"Stop Being A Bitch And Pitch!!"


That was my man, D, yelling at Mets relief pitcher, Aaron Hellman at the home opener on Tuesday afternoon. Hellman kept trying to pick-off Carlos Ruiz at second base. Regardless of what he was trying to do defensively, he still gave-up 3 walks, 2 hits, and 2 runs in that inning which sealed the Mets' fate on Tuesday. At least he knew that Ruiz would score, which he did on an RBI single.

Me Loves The French




I have never been to France. But I have heard time and again an interesting, little-understood fact. While it is true that the French tend to be snobs, somewhat condescending, and have a bit of an attitude problem, they are wonderful people compared to a minority group found in their major cities. That group is Chinese nationals, or to be more specific, Chinese businesspeople, or, as the Chinese government calls them, "Patriotic Capitalists."

We should re-familiarize ourselves with the Chinese flag. The big yellow star represents the communist state. The four smaller stars represent peasants (farmers), laborers (manufacturing workers), petty bourgeoisie, and "Patriotic Capitalists." It is the Patriotic Capitalists who have the privilege to do business overseas, representing their state and their businesses all over the world. One place they have found opportunity and prosperity is France. And without getting into a long post solely about them, I have been told time and again that Chinese businesspeople in France are monsters. They might be rudest, nastiest, least likable people found in all of Western Europe. Taking over the VIP section of clubs and ordering Cristal is expected when you are wealthy and have a healthy ego. I hear these people make Kanye West look like a quiet college professor.

So keep an eye out for stories about them. If what I hear is true, then the Wingnuts have gotten it all wrong. The monsters in France are not Muslim youths in housing projects. They are these Chinese millionaires shitting on and in Paris, Lyon, and Nice.

The French have demonstrated their dislike of this small minority, which I applaud. And today, I have an even bigger reason to applaud the French. Today, they clearly showed their dislike of the Chinese communist state. They snuffed-out the Olympic torch. Actually, they force the officials protecting the torch to extinguish the flame 3 times. Note that they did not extinguish the Olympic flame, which is enclosed in a protective, transparent lantern. But still, this moght be the first time than an anti-Olympic protest snuffed-out an Olympic torch. The Parisians did what the British protesters yesterday could not (they deserve kudos nevertheless):

And as of 14:00 New York time, Reuters and UPI report that the 17-mile Paris torch relay was aborted before it reached its end point. It had been nearly 3 hours behind schedule due to the protests.

Paging Congressman Waxman, Part 1

Oh, dear:

Investigators review VA credit charges

Seems a few bad apples at the VA partied in Baltimore and Vegas while vets are waiting for care. Surprised? But this bit was interesting as well:


After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the GAO estimated that 45 percent of Homeland Security purchase card spending during a six-month period was improper and included iPods, designer rain jackets and beer-making equipment. The credit-card bills are directly payable by Uncle Sam.

Heads need to roll over this. Oh sure, it's just thousands and not billions. Whatever. And surely this sort of thing will happen under the future Democratic president as well. But this simply does not look good in the context of supporting anyone's troops.

2007 Overdue Post # 2: Goodbye Afla Nose




Just wanted to tip my hat to the short-lived Alfa nose on Subaru automobiles. In a failed effort to give Subaru's a recognizable face, the company hired Andreas Zapatinas as its design head in 2005. Mr. Zapatinas had designed the Alfa 148 hatchback. His admiration of Alfa Romeo led to an inverted Alfa Romeo nose being given to at least five Subarus: the Impreza, R1, B9 Tribeca, and the B9 Scrambler and B11 concept cars. But this past winter, the final batch of Imprezas with the Alfa nose were sold. They were special editions of the Impreza in the UK, the Impreza RB320. That model completed production of the GDx / GGx Impreza (2002-2007).

The nose was hated at first. Later it was loved. And now it is missed.


 

 


We haav to pay our respeck.

2007 Overdue Post # 1: Congratuations Timo Glock




Congratulations to Timo Glock! I had meant to post this months ago. But now I have the time. Timo is the German race car driver who had a disappointing stint working for the Jordan F1 team in 2004. Then he excelled in his brief Champ Car career in 2005. Then he went back to Europe and won the GP2 championship in 2007 (no small feat). And now he is back to being an underdog F1 driver at Toyota. But for winning the GP2 championship, I want to acknowledge it here. A very belated congratulations, Timo!

The Lads Go For Three In A Row


Newcastle host Reading at 15:00 local time (10:00 New York time) on Saturday. Come to Nevada Smiths to catch the action live on the big screen. It promises to be electric, as Newcastle's home fans will be expecting a third straight win. The Toon will be rocking.

Or if you want to see an even bigger match this weekend, stop by at 07:45 to see Arsenal host Liverpool at Emirates Stadium. I predict a draw in that match.

Newcastle should beat Reading 1-0 or 2-0. I want a clean sheet (shutout)!

Ho'way the lads!

The Mess They Got Themselves Into


We have come to a bizarre twist in the ongoing chaos in Iraq. We now have Shiite militias - the al-Mahdi Army and the Badr Brigade - waging war against Iraq's Shiite-dominated government. It is all going to hell, and the handbasket has increased speed yet again.

