29.9.08

Our supposed leaders

As the financial sector is sent into oblivion and the second Great Depression seems to be upon us, is it true, could it be true; are we really just a banana republic with nukes?

This idea has been tossed against the wall by NY Times columnist Paul Krugman and I think it works perfectly if you read the WIKI definition of a banana republic. In the case that we are, isn't it sad how far this country has sunk. But, we already have acknowledged that.

The bill to end all bills went to the house today, unscathed and invincible and was shot down like a duck with a gimpy wing.

And as talk-radio talks from both angles it is IMPERATIVE to listen and realize it is not just the Republican's fault or just the Democrats fault. IT IS BOTH OF THEIR FAULT.

As the lumbering pachyderms blame the jackasses for the semi-regulation of the markets that has 'led to a financial meltdown' because of a lack of free market principals; the jackasses blame the circus-trained elephants for no regulation which has led to limitless CEO pay, bad mortgages and god knows what else.

What we need to realize is that both are wrong and that if there is no compromise, there will be no economy and there will be no America, as we know it, in the long term.

George Washington, weary of what political parties were becoming in Washington warned in his farewell adress that a two-party system would be bad for the United States. He warned that party alliances and geographical distinctions would head down a bridge to nowhere (pardon the pun).

AND what you have now is partisanship that has led to the most fundamental bill in history not be passed because of a witch of a speaker show blatant partisanship just prior to the vote and a Republican group of representatives in angst and revolt stop said bill due to said comments of said witch.

STUPID, STUPID, STUPID.

And so as the economy fails, REAL and honest people lose their money and the PARTISAN POLITICIANS in washington (lower cased 'w' on purpose) squabble because of their monkey-trained political attitudes, the disgrace this country has become now makes itself more apparent than anything we ever thought possible.

The sad thing is that John McCain was right if he really meant the blue-collar workers and REAL people were what make the 'fundamentals of the economy strong'.

But even with as strong as the REAL people are, they might not be strong enough to pick up the mess the people we elected created, in what has now truly shown itself as failed leadership in Washington.

28.9.08

Paul Newman



Paul Newman was one of my favorite actors. And I thought this piece about him was an excellent tribute to him.

25.9.08

News 485 Project

Click here to see Jeff, Brittney and my News 485 project.


Click here for great travel information!

News, League, News

News comes to us from all areas but now, more than ever, news with economic ties seems to just to the front pages of newspapers, web sites and broadcasts.

Today, the BSU Daily News did a short but extremely helpful Q&A with a very common interviewee of mine, Dr. Cecil Bohanon. Dr. Bohanon is a economics professor at Ball State and one of the most delightful professors I've had in college.

The interview can be read here, and should be read by anyone with five minutes and any inkling of why is the market in a panic.

______________________________________________________________________

My fantasy baseball league has been in the process of a transition, as we have a new web site to commentate on each others problems, and 'luck' as well as check out what our teams are doing. Our league is unlike other leagues most are familiar with.

We use a system known as Stra-O-Matic, which involves the players in a simulation per se, based on last years stats. We play well over 162 games each year and MOST times the statistics are reflective of the previous year.

We play as a 'real' team, mine is the New York Yankees but will soon be the Oakland Athletics as I'm moving my 'franchise'.

The league was started a long time before I knew much about baseball, in 1994 by Erick Noland and his high school friends, many of whom are still in the league. I got involved nearly 3 years ago as I was working with Erick at Reid Hospital.

The league has been incredibly fun and is highly competitive, with no monetary involved in any aspect of the game.

I will touch more on the league later.

___________________________________________________________________

I
heard an incredible story this morning on the BBC's program 'Outlook' about a deathr0w prisoner and a friendship that was created between him and a British artist. You can listen to the story here and I assure you it is good. The title of the story is 'Simone Sandelson' and it is about half way down.

AND, if you're counting on a gut-busting season of Guinness Premier League action and want to read the preview of how your Rugby Union team is looking, click here.

24.9.08

A day in the life

Yesterday I awoke to the smell of coffee and the chill of the sub-60s temperature outside, seeping through my bedroom windows.

I left for Muncie about 8:45 a.m., coffee in hand and realizing as I left, I had forgot to study for my photo quiz. However it was OK because I got all but one on the quiz anyway.

