BEAUTIFUL ATROCITIES POCKET GUIDE TO THE BLOGOSPHERE
Pretty funny post from Beautiful Atrocities. Jeff breaks it up into three columns... Blogger, Has A Thing For, Can't Stand:
The thing is, most people think bloggers are just pathetic losers who sit slack-jawed in front of a computer moniter in their underwear, tapping out posts like messages in bottles for other maladjusted miscreants who live with their mothers. But we're so much more than that. We all, for instance, have our own little pets & peeves.
Junto Boyz
Tuesday, August 31, 2004
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ROGER SIMON'S "FEAR OF REPUBLICANS"
I know some of you want to be Republican, but fear being labelled as "non-progressive," "uncle tom," "fool for the elite," uncool,"... Just cross the line and join the smarter, bolder, and cooler party:
Most of my life I rarely talked to Republicans -- not seriously anyway. If I did it was without the full knowledge that they were Republicans. I didn't think they would have much to say that would interest me, that they were intellectually bankrupt and probably greedy, possibly even racists. I was that prejudiced. Of course, secretly I read Milton Friedman, realizing that the educated man should be aware of his economic theories. I did admire William F. Buckley's prose. And P. J. O'Rourke did make me laugh - although I didn't want to admit it. But these were the exceptions. (full post)
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I know some of you want to be Republican, but fear being labelled as "non-progressive," "uncle tom," "fool for the elite," uncool,"... Just cross the line and join the smarter, bolder, and cooler party:
Most of my life I rarely talked to Republicans -- not seriously anyway. If I did it was without the full knowledge that they were Republicans. I didn't think they would have much to say that would interest me, that they were intellectually bankrupt and probably greedy, possibly even racists. I was that prejudiced. Of course, secretly I read Milton Friedman, realizing that the educated man should be aware of his economic theories. I did admire William F. Buckley's prose. And P. J. O'Rourke did make me laugh - although I didn't want to admit it. But these were the exceptions. (full post)
Monday, August 30, 2004
BRAZILIAN WINS BRONZE AFTER BEING TACKLED
(Cough) (Cough) Hummmm... Korean Gymnasts Should Take Note
Vanderlei de Lima, a Brazilian runner, was in the lead when the loony former Irish priest, Cornelius Horan, tackled him. This caused de Lima to lose several seconds, but more importantly his momentum. If you have ever ran cross-country or any long distance race, I'm sure you've experienced the huge loss of rhythm and momentum after being distracted or stopped for whatever reason while running. He probably would have won gold and at least the silver.
de Lima's attitude is exemplary of sportsmanship and the Olympic spirit:
"I think the Olympic spirit prevailed and I prevailed. I was able to show that determination wins races," de Lima said after receiving his bronze.
"Never mind the result of the appeal," he said. "I'm very happy to have won this medal."
Another article:
"My dream was to win an Olympic medal," de Lima, 35, said in an interview with Brazilian television on Monday.
"The happiness of winning (the bronze) is greater than any feeling of bitterness that could have stayed with me."
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(Cough) (Cough) Hummmm... Korean Gymnasts Should Take Note
Vanderlei de Lima, a Brazilian runner, was in the lead when the loony former Irish priest, Cornelius Horan, tackled him. This caused de Lima to lose several seconds, but more importantly his momentum. If you have ever ran cross-country or any long distance race, I'm sure you've experienced the huge loss of rhythm and momentum after being distracted or stopped for whatever reason while running. He probably would have won gold and at least the silver.
de Lima's attitude is exemplary of sportsmanship and the Olympic spirit:
"I think the Olympic spirit prevailed and I prevailed. I was able to show that determination wins races," de Lima said after receiving his bronze.
"Never mind the result of the appeal," he said. "I'm very happy to have won this medal."
Another article:
"My dream was to win an Olympic medal," de Lima, 35, said in an interview with Brazilian television on Monday.
"The happiness of winning (the bronze) is greater than any feeling of bitterness that could have stayed with me."
JOHN O'NEILL RESPONDS... WHO'S JOHN HURLEY?
John O'Neill, co-author of "Unfit for Command," has been labelled a liar by the left-wing attack dogs and biased pundits. He has stood strongly in this storm and confronted lies by these people because he believes in his cause. O'Neill is not a partisan and has stated he probably would have voted for John Edwards if he was the Democratic candidate, so it has been amusing how the left has consistently tried to label O'Neil and others related to this effort as "liars."
O'Neil took a great approach to face his critics by fielding questions online at The Washington Post:
O'Neill does very well indeed. I'd hate to face him in court. I will be surprised if Kerry defender John Hurley does as well tomorrow, if the questions are of similar caliber. But in fairness, judging by what we've seen so far, Hurley has not been given access to the facts he needs—Kerry's war diaries, the unreleased records, etc. And he's not the lawyer O'Neill is.
O'Neill chose to answer eight or nine antagonistic questions and a few more that requested clarifications of fact or of his previous statements—not one "softball." Hurley took three friendly questions, four tough ones, one neutral (and pointless), and stopped at one point to simply insert a campaign speech. This still gave him time to utter easily-refuted whoppers like "John Kerry served two tours of duty in Vietnam." Obviously, if Kerry has a defense, Hurley can't supply it.
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John O'Neill, co-author of "Unfit for Command," has been labelled a liar by the left-wing attack dogs and biased pundits. He has stood strongly in this storm and confronted lies by these people because he believes in his cause. O'Neill is not a partisan and has stated he probably would have voted for John Edwards if he was the Democratic candidate, so it has been amusing how the left has consistently tried to label O'Neil and others related to this effort as "liars."
O'Neil took a great approach to face his critics by fielding questions online at The Washington Post:
O'Neill does very well indeed. I'd hate to face him in court. I will be surprised if Kerry defender John Hurley does as well tomorrow, if the questions are of similar caliber. But in fairness, judging by what we've seen so far, Hurley has not been given access to the facts he needs—Kerry's war diaries, the unreleased records, etc. And he's not the lawyer O'Neill is.
O'Neill chose to answer eight or nine antagonistic questions and a few more that requested clarifications of fact or of his previous statements—not one "softball." Hurley took three friendly questions, four tough ones, one neutral (and pointless), and stopped at one point to simply insert a campaign speech. This still gave him time to utter easily-refuted whoppers like "John Kerry served two tours of duty in Vietnam." Obviously, if Kerry has a defense, Hurley can't supply it.
Sunday, August 29, 2004
PROTESTERS IN NYC... RALLY AGAINST BUSH
Today I grabbed brunch with some of my friends, Sonny and Sandor, around Union Square in New York City. As we walked towards Blue Water Grill, we encountered the crowd of protesters rallying against Bush and the Republicans that converged in the Big Apple for the week. I felt like I was at a Baskin Robbins for the leftside of the spectrum. At least 31 groups of varying flavors and persuasions were ending their march near Union Square. International socialists, supporters of Nader, anti-war groups, anti-corporate, anti-whatever and so on. From my slanted perspective, I saw so many fringe groups and people I would typically call "whacko."
After brunch, my friend wanted to check out the protesters marching through Union Square. He looked for a few minutes and then said, "There are no hot anarchists. Why is that? They're butch or ugly or something just not attractive about them."
I thought about it and agreed with that generalization as I looked out into the crowd for an anomaly to this recently proclaimed truth.
My friend declared again, "Dude, no hot women here."
One theory thrown out was that beautiful women, whether intelligent or not, do not have much to complain or dissent about since the greater society or establishment generally favors them. Another theory was that since "anarchists" are counter-cultural, they do not care about presenting themselves in an attractive manner. I think I should stop here.
UPDATE FROM JAMES TARANTO:
August 30, 2004
We walked up to Union Square, where perhaps 100 anti-Bush protesters were milling about in the park. Someone had a canvas on both sides of which was painted the slogan NO ? FOR BUSH. Others had scribbled graffiti or hung notes on the canvas, and not all of them were anti-Bush: NO COMMUNISM, NO KERRY read one graffito. We noticed one guy posting a note that said "Bush planned September 11, 2001, Bush is a traitor."
We wandered a few yards away and took notes on our Palm, having neglected to bring a pen or notebook. We must have looked pretty furtive, for we were spotted and approached by three guys, one of whom asked to whom we were "reporting back"--the CIA or the FBI. We decided to play it coy. "Who do you think I'm reporting back to?" we asked. Finally he concluded it must be the Drug Enforcement Administration. (Perhaps it's relevant that we were wearing our black mock turtleneck, which we've been told has "a kind of ex-special forces look which is cool and subtly combative.")
The "Bush is a traitor" guy was among the trio who'd encircled us, and he began explaining his theory as to why Bush must have been behind the attacks. We didn't quite follow his logic, but it had something to do with the "My Pet Goat" incident--i.e., Bush's inaction in the few minutes immediately after he was informed that a plane had hit the World Trade Center.
"Wait a minute," we said. "What about John Kerry?" We were going to make the point that Kerry, like Bush, was stunned by the attacks (indeed, who wasn't?). He told Larry King that "nobody could think" for at least 40 minutes after the attack. (Redstate.org has more.) But the "traitor" guy would have none of it.
"I don't want to talk about John Kerry!" he interrupted. "He is a criminal!"
"What crimes did John Kerry commit?" we asked. But he held fast. He would not discuss John Kerry.
"Wait," we said. "If you're so against Bush, you're going to vote for Kerry, aren't you?"
He replied that he plans not to vote at all, perhaps suggesting a weakness in Kerry's base.
We knew the anti-Bush folks weren't exactly thrilled with Kerry, but still we were incredulous. "You think Bush orchestrated an attack on America, and you're not even going to vote against him?" we said. Whereupon we were interrupted by the third guy, who said he was Canadian, suggesting that "maybe he doesn't have a voting right." But the "traitor" guy neither confirmed nor denied the Canadian's hypothesis.
The Canadian guy was actually pleasant and earnest, and we ended up chatting with him at some length. At one point he theorized that there was a connection between the savings-and-loan scandal of the late 1980s and the Gulf War of 1990-91--i.e., that the first Bush administration had engineered the latter as a distraction from the former.
We thought we had a pretty good counterargument. "There were two events that preceded the Gulf War," we noted: "the S&L scandal and Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. I can see the connection between the invasion and the war, but I can't see the connection between the S&L scandal and the war."
He responded with a long disquisition about Iraq's legitimate grievances against Kuwait--something about "angular drilling" to steal Iraqi oil--his point being that, although he didn't approve of the invasion, it was not wholly unprovoked.
We listened patiently, then asked, "What does that have to do with the S&L scandal?"
"OK, I was reaching," he admitted. "Maybe there wasn't a connection." This certainly restored our faith in the power of civil debate and sweet reason.
We noticed one guy at Union Square wearing a T-shirt that proclaimed "Dissent is patriotic," one of the main anti-GOP rallying cries. We pondered the slogan this morning when we picked up the New York Sun and read about a (presumably unscientific) survey of protesters:
A survey conducted by The New York Sun of 253 protesters who took part in the United for Peace and Justice march found that 76% plan to vote for Senator Kerry in November's presidential election. . . .
Of those marching who were surveyed, 52% said they agreed with the statement that "America is overall a negative force in the world." Moreover, 67% said they agreed with the statement that "Iraqi attacks on American troops occupying Iraq are legitimate resistance."
Is it patriotic to consider your country "a negative force in the world" and to root for the enemy in wartime? We address this question in an essay that appears in today's Wall Street Journal:
By 1972 the countercultural left was firmly established as a part of the Democratic coalition--and it remains so. A significant and vocal minority of the party, that is, believes that America is imperialistic, racist, militaristic, oppressive, etc. These views aren't necessarily unpatriotic; it is possible to love one's country and also be a harsh critic of it. But if dissent can be patriotic, assent is far less complicatedly so.
The Sun survey illustrates these complications--and it leads us to think that perhaps patriotism is beside the point. By way of analogy, people can love their spouses or children while subjecting them to verbal or physical abuse, but the tenderness of their feelings does not mitigate the wrongness of their behavior.
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Today I grabbed brunch with some of my friends, Sonny and Sandor, around Union Square in New York City. As we walked towards Blue Water Grill, we encountered the crowd of protesters rallying against Bush and the Republicans that converged in the Big Apple for the week. I felt like I was at a Baskin Robbins for the leftside of the spectrum. At least 31 groups of varying flavors and persuasions were ending their march near Union Square. International socialists, supporters of Nader, anti-war groups, anti-corporate, anti-whatever and so on. From my slanted perspective, I saw so many fringe groups and people I would typically call "whacko."
After brunch, my friend wanted to check out the protesters marching through Union Square. He looked for a few minutes and then said, "There are no hot anarchists. Why is that? They're butch or ugly or something just not attractive about them."
I thought about it and agreed with that generalization as I looked out into the crowd for an anomaly to this recently proclaimed truth.
My friend declared again, "Dude, no hot women here."
One theory thrown out was that beautiful women, whether intelligent or not, do not have much to complain or dissent about since the greater society or establishment generally favors them. Another theory was that since "anarchists" are counter-cultural, they do not care about presenting themselves in an attractive manner. I think I should stop here.
UPDATE FROM JAMES TARANTO:
August 30, 2004
We walked up to Union Square, where perhaps 100 anti-Bush protesters were milling about in the park. Someone had a canvas on both sides of which was painted the slogan NO ? FOR BUSH. Others had scribbled graffiti or hung notes on the canvas, and not all of them were anti-Bush: NO COMMUNISM, NO KERRY read one graffito. We noticed one guy posting a note that said "Bush planned September 11, 2001, Bush is a traitor."
We wandered a few yards away and took notes on our Palm, having neglected to bring a pen or notebook. We must have looked pretty furtive, for we were spotted and approached by three guys, one of whom asked to whom we were "reporting back"--the CIA or the FBI. We decided to play it coy. "Who do you think I'm reporting back to?" we asked. Finally he concluded it must be the Drug Enforcement Administration. (Perhaps it's relevant that we were wearing our black mock turtleneck, which we've been told has "a kind of ex-special forces look which is cool and subtly combative.")
