Ignoring the fact that It's the economy Stupid! (and that in every oppressively down economic time the U.S. has elected a Dem, to its benefit)...
McCain, and Palin for that matter, telling everyone who will listen that he is a 'Maverick', sadly sounds like an umemployed 24 year-old looking for a job and telling everyone how cool he used to be in high school. I got new for you - you ain't a 'Maverick' when you call yourself one.
McCain is a good soldier and a great American, of this there is no doubt. Unfortunatley, he is not a good leader -- never has been.
No one, not a single person, understood how to wage a battle against terrorists... they kept using traditonal warfare strategies and analyses that were equivalent to trying to project the seven day forecast by sitting in your office and holding a finger to your air conditioner...
I hold more against McCain for invading Irag than I do against Obama for being against the Surge. We opened an entire country - for hiding, pillaging, and as a new front-line to kill American soldiers, up to the very terrorists we were hunting (and, up until opening Iraq up to them, cornering) in Afganistan.
And, split as many hairs as you like, but of the following there can be no dispute: we entered Iraq to take down Saddam Hussein because the US Executive Office and its Cabinet, saw this as an opening to take him out. For an unjustified - and unproven - reason. If we want to take out despots across the world as policy, there's a lot worse - and at the time - less crippled, than Hussein. This was vendetta time. Wrong place, wrong time, wrong outcome. Cut off the head of an enemicserpent and allow a million venoumous spiders to take over.
Think of how many lives we'd have, how many funds could be spent in the U.S., and how World Opinion would still be pitted against Hussein had we not gone in. Whether you like World Opinion or not, it matters not, because in a Global Economy, at some levels of your daily life, you and yours will be subject to it.
Democrats are not the end all, and neither is Obama, for me. But, I don't hold his minister, or his tenuous Ayers connection against him. In the same way I don't think of the Keating five or McCain's chumminess with the Machiavellian manifestation known as G. gordon Liddy against him. But in economic turmoil, it is a Democratic Executive that understands how to employ the government to help lift the country. The Republican Platform is based on less government and asking them to step up some leveles of our gov't is akin to having credit card companies coach people on how to charge less -- it's the antithesis to their existence.
October 8, 2008
June 5, 2008
Two undeniable reasons to feel good about the Celts
2008 - About the NBA finals:
1. Robert Parrish - 1986
2. Johnny Quest - 1987
Let me expound...
1. Robert Parrish was one of the Celts' Bid Three in '86. Then he won his last Championship with in '97 with the Bulls. He shared his place on that team with Tony Kukoc. The same Tony Kukoc that ended up playing '02-'06 with the Milwaukee Bucks. In '02 and '03 he played with a certain strong three-point shooter named Ray Allen. Our Ray Allen. So, 21 years later, with only two players in between, we connect our old Big Three to our new Big Three. (Of course, it may have been a little easier to just say that Parrish is a player consultant for the current Celts, but where's the Karma in that?)
2. At the prompting of Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, P.J. Brown joined the Green at the end of February this year. From 1996-2000 P.J. was coached by Pat Riley at the Heat. Riley also coached Kareem Abdul Jabbar of the winning Lakers team in '87. Kareem starred with, among others, Barbara Billingsley in the movie 'Airplane' (you'll remember, she spoke jive). Barbara Billingsley was best known as Mrs, Cleaver in Leave it to Beaver. A young actor know as Tim Matheson appeared in two episodes of the show as a friend of the Beav. Tim Matheson voiced the character of the original Johnny Quest.
Johnny Quest never loses a battle.
1. Robert Parrish - 1986
2. Johnny Quest - 1987
Let me expound...
1. Robert Parrish was one of the Celts' Bid Three in '86. Then he won his last Championship with in '97 with the Bulls. He shared his place on that team with Tony Kukoc. The same Tony Kukoc that ended up playing '02-'06 with the Milwaukee Bucks. In '02 and '03 he played with a certain strong three-point shooter named Ray Allen. Our Ray Allen. So, 21 years later, with only two players in between, we connect our old Big Three to our new Big Three. (Of course, it may have been a little easier to just say that Parrish is a player consultant for the current Celts, but where's the Karma in that?)
