Hocks 29 Arid-zone 15
Lonestars 33 Orleans 22
Kittens 19 Giga-ants 18
Dolts 12 Jags 11
Ursa 15 L'ams 8

So, James Kim is a hero...

Well, I hate to be a bastard, but...
Driving on unfamiliar, lightly traveled mountain roads -- roads infamous among locals as being a trap -- at night, in a blinding snowstorm, all the while ignoring numerous warning signs, are NOT heroic actions. Eschewing the more sound judgement of backtracking to the main highway you missed, or even better, lodging in a motel for the night in nearby Grants Pass, the Kim family pushed onwards, apparently blissfully unaware of the egregiously dangerous nature of their actions. The reasoning, or more appropriately lack thereof, which James Kim demonstrated that night is reckless at best and downright criminal at worst. That fateful decision coast James Kim his life, and nearly that of his wife and kids.

And we are to believe, in the words of the Oregon State Police, that James Kim "did nothing wrong."

Bullshit.

I before "E" except after "C"

I think its interesting to imagine a sect of people dedicated to this maxim, regardless of the evidence or examples that could repudiate or mitigate their beliefs, they hold firm to this doctrine as the foundation of their belief in the English language. You could argue the sufficiency and weirdness of the rule all you want, but these people are unwilling to budge from their position. These people would be widely viewed as crazy.

There are many people, including members of Congress, who are unable or unwilling to accept that Global Warming exists. They will seek validation in the one paper that describes ice thickening in a section of Greenland, ignoring the overwhelming preponderance of evidence and examples in the peer-reviewed scientific press that substantiate global warming as a result of human activity. I can't explain the rationale of these exceedingly ignorant people... perhaps they believe it is a global anti-corporate conspiracy, or just can't stomach the ramifications of what global warming means to the human race.

Similarly, there are a Disturbing amount of people in this country, including members of congress, who will flatly deny evolution, and try to make an argument that the half-assed abomination of science they call "intelligent design" ought to at least stand on equal footing to what they view as the work of scientific quacks. Again, I am unable to explain the motivations of these people, other than to say that perhaps they are simply misguided by a philosophical zeal. One cannot be a thinking, intellectual person and deny evolution.

And then this. With the release of the Iraq Study Group's Report, aka the Baker-Hamilton report, the shrill caterwauling of the extreme Absolutist spin machine has reached a new, even more hopelessly ignorant pitch. And this all comes after this much-anticiapted report seems to have really nothing new to say that anyone who has been paying any attention to what is going on in Iraq already was more or less aware of.

No, I have not read the report, but I can tell you the first two sentences read like this: "The situation in Iraq is grave and deteriorating. There is no path that can guarantee success, but the prospects can be improved." It doesn't get much clearer than that, I suppose. The second sentence of the second paragraph in the "Executive Summary" which opens the report reads like this: "Our most important recommendations call for new and enhanced diplomatic and political efforts in Iraq and the region, and a change in the primary mission of U.S. forces in Iraq that will enable the United States to begin to move its combat forces out of Iraq responsibly."

I read that as "there is no such thing as clear victory," and an endorsement of the "phased troop withdrawal with regional diplomacy" angle that has been ridiculed by Bush, et al. as "cut and run" and "talking with terrorists." "Victory is our only out," and "We're not going to leave until the job is done" are both apparently bullshit sentiments in the eyes of this report, yet these are the simpleton's platitudes we have been hearing from Bush, et al. for months.

Consider, if you will, that not a single member of the committee that produced this report stood out against the war when it started.

The fact is, this report is clearly not a panacea, however, it stands as yet another piece of evidence that Bush, et al. can't ignore. The message, at this point, becomes that much more clear. It was a monumental fuck-up to even get started with this in the first place, and now, thanks to You, Bush, et al., there is no good way out of this overwhelming clusterfuck.

