CommonPrejudice

RIP Sean Taylor

Tragic

Something Good From Sports

As a sportsfan, once in awhile I realize it necessary to hear about a story that doesn't involve the slaying of innocent animals, the fixing of games by the mafia and a shameless official or the tainted accomplishments of steroid-using cheater. All the better if accompanied by a great photo. So here you go.

...It's going to happen in a couple of weeks. And here's what it is: On September 14, in Beijing, Steve Nash, Carmelo Anthony, Greg Oden, Bonzi Wells, Derek Fisher, Baron Davis, Chuck Hayes, and Leandro Barbosa (all BDA clients, except Davis and Fisher) will play in a charity game against Yao Ming and the Chinese National team.

It will be televised on China's CCTV, and the stadium is expected to be sold out. The hope is to raise in the neighborhood of a million dollars to be distributed to the charities of choice: Chi Heng, a privately funded non-profit that works with children with AIDS; the Special Olympics (with World Summer Games next month in Shanghai); and the China Youth Development Foundation.

See they are not all bad.

And in other news, Broder defends Bush.

Gregg Easterbrook defends Michael Vick.

Surprised?

Along with taking a dig at PETA (ethical treatment for animals! ... the bastards!!) Easterbrook gives the usual (and silly in this case) not guilty until proven so argument  Ya see, we're not a courtroom, we can actually form opinions now ... as a matter of fact in the same article he notes how outrageous it is that you can buy an OJ Simpson jersey and not a Vick jersey. But Gregg, OJ wasn't "proven" guilty in a court of law. How can you judge him like that?

Then he gives some other reasons for his sympathy for Vick. Get some tissue ready. They're tearjerkers.

I feel sympathy for Vick because he tripped into a "summer scandal."...

I feel sympathy for Vick because he made his own problem worse...

I feel sympathy for Vick because he apparently is getting questionable legal advice...

I feel sympathy for Vick because he apparently received poor advice long before lawyers stepped onto the stage...

I particularly like the making his own problems worse one.  Like the way we feel sorry for the Bush administration for how it handled the Iraqi invasion. Poor guys - just didn't know when to stop making their own problems worse.

Easterbrook closes with:

You don't need to be Dr. Freud to see the parallels between killing a dog that lost a fight and cutting an NFL player who had a bad game ...

Yeah, it is just like that.

I feel sympathy for Easterbrook because people keep publishing him and in the process, keep demonstrating to the world what he fool he is.

A Quote on Vick

[update: see here for a pic of the kind of recreation that Vick is into. warning- graphic]

From Peter King's column at SI.

"My 7-year-old [Danielle] loves animals. We were out shopping for a dog. We were in the car, and I can't listen to sports radio anymore because she heard how they drowned and electrocuted some animals. I looked back there at a red light and she had tears in her eyes. She said, 'I don't understand why somebody would drown a dog.' Now I had to explain it as a parent. I said that sometimes people do stuff that is so terrible that you've got to offset that guy by doing something good. She just kept wiping her tears. She was really bothered by it. It's a stupid thing to do, obviously. But these guys get so arrogant, they don't think about it. You got $30 million, $40 million in the bank, they're on top of the world, no remorse and no one can stop them.''

-- Former Green Bay safety LeRoy Butler, in an interview with Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

Pretty much sums it up, no.

A Few Odds and Ends

I haven't been posting much lately - obviously - as I have been much busier, and for the time being I have lost a bit of the urge. I know this won't be permanent. In fact, one my main goals in the next few months is to put together a comprehensive website/blog on Cuba and its future. Speaking of Cuba.

... He [Cuban Minister of Informatics and Communications Ramiro Valdes] added that Cuba has taken great efforts in bringing the rational and efficient use of information and communications technologies to the people. Cuba is increasing and modernizing its equipment, giving priority to those sectors of higher social impact like healthcare, educational, cultural and scientific centers.

