiers were portrayed as strong, patriotic heroes, rather than today's military movies in which the United States is always the bad guy, war is always "wrong", and our soldiers are morally corrupt, people wouldn't have such a negative outlook on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (the mainstream media should get that memo, as well).

If you had trouble understanding how a corporation deciding it couldn't make enough profit on an "American" G.I. Joe movie proves that liberals hate America, then you apparently haven't listened to enough talk radio.

USA!, USA!, USA?

I tuned in to watch Keith Olbermann on regular NBC for the first time tonight. Among the stories was this gem, reported earlier this week by the Washington Post:

But that does not mean the White House is against dissent -- just so long as the president does not see it. In fact, the manual outlines a specific system for those who disagree with the president to voice their views. It directs the White House advance staff to ask local police "to designate a protest area where demonstrators can be placed, preferably not in the view of the event site or motorcade route."

The reference is to a White House produced manual that explains what to do in the event that someone who disagrees with the president has the audacity to want to tell him about it. Look, I understand there is a need to be able to hold an event without protesters drowning out what the president has to say. But stopping disruptions doesn't even seem to be the point:

"If the demonstrators are yelling, rally squads can begin and lead supportive chants to drown out the protesters (USA!, USA!, USA!). As a last resort, security should remove the demonstrators from the event site."

Yet to be explained is how a USA!, USA! chant qualifies as extremely supportive of the president.

Awful

The weather was nice.

That is the only thing positive I can say about going to Arrowhead Stadium last night. Actually, last night was a reminder that when you buy tickets and pay ridiculous money for parking at a sporting event, you are really gambling. You are betting however much you pay for all that on your team's ability to entertain you. Everyone who went to the game last night lost big.

The callers to talk radio and some of the talking heads around town have spent the preseason trying to fight the reality that Chiefs are not a playoff team. I was harboring no such illusion, assuming that 5-11 or 6-10 were probably likely outcomes. But after last night, 6-10 seems like a pipe dream.

The Chiefs were not only outscored 30-7, but they were out-gained 479-153. They out-punted New Orleans 7-1. The defense did not force a punt in the first half. The offense mustered 3 first downs in the first half. The Saints averaged 5.3 yards per carry (the starters averaged 5.4). The Chiefs averaged 3 yards per carry. The Saints quarterbacks completed 85% of their passes. The Chiefs quarterbacks completed 45% of their passes (3rd stringer Jeff Terrell went 5-5, so the other two were actually at 33%).

This list could go on, but out of mercy I'll quit. It is unrealistic to think the Chiefs are going to be very good this year. But if they don't show, at the very least, a spark of promise and effort then I can't imagine fans continuing to want to dole out hard earned cash to see this crap. It's a bad bet.

Peas in a Pod

Some times things just make sense. On the way home this evening, sports talk radio featured an interview with Chiefs GM Carl Peterson. It seems Carl had breakfast this morning with a visiting President Bush. I may not have this quote precisely right, but Carl said something to the effect of "The President is a great man and I think he's doing a heckuva job." Not only do Carl and the Prez share vocabularies for affirmations, but they apparently evaluate success similarly as well. Probably the greatest similarity between the men, however, is that they both continue to hold their positions because the people who have the power to hold them accountable are willing to look the other way.

Science: Exciting and Unnerving

Scientists believe they will be able to create new, artificial life within 10 years. This is just one of the countless pieces of evidence that we are probably on the verge of an entire new era in our understanding of our world. Kind of like the golden age of physics, only involving our very substance. I think that is terribly exciting.

On the other hand it is hard not be at least a little unsettled by statements like this:

“We’re talking about a technology that could change our world in pretty fundamental ways — in fact, in ways that are impossible to predict.”

The author of that statement meant to capture the wonder, and he did. He also captured that feeling that disaster could lurk around the corner. This is what happens when you watch too many sci-fi movies.

Who's Cynical?

Not Karl Rove. At least that is what Michael Gerson argues in his Washington Post column. His proof is a statement by Rove that goes, "We were founded as a reformist party not to be against something, but to help the little guy get ahead."

