KILLER TECHNOLOGY: PEOPLE ARE DYING TO GET THEIR HANDS ON THESE THINGS

I don't know about this. Certainly the problem is tragic and personal but this seems like high tech "Dial M for Murder". click here

BETHALTO: LOWEST FORM OF LIFE

You might be an a$$h*le if....click here

PITTSBURGH: A VIEW OF HILLARY FROM THE EVIL EMPIRE

click here

This from the father of the "Arkansas Project"

ANTHRAX INVESTIGATION, SINKHOLES, SNOWMELT AND OTHER ANNOYING THINGS, LIKE SENATORS

Six years since the anthrax letters. Evidence includes handwriting, paper, postmarks and chemical properties. No arrests yet. Probably need to put some local police on it. Feds tend to form task forces. Real police tend to solve crimes.

Be careful in private parking lots, especially banks, The ground is very dynamic and there are sinkholes forming by the hour. There are a couple here locally in which you could lose a shetland pony.

The Great River is high. There is snow to melt in the North. Do you know where your sand shovel is?

Lindsey Graham is annoying but he's not stupid. When a dork like Rep. Duncan Hunter talks about "victory" in Iraq, you know he's so subhuman he's not even aware he's failing to define his terms. Graham, on the other hand, knows better. When he talks about victory and doesn't give any metrics, you know he's just being dishonest. Hunter can't help being a gerbil. Graham knows when he's being deceitful. You wanna talk about Iraq and justify it? Great, knock yourself out. But start with your objectives.

I have to agree with the GOP analysis of Patrick Leahy. If you don't agree with his view of the world, you're either stupid or evil, or both. He is scolding Hillary Clinton for being in the race. Never mind that she can afford it and that some major states are still to vote. Leahy thinks Obama should be president and anything that stands to oppose that view is either stupid or ill intended. Support BObama? Great, knock yourself out. But don't tell grownups what to do with their time, energy and campaign funds.

Baseball starts tomorrow. Maybe that will lower my AQ (annoyance quotient) for these lurking floaters in the punch bowl of life.

WASHINGTON: MCFLIGHTSUIT FINALLY GETS THE LAST LEG OF THE POWELL DOCTRINE

The invader-in-chief just said any US withdrawal (not even a "coalition" fig leaf any more) would be a publicity "coup" for the bad guys.

Too bad he didn't pay any attention to the writings of his own Sec'y of State before he did this dog and pony show. The exit strategy is something you're supposed to consider before initiating military action.

I mean it's nice that he's thinking about it now but, I mean, that was five years ago!

When he was Governor of Texas, even the people who liked him said it took him "Two hours to watch '60 minutes' " He's got that insightful grasp of his on display now. Very disappointing.

And, yes, Powell sold out his principles when he held up that stupid vial in the U.N.--but that's a whole 'nother story.

BOSTON: WHAT'S THIS BUZZ I'M GETTING IN MY EAR?

I'm going to leave this up. It shows how dangerous the internet can be. I get two phone calls and a couple of emails and start to think there's something real out there. It's just the usual Mass. internal chickenflop.

(Owner's Note: All of their troubles would be over if the leadership SuperD's there would just vote the will of their people at the convention. It's so simple.)

(The original post is below)
DeVal Patrick in some kinda trouble? Don't know the details but seems it might have casino money in it. Seems like a good guy. I hope it's nothing. Somebody get the poop, fill me in, please.

MY TAKE ON "SNIPER FIRE," MORE OR LESS

My take on the whole sniper fire issue is that this country urgently needs to people to start voting again. It's obvious the media doesn't have the horsepower or patience to deal with Issues like Social Security Meltdown, Possible War in South and Central America, further interruptions in the petro pipeline and the role of diplomacy in our relationship with Iran. It's also obvious this is a getback for no debate for Katie. Thus, the only thing that will save us from this drivel is an election where at least there will be real numbers and humans for the press to report upon.

It's a mistake but it's a two on a ten scale. Even the Wright response was about a four on a ten scale but it orbited because there is no election upon which to report.

It was so nice to see baseball on over my morning coffee to spare me from the drivel. I'll focus again when the fat is in the fire.

LUCKY DAY

We all have busy lives and we all have people we really like to see and talk to. Some of those, we just don't hear from often enough. Today, I hit the trifecta and talked to three great friends at length. One's a politician. One's a health care provider. The last one is a retired pirate (yes, no eyepatch or parrot but that kind of pirate).

I've been working awfully hard on a couple of projects and have not had much contemplation time but three dynamic people enriched and invigorated my life today. Now all I have to do is figure out why I'm not organized enough to talk to them all more often. To have brilliant, challenging, dynamic friends is to be blessed in a way for which there is no substitute.

A tough day but a good one.

NCAA MUSINGS

Finally, Gus Johnson is getting some Nationwide love. He has a pro's voice and a fan's enthusiasm. I love Gus games.