Minister Ramiro Valdes Menendez noted that the most difficult challenge Cuba faces is because of the US blockade that forces Cuba to access the Internet via satellite instead of by underwater fiber optic cables...

Good god, they lie like a Bush. (nice sound to that, no?)

I suppose these great efforts are why when I last lived there the house I stayed at was one of the very few that had internet access - no one knew about it, the guy wouldn't let me or anyone else use it and he only went online between midnight and eight AM so the authorities wouldn't find out. You see it wasn't authorized by the state.

The idea that the average Cuban has had real access to the internet is a joke. Certainly in the Cuban governmental propaganda that sounds so wonderful, information and education are keys to social advancement They are, of course, the problem being that the government goes to great lengths to deny information to the citizenry.For the Cuban government to blame anyone but themselves for denying access to the outside world via the internet is roughly on par in terms of disingenuousness and fantasy with the Repugs blaming anti-war activists for the chaos in Iraq.

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Meanwhile, as Bush sends more troops to die and kill in killing fields of Iraq and prepares to go to war with Iran (new motto: real nutcases go to Tehran) while the vice president is being clearly exposed as the vindictive, irresponsible SOB he so obviously is in the Scooter Libby trial, it seems the nation is captivated. The only problem, of course, judging from the coverage on the "news" channels, the captivation is regarding the death of Anna Nicole Smith. I see it on TV, the newspaper, the lead story on CNN radio, it's everywhere.

I ask the following not in the least bit rhetorically.
What the fuck is wrong with these people?

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And one belated comment on the Super Bowl. While I hate to mix politics and sports as it I watch sports as way to momentarily escape reality and enjoy "the game." And while I do think Tony Dungy is a probably a very personable and nice guy, I have to note one thing. The idea  that somehow he is proving "good guys" can win the Super Bowl because he doesn't scream and yell really reduces "good guy" to its most superficial meaning. Before the media fell all over itself proclaiming what a great guy Dungy is perhaps they should have noted what he did after the game. That's right, he did "I'm going to Disneyworld" commercial (it's alright because they all do it, right). Maybe the media could have pointed out the shameless and dangerous propaganda Disney supported in its it Clinton hit piece on ABC, "“The Path to 9/11.” Or much worse, they could have discussed how the company went after a small time blogger for exposing the vile, racist, disgusting claptrap emanating from the Disney affiliate, radio station KSFO.

Here is part of the letter courageous blogger Spocko sent out last year to AT&T, one of the advertisers on the station:

To: Wendy Clark, VP-advertising, AT&T

    Dear Ms. Clark:

    Thanks to radio hosts from KSFO your brand is being associated with torturing and killing people. Would your marketing people be happy to hear your commercial ran after Lee Rogers said this about a black man in Lincoln, Nebraska?

        "Now you start with the Sear's Diehard the battery cables connected to his testi*les and you entertain him with that for awhile and then you blow his bleeping head off. " (Audio link)

    You should know the person calling for the execution and torture of the black man in that clip READS THE AT&T commercials on the air. Right now on KSFO Lee Rogers is THE VOICE of AT&T to the SF Bay area. (Audio Link)

    Sadly, calling for the death and torture of individuals and groups of people is a regular occurrence on KSFO 560 AM, owned by ABC Radio Disney.

    Another example: immediately after the 6 am ABC Radio news on October 27th:

        Lee Rogers: I say they catch the person, tie 'em to a post and burn 'em. Set 'em on fire.

        Officer Vic: Yeah.

        Lee Rogers: Let 'em know what it feels like.

        Melanie Morgan: Hog tie 'em first. That would be good.

    Next, Lee Rogers talks about a protester at a Cindy Sheehan event:

        "Whoever did that should have been stomped to death right there. Just stomp their bleeping guts out." (Audio link).