The "Bush is a traitor" guy was among the trio who'd encircled us, and he began explaining his theory as to why Bush must have been behind the attacks. We didn't quite follow his logic, but it had something to do with the "My Pet Goat" incident--i.e., Bush's inaction in the few minutes immediately after he was informed that a plane had hit the World Trade Center.
"Wait a minute," we said. "What about John Kerry?" We were going to make the point that Kerry, like Bush, was stunned by the attacks (indeed, who wasn't?). He told Larry King that "nobody could think" for at least 40 minutes after the attack. (Redstate.org has more.) But the "traitor" guy would have none of it.
"I don't want to talk about John Kerry!" he interrupted. "He is a criminal!"
"What crimes did John Kerry commit?" we asked. But he held fast. He would not discuss John Kerry.
"Wait," we said. "If you're so against Bush, you're going to vote for Kerry, aren't you?"
He replied that he plans not to vote at all, perhaps suggesting a weakness in Kerry's base.
We knew the anti-Bush folks weren't exactly thrilled with Kerry, but still we were incredulous. "You think Bush orchestrated an attack on America, and you're not even going to vote against him?" we said. Whereupon we were interrupted by the third guy, who said he was Canadian, suggesting that "maybe he doesn't have a voting right." But the "traitor" guy neither confirmed nor denied the Canadian's hypothesis.
The Canadian guy was actually pleasant and earnest, and we ended up chatting with him at some length. At one point he theorized that there was a connection between the savings-and-loan scandal of the late 1980s and the Gulf War of 1990-91--i.e., that the first Bush administration had engineered the latter as a distraction from the former.
We thought we had a pretty good counterargument. "There were two events that preceded the Gulf War," we noted: "the S&L scandal and Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. I can see the connection between the invasion and the war, but I can't see the connection between the S&L scandal and the war."
He responded with a long disquisition about Iraq's legitimate grievances against Kuwait--something about "angular drilling" to steal Iraqi oil--his point being that, although he didn't approve of the invasion, it was not wholly unprovoked.
We listened patiently, then asked, "What does that have to do with the S&L scandal?"
"OK, I was reaching," he admitted. "Maybe there wasn't a connection." This certainly restored our faith in the power of civil debate and sweet reason.
We noticed one guy at Union Square wearing a T-shirt that proclaimed "Dissent is patriotic," one of the main anti-GOP rallying cries. We pondered the slogan this morning when we picked up the New York Sun and read about a (presumably unscientific) survey of protesters:
A survey conducted by The New York Sun of 253 protesters who took part in the United for Peace and Justice march found that 76% plan to vote for Senator Kerry in November's presidential election. . . .
Of those marching who were surveyed, 52% said they agreed with the statement that "America is overall a negative force in the world." Moreover, 67% said they agreed with the statement that "Iraqi attacks on American troops occupying Iraq are legitimate resistance."
Is it patriotic to consider your country "a negative force in the world" and to root for the enemy in wartime? We address this question in an essay that appears in today's Wall Street Journal:
By 1972 the countercultural left was firmly established as a part of the Democratic coalition--and it remains so. A significant and vocal minority of the party, that is, believes that America is imperialistic, racist, militaristic, oppressive, etc. These views aren't necessarily unpatriotic; it is possible to love one's country and also be a harsh critic of it. But if dissent can be patriotic, assent is far less complicatedly so.
The Sun survey illustrates these complications--and it leads us to think that perhaps patriotism is beside the point. By way of analogy, people can love their spouses or children while subjecting them to verbal or physical abuse, but the tenderness of their feelings does not mitigate the wrongness of their behavior.
Saturday, August 28, 2004
NBC'S COVERAGE IS HORRIBLE AT BEST... DO THEY COVER THE NEXT OLYMPICS?
Who are some of these reporters NBC has covering the Olympics? Today I saw the U.S. men lose the 400-meter relay, and afterwards they were interviewed by some schlepp actually asked them, "Are you disappointed that you didn't win the gold?"
What kind of moron asks that question? Of course they are disappointed. They were the favorites going in and they lost do to an error that could have been prevented. Something within their control. The reporter also was probing to see who might take the blame for the loss. Is he really going to get a great story out of this? It would be better if he provided some encouragement and congratulated them on their silver. This reporter was just awkward and stupid in his questioning. I thought Maurice Greene was going to pop at the end.
Also my friend told me about another reporter commenting during the individual events, which was after the Paul Hamm controversy, when a Korean gymnast made an error on the high-bar and he said, "Well... Paul Hamm wouldn't have made such as error..."
Idiot. Do not say off-the-cuff remarks that are poor reflections of U.S. nationalism and character. Paul Hamm does not need you, buddy, to defend himself.
As stated above, I do believe that the most common stupid question is, "Are you disappointed you didn't win the gold?" I heard this one a few times and it seems many of the NBC reporters believe this is "the" question of the Olympics and that some profound statement will be prodded out of athletes due to its probing nature.
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Who are some of these reporters NBC has covering the Olympics? Today I saw the U.S. men lose the 400-meter relay, and afterwards they were interviewed by some schlepp actually asked them, "Are you disappointed that you didn't win the gold?"
What kind of moron asks that question? Of course they are disappointed. They were the favorites going in and they lost do to an error that could have been prevented. Something within their control. The reporter also was probing to see who might take the blame for the loss. Is he really going to get a great story out of this? It would be better if he provided some encouragement and congratulated them on their silver. This reporter was just awkward and stupid in his questioning. I thought Maurice Greene was going to pop at the end.
Also my friend told me about another reporter commenting during the individual events, which was after the Paul Hamm controversy, when a Korean gymnast made an error on the high-bar and he said, "Well... Paul Hamm wouldn't have made such as error..."
Idiot. Do not say off-the-cuff remarks that are poor reflections of U.S. nationalism and character. Paul Hamm does not need you, buddy, to defend himself.
As stated above, I do believe that the most common stupid question is, "Are you disappointed you didn't win the gold?" I heard this one a few times and it seems many of the NBC reporters believe this is "the" question of the Olympics and that some profound statement will be prodded out of athletes due to its probing nature.
Friday, August 27, 2004
GYPSY LIFE... FINALIZING THE NEXT STAGE OF LIFE
The past couple days we've been visting friends, shopping (horrible, horrible experience of all day shopping), and preparing for our trip to Chicago and San Francisco... so blogging has taken a back seat. After the past two weeks in NYC, my girlfriend and I decided to lean towards the Bay Area. Both of us like the energy and personal benefits of living in NYC (close friends, diverse food, the cultural attractions, my younger brother is here, close cousins, etc.), but professionally the Bay Area is better for me and her interest has peaked in companies out there since she wants an experience outside of banking.
We're packing our bags again and headed to Chicago for a week of errands and rest, and then we'll be in the Bay Area in a couple weeks. San Francisco here we come!
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The past couple days we've been visting friends, shopping (horrible, horrible experience of all day shopping), and preparing for our trip to Chicago and San Francisco... so blogging has taken a back seat. After the past two weeks in NYC, my girlfriend and I decided to lean towards the Bay Area. Both of us like the energy and personal benefits of living in NYC (close friends, diverse food, the cultural attractions, my younger brother is here, close cousins, etc.), but professionally the Bay Area is better for me and her interest has peaked in companies out there since she wants an experience outside of banking.
We're packing our bags again and headed to Chicago for a week of errands and rest, and then we'll be in the Bay Area in a couple weeks. San Francisco here we come!
MEDIA BIAS... STORM OVER GINSBERG
A couple days ago the Kerry camp and liberals were loving the news that came out about Benjamin Ginsberg was helping the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth within the boundaries of the law.
James Taranto at The Wall Street Journal points out the hypocrisy of Kerry supporters and the major media outlets since they are painting Ginsberg's involvement worse than those of Joe Sandler and Robert Bauer. Reading below you will find their actions on par:
Ginsburg tendered his resignation today to defuse the controversy. Yet if you read the articles all the way through, you find that this is either a complete nonstory or something of which both sides are equally guilty. Here are the final two paragraphs of the AP dispatch:
Joe Sandler, a lawyer for the [Democratic National Committee] and a group running anti-Bush ads, MoveOn.org, said there is nothing wrong with serving in both roles at once.
In addition to the [Federal Elections Commission's] coordination rules, attorneys are ethically bound to maintain attorney-client confidentiality, Sandler said. They could lose their law license if they violate that, he said.
And here's the fourth paragraph of the Times piece:
The campaign of Senator John Kerry shares a lawyer, Robert Bauer, with America Coming Together, a liberal group that is organizing a huge multimillion-dollar get-out-the-vote drive that is far more ambitious than the Swift boat group's activities. Mr. Ginsberg said his role was no different from Mr. Bauer's.
When the Times asks a Kerry spokesman about Bauer, he evades the question:
"It's another piece of evidence of the ties between the Bush campaign and this group," Chad Clanton, a spokesman for Mr. Kerry, said. Asked about his campaign's use of shared lawyers, Mr. Clanton said, "If the Bush campaign truly disapproved of this smear, their top lawyer wouldn't be involved."
Yet the Times still put the story on the front page with a headline suggesting that the Bush campaign is guilty of something. Doesn't the paper have any concern about its own credibility as a disinterested provider of news?
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A couple days ago the Kerry camp and liberals were loving the news that came out about Benjamin Ginsberg was helping the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth within the boundaries of the law.
James Taranto at The Wall Street Journal points out the hypocrisy of Kerry supporters and the major media outlets since they are painting Ginsberg's involvement worse than those of Joe Sandler and Robert Bauer. Reading below you will find their actions on par:
Ginsburg tendered his resignation today to defuse the controversy. Yet if you read the articles all the way through, you find that this is either a complete nonstory or something of which both sides are equally guilty. Here are the final two paragraphs of the AP dispatch:
Joe Sandler, a lawyer for the [Democratic National Committee] and a group running anti-Bush ads, MoveOn.org, said there is nothing wrong with serving in both roles at once.
In addition to the [Federal Elections Commission's] coordination rules, attorneys are ethically bound to maintain attorney-client confidentiality, Sandler said. They could lose their law license if they violate that, he said.
And here's the fourth paragraph of the Times piece:
The campaign of Senator John Kerry shares a lawyer, Robert Bauer, with America Coming Together, a liberal group that is organizing a huge multimillion-dollar get-out-the-vote drive that is far more ambitious than the Swift boat group's activities. Mr. Ginsberg said his role was no different from Mr. Bauer's.
When the Times asks a Kerry spokesman about Bauer, he evades the question:
"It's another piece of evidence of the ties between the Bush campaign and this group," Chad Clanton, a spokesman for Mr. Kerry, said. Asked about his campaign's use of shared lawyers, Mr. Clanton said, "If the Bush campaign truly disapproved of this smear, their top lawyer wouldn't be involved."
Yet the Times still put the story on the front page with a headline suggesting that the Bush campaign is guilty of something. Doesn't the paper have any concern about its own credibility as a disinterested provider of news?
Tuesday, August 24, 2004
WINTER IN CAMBODIA?... FROM MICHAEL BARONE
Great article from U.S. News & World Report's Michael Barone, who is truly fair and balance... to a degree that the left can't even complain about.
This month the Kerry Campaign abandoned one claim that John Kerry had made for years about his Vietnam War service and put another into question. The claim that has been dropped: that Kerry was in Cambodia at Christmastime in 1968. In a 1979 review of the movie Apocalypse Now in the Boston Herald, Kerry wrote, "I remember spending Christmas Eve of 1968 5 miles across the Cambodian border being shot at by our Vietnamese allies." In a 1986 speech on the Senate floor, Kerry said, "I remember Christmas of 1968 sitting on a gunboat in Cambodia. . . . I have that memory which is seared-seared-in me." In a 1992 interview with States News Service, Kerry claimed, "On Christmas Eve of 1968, I was on a gunboat in a firefight that wasn't supposed to be taking place." That year he also told the Associated Press, "Everybody was over there [in Cambodia]. Nobody thought twice about it." (full article)
MORE INFO from Hugh Hewitt.
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Great article from U.S. News & World Report's Michael Barone, who is truly fair and balance... to a degree that the left can't even complain about.
This month the Kerry Campaign abandoned one claim that John Kerry had made for years about his Vietnam War service and put another into question. The claim that has been dropped: that Kerry was in Cambodia at Christmastime in 1968. In a 1979 review of the movie Apocalypse Now in the Boston Herald, Kerry wrote, "I remember spending Christmas Eve of 1968 5 miles across the Cambodian border being shot at by our Vietnamese allies." In a 1986 speech on the Senate floor, Kerry said, "I remember Christmas of 1968 sitting on a gunboat in Cambodia. . . . I have that memory which is seared-seared-in me." In a 1992 interview with States News Service, Kerry claimed, "On Christmas Eve of 1968, I was on a gunboat in a firefight that wasn't supposed to be taking place." That year he also told the Associated Press, "Everybody was over there [in Cambodia]. Nobody thought twice about it." (full article)
MORE INFO from Hugh Hewitt.
"UNFIT FOR COMMAND"... SOLD OUT AT BARNES AND AMAZON.COM
Not good news for Kerry:
The nation's two biggest bookstore chains, Barnes & Noble and Borders, say angry customers are accusing them of political bias as the retailers struggle to keep up with demand for a best seller that questions John Kerry's military service in Vietnam.
"Unfit for Command," which went on sale Aug. 11 with a first printing of 85,000, will have 550,000 copies in print by next week, according to Regnery Publishing.
Sales have soared as allegations about the Democratic nominee's wartime actions dominate the presidential campaign. (full article)
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Not good news for Kerry:
The nation's two biggest bookstore chains, Barnes & Noble and Borders, say angry customers are accusing them of political bias as the retailers struggle to keep up with demand for a best seller that questions John Kerry's military service in Vietnam.
"Unfit for Command," which went on sale Aug. 11 with a first printing of 85,000, will have 550,000 copies in print by next week, according to Regnery Publishing.