2. At the prompting of Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, P.J. Brown joined the Green at the end of February this year. From 1996-2000 P.J. was coached by Pat Riley at the Heat. Riley also coached Kareem Abdul Jabbar of the winning Lakers team in '87. Kareem starred with, among others, Barbara Billingsley in the movie 'Airplane' (you'll remember, she spoke jive). Barbara Billingsley was best known as Mrs, Cleaver in Leave it to Beaver. A young actor know as Tim Matheson appeared in two episodes of the show as a friend of the Beav. Tim Matheson voiced the character of the original Johnny Quest.
Johnny Quest never loses a battle.
April 30, 2008
Two new reasons for the Barack
If you're a McCain-ite, then this isn't meant to persuade you. If you're a Clintonian, perhaps it's too late for switching allegiances... but if you're undecided? How can't you be all over the O Man.
1. The man who advised him, married him and baptized his kids goes mentally AWOL. After trying to maintain relations, Barack painstakingly breaks all ties with this man. He was his spiritual council, not his political advisor; after learning how disparate their politics are, he has broken - and alienated - the man he once looked to for spiritual guidance. Granted, he had to do it to stay viable, but it can't be understated how big a step this was.
2. The gas tax gimmick -- if what Hillary & McCain threw out there doesn't just reek of a D.C. make me look good in the short term jury-rigging attempt, I don't know what does. I honestly don't think clinton or McCain had a second thought about what this would do, other than make them look good in front of the populace. And if what they wanted top do was look like they are being led by the common poll, rather than their heads, they won. But this gas tax freeze is a boondoggle of epic proportions because every economist worth his/her salt has come out against it!
Think of how easy it would have been for the 'inexperienced' Barack to fall in line - without having to appear he was falling in line - and support the freeze. Instead, he comes out against it. Why? Because he's a smart man who has both foresight and the quality of a candidate that is doing what is right, not what is necessarily popular on first blush.
Why is the freeze a bad thing? I'll quote the common consensus that you can find from any number of sources of economists, not 'crazy left-wingers'. From Alister Bull of Reuters:
Economists said that since refineries cannot increase their supply of gasoline in the space of a few summer months, lower prices will just boost demand and the benefits will flow to oil companies, not consumers.
"You are just going to push up the price of gas by almost the size of the tax cut," said Eric Toder, a senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center in Washington.
Obama criticized the plan as pure politics and said the only way to lower the price of gas is to use less oil.
"It would last for three months and it would save you on average half a tank of gas, $25 to $30. That's what Senator Clinton and Senator McCain are proposing to deal with the gas crisis," he said on Tuesday in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
"This isn't an idea designed to get you through the summer, it's an idea designed to get them through an election."
Clinton followed up by saying this shows how out of touch he is with the common person. First of all regarding elitism, those in glass houses, second of all, I'll take someone who thinks an idea through 10 times out of 10 any day.
Yeah.. I want my tax freeze going to Big Oil, because that will show how 'in touch' I am... yeesh.
1. The man who advised him, married him and baptized his kids goes mentally AWOL. After trying to maintain relations, Barack painstakingly breaks all ties with this man. He was his spiritual council, not his political advisor; after learning how disparate their politics are, he has broken - and alienated - the man he once looked to for spiritual guidance. Granted, he had to do it to stay viable, but it can't be understated how big a step this was.
2. The gas tax gimmick -- if what Hillary & McCain threw out there doesn't just reek of a D.C. make me look good in the short term jury-rigging attempt, I don't know what does. I honestly don't think clinton or McCain had a second thought about what this would do, other than make them look good in front of the populace. And if what they wanted top do was look like they are being led by the common poll, rather than their heads, they won. But this gas tax freeze is a boondoggle of epic proportions because every economist worth his/her salt has come out against it!