Last month I facetiously mentioned that the "Iraq Solution" is to "spin" our way out... actually, I was 25% serious, but now I am 75% serious, 25% facetious about I this. "Spin" is what got us into this bullshit, and "spin" is what needs to get us out. Define an arbitrary achievable objective that is 6-9 months off, and upon meeting this goal, begin a phased troop withdrawal. It will only be "cut and run" if that's what we call it, and it will only be "bowing to the enemy" if that is the label we stick on it. This massive Absolutist Spin Machine is so fucking good at what they do, I have no doubt they can come up with the proper rhetoric to label our actions.

At this time, it is important to remember the anti-intellectual "thinking" (lack thereof) that got us here. The Absolutists, including O'Reilly/Limbaugh, et al. and Bush, et al. decided that that War With Iraq was "'I' before 'E' except after 'C'" and embarked on a mission of philosophical folly so profound I am pretty sure it is unmatched in American history. They were fixated on a remarkably small piece of the overall Intelligence puzzle, a loose and poorly corroborated notion that Iraq had: a) so called WMD -- aka nuclear and chemical weapons -- capability and/or deployability, and b) Iraq was a major international state sponsor of terror. Both these notions we now know are not only untrue, they were almost entirely lies. It was Lies that got us into this clusterfuck, lies laid out to push forward a political agenda that the individuals adhering to it weren't smart enough to realize wouldn't work.

The overwhelming preponderance of evidence and examples stood to mitigate or repudiate this small segment of the puzzle the Absolutists were Fixated on. It was their folly, and inability or unwillingness to apply any sort of intellectual approach to this, that got us here. They are strikingly similar to the ignoramus that will insist the Earth is 6000-some years old, and that Global warming as a result of human activity is a Liberal scare tactic.

People like this should not be running a government... hell, people like this should not be running a McDonald's.

weak 14 "Pick 'Em" matches:

Mo nite: Midway Ursa Major @ St. L'ams
Su nite: The Saints go marching into Dull-ass
SEEaddle Ospreys @ Arid-zone-uh Ordinals
NYG'ants @ Charlotte's Kitties
Polis of Indiana D'oh-lts @ Ville of Jackson Spotty-cats

comments don't work, email picks

weak 13 "pick 'Em" resluts
ME: 11 [17.46]
Ty-Lor: 12 [18]
Lemur: 13 [15.92]
Ritch: 12 [18.31]
gerg: 17 [19.27]

wait a minute... we're letting GERG beat us!?

This is basically psychological torture... I don't know why we do it to ourselves.

Before I delve into the Seahawks-Broncos Game experience, I feel I need to first explain exactly why I was so eager to fly half-way across the country to see a team play that normally I can take a bus across town to go see any one of 8 times a year. You see, dating back to the halcyon AFC West John Elway days, I always thought of Mile High Stadium as one of these storied sports venues, an Olympus of sorts for the football gods, and the sort of venue any real football fan needs to one day experience.

Unfortunately, John Elway retired, Mile High was replaced with a Stadium called "Invesco Field" and torn down... but my sister Did move to Colordao, get married to a Broncos fan, and the Seahawks were scheduled for a date there December 3rd, and my sister grabbed some tix off Ebay, and Tyler and I made the plans to fly out non-rev and watch some Football. It was only two weeks ago that the game was moved to a night start, and then only recently the weather decided to get butt-ass cold.

It actually worked out to our favor that the game was moved to the Sunday Night slot, which allowed Tyler and I to fly out Sunday morning -- we had already decided getting out Sunday night, even with the normal afternoon start, would be difficult at best, and had arranged for today (Monday) off to return home. We arrived about noon Mountain time, to a clear, sunny, but cold Colorado day, our carry-on bags stuffed with long underwear and fleece layers. After grabbing a late breakfast and stopping by Corey's mom's house in nearby Fort Lupton (where we would also be crashing Sunday night) to start donning our layers, we headed into Denver to pre-func at the Wynkoop Brewery in LoDo.

We made a bit of a logistical error in departing the Wynkoop a bit early to head over to [Invesco Stadium at] Mile High, and on a frigid evening we ended up just walking around to maintain warmth. But in due time, we grabbed some beverages and headed to our seats for pre-game festivities.

