Argville

Goofy sport, eh?

2008-05-16T11:40:00.003-04:00

By VictorM:

David Beckham and his Los Angeles Galaxy soccer team visited Edmonton mid week to play an exhibition game against a second tier team from Vancouver. Commenting on David Beckham's arrival, Robert Tychkowski, of the Edmonton Sun had this to say:

It's like meeting cricket great Imran Khan Niazi, or catching a brief glimpse of bowling legend Mark Roth, or bumping into one of the top 25 javelin throwers of all time - a rare opportunity to see a once in a generation athlete in a goofy sport.

My first reaction, based on the rest of the article, is that Mr. Tychkowski was trying to be funny. But I'm going to give him some credit and refuse to accept that someone can be that bad at comedy.

What I believe is more plausible is that Mr. Tychkowski is the stereotypical Canadian who wants to be like the Americans, and so, to be like the cool kids, he picks on soccer. What he doesn't realize is that that is so 90's. The cool kids, for the most part, have all moved on to either ignoring soccer or accepting the inevitable -- that soccer is here to stay.

The Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League averaged 36, 843 in 2007. David Beckham and his mediocre Galaxy team, in an exhibition game against a team that's not even from Edmonton and plays in the lower division, played in front of 37,104.

Goofy, eh?

Obama moving on

2008-05-15T15:21:00.002-04:00

By VictorM:

Josh Marshall has summarized the current state of the Democratic primary in a way that makes sense to me:

We seem to have arrived at an equitable compromise: Sen. Clinton is staying in the nomination race while Sen. Obama drops out to move on to the general.

Keep running, Hillary, keep running.

Unassailable

2008-05-13T13:52:00.003-04:00

By VictorM:

Kvatch and his take on the Democratic primary and calls by Obama supporters for Hillary to leave the race:

Not only does the the Democratic Party need every supporter from both sides of the primary debate, if the two sides come together, we’re unassailable. Do you hear that? Unassailable! So if the Obama supporters would just lay off for a few minutes; give a woman who ran a tenacious campaign her due; and explain to those of us on the fence why, exactly, we should support Congressional dilettante, then maybe we’ll win this election.

Clearly, Hillary should not be pushed out of the running, but... the math doesn't lie. It's time for the lady to sing.

As a follow up to a recent post on this matter, I must say that I don't lose any respect for Hillary if she fights on. I was just merely saying the math is against her and I don't see how she can win now. But in any case, a lively convention will probably do the Democrats a world of good. Still... practice, Hillary, practice... Do, Re, Mi...

A good streak going

2008-05-11T14:18:00.003-04:00

By VictorM:

Last night the New York Red Bulls visited Los Angeles and defeated the LA Galaxy 2-1, with a winner by the fabulous Juan Pablo Angel.

And today over in England...

Manchester United won 2-0 to become champions of England on the very last day of the championship. As a bonus, Chelsea give up a goal in the last minute of the game to settle for a tie 1-1. Awwww... poor babies. :-p

And Fulham, a team that boasts 5 American players, scored a late goal to save themselves from relegation and stay in the premiership. Awesome stuff. This one really made my day.

The title says it all

2008-05-11T14:04:00.003-04:00

By VictorM:

Sometimes, less is more, and Glenn Greenwalds's title of a recent post says is all:

Neocons and the truth: Bitter enemies to the end

The rest of the post goes on to detail how neocons continue to push for an attack in Iran and are happy to make up shit to see that it happens before George Bush leaves office.

Terrorists are our enemies but neocons are this nation's biggest danger.

SOP

2008-05-09T13:02:00.002-04:00

By VictorM:

I saw the following on the front page of the Washington Post and had to laugh. They have it there as if it's big news. Come on, this is standard operating procedure for a leader in the current day Republican party:

PRESCOTT, Ariz. -- Sen. John McCain championed legislation that will let an Arizona rancher trade remote grassland and ponderosa pine forest here for acres of valuable federally owned property that is ready for development, a land swap that now stands to directly benefit one of his top presidential campaign fundraisers].

This type of activity just endears the senator to the conservative base of his party. And the rest of the party just thinks he has balls. Party on, like it's K-street days!

Sing Hillary, sing

2008-05-07T14:55:00.002-04:00

By VictorM:

You know the saying: " It ain't over till the fat lady sings." Well, Hillary, the time has come to belt out a tune. The math is not in your favor.

I'm not thrilled with Obama's message of hope and "let's all play nice" nonsense, but he has won the Democratic nomination fair and square. Delaying the inevitable just plays into McCain's hands.