Why doesn't Dorsey just start the game with four fouls and get it over with?

I haven't looked, but I'm relatively sure the Bracket Lady is cleaning my clock.

Stephen Curry, who looks like Bambi and has no tats is still causing controversy. Nobody can figure out whether he's phonetically "steven" or "Steff-On". What he is for sure is a Big School recruiting error.

I wrote a few months ago that I've never seen any team catch the ball better than Kansas. They still do. Mrs. Basin, my precinct committeeman, watched a few minutes of the Kansas game, totally uncontaminated by anything I've written (she doesn't blog), turned to me and said "These boys just handle the ball better than any of the other boys."

Michigan State did something you don't see much any more. They made Pitt work so hard on defense, the estimable Panthers had no go juice left for offense. Screwed my brackets but it was a beautiful thing for an old coach to watch. Ball movement is next to Godliness.

On the whole the NCAA has done a great job improving both the quality and the uniformity of the officiating. Almost every game was a credit to the officials. Having said that, I do have to say that the officials were too passive too long in the Stanford game yesterday. Maybe it was because they had already run off the Stanford coach but they let the Lopez twins taunt and shove until all the sportsmanship was squeezed out of an otherwise good game. You can be sure the next crew will get control early in Stanford's next game.

All the bellyaching about Arizona State aside, you really have to ask if an additional A-10 or colonial at large team would not have enhanced the games. There were no tears shed for Virginia Commonwealth (and they did kind of cut their own throats at the end of the regular season) but they played a lot of good teams solid and spent the whole year in the top 8, mostly top five, of Mid-Majors.com (love that site!). The bigger point is that there is good quality for an at large pick beyond the 8th team in the Big East or the Sixth team in the SEC.

Is it time to stop inflating the WCC. Gonzaga got to the Sweet 16 a few years ago. Get over it.

Billy Packer really has to find another frame of reference besides the ACC. Jimmy Joe Naismith really didn't put up the peach basket in Durham or Chapel Hill. Philadelphia and even NYC have longer basketball heritages than the ACC. C'mon Billy. Broaden your horizons a little.

Finally, the Tourney is really just the sports dam breaking to allow enjoyment to flow downstream. We go from that great wasteland of sports dullness, February, to the conference tourneys, the brackets playing out, Opening Day and the Masters. Life begins, Summer shows itself a little. CIPS bills go down some. Kids on Bikes are just riding for enjoyment, rather than simply being fleeing felons. If you have sat radio, there's almost always a game on. You can hit some golf balls without losing body parts to icy divots. Checking the college sports sites, you can scout for new Gems. The Baseball Prospectus is Out. You don't just read it. You examine it all summer. Once they throw up that first ball in the NCAA's, life is good and getting better!

Have a good tourney and a great Summer!

QUINCY AND CITYWIDE WI-FI: THE PHILADELPHIA MODEL

Click here

No matter how much lipstick you put on a pig, it's still a pig.

CORVALLIS: AND IN A RELATED STORY.........

Obama says he appreciates the endorsement of Richardson particularly because the Governor is "Just a typical Brown Person...."

Grandma is proud.

PORTLAND: THIS JUST IN!

Bill Richardson is preparing to endorse BObama.

Analysts believe this will deeply influence all twelve people in Oregon who have some idea who the Hell Bill Richardson actually is.

QUINCY: THE OLD "DOG ATE MY PANTS" STORY FAILS

Click here

I just hate it when this happens.

WASHINGTON: WHERE NOBODY LEARNS ANYTHING FROM HISTORY

Under the heading of "No original material" Obama's passport file has been "breached". That means somebody has gotten either curious or ambitious. Go ahead, somebody say "We're safer now."

People, People, People.......

NCAA ON DEMAND

Not perfect, but awfully nice to have. This multimedia stuff may have a future, ya think?

THIS GUY AGREES WITH UNCLE JOE!

.....He don't trust no preacher wit' no Jeri-Curl in they hair click here

LADIES AND GENTLEMAN: LEE HABEEB!

THIS is his work

ANOTHER VIEW FROM A BLACK CHURCH

I don't exactly know what to make of THIS

Of course, I'm an "untrained eye".

VIRTUAL FENCE HAS VIRTUAL HOLES

Despite Mr. Chertoff's urgings, the GAO says the Boeing "Make a Wish" Fence won't work. Maybe we're back to a neo-Berlin Wall.

DALAI LAMA: A PROCEDURAL QUESTION

I kind of don't get Tibetan politics. I'm sure that'll really piss Richard Gere off, but I never have quite gotten it.

They want to be part of China but, an hour later they're hungry for freedom again. Nobody's ever quite spelled out to my satisfaction what it is about Tibet that scares the ChiComs so badly. Also, what's the point of rounding up a buncha people they're just going to let go when things cool off. So, anyhow, I just don't get the dance.