Think of how easy it would have been for the 'inexperienced' Barack to fall in line - without having to appear he was falling in line - and support the freeze. Instead, he comes out against it. Why? Because he's a smart man who has both foresight and the quality of a candidate that is doing what is right, not what is necessarily popular on first blush.
Why is the freeze a bad thing? I'll quote the common consensus that you can find from any number of sources of economists, not 'crazy left-wingers'. From Alister Bull of Reuters:
Economists said that since refineries cannot increase their supply of gasoline in the space of a few summer months, lower prices will just boost demand and the benefits will flow to oil companies, not consumers.
"You are just going to push up the price of gas by almost the size of the tax cut," said Eric Toder, a senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center in Washington.
Obama criticized the plan as pure politics and said the only way to lower the price of gas is to use less oil.
"It would last for three months and it would save you on average half a tank of gas, $25 to $30. That's what Senator Clinton and Senator McCain are proposing to deal with the gas crisis," he said on Tuesday in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
"This isn't an idea designed to get you through the summer, it's an idea designed to get them through an election."
Clinton followed up by saying this shows how out of touch he is with the common person. First of all regarding elitism, those in glass houses, second of all, I'll take someone who thinks an idea through 10 times out of 10 any day.
Yeah.. I want my tax freeze going to Big Oil, because that will show how 'in touch' I am... yeesh.
April 29, 2008
Five Game Skid, Celts lose again, but Glass Half-full (of lemonade)
Couple of team lemon-like perfomances these days, but drink down these cool Paps-stats from Rob Bradford/Herald for some refreshing lemonade:
"...while pointing to the fact that he (Paps) might actually be better this year thanks to improved command. He hasn’t walked a batter since the first hitter he faced this season. But within the story are also tidbits supplied from our man, Gary from Chapel Hill, who sent along this stuff, which is truly amazing.
So here it is:
Strikeout % Yearly Leaders (8th Inn or Later, Ahead by 1 or 2 Runs; min. 50 such batters faced in ‘06/’07 and 15 in ‘08):
2006: Nathan 43.5%; F Rodriguez 41.0%; Saito 39.4%; Papelbon 30.3% (13th).
2007: Papelbon 41.8%; F Cordero 35.6%; Myers 35.4%.
2008: Papelbon 41.4%; Neshek 40.0%; Rivera 36.0%;
Three Up / Three Down Innings With 2+ Strikeouts, 8th inning or later
(2006 – 2008): Papelbon, 31; Saito 30; Nathan 24; Putz 23; Five tied with 19.
Strikeout % of all batters once count reaches 2 strikes (min. 100 BF in ‘06/’07 and 25 BF in ‘08):
2006: Nathan 59.4%; Putz 57.8; Jenks 56.3%; Papelbon 49.3% (18th).
2007: Putz 59.4%; Marmol 58.5%; Papelbon 57.1%.
2008: Papelbon 72.0%; Billingsley 60.4%; Affeldt 60.0%; Jesse Carlson 60.0%
Batting average allowed with 2 strikes
(since beginning of ‘07, min. 150 BF): Papelbon .082 (13 for 159); Soriano Rafael .085; Turnbow .087;
OBP Allowed Since Beginning of 2006 (min. 300 BF):
Papelbon .216; Soria .232; Putz .235*
Since becoming a closer (beginning of 2006), in road games Papelbon has allowed a .197 OBP (best in MLB),
allowed a .248 slugging percentage (best in MLB),
and has struck out 36.2% of batters faced (best in MLB).
Minimum 150 BF on the road.
Career Batting Average Allowed - 7th inning or later, leading, on the road, with RISP: Papelbon .000 (0 for 32, 1 BB, 1 HBP)"
It's going to be O-K
"...while pointing to the fact that he (Paps) might actually be better this year thanks to improved command. He hasn’t walked a batter since the first hitter he faced this season. But within the story are also tidbits supplied from our man, Gary from Chapel Hill, who sent along this stuff, which is truly amazing.