You'll forgive me if that doesn't itself seem at least a little bit cynical. Karl Rove, champion of the little guy. For a guy who supposedly has a supernatural command of history, Rove seems awfully unaware of what kinds actions it would require to create the kind of history he wants for himself.

The Petraeus, er, Bush Report

So it seems that the Petraeus Report will not be written by Petraeus but by by the Bush Administration:

Despite Bush's repeated statements that the report will reflect evaluations by Petraeus and Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, administration officials said it would actually be written by the White House, with inputs from officials throughout the government.

And though Petraeus and Crocker will present their recommendations on Capitol Hill, legislation passed by Congress leaves it to the president to decide how to interpret the report's data.

The senior administration official said the process had created "uncomfortable positions" for the White House because of debates over what constitutes "satisfactory progress."

During internal White House discussion of a July interim report, some officials urged the administration to claim progress in policy areas such as legislation to divvy up Iraq's oil revenue, even though no final agreement had been reached. Others argued that such assertions would be disingenuous.

"There were some in the drafting of the report that said, 'Well, we can claim progress,' " the administration official said. "There were others who said: 'Wait a second. Sure we can claim progress, but it's not credible to . . . just neglect the fact that it's had no effect on the ground.' "

Dan over at Gone Mild thinks this is a crystallization of all that is wrong with how we are informed. His commentors seem to agree that he is an idiot, though they also seem to be disagreeing with nothing he actually said.

Kevin Drum thinks it is all expectation management.

The conservative blog world seems not to think much about it at all. This is actually a good topic for another post. It is really amazing to scan the leading liberal and conservative blogs each day to see what topics they cover. Invariably, whatever one is coverning most heavily, the other is unapologetically ignoring. Liberal blogs like to talk about the powerful keeping you down, while conservative sights like to talk about the powerless bringing us all down.

But I digress. With this administration, you never know what is going on. It could be an attempt to lie outright, it could be expectation management, or I suppose it could be a rope-a-dope intended force Democrats to make a big deal out of it only to then have Petraeus testify that things are going well before heightened media awareness. The last one seems pretty far-fetched to me, but it wouldn't be the weirdest thing that has happened.

I'm curious about how this one plays out.

Wanna Feel Small?

If the picture doesn't do it, the story probably will. Is there anything more awe-inspiring than space stories?

Old School Awesome

Apparently some things do never change.

Although Rove wrote Huffines that he and the candidates "met in the White House Fellows Program," neither Gonzales nor Rove are alumni.

Government by Those Who Hate Government, Part 3,212

It's a topic I return to over and over, but reminders that electing those who don't believe in government come around pretty regularly.

A man who I almost never agree with, David Frum, has a column in the New York Times about Karl Rove that I mostly do agree with. The title is "Building a Coalition, Forgetting to Rule." I would likely change that headline to "... Not Caring to Rule." But then I am not surprised by the Administration's disdain for government and Frum apparently is.

In fact, he still seems to miss the point at least a bit saying:

Paradoxically, the antigovernment conservatives of the 1980s took the problems of government far more seriously than the pro-government conservatives of the 2000s.

He still calls them "pro-government" conservatives despite all evidence to the contrary. Being willing to spend the nation's money in a manner heretofore unknown by either party does not make one "pro-government." It only means that you have reasoned that as a meaningless entity, government is available to you as a vehicle for personal agendas. You can't be much more "anti-government" than that.

Don't Blame Me, I'm Incompetent

Why is stupidity now such a rampant excuse for criminal wrongdoing? It's near epidemic at the national level, and now KC elected officials are getting in on the act.

McFadden-Weaver has said she sought the loan as a favor for an acquaintance who had promised to use excess proceeds to renovate a house owned by her church. Her lawyer also has suggested she didn’t understand the closing documents she signed in the fall of 2005.

I'm not suggesting that loan companies are above trotting out some nefarious language from time to time, but if you're a city councilwoman you should probably be able to read a legally binding document. I will always prefer a government of criminals over a government of the criminally stupid. The real danger is when you get both.