    Within three minutes they called for someone to be burned alive and a protester to be stomped to death. If you dismissed the first clip as a "joke", note that in this clip they were clearly not joking:

    Melanie Morgan famously called for Bill Keller of the New York Times (and nine editors from other papers) to be hanged.  (Audio link)

    On Nov. 14th  Melanie Morgan said this about Nancy Pelosi:

        "We've got a bulls-eye painted on her big laughing eyes."

    (Audio link)

    Also note that Morgan reads the Cingular Wireless commercials on KSFO.

    Of course political speech is protected, but I believe the FBI and the FCC frown on targeting elected officials for death or inciting violence toward leaders of any political party.

    Because of how ads are purchased, your ad placement agency probably didn't know that Tom Brenner (the "comic relief" called Officer Vic) regularly mocks advertiser's products.  Listen as he:

        * calls Chevrolet's product "shi**y"
        * (audio link) suggests an anti-virus product is part of a protection racket (audio link)
        * pretends a cold pill is really a suppository (audio link)

    The odds are your product will be mocked. If they don't respect a big client like Chevrolet, will they respect your brand?

    And it's not simply calls for killing specific people or mocking products, the radio hosts at KSFO proudly talk about their anti-Muslim views. Based on my research, your business has rules about discrimination against people of other religions, so what message are you sending when your employees or customers hear your advertisements right after Brian Sussman demands of a caller:

        "Say Allah is a Wh*re!" (audio link)

    Or when Lee Rogers says,

        "Indonesia is really just another enemy Muslim nation. ... You keep screwing around with stuff like this we are going to kill a bunch of you. Millions of you. ...

ABC managed to shut down Spocko's blog by pressuring his internet service provider, 1&1 Internet, to remove the site by claiming the blogger by citing some of the content aired on the radio station, violated Disney's copyright protection (Seems to me like nonsense as his work certainly does appear to fall under fair use. Of course we all don't have a litany of unethical, overpaid lawyers at our disposal to fight the unfair charges).

So, great Tony, I hope you enjoyed your trip to Disneyworld. However, I wish the media would spare us the 'good guy winning the Super Bowl" hype. I believe being a good guy has far less to do with not raising your voice and thanking God for a victory in a football game (the silliest of traditions in sports) than acting socially responsible. And pimping for organizations that go out of their way to shut down a small time critic who attempts to stand up to obvious fascists and scumbags is no way to act socially responsible.

Free Genarlow Wilson!

To those all those who say that the United States is no longer a racist society, I plead to you to consider this case with an open mind.

What a sad tale of a youth (and maybe a life, though maybe not, given the courage of the young man) destroyed.

The punchline of the story that you must read:

The Supreme Court says it couldn't free him because the state legislature decreed the new law didn't apply to old cases, even though this case was the entire reason the new law was passed.

And the vote on the Supreme Court:

The first time the Supreme Court voted on Genarlow's case, it was 4-3. The four judges who voted against the black teen were white. The three judges who voted for him were black.

Read the story and do what you can.

(Special wanker of the decade goes out to David McDade and, especially,  Eddie Barker, prosecutors (burn in hell)).

No Justice For The Shield

Not that award shows are particularly important or anything but the Golden Globe nominations came out yesterday and I just want to say that the exclusion of The Shield is ridiculous. (Apparently equally ridiculous is the exclusion of The Wire, but I haven't watched it yet as I am waiting to see it from the beginning.)

In the words of Chicago Tribune TV critic Maureen Ryan:

Season 5 of “The Shield” will go down in history as one of the best seasons of television ever. Riveting doesn’t begin to describe the performances by Forest Whitaker, Michael Chiklis, Walton Goggins and Kenneth Johnson. As an internal-affairs cop obsessed with bringing down rogue cop Vic Mackey and his crew, Whitaker was on fire, and “The Shield” cast gave as good as it got. And the Shakespearean finale of the season was as tragic as filmed drama gets.

Really watch it. (Though do start from the first season if you can)
 

"A cretinous bag of rotting pig meat"

Otherwise known as Rush Limbaugh.

