http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSL3147787120070531
Some of Mr. Putin’s comments:
Â
“There is a clear desire by some international players to dictate their will to everyone without adhering to international law,” Putin said. “International law has been replaced by political reasons.”
“In our opinion it is nothing different from diktat, nothing different from imperialism,” he added.
I’m watching the Twins/White Sox right now, and Hawk Harrelson really needs to stop whining about the strike zone. White Sox hitters Joe Crede and Rob Mackowiak had no problems with the calls that Hawk is whining about, as a matter of fact, on a 2-2 curve, Mackoviak turned and walked away - disgusted at himself - BEFORE the ump made the delayed strike call, and Harrelson STILL whined about it.
In the case of Crede, he took a fastball on the outside corner, called strike, and his demeanor didn’t change one bit. Trust me, if a major leaguer has a problem with a called strike, you can tell. From a frozen moment to a head shake to a quizzical look to a glance at the ump, there are myriad ways they express their displeasure. Trust me again when I say Crede had no problem with the call.
As further “evidence” of poor officiating today, Hawk had the crew replay a 3-2 pitch to Minnesota’s Michael Cuddyer, obviously low and away. Cuddyer took off towards first, the Sox catcher didn’t complain a bit, and just stood up and threw it back to the pitcher, and the game continued. It was close, but it was a ball, and no one on the field argued.
Hawk hates the Minnesota Twins. He hates that this little team with so much less “star power” than the White Sox have kicked Sox butt four of the last five years. He can’t call a straight game when the Sox play the Twins. Line drives by Twins’ hitters are called “ducksnorts” and “I can’t believe these guys constantly get hits like that”, while bloop singles by Sox hitters are referred to thusly: “Now that’s a great piece of hitting, staying on the ball, put it in play, good things happen.”
Being a homer is one thing, you’re SUPPOSED to favor your guys a little bit. But you’re also supposed to tell it like it is. If the players don’t whine about the umps, then Hawk should back off, too. If Minnesota thumps the Sox year in and year out (and 10-4 and 9-2 like so far this week), Hawk should give credit where credit is due. To his credit, I’ve heard him do it when the Sox play other teams. But not the Twins. He hates ‘em. Good. They can’t stand him either.
Today on ESPN, I heard a reporter use the term “pled guilty”, and to me it’s like fingernails on a chalkboard. It did not used to bother me, but then an editor - and he was a good one -Â at the newspaper I wrote for in Carson City, NV, explained to me why it should bother me.
I said “I think he pled guilty,” one day in the newsroom in response to a question, and was quickly admonished by the aforementioned editor. He said that “pleaded” was the proper legal term, that “pled” was another of those lazy versions of words that, while incorrect, were becoming accepted simply because people used them and those advocating correct usage were being outnumbered.
I’ll preface this by saying I will NOT be Nancy Grace and convict someone before the evidence is in, like she did with the Duke lacrosse players…an incident she refuses to apologize for even though it’s now been proven what most of us already suspected…Grace is an idiot.
With that in mind, I will say this:
If ESPN’s Sunday report of Michael Vick’s DEEP involvement in the barbaric activity of dog fighting is true, not only does his NFL career need to be over, this dude needs to go to prison. Dog fighting is illegal in all 50 states, and a felony in 48 of them. The NFL already has far to many felons, ex-felons, wannebe-felons, and shouldbe-felons in the league. New commish Roger Goodell has started to suspend players for their idiotic activity. If the allegations against Vick are true, he needs the ultimate penalty: NO MORE FOOTBALL. EVER. If the allegations are proven, he will most likely do time or plea bargain into a hefty fine. If that happens and the NFL does NOT terminate his career, they will prove themselves once again to be weak and only after the almighty dollar.
The very loud and very obnoxious Stephen A. Smith just admitted on national TV his East Coast bias.
He is incredulous that the NBA lottery results mean that the top picks are going to Portland and Seattle, and thus that’s probably where Greg Oden and Kevin Durant, the obvious 1 and 2 picks, will be going. Smith is upset not because one of his favorite teams didn’t get these guys, he’s upset that the NBA didn’t rig the lottery to get those two guys to “more marketable East Coast teams”. He actually said he wished the lottery was rigged! For marketing purposes. To paraphrase, he’s saying “Damn fairness, we’ve got to get these guys where the league can make the most money off them.”