Turd Blossom

Two different perspectives on the departure of Karl Rove:

From Andrew Sullivan:

In the re-election, the president with a relatively strong economy, and a war in progress, managed to eke out 51 percent. Why? Because Rove preferred to divide the country and get his 51 percent, than unite it and get America's 60. In a time of grave danger and war, Rove picked party over country.

And a decidedly different take from Pete Wehner:

Some day books will be written about what a phenomenon of nature this man is. But some day books should be written about what a really fine man he is. He was the most relentlessly upbeat person in the White House, giving counsel and encouragement to all, and showing great kindness to many of us and our families.

What is amazing about this second account is that it slobbers all over Rove without ever refuting any of the charges that Sullivan (and nearly everyone else) make about his legacy. I'm all for people being nice, but is that really enough to keep you out of history's trash bin? Then again maybe he wasn't even that nice. So says this and this.

Math Question

This is the question that kept me awake last night.

Some people claim the universe has an infinite number of stars.

If we take it as a given that the universe has infinite space,

but that stars do not consitute the entirety of space,

then that allows a possibility but not an assurity of infinite stars.

If we ever determined that space was, in fact, not infinite, which some suggest, then we would be able to automatically assume that stars are not infinite either (or they would fill up and spill out of the universe).

But, if we were to somehow find out that stars were finite (I'm not sure how we would find this out), would that give us reasonable doubt about the infinity of the universe as well?

I'm not sure that it is actually a math question, but there might be a mathematical answer.

NYC

A great time. Highlights:

Royals vs. Yankees at Yankee Stadium. The Royals lost, but it was worth it to further amplify my hatred of the Yankees. The Yankees TV broadcast was playing in the hall, and the first bullet they flashed on the screen was that the Royals were "bottom of the barrel." That hasn't even been close to true for over two months. It sucks when the big guy doesn't even respect you enough to do research. Unfortunately, the Royals played like they believed it.

Chinatown. We ate there three times and we never dropped more than a $20 bill. I had a plate of barbecued pork and rice for $3.50 at Eastside Wonton House. After a great recommendation from Gone Mild Jr., we had soup dumplings at Joe's Shanghai. Unbelievable.

Entertainment variety. In five nights we saw a Broadway show (the very good Drowsy Chaperone), an 80's cover band, the Dave Brubeck Quartet (who can still play despite being somewhere around 300 combined years of age), a great Radiohead cover band, and a show of Chinese performers of all kinds. The grand total cost for all of that entertainment was less than $100 for two people.

Ellis Island. The boat ride out to the island is not for the feint of stomach on a windy day, but the exhibits on the island are great. If you aren't awed by the degree to which this country was built on immigration, you are either in self-denial or you must still be sea sick.

Architecture. Maybe it's some sort of psychological issue, but I find really tall buildings to be awe-inspiring. I'm also an art deco fan, and New York has examples almost as fine as those right here in KC.

Central Park. We spent an entire afternoon in the park and never left it's lower third.

Times Square. If you want to see why people hate tourists, go to Times Square. Anytime.

Neighborhood streets. Greenwich Village, the Upper West Side, and Prospect Park in Brooklyn were three places where you just got the feeling that you can live a more leisurely pace in the middle of millions of people.

Lots of other stuff that I'll probably remember and possibly append later.

Washed Out

I'm going to get to a post about how great New York City was, but first I have to comment on the disaster that was the trip home.

New York had a powerful storm that produced a tornado in Brooklyn, washed out the subway system, and predictably slowed air travel out of La Guardia. That delayed our flight by just over an hour. I thought this seemed like a pretty fortunate outcome all things considered.

The problem was that put us just far enough behind to arrive in KC just as storms were rolling in. The pilot came on and said the airport was temporarily closed. We circled. And we circled. And we circled. And then the pilot came on and said we could circle no more. We flew to Springfield and refueled. Then we flew back to KC and landed in some still turbulent weather.

We deplaned at 1:35 am, 3.5 hours later than we were supposed to land. It sucked, but I couldn't fault the airline (Midwest) for any of the decisions they made. I cannot say the same for KCI.

