Thursday, June 30, 2005

Greg Oden to Ohio State


It is a tough break, but this guy is only staying for a year as it is, so what’s the huge deal?

Davis bashers will use this as fuel, but unless OSU wins the championship, how are we really burned?

The biq question is: can we beat Duke at home?

Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Upset Special


Bracey Wright drafted by an NBA team!

He now has a few more weeks to get his passport and visa for Turkey.

Farewell to Polish Joe

Joe Borowski got released today. He was on the Score and showed LOTS of class. His arm may be dead, but he will hook on somewhere.

Good guy.

Idiot Cub Fans

Classic 2005 Cub Fan reaction last night: Corey makes the great catch and turns it into the double play. Of course, it was helped by another bad call by Joe West. Basically a makeup from an earlier terrible call against the Cubs.

Crowd roars and gives Corey a standing ovation. Baseball being what it is, he led off the next inning. Another standing ovation.

After striking out, the same "best fans in baseball" boo him lustily.

As Lee Elia said, "they talk about the great fucking support the players get around here. I haven't seen it this fucking year. They're really really behind you...my fucking ass."

Tuesday, June 28, 2005

The Right Fielder in Baltimore

It’s not yet July, and Sammy is getting booed at home in Baltimore. From Tom Boswell:

“There was a reason the home crowd razzed Sammy Sosa as he stranded five runners, went 0 for 4, grounded into a double play and booted a ball in the outfield to set up a Yankees run.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/28/AR2005062800012.html?referrer=email

Some other funny quotes about his manager’s decision not to have him sacrifice bunt, and a familiar quote at the end about his current state of mind. Sammy pressing and trying only to hit home runs? Shocking!

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

Andrew Sullivan's Correct Take on Durbin's Gitmo comments

I wish I were savvy enough just to put a link, but I am not.

When you read the account Durbin was citing you notice an important thing: the detainees were thoroughly dehumanized, robbed of any personal dignity, left in extremes of heat and cold, shackled, covered in their own urine and excrement, with one having apparently torn parts of his hair out, and left without food or water for up to 24 sleepless hours. Durbin could have quoted worse incidents - and there are many, far worse cases - but he wanted to ensure that his incident was testified by an FBI official. The moral question that Durbin is absolutely right to raise is a simple one: two years ago, would you have ever believed that the United States would be guilty of such a dehumanized treatment of a prisoner in its care? If the particulars had been changed, would you have believed that such a thing could have happened in a totalitarian regime's prison? Does the way in which human beings have been completely robbed of dignity, treated cruelly and turned figuratively into "barking dogs" shock your conscience? The moral question is not simply of degree - how widespread and systematic is this kind of inhumanity? It is of kind: is this the kind of behavior more associated with despots than with democracies? Of course it is. When a country starts treating its prisoners like animals, it has lost its moral bearings; and, in the case of the United States, is also breaking its own laws (and, in this case, the president has declared himself above the law). I don't know about Hugh Hewitt, Bill Kristol or NR, but I supported this war in large part because I wanted to end torture, abuse and cruelty in Iraq. I did not support it in order, two and a half years later, to be finding specious rhetorical justifications for torture, abuse and cruelty by Americans. I'm sick of hearing justifications that the enemy is worse. This is news? This is what now passes for analysis? They are far, far worse, among the most despicable and evil enemies we have ever faced. Our treatment of their prisoners is indeed Club Med compared to their fathomless barbarism. But since when is our moral compass set by them? The West is a civilization built on a very fragile web of law and humanity. We do not treat people in our custody as animals. We do not justify it. We do not change the subject. We do not accuse those highlighting it of aiding the enemy. We do not joke about it. We simply don't do it. This administration - by design, improvisation, desperation, arrogance, incompetence, and wilfull blindness - has enabled this to occur. They must be held accountable until this cancer is rooted out for good. It has metastasized enough already.

What I Did on My Summer Vacation

The wife and I stayed at the Renaissance Aruba for our honeymoon, and a had a fun time. We did not find Natalee Hollaway, but I am sure she is, as the LHPDW said, she was sold into white slavery.