For years, I have claimed that Chevrolet has ridden on the coattails of Pontiac when it comes to design. Pontiac designers come up with beautiful cars…Chevy whines to the powers that be inside GM…and all of a sudden Pontiac’s designs become Chevrolet vehicles.
It all started in 1964, when Pontiac’s design team came up with this:
Look familiar? Yep, that’s as close to a 1968 ‘vette as you can get…but it was a 1964 Pontiac concept called a “Banshee”.
Well, the whiners over at Chevy have done it again. In 1999…that’s right, EIGHT years ago, Pontiac showed this at auto shows around the country:
That was going to be the next GTO. You can even see “GTO” in the grille. But no. The internal whining commenced, and Pontiac had to scrap the car, instead getting a Holden Monaro as the 2004 GTO. It was boring. A Cavalier on steroids. And it did NOTHING for Pontiac enthusiasts. It was a great car underneath, but Pontiac buyers expect loud styling. The 2004 GTO didn’t have it. This 1999 concept certainly did. But whatever happened to it?
By golly, THERE it is. But wait. What’s that thing on the grille? Could it be? Yep. There’s your 2009 Camaro, folks. Fully 10 years after Pontiac already did this car.
The 2000 Grand Prix I’ve been driving since it was new will be the last GM car I will ever purchase. The new Camaro, and Chevy’s crybaby internal attitude, are the reasons why. Some people buy whatever car they like today. I have, through my adulthood, preferred to remain loyal to a brand, in this case Pontiac. I’ve had 13 of them. But it looks as though I won’t get to 14.
Ozzy, Heart, ZZ Top, and Genesis.
All were honored on VH1 tonight, all performed, in Genesis’ case it was their first appearance together in 15 years, and all had tributes payed to them.
In a recent post, I lamented today’s so-called music masquerading as rock and tonight was a perfect example of what I spoke of. All four of those bands played a different kind of music, from Genesis’ spacey, organ-driven soft/medium rock, to ZZ’s bluesy, boogie, guitar rock, to Heart’s Zeppelin-tinged straight ahead rock, to Ozzy’s metal. And you know what? It’s ALL better than the crap that is out there today.
Paying tribute were Nickelback (to ZZ); Keane (to Genesis): Queens of the Stone Age (to Ozzy) and Alice in Chains w/Gretchen Wilson on lead vocals (to Heart). And they all proved to could play music when they want to. Alice in Chains has long been a good band, and I admit to knowing nothing about the British trio Keane, but Nickelback and the Queens sounded pretty good doing great music (”Sharp Dressed Man” for Nickelback;Â “Paranoid” for the Queens). If their albums of today actually sounded like that, they’d be megastars right now, the biggest rock acts on the planet.
So, it’s not that today’s bands can’t emulate legends from the past and the style of rock that sounded great, they’re just not apparently smart enough to actually do it.
Wow. All I can say is wow.
My favorite excerpt:
“…Because, on the subject of Iraq…
The people have been ahead of the media….
Ahead of the government…
Ahead of the politicians…
For the last year, or two years, or maybe three.
Our politics… is now about the answer to one briefly-worded question.
Mr. Bush has failed.
Mr. Warner has failed.
Mr. Reid has failed.
So.
Who among us will stop this war—this War of Lies?
To he or she, fall the figurative keys to the nation….”
Read the rest. I mean, really read it. Dems, Repubs, and everyone else. Read it.
I like motorcycles. Don’t own one, not sure if I ever would, what with all my other interests, I don’t know when I’d find the time to ride. But I like ‘em. I think they’re pretty cool.
That being said, when I saw a dad cruising the other day with what looked to be about a nine-year old girl on the back…and neither one of them wore helmets or had their legs covered, I wanted to pull up next to him and ask him where his head was at. Leave your own head uncovered? I don’t care, you’re an adult, and since the laws are so screwed up in this state that it’s not required, that’s his perogative. But at least put a helmet on your little girl, for Pete’s sake. I get so pissed when I see this stuff.
I saw a show on Speed tonight that showed several NASCAR drivers participating in the Japanese “sport” of drifting, where drivers throw a car into a smoky power slide and hold it there while being judged on style, control, and other factors.
When I heard the announcer call it “The ’sport’ of drifting”, I became agitated. Anything judged is not a sport, it’s a competition.