Now, I suspect most of you saw the game, so there is no sense carrying on about the details. I will say that about midway through the first quarter I figured I was probably going to freeze my ass off to watch a frightfully dull game end with a score something like 13-10. I just hoped for a good ending and a Seahawks victory.

As far as the temperature, I have found in previous experiences that when it is Just cold, and not cold and windy or snowing or both, it really isn't all that bad. The main problem is with the fingers and toes, and at some point you are more or less resigned to shrugging your shoulders and deciding that a certain amount of numbness is to be expected, and if the feeling doesn't come back and it starts turning weird colors you might have to go see a doctor. Sure, its cold, and its not as comfortable as, say, a July evening on the porch sipping a hefeweizen, but if you are properly attired, and have located the nearby beer stand offering up Blue Moon and Fat Tire, it isn't necessarily the most miserable experience you've ever had. What will indeed make the experience miserable is when your football team is essentially making a mess of the game and looking more or less as though they have no interest in winning.

I will say I that when Broncos QB Jay Cutler, the rookie making his first start in place of the benched Jake Plummer, threw the comically bad 2nd quarter interception for TD that kept the Hawks in the game, after shouting a few unkind things about his alma mater, Vanderbilt, I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and yelled, "I'm going to call the Plummer." I got some chuckles out of that one. I'm quite proud of myself. That was, frankly, about the only highlight...until...

Then the 4th quarter happened. One of the great sports experiences of my life. There were random bear hugs with other Seahawks fans leaving the stadium, and a general sense of euphoria that the Hawks had just found a way to pull another one out of their ass, and a frigid evening, and all the logistical wrangling that had gone in to putting it together, hadn't been spent in total frustration. Walking back to the car, reflecting on the game and the season so far, I uttered the sentence that started this entry.


view from the [not exactly] cheap seats


Woo Hoo! We're cold!

Some random thoughts about the game;
1) I don't know how good the Seahawks Really are, and frankly am becoming bored with the topic. The fact is they Will win their division, barring a historic collapse, and they are in a three-way race with Dallas and New Orleans for the #2 seed and 1st-round playoff bye. This is their clear goal for the season. Every year there seems to be 1 or 2 NFL teams that seem to never really be all that great, but always hang around, figure out a way to keep pulling off wins, I never really think much of them, and then they end up playing for the Conference championship, maybe even going to and winning the Super Bowl. It doesn't bother me ONE BIT if the 2006 Seahawks are this year's version of that team.

2) I was shocked, even aghast, at "Bronco Nation's" fixation with John Elway. Jill had told me that Elway was the King of Colorado, and having been there a few times before I got the impression that he could be governor if he wanted to be, but Broncos fans are going to ruin Jay Cutler, as they already apparently have Jake Plummer, if they don't let go of this obsession. There will never be another John Elway... get over it!

3) I was surprised at the number of Seahawks fans at the stadium. Tyler pointed out that maybe it was the same effect as when you buy a new car, you keep noticing that car on the roads, and that may be true, but it Really did seem like there were quite a few Seahawks jerseys (or sweatshirts, jackets, et al.) at the game.

4) It struck me driving home after the game Sunday night how much this Broncos season resembles SOOO many Hawks seasons in the past... I have a little bit of sympathy for Broncos fans, to the extent that THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER JOHN ELWAY, SO GET OVER IT ALREADY!

5) I saw this in the PI today: Hawks record with BOTH Alexander and Hasselbeck in the lineup is 5-0. Chew on that. Also chew on what has gone on with their offensive line playing much of the season with only 2 of their 5 starters from last year (Hutchinson gone in Free Agency and Locklear and Tobeck with injury ailments). Throw in the illness to Bobby Engram, the loss of Marcus Tubbs and you have the type of "injury bug" that has crippled a lot of expectant teams. To some extent, the Seahawks Have been hit with the Super Bowl losers curse, and they have persevered through it.

6) There is nothing I can say here that hasn't been said about Josh Brown, but I have to mention how totally clutch Josh Brown is.