BBC on XM had a story on the way to Muncie about Hari Puttar, a Bollywood film coming out this week that was sued by Warner Brothers due to their feeling that the title was too close to the boy wizard Harry Potter. WB's case was shot down as the producers of 'Puttar' say the movie is nothing like 'Potter' and more like Home Alone.

After arriving in Muncie I walked from my new parking spot, no more parking at Walmart.

(as i write, i'm wondering why I thought it was a wild day)

Anyhow, I won my fantasy football match this week and am excited about that as I walk across Bethel on my way to campus. I took pictures of buses, bikes, walkers and commuters for my commuter story.

Just prior to class I read in the DN, Carole King was to make an appearance at Vera Mae's Bistro in downtown Muncie this afternoon. Ahh, the 'Locomotion' lady.

Any how we had class, and that's all i remember that I walked in and listened for 50 minutes. After class I sat here in the lab, checked email, headlines, ESPN and of course my Facebook.

After my news class I left campus and realized my stomach was rumbling, so I headed to the Heorot, again, for pizza, again.

After pizza and writing my name on a note card, listing all the beers I have had there and realizing how much money I've spent in the dingy place that resembles something from 'Beowulf', I left bid Brenda adieu and soon realized the crowd next door at Vera Mae's.

I squeezed in said Hey! to comrades from the Star Press and made my way up to get an autograph and handshake from the lady, rallying for Barack Obama, who I knew all of one song from her career. I said hello asked for an autograph before she said to me:

"This is why we are doing this," in some politically charged exhale, I was not intersted in the least bit about."This is for you, you are the future."

WOW, I couldn't have cared less for that 700 club-esque brigade of verbiage that did not apply to me at all.

I left, drove to Andi's had SOS and helped her with a busy-work assignment before heading home.

Upon entering Spring Grove I could smell burned popcorn and what seemed to be Clinique grotesquely attempting to cover the smell. Bad idea.

I stepped out of my car and realized the popcorn had been cooked inproperly and left on the doorstep, awaiting me as Forrest Gump does for little Forrest when he is to be coming home from school.

I was instantly disgusted with the smell, my cousin had created. I don't understand the attempt to cover the smell that only made it worse. Two things that don't mix among others, are burned popcorn and men's cologne.

I watched the rest of the Reds game before hitting the hay and realized I would need a shower in the morning to clean the stench from my hair.

My procrastinating heart

The interesting thing is, I didn't even seen it coming when I chose the two topics I was to write about for my first two assignments this semester.

First, I'm in J280 magazine writing, J230 intro to photo-journalism and News 485 Advanced News reporting (or something like that).

My first assignment in J280 had to be a 'calendar content' story upon a topic of our choice about an anniversary or celebratory week or month coming up. For my choice I stumbled upon the the second week in March which is known as 'National Procrastination Week'.

It caught my interest as National Pet Affection day would for my dog-obsessed girlfriends sister.

Switching directions, in my News 485 class I chose to do a story about commuters and gas prices at Ball State. Interestingly, that is me.

What I didn't realize was I am a chronic procrastinator, perhaps the reason the topic caught my interest. I began my research, read stories about psychological analysis of procrastinators, called sources mentioned in stories and read specific analysis research published by the foremost expert on procrastination.

In this essay completed by a Bryn Mawr College student debating whether procrastination is a habit or disorder, Jenny Maryasis writes:

"Chronic procrastinators avoid revealing information about their abilities, prefer menial tasks, make poor time estimates, tend to focus on the past and do not act on their intentions. These characteristics have been related to low self-esteem, perfectionism, non-competitiveness, self-deception, self-control, self-confidence, depression and anxiety."

Even more interesting is. . . THAT IS ALL ME!

Now, on to figure out how to fix it.

20.9.08

Thank You AC/DC

Thanks a lot AC/DC. All I wanted was one more tour and I got it but I can't pay nearly $100 dollars for a ticket.


The show set for Conseco Fieldhouse on the night of Nov. 3 has one price for tickets: $91.50.

I enjoy them but not for that.

Thanks a lot. I won't be listening to your station for a week or so out of rebellion.

19.9.08

News Desk

APPARENTLY, thousands of people discovered they did not get their government stimulus check in the mail as a 'deadbeat' result of their status. People everywhere are discovering the check W. promised them was witheld by the government for back child-support.


ARTHROSCOPIC knee surgery may not be as effective as once thought. According to the Canada Globe and Mail, the surgery that has been relied up by thousands of Americans every year may be not as effective and "doesn't provide significant benefits for osteoarthritis patients."

