New York Is A Right-Wing CIty

I now fully understand the office of New York City mayor. I already knew it is a dead-end political position. No New York CIty mayor ever goes on to another elected office. But more important, every mayor since Ed Koch has had to be, for lack of a better word, a right-winger, even if there's a D after his name. He has to be 100% pro-cop, pro-Wall Street, pro-war, pro-corporate, and by extension, pro-rich. If you waver from that template, even in the slightest, you end up being smeared and driven out, like Dinkins and (soon) Wilhelm (de Blasio).

The New York (Jerusalem) Post and the police union are painting de Blasio as anti-cop, and a cause of yesterday's assassination of two uniformed officers in Bed Stuy. Why? Because two weeks ago, de Blasio said in a press conference that he understands "the talk" black parents have with their sons about being cautious in their interactions with the police. This is because he has had the talk with his son, Dante, who is black. That one, honest comment has ruined the mayor. In this town, simply acknowledging that blacks are treated differently than whites by the NYPD is an unforgivable sin against the police by the elected mayor. In the next few weeks de Blasio's approval rating will drop to near zero. de Blasio is going to be kicked out of town faster than Dinkins was.

New York is not a liberal town. This wouldn't happen in a liberal town. It is a hard, right-wing enclave that just happens to have better taste than most other "red" cities in the west and deep south. New York likes organic food, premium coffee, gelato, cocktails, gourmet doughnuts, tasting menus, and weed. It does have the strictest gun control in the nation, but that is logical, given how immense the death toll would be if even 10% of the angry, over-stressed population had firearms. It has always been pro-war. And it was never for the little people.

New York is also right-wing because it is home to a real estate bubble that only makes the rich richer. More on that in the long-delayed next post.

The Verdict Is In: One World Trade Center Is Terrible

I said it back in May, and now more and more people agree: The World Trade Center, and particularly One World Trade Center, is a big mess. And it's not because of the current rat infestation. It is an architectural and economic failure. And now it is a lasting symbolic one as well.

At least the name Freedom Tower was dropped. But that's just a positive footnote in an otherwise depressing saga. However, thanks to the media, and the popularity of our enless wars, tourists will still call it the "Freedom Tower" forever. 

The new One World Trade, the world's most delayed, most expensive skyscraper ever, is a brutal monument to the forces that govern this city and nation. Money, plutocratic megalomania,  and the arrogance that attends them, have labored and brought forth yet another monster. Congratulations America, your rebuilt, lower Manhattan super-tall trophy tower lives!

Breaking Wind

When I was about thirteen and entering high school, I tried to read Ms. Mitchell's racist screed. Needless to say, I failed, but not before I found myself wishing that Lincoln and the Union had let the racist bastards secede and be done with it. Gone With the Wind is more like breaking wind. Soon, no one will care about the film anymore.

The Slow Death Of Radio Shack Mirrors The Slow Death Of The American Working Class

I must say, aside from grabbing a copy of Capital in the Twenty-First Century, this is the must read economics article of the Christmas shopping season:

John Bois: A eulogy for RadioShack, the panicked and half-dead retail empire

What a nightmare the American working class is living through! Since the Reagan administration at least, American workers are routinely treated like soulless, right-less, replaceable machine parts. We're back to working conditions that were common before the Progressive movement, and which we imagined were largely abolished in the New Deal and Fair Deal of the 30's and 40's.

Well, we were wrong, and the capitalists have won. Hooray for us.

Update, February 23, 2015: As Radio Shack closes this week, John Oliver has contributed this little gem:

NUFC: Winning Is No Longer Accidental

Newcastle 2, Chelsea 1

What is it with Newcastle's success against Chelsea under Alan Pardew?

How many times has Pardew beaten Chelsea? He has done it four times; once each year since 2011. And if you go back to September 2010, when Chris Houghton was in charge, Newcastle have defeated Chelsea in five consecutive calendar years. Each time has been a rush. I treat myself to quality meat when it happens. I celebrated Newcastle's improbable upset victory at Stamford Bridge in the 2010-2011 League Cup with a filet mignon at SushiSamba. I celebrated this latest win with a bacon cheeseburger at the Piper's Kilt. 

In October and November, Chelsea looked unstoppable. They are arguably the best team in Europe.

How about this match? It evolved. It had transitions. It had a transfer in the balance of power, confidence, and control. If you are into tactics and grit, this was your must-see match of week.

The match began with Chelsea making crisp passes and creating chances. However, almost all of their early shots were off-target. Newcastle were struggling to create chances, and their attacks were being broken up well before they could get to their opponent's area. Newcastle's first big chance came in the 32nd minute, and it should have ended with a goal. Ayoze Pérez made a brilliant back-heel pass to Jack Colback in front of the net. Colback had a ton of net to aim at, and yet missed. He put his forehead down on the pitch, knowing that it could have been his team's only real chance of the day.

But then the game transitioned. Chelsea didn't control the match the same way they did in the first thirty minutes. Newcastle finally had some sustained attacks. There still weren't any shots on target, but they were holding onto the ball more.

During added time in the first half, Newcastle keeper, Rob Elliott, tore a thigh muscle while kicking the ball down-field. Seconds later, a cross from Sammy Ameobi didn't connect, and the half ended scoreless. Newcastle had few chances, were lucky not to be down a goal, and had lost their second string keeper indefinitely.

My feeling at that point was that Newcastle had a chance at a draw. So long as they did not concede the first goal, they were going to hang on for a point. There was no need to panic. Even with the third string goalkeeper, 21 year-old Jak Alnwick, taking over from Elliot, I was not nervous. On Facebook, I posted the following status:

“It’s going to be a thrilling 45 minutes of football as Newcastle attempt to hold off Chelsea. Defense!”

I thought half of the midfield did extremely well. And that half was named Jack Colback and Moussa Sissoko. In my notes, they shared the man of the match honors. They were involved in almost every big play. Which brings us to the 57th minute. Sissoko had possession and charged with the ball into the left side of the area. He rolled the ball to Sammy Ameobi, who quickly crossed the ball through Chelsea's Cahill and Terry to Cissé, who was perfectly positioned, and just had to stick out his right foot to score. St. James' Park came alive. Suddenly there was a game and Newcastle had a lead to protect. Cissé had come in to replace Remy Cabella in the 53rd minute. It had to be energizing to to see him make an almost immediate impact on the game.