So here it is:
Strikeout % Yearly Leaders (8th Inn or Later, Ahead by 1 or 2 Runs; min. 50 such batters faced in ‘06/’07 and 15 in ‘08):
2006: Nathan 43.5%; F Rodriguez 41.0%; Saito 39.4%; Papelbon 30.3% (13th).
2007: Papelbon 41.8%; F Cordero 35.6%; Myers 35.4%.
2008: Papelbon 41.4%; Neshek 40.0%; Rivera 36.0%;
Three Up / Three Down Innings With 2+ Strikeouts, 8th inning or later
(2006 – 2008): Papelbon, 31; Saito 30; Nathan 24; Putz 23; Five tied with 19.
Strikeout % of all batters once count reaches 2 strikes (min. 100 BF in ‘06/’07 and 25 BF in ‘08):
2006: Nathan 59.4%; Putz 57.8; Jenks 56.3%; Papelbon 49.3% (18th).
2007: Putz 59.4%; Marmol 58.5%; Papelbon 57.1%.
2008: Papelbon 72.0%; Billingsley 60.4%; Affeldt 60.0%; Jesse Carlson 60.0%
Batting average allowed with 2 strikes
(since beginning of ‘07, min. 150 BF): Papelbon .082 (13 for 159); Soriano Rafael .085; Turnbow .087;
OBP Allowed Since Beginning of 2006 (min. 300 BF):
Papelbon .216; Soria .232; Putz .235*
Since becoming a closer (beginning of 2006), in road games Papelbon has allowed a .197 OBP (best in MLB),
allowed a .248 slugging percentage (best in MLB),
and has struck out 36.2% of batters faced (best in MLB).
Minimum 150 BF on the road.
Career Batting Average Allowed - 7th inning or later, leading, on the road, with RISP: Papelbon .000 (0 for 32, 1 BB, 1 HBP)"
It's going to be O-K
April 22, 2008
Obama likely to get the numbers before Convention
Here's what I just don't get: Obama willl win the majority of the delegates, even if the following H-friendly primary numbers come to pass:
H% O%
PA 60 40
IN 53 47
WV 42 58
OR 50 50
SD 54 46
Guam 50 50
NC 52 48 (no way H wins NC)
KY 46 54
MT 47 53
PRico 50 50
If Hilary gets 51% of the superdelegates, she'll have 159 and Obama will have 152.
While somewhat arbitrary, all those numbers are even optimistic for Clinton and guess what? If it breaks down that way Obama is likely to have 2066 delgates (need 2025 to win) -- employing a neat little delegate counter found on the politics page of CNN. Stop telling me he can't land this fish before the Convention -- he can and in all likelihood, he will.
H% O%
PA 60 40
IN 53 47
WV 42 58
OR 50 50
SD 54 46
Guam 50 50
NC 52 48 (no way H wins NC)
KY 46 54
MT 47 53
PRico 50 50
If Hilary gets 51% of the superdelegates, she'll have 159 and Obama will have 152.
While somewhat arbitrary, all those numbers are even optimistic for Clinton and guess what? If it breaks down that way Obama is likely to have 2066 delgates (need 2025 to win) -- employing a neat little delegate counter found on the politics page of CNN. Stop telling me he can't land this fish before the Convention -- he can and in all likelihood, he will.
Make my CF a Jake
Thank the Tito gods that Jacoby ‘Jake’ Ellsbury is consistently in at this point. I kind of think management had this ease-him-in plan from the very start… kind of how they platooned in Pedroia (I know, Pedroia for April stunk up the joint, but who knows here). Either that, or they are happy with the Coco sampling size — hitting well enough for other teams to say ‘hmmmm…’. ‘Course, doesn’t hurt that Coco is…, well… hurt.