In a couple of plans a new regional pollution plan starts next week that will be enforced in 233 utility plants across the country.

An interesting take on urban trees vs. power lines. Several people hate the loss of trees that have been used as shade for hundreds of years. You know of that big old tree that provides shade to hundreds of cubic feet. Well those trees don't exist well with power lines but it is important to remember we seldom see winds of Hurrican Ike's capability in this part of the country.

In sport, the Ryder cup starts today. The American's are huge underdogs. Here is an interesting way to cover the event, with live bloggers at the course right now.

Eddie Vedder, the disillusioned lead singer of Pearl Jam has written a song for the Cubs that begins with 'all the way'. Hmm. . .Ok

Could they really be trading Prince? According to the Sacramento Bee there could be a trade in the works that sends Prince Fielder and J.J. Hardy to San Fran for Matt Cain? Hmm. . .we'll see. Seems like a lot for Matt Cain, but they've sold their souls already, why not?

MSNBC News Quiz


I awoke and took MSNBC's weekly news quiz. You can do so here.

I got 80 percent, not any pressure but see what you can do and comment to show your results. And no cheating.

Pictures, poems and youth hostels


Where do I go with a blog when everyone is wanting to hear about different things?

First off I took this picture of my cousin Alizah last night, and messed with it in photoshop a bit. However panning to get focus on the subject in an image is a hard thing to do and I was lucky enough to get her face. As my teach said today, "Even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes."

In the spirit of the markets down turn I think of Don Kings hairdo, which was similar to my grandmothers the other night. I have no idea why that is relevant or how it makes sense but whatever.

The Reds finally lost tonight and how fitting that it was off the bat of one Albert Pujols. He was 0-8 prior to tonight in the series and like that squirrel, well I guess Pujols would not be a blind squirrel; more likely an intensely muscular squirrel with a Dominican accent.

I wrote a poem in the spirit of, well, just read it.

Dish soap and a t-shirt

I awake to see stars
flies without buzzes in my room.
A ghost in the hall way
deer outside my chamber window.

I drive and see gypsy's
kamikaze's darting toward me
little girls in the middle of the road
wolves under my dash

I walk to class and see comets in the sky
escaped psycho's charging with knives
Terrorists with blank faces, dynamite strapped to their chests

and then, I realize it is probably time to wash my glasses.

And then there were pumpkins.

Standing at the bus stop in Muncie today (i.e. WalMart, all one word now) I noticed the arrange of hundreds of pumpkins at $4.38 a piece.

I couldn't contain myself as I talked to them as if they were old friends. I discussed the state of the union, travels to England and what temperature meatloaf should be cooked at.

After getting no where with the orange-squash lookalikes, I made my way onto the bus which by the way was 5 minutes late.

Randomly I started thinking about the hostels I stayed in, in Europe and here they are:

Plus Alba D'Oro Camping in Venice, Italy
Emerald Fields in Florence, Italy
Ivanhoe Hostel in Rome, Italy
John's Cozy Little Backpacker hostel in Berlin, Germany
Ashfield House in Dublin, Ireland
Barnacles Temple Bar House in Dublin, Ireland
Nomad in Cardiff, Wales
Pagration Youth Hostel in Athens, Greece

and that is it for now. . .

I just saw a mouse run across the floor. How ironic as I talk about youth hostels.

15.9.08

John McCain Endorsed by. . .his jailer?

According to this story in the Daily Telegraph, London the man who was in charge of jailing McCain when he was in the Vietnam war.

According to the story:

Tran Trong Duyet, the commandant of Hao Lo prison in Hanoi from 1968-73, recalls Mr McCain "as a typical child of a traditional military family. He was conservative and faithful to his country's policy of the Vietnam war".

"In a talk between men we shared many things about girls and love and so on," said Mr Duyet, who claims Mr McCain helped teach him English.

"I think John McCain is a very smart man."

NO-NO for Big Z


Carlos Zambrano pitched 9 innings of 10K 1 Walk and NO-HIT ball last night.

I had the opportunity to listen to the last few innings and it was incredible. Although the advantage was opportune in Milwaukee, the Cubs and Zambrano enjoyed their first no-no in 36 years.

Excellent work big man.

Basketball Season is Just Around . . .


This is the worst team I've ever seen.