The defense then stepped-up. Janmaat, Steven Taylor, Coloccini, and Dummett all did their jobs. With each minute, Newcastle seemed to gain a little confidence. 

Then things became shaky. Eden Hazard hit the post in the 78th minute. But Newcastle did one of the things they do best: they counter-attacked. In a stunning sequence that immediately followed, Colback, Pérez, Sissoko, and Cissé all combined to score the crucial second goal. It was a sequence that pretty much summed-up Newcastle's offensive capability this season. Colback began the counter-attack with a stiff-arm tackle and took possession. There was no whistle for that. From there, Colback passed the ball to Pérez at midfield, who was fouled hard into the air and down, but not before he made a short pass to  Colback. The referee made the call of the match. He gave Newcastle the advantage, and let them play on. Colback connected to Sissoko in the left side of the area with a magnificent through-ball. Chelsea keeper Thibaut Courtois came out to meet him, and almost got the ball. The attack looked over. But Sissoko managed a last-millisecond pass, through Courtois' hands to Cissé who calmly tapped it through a row of three defenders into the empty net. It was game over.

Except it wasn't. Of course not. This club? It's a roller coaster.

While Diego Costa and Fábregas lost their nerve and were both carded two minutes later, a Newcastle collapse was on the horizon, as Steve Tayor mad a bad challenge in the 81st minute, and picked up a second yellow card. He had been booked early in the second half for pulling down Willian. And this foul was no less intentional, as he ran over Schurrle 25 yards away from the Newcastle goal. It was cynical and reckless, and he was off. On the next play, Drogba headed the ball pass Alnwick on a free kick. The ball was visible from beginning to end, and Alnwick was not in the best position. Newcastle would be spending the next 9 minutes, plus 6 minutes of extra time, hanging on to a one goal lead. And they just hung on for the win.

Incredible. Jose Mourinho didn't take it very well at first, but was classy in the end. Sort of. As Gabriele Marcotti of ESPN pointed out, Mourinho is very clever, and selects his words very deliberately to help steer the English sports media.

Now how did this improbable victory happen? Was Newcastle better prepared? Did Chelsea see their trip up to the chilly northeast as a nuisance? Or was this yet another example of Newcastle relying on counter-attacks to stun a bigger, better club?

That's Matt's argument over at I Wish I Was a Geordie. Let's accept his argument that Newcastle are built to bite bigger squads through counter-attacking. After all, he's a pundit, unlike me. But then how do we explain that Newcastle have done it against 4 teams in just 2 months (City, Spurs, Liverpool, and Blues)? Do their opponents not watch footage and scout them? If Matt is correct, we can expect Newcastle to have similar success against Arsenal and Man United before this month is over.

On the flip side of Matt's argument, he has an excellent point. If Newcastle play a 4-4-2 diamond with a counter-attack mindset against dominant squads, how come they fail to get three points when they play a 4-3-3 formation against a more equal side? Why couldn't they beat West Ham or Burnley last month? Is it a lack of motivation and consistency?

Still, isn't it time to give Alan Pardew credit for this recent turn-around in form? What if Pardew's tactical plan against Chelsea was to get a draw? Then clearly his squad exceed expectations by scoring two unanswered goals against the best team in Europe, yes? Furthermore, can we explain how Newcastle effectively attacked Chelsea down the left side in both halves? Didn't Pardew do his homework? A good team needs to take advantage of lapses and mistakes by their opponents, and that's exactly what Newcastle did. And like everything else in team sports, the next game will tell us more about this squad, and how far they can go this season.

And so, how does Pardew and his players prepare for their trip to Arsenal with over 10 players unavailable due to injury or suspension? The back four appears to be set with Janmaat, Williamson, Coloccini (or Dummett), and Haïdara. But the midfield and strikers are anyone's guess. The consensus is that Newcastle are going to have to play Tioté, Cabella, Colback, Gouffran, and Anita in the midfield at some point in the game. So why not use a 4-3-3 formation? Have Colback be the center of the midfield, and Cissé be the center forward, with Pérez on the wing?

Here's a guess at what is possible on Saturday:

Now on to the pundits.

Jim McMeachin, Coming Home Newcastle: 

“Fabricio Coloccini and Steven Taylor had the unenviable task of stopping Diego Costa, who so far as we know is still living in Captain Colo’s back pocket.”

Michael Fox, ESPN: 

“It’s easy to say Cisse should have started, but he wouldn’t have offered such an outlet when Chelsea were piling on the pressure in the opening stages. Perez played that role nicely; Cisse then provided an instant impact. It worked perfectly, and sometimes managers — even Pardew — deserve the credit.”

I Am A White Supramacist

I have benefited from a system that has given me breaks, but has derailed, blocked, imprisoned, and killed others. I have played with toy guns outside, and I wasn't shot. I have talked back to authority figures, and I wasn't shot. I have walked down dark stairwells, and I haven't been shot. I have fallen down, and I have been given extra chances, time and again. And so, I have to acknowledge that one of the reasons I have made it to age 41 is because I am not a black man. And because I have benefited from this biased system, and I have paid into it, and I have voted for politicians who maintain it, I am a white supremacist.

Destroy this system.

NUFC: Another Team Effort Makes It Six Wins In A Row

Newcastle 1, QPR 0

Five league wins in a row. Six wins in a row. Three consecutive clean sheets. Fifth place in the Premier League table. Are you kidding me? Is this happening?

Newcastle put on an impressive display in the midfield, as Jack Colback and Remy Cabella led the squad to edge QPR in both chances and possession (the first time NUFC won over 50% possession in a while).

Ryan Taylor was also an early leader, with an electrifying performance in his first start in nearly 1,000 days. But a pulled muscle sent him off after a little over 30 minutes. With tears in his eyes, he feared the worst. But hopefully, his will return in early 2015.

The midfield battle, the team's consistent performance,  and in-game substitutions proved to be the difference in this one. When the winner finally came, it was a stunning shot by Mousa Sissoko, to notch his second game-winning goal in less than 30 days. He had a monster of a match, leading the defense with Cabella. When Ryan Tylor had to leave the match, the captain's armband was transferred to Sissoko for the second time this season, and he acted very much like a captain should.