Those were Digby's words and were addressing the blowhard's claim that Micheal J. Fox's recent commercials were done with Fox off his medication or that he was acting. This is par for the course for the embarrassment to humanity, as in this post it is demonstrated how ridiculous Limbaugh's claims are.

At the bottom of the post Digby links to this Washington Post article on Fox's foray into the congressional elections and his subsequent commercial regarding the senate race in Maryland between Democrat Benjamin Cardin and Republican Michael Steele. I want to highlight two points which are typical of the vacuousness of mainstream media.

First, about halfway down the article states:

"To me, this is a shame that they're exploiting someone like Michael J. Fox for something that the scientists say is not going to do anything," said Douglas Stiegler, executive director of Maryland's Family Protection Lobby.

Of course there is nothing wrong with seeking out the opinion of someone like Stiegler. However, if the statement is verifiably false then a competent journalist would follow it with a reality check.The writer of the story, Mathew Mosk, though, doesn't. It isn't until later he writes:

Cardin aides said Fox contacted the campaign after seeing news accounts of Steele's position on the research.

Now this doesn't necessarily prove that Fox made the first contact, but it would be very easy to confirm. If so, how can Fox be the one being exploited? However Mosk makes no attempt to link the two comments or confront the apparent misrepresentation done by Steigler.

Secondly, Mosk says this about Steele:

But he has maintained his position that research on embryos is not needed, especially, he has said, because there is promising research being done on adult stem cells. Heye said yesterday that Steele opposes only stem cell research that destroys the embryo.

It is my understanding that this is simply not true; that adult stem cells are limited in what they can serve for, while embryonic stem cells are limitless. The point, however, is that a reporter for the Washington Post, with a 5 minute phone call or 10 minutes on Google is certainly capable of addressing this question. It is not about an opinion, it is about a scientific fact.

I will continue to repeat this. A reporter's job is not to be a stenographer. Verify, confirm, investigate. Do your goddamn job.

The American Way of Life

"Showing off the American way of life is the best way to influence the choices that the Cuban people ... must eventually make.."
U.S. House Representative Charles Rangel

"I guess I'm in the catbird seat ... When I got here in '91 [Miami], I said I wanted to be the first one to serve Jell-O shots in Cuba. Here it is 2006, and it might just be reality now..."  -Tommy Puccio, South Beach promoter.

The Lowest

So I imagine most by now have heard about Coulter's recent comments about the widows of the 9/11 victims.

These broads are millionaires, lionized on TV and in articles about them, reveling in their status as celebrities and stalked by griefparrazies. I have never seen people enjoying their husband’s death so much."

The words remind me a little of Ward Churchill's comments about those killed in the World Trade Center being "little Eichmanns." So what do Coulter and Churchill have in common besides a talent to spout off loathsome garbage?

It was the right wing that made both of their names well-known.

Of course there is one major difference. While Churchill only had his ten seconds of fame, Coulter is a prominent Republican, a regular on national TV, a best-selling "author" and recently soiled the cover of Time magazine. Churchill (a complete fraud as the evidence more and more indicates) was an obscure college professor until the right decided to nonsensically point to him as some sort of representative of the left.

So even after her recent vile comments, it seems Coulter can do no wrong for the majority on the right side of the blogosphere.  Take for example this post by someone who believes the Democrats were buying votes with crack cocaine in the last election. As Crook and Liars notes,this guy actually distances himself from Coulter. But check out the comments and how Coulter is defended.

You can be certain that she will continue to appear on television and throughout the print media regardless of how debauched she becomes. Yeah, liberal media my ass.

American society faces very serious problems when absolute nutjobs like Coulter can be popular and have such a following. Unfortunately due to its military might and polluting ways, the rest of the world is greatly influenced as well. It is an eternal shame a nation like this has so much power while the world faces previously unknown challenges, especially regarding the environment and the destructive capacity of today's military weapons. Kinda hard to be optimistic. (Not that I would put any more faith in, say, China)