Sales have soared as allegations about the Democratic nominee's wartime actions dominate the presidential campaign. (full article)
Friday, August 20, 2004
BORA YOON... UP AND COMING SINGER AND SONGWRITER
Winner of the 2002 International John Lennon Songwriting Contest
This is a plug for my grade school friend's sister-in-law, Bora. He and his wife were the couple I went to Peter Lugar Steak House with along with my girlfriend, my friend, and Bora.
Anyway, she's a talented artist that recently finished school and is trying her luck in NYC. During college she won a 2002 John Lennon Scholarship Award, which I believe was for college students, and the 11th annual billboard songwriting contest (jazz division).
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Winner of the 2002 International John Lennon Songwriting Contest
This is a plug for my grade school friend's sister-in-law, Bora. He and his wife were the couple I went to Peter Lugar Steak House with along with my girlfriend, my friend, and Bora.
Anyway, she's a talented artist that recently finished school and is trying her luck in NYC. During college she won a 2002 John Lennon Scholarship Award, which I believe was for college students, and the 11th annual billboard songwriting contest (jazz division).
Thursday, August 19, 2004
WHO IS CARLOS WATSON?... POLITICAL ANALYST??
Right now I'm watching Wolf Blitzer's show on CNN on he's discussing the impact of the recent mudslinging between the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, the Kerry campaign, and the Bush administration. He brought on Carlos Watson to discuss who would be hurt more by these chain of events, and Watson actually stated President Bush. His primary point was that it will come down to each person's military record and since Kerry has five medals from the war that Bush will eventually be seen in a more negative light.
"What?... What an idiot!" was my initial reaction. What does five medals have to do with the fact that he lied about his service in Vietnam and lied about the actions of himself and others during the war? How could he actually state that a TV campaign, which has the support of over two hundred swift boats veterans who served with Kerry, that brings into light Kerry's lies about his actions and opportunistic positions be less than Bush's service record? If this wasn't so damaging to Kerry's campaign race, why would his attorneys threaten TV stations with lawsuits to stop these ads? Why is Kerry on the offensive, but still not answer the questions? Also practically speaking it's an outside organization that is bringing this information about Kerry into the public spotlight, so there is a buffer between Bush and the swift boat veterans. How can Bush come off worse than Kerry? Please.
Carlos Watson is not an idiot for throwing this verbal vomit at me. He's obviously an intelligent person. However, he is an unethical journalist that clearly used his position to spin this situation in a positive light for the Kerry campaign. Did he receive feedback from the Kerry camp or DNC leaders before he went on air with his response? Or did him and Wolf collaborate on this segment? It was annoying to watch. Was that a Larel and Hardy routine I just saw on CNN?
For all the criticism liberals throw at Fox News, at least the vast majority of their reporters are open and honest about the analysis of political situations. Fearless to slam Republicans, Democrats, Bush, Kerry, and others all alike. Take a note CNN.
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Right now I'm watching Wolf Blitzer's show on CNN on he's discussing the impact of the recent mudslinging between the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, the Kerry campaign, and the Bush administration. He brought on Carlos Watson to discuss who would be hurt more by these chain of events, and Watson actually stated President Bush. His primary point was that it will come down to each person's military record and since Kerry has five medals from the war that Bush will eventually be seen in a more negative light.
"What?... What an idiot!" was my initial reaction. What does five medals have to do with the fact that he lied about his service in Vietnam and lied about the actions of himself and others during the war? How could he actually state that a TV campaign, which has the support of over two hundred swift boats veterans who served with Kerry, that brings into light Kerry's lies about his actions and opportunistic positions be less than Bush's service record? If this wasn't so damaging to Kerry's campaign race, why would his attorneys threaten TV stations with lawsuits to stop these ads? Why is Kerry on the offensive, but still not answer the questions? Also practically speaking it's an outside organization that is bringing this information about Kerry into the public spotlight, so there is a buffer between Bush and the swift boat veterans. How can Bush come off worse than Kerry? Please.
Carlos Watson is not an idiot for throwing this verbal vomit at me. He's obviously an intelligent person. However, he is an unethical journalist that clearly used his position to spin this situation in a positive light for the Kerry campaign. Did he receive feedback from the Kerry camp or DNC leaders before he went on air with his response? Or did him and Wolf collaborate on this segment? It was annoying to watch. Was that a Larel and Hardy routine I just saw on CNN?
For all the criticism liberals throw at Fox News, at least the vast majority of their reporters are open and honest about the analysis of political situations. Fearless to slam Republicans, Democrats, Bush, Kerry, and others all alike. Take a note CNN.
BROADBAND MARKET ANALYSIS OF KOREA
My friend, Doug, has a good analysis and commentary on Korea's broadband market.
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My friend, Doug, has a good analysis and commentary on Korea's broadband market.
Wednesday, August 18, 2004
PAUL HAMM CLUTCH PERFORMER... DESERVES THE GOLD
Messed Up Korean Gymnasts... Poor Sportsmanship
After stumbling on the vault, U.S. gymnast, Paul Hamm, delivered a clutch performance on the high bar. Did you see it? He was great. You're a stud, Paul.
With mixed emotions I watched two Korean gymnast win the silver and bronze medals. I was happy for my motherland, but disappointed in their response. They seem to think that Paul Hamm did not deserve the gold medal. My brother told me that one of them stated this and mentioned something about the judges. Sore losers, but not surprising. Koreans really don't learn about sportsmanship and the culture sometimes breeds an attitude that doesn't allow people to compliment others on their success.
Even in the language there is a phrase "my stomach hurts" to state a feeling of jealousy when some good fortune, such as a job promotion or windfall of money, befalls another person. Oddly enough the other person is typically a colleague or friend, which I found initially incomprehensible and disappointing. Why would they feel bad about their friend's good fortune? Some of the people I knew would be bitter or upset in these situations, which was counter to the responses my friends in the U.S. typically had when good things happened to their friends or colleagues. There would be genuine feelings of happiness or joy for the other person. As an American of Korean descent, it was disturbing to learn about some of the negative elements of Korean society while I lived there and to see it in my daily life.
The responses of these Korean gymnasts were not surprising after my recent four years in Korea, but still disappointing none the less. Korea really needs to develop its sports culture, especially for its youth, and teach the basic elements of sportsmanship, which can be transferred into adulthood and everyday life.
Two Koreans, Dae Eun Kim and Tae Young Yang, looked like the best man who lost the engagement ring. Kim frowned as his silver was placed around his neck. Yang took off his bronze right after leaving the floor. Both blew past Korean press begging for a quote.
UPDATE: August 21, 2004. After review, there was an error by the judges on the start value of Tae Young Yang's by 0.100, which would have given him the gold instead of the bronze medal. Now there is a storm of protest by South Korea. But Hamm brings up a great point that if they want to open the can of worms in reviewing the performance by tape:
By reviewing Yang's routine, Hamm said, FIG has opened a can of worms. If Yang's performance was reviewed to award points for the start value -- the level of difficulty of the routine -- then he should also be deducted two tenths of a point for four holds he committed, Hamm said. A gymnast is allowed only three stoppages in a parallel bar routine. (full article)
Regarding my above comments about the poor sportsmanship of the Korean gymnasts has not change. In hindsight, the judges were incorrect, but at the time we nor the Korean gymnasts knew about that error. They acted like sore losers based on the notion that they believed the judges simply gave him too high of a score. What dorks.
Should Paul Hamm even consider giving up his gold medal? If Yang didn't make an error of having four holds that the judges also didn't catch, then maybe he should consider it. Part of the consideration is human nature and respect for the other people. If I was in Paul Hamm's position and I saw what sore losers the Korean gymnasts were, I would have a very difficult time giving up the gold under such arbitrary circumstances.
ANOTHER UPDATE: I guess I should have expected some hate comments and emails from Korean nationals, whether from Seoul or Richardson, TX. Bottomline for me (actually, every die-hard American sports fan), is that we see judging errors and mistakes by refs fairly often. It happens in sports, so we've learned to accept it and move on or the very minor crazies send death threats to the refs. We don't start hating the other country or team in these situations or think up some grand conspiracy theories.
Anyway, some good perspectives from the writers at ESPN:
Carrie Sheinberg
So the judges made a mistake. I guarantee you it wasn't the only one they made that night. And you can't go back, it's not as simple as that. Who's to say that had Yang Tae-young been scored "properly" and consequently headed to the final apparatus in the lead, that he wouldn't have crumbled under the pressure?
If you want to cry that he deserved the extra tenth of a point for degree of difficulty, then you also have to scream for the two-tenths reduction he should have received for performing four hold moves when he was only allowed three.
The point is: athletes who compete in judged sports must resign themselves to the fact that judges are human. Most of these athletes have accepted that. Sometimes the judges like you, sometimes they don't. If you don't like it, go ski race, which was my choice as an athlete. The clock doesn't lie. People do.
Jim Caple
Hamm is a male gymnast, and as much as people are talking about him now, his name will be so forgotten by the first weekend of the NFL season that not even Ken Jennings will be able to identify him. (full article)
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Messed Up Korean Gymnasts... Poor Sportsmanship
After stumbling on the vault, U.S. gymnast, Paul Hamm, delivered a clutch performance on the high bar. Did you see it? He was great. You're a stud, Paul.
With mixed emotions I watched two Korean gymnast win the silver and bronze medals. I was happy for my motherland, but disappointed in their response. They seem to think that Paul Hamm did not deserve the gold medal. My brother told me that one of them stated this and mentioned something about the judges. Sore losers, but not surprising. Koreans really don't learn about sportsmanship and the culture sometimes breeds an attitude that doesn't allow people to compliment others on their success.
Even in the language there is a phrase "my stomach hurts" to state a feeling of jealousy when some good fortune, such as a job promotion or windfall of money, befalls another person. Oddly enough the other person is typically a colleague or friend, which I found initially incomprehensible and disappointing. Why would they feel bad about their friend's good fortune? Some of the people I knew would be bitter or upset in these situations, which was counter to the responses my friends in the U.S. typically had when good things happened to their friends or colleagues. There would be genuine feelings of happiness or joy for the other person. As an American of Korean descent, it was disturbing to learn about some of the negative elements of Korean society while I lived there and to see it in my daily life.
The responses of these Korean gymnasts were not surprising after my recent four years in Korea, but still disappointing none the less. Korea really needs to develop its sports culture, especially for its youth, and teach the basic elements of sportsmanship, which can be transferred into adulthood and everyday life.
Two Koreans, Dae Eun Kim and Tae Young Yang, looked like the best man who lost the engagement ring. Kim frowned as his silver was placed around his neck. Yang took off his bronze right after leaving the floor. Both blew past Korean press begging for a quote.
UPDATE: August 21, 2004. After review, there was an error by the judges on the start value of Tae Young Yang's by 0.100, which would have given him the gold instead of the bronze medal. Now there is a storm of protest by South Korea. But Hamm brings up a great point that if they want to open the can of worms in reviewing the performance by tape:
By reviewing Yang's routine, Hamm said, FIG has opened a can of worms. If Yang's performance was reviewed to award points for the start value -- the level of difficulty of the routine -- then he should also be deducted two tenths of a point for four holds he committed, Hamm said. A gymnast is allowed only three stoppages in a parallel bar routine. (full article)
Regarding my above comments about the poor sportsmanship of the Korean gymnasts has not change. In hindsight, the judges were incorrect, but at the time we nor the Korean gymnasts knew about that error. They acted like sore losers based on the notion that they believed the judges simply gave him too high of a score. What dorks.
Should Paul Hamm even consider giving up his gold medal? If Yang didn't make an error of having four holds that the judges also didn't catch, then maybe he should consider it. Part of the consideration is human nature and respect for the other people. If I was in Paul Hamm's position and I saw what sore losers the Korean gymnasts were, I would have a very difficult time giving up the gold under such arbitrary circumstances.
ANOTHER UPDATE: I guess I should have expected some hate comments and emails from Korean nationals, whether from Seoul or Richardson, TX. Bottomline for me (actually, every die-hard American sports fan), is that we see judging errors and mistakes by refs fairly often. It happens in sports, so we've learned to accept it and move on or the very minor crazies send death threats to the refs. We don't start hating the other country or team in these situations or think up some grand conspiracy theories.
Anyway, some good perspectives from the writers at ESPN:
Carrie Sheinberg
So the judges made a mistake. I guarantee you it wasn't the only one they made that night. And you can't go back, it's not as simple as that. Who's to say that had Yang Tae-young been scored "properly" and consequently headed to the final apparatus in the lead, that he wouldn't have crumbled under the pressure?
If you want to cry that he deserved the extra tenth of a point for degree of difficulty, then you also have to scream for the two-tenths reduction he should have received for performing four hold moves when he was only allowed three.
The point is: athletes who compete in judged sports must resign themselves to the fact that judges are human. Most of these athletes have accepted that. Sometimes the judges like you, sometimes they don't. If you don't like it, go ski race, which was my choice as an athlete. The clock doesn't lie. People do.
Jim Caple
Hamm is a male gymnast, and as much as people are talking about him now, his name will be so forgotten by the first weekend of the NFL season that not even Ken Jennings will be able to identify him. (full article)
NEAL BOORTZ BLOG... LIES OF THE DEMOCRATS
It's been a long time since I surf blogs outside of my blogroll, but I was visiting a couple of my favorite blogs and decided to check out their lists. I came across Neal Boortz's blog, who is a radio talk show host. He had a couple good posts some of the lies that the Dems are spinning in response to the criticism on Kerry's military record and public statements:
The Kerry crowd is running an ad that says that George Bush used his father to get into the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam war. Just so you know, there is no record anywhere of any interference by or influence brought to bear by Bush the Elder in Bush the Younger's acceptance into the guard. Not that you leftists care. (full post)
Earlier this week Iowa Democratic Senator Tom Harkin called Vice President Dick Cheney a "coward" for not serving in Vietnam. In the past Harkin has bragged about his own status as a Vietnam Veteran. Harkin told the media that he flew combat air patrols in Vietnam for a year. Well ... big uh oh. It seems that Harkin was lying. (Big surprise). It turns out that Harkin was actually stationed in Japan and his flying duties consisted of ferrying aircraft to the Philippines from Japan to be repaired. When Harkin's lie was exposed he started calling himself a "Vietnam Era Vet." He still hasn't explained the lie about the combat air patrols. And this is the guy the Democrats send out to call Cheney a "coward?" (full post)
UPDATE: More on Harkin from Instapundit! Lots of great stuff.