Alan Pardew's critics argue that these last six victories have been accidental. They have involved luck, to be sure. But I find myself agreeing with those who argue that the club is doing better than expected with a weak system in-place. 

We have seen years of management by Pardew to understand his mindset and overall tactics. The last two seasons have shown us that Pardew has improved in his player selections, and the team is relying less on long passes. However, Pardew's system still relies on counterattacking, and whether intentionally, or due to bad luck, he relies too much on one striker. Pardew has not had a striker tandem since Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse in the spring of 2012.

There is another way to analyze this win streak, and it has to do with personnel. Pardew was not allowed to strengthen the team during the summer. He was only allowed to replace what had been lost, and get a couple of prospects for future use. Furthermore, we fans have no idea if Pardew has any input on who is being scouted and recruited (he assume he has no say). Due to injuries and the team's desire to keep the win streak going, Pardew has let the young guys play. 

Rolando Aarons and Ayoze Perez were not expected to get more than a few appearances, let alone starts. But now they are the new stars of the club. The players brought on board to be the new stars, Cabella and Riviere, have not yet reached their expected levels of production. But Cabella, Janmaat, and Colback have become stronger, working together in most matches. And finally, Massadio Haidara has gotten experience starting at left back, and he has gotten better. At age 21, he is showing the potential to be Newcastle's best left back since Jose Enrique. 

In short, Newcastle did not plan to become a deeper squad, but they now have depth thanks to a positive attitude, and the willingness of young players and the manager to give youth a chance. Add the fact that the team has stopped conceding the first goal for the time being, and the wins have stacked-up. 

It is on to East London now. If Newcastle can win or draw against West Ham, they will have their second consecutive undefeated November, and they will be firmly in competition for a spot in the Europa League. Winning is like a drug, and this team is the happiest and most confident it has been since the spring of 2012. Maybe next time they are in Europe, Newcastle can see a tournament as an opportunity rather than a distraction.

The story of this season is "let the kids play."

Chvrches Is Back With A New Single

Glasgow-based electronic pop trio, Chvrches is back with a catchy new single called Get Away. That's cool. This track has been added to the BBC-commissioned supplemental soundtrack for Nicholas Winding Refin's 2011 film, Drive, which is becoming a cult hit in the UK. That is also cool. Here's hoping this single and/or album is available to purchase soon.

Two More Shutout Victories Propel NUFC To Eighth Place

West Brom 0, Newcastle 2

NUFC notched their fifth straight victory and have leaped over several teams to eighth in the Premier League table. It was a second straight comfortable win, following last week's shutout of Liverpool at home. When their well-organized 4-3-3 formation put pressure on the Baggies, the opposition virtually lost its ability to mount an attack. Aside for a 7 minute stretch halfway through the first half, West Brom didn't threaten Newcastle for any sustained period.

Their goal differential has improved to -2. Tim Krul got his third clean sheet of the season (and his second straight).

The players of the match were at the front and back. At the front, young Spanish striker, Ayoze Perez, scoring first again for the Magpies with a morale-crushing, sublime, back-heel re-direction at the end of the first half. At the back, defenders Janmaat, Coloccini, and Dummett provided the tackles and a much improved aerial attack. The crossing and corners by Newcastle in this match were the best they had executed in months, perhaps years. Janmaat's cross to Coloccini's header put Newcastle ahead 2-0 early in the second half. West Brom nearly stopped playing, and the visiting Geordie fans made The Hawthorns sound like St. James' Park with their chants and singing. Newcastle need to continue to improve their air attack and set plays if they want to keep climbing the table.

The man of the match had to be Janmaat with both assists.

I think Newcastle must defeat QPR back home on November 22. Then they will regroup for a trip to West Ham November 29. They are two matches away from an undefeated November. This second international break of the season will be a lot less stressful than the first. 

Last year, an unbeaten November and a guy named Remy saved the season. This year, an unbeaten November could help punch a ticket back to Europa.

Closed Primaries

Gothamist: Democracy Inaction: The Sad Deserted Polling Places Of NYC

Yesterday was election day across the nation. But I wanted to make a comment about closed primaries, and how they don't help anyone except maybe the established parties and incumbents. I use the word "maybe" because it can be argued that closed primaries can harm the parties that promote them, gradually transforming both major parties into insular, centrist, lethargic organizations. About half the states in the nation have closed primaries, and they essentially do two things: they discourage voter turnout, and they suppress challenges to incumbents within the parties themselves. They are intended to prevent non-affiliated voters and registered voters from the other party from "raiding" the primary process. However, the consequences is that they disenfranchise independents who want to vote for challengers in the rare times they emerge. 

The primary campaign of Zephyr Teachout and Tim Wu in the New York governor's race is a prime example of how closed primaries kept out plenty of potential and real voters (myself included). Teachout and Wu are not mainstream democrats by any stretch. They have no corporate backing. They are tentatively in-favor of marijuana legalization. They support net neutrality (Professor Wu even coined the phrase in an academic paper over 6 years ago). Yet, in order to challenge Governor Cuomo in the most public and effective way possible, they ran as Democratic challengers in the primary. The problem is, only registered Democrats could vote for them. I recently shed my Democratic affiliation (mainly over my disgust with the party leadership, sluggishness on key crises, such as our decaying infrastructure and the ongoing global environmental catastrophe, and the continued Bush 43 policies under the Obama administration). Teachout and Wu gave Cuomo a bit of a scare regardless. But their impact would have been much greater if New York had an open, or a primary system open to non-affiliated voters (like New Hampshire).

Obviously, this is just a footnote in what has been happening in American politics since the 1970s. It is 2014 and we still cannot vote electronically. And in many states, we still cannot vote early on or our own schedules. It's as if the two parties do not want to make it easier for us to vote. And usually, they don't. 

Apathy reigns, and it's  easy to see why. People see voting as an essentially pointless activity. The economy limps along, all the increased wealth of the nation goes to the already rich, and a tiny, insulated elite always get what they want from every level of government, regardless of public opinion or the common good. So, why bother?