Which party has a female candidate for president? Which one has an Hispanic candidate? Which one has a black candidate? Guess what: It ain’t the GOWMP. (Grand Old White Male Party). And a bigger question…why are they not being called on it? What happened to Colin Powell? Where’s Elizabeth Dole? I’ll answer that: the powers that be in the party don’t think these people, who are in one case not white and the other not male, could get “the base” (i.e. Fundamentalist christians) to vote for them. Sad, because both would be better candidates than the majority that has been rolled out for us to see.
For the record, I’m a white male.
How come I risk getting a ticket for having grass “exceeding 10 inches” (I think that’s the East Peoria Yard Nazi standard, from when Diane had an office there), but the city/county/state can let weeds grow to two, three, sometimes four feet along the sides of railroad tracks, two lane county roads, and ditches? I was driving alongside a railroad track outside of Kewanee the other evening, and couldn’t see the tracks from 20 feet, because of the weeds growing up alongside them. I’m not sure I could have seen the train if one went by.
I’m grocery shopping today, checking out, and the guy behind me decides he’s going to try to share my clothes with me as I’m entering my PIN in the debit card pad.
You know the kind…as you’re getting ready to unload your cart, you try to move from behind to in front of your cart, and his cart hits you in the ass as you try to move. Then, as you start to unload your cart, his cart rams into yours while he is busy gaining all of his weekly knowledge from The Enquirer.
You know the kind…after you get you last item on the conveyer belt and put the little stick down behind your items, he moves the stick to within 1 millimeter of your bread and starts piling his stuff on the belt, like that’s going to make things go faster.
You know the kind…as you’re paying, he’s trying to watch your fingers to see if his PIN is the same as yours. Then, as you start to put the items in your cart to leave, his kids leap past you start to play in the five foot area between you and the door, putting you in a redneck-family sandwich. Â
I….HATE…these moments. I need my personal space. I would like to have at least 10 inches between me and the guy behind me, let alone the three feet that would be more polite. One of these days, I’m going to revert back to my high school basketball days and box the guy out until Diane has my cart completely paid for and loaded, and THEN he can start to put his crap on the conveyer belt. We’ll see how he likes it.
While traversing Eastern Iowa today on the way to pick up my son for a visit, I heard The Who’s “Long Live Rock” and AC/DC’s “Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution” within a few minutes of each other, and I’d like to respond to both claims.
Regarding Pete Townshend’s words “Long Live Rock, be it dead or alive!” I agree, as long as said rock is of the 50-s through some of the 90’s variety. But Rock as we children of Rock and Roll know it is indeed dead. Today’s “rock” (I hate equating that great word to today’s so-called “music”) is completely digustingly terribly awful. Never worse. For the first time in 20 years, given the choice, and being forced to listen to one over the other…I’d choose hip hop over hard rock. Today’s bands suck. Worst ever. It’s not music. It’s f’ing noise.
Which leads me to the AC/DC claim: 20-30 years ago? No, it wasn’t noise pollution. Some of it was bad, but most of it was great. Today? It’s noise pollution. Period. I’d rather put a chainsaw and my head simultaneously into one of those large metal toolboxes and crank up the chainsaw for an hour. The pain of that noise would be FAR less than the noise I’m hearing out of so-called “bands” who profess to be making “music”.
No, I’m not old. I will still rock out with the best of ‘em. Hence the reason I was listening to classic rock and turning it up to Nigel Hufnel’s vaunted “11″ on the way to get the boy today. But today’s…”music”… is killing rock and roll. It may already have.
March, 2006 - Army bans “Dragon Skin” body armor, saying it doesn’t pass rigorous Army testing.
May, 2006 - Army begins testing “Dragon Skin” body armor.
May, 2007 - The media finally breaks it.
May, 2007 - Are our soldiers wearing body armor that might not be as good as some other body armor now available? Are they doing it because the manufacturer of the older body armor is in bed with the Pentagon (and maybe some key war profiteers whose names start with “Chen” and end with “ey”), while the manufacturer of the newer body armor is not ”in good” with the military brass?
Another question…if the guy who invented the current body armor were to say the new “Dragon Skin” body armor was better (which he did) than the stuff he invented, would that not mean something to the parents of a soldier, or to the soldier him/herself?
Just wondering.