TOM HARKIN, FAKE WAR HERO: In an update to an earlier post, I noted some comments by Donald Sensing about Sen. Tom Harkin, most recently seen attacking the patriotism of Dick Cheney. Sensing observed: "Harkin himself claimed to have battled Mig fighters over North Vietnam while a Navy pilot. He was a pilot, but never went to Vietnam."
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It's been a long time since I surf blogs outside of my blogroll, but I was visiting a couple of my favorite blogs and decided to check out their lists. I came across Neal Boortz's blog, who is a radio talk show host. He had a couple good posts some of the lies that the Dems are spinning in response to the criticism on Kerry's military record and public statements:
The Kerry crowd is running an ad that says that George Bush used his father to get into the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam war. Just so you know, there is no record anywhere of any interference by or influence brought to bear by Bush the Elder in Bush the Younger's acceptance into the guard. Not that you leftists care. (full post)
Earlier this week Iowa Democratic Senator Tom Harkin called Vice President Dick Cheney a "coward" for not serving in Vietnam. In the past Harkin has bragged about his own status as a Vietnam Veteran. Harkin told the media that he flew combat air patrols in Vietnam for a year. Well ... big uh oh. It seems that Harkin was lying. (Big surprise). It turns out that Harkin was actually stationed in Japan and his flying duties consisted of ferrying aircraft to the Philippines from Japan to be repaired. When Harkin's lie was exposed he started calling himself a "Vietnam Era Vet." He still hasn't explained the lie about the combat air patrols. And this is the guy the Democrats send out to call Cheney a "coward?" (full post)
UPDATE: More on Harkin from Instapundit! Lots of great stuff.
TOM HARKIN, FAKE WAR HERO: In an update to an earlier post, I noted some comments by Donald Sensing about Sen. Tom Harkin, most recently seen attacking the patriotism of Dick Cheney. Sensing observed: "Harkin himself claimed to have battled Mig fighters over North Vietnam while a Navy pilot. He was a pilot, but never went to Vietnam."
ALAN KEYES FOR SENATE 2004!
If you want to support a great Republican candidate in Illinois, visit Alan Keyes's site. Barack Obama is very happy that Keyes has limited time to really make a good run against him. I read that Obama refused to have more than two debates with Keyes, who asked for six.
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If you want to support a great Republican candidate in Illinois, visit Alan Keyes's site. Barack Obama is very happy that Keyes has limited time to really make a good run against him. I read that Obama refused to have more than two debates with Keyes, who asked for six.
Tuesday, August 17, 2004
THIS IS FUNNIER... KERRY CRACKS ME UP EVEN MORE
He Has Psychological Issues... A Liar, Lunatic, or Lord of Idiocy
How perfect is timing from the Kerry campaign for my blog? What is going through this man's mind? To state that he served as vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence while it was Bob Kerrey in truth is beyond idiotic. Is he a pathological liar? I'm beginning to think so because over the course of his life it seems he has spun tall-tales to benefit his political runs. How could he possibly think that such a fact would go unnoticed?
Bush-haters criticize President Bush for being stupid or lacking intelligence to be president of the United States, but this is worse than any grammatical errors or misspoken sentences Bush has done. Kerry is completely idiotic or pathological in his efforts to deceive the public, which reflects how unfit he is to be president of our great nation. I assume he's not an idiot because he seems to be intelligent and well-read, so this leads me to take the position that a psychological condition is involved. His obsessive desire for power, the office of the presidency, or fierce competitive spirit and insecurities blocks his ability to reason. Kerry really should seek some help. From the AP wires:
In news releases and postings on Kerry's campaign Web site as recently as last Friday, the Massachusetts senator is touted as the panel's former vice chairman. However, according to the Senate Historical Office, Kerry never had the seniority to hold a leadership position on the committee — though he was a member from 1993 until 2001.
"John Kerry, Bob Kerrey — similar names," said Kerry campaign spokesman Michael Meehan, adding that any reference to Kerry as vice chairman was an error. (full article)
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He Has Psychological Issues... A Liar, Lunatic, or Lord of Idiocy
How perfect is timing from the Kerry campaign for my blog? What is going through this man's mind? To state that he served as vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence while it was Bob Kerrey in truth is beyond idiotic. Is he a pathological liar? I'm beginning to think so because over the course of his life it seems he has spun tall-tales to benefit his political runs. How could he possibly think that such a fact would go unnoticed?
Bush-haters criticize President Bush for being stupid or lacking intelligence to be president of the United States, but this is worse than any grammatical errors or misspoken sentences Bush has done. Kerry is completely idiotic or pathological in his efforts to deceive the public, which reflects how unfit he is to be president of our great nation. I assume he's not an idiot because he seems to be intelligent and well-read, so this leads me to take the position that a psychological condition is involved. His obsessive desire for power, the office of the presidency, or fierce competitive spirit and insecurities blocks his ability to reason. Kerry really should seek some help. From the AP wires:
In news releases and postings on Kerry's campaign Web site as recently as last Friday, the Massachusetts senator is touted as the panel's former vice chairman. However, according to the Senate Historical Office, Kerry never had the seniority to hold a leadership position on the committee — though he was a member from 1993 until 2001.
"John Kerry, Bob Kerrey — similar names," said Kerry campaign spokesman Michael Meehan, adding that any reference to Kerry as vice chairman was an error. (full article)
KERRY CRACKS ME UP... TRYING TOO HARD
These stories below from Kerry's campaign trail just reflects this man's lack of ethics and integrity. Stating stupid lies in trying to connect with voters. He also simply lacks "da social skills." Reminds me of an incident my friend, Dave, went through this past week. He was at an event and he struck up a conversation with an elder caucasian man next to him. A little bit into the conversation the guy says,"I don't care about race. I don't even consider a person's skin color and background... (a few minutes later) I appreciate the cultural differences between ethnicities..."
Dave, who is Asian American, asked him,"Aren't you contradicting yourself?"
The guy flips out and ignores Dave's question, and then denies even some of his statement. This totally reminded me of Kerry's behavior, and seemed to be a reaction he would have taken in a similar situation. He's a guy trying hard to make some connection and small talk, but to the point of making random odd points that make you scratch your head or roll your eyes in disgust that he would even spit out such words to gain your confidence.
To understand more of what I'm talking about, check out this article:
I'm sure I'm not the only guy who was astounded at these remarks.
I'm also sure there must be a hunter or two somewhere in America who uses a double barrel to hunt deer, but I don't know anyone who crawls around to do it. Crawling around - except in very special circumstances - is a good way to hurt yourself.
For another thing, anyone who has spent more than a minute or two deer hunting knows that most hunters use rifles for deer hunting.
And this one:
Kerry then seemed to realize how the windsurfing could be perceived, and told the press corps that windsurfing is not an exclusive sport: "...If you were to talk to the guys who were windsurfing in Nantucket, they're all local guys, the guys who do the plumbers, the guys who do the construction work..." Answering questions about the expense, he told reporters that people buy equipment on the Internet, and about flying he said, "What, 250 bucks for a ticket to fly from one part of the country to the other."
Diamond says Kerry then told reporters that if he went on Tuesday, it would not require a full day of campaign travel as he was traveling to Cincinnati, anyway. He also said that should he windsurf, it would be a "political event," reminding reporters that the town welcomed him on Saturday, and saying, "They want me, you know they're waiting, there's 300 people the town is excited about it, it's a big deal..." He then told reporters, "I'm not going to fly this plane (the campaign 757) especially just to do that. Obviously I'm not going to do that... I prefer if I go on Monday I'm coming with a little plane so it is affordable..." He chatted for a few minutes about something else, then returned to the windsurfing subject, saying, "...If I go windsurfing and fly over there, I'm going with a friend who's going anyway, who flies himself, so it's not a big... I just want you to understand the circumstances, I'm not about to fly this plane over there just to go back and come back..."
I think my new nickname for John Kerry is "The Waterboy." He really lacks da basic social skills to connect with and understand the majority of Americans.
Funny quote:
"John Kerry embarked on a 1,800-mile train trip through several key battleground states. 1,800 miles on a train - that is the longest Kerry has even gone without changing direction." - Jay Leno
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These stories below from Kerry's campaign trail just reflects this man's lack of ethics and integrity. Stating stupid lies in trying to connect with voters. He also simply lacks "da social skills." Reminds me of an incident my friend, Dave, went through this past week. He was at an event and he struck up a conversation with an elder caucasian man next to him. A little bit into the conversation the guy says,"I don't care about race. I don't even consider a person's skin color and background... (a few minutes later) I appreciate the cultural differences between ethnicities..."
Dave, who is Asian American, asked him,"Aren't you contradicting yourself?"
The guy flips out and ignores Dave's question, and then denies even some of his statement. This totally reminded me of Kerry's behavior, and seemed to be a reaction he would have taken in a similar situation. He's a guy trying hard to make some connection and small talk, but to the point of making random odd points that make you scratch your head or roll your eyes in disgust that he would even spit out such words to gain your confidence.
To understand more of what I'm talking about, check out this article:
I'm sure I'm not the only guy who was astounded at these remarks.
I'm also sure there must be a hunter or two somewhere in America who uses a double barrel to hunt deer, but I don't know anyone who crawls around to do it. Crawling around - except in very special circumstances - is a good way to hurt yourself.
For another thing, anyone who has spent more than a minute or two deer hunting knows that most hunters use rifles for deer hunting.
And this one:
Kerry then seemed to realize how the windsurfing could be perceived, and told the press corps that windsurfing is not an exclusive sport: "...If you were to talk to the guys who were windsurfing in Nantucket, they're all local guys, the guys who do the plumbers, the guys who do the construction work..." Answering questions about the expense, he told reporters that people buy equipment on the Internet, and about flying he said, "What, 250 bucks for a ticket to fly from one part of the country to the other."
Diamond says Kerry then told reporters that if he went on Tuesday, it would not require a full day of campaign travel as he was traveling to Cincinnati, anyway. He also said that should he windsurf, it would be a "political event," reminding reporters that the town welcomed him on Saturday, and saying, "They want me, you know they're waiting, there's 300 people the town is excited about it, it's a big deal..." He then told reporters, "I'm not going to fly this plane (the campaign 757) especially just to do that. Obviously I'm not going to do that... I prefer if I go on Monday I'm coming with a little plane so it is affordable..." He chatted for a few minutes about something else, then returned to the windsurfing subject, saying, "...If I go windsurfing and fly over there, I'm going with a friend who's going anyway, who flies himself, so it's not a big... I just want you to understand the circumstances, I'm not about to fly this plane over there just to go back and come back..."
I think my new nickname for John Kerry is "The Waterboy." He really lacks da basic social skills to connect with and understand the majority of Americans.
Funny quote:
"John Kerry embarked on a 1,800-mile train trip through several key battleground states. 1,800 miles on a train - that is the longest Kerry has even gone without changing direction." - Jay Leno
Monday, August 16, 2004
PETER LUGER STEAK HOUSE... BELOW PAR OF CHICAGO HOUSES
Monday night, over six hours ago, I went to the famed Peter Luger Steak House in Brooklyn with my girlfriend, my childhood friend and his wife visiting from Chicago, his wife's sister, and my other friend. My friend, Chris, from Chicago had some expectations because of Peter Lugar's reputation and our friend's hyped talk about their steaks. Jason, who grew up in NYC, said they had the best steaks even though he lives in Chicago now. Strong words from a man living in the historic cattle hub of America now.
This was a continuation of reacquainting myself with America's great steakhouses since I've been back for a few months now after my stint in Asia. While in Chicago, I went to Chicago Chophouse (Tom Horan's #1 Steakhouse In America 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003), Gibsons Steakhouse, and Tavern on Rush. Chophouse is still my favorite. Their signature prime rib kicks ass, their porterhouse (48 oz and 64 oz) melts in your mouth, and I love their 24 oz boneless NY Strip. Gibsons is my second favorite. Awesome cuts such as their bone-in ribeye.
The third spot is up in the air and I need more information and time before I would make such a call. Smith & Wollensky has a special place in my heart from my graduate school days in NYC, and their cuts are superb. Morton's is just a classic Chicago steakhouse. No matter how much I want to downgrade them for expanding so much and becoming an international steakhouse, they have been a model of consistency. All the Morton's locations I've been to have maintain their excellence in quality and taste as the original one in Chicago. Their wide but unfailing menu, such as their lobster bisque soup, places them at the highest level year after year. I went to the Hong Kong location and was surprised that they maintained their quality, and wondered how this was done with the possible variance in food quality and ingredients in a location across the Pacific.
The last steakhouse for consideration in this spot is Peter Luger Steak House. I liked their simple menu with the primary (almost only) steak being the porterhouse. They char their steak, which is great (Chicago is the home of the char dog and char burgers... what other city has burnt meats on the menus of every burger joint?), and the quality is good. It just wasn't great. I was disappointed though because I wanted it to melt in my mouth like I recently experienced at the Chophouse. We ordered "steak for six," which was two orders of "steak for three," but it was pretty small. I was going to order "steak for two" after looking at another table, but afterwards I know I can down a "steak for three." It definitely was not a bang for buck place even among high-end steakhouses. These factors led to my disappointment of Peter Luger last night, but I'm willing to give it another shot.
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Monday night, over six hours ago, I went to the famed Peter Luger Steak House in Brooklyn with my girlfriend, my childhood friend and his wife visiting from Chicago, his wife's sister, and my other friend. My friend, Chris, from Chicago had some expectations because of Peter Lugar's reputation and our friend's hyped talk about their steaks. Jason, who grew up in NYC, said they had the best steaks even though he lives in Chicago now. Strong words from a man living in the historic cattle hub of America now.