Obama's Brutal Treatment Of Whistleblowers

I'm still thinking of how to write a post titled "How Obama Failed." I tried to write it as an essay. It could be a book. I will let a journalist write the book. I think I will just stick to a list, because the list is growing every quarter.

So while I figure out a way to present what is becoming an increasingly common argument, I can turn my attention to another obvious, but under-reported topic.

President Obama and his administration have gone after whistleblowers more aggressively and more relentlessly than any other administration in US history. 2013 was the year of the persecuted whistleblower.

This post was supposed to go up in August 2013. But this is still a relevant topic. It's even more crucial when you realize how most Obama supporters are completely unaware of it.

So here, along with the links above, are some very good starting points for learning about this mostly untold legacy of the Obama administration.

Peter Van Buren: Silent State: The Campaign Against Whisleblowers in Washington

Peter Van Buren: Leaking War: How Obama's Targeted Killings, Leaks, and the Everything-Is-Classified State Have Fused

Glenn Greenwald: Secrecy Creep

“It’s genuinely difficult to overstate the significance of this systematic attack on whistleblowers. In a nation in which government secrecy is close to all-consuming — in which the vast majority of government acts of significance take place behind a classified wall — whistleblowers remain virtually the only avenue left for learning of serious political wrongdoing. Moreover, the attack on whistleblowing, by design, seriously impedes investigative reporting”

NUFC Defy Odds And History To Advance To League Cup Final Eight

League Cup, Fourth Round: Manchester City 0, Newcastle 2

No one thought Newcastle could advance in the current League Cup after drawing Manchester CIty away.

But tonight, Newcastle won their first ever match at the Etihad. And they did it with several of their reserve players. It was almost a youth squad. It was incredible. More significant, it was deserved. Newcastle's kids outplayed Man City for 98 minutes.

It was Newcastle's biggest win in the League Cup since upsetting Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in September 2010.

Man City dominated possession, 60 to 30 percent. However, they suffered from the same bug that inflicted Tottenham on Sunday. They couldn't get quality shots on goal, while Newcastle's defense and Rob Elliot stopped all the others. 

Ryan Taylor made his first appearance in over two years, since tearing a cruciate ligament in his right knee. He led the defense, while Gabriel Obertan (man of the match) was the most defensive of the midfielders tonight.

Oh yes, who did Pardew select to play tonight?

Newcastle were deployed in a 4-3-3 formation, with two teenagers, Adam Armstrong and Rolando Aarons, leading the way. There were six changes made compared to their last start at Tottenham. And it payed-off brilliantly. City were vulnerable early, and Aarons made them pay with a goal in the 6th minute. From then on, Newcastle played with intensity, and City just couldn't take back control of the match.

Paul Dummett, normally a left back, was asked to play as a center back, and he held up fairly well. Massadio Haïdara might have had his best match yet as a Newcastle player, putting in a full 90 minutes shadowing James Milner, and making the most interceptions of any player in the match.

City suffered injuries during the match, so an already weakened squad became weaker as the match went on. Defender David Silva limped off in the 8th minute. But that has no effect on the judgement of Newcastle's stellar performance. 

Pardew and company knew they could virtually guarantee victory with a second goal, and so they began the second half almost the same way they began the second half at White Hart Lane, with a pre-kickoff substitution of an existing striker (Aarons) with Sammy Ameobi. Aarons had a tremendous first half, but I suspect he ran out of steam, and was not getting firm control of the ball after he scored early.

Newcastle sealed the deal with two substitutions in the 65th minute. Moussa Sissoko came on for Janmaat, and Emmanuel Rivière came on for Armstrong. 11 minutes later, Sissoko dribbled through the left side of the area and blasted the ball to the far right side of the net. He looked angry after scoring. You could tell he had been waiting to score for months.

The Mags could still blow it, of course. There were 6 minutes of injury time added. Riviere could have made it three when the ball crossed inches away from him in the box. Newcastle could have sat back during those final minutes, but Haïdara, Obertan, Coloccini, and Taylor all finished strong on defense.

And there's no need to bring up the officiating blunder, is there? Obertan was on-side, and about to receive a pass at the top of the box, when Aleksandar Kolarov took him down before he made contact with the ball. There was no whistle and no penalty kick given. There wasn't even a free kick given. Replays from every angle show that it should have been at least a free kick, and at most, a PK and a red card. It was outrageous. But it's moot now. Also, how nutty is it that Obertan was nearly in alone on goal at the Etihad, with his team up a goal? This is how Newcastle drives us fans crazy. But what a fun two weeks this has been.

On Saturday, Newcastle host the Reds at what surely will be a loud, and slightly wild St. James' Park. Liverpool are suffering from morale and confidence problems at the moment. Newcastle must remain confident and organized. Their 4-3-3 formation held very well against City. They need to maintain their form as the first team players, led by Tim Krul, take the pitch in less than 72 hours.

Alan Pardew was, shall we say, smug? He couldn't quite contain himself in the first interview for Sky Sports. He settled down for the team video (the second video below).

Now on to some more links.

Alan Pardew:

“I do know what I’m doing.”

Neil Cameron, The Evening Chronicle: 

“The team was set up perfectly in that whenever they broke, they did so in numbers, Whenever City attacked there were at least six black and white shirts in front of Rob Elliot, who had a fine game himself.”

Phil, I Wish I Was A Geordie:

“The manager deserves all the credit in the world for how he lined the team up. Paul Dummett at center back and the returning Rolando Aarons and Ryan Taylor all came up aces for the manager. Even his substitutions were flawless.”

NUFC: Inspired Second Half Delivers First Away League Win Of The Season

Alan Pardew made changes both before and during the match at White Hart Lane, and got a result. It was an injury to Papiss Cisse that forced Pardew to change his attacking formation and striker selections. But it was the changes made at halftime that helped flip the game. 

I was going to title this post "Inspired Second Half Delivers Dramatic Comeback Victory Away." The point is obvious. Newcastle United had not come from behind to win a league match in over a year, and they had not won an away league fixture since March 1,  2014.

What happened? Well, let's start with the team Alan Pardew selected after confirming that his star striker was not available due to injury. Pardew once again ordered his team into a 4-2-3-1 formation. For the second straight match, Anita started in place of Cabella as the attacking midfielder.

Pardew's selections were precisely what Phil predicted over at I Wish I Was A Geordie.