I’m in an online simulated baseball league with 27 other guys from all across North America (yes, we have a Canuck or two) and the neat thing about our little “community” is how we talk about everything, not just baseball. Baseball has become secondary quite often to talk of families, kids, politics, culture, media, etc.
So I received an email from one of the guys the other night, an attorney in a large Southern city, and I can’t keep it to myself. Everyone (or at least the few that come in here and read the rants) needs to read these words from my buddy Dan:
“To me, the White House’s multiple acts of clearly running roughshod over the Constitution is a bigger deal than is the mistaken decision to go into Iraq.Â
Mind you, I’m not defending the decision to go into Iraq or to stay there now. But I do think that it is not inherently wrong to commence war to remove the world of an evil dictator. We would have been justified in joining England in declaring war on Germany when Hitler invaded Poland rather than wait until after Pearl Harbor. We could have been justified into invading Iraq to rid the world of Hussein even if there was no credible threat directly against us. But to do so, we needed to have thought through the consequences, including strengthening Iran and the religious fundamentalists in the Middle East, together with the sectarian violence that was long repressed by Hussein’s acts. Fighting a war in Iraq, even as aggressors, was / is not inherently wrong, but fighting a war designed primarily to seek vengeance because of a verbal threat made against one’s father, or to line the pockets of Halliburton investors, is.
Anyway, what the Comey testimony, together with the warrantless wire tapping, Gitmo quasi-trials, torture of prisoners, deprivation of right to access the courts, etc. shows is a President who believes that he is above the rule of law. We are a country of laws, not one of men. When a man, however powerful, can ignore the law, what this country stands for crumbles. There may be some very limited situations where the Jesuit approach of the ends justifying the means may be warranted; here, clearly, is not one of them. This is a story that should be shouted from the rooftops, this is a story that warrants impeachment, this is a story that the man elected president and his closest and most trusted advisors do not believe in the very foundation of what makes this country great.”
A recent discussion at The Blogfather’s Site centered on an idiotic plan by some Democrats to invoke the “Fairness Doctrine” in an effort to stifle guys like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. Air America, the failed, for all intents and purposes, left leaning radio network, was mentioned in the discussion.
As a guy who’s been in and around radio for almost 30 years now, this is my take on why Air America is not cutting a wide swath of success
It’s time to play Wolfowitz Watch!
Sometime in the next 48-72 hours, Paul Wolfowitz will be out at the World Bank (shouldv’e happened the day after the latest scandal was exposed, but that wouldn’t be very Bush-like, now would it).
Just enter into the comment section what hour and what day the news will break that this moron is finally ousted, and I will offer up a fine prize from my personal prize closet. It could be a CD, a hockey-related souvenir, a NASCAR (sorry, NAZICAR) souvenir, or a personally grown plant or flower from my Kewanee flower garden. (Seriously, I’ve developed quite the green thumb!)Â
Taking entries starting now, and we’ll take entries until noon tomorrow (Thursday, May 17), or if he is fired in the morning, we’ll end it then. Good luck!
NOTE: This really is an easy contest, because you know the outcome. It’s like quail hunting in an enclosed area.
EDIT: Contest is over, no one wins! (Except me, I get to keep the valuable prize I was willing to part with. And the World Bank, which is now rid of Wolfie.)
Wow, this Romney guy is good. This is from a Richard Cohen column when no one was paying attention back in February. Now, of course, just three months later, Romney is FauxNews’ choice as the GOP nominee. Read on for an excerpt from the Cohen column.Â
Some wild stories in James Comey’s testimony this week. This needs to be front page news for a l-o-o-n-n-g time.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/05/16/BL2007051601034.html
Only one question after reading the whole thing: Why is Dick Cheney still in any position of authority anywhere in this country?
Okay, one more question…why is the radical, gun-toting, NRA right making so much noise about “the left wants to take away our freedom”, but they don’t have a problem when one of their own does it?
“Textbooks are Soviet propaganda.â€
Yeah, I mean, what the heck can young people learn from…textbooks?!?!?
“Homosexuality is Satan’s diabolical attack upon the family that will not only have a corrupting influence upon our next generation, but it will also bring down the wrath of God upon America.â€
Oh…my…supreme being.
“I do not believe the homosexual community deserves minority status. One’s misbehavior does not qualify him or her for minority status. Blacks, Hispanics, women, etc., are God-ordained minorities who do indeed deserve minority status.â€
Yeah, keep them blacks, hispanics and women in their places, right Jerry? And those “homo-sex-u-als” are even LOWER than that, aren’t they? Ah, you were such a caring and forgiving man.