The danger with conservatism

2008-05-06T21:23:00.002-04:00

By VictorM:

In an article in the Weekly Standard, a conservative magazine, I ran into this sentence:

Liberals love victims and want them to stay helpless, so they can help them, with government programs; while conservatives love those who refuse to be victims, and get up off the canvas and fight.

I can understand conservatives thinking that liberal policies continue to leave people helpless as an unintended consequences. I don't agree with that assessment, but I can understand it. But to say that liberals want people to stay helpless, well, that's just sheer nonsense.

That attitude shows that conservatives can't just disagree with others; they must demonize them. As long as conservatives are in power, there will be no peace and no compromise. Their nature won't allow it. Those who disagree with them are traitors, anti-America, terrorists, appeasers, weak, macacas, etc.

This explains why there isn't much difference between George Bush and John McCain on the issues that matter.

Gasoline holiday tax

2008-05-02T11:52:00.003-04:00

By VictorM:

Both John McCain and Hillary Clinton made similar proposals to suspend the federal gas tax during peak driving months this summer. This holiday tax really is a rotten idea and here's why why:

Economists... say the oil companies may end up the biggest beneficiaries, while the aid to families wouldn't be enough to buy a $35 backpack.
The trouble with the plan, they say, is that oil prices are rising because of low supplies, and companies will continue to charge the average $3.60 a gallon and just pocket the money that would have gone to federal taxes...
Where supplies are fixed -- and oil/gas supplies, for all intents and purposes, are -- it is the demand that determines price. One oil company could cut its gas prices, but it can't sell anymore gas than it already is (because it already sells all the gas it has), so purchasers would have no choice but to get the rest of their gas from someone else. This leaves oil companies with no incentive for lowering prices. If I'm already selling out all my inventory, and I can't make any more, lower prices cannot boost sales or take sales from someone else. All they can do is cut my profits.

Your model posits suppliers bidding against each other to sell gas. But with supplies fixed and limited, in effect what is happening is that buyers bid against each other to purchase gas.

This sounds like a campaigning good idea that would be a failure if implemented. Sorta like George Bush's tax cuts.

Bush is lying again

2008-04-29T13:09:00.003-04:00

By VictorM:

President Bush is now using a new tactic to justify the drilling at ANWR trying to link the current costs of gasoline with the need for more oil from Alaska. Why is this a blatant lie?

In 2004, the EIA released a report saying that if Congress were to allow drilling in ANWR that year, the oil would not actually begin flowing until 2013 and peak production would not be reached until 2025.

The truth is even if we went ahead with the drilling, it would not have any impact on oil prices for many years to come.

Let's face it: Bush was instrumental in fucking up the economy. No amount of lies is going to fool the American people about that fact.

Obama on stinking Fox

2008-04-28T14:43:00.002-04:00

By VictorM:

As the Democratic primary goes on, I continue to lose faith in both Democratic candidates. In their desire to win, both candidates have engaged in bonehead moves that worry me. The latest move comes from Barack Obama who, after months of avoiding Fox News and even claiming he would take them on, decides to give credibility to that fake organization.

I have to do along with Kos:

So Obama showed weakness by caving to right-wing bullying taunts (thrilling our political foes), disrespected his base, gave Fox a propaganda victory, exposed his campaign as a bunch of liars who promised something their candidate was clearly incapable of delivering, and defended the Democratic spinelessness that gave us the most ridiculous Supreme Court in generations.

At least Hillary's bonehead moves have shown strength; by going on Fox, Obama just behaved like the weakling I worry he might be.

A badge of honor, really

2008-04-25T00:00:00.001-04:00

By VictorM:

The daddy party really views its politicians differently. By that I mean, they think their politicians are above the law. Take for example, Senator Domenici:

Retiring Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., created an appearance of impropriety when he called a federal prosecutor in New Mexico to inquire about the timing of corruption indictments, the Senate ethics committee said Thursday.

The committee criticized Domenici in a letter to the senator, but it recommended no punishment.

In Republican circles, that letter is a badge of honor, and really, will not be seen as a negative. The senator's reaction proves that:

...Now that this matter has concluded favorably, I am anxious to focus all of my time and attention on the business of the people of New Mexico."

There you go. "Concluded favorably."

I bet that when these people see the movie "History of the World Part 1" and Mel Brooks, as the king, delivers the line "It's good to be the king", Republicans don't laugh, they just nod in agreement.

It's OK if they don't love it

2008-04-23T13:05:00.004-04:00

By VictorM:

John Feinstein takes a stroll down memory lane to the days when he was covering the now defunct North American Soccer League (NASL), which for a few years in the late 70's seemed to be on the verge of making it in the US.