Even a casual tactic observer like me knows that Obertan is more effective on the left side. He proved that in Europa League matches back in 2012. Regardless, this is what we got at kickoff, and right away, both teams under-performed for different reasons. Tottenham could have easily scored 2 or 3 goals, but lacked confidence in their final balls and touches, and they were not playing at full speed. 

What happened next might not be entirely true, but what was visible speaks for itself. Alan Pardew says that he yelled at his team, saying that they were playing like a small club, and that they had to change their attitude:

We needed to offer a threat. We’re Newcastle United. We’re not a small club. We’re a big club and we were playing like a small club.

Pardew began the second half with two halftime substitutions. Sammy Ameobi replaced Gouffran, and Remy Cabella came in for Anita. Newastle kicked-off to start the second half. Colbeck held the ball, backed up to the circle, with his back towards his keeper, and launched a perfect, 30-yard lob to a charging Sammy Ameobi, who controlled the ball on the left side and put the ball into the far right of the net. In just seven seconds, the match was level. And Newcastle took over the match.

From that point forward, Newcastle had the better passing and defense. They were shaky. Often, they went back to their habit of hanging back, when Tottenham was not putting on any high pressure at all. The Spurs became disorganized. Almost all their shots went wide. And then Remy Cabella did what was expected of him when he was acquired by the club. He put up a lovely cross, and Ayoze Perez, who had been in the correct position all match, but couldn't get the final ball, headed it past a defender and the keeper. 

Ayoze Perez had been keeping up with the more muscular, more experienced Premier League players all day. But he lacked finishing. He was not having a productive match. But that all changed when he got his first league goal, which proved to be the game winner.

The rest o the match was more typical Newcaslte United of late. Perez was replaced by Haidara, who interestingly played forward a lot, when he job was to break up passes and defend. Sammy Ameobi was electrifying as he broke up several passes by the opponents. Throw in some key blocks by Taylor and Coloccini, plus a couple of key catches by Krul, and it was game over.

We Toon supporters were shocked, and I think so was the manager.

Now on to what more expert pundits had to say.

Kevin Christie, The Mag: 

The Newcastle manager has his faults and the stats show just how poor his side have been since last Christmas but if he continues to be brave and throw caution to the wind, Pardew may just win one or two fans over once again.

Matt, I Wish I Was A Geordie:

There was no apparent strategy other than packing it in around goal. Then Ameobi came on at halftime and scored six seconds after the whistle, and suddenly Newcastle decided it felt like playing.

See more Pardew post-game comments here.
 

NUFC: A Turning Point In The 2014-2015 Campaign?

I have been away for far too long. I finally got around to upgrading this blog to Squarespace 7. And while I am still ironing out the new template, Newcastle's first victory of the season demands that I write about it.

And of course I missed it. Lady Serling and I were up in Newport, touring The Brakers, eating fried seafood, and doing the cliff walk.

I woke up this morning to jokes about After Eights on Facebook, and it took me a while to figure out what that was about.

I only knew one thing: Newcastle pulled off a must win. Could this be a turning point in their frustrating, under-performing season?

Tim Krul got a much needed clean sheet. Anita got a solid start. Armstrong was left on the bench, where he belongs. And Gabriel Obertan, arguably the hardest worker on the pitch all season, got the goal he deserved.

Suddenly Newcastle are one upset victory away from mid-table. They play Tottenham next in the league, and that would qualify as an upset, if they won.

Again, I did not see this match, but I understand that Alan Pardew continues to push his players into a 4-2-3-1 formation. Vernon Anita started as the center midfielder in place of the struggling Remy Cabella. Moussa Sissoko has not contributed in the midfield at all, but did play the full 90 minutes. And Newcastle had some chances. This could have ended 2-0 or 3-0. Key saves by Krul preserved the shutout. And the back four held together, with Ryan Taylor in place of Mike WIlliamson. 

Next match is Saturday October 25 at White Hart Lane. 

The NSA Can't Stop. Won't Stop.

The NSA Is Storing Tons of Data From U.S Citizens and Non-Targets. Fortunately for our government, our citizens will never get mad nor demand accountability. This summer, Germany has expressed more outrage than anyone in the US ever could.

We Were Warned. We Didn't Listen.

Three months after its publication, this article by Graham Readfearn is still very sharp, and a great reference for all your charming debates with science denyers. I and other authors here at MLH will repeat it forever: the IPCC, by and large, has produced very accurate reports that almost always underestimate how soon tangible changes to our climate will be measured. It seems with each report, changes predicted in the last report have already become a proven reality, years ahead of original predictions.

Graham Readfearn via The Guardian: The hellish monotony of 25 years of IPCC climate change warnings

NUFC: Another Summer Of Discontent

This this time of year,I try to write a post about Newcastle United's summer transfer activity and strategy for the new season, which begins just over a month after the FIFA World Cup concludes. 

I began writing this post on June 8 at San Juan International Airport. I was in the same terminal in June 2011, which was Alan Pardew's first summer with the club as manager. In that month, Pardew embarked on his strategy of buying undervalued French players and trying to develop them into Premier League starters. Newcastle had bought one such player before Pardew was hired. That player was Hatem Ben Arfa, an under the radar deal completed by Pardew's predecessor, Chris Houghton.

Pardew's four purchases that June signaled an attempt to build a new midfield. He brought in Sylvain Marveaux (left wing), Gabriel Obertan (right wing), and Yohan Cabaye (attacking center), the man who could become Newcastle's next number 10, to lead the offense. The hope was that Marveaux could replace Jonas Gutierrez, and Obertan could start cup matches, giving the injury-prone Ben Arfa rest in what could have been a run of seasons in the UEFA Europa League, as well as a possible League Cup run.

Well, Newcastle supporters knew what happened after that. The club had a season in which they overperformed, due in large part to their defense and it's rising star goalkeeper, Tim Krul. That gained them entry to the Europa League. However Pardew and the club almost immediately regretted playing in Europe. In match after match in that tournament, Newcastle showed resiliency in the backfield, but an inability to score up front. While Cabaye and Ben Arfa proved themselves to be the most talented offensive players, there were strong signs that they didn't fit with the other players. Also, it had become well documented that Pardew was deploying 3-3-4 and diamond formations because he recognized that he lacked natural strikers who could be used in a 4-4-2 formation.