Anyway, it was not a Five Star Resort, but was real nice and perfect for those who leave their pretentiousness at the door. Checking in and out was no problem, and a brief island blackout was handled real well.

We stayed at the Ocean Suites, which are simply large rooms, with a separate bedroom. The rooms were nice, nothing ridiculously different, and had a refrigerator, freezer, wet bar, and microwave. Our refrigerator was dialed way down, but no big deal.

True, the hotel is next to the Marketplace, an assortment of shops and yes, a Wendy’s and Sbarro, but they didn’t ruin my trip. In fact, it made for a real quick, cheap meal.

The Private island is nice, but the beach has a breakwater which cuts way down the number of eaves that come in. Yes, planes do fly low over the beach, but only the most picky find that a bother. The flamingos and lots of lizards were fun to watch.

We stuck mostly to the pool area, with lots of friendly people and a convenient bar nearby.

The biggest highlight on Aruba was the absence of “island time,” the often interminable wait for basic things at meals and at the bar. Didn't happen ONCE!

We also checked out the Seaport Casino, which reminded me of riverboat casinos back home. The waiters were beyond attentive, and the tourists there were fun, as were most of the dealers. One drawback was that the locals who played there seemed to be there more out of desperation than just some fun. I noticed less of that at the Crystal Casino up the street.

We ate at LG Smith’s restaurant at the main Renaissance, and it was typical upscale steakhouse. The Gaucho was derided as a tourist trap by some snobby types we met, but we enjoyed it. After all, we were tourists. The dining highlight, and possibly the overall highlight of the trip was the Flying Fishbone restaurant. It is a $19 cab ride each way, but the food and atmosphere were top notch, especially for romantics. The tables are literally on the beach, with some feet getting wet. The food was great, with the steamed mussels and crème brulee highlights. It doesn’t hurt that the staff there were some of the most beautiful and attentive women I have ever seen. Iguana Joe’s offers good sandwiches and colorful boozy drinks.

Friday, June 17, 2005

How long does a "last throe" last?

After McClellan outlined the president's plans, leading up to a key June 28th speech, ABC correspondent Terry Moran asked a pointed question, which referred back to an assessment recently made by Vice President Dick Cheney.

Q Scott, is the insurgency in Iraq in its 'last throes'?

McCLELLAN: Terry, you have a desperate group of terrorists in Iraq that are doing everything they can to try to derail the transition to democracy. The Iraqi people have made it clear that they want a free and democratic and peaceful future. And that's why we're doing everything we can, along with other countries, to support the Iraqi people as they move forward….

Q But the insurgency is in its last throes?

McCLELLAN: The Vice President talked about that the other day -- you have a desperate group of terrorists who recognize how high the stakes are in Iraq. A free Iraq will be a significant blow to their ambitions.

Q But they're killing more Americans, they're killing more Iraqis. That's the last throes?

McCLELLAN: Innocent -- I say innocent civilians. And it doesn't take a lot of people to cause mass damage when you're willing to strap a bomb onto yourself, get in a car and go and attack innocent civilians. That's the kind of people that we're dealing with. That's what I say when we're talking about a determined enemy.

Q Right. What is the evidence that the insurgency is in its last throes?

McCLELLAN: I think I just explained to you the desperation of terrorists and their tactics.

Q What's the evidence on the ground that it's being extinguished?

McCLELLAN: Terry, we're making great progress to defeat the terrorist and regime elements. You're seeing Iraqis now playing more of a role in addressing the security threats that they face. They're working side by side with our coalition forces. They're working on their own. There are a lot of special forces in Iraq that are taking the battle to the enemy in Iraq. And so this is a period when they are in a desperate mode.

Q Well, I'm just wondering what the metric is for measuring the defeat of the insurgency.

McCLELLAN: Well, you can go back and look at the Vice President's remarks. I think he talked about it.

Q Yes. Is there any idea how long a 'last throe' lasts for?

McCLELLAN: Go ahead, Steve....