“…You’ve got to kill the terrorists before the killing stops and I am for the President—chase them all over the world, if it takes ten years, blow them all away in the name of the Lord.â€
KILL, KILL, KILL!…(in the name of our most gracious and loving god. Pass the potatoes. Amen.)
“If you’re not a born-again Christian, you’re a failure as a human being.â€
Yeah, Albert Einstein, Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Thomas Edison. You damn failures.
Forgive me if I don’t shed a tear at the passing of this man. I feel for his children, it’s always hard to lose a parent, no matter how off base they were.
This time, some DVD’s I’d take with me if I was going to the proverbial deserted island, and in no particular order. The only stipulation is they have to be in my collection already.
 Top 15 action/drama:
Obviously, if someone said, “you can only take 5″, I’m not going. Heck, that’s just the drama list. Haven’t even got to the sports or comedy movies yet.
I’m sure the anti-war, pro-choice, gay athiests are somehow to blame.
EDIT: Just to remind the idiot (starts with a V) where the genesis of this comment came from:
 And, I know that I’ll hear from them for this. But, throwing God out successfully with the help of the federal court system, throwing God out of the public square, out of the schools. The abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked. And when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad. I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way — all of them who have tried to secularize America — I point the finger in their face and say, “You helped this happen.” - Jerry Falwell, on why 9/11 happened…in his warped mind.
10. Pontiac G6
Yes, I’m a Pontiac man. I’ve had 13 of them in a row. But my next car will most likely NOT be a Pontiac. Why? Several reasons. First, the disappointing 2004-2005 GTO. While Dodge was building muscular, retro machines like the Charger and Magnum, and Ford had a hit with the new/old Mustang, Pontiac put out a Cavalier on steroids and called it a GTO. Sure, it ran great, as a matter of fact it was a great car. But boring. Sickeningly boring. GTO’s are supposed to be visually-loud, boy-racer, “here I am, sucker” kind of cars. The 2004 GTO was not. It was boring. Too bad.
Secondly, Pontiac designers got it right by announcing a 2007 GTO that was MUCH better looking. Want to know what it looks like? Check out the much talked about “new Camaro”. THAT was SUPPOSED to be the GTO. But Chevy, whining like they always do behind corporate doors, got the design given to them so they could do it for the Camaro. Chevrolet has done this countless times. The C4 Corvette that was released in 1984 was simply a two-seat version of the ‘82 Firebird. Don’t believe me, check out photos for yourself. The C3 Corvette that bowed in 1968 was an EXACT replica of a 1966 Pontiac showcar called the “Banshee”. Anything GOOD that Chevy has ever done has been stolen right out of the Pontiac design studios in the same building. So that ticks me off.
And thirdly, this thing pictured below. The replacement for the fine-selling Grand Am, the G6 is another in an increasingly long line of ugly GM cars. Look how far back the rear wheels are. It’s as if they almost forgot to put ‘em on. When you see one on the street, from the side, you wonder “jeez, how far back to I have to look before I get to the rear wheels? What IS that? This whole car looks like it was probably good looking in early stages of design and then someone smeared a drawing and the cab got moved up about four feet, and the trunk got cut off, too. The rear wheels of this car are like the less dominant siamese twin that just has to go where the other twin tells it to go. Just there as an afterthought. Shame on you, Pontiac. Shame on GM for letting Chevy control what Pontiac does, too. You’ve lost me as a car buyer. I was very excited about the Solstice (still am, it’s a great looking little ride), but if we get one, it’ll be Diane’s car. Because when I sit in it with the top down, I look OVER the windshield, and I’m only 6′1″. But other than that, Pontiac’s got to do some work to get me back.
 
So there you have it. This list is not or never was intended to show the “10 ugliest” cars in the world. It was simply to show 10 cars UGLIER than the much-maligned Pontiac Aztek, which is a better vehicle than ANY of the cars on this list. And not as bad looking, either.
9. Toyota Yaris
Toyota strikes again. Heck, I should have just done a list of “10 Ugliest Toyotas” and it wouldn’t be far off from the actual list. This is just godawful. Why do people buy these things? Seriously, supposed quality (which isn’t really as good as they claim) aside, why would you let yourself be seen in this thing?
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