Despite Pardew's occasional encouragement of diamond formations, the squad lead the league in long passes, rather than the short, triangular passes that can sustain attacks and produce chances. The squad gradually replied on counterattacking for goal scoring opportunities, no matter which midfield players Pardew chose to start. It wouldn't be long before knowledgeable supporters recognized that the squad's problem was not a matter of incorrect player selections by the manager, but rather a failed strategy.

Pardew and the board brought in talented players who were not attracting too much interest from bigger clubs. Simply put, they were making value conscious purchases. If one of them proved to becomes quality starter in the EPL, such as Cabaye, then he became a profitable sale opportunity. Conversely, if he was not trusted or utilized by Pardew, he became dead weight, and lose value, as was the case with Marveaux.

All the while, Newcastle's inability to score proved to be the biggest concern. They dropped from sixth to sixteenth in the table in just twelve months, saving their 2012-2013 season with a lucky win against QPR in the penultimate match.

Players who fell out of favor were felt away, with unsuccessful attempts to replace them during transfer windows. Furthermore, the last two summer transfer windows before this current one were not productive. It was about about cashing in rather than building. A spurt of purchaes in January 2013 helped save that season, and until this month, there had been no new acquisitions.

Which brings us to this current round of purchases. Basically, Pardew and company lost an entire year in maintaining their squad. What we are seeing today, with the purchase of two players, should have occurred a year ago. However, that was blocked by the asinine hiring of Joseph Kinnear as Director of Football, who essentially blocked Pardew from doing what he needed to do to right the ship (putting aside the probability that Pardew doesn't have a chart to navigate his ship).

Now Pardew finds himself in a very similar position he was in last June. He has lost talented players. His squad cannot score, and is in terrible form. Pardew has become the sixth consecutive manager since the Sir Bobby Robson era to fail to steer the squad to a positive goal differential in the EPL.

This summer, Pardew is faced with the additional problem of a broken defense (something I doubt he recognizes nor cares about). Last year, the defense was a key injury away from being broken. Fortunately, Mike Williamson surprised everyone and became the squad's most improved player. However, this squad cannot rely on Williamson in the season ahead. Every defender, with the arguable exception of Dummett and Williamson, is no longer helpful. Coloccini wants to leave. Steven Taylor has served his purpose. Matthieu Debuchy wants to reunite with Cabaye at PSG. And Davide Santon, once one of the best offensive defensemen in the Premier League, has become a liability. This defense, ideally, needs to be completely rebuilt.

But time was lost last year, and now time is being lost this year, as the World Cup has the whole football world shelving transfer news for the next month. And the stack of things to do over at the club is higher now than it was in May 2013. Last year, Newcastle arguably only needed a new defender, midfielder, and a striker. They only managed to get a quality striker on loan. This summer, they need 3 or 4 new defenders, 2 or 3 new midfielders, and 2 or 3 new strikers. But that won't happen. They are already running out of precious time.

Before the World Cup, Newcastle was able to make two small purchases. They purchased second tier Spanish striker Ayoze Perez. Days later, they acquiredJack Colback on a free transfer after his contract had expired at Sunderland. Now transfer season is on-hold for Newcastle until the World Cup is finished. What ar the next moves, Alan? The league fixtures have been announced, and the clock is ticking.

Challenger Me This

Will the next-generation Mitsubishi Pajero arrive on the islands of Puerto Rico before their thousands of Navitas (Challengers), and Monteros die off? Mitsubishi is still very popular as a brand in Puerto Rico. While new Lancers and Outlanders sell well on the main island, older SUVs and the long lost Civic competitor, the fifth genration Mirage, are seen all over Vieques, one of the most brutal environments for cars and trucks. Three more Nativa examples and an old Montereo are pictured below, all seen in Vieques in recent years.

I must say, I like the first generation Nativa / Challenger (1995-2008). It had clean lines, a spacious interior, and in the later years, a five speed automatic. They can be seen today all over Vieques (a fine example is pictured above). It is a proven off-roader on three continents.

The New World Trade Center Is Already A Failure

To the surprise of absolutely no one, the World Trade Center site is a disaster on every level where failure was possible. It can't make money, it's an aesthetic nullity, it dishonors the dead, and is the crown jewel of the dysfunctional relationships that permeate the corrupt Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. What's worse, of course, is that this outcome was predicted more than a decade ago, by just about everybody with any knowledge of the situation.

"It's Their Thing. Let Them Have It."

For the last 13 months, I have been shocked, dismayed, and heartbroken by my birth city of Boston. I know I am in the minority. But let me explain.

I used to be a proud Bostonian. I'm not sure if I was ever proud to be from the US. But when it came to Boston, I wore my pride and pretty much tried to sell my city to every friend I made who wasn't from there. It's the birthplace of American liberty, I would tell people. It isn't nearly as racist as Spike Lee says it is, I would go on. It's white, sure. But man it is educated. It has the highest number of post graduates in any city. It's citizens are refined and fast walkers. And despite having a high concentration of colleges and universities, it has always been a pro sports town.

It took me a long time to look at Boston critically. There was a time when most Red Sox fans were baseball gurus, who were knowledgeable of the sport and its history. But one humid August evening in 2003 I looked down at the Fenway crowd from an infield roof box, and saw tons of frat boys and girls in pink caps all double-fisting brews. It was a thrilling victory against the Mariners. I had been a fan since the age of 4, and I was still only 30. But I knew right there that I could no longer see the Sox live and not be bothered by those kids. I was certainly pleased to see Boston pro sports teams collect a mountain of silverware soon afterward. At the time of my final live game at Fenway, the Patriots had won two Lombardi trophies, and the Red Sox were about to miss the AL pennant in a loss more heartbreaking than the 1986 MLS championship series, because it was to their mean spirited, arrogant, arch rivals.

Part of my shift was personal. By 2003, I had lived in Brooklyn for 8 years. As 8 became 11, I moved to Manhattan, and as 11 became 17, I let the Red Sox go, and pledged my allegiance to the Mets in 2008, the only other real "Yankee Haters" in the majors (apart from their closeted Yankee supporters, of course).