This was a continuation of reacquainting myself with America's great steakhouses since I've been back for a few months now after my stint in Asia. While in Chicago, I went to Chicago Chophouse (Tom Horan's #1 Steakhouse In America 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003), Gibsons Steakhouse, and Tavern on Rush. Chophouse is still my favorite. Their signature prime rib kicks ass, their porterhouse (48 oz and 64 oz) melts in your mouth, and I love their 24 oz boneless NY Strip. Gibsons is my second favorite. Awesome cuts such as their bone-in ribeye.
The third spot is up in the air and I need more information and time before I would make such a call. Smith & Wollensky has a special place in my heart from my graduate school days in NYC, and their cuts are superb. Morton's is just a classic Chicago steakhouse. No matter how much I want to downgrade them for expanding so much and becoming an international steakhouse, they have been a model of consistency. All the Morton's locations I've been to have maintain their excellence in quality and taste as the original one in Chicago. Their wide but unfailing menu, such as their lobster bisque soup, places them at the highest level year after year. I went to the Hong Kong location and was surprised that they maintained their quality, and wondered how this was done with the possible variance in food quality and ingredients in a location across the Pacific.
The last steakhouse for consideration in this spot is Peter Luger Steak House. I liked their simple menu with the primary (almost only) steak being the porterhouse. They char their steak, which is great (Chicago is the home of the char dog and char burgers... what other city has burnt meats on the menus of every burger joint?), and the quality is good. It just wasn't great. I was disappointed though because I wanted it to melt in my mouth like I recently experienced at the Chophouse. We ordered "steak for six," which was two orders of "steak for three," but it was pretty small. I was going to order "steak for two" after looking at another table, but afterwards I know I can down a "steak for three." It definitely was not a bang for buck place even among high-end steakhouses. These factors led to my disappointment of Peter Luger last night, but I'm willing to give it another shot.
Sunday, August 15, 2004
NOW IT'S MISHANDLED? NOT LIED TO? KERRY FLIP FLOPS AGAIN
I didn't get a chance to post about this article before, but it cracks me up. Kerry now says that he still would have gone to war even if he knew WMD didn't exist. Now's about how Bush "mishandled" the war and not about how he lied. This quote says it all:
"Why did he mislead America about how he would go to war?"
How does one mislead people about a war? How does a national leader lie to his people about the battle plans for entry? Does he publicly announce our plans of attack? Did President Bush lie about how if the U.S. didn't get U.N. support, we would still move forward? I think Kerry was trying to nuance (more on Kerry's "nuancing") his response too much and left no room for logic or a reasonable excuse to escape his idiotic statement that Bush should have "more honest" about "how" we would go to war. How?? And Bush critics say Bush is dumb?
Another view from my good friend from the other side. A Democrat who is still going to vote for Kerry, but is confused by his recent statements:
I always thought that Kerry voted to give the President authority for the war simply because the intelligence was too overwhelming at the time (including Powell's presentation at the UN) -- that WMDs existed in Iraq and posed an immediate threat to the US -- particularly in the forms of biological and chemical weapons with the means and precedent to deliver them like Saddam Hussein did against the Kurds in the north (not to mention also Hussein purported direct ties to Al-Qaida). But now he's saying that even knowing what we know now -- the fact that these threats and direct ties did not exist and that we did have some faulty intelligence, that he still would
have voted for the war. I'm somewhat confused by all this. What I thought at first was a defensible position on why he voted for the war has now dissipated and I'm not sure where he's going now on the issue...
In Hindsight, Kerry Says He'd Still Vote for War
Challenged by President, Democrat Spells Out Stance
Thw Washington Post
By Jim VandeHei
Tuesday, August 10, 2004; Page A01
GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz., Aug. 9 -- Responding to President Bush's challenge to clarify his position, Sen. John F. Kerry said Monday that he still would have voted to authorize the war in Iraq even if he had known then that U.S. and allied forces would not find weapons of mass destruction. (full article)
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I didn't get a chance to post about this article before, but it cracks me up. Kerry now says that he still would have gone to war even if he knew WMD didn't exist. Now's about how Bush "mishandled" the war and not about how he lied. This quote says it all:
"Why did he mislead America about how he would go to war?"
How does one mislead people about a war? How does a national leader lie to his people about the battle plans for entry? Does he publicly announce our plans of attack? Did President Bush lie about how if the U.S. didn't get U.N. support, we would still move forward? I think Kerry was trying to nuance (more on Kerry's "nuancing") his response too much and left no room for logic or a reasonable excuse to escape his idiotic statement that Bush should have "more honest" about "how" we would go to war. How?? And Bush critics say Bush is dumb?
Another view from my good friend from the other side. A Democrat who is still going to vote for Kerry, but is confused by his recent statements:
I always thought that Kerry voted to give the President authority for the war simply because the intelligence was too overwhelming at the time (including Powell's presentation at the UN) -- that WMDs existed in Iraq and posed an immediate threat to the US -- particularly in the forms of biological and chemical weapons with the means and precedent to deliver them like Saddam Hussein did against the Kurds in the north (not to mention also Hussein purported direct ties to Al-Qaida). But now he's saying that even knowing what we know now -- the fact that these threats and direct ties did not exist and that we did have some faulty intelligence, that he still would
have voted for the war. I'm somewhat confused by all this. What I thought at first was a defensible position on why he voted for the war has now dissipated and I'm not sure where he's going now on the issue...
In Hindsight, Kerry Says He'd Still Vote for War
Challenged by President, Democrat Spells Out Stance
Thw Washington Post
By Jim VandeHei
Tuesday, August 10, 2004; Page A01
GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz., Aug. 9 -- Responding to President Bush's challenge to clarify his position, Sen. John F. Kerry said Monday that he still would have voted to authorize the war in Iraq even if he had known then that U.S. and allied forces would not find weapons of mass destruction. (full article)
KERRY AND CAMBODIA... ANOTHER OPPORTUNISTIC DECEPTION
The more you dig, the uglier it gets. Also why is this issue being ignored by the majority of media outlets? A good post on the loss of credibility for mainstream media because of their decision on ignore this story. A good excerpt on Kerry's ugliness:
A few days ago, Kerry campaign adviser Jeh Johnson tried to clarify for Fox News, "... I believe he (Kerry) has corrected the record to say it was some place near Cambodia. He is not certain whether it was in Cambodia, but he is certain there was some point subsequent to that that he was in Cambodia."
If Kerry didn't fabricate, he exaggerated. Or misspoke. Or got confused. Or something. But whatever the differences among versions, the story is part of a larger narrative that may matter more than the details.
It is a story of naked ambition and grandiosity, the narrative of a self-absorbed man who always needed to be best and first, whether captain of the boat in Vietnam or winner of the debate in school. Who, when accidentally knocked off his snowboard as an adult fumed, "I don't fall down."
He's the sort of man who thinks to take a movie camera to war to document himself for uses now known to be political; who willingly exploits his heroism in ways real heroes never do; who builds a career on disgust toward a war he later characterizes as the crowning achievement in a life that seems more résumé than real. (full article)
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The more you dig, the uglier it gets. Also why is this issue being ignored by the majority of media outlets? A good post on the loss of credibility for mainstream media because of their decision on ignore this story. A good excerpt on Kerry's ugliness:
A few days ago, Kerry campaign adviser Jeh Johnson tried to clarify for Fox News, "... I believe he (Kerry) has corrected the record to say it was some place near Cambodia. He is not certain whether it was in Cambodia, but he is certain there was some point subsequent to that that he was in Cambodia."
If Kerry didn't fabricate, he exaggerated. Or misspoke. Or got confused. Or something. But whatever the differences among versions, the story is part of a larger narrative that may matter more than the details.
It is a story of naked ambition and grandiosity, the narrative of a self-absorbed man who always needed to be best and first, whether captain of the boat in Vietnam or winner of the debate in school. Who, when accidentally knocked off his snowboard as an adult fumed, "I don't fall down."
He's the sort of man who thinks to take a movie camera to war to document himself for uses now known to be political; who willingly exploits his heroism in ways real heroes never do; who builds a career on disgust toward a war he later characterizes as the crowning achievement in a life that seems more résumé than real. (full article)
Saturday, August 14, 2004
JULIA CHILD PASSES AWAY AT 91
I remember glancing over Julia Child's shows on Channel 11 in Chicago during grade school and junior high as I was seeking my final destination of A-Team, The Brady Bunch, or whatever cartoon was on. Once in a while I paused, watched, and thought that looks awesome as my stomach grumbled. It wasn't until it was too late to appreciate the genre she mothered which gave way to the Food Network and all the cooking shows that have flooded our airwaves now.
During college and afterwards, I began to watch those shows as I developed skills in the kitchen for making fatty, rich foods fattier and richer... being from Chicago, which is the home of the steak, burger, italian beef, and all things unhealthy. I also enjoyed learning about other recipes beyond those close to my stomach and watching various chefs display their mastery. Now one of the greatest have passed away.
A tribute from The New York Times.
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I remember glancing over Julia Child's shows on Channel 11 in Chicago during grade school and junior high as I was seeking my final destination of A-Team, The Brady Bunch, or whatever cartoon was on. Once in a while I paused, watched, and thought that looks awesome as my stomach grumbled. It wasn't until it was too late to appreciate the genre she mothered which gave way to the Food Network and all the cooking shows that have flooded our airwaves now.
During college and afterwards, I began to watch those shows as I developed skills in the kitchen for making fatty, rich foods fattier and richer... being from Chicago, which is the home of the steak, burger, italian beef, and all things unhealthy. I also enjoyed learning about other recipes beyond those close to my stomach and watching various chefs display their mastery. Now one of the greatest have passed away.
A tribute from The New York Times.
PLUG... NEW YORK KOREAN FILM FESTIVAL 2004
If you're in NYC and want to check out Korean Films, check out their site. This runs from August 13th through August 22nd.
I will say during my four years in Korea, the quality of its domestic film industry has grown tremendously. Initially, I would cringe at the handful of movies I saw, but during my last two years there were a few I enjoyed without reservation.
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If you're in NYC and want to check out Korean Films, check out their site. This runs from August 13th through August 22nd.
I will say during my four years in Korea, the quality of its domestic film industry has grown tremendously. Initially, I would cringe at the handful of movies I saw, but during my last two years there were a few I enjoyed without reservation.
HOT, DIRTY, SMELLY NYC... I LOVE IT!
I've been lame this week with my blog due to the transitional events going on in my life, and my first days back in NYC have been hectic. Interviews for my girlfriend and I, friends in from out-of-town, seeing other friends, getting my little bro a birthday gift, visiting my cousin, going to a birthday party,...
I can't wait until my friend, Kev, starts blogging on this site after his judicial clerkship is over. My friend, Max, has been too busy and too restricted (Korean government blocking access to Blogger for weeks) to contribute yet. I just want help on maintaining this blog, so I don't go through periods of inactivity for too long.
Anyway, NYC is just a great city. So many things to hate about it, but so many things to love.
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I've been lame this week with my blog due to the transitional events going on in my life, and my first days back in NYC have been hectic. Interviews for my girlfriend and I, friends in from out-of-town, seeing other friends, getting my little bro a birthday gift, visiting my cousin, going to a birthday party,...
I can't wait until my friend, Kev, starts blogging on this site after his judicial clerkship is over. My friend, Max, has been too busy and too restricted (Korean government blocking access to Blogger for weeks) to contribute yet. I just want help on maintaining this blog, so I don't go through periods of inactivity for too long.
Anyway, NYC is just a great city. So many things to hate about it, but so many things to love.
Wednesday, August 11, 2004
AFTER THIRTY ALL THINGS TOMATO TASTE GOOD
I've been busy visiting wedding reception sites with my girlfriend, spending time with my mom who is in Chicago, and preparing for my time in NYC so blogging has taken a back seat the past couple days. I'm going to NYC for a few weeks as we decide whether we want to live in the Big Apple for a couple years or the land of Apple, Cisco, and Blogger. Public sector or private sector for me? Which area will turn up the most interesting and fulfilling position? I'm getting more interest from Silicon Valley, but NYC has a strong appeal to me. What positions are of interest to my girlfriend? More opportunities in NYC for her, but interesting non-finance related positions in SF too. Also she loves the outdoorsy life of the Bay Area, and has only known NYC and Seoul... crowded, dirty, urban environments. Hopefully, we'll know within a couple months.
As I briefly sit catching up on news and posting this random entry, I'm chugging my 'Spicy Hot V8' from its 14 ounce bottle. V8... that cool, refreshing drink. Lemonade might have been my choice a couple decades ago, but my soul and body have been greatly transformed since then. All the humorous jabs I heard as a teenager about middle-aged men and their preference towards V8 has become a haunting prophecy.
What is it about V8? It is the health benefits that draw some aging men to this drink? The unique blend of vegetables and fiber formulating an addictive juice? Cutting the chase, my personal conclusion is power of the tomato on aging men.
For some odd reason, after thirty years of existence I have grown fonder of tomato based products. I will admit that I have a natural inclination towards the tomato because of my love for Italian food, but this love has exponentially expanded beyond marinara after reaching three decades of living upon this globe. Tomato juice in the morning, V8 in the afternoon, and a Bloody Mary during the evening would not upset my tastebuds at all. Tomato basil soup and a thick, marinara sauce over lemon chicken and mushrooms would simply delight my mouth. I love the tomato. What a great discovery of man! Okay, I better get some sleep. I have a flight to catch early in the morning.
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I've been busy visiting wedding reception sites with my girlfriend, spending time with my mom who is in Chicago, and preparing for my time in NYC so blogging has taken a back seat the past couple days. I'm going to NYC for a few weeks as we decide whether we want to live in the Big Apple for a couple years or the land of Apple, Cisco, and Blogger. Public sector or private sector for me? Which area will turn up the most interesting and fulfilling position? I'm getting more interest from Silicon Valley, but NYC has a strong appeal to me. What positions are of interest to my girlfriend? More opportunities in NYC for her, but interesting non-finance related positions in SF too. Also she loves the outdoorsy life of the Bay Area, and has only known NYC and Seoul... crowded, dirty, urban environments. Hopefully, we'll know within a couple months.