There are many lessons to learn from those days, some of which the current Major League Soccer (MLS) seems keenly aware, but there is one thing in the article that I hope today's soccer fans learn.

Remembering Gordon Bradley, who made his name as a coach in the league, and Johan Cryuff, one of the greatest players of all times who finished his career in the USA, we have this:

What made Bradley and Cruyff great to deal with is that neither ever acted as if you had to love soccer. They both loved it, had grown up with it -- Gordon in England; Johan in Holland -- but they knew it was going to be an acquired taste in the U.S.

That's right! No one has to love the sport and soccer fans secure enough about the game should be able to accept that.

For those who grew up without it and have enjoyed other sports, becoming a soccer lover isn't likely to be in the cards. And that's fine. The empty seats around me at some games are better company than those who sit there asking why a goal isn't worth 7 points and offering suggestions to "fix" the world's most popular and loved sport even when this is their first ever soccer game.

The creeps are coming, the creeps are coming

2008-04-22T18:32:00.002-04:00

By VictorM:

With the Republicans in danger of losing the White House and further losses in the House and Senate, the fighting will get nastier than ever as the Republican party has sold it's soul (a term I use loosely) to the devil. So this bit of news about a plan to attack Barack Obama comes as no surprise:

Starting Tuesday, a group of conservative activists led by Floyd Brown, author of the famous Willie Horton ad used so effectively against Michael Dukakis in 1988, will begin a campaign to tar Obama as weak on crime and terrorism, a strategy that aims to upend Obama's relatively strong reputation among Republican voters.

I saw their first video against Obama and must say that they have to do much better if they plan to tar the Senator from Illinois, but I have no doubt that they will continue to try.

When few words are enough

2008-04-22T12:40:00.003-04:00

By VictorM:

There's no need to use lots of words to explain why any decent American should vote for a Democrat and not John McCain. Howard Dean delivered those few words in an email:

Unemployment is up. Gas and food prices are up. Inflation is on the rise. The housing market is in a slump. The pundits are saying we're in the worst economic mess in decades. But John McCain keeps defending his friend George Bush, saying everything is just fine.

Providing tax cuts for the wealthy, allowing oil and gas companies to make huge windfall profits and turning a blind eye to the problems in the home lending market -- these are John McCain's solutions. American families can't afford four more years of failed Bush economic policies.

Seriously, you have to be a rotten creep, a bitter jackass, or a right wing conservative to think of voting for John McCain.

My fear of Obama as a candidate

2008-04-21T16:01:00.004-04:00

By VictorM:

I'm nervous of a Barack Obama campaign against John McCain because Obama is bound to repeat these types of verbal mistakes:

“You have a real choice in this election. Either Democrat would be better than John McCain – and all three of us would be better than George Bush,” Mr. Obama said. “But what you have to ask yourself is, who has the chance to actually, really change things in a fundamental way?”

McCain better than Bush? After the Democratic party has gone to great extents to paint McCain as George Bus's third term?

Obama later said: “We can’t afford to have four more years of George Bush policies under the guise of John McCain.” Clearly he was trying to back paddle from his earlier mistake.

Can Obama just give prepared speeches? Because when he's allowed to improvise the results haven't been all that good.

My main worry still is that Obama doesn't have the killer instinct for national politics and his "let's get along" tendency is going to let him down against the Republican machine.

Stupid people

2008-04-18T20:33:00.002-04:00

By VictorM:

Some people are saying Barack Obama was giving Hillary Clinton the finger when he was scratching his face. I wish we could shoot such stupid people. See it for yourself:

Maybe I was wrong

2008-04-15T17:32:00.002-04:00

By VictorM:

Was I wrong? I said for months that the Democrats have two excellent presidential candidates and I'd be happy with either one as the nominee.

Maybe I was wrong, but I'm not bitter and I'm not making any 3 AM calls. I'll just vote against the idiot who wants to stay in Iraq the longest.

Darn, people like him

2008-04-14T14:55:00.002-04:00

By VictorM:

Al Franken is running for a US Senate seat in Minnesota. Unlike Barack Obama, Franken has drawn sharp contrasts with Republicans and is not afraid to take them on. Unlike Barack Obama, he's gotten some of my money.

A Navy officer and Iraq veteran named Tim Wellman Jr. has this to say about his support for Al Franken:

He brings a clear vision of right and wrong... He's been very strong about confronting Republicans on their own issues, like strength and war.

But my main reason for supporting Al Franken was best expressed by Kevin Drum:

Personally, I'd vote for anyone who wrote Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot, so I don't need a lot of convincing.