Boston has always been home to income inequality. While it took a long time for its housing market to recover from the 2007-2008 crash, Boston is almost as hot as San Francisco or Manhattan. It's a wealthy town, no matter how much puritan modesty might be left.

I am more upset with New York, and I always will be. New York is an imperialist city. It supported the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It gave George W. Bush more than a chance in his first term. Mayor Bloomberg did more than that. He invited the RNC to the city in 2004 and began a ten-year  beatdown of the Bill of Rights. From suspicionless searches of salarymen in the subway to suspicionless stops and searches of young men on the streets, the Fourth Amendment was an enemy of his administration.

New York is no longer a beacon of freedom. It is a glimpse into the future America, ruled by the top 5 percent, where the bill of rights is a list of dead letters for everyone else.

But it wouldn't take long for my birth city to get back onto my radar. In January 2007, things got ridiculous when unauthorized, illuminated ads were installed in various locations in the city. The reaction from Boston's police and mayor was despicable and embarrassing. The the freelancers who installed the devices were nearly charged as terrorists. And Menino didn't admit he and the state overreacted until the fall of 2013, when one of the freelance artists was hired to make illuminated displays for Boston's First Night celebrations.

Which brings us to how Boston reacted when real, yet totally baffling terrorism arrived in 2013. It was not the first time. Bostonians were terrorized by the British (of course in today's terms, that's state sponsored terrorism, or simply colonialism). The last time Boston experienced terrorism was in 1994, when John Salvi shot seven people in two separate Planned Parenthood clinics in Brookline, killing two. So Boston is by no means isolated from the rest of the US and the extremism and slaughter that can occur anywhere.

What happened at the 2013 Boston Marathon will continue to perplex people for generations. It does not fit any common pattern of terrorism on US soil. The US, as bad as it is in foreign relations and spreading war worldwide, is not interfering with Dagestan, where Tamerlan Tsarnaev (the deceased, elder brother) visited for a few months in a futile attempt to join Islamic militants in their cause to impose sharia law in the region. For reasons still not clear, Tamerlan went back to Boston and decided to carry out a bombing that would draw attention to himself and his cause, even though Bostonians were in no way involved in the issue.

Unlike most terrorists, he wasn't attacking civilians of a nation that was oppressing his people (he was a naturalized American). He wasn't protesting a military occupation, which is another primary motivator of bombings, and the overwhelming reason young people carry out suicide bombings. He wasn't carrying out an attack over a domestic issue (abortion and anti-government sentiment being the big ones). He was an angry, lost, perhaps even bored young man. He and his younger brother, Dzhokhar, could have carried out the bombing in whatever city he was living in at the time. So until we have a clearer idea as to why this bombing was inspired in Dagestan but executed in Boston, I cannot comment on the bombers themselves. But what I can comment on is the reaction, and how it forever ruined my relationship with Boston.

Simply put, Boston over-reacted. Consider this: had the Tsarnaev brothers opened fire with handguns or rifles, and shot dozens of people before being tackled or killed by police (who were all over that area), would the incident be classified as terrorism? Would there have been a One Fund? Would there have been “Boston Strong”? Would there have been weeks of media coverage, and a cathartic return to the finish line when the Red Sox surprisingly clinched MLB championship over four months later? And more important – would it have become a Federal case? Would the surviving brother be charged with terrorism had he used one or more guns and not a single explosive? Why did a crime that killed four and seriously maimed close to twenty get almost as much media coverage as the Oklahoma City Bombing some 18 years before? I argue it is because of two reasons. First, it was after 9/11, and second, the weapons were two bombs. Boston went nuts because bombs went off. What made this terrorism was not the murky motive, but the weapons used. And they were small bombs, comparatively, in the world of explosives.

And I would go a step further. I argue that that this always was a local crime, and not something that should have been blown into a Federal case. Don't Americans know the alarming levels of gun violence in their country, especially after 20 children where gunned down in December 2012? What happened in Boston did not rise to the same level of destruction and loss. Not even close.

Maybe my beef is with the DOJ and not the city of Boston? Oh, to hell with them both. Here's why.

In some respects, the BPD and marathon security did their jobs. No one with backpacks could have approached Boylston Street until security was relaxed a bit. All the elite runners had passed and thousands of people had left the area by the time the Tsarnaev brothers arrived.

Two black power bombs, and Boston's reaction was quite telling. There was a lot of frat boy and macho chest thumping over terrorists and how they should never have messed with the Commonwealth on Patriot's Day. Familiar words were thrown around, such as us, them, and USA. Boston's response was quickly branded by social media, inspired, in part by the Army Strong ad campaign. Because we never have government sanctioned rallies and protests, Boston took their rage to sporting events. The Bruins and Red Sox in particular turned their homes into "Boston Strong" epicenters. Politicians rallied around it. And it was nearly impossible to avoid the phrase for the remainder of the year anywhere in US news, pro sports coverage, and social media.

Boston Strong was more than a hashtag or rallying cry. It became a brand. It could be monetized. And the One Fund, the charity built to help compensate the families of those killed and pay the exorbitant medical bills of the wounded, raised over $70 Million. It had a far reach, appearing as big advertisements on the sides of douple-decker tour buses in New York City at its peak. As a socialist, I feel the nation should pay everyone's medical bills. The One Fund did its job to cover the medical expenses of those who were maimed, and it was closely watched and found to be a well run charity.

But my issue remains the reactions. We have the reaction from the young, pro-war males. Boston Strong, dude! Next up, the politicians. It wasn't much better. We saw how Mayor Menino and AG Martha Coakley racted to the 2007 bombing "scare." Did politicians fare any better when an actual violent event took place in 2013? Not really. And I really can't go much further without becoming more upset. Elected officials should lead. But often all they do score cheap points. In the old days, they would show up to a public event. Today, they just take to Twitter. 

Then we have the reaction from the US news media. This was the most predictable, but still ridiculous. As I argued in my master's thesis back in 1998, news media create a template, or "master narrative," based on major events, and re-use them when a similar, or seemingly-similar event takes place. The Boston Marathon bombings sent the US news media cycle into 9/11 mode, minus the TV news ticker. The media ran with almost every lead they got, and once again, predictably, repeated the propaganda from the government. Without any verification, quite a few media outlets ran with the narrative that the bombers were foreign Muslims, and not US citizens. After all, who else bombs anything in the US in the 21st Century?