As I briefly sit catching up on news and posting this random entry, I'm chugging my 'Spicy Hot V8' from its 14 ounce bottle. V8... that cool, refreshing drink. Lemonade might have been my choice a couple decades ago, but my soul and body have been greatly transformed since then. All the humorous jabs I heard as a teenager about middle-aged men and their preference towards V8 has become a haunting prophecy.
What is it about V8? It is the health benefits that draw some aging men to this drink? The unique blend of vegetables and fiber formulating an addictive juice? Cutting the chase, my personal conclusion is power of the tomato on aging men.
For some odd reason, after thirty years of existence I have grown fonder of tomato based products. I will admit that I have a natural inclination towards the tomato because of my love for Italian food, but this love has exponentially expanded beyond marinara after reaching three decades of living upon this globe. Tomato juice in the morning, V8 in the afternoon, and a Bloody Mary during the evening would not upset my tastebuds at all. Tomato basil soup and a thick, marinara sauce over lemon chicken and mushrooms would simply delight my mouth. I love the tomato. What a great discovery of man! Okay, I better get some sleep. I have a flight to catch early in the morning.
Monday, August 09, 2004
"DECONSTRUCTING KERRY'S WAR RECORD"... ROBERT NOVAK
Political columnist, Robert Novak, comments on the book, "Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry," and its significance.
John E. O'Neill, co-author of Unfit for Command, replaced Kerry as commander of swift boat PCF 94 in 1969 and has been confronting him since 1971. O'Neill told me he is no George W. Bush partisan and probably would have supported John Edwards had he been nominated for president but is committed to keeping Kerry out of the Oval Office. Thus, reversing the usual formulation, the assault on Kerry is personal but not political. (full article)
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Political columnist, Robert Novak, comments on the book, "Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry," and its significance.
John E. O'Neill, co-author of Unfit for Command, replaced Kerry as commander of swift boat PCF 94 in 1969 and has been confronting him since 1971. O'Neill told me he is no George W. Bush partisan and probably would have supported John Edwards had he been nominated for president but is committed to keeping Kerry out of the Oval Office. Thus, reversing the usual formulation, the assault on Kerry is personal but not political. (full article)
"INEVITABLE DEATH OF THE IPOD"... DIGITAL MEDIA PLAYER MARKET
Good post, link, and discussion at AlwaysOn. Check it out if this is your cup of java.
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Good post, link, and discussion at AlwaysOn. Check it out if this is your cup of java.
A SMART, SMART MAN... RODNEY ALEXANDER
Rep. Rodney Alexander, a congressman from Louisiana, decided on Friday to seek re-election as a Republican. His party switching has prompted Democrats to call him "traitor," "coward," and many other mean and nasty things.
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Rep. Rodney Alexander, a congressman from Louisiana, decided on Friday to seek re-election as a Republican. His party switching has prompted Democrats to call him "traitor," "coward," and many other mean and nasty things.
Friday, August 06, 2004
JUNGER... MULTIPLE MARTIAL ARTS CHAMP
Just going through some old pictures from Korea, I thought about Junger, who I wrote about before. He works at an investment bank, but on the side he teaches Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Meeting him you would never know he's a fighting animal. He's looks like a teddy bear, really nice and jolly, and very easy-going.
Besides his regular students he teaches, once in a while he helps train members of the U.S. special forces. The elite military personnel learn various styles of fighting and martial arts, so Junger is their trainer for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
One time he told him he was training with five Delta Force members and they encountered a group of Navy Seals... location and details are left out.
"Look Seals," one of the Delta guys softly states.
Junger looks over and then asks,"How do you know?"
"Look at their watches and boots. And how many middle-aged men do you know who are physically fit like that?"
"Oh. I see." Junger replies.
One of the Delta Force team members begins to glare at one of the Navy Seals.
"Do you have a problem?" the Navy Seal asked.
The Delta Force guy walks up to the sitting man and asks, "Do you want a shot at the title?"
All hell breaks loose and both groups brawl. Junger told me he just sat their watching. He thought it was surreal, but the Delta guys later explained it was just to keep in top condition and both parties know not to use crippling moves. The Delta Force guys won that fight.
Anyway, here's a pic of Junger at Korea's first multiple martial arts championship, which he won. He was the only non-fighting professional (e.g. military instructors, police academy trainers) there and probably about five years older than the average person.
Told you... teddy bear (right)
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Just going through some old pictures from Korea, I thought about Junger, who I wrote about before. He works at an investment bank, but on the side he teaches Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Meeting him you would never know he's a fighting animal. He's looks like a teddy bear, really nice and jolly, and very easy-going.
Besides his regular students he teaches, once in a while he helps train members of the U.S. special forces. The elite military personnel learn various styles of fighting and martial arts, so Junger is their trainer for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
One time he told him he was training with five Delta Force members and they encountered a group of Navy Seals... location and details are left out.
"Look Seals," one of the Delta guys softly states.
Junger looks over and then asks,"How do you know?"
"Look at their watches and boots. And how many middle-aged men do you know who are physically fit like that?"
"Oh. I see." Junger replies.
One of the Delta Force team members begins to glare at one of the Navy Seals.
"Do you have a problem?" the Navy Seal asked.
The Delta Force guy walks up to the sitting man and asks, "Do you want a shot at the title?"
All hell breaks loose and both groups brawl. Junger told me he just sat their watching. He thought it was surreal, but the Delta guys later explained it was just to keep in top condition and both parties know not to use crippling moves. The Delta Force guys won that fight.
Anyway, here's a pic of Junger at Korea's first multiple martial arts championship, which he won. He was the only non-fighting professional (e.g. military instructors, police academy trainers) there and probably about five years older than the average person.
Told you... teddy bear (right)
SWIFT BOAT VETERANS CALL OUT KERRY
McCain Gets Pissed... I Get Some Questions Answered
An "outside" group of swift boat veterans started to run ads in Ohio, West Virginia and Wisconsin. The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth are stating that John Kerry is not fit to be our commander-in-chief and is not to be trusted.
Basically, they are attacking the core of Kerry's message that because of his Vietnam experience he is capable of leading our nation, especially during these tense times with the threat of terrorism on the horizon. They are questioning his integrity and are obviously upset by his past Congressional testimonies accusing various Vietnam veterans of war crimes.
If you check out their website, it has a good FAQ section that answered a question I personally had during the DNC Convention:
If most of Kerry's fellow Swift veterans don't support him, then who were all those guys with him at the Democratic Convention? They made it appear that Kerry has the complete support of his "Band of Brothers" from Vietnam.
John Kerry has been able to convince about 13 men who served on Swift boats in the Mekong Delta to support him, 7 or 8 of whom were at various times crew members on his own 6-man boat. Those are the men the Kerry campaign so prominently featured at the Democratic Convention. The photograph we have posted at SwiftVets.com shows Kerry with 19 of his fellow Swift boat OICs (Officers In Charge) in Coastal Division 11. Four OICs were not present for the photograph. Only one of his 23 fellow OICs from Coastal Division 11 supports John Kerry.
Overall, more than 250 Swift boat veterans are on the record questioning Kerry's fitness to serve as Commander-in-Chief. That list includes his entire chain of command -- every single officer Kerry served under in Vietnam. The Kerry game plan is to ignore all this and pretend that the 13 veterans his campaign jets around the country and puts up in 5-star hotels really represent the truth about his short, controversial combat tour.
The Swift boats fought in groups, so the other OICs who fought alongside Kerry know him well and can accurately describe what he did and did not do. In many cases Kerry's fellow OICs had a better perspective than his own crew members, since the latter had no way to determine whether he was following orders and how well he worked with his peers.
Senator McCain condemned this tactic by the Bush camp. I understand this is an issue in his heart, but where was McCain when MoveOn.org was comparing Bush to Hitler? Or the lies in Michael Moore's movie? And I don't know this, but has McCain ever condemn Kerry for the lies he obviously spun decades ago about the "war crimes" he saw during his time in Vietnam? WHERE WERE YOU SENATOR MCCAIN WHEN ALL THIS WAS HAPPENING? You lost some credibility with me this week.
UPDATE: The DNC's attorneys sent out letters to the broadcast stations airing the ads and threatened them with lawsuits. Castle Argghhh! has the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth's response.
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McCain Gets Pissed... I Get Some Questions Answered
An "outside" group of swift boat veterans started to run ads in Ohio, West Virginia and Wisconsin. The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth are stating that John Kerry is not fit to be our commander-in-chief and is not to be trusted.
Basically, they are attacking the core of Kerry's message that because of his Vietnam experience he is capable of leading our nation, especially during these tense times with the threat of terrorism on the horizon. They are questioning his integrity and are obviously upset by his past Congressional testimonies accusing various Vietnam veterans of war crimes.
If you check out their website, it has a good FAQ section that answered a question I personally had during the DNC Convention:
If most of Kerry's fellow Swift veterans don't support him, then who were all those guys with him at the Democratic Convention? They made it appear that Kerry has the complete support of his "Band of Brothers" from Vietnam.
John Kerry has been able to convince about 13 men who served on Swift boats in the Mekong Delta to support him, 7 or 8 of whom were at various times crew members on his own 6-man boat. Those are the men the Kerry campaign so prominently featured at the Democratic Convention. The photograph we have posted at SwiftVets.com shows Kerry with 19 of his fellow Swift boat OICs (Officers In Charge) in Coastal Division 11. Four OICs were not present for the photograph. Only one of his 23 fellow OICs from Coastal Division 11 supports John Kerry.
Overall, more than 250 Swift boat veterans are on the record questioning Kerry's fitness to serve as Commander-in-Chief. That list includes his entire chain of command -- every single officer Kerry served under in Vietnam. The Kerry game plan is to ignore all this and pretend that the 13 veterans his campaign jets around the country and puts up in 5-star hotels really represent the truth about his short, controversial combat tour.
The Swift boats fought in groups, so the other OICs who fought alongside Kerry know him well and can accurately describe what he did and did not do. In many cases Kerry's fellow OICs had a better perspective than his own crew members, since the latter had no way to determine whether he was following orders and how well he worked with his peers.
Senator McCain condemned this tactic by the Bush camp. I understand this is an issue in his heart, but where was McCain when MoveOn.org was comparing Bush to Hitler? Or the lies in Michael Moore's movie? And I don't know this, but has McCain ever condemn Kerry for the lies he obviously spun decades ago about the "war crimes" he saw during his time in Vietnam? WHERE WERE YOU SENATOR MCCAIN WHEN ALL THIS WAS HAPPENING? You lost some credibility with me this week.
UPDATE: The DNC's attorneys sent out letters to the broadcast stations airing the ads and threatened them with lawsuits. Castle Argghhh! has the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth's response.
"WATCH OUT GOOGLE"... CUBAN TAKING A SHOT AT THE TITLE
Come one, come all. Cuban invests in and advises IceRocket.com, a new search engine company.
"IceRocket is a brand new search host that combines the best of spidered search, meta search, and what we hope are some unique and different features that make using the engine more efficient and addictive."
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Come one, come all. Cuban invests in and advises IceRocket.com, a new search engine company.
"IceRocket is a brand new search host that combines the best of spidered search, meta search, and what we hope are some unique and different features that make using the engine more efficient and addictive."
Thursday, August 05, 2004
MICHAEL POWELL'S REVIEW OF THE AO INNOVATION SUMMIT
A Few Other Comments Too... AOL LostLand
Older post but of interest for those that didn't read Powell's review of the AlwaysOn conference yet. Overall, I enjoyed most of the seminars and the people that I met a couple weeks ago.
One memory that sticks out was during the "Battle for the E-Home" seminar. Allen Delattre from Accenture moderated it with Lisa Hook (President, AOL Broadband), Dick Lampman (SVP of Research, HP Labs), Curt Nichols (VP and Director of Digital Home Sector, Intel Capital), Ed Fisher (SVP of Product Planning, Gateway), and Radha Basu (Chairman & CEO, SupportSoft).
During the seminar, Lisa Hook started to discuss her user base to help us realize the average American Internet consumer. She brought up some amusing stories about how people didn't even know how to install the AOL program and revealed some of their customer service calls they received. One person actually put the AOL CD in their stereo system and others just didn't know the basics about computers and especially the Internet.
Was she bragging that her average consumer is a complete techno-idiot? Wasn't she just reinforcing the notion that the typical AOL user is Luddite? If this is her base, how does she expect to shift and transition this core user group into the broadband world? Especially on the heels of cable's broadband offering. And if AOL's base gains more knowledge about computers and the Internet, why would they transition into AOL's broadband product versus other providers? What services and products do they have that differentiate them and justify a higher monthly price?
I might be overreacting, but from Lisa Hook's response I don't think she knows what to do. I think AOL is in trouble.
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A Few Other Comments Too... AOL LostLand
Older post but of interest for those that didn't read Powell's review of the AlwaysOn conference yet. Overall, I enjoyed most of the seminars and the people that I met a couple weeks ago.
One memory that sticks out was during the "Battle for the E-Home" seminar. Allen Delattre from Accenture moderated it with Lisa Hook (President, AOL Broadband), Dick Lampman (SVP of Research, HP Labs), Curt Nichols (VP and Director of Digital Home Sector, Intel Capital), Ed Fisher (SVP of Product Planning, Gateway), and Radha Basu (Chairman & CEO, SupportSoft).
During the seminar, Lisa Hook started to discuss her user base to help us realize the average American Internet consumer. She brought up some amusing stories about how people didn't even know how to install the AOL program and revealed some of their customer service calls they received. One person actually put the AOL CD in their stereo system and others just didn't know the basics about computers and especially the Internet.
Was she bragging that her average consumer is a complete techno-idiot? Wasn't she just reinforcing the notion that the typical AOL user is Luddite? If this is her base, how does she expect to shift and transition this core user group into the broadband world? Especially on the heels of cable's broadband offering. And if AOL's base gains more knowledge about computers and the Internet, why would they transition into AOL's broadband product versus other providers? What services and products do they have that differentiate them and justify a higher monthly price?