Leaving that off to the side for a minute, here are my real questions. The Dalai Lama (a really cool guy who is about as Tibetan as I am Kenyan) is now threatening to resign. If Dalai Lama is a state of being, how does one resign from being Dalai Lama? Even if the Dalai Lama could resign from being Dalai Lama, to whom would he send his Letter of Resignation?

Can't you see it:

Dear______________,

Effective March 23, 2008 @ 1700 GMT, I, The Dalai Lama, resign from my position of Dalai Lama and renounce all rights, benefits, privileges and emoluments to which I may have heretofore been entitled.

I appreciate the opportunity to serve with all the other Lamas and wish all involved in Lama'ing good grazing in the future.

My mail may be forwarded to my new name and location:

Mr. Dale Lammers
MegaHogFarm
Cooperstown, IL

Hellodalai@yahoo.com


Respectfully Submitted,

D. Lama


Now, all he's gotta do is figure out where to send it.

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE "THE SPEECH"?

I would like to hear what our readers thought of "The Speech". Please submit your comments.

CRAZY EIGHTS

Without commenting on the contents of "The Speech" I thought it was ironic that the guy who didn't need a lapel flag to show he was patriotic, needed 8 real flags as backdrop for today's Rodney King speech.

UMRBLOG'S MODEST PROPOSALS TO IMPROVE THE NCAA TOURNEY

Modest Proposal One: go to 68 teams and four play in games, all in Dayton;

Modest Proposal Two: No team with an automatic berth can be placed into the play-in round;

Modest Proposal Three: No regular season champion can be placed into the play-in round;

Modest Proposal Four: At Least one Big East Team, one A-10 team and one Mo. Valley Team must play in the play-in;

Modest Proposal Five: At least one Gonzaga player will be drug tested at every TV time out;

Modest Proposal Six: The Committee Picks four one seeds, who play the play-in winners in the first round. This is the only seeding;

Modest Proposal Seven: All other brackets are filled by pulling names out of a hat and filling in blanks in a predesignated order, No geography. No seeding. Totally Random.

Modest Proposal Eight: Billy Packer can talk about anything he wants except the ACC. During any game involving an ACC team, Packer will be placed in Time Out.

Modest Proposal Nine: We return to the OLD "One Shining Moment"--Good Night, Luther.

Modest Proposal Ten: Jim Nantz is replaced by anybody, as long as that person really LIKES basketball!

Modest Proposal Eleven: UMRBlog gets to see the Bracket Lady's picks before he submits his!

Happy Brackets, Everybody!

WHOOOOOOOOOO, PIG, SOOOOOIE

Imagine that, the razorpiggies playing in the Championship game!

GIVE IT A REST: JEREMIAH'S NO BULLFROG

I don't know who is pushing this attack on Chicago Pastor Jeremiah Wright (Besides creepy Sean Hannity--I'm talking about real people not Murdoch paid hitters) but it's pretty much wrong headed.

What's wrong with anything Wright has said? Hillary, in fact, doesn't know what it's like to be a black youngster with a single mom and Dad down the road. If Pastor Wright thinks Jesus is a fair comparison to BObama, that's his constitutionally protected opinion. He's proud of his guy. What's wrong with that?

And what Wright praised Minister Farakhan for? Holding young black men personally responsible for their conduct. Who disagrees with that?

Experts can argue about whether Wright is helpful to Obama or not. That's a different conversation than whether Wright is a racist or separatist. It is said that his philosophy is "Afrocentric". Hey, who's in his congregation? Is he supposed to do his worship service in Spanish? C'mon, people, the guy is ministering to the folks who show up seeking his spiritual guidance.

Finally, do we want to make all candidates responsible for everything their pastors say?

Let's be reasonable. BObama stands or falls on his own merits. Get off his Pastor's case.

ALTERNATE REALITY: THE FEEL GOOD WAR

good cartoon here. O will love it

FLORIDA AND MICHIGAN FACE THE "FOUR CORNERS" OFFENSE

Spend the next few days listening to Obama spokesfolks discussing the possibility of a re-vote in Fla. and Michigan. First, they do a history lesson about "the rules." Then they talk about how the two States chose to violate "the rules." Next, they talk about how there were no true elections in those states and the Clinton campaign is trying to seat those delegates and that is generally evil.

Then you would think they would propose a solution to the Michigan/Florida disenfranchisement. But pay close attention. They never quite get around to taking a position.

Interesting that they seem more interested in denying Senator Clinton those votes, even if that means dems lose the states in the fall.

THE FIVE STAGES OF CANDIDATE INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMACY

From "It didn't happen" to "I didn't inhale".



5. 3/10/08 – Sen. Obama: The meeting did happen, they did discuss NAFTA, but advisor just said Obama wanted to make NAFTA 'stronger for U.S. workers.' "So here’s what happens. You’ve got one of my economic advisors goes and visits a Canadian embassy and they’re asking him questions and he says, 'Well, Senator Obama