I am not the only one to argue that this incident was classified as terrorism because of the weapons used. Glenn Greenwald explains it a lot better than I ever could. His analysis, written about 36 hours after the bombings, is worth a read. His core argument is outlined in his fourth point concerning the media and government reactions:

"The reaction to the Boston attack underscored, yet again, the utter meaninglessness of the word "terrorism". News outlets were seemingly scandalized that President Obama, in his initial remarks, did not use the words "terrorist attack" to describe the bombing. In response, the White House ran to the media to assure them that they considered it "terrorism". Fox News' Ed Henry quoted a "senior administration official" as saying this: "When multiple (explosive) devices go off that's an act of terrorism."

Is that what "terrorism" is? "When multiple (explosive) devices go off"? If so, that encompasses a great many things, including what the US does in the world on a very regular basis. Of course, the quest to know whether this was "terrorism" is really code for: "was this done by Muslims"? That's because, in US political discourse, "terrorism" has no real meaning other than: violence perpetrated by Muslims against the west. The reason there was such confusion and uncertainty about whether this was "terrorism" is because there is no clear and consistently applied definition of the term. At this point, it's little more than a term of emotionally manipulative propaganda. That's been proven over and over..."

And finally, we have the most serious, and worst reaction of them all – the Department of Justice and local law enforcement. Public transit was shut down. The Bruins and Red Sox games were canceled. Schools were closed. Working adults were told to stay home. And SWAT teams went door to do to sweep searches of houses. That had never happened before in US history for an incident like this. This was not Chernobyl.  Governor Deval Patrick, as great as he was before this event, committed an unforgivable sin against his citizens and the Constitution. 

Let me see if I get this correct. Two gunpowder bombs go off on Boylston Street in the waning hours of the Boston Marathon. The bombs are planted by two young men from Cambridge, who, for lack of a better word, are total losers. They have no escape plan. They don't try to hide their faces when planting the bombs. In the crucial hours after the bombing, their actions speak volumes about their desperation and lack of planning. In a different order than I can recall, in the 26 hours following the bombing, they delayed getting out of town, bought snacks, witnessed an armed robbery in the store they entered to buy the snacks, stole cars, got into a shootout with the MIT and Cambridge police, killed an MIT officer (who the media and public then referred to as a victim of the bombing and/or terrorism), and went on a futile ATM run. In that hunt for cash, they mistakenly believed that if one ATM wouldn't accept a card and various pin numbers for a cash withdrawal, then the solution was to drive to another ATM and experience the same denial of service.

They were losers, Boston. Accept it.

And during this time, the FBI and BPD went to lengths seldom seen before in our nation in order to find their suspects. They locked down Boston and its surrounding cities, including the two big cites across the Charles River – Cambridge and Somerville. All MBTA mass transit was suspended. Citizens were advised not to go to work and remain indoors. All of this for two losers from Cambridge whose arsenal at that point included a pistol and BB gun.

I caught a lot of flack from friends and strangers when I argued back then than the lockdown of Metro Boston was overkill, unnecessary, and a sad, temporary loss of one of our most cherished American freedoms – the freedom to move about peacefully and at will, without having to show ones papers or abide by a curfew. The lockdown was bullshit, and I am quite happy to point that out until the day I expire. The argument can be made that the surviving Tsarnaev would have been found (and probably killed) sooner if there had not been a lockdown.

I have heard people backpedal, saying that the lockdown was not mandatory. If you needed to get in your car and go to a doctor or get Dunkies, you could have. And there are Bostonians who realize how over the top and ridiculous the lockdown was.

After the World Trade Center was destroyed, anyone trying to enter lower Manhattan south of 14th Street (and later Canal Street) had to show their papers to prove they lived in the restricted area. The WTC was a smoldering mass grave that smelled like chlorine and mercury. Over 2,900 had been killed. Our nation was virtually at war. Boston was locked down over two violent stoners from Cambridge. Need I say more? Apparently so.

What exactly was Boston doing? Did they want this to be bigger and more traumatic than it actually was? Did some really think that two gunpowder bombs on Boylston Street amounted to a massive attack from a foreign entity; that someone in the world had declared war on their town? Simply put, did Boston want a 9/11 to call its own? Did it want a terrorist event to define their existence for the next few years? Did they look at New York and think, "We like the way New York lost its shit after 9/11, and went all pro-military and pounded its chest and pretty much acted like an asshole for five years. We want to do the same!"

I think Boston flirted with the idea. But I am happy to report that it didn't stick. There will certainly be a memorial of some kind (one that won't charge admission at least). Boston has two memorials for great fires that took many lives - the Coconut Grove nightclub fire in 1942, and the Hotel Vendome fire in 1971. I expect something similar to be installed on Boylston Street in the months and years ahead.

Returning to Boylston Street the first weekend of May, 2014, I walked past the first bomb location, and past the video cameras at Lord & Tailor's that captured the bombers. I went into Starbucks next to my favorite Boston restaurant, Atlantic Fish Company, and saw a simple chalk board congratulating this years field of runners from around the world. I didn't see "Boston Strong" anywhere. Not one sign. Not one ribbon. Not one T-shirt. There was nothing to indicate that I was at the site of our nations last deadly bombing.

If that holds, maybe I forgive Boston a little. But not entirely. I knew when I graduated from university in 1995, that I would never live there. I am a New Yorker for the time being. I am still drifting away from Boston, despite it's slow admission that it behaved badly.  Every so slowly, I turn my eyes to a wonderful little city where the living is good, the art is plentiful, and the cops really enjoy shooting mentally ill and/or homeless people. Bye bye, Boston. Hello, Albuquerque.

How did I react to the bombings? I might have overreacted, myself. I was losing touch with the Red Sox for years, but I severed all ties in 2013, and fully embraced the New York Mets as my pro baseball team. I made a point to travel to Boston less. I even made an effort to stop buying Gillette products. I went a little bonkers, even though I would argue I never went as bonkers as Boston did.

The title of this post comes from my partner, who was able to clearly tell me how to back off and let Boston have its moment. But I still wanted to publish this post, so I could explain myself and see how it holds up as the years pass.