I might be overreacting, but from Lisa Hook's response I don't think she knows what to do. I think AOL is in trouble.
ALAN KEYES VERSUS BARACK OBAMA?
My home state has an interesting Senate race coming up. Obama is the new rising star of the Democratic party after his convention speech. Keyes is an excellent speaker and thinker, and great choice for the Illinois U.S. Senate seat. It will be an uphill battle for Keyes this late in the race if he accepts the Illinois Republican party's invitation to run. It would have been a great race if Keyes was the candidate from the beginning instead of Jack Ryan.
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My home state has an interesting Senate race coming up. Obama is the new rising star of the Democratic party after his convention speech. Keyes is an excellent speaker and thinker, and great choice for the Illinois U.S. Senate seat. It will be an uphill battle for Keyes this late in the race if he accepts the Illinois Republican party's invitation to run. It would have been a great race if Keyes was the candidate from the beginning instead of Jack Ryan.
Wednesday, August 04, 2004
JUN CHOI FOR NEW JERSEY STATE ASSEMBLY!!
My fellow SIPA alum is running for a seat in the New Jersey State Assembly. I knew Jun during graduate school where he was in the class below mine. He is a good, solid individual and a person you can definitely trust. He's also a Democrat, but I guess Dems are people too. :) So I'm plugging for him... it's also a gimme Democratic district, so Republicans have no chance there.
Anyway, he will soon be running for a seat in New Jersey's 18th Legislative District, which is Middlesex County. If you live in this district and/or are Asian American and looking to support a solid candidate that can represent the Asian American community, put in your support for Jun Choi. Check out his new website and here some information for a few upcoming events:
Tuesday, August 10, 2004
“Summer Fest” reception in support of Jun Choi for New Jersey State Assembly
McLoone’s
816 Ocean Avenue
Sea Bright, NJ
(732) 842-2894
7:00pm to 9:00pm
Open Bar (Until 8:00pm) and Hors D’Oeuvres
Suggested Contribution: $150 Student/Young Professional: $75
Maximum: $2,200
RSVP to Emily at emilyhellstrom@mac.com
Tuesday, August 24, 2004
Reception
Fort Lee Hilton
Fort Lee, NJ
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My fellow SIPA alum is running for a seat in the New Jersey State Assembly. I knew Jun during graduate school where he was in the class below mine. He is a good, solid individual and a person you can definitely trust. He's also a Democrat, but I guess Dems are people too. :) So I'm plugging for him... it's also a gimme Democratic district, so Republicans have no chance there.
Anyway, he will soon be running for a seat in New Jersey's 18th Legislative District, which is Middlesex County. If you live in this district and/or are Asian American and looking to support a solid candidate that can represent the Asian American community, put in your support for Jun Choi. Check out his new website and here some information for a few upcoming events:
Tuesday, August 10, 2004
“Summer Fest” reception in support of Jun Choi for New Jersey State Assembly
McLoone’s
816 Ocean Avenue
Sea Bright, NJ
(732) 842-2894
7:00pm to 9:00pm
Open Bar (Until 8:00pm) and Hors D’Oeuvres
Suggested Contribution: $150 Student/Young Professional: $75
Maximum: $2,200
RSVP to Emily at emilyhellstrom@mac.com
Tuesday, August 24, 2004
Reception
Fort Lee Hilton
Fort Lee, NJ
CLINTON ON LETTERMAN... HO-HUM ENDORSEMENT OF KERRY
OxBlog has a review and commentary on Clinton's recent appearance on David Letterman's show.
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OxBlog has a review and commentary on Clinton's recent appearance on David Letterman's show.
ANOTHER FABRICATION BY MOORE... WHAT A LOSER
He doctored the front page of a newspaper to help blind the eyes of people who saw "Fahrenheit 9/11."
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He doctored the front page of a newspaper to help blind the eyes of people who saw "Fahrenheit 9/11."
BE WATCHFUL... CREDIT CARD INFO ON GOOGLE SEARCHES
The power of Google has extended into the credit card industry.
Google queries provide stolen credit cards
By Robert Lemos
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
August 3, 2004
Simple queries using the Google search engine can turn up a handful of sites that have posted credit card information to the Web, CNET News.com learned on Tuesday.
The lists of financial information include hundreds of card holders' names, addresses and phone numbers as well as their credit-card data. Much of the credit-card data that appears in the lists found by Google may no longer be valid, but CNET called several people listed and verified that the credit cards numbers were authentic. The query, the latest example of "Google hacking," highlights increasing concern that knowledgeable Web surfers can turn up sensitive information by mining the world's best-known search engine. (full article)
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The power of Google has extended into the credit card industry.
Google queries provide stolen credit cards
By Robert Lemos
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
August 3, 2004
Simple queries using the Google search engine can turn up a handful of sites that have posted credit card information to the Web, CNET News.com learned on Tuesday.
The lists of financial information include hundreds of card holders' names, addresses and phone numbers as well as their credit-card data. Much of the credit-card data that appears in the lists found by Google may no longer be valid, but CNET called several people listed and verified that the credit cards numbers were authentic. The query, the latest example of "Google hacking," highlights increasing concern that knowledgeable Web surfers can turn up sensitive information by mining the world's best-known search engine. (full article)
Tuesday, August 03, 2004
REPUBLICAN ATTACK DOG... RUDOLPH GIULIANI
RNC Releases New "Kerry Iraqi Documentary"... BawhahahahaBawhahahaha
HatTip to Mingi. I couldn't find the original newswire, so I'm just posted the whole thing. Giuliani shouldn't have been named Rudolph. It taints the good reindeer's image. He should have been named "Butch" or "Spike." :)
Anyway, check out "Kerry Iraqi Documentary." Scary if this man leads our nation. It's amazing how strongly he initially speaks for the war, and then bows to the pressures of the extreme left that hold power in the Democratic party to change his position. If you watch this video, his "Bush misled me and us" position stands on very thin ice. Some key excerpts:
KERRY: "I think we ought to put the heat on Saddam Hussein. I’ve said that for a number of years, Bill. I criticized the Clinton administration for backing off of the inspections when Ambassador Butler was giving us strong evidence that we needed to continue. I think we need to put the pressure on no matter what the evidence is about September 11." (Fox News’ "The O’Reilly Factor," 12/11/01)
MSNBC’S CHRIS MATTHEWS: "Do you think that the problem we have with Iraq is real and it can be reduced to a diplomatic problem? Can-can we get this guy to accept inspections of those weapons of mass destruction potentially and get past a possible war with him?"
KERRY: "Outside chance, Chris. Could it be done? The answer is yes. But he would view himself only as buying time and playing a game, in my judgment. Do we have to go through that process? The answer is yes. We’re precisely doing that. And I think that’s what Colin Powell did today." (MSNBC’s "Hardball," 2/5/02)
Giuliani: John Kerry Not Fit To Lead Nation At War
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
BOSTON (AP)--At a news conference in Boston on Thursday, former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani attacked Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, arguing the senator is unfit to to lead the nation during wartime.
Giuliani pointed to Kerry's vote in October 2002 to authorize the use of force in Iraq, coupled with his vote a year later against $87 billion for the troops and reconstruction efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Nothing could tell you more about John Kerry than this quote: 'I voted for the appropriation before I voted against it,' " Giuliani said, slapping his forehead in mock disbelief. "Does that tell you everything you need to know about John Kerry?"
Giuliani said an 11-minute GOP-produced video about Kerry's struggle to define his Iraq stance over the last three years should be required viewing for all voters. He said the video isn't a GOP answer to Michael Moore 's popular anti-war film "Fahrenheit 9/11."
Asked if he had seen Moore's film, the man who led New York through the worst terrorist attacks in U.S. history quickly fired back:
"I don't need Michael Moore to tell me about September 11th."
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RNC Releases New "Kerry Iraqi Documentary"... BawhahahahaBawhahahaha
HatTip to Mingi. I couldn't find the original newswire, so I'm just posted the whole thing. Giuliani shouldn't have been named Rudolph. It taints the good reindeer's image. He should have been named "Butch" or "Spike." :)
Anyway, check out "Kerry Iraqi Documentary." Scary if this man leads our nation. It's amazing how strongly he initially speaks for the war, and then bows to the pressures of the extreme left that hold power in the Democratic party to change his position. If you watch this video, his "Bush misled me and us" position stands on very thin ice. Some key excerpts:
KERRY: "I think we ought to put the heat on Saddam Hussein. I’ve said that for a number of years, Bill. I criticized the Clinton administration for backing off of the inspections when Ambassador Butler was giving us strong evidence that we needed to continue. I think we need to put the pressure on no matter what the evidence is about September 11." (Fox News’ "The O’Reilly Factor," 12/11/01)
MSNBC’S CHRIS MATTHEWS: "Do you think that the problem we have with Iraq is real and it can be reduced to a diplomatic problem? Can-can we get this guy to accept inspections of those weapons of mass destruction potentially and get past a possible war with him?"
KERRY: "Outside chance, Chris. Could it be done? The answer is yes. But he would view himself only as buying time and playing a game, in my judgment. Do we have to go through that process? The answer is yes. We’re precisely doing that. And I think that’s what Colin Powell did today." (MSNBC’s "Hardball," 2/5/02)
Giuliani: John Kerry Not Fit To Lead Nation At War
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
BOSTON (AP)--At a news conference in Boston on Thursday, former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani attacked Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, arguing the senator is unfit to to lead the nation during wartime.
Giuliani pointed to Kerry's vote in October 2002 to authorize the use of force in Iraq, coupled with his vote a year later against $87 billion for the troops and reconstruction efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Nothing could tell you more about John Kerry than this quote: 'I voted for the appropriation before I voted against it,' " Giuliani said, slapping his forehead in mock disbelief. "Does that tell you everything you need to know about John Kerry?"
Giuliani said an 11-minute GOP-produced video about Kerry's struggle to define his Iraq stance over the last three years should be required viewing for all voters. He said the video isn't a GOP answer to Michael Moore 's popular anti-war film "Fahrenheit 9/11."
Asked if he had seen Moore's film, the man who led New York through the worst terrorist attacks in U.S. history quickly fired back:
"I don't need Michael Moore to tell me about September 11th."
OLD BUT IMPORTANT NEWS ON KOREA... NORTH KOREA HUMAN RIGHTS ACT PASSED
It's been a week on this (lazy about transferring my bookmarks to blog), but for some of you that didn't know the U.S. House unanimously passed the North Korea Human Rights Act:
The bill specifically enumerates for the U.S. to take certain steps like including the North Korean human rights issue as a major topic of discussion with Northeast Asian states; providing generous financial support for North Korean human rights groups; expansion of radio service to North Korea; strengthening inspections of the distribution of humanitarian assistance; recognizing defectors as refugees and establishing international refugee camps; and permitting defectors to apply for asylum in the United States.
The bill calls for yearly totals of US$24 million -- including US$2 million for activities improving human rights in North Korea, US$2 million to promoting freedom of information in North Korea and US$20 million to refugee assistance -- to be given in aid from the 2005 fiscal year. (full article)
The messed up thing about this is the reaction from South Korea's left. The U.S. is the only country seeking to help out North Korean refugees and some of these lawmakers are in an uproar. I swear some of them must be a few of the North Korean spies that infiltrated South Korea over the decades. This line from the article cracks me up:
Some civic organizations charged that the human rights act "is trying to induce the collapse of the North Korean system."
And the collapse of the North Korean system is bad? Who are these people? Good response by the opposition party:
Representative Lee Han-gu, policy committee chairman of the GNP, told a meeting of major party executives, "Human rights is a universal value. If a child is abused by someone, it is natural for the neighbors to raise the issue and report it to authorities." Recalling that former American President Jimmy Carter, who visited Korea during the Park Chung-hee military regime, was welcomed by Korean intellectuals when he raised the human rights issue of the country, Lee called on the ruling party, "Don't distort the question based on a strange yardstick."
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It's been a week on this (lazy about transferring my bookmarks to blog), but for some of you that didn't know the U.S. House unanimously passed the North Korea Human Rights Act:
The bill specifically enumerates for the U.S. to take certain steps like including the North Korean human rights issue as a major topic of discussion with Northeast Asian states; providing generous financial support for North Korean human rights groups; expansion of radio service to North Korea; strengthening inspections of the distribution of humanitarian assistance; recognizing defectors as refugees and establishing international refugee camps; and permitting defectors to apply for asylum in the United States.
The bill calls for yearly totals of US$24 million -- including US$2 million for activities improving human rights in North Korea, US$2 million to promoting freedom of information in North Korea and US$20 million to refugee assistance -- to be given in aid from the 2005 fiscal year. (full article)
The messed up thing about this is the reaction from South Korea's left. The U.S. is the only country seeking to help out North Korean refugees and some of these lawmakers are in an uproar. I swear some of them must be a few of the North Korean spies that infiltrated South Korea over the decades. This line from the article cracks me up:
Some civic organizations charged that the human rights act "is trying to induce the collapse of the North Korean system."
And the collapse of the North Korean system is bad? Who are these people? Good response by the opposition party:
Representative Lee Han-gu, policy committee chairman of the GNP, told a meeting of major party executives, "Human rights is a universal value. If a child is abused by someone, it is natural for the neighbors to raise the issue and report it to authorities." Recalling that former American President Jimmy Carter, who visited Korea during the Park Chung-hee military regime, was welcomed by Korean intellectuals when he raised the human rights issue of the country, Lee called on the ruling party, "Don't distort the question based on a strange yardstick."
MORE ON THE ANALYSIS OF THE BABY BOUNCE OR NO BOUNCE
Roger Simon's Blog has some good links and discussion on why Kerry didn't get the typical bounce in the polls after the Democratic Convention.
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Roger Simon's Blog has some good links and discussion on why Kerry didn't get the typical bounce in the polls after the Democratic Convention.
ITALY CRUSHES U.S. MEN'S OLYMPIC TEAM
Well, it was good that it happened now. I watched most of the game today and it was embarrassing to watch Italy beat the U.S. 95-78. Their lack of perimeter shooters seemed to be the main problem, but also they seemed to be tentative. Players didn't attack the zone enough and there were careless turnovers.