But I want to take a moment to remind kind readers of how this latest development is directly related to the UK forces in Iraq. Remember them?

Where were most of the UK soldiers stationed? Basra. Iraq's second-largest city. Where has most of the recent Shia-on-Shia violence taken place? Basra. How did a city go from a relatively stable zone to the epicenter of a renewed civil war in less than a year? Ask Gordon Brown.

We know that Tony Blair arrogantly and unnecessarily marched into Iraq shoulder-to-shoulder with George W. Bush. Why he decided to make such a strong statement is anyone's guess. He threw away his legacy, his party, and a good deal of his nation's respect and prestige (what they had left). It seems to this author that Blair suffered from the same ailment as Ian Fleming. He felt the need to reassure his countrymen than Britain still mattered. But instead of writing pulpy spy novels, he did something far more expensive and tragic. As the recent 2-part Frontline documentary, "Bush's War" outlines, Tony Blair might have been counting on a UN resolution to legitimize his zeal and quick support of the US. But when the resolution fell through, Blair continued to back Bush. UK troops occupied Basra and kept things relatively stable for 4 years.

Enter Gordon Brown. He knows he has to withdraw British troops from Basra soon. But he does so at a very slow pace. It seems to this author that the British slowly let Basra fall into the hands of Shiite militias without realizing it. At first, this tactic reduced violence in Basra. But then the powder keg exploded after the British left their base in October.

I believe that the chaos in Basra is linked to our special friends and their own, separate strategic fuck-up. Of course Blair shouldn't have joined this crusade to begin with. But what's Gordon Brown's bloody excuse?

Hillary's Embellishment / Obama's Home Run


I just have one question: Why did Hillary repeat her embellishment on her 1996 Bosnia trip, even when small newspapers were onto the inaccuracies in her story? Frank Rich of the NY Times asked that question over the past weekend (registration required).

No, actually, I have a far better question: Why didn't she simply point to her travels as senator in her argument that she is the most experienced candidate. She did go to Iraq, correct? Why not mention her trips to Iraq? It's dangerous, right? This speech (below) was one of her best on the senate floor.

Meanwhile, looking back at what Barry did two weeks ago, I can now say with confidence that his speech was a home run. He freaking knocked one out of the park with this March 18th speech.

Say hello to your next president. It's about time we had a progressive with a brain.

What Rahm Emanuel Could Learn From His Brother, Ari


Ari is a straight shooter and pulls no punches. Rahm is brilliant, speaks well, and is a leader in the House. But he doesn't use his talents to attack agressively. Ari, on the other hand, knows how to attack. How else can he be a Hollywood agent?

Ari Emanuel: What Hillary Really Learned in the White House

I don't agree with him that Hillary is a natural, clever liar. But I admire his bold attack.

Time For Changes At Starbucks


Photo by Flickr user Slightlynorth, used here under a Creative Commons license

Reuters: New Starbucks CEO describes plan to make stores more individual, buy next-generation espresso machines, and make the culture more positive to win back customers after the corporation's first quarterly decline in sales ever.

They don't have to worry about losing me and millions of other New Yorkers. They got us.

We're So Screwed


Let's recap to see how we got to this point, with Bush telling Wall Street that everything will be fine prior to the fire sale of Bear Stearns to JP Morgan / Chase.

Warren Buffett stated the obvious on March 3rd.

Daniel Gross at Slate explains why neither Republicans nor Democrats on the hill dare say the R-Word.

Economists Stiglitz and Blimes have a new book called The Three Trillion Dollar War. I assume you heard of it. It confirms that the Iraq occupation spending has had a direct impact on the Treasury and the US economy. Here is the Reuters story linked to the book's release.

And then we had the very quick demise of Bear Sterns. If an employee had his or her nest egg in company stock, then it is all gone.

In the opinion of this layperson, we're just another financial crhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifisis away from a self-sustaining stagflation cycle. Think about the price of oil, the global credit crunch, the sharp fall of the dollar, and now runs on smaller financial markets. It all contributes to unemployment, inflation, and credit crunch for both consumers and businesses. Add-in the tax dollar money brings used to bail-out smaller markets and corporations, ad we have a serious crisis already. It has all the ingredients to be the worst recession since World War 2.

And in case you needed further proof, Jim Cramer is the last man anyone should be listening to. He should be retired. He made his money as a hedge fund manager and he has zero credibility. Ignore him if you aren't ignoring him already.

And it looks like Australia might be screwed, too.

Show Them Your Scars, John. They Turn Brian On.


Thanks to Digby and Crooks and Liars who pointed this out:

Brian Williams, MSNBC, Wednesday March 5th:


You know what I thought was unsaid —they took their position Chris, we’re seeing the replay — they end up in this spot and the sun is coming is just from the side and there in the shadow is John McCain’s buckled, concave shoulder. It’s a part of his body the suit doesn’t fill out because of his war injuries. Again you wouldn’t spot it unless you knew to look for it. He doesn’t give the same full chested profile as the president standing next to him. Talk about a warrior.

Who needs romance novels? We have a natural writer in Brian Williams. The sun. The battle wounds. The full chest of George W. Bush. Oh my. Where's the codpiece?