Confession, Christopher, Confession

2008-04-12T09:05:00.003-04:00

By VictorM:

The very annoying "journalist" Christopher Hitchens would like to ask the Pope something:

We already know that the Pope is a Roman Catholic. What we need to hear is his reason for giving sinecure and asylum to the man [Cardinal Bernard Law] who organized and excused the rape and torture of tens of thousands of American children.

Christopher, you charlatan, Cardinal Law probably just confessed to his sins. He then was ordered to pray for oh... I don't know, maybe 15 minutes, and presto! His sins are gone. He's as good as new.

It's good to be Catholic.

It's Petraeus's war now

2008-04-10T17:39:00.003-04:00

By VictorM:

Bush has been transferring the war in Iraq from something that he owns to one the military owns now:

President Bush today accepted the recommendation of Army Gen. David H. Petraeus to indefinitely suspend a drawdown of U.S. forces from Iraq to consolidate recent security gains and said he told his top commander in the country that "he'll have all the time he needs.

And then we have this:

But Bush also said U.S. troops increasingly would assume a supporting role in Iraq, and he moved to reduce the strain on the military by announcing a reduction of Army combat tours from 15 months to 12 months.

Doesn't this sound like 2004? Or 2005? Or 2006? Or 2007?

The Iraq War will forever be a failure

2008-04-09T19:17:00.002-04:00

By VictorM:

General Petraeus comes to Congress with his many charts trying to explain that the surge is working. Frankly, the whole thing makes me want to puke.

Look, that whole mess was and will always be a failure. Anyone claiming "victory" or "progress" from that mess is in denial.

Watching the Iraq war and all the spinning by the Bush administration is like watching a suicide happening before your own eyes. All we're doing now is trying to come up with justification for it, and standing around wondering what to do with the body.

The stench reeks from anyone defending that disaster.

Keep the sodas and candy away

2008-04-07T10:37:00.003-04:00

By VictorM:

There really is no surprise with the results of the experiment shown below in terms of the consequences of this diet program:

Five Philadelphia elementary schools replaced sodas with fruit juice. They scaled back snacks and banished candy. They handed out raffle tickets for wise food choices. They spent hours teaching kids, their parents and teachers about good nutrition...

The number of kids who got fat during the two-year experiment was half the number of kids who got fat in schools that didn't make those efforts...
The bad news: There were still plenty of new overweight kids in the five schools _ over 7 percent of them became overweight compared to the 15 percent in the schools that didn't make changes.

The question is: will our political leaders have the wisdom and the will to push for such changes across the nation? Doubtful, of course, as the soda and candy companies will be out lobbying in force, but the benefits we'd get as a nation would be enormous, particularly when it comes to health care.

1650 words

2008-04-07T10:00:00.000-04:00

By VictorM:

Meteor Blades is one of the front page writers at Daily Kos. He just wrote a 1650 word piece to basically say what he could have said with four words: "Hillary, be a quitter."

What's with the rush to allow the Democratic party nomination to follow its process? If they need to change the party primary rules, so be it, but until then, allow any candidate to fight for the nomination. John McCain isn't going to get any better or erase his lousy record between now and a Democratic nominee is chosen. His stupid policies and war-mongering views will be alive and well for the Democratic candidate, whomever he or she is, to kick his butt.

Woman versus African-American

2008-04-06T12:58:00.002-04:00

By VictorM:

Is the USA ready for either a woman or an African-American to be president? I am of two minds about the question itself. On one hand it's sad that the question is even asked, but given where we have been, it is good that question is being asked seriously because for the first time ever we have a candidate from each group with a realistic shot of winning (even if Hillary's chances are now fading).

So, how do Americans feel about this race and gender issue?

A poll by CNN and Essence magazine released Thursday found that Americans believe the country is more ready to elect an African-American president than a woman...
The good news is that the vast majority of voters think the country is ready for either a woman or an African-American. But I was sad to see lower support for a woman -- though after this campaign, I wasn't surprised. I think it's clear that Hillary Clinton has suffered more sexist abuse than Barack Obama has experienced overt racism this year: men yelling "Iron my shirts" on the campaign trail; Rush Limbaugh and Matt Drudge hyping unflattering photos of Clinton and predicting that Americans will be repelled by the sight of a female president aging, debate moderators telling her she's just not likable, cable commentators trashing her with sexually charged analysis and statements. Remember when that John McCain supporter, a woman, asked "How do we beat the B-word?" about Hillary, and McCain and everybody in the crowd laughed? Imagine if she'd used the same kind of slur about Obama.

Yes, Hillary has been the subject of more abuse, no question about it.