When the U.S. lost three times during the 2002 FIBA World Championship, I blamed and still blame George Karl. Coaching still makes a difference at the NBA level, which Larry Brown proved this year, and it makes more of a difference for such a short-term team. Karl had the talent and the perimeter shooters back in 2002, but didn't utilize them enough and effectively. I remember Ray Allen sitting on the bench frustrated and wondering why Karl wasn't putting him in.
Karl also messed up when he was part of a great Seattle Supersonics team that won 63 games during the regular season and the No. 1 seed in the NBA Western Conference playoffs, but lost to the No. 8 seed Denver Nuggets in 1994. Later on, he coached what I thought was a talent-stacked Milwaukee Bucks to an early exit in the playoffs a few years back. They had Sam Cassell, Glenn Robinson, Ray Allen, and Anthony Mason, but no chemistry.
Some sports analysts say that it's harder to manage talent than building up a young team, as they point to Phil Jackson's coaching greatness, which I agree with to some degree. In Jackson's case, it is a matter of managing egos effectively, but I don't believe his coaching style would have won the past two U.S. teams a championships or a gold medal. You need a coach that knows the game, how to effectively teach it, and how to manage talent. Brown is the right coach for this. As for Karl, he doesn't have any of these abilities... yes, it's George Karl-hater day.
UPDATE: A view from ESPN's Bill Simmons. He asks where Michael Redd and Rip Hamilton are.
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Well, it was good that it happened now. I watched most of the game today and it was embarrassing to watch Italy beat the U.S. 95-78. Their lack of perimeter shooters seemed to be the main problem, but also they seemed to be tentative. Players didn't attack the zone enough and there were careless turnovers.
When the U.S. lost three times during the 2002 FIBA World Championship, I blamed and still blame George Karl. Coaching still makes a difference at the NBA level, which Larry Brown proved this year, and it makes more of a difference for such a short-term team. Karl had the talent and the perimeter shooters back in 2002, but didn't utilize them enough and effectively. I remember Ray Allen sitting on the bench frustrated and wondering why Karl wasn't putting him in.
Karl also messed up when he was part of a great Seattle Supersonics team that won 63 games during the regular season and the No. 1 seed in the NBA Western Conference playoffs, but lost to the No. 8 seed Denver Nuggets in 1994. Later on, he coached what I thought was a talent-stacked Milwaukee Bucks to an early exit in the playoffs a few years back. They had Sam Cassell, Glenn Robinson, Ray Allen, and Anthony Mason, but no chemistry.
Some sports analysts say that it's harder to manage talent than building up a young team, as they point to Phil Jackson's coaching greatness, which I agree with to some degree. In Jackson's case, it is a matter of managing egos effectively, but I don't believe his coaching style would have won the past two U.S. teams a championships or a gold medal. You need a coach that knows the game, how to effectively teach it, and how to manage talent. Brown is the right coach for this. As for Karl, he doesn't have any of these abilities... yes, it's George Karl-hater day.
UPDATE: A view from ESPN's Bill Simmons. He asks where Michael Redd and Rip Hamilton are.
MEN ARE FROM EARTH WOMEN ARE FROM PLUTO
One of my favorite daily cartoons of all time. Please no hate email on this one. I'm not an ignorant male... just a knuckle-headed, windbag of the more reasonable gender:
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One of my favorite daily cartoons of all time. Please no hate email on this one. I'm not an ignorant male... just a knuckle-headed, windbag of the more reasonable gender:
Sunday, August 01, 2004
WHICH CHINESE MYTHOLOGICAL BEING ARE YOU?
I haven't visited Quizilla since last year. These tests are amusing. I initially tried the Greek God quiz, but it seemed too simplistic with only three questions so I tried this one:
You are Feng-huang!
Mythological Background: The phoenix is the highest and most revered force in the skies. It's
associated with power and prosperity, because it is the king of all birds. Mars brings about intense love, passion, and even aggression. It is given the best traits of all beasts - its different parts come from different animals. The five mystical colours in its plume are black, white, red, green and yellow. The Phoenix is a very auspicious aspect in Chinese mythological culture; and its symbol is used only with royalty. Japanese Name: Suzaku
Which Chinese Mythological Being Are You?
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I haven't visited Quizilla since last year. These tests are amusing. I initially tried the Greek God quiz, but it seemed too simplistic with only three questions so I tried this one:
You are Feng-huang!
Mythological Background: The phoenix is the highest and most revered force in the skies. It's
associated with power and prosperity, because it is the king of all birds. Mars brings about intense love, passion, and even aggression. It is given the best traits of all beasts - its different parts come from different animals. The five mystical colours in its plume are black, white, red, green and yellow. The Phoenix is a very auspicious aspect in Chinese mythological culture; and its symbol is used only with royalty. Japanese Name: Suzaku
Which Chinese Mythological Being Are You?
AWKWARD KERRY STUMBLES ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL
Not a surprise that Kerry had a mishap on the campaign trail. Totally unaware and thinking his Vietnam credentials would create some type of bond with a few marines in a restaurant he gets publicly dissed. Of course the majority of current soliders would be against his "flavor of the day" positions on the war and especially if they are aware how he back-stabbed his fellow soliders from Vietnam for his own personal gain and glory. Via the Instapundit:
The Marines — two in uniform and two off-duty — were polite but curt while chatting with Kerry, answering most of his questions with a "yes, sir" or "no, sir." . . .
"He imposed on us and I disagree with him coming over here shaking our hands," one Marine said, adding, "I'm 100 percent against [him]."
A sergeant with 10 years of service under his belt said, "I speak for all of us. We think that we are doing the right thing in Iraq," before saying he is to be deployed there in a few weeks and is "eager" to go and serve.
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Not a surprise that Kerry had a mishap on the campaign trail. Totally unaware and thinking his Vietnam credentials would create some type of bond with a few marines in a restaurant he gets publicly dissed. Of course the majority of current soliders would be against his "flavor of the day" positions on the war and especially if they are aware how he back-stabbed his fellow soliders from Vietnam for his own personal gain and glory. Via the Instapundit:
The Marines — two in uniform and two off-duty — were polite but curt while chatting with Kerry, answering most of his questions with a "yes, sir" or "no, sir." . . .
"He imposed on us and I disagree with him coming over here shaking our hands," one Marine said, adding, "I'm 100 percent against [him]."
A sergeant with 10 years of service under his belt said, "I speak for all of us. We think that we are doing the right thing in Iraq," before saying he is to be deployed there in a few weeks and is "eager" to go and serve.
BUSH SHOOTS BACK AT KERRY... REVIEW OF HIS FIRST TOUR
The day after the DNC convention President Bush was on the campaign trail with a shiny new speech, which I'm sure some of you heard on TV, which was pretty good. I know he's not the best public speaker, but he delivers this well-crafted response in solid form. Some key excerpts:
My opponent has good intentions, but intentions do not always translate to results.
After 19 years in the United States Senate, my opponent has had thousands of votes but very few signature achievements.
During eight years on the Senate Intelligence Committee, he voted to cut the intelligence budget and he had no record of reforming America's intelligence-gathering capability. He had no significant record for reforming education and health care.
As a matter of fact, he and his running mate consistent opposed reforms that limit the power of Washington and leave more power in the hands of the people.
He's spent nearly 20 years in the federal government, and it appears he's concluded that it's just not big enough.
.....
In our parents' generation, moms usually stayed home while fathers worked for one company until retirement. The company provided health care and training and a pension. Many of the government programs and most basic systems, from health care to Social Security to the tax code, were based, and still are based, on the old assumptions.
This is a different world. Workers change jobs and careers frequently. Most of the jobs are created by small businesses. They can't afford to provide health care or pensions or training. Parents are working. They're not at home.
We need to make sure government changes with the times and to work for America's working families.
You see, American workers need to own their own health care accounts. They need to own and manage their own pensions and retirement systems.
They need more ownership so they can take the benefits from job to the job. They need flex time so they can work out of the home.
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The day after the DNC convention President Bush was on the campaign trail with a shiny new speech, which I'm sure some of you heard on TV, which was pretty good. I know he's not the best public speaker, but he delivers this well-crafted response in solid form. Some key excerpts:
My opponent has good intentions, but intentions do not always translate to results.
After 19 years in the United States Senate, my opponent has had thousands of votes but very few signature achievements.
During eight years on the Senate Intelligence Committee, he voted to cut the intelligence budget and he had no record of reforming America's intelligence-gathering capability. He had no significant record for reforming education and health care.
As a matter of fact, he and his running mate consistent opposed reforms that limit the power of Washington and leave more power in the hands of the people.
He's spent nearly 20 years in the federal government, and it appears he's concluded that it's just not big enough.
.....
In our parents' generation, moms usually stayed home while fathers worked for one company until retirement. The company provided health care and training and a pension. Many of the government programs and most basic systems, from health care to Social Security to the tax code, were based, and still are based, on the old assumptions.
This is a different world. Workers change jobs and careers frequently. Most of the jobs are created by small businesses. They can't afford to provide health care or pensions or training. Parents are working. They're not at home.
We need to make sure government changes with the times and to work for America's working families.
You see, American workers need to own their own health care accounts. They need to own and manage their own pensions and retirement systems.
They need more ownership so they can take the benefits from job to the job. They need flex time so they can work out of the home.
KERRY GETS BABY BOUNCE IN POLLS
Coming out of the Democratic National Convention in Boston, Sen. John Kerry now holds a seven-point lead over President George W. Bush (49 percent to 42 percent) in a three-way race with independent Ralph Nader (3 percent), according to the latest NEWSWEEK poll The poll was taken over two nights, both before and after Kerry's acceptance speech. Respondents who were queried after Kerry's Thursday night speech gave the Democrat a ten-point lead over Bush. Three weeks ago, Kerry’s lead was three points. Kerry’s four-point “bounce” is the smallest in the history of the NEWSWEEK poll. (full article)
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Coming out of the Democratic National Convention in Boston, Sen. John Kerry now holds a seven-point lead over President George W. Bush (49 percent to 42 percent) in a three-way race with independent Ralph Nader (3 percent), according to the latest NEWSWEEK poll The poll was taken over two nights, both before and after Kerry's acceptance speech. Respondents who were queried after Kerry's Thursday night speech gave the Democrat a ten-point lead over Bush. Three weeks ago, Kerry’s lead was three points. Kerry’s four-point “bounce” is the smallest in the history of the NEWSWEEK poll. (full article)
APPLE... MICROSOFT OF MUSIC?
News.com article:
Music downloads have begun to put their renegade origins in the past. Internet song sales could reach $270 million, more than double the takings from the previous year, according to one new report, rising to $1.7 billion by 2009. More than any other company, Apple Computer is poised to cash in on that trend. (full article)
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News.com article:
Music downloads have begun to put their renegade origins in the past. Internet song sales could reach $270 million, more than double the takings from the previous year, according to one new report, rising to $1.7 billion by 2009. More than any other company, Apple Computer is poised to cash in on that trend. (full article)
Business & Technology, Politics, and Random Posts from the Left, Right, and Elsewhere
Place of Birth: Seoul, Korea
Hometown: Northbrook, IL USA
Lived in: Seoul, Chicago (Villa Park & Northbrook), Madison, WI, Springfield, IL, St. Louis, New York City, Chicago (Glenview), Seoul, San Francisco
Also blogs at: AlwaysOn, Coro Blog, SportsBlog
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Max Yow
Homeland: Canada
Sports: combative sports, sports you play with a ball, sports with no swimming, sports you can play while drinking and smoking (pool, darts, bowling, video games).
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"You cannot go on explaining away things over forever or you will find that you have explained even explanation itself away. You cannot go on seeing through things forever because the whole point of seeing through something is to see something else through it." - C.S Lewis
December 11, 2005
"This telephone has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us." - Western Union internal memo, 1876
December 4, 2005
"You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individual. To that end each of us must work for his own improvement, and at the same time share a general responsibility for all humanity, our particular duty being to aid those to whom we think we can be most useful." - Marie Curie
November 27, 2005
"One cannot step into the same river twice." - Heratidus
November 20, 2005
"The death of democracy is not likely to be an assassination from ambush. It will be a slow extinction from apathy, indifference and undernourishment." - Robert Maynard Hutchins
November 13, 2005
"We are moving away from the old idea of leadership -- leadership has less to do (now) with heroism. We don’t look for... unblemished omnipotent heroes, but leaders who are complex, dependent, changeable... We do not need one dominant authority structure telling all our inner voices to shut up..." - Walter Truett Anderson
November 6, 2005
"To know oneself is to know one’s [country]. It is also... paradoxically a form of exile from that world... to know oneself is, above all, to know what one lacks. It is to measure oneself against Truth, and not the other way around. The first product of self-knowledge is humility, and that virtue is not conspicuous in any national character." - Flannery O’Connor
October 30, 2005
"Men content themselves with the same words as other people use, as if the very sound necessarily carried the same meaning." - John Locke
October 23, 2005
"In order to thrive in a world of change and chaos, we will need to accept 'chaos' as an essential process by which natural systems, including organizations, renew and revitalize themselves." - Margaret Wheatley
October 16, 2004
"Politics is perhaps the only profession for which no preparation is thought necessary." - Robert Louis Stevenson
October 9, 2004
"We will be better and braver if we engage and inquire than if we indulge in the idle fancy that we already know - or that it is of no use seeking to know what we do not know." - Plato
October 2, 2004
"Man's mind stretched to a new idea never goes back to its original dimensions." - Oliver W. Holmes
September 25, 2004
"What you learn intellectually lies in the shallow pools among the wrinkles of your brain. What you learn through the skin of experience sinks deep into your roots." - Hank Taft
September 18, 2004
"In commanding us to glorify him, God is inviting us to enjoy him." - C.S. Lewis
September 11, 2004
"A society is judged by how it treats its least desirable people." - Anonymous
September 4, 2004
"This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no "brief candle" to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to the future generations." - George Bernard Shaw
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