I could not have lead with anything more to the point. As a rookie QB Joe Flacco dismantled the Bengals last week, a rookie RB Chris Johnson and backup QB destroyed them this week. And speaking of the Ravens only Hurricane IKE stopped them this week.

Fans began leaving, as I'm told, early in the third quarter. I was lucky enough to lose my power, so I didn't have to see the game.

I don't even want to talk about them anymore. Simply put, the Bungals are back.

13.9.08

Greenspan says it, he must mean it

According to the AP, former secretary of the treasury Alan Greenspan said, the United States cannot sustain spending offsets and more importantly tax cuts that McCain plans to continue.

According to the story, Greenspan responded to a question regarding the tax cuts and whether the United States can sustain itself if they continue:

"Unless we cut spending, no," Greenspan said Friday when asked about the proposed tax cuts, estimated at $3.3 trillion.

"I'm not in favor of financing tax cuts with borrowed money," Greenspan said during an interview with Bloomberg Television. "I always have tied tax cuts to spending."

Read the entire story above.

Rosey Red On Channel 12

The season is over but this is worth watching. It was posted on RedLegNation yesterday.


12.9.08

My Car is Fixed


I got my car window fixed after years of it falling at inopportune times and allowing my seat to be wet every early morning I had to drive after a thunderstorm.

I also figured out how to stop the annoying beeping of my seatbelt light. To clarify on dashboard between the RPM meter and the speedometer there is a light that stays on if you do not have your seat belt plugged in. It will beep when you get in the car to remind you. However on Tuesday it decided to beep every 2 seconds. I searched online and found this which led me to unplug an unknown plug from a Grey box under the dash. And VOICI, the beeping stopped!

AC/DC ON TOUR!


With the arrival of their new album 'Black Ice' Ac/Dc will be touring for the first time since 2001.


Dates are as follows:

October 28 Wilkes-Barre, PA Wachovia Arena
October 30 Chicago, IL Allstate Arena
November 3 Indianapolis. IN Conseco Fieldhouse
November 5 Auburn Hills, MI Palace of Auburn Hills
November 7 Toronto Rogers Centre
November 9 Boston, MA TD Banknorth Garden
November 12-13 New York, NY Madison Square Garden
November 15 Washington, DC Verizon Center
November 17 Philadelphia, PA Wachovia Center
November 19 East Rutherford, NJ IZOD Center
November 21 Columbus, OH Schottenstein Center
November 23 Minneapolis, MN Xcel Energy Center
November 25 Denver, CO Pepsi Center
November 28 Vancouver General Motors Place
November 29 Seattle, WA KeyArena
November 30 Tacoma, WA Tacoma Dome
December 2 Oakland, CA Oracle Arena
December 6 Los Angeles, CA The Forum
December 10 Phoenix, AZ US Airways Center
December 12 San Antonio, TX AT&T Center
December 14 Houston, TX Toyota Center
December 16 Atlanta, GA Philips Arena
December 18 Charlotte, NC Time Warner Cable Arena



Gone With The Wind

Maybe we can't claim it to be our national pastime anymore. According to reports in London, a diary was discovered of a late lawyer, dated 1755, referencing 'Base Ball'. That would the description of the game in context nearly 50 years prior to our first reference of the game being played in the Elysian Fields of New Jersey.


In other news Hurricane Ike is doing its best to see that the people of South-eastern Texas have a bad day. Experts are predicting waves as tall as 50 feet and more than 10-inches of rain for the coastal areas which include Galveston and parts of Houston.

I watche Gone With The Wind in its entirety last night. Yes, all 233 minutes. I had seen parts but never the entire movie from start to finish. Although I was quite impressed with everything in the film, ESPECIALLY that the two main characters (i.e. Clark Gable, Vivian Leigh) do NOT end up together. Too many movies end on notes with false-happy kisses and the prospect of perfect love. Anyhow, the movie was good and I'm glad I watched it, however it is still not as good as Wizard Of Oz

Oh and by the way, a bit of trivia, the reason I compare the two is A. Both classic films came out in 1939 B. Victor Fleming directed both and C. Heather Blewett is irrationally stuck on Gone with The Wind, thinking it better than Wizard of Oz.

Travelling from Richmond to Muncie everyday allows me to sit back, listen to left-wing-talk radio, and think about things I need to do and things I want to do. I come up with get-rich schemes that after I begin on, I lose interest. I think about how I'm going to get my car moved and sold, how I can make money writing at home and how I would love to be a reporter that travels around with a laptop and camera and writes stories about people across the world. 

8.9.08

Fish: "Stop the inner tubing"

This is hilarious. Check out the full story here.

According to MSNBC.com

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas - A teenager's jaw was broken when a fish flew from the lake where he was riding in an inner tube and smacked him in the face.

Seth Russell, 15, was cruising Lake Chicot in Arkansas on a large inner tube towed by a boat when a Silver Asian carp leaped from the water and hit him in the face. Seth was knocked unconscious.

"He doesn't remember anything at all," the boy's mother, Linda Russell, said last week. "He was laughing, and the next thing he remembers, he is waking in a hospital."

7.9.08

Bengals Lose/Suck

A very colorful letter (post) on one of my favorite blogs:

Dear Cincinnati Bengals,

Today I changed my diet and I will no longer be consuming orange and black kool-aid.
I have just completed my witness of what you would have me believe was a professional football game vs the Baltimore Ravens. Since the fall of 1968 there have been very few games that you have played that I have not seen or heard. I didn’t think it was possible but you have finally convinced me to turn off the NFL. Like many fans, I look forward to and make preparations every Sunday to be entertained by outstanding athletes. But no more, I refuse to invest my time and sanity in an organization that only takes and rarely gives. The ownership of your team is just as arrogant as the few players that make a bad name for the game. You put a lousy product out there for consumers and I for one refuse to accept it any longer. I am leaving the NFL because I cannot bring myself to cheer for any other city but my home city. I am willing to take the risk that this is an impulse decision and your successful season will prove me wrong. I’m sure you will not miss me and yet I will be the greater for having broken this habit. I have reclaimed my weekends and in doing so I have ensured myself of quality time with my family, better health and additional savings because I can cancel that anger management course. Thank you for giving me my life back.

Graduate of the Fool me 18 Seasons 12 step Program.

I could not have said it better if I could say that. An awful football team which should cause me to have an awful day. However I'm not going to let it.

5.9.08

Spring Grovians stunned by attempted murder

Residents of the small Indiana town awoke to find one of their newest members stabbed and left for dead.

The perpetrator was spotted around 5 a.m. attempting to flee the scene. However by 9 a.m. the suspect had not been able to escape the carnage.

Exhibit A. (The apparent stab wound)
The perpetrator was taken down around 9 a.m. and was held for questioning.

It is unclear what Spring Grove Police will do, although crimes of attempted murder usually carry capital punishment; death by chain saw.

The perpetrator.

Gobbly Gook

I feel as if theres nothing to write about but here are a few things that have been of interest in recent days.

Upon the election coverage, I am about as sick as anyone can be with it yet I continue to watch. If it weren't such a 'pivotal' time in U.S. history I could care less. However as much as it seems, I haven't put my support behind any one candidate yet. I do have an idea on the entire thing however. Why don't we go back to the way presidential elections used to be. The runner-up, Democrate, Republican. . whatever was the vice president. It would have been like W being president and Al Gore vice president. Wouldn't that be interesting.

But anyhow, here is a true way to track what each senator has done while in office. This site has a record of every vote that has come up and how each senator has voted. You can now see how Barack Obama voted during his tenure in the U.S. Sentate. Or how John McCain voted.

In other entertainment news. . .

Ghostbusters III has been announced by aintitcoolnews.com. Yes, with the original cast. But I'm more excited about this and this.

Oh, and its Bob Newhart's birthday. I love Rescuers and Rescuers Down Under. The golden eage with a 40-foot wingspan is a bit comical however. It's also this his, his, and his birthday.

The first NFL game was last night and it was delightful. However my lone running back did not score. :(

I have been discussing 'minced oaths' a lot lately and for more go here. Trust me on this one, it is worth it. It is rather interesting and it makes me want to say 'Gadzooks' more.

I will touch more on that later.

In other news McCain delivered a heart warming speech last night but it didn't carry the weight of Obama's or Sarah Palin's speech, which was downright entertaining. And with the discovery that she has a degree in journalism from the University of Idaho, I became more of a fan of her last night. Oh and that school is located in Moscow, no this Moscow.

And one last thing, check out Twitter if you get a chance.

Ball State plays host to Navy tonight and it's on ESPN at 8 p.m. Check it out.

blogger templates | Make Money Online