Wednesday Roundup

It's been a busy week for work, news, sports and weather. Let's do a little roundup.

We had our "office party" last night. If there are any employers out there reading this let me tell you something ... giving free alcohol to your staff is a GREAT way to boost morale. Going into the party everyone was complaining about their jobs and co-workers - by the end of the night it was one big love fest. I really enjoyed it a lot. It's nice to see your co-workers in a social environment and I know they saw another side of me too (the "real" me?) I was not the somewhat grumpy somewhat disgruntled guy they see everyday. Also it seems true that those who work hard also play hard. I am a hard worker.

I just love this piece about Roger Clemens*. It's so nice to have company in my long running distaste for the guy. He now denies everything, but I don't believe him. He may not make it to the Hall of Fame and even if he does he will certainly not have the opportunity (I hope) to disgrace the New York Yankee uniform again. I do appreciate Andy Pettite's admission, explanation and apology. I'll bet dollars to doughnuts that Roger Clemens* encourage Pettite to do it. Pick your friends carefully people.

The FSU Athletic program is in trouble again with reports that 20 or more football players were caught cheating on exams and will miss three games starting with the upcoming bowl game. What a mess. With a new Athletic Director now and new coach soon (I hope!) perhaps things will get straightened out.

It's been cold, windy and icy. I don't mind the cold but could do without the wind and ice.

My GOP fav Mike Huckabee is still surging making my prediction look better and better. He could certainly still implode (especially since he seems to be getting carried away with things. He should take a cue from Ron Paul and ride the wave - not try to force it). McCain seems to be doing better but I was impressed with Mitt Romney on Meet the Press this past Sunday. As I thought, he is a reasonable and smart man. He may regain his lead too. It will be a great race to watch! On the Democratic side, many pundits are saying that John Edwards is on the upswing. He's not really my cup of tea, but true liberals really prefer him so who knows. I still think that Obama will prevail.

Another young solider for "movement conservatives" has set the ground work for their dream of a permanent Republican majority. Kevin Martin push through regulations that would allow right wing propagandists to buy up and control even more media. I know I sound like a broken record but these "movement conservatives" are nothing less than fascists determined to turn America into one party state. (I continue to struggle with what to call this. They call themselves conservatives - but they are not. Also, there are many people who ARE conservative that are as frightened of this wave as I am. So I call them "movement conservatives" because they want to force their views on America by hook or by crook. They don't see politics as a way of helping people - they see it as a means to direct money, power and influence only to those who choose to join the movement. They are educated ( sometimes exclusively) by, young republican groups, talk radio and through other right wing media. These "movement conservatives" do not look at the world and come up with ways to make it better - they are determine to push through their ideas at any cost, to destroy anyone who disagrees and deny reality anytime (which is often) they need to. They have fooled a lot of good people - good conservative people - for a long time. These "movement conservatives" will never stop trying to rape this nation. Consolidating the media so that the truth is harder to find is an important part of the plan. I hope to God that we can look back one day and be thankful that they were stopped before it was to late. But that day has not come yet. BTW I would equally fearful of any liberal "movement". I'm not a movement guy. Movements, in politics, are dangerous.)

I travel to Miami on Sunday for Christmas and I am so excited. I love to go home and see everyone. I'll be in the air during the Patriots*/Dolphins game which is good. I would be too stressed out if I tried to watch it. On a different note ... a couple of weeks ago, after years of good service, my beard trimmer broke. I have always trimmed my beard pretty close and pretty often. When I wanted to "go wild" I would move the trimming guide from 2 to 3. How daring! Even at 3 the beard was quite short. Well, for a number of reasons, I did not buy a new trimmer yet. After all this time my beard is bigger than it has ever been. And guess what... nobody noticed. Truth be told, no one ever notices the changes in my beard. It's dumbfounding! I have had a beard, been completely shaved, had various shapes of goatees and now let it go wild and no one ever sees the difference! It's not that I have a wispy beard at all- I have a nice full beard (inherited from my Dad who has an awesome beard). During the past week I have asked people at work "notice anything different about my beard" - no one has. So I am going to let it go for another week or so because I notice and I think it looks good - especially for the winter. Walking around the City with my hat, scarf and beard I imagine myself a bit of a mountain man braving the elements in cold and windy New York. I have quite an imagination.

A Perfect Example...

... of the real harm caused every day by "Conservative" ideologues. Detached from the reality of the real world they believe what they believe and the rest of us (poor children included) can go straight to Hell.

Washington Post
President Bush yesterday rejected entreaties by his Republican allies that he compromise with Democrats on legislation to renew a popular program that provides health coverage to poor children, saying that expanding the program would enlarge the role of the federal government at the expense of private insurance. The president said he objects on philosophical grounds to a bipartisan Senate proposal to boost the State Children's Health Insurance Program by $35 billion over five years.

Cover blown, FOX News loses Democratic Debate

I have been following this story with some interest and delight. This could really be the beginning of the end of the right wing propaganda machine. For too long they have been granted legitimacy. No more. Believe me, they will fight to the bloody end to maintain their echo chamber. This will get ugly - and that will be a good thing for America.

Here's the story. The Nevada Democratic party asked FOX News to host a Presidential forum. Their long time bias, leadership by Republican operative and recent treatment of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and other non conservatives had activists calling for Democratic candidates to withdraw. One by one they did until they were none. Frankly, am pleasantly surprised at how it turned out. After the pressure from the grassroots, growing encouragement from Democratic candidates, and then an outlandish comment just the other day by Roger Ailes, the Nevada Democratic party finally dropped FOX from their plans. Hurray! Roger Ailes immediately launched into an attack on Democrats and told them not to abandon his Propaganda network - or do so at their own peril. ...Bullshit! Or as John Edwards put it more articulately:

Fox News has already proven they have no intention of providing "fair and balanced" coverage of any Democrat in this election. In recent weeks they have run blatant lies about Senator Obama's background. And Fox was only too happy to give Ann Coulter a platform to spew more hate a few days after her bigoted attack on Senator Edwards and the gay community.Now it's time for Democrats to stand together and send a clear message to Roger Ailes, Fox News and all the rest of them: bias isn't balance, but turning tables is fair.

You all know how I have been railing against FOX news for years for their obvious tilt and propagandist techniques. They are not presenting another side of the truth - they are creating a false reality - one that proves right wingers always right and non conservatives, always wrong. I'm thrilled at the outcome. I say isolate FOX so that they can focus on being GOP TV and have none of the false legitimacy they now claim as an actual news organization.