Air travel is rare after midnight in our fare city, so it makes sense that there are less airline employees around at that time on a normal night. Problem was, this was not a normal night. The airport doesn't temporarily close on normal nights. And 1.5 hours after we deplaned, we left the airport gates. This was because after the normal 15 minutes or so it took to get our luggage, there were 2 rather important snags.

First, we waited 30 minutes for a shuttle to the parking lot. It seems there are only three buses operating after midnight. I'm not sure how many people got off of all the planes that were landing much later than scheduled, but I am sure that it was more than three buses can hold.

Second, we waited another 30 minutes to go through the parking toll gate. There were two gates open, and about a half-mile of cars that wanted to go through them.

The question is why no one at the airport thought it might be a good idea to call in some reinforcements during the hour or so that the airport was closed. If they had we might have left the airport before 3 am.

Out of Office

For the three or four of you who are regular readers, I will be out until Thursday. I should return from the Big Apple with a few things to talk about. But how much talk probably depends on how much work piles up during the hiatus.

I will, if nothing else, definitely return with an account of watching my beloved Royals in Hades itself, Yankees Stadium.

Talk at you all soom.

Yeah Yeah Yeah

The Yeah Yeah Yeah's played at the Granada in Lawrence last night. They were everything you might hope they would be. The music was tight and energetic. Karen O was predictably nuts, but it is hard to imagine anyone being more endearingly nuts. She sings, screams, dances, poses, and puts on hats with giant tinsel strings. But it never seems forced. She doesn't seem to be doing a shtick. You imagine that is just how she reacts to the music. Guitarist Nic Zinner (young Gary Oldman) and drummer Brian Chase (young Richard Belzer) seem more than happy to just play and watch the show as well.

The set opened with three songs from their new Is Is ep. They never played the other two. The rest of the set consisted of a mix of songs from their two lp's that leaned more heavily toward Fever to Tell and a couple of songs that you'd have to get away from the major releases to find. It was a good mix, and it all sounded really good.

Two local bands opened the show. The first was The Beautiful Bodies, whose lead singer said the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were the inspiration for the band. I think a more appropriate statement would have been that Karen O was the inspiration for the lead singer. The band's music would be hard to pin down in any style. At points there were guitars that sounded like Nirvana in the Bleach days, hardcore hillbilly moments that sounded like Jimmie's Chicken Shack, and some pretty straight up bar band rock. The band played all the songs well.

Singer Alicia Solombrino was a dedicated Karen O disciple. She worked the dress code, the banshee vocals, and all the moves. The problem, of course, was that she isn't Karen O. That means that no matter hard she tries to match the performance, it will never be the same because it is an imitation. Here is to hoping she finds her own style because she can really sing (in fact, she's got a stronger voice than O by a long shot). She obscures that voice too often now with all the screaming, but she has the tools to be a really powerful rock singer.

The second band is hard to describe as a band. The more appropriate word would be spectacle. The SSION is a pop performance art group from KC. They have costumed dancers, props, video shows, and a synth and drums music setup. It's almost impossible to explain what it was I saw. Suffice to say it was an experience. The energy was ramped up to maximum through the entire set, which the audience clearly appreciated. All I can say is, if you have adventurous tastes and open-minded friends you should see this at least once.

Almost Missed This One

It's hard to keep up with all the Bush Administration shenanigans, but here is another.

The night before the government secured a guilty plea from the manufacturer of the addictive painkiller OxyContin, a senior Justice Department official called the U.S. attorney handling the case and, at the behest of an executive for the drugmaker, urged him to slow down, the prosecutor told the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday.

John L. Brownlee, the U.S. attorney in Roanoke, testified that he was at home the evening of Oct. 24 when he received the call on his cellphone from Michael J. Elston, then chief of staff to the deputy attorney general and one of the Justice aides involved in the removal of nine U.S. attorneys last year.

Brownlee settled the case anyway. Eight days later, his name appeared on a list compiled by Elston of prosecutors that officials had suggested be fired.

I know. I know. But the fact that you yawn at it doesn't mean you should.