But, besides what our eyes tell us, here are some Jake stats that stand out as what should be our everyday CF (and keep in mind his mostly split/time w/ Coco):
- His 16 Runs scored is tops on the team
- Has not only drawn the most walks (13) but has the best walk/at bat ratio on the team by far, at better than 1 in every four at bats
- Has the highest OBP -- pretty much the main stat I'd want to look at -- at .444, eclipsing Youk's .433, which would be 4th in the entire AL if he had enough at bats. ________ (fill in your counter-point regarding sample size here) (Oh, and Coco’s is the second lowest OBP before ‘Tek’s)
- Only Sean Casey has fewer K’s (3 to Jake’s 5)
- Only Manny & Youk have at least one double triple or homer on the Sox, like Jake. I’ll betcha he hits more triples than homers this year.
Make my lead-off CF a Jake
But, besides what our eyes tell us, here are some Jake stats that stand out as what should be our everyday CF (and keep in mind his mostly split/time w/ Coco):
- His 16 Runs scored is tops on the team
- Has not only drawn the most walks (13) but has the best walk/at bat ratio on the team by far, at better than 1 in every four at bats
- Has the highest OBP -- pretty much the main stat I'd want to look at -- at .444, eclipsing Youk's .433, which would be 4th in the entire AL if he had enough at bats. ________ (fill in your counter-point regarding sample size here) (Oh, and Coco’s is the second lowest OBP before ‘Tek’s)
- Only Sean Casey has fewer K’s (3 to Jake’s 5)
- Only Manny & Youk have at least one double triple or homer on the Sox, like Jake. I’ll betcha he hits more triples than homers this year.
Make my lead-off CF a Jake
April 15, 2008
Other items found next to Big Papi's Jersey in the new Yankee Stadium...
- Jimmy Hoffa's teeth, which, by an obscure New York City law, any new major stadium in the metropolitan area being built must have the former Teamster's President's remains
- Roger Clemen's testes and, ironically, a rat's ass
- Britney Spears' can't-miss business plan
- Phil Hughes control on his fastball
- Another fly-ball out by Wang the Magnificent
- A-Rod's Girl Scout Manual on how-to-slap-a-ball-out-of-a-glove
- The consistency of Dice-K
- Girardi's coaching acumen that tells him when to walk a batter
- The only smidgen of Manny than isn't in dead-on regular season form
- A hidden video of Theo Epstein standing in the mirror late Sunday night screaming at a make-believe press conference,... "So, J.D. Drew was a bad deal huh?!! Won't be good once his family stuff is done, huh?!!! Waste of Sox salary smart guy?!!!!! How you feeling now... sucka!!!!!!"
- The numbskull Boston fans who still exist cica, 2002, yelling 'Yankees Suck' at home games
- Mo Vaughn's healthy foot/ankle
- Hank Steinbrenner's convictions (Jinx?, What jinx?, There's no jinxes... just to be sure we'll dig it up to show you)
- Roger Clemen's testes and, ironically, a rat's ass
- Britney Spears' can't-miss business plan
- Phil Hughes control on his fastball
- Another fly-ball out by Wang the Magnificent
- A-Rod's Girl Scout Manual on how-to-slap-a-ball-out-of-a-glove
- The consistency of Dice-K
- Girardi's coaching acumen that tells him when to walk a batter
- The only smidgen of Manny than isn't in dead-on regular season form
- A hidden video of Theo Epstein standing in the mirror late Sunday night screaming at a make-believe press conference,... "So, J.D. Drew was a bad deal huh?!! Won't be good once his family stuff is done, huh?!!! Waste of Sox salary smart guy?!!!!! How you feeling now... sucka!!!!!!"
- The numbskull Boston fans who still exist cica, 2002, yelling 'Yankees Suck' at home games
- Mo Vaughn's healthy foot/ankle
- Hank Steinbrenner's convictions (Jinx?, What jinx?, There's no jinxes... just to be sure we'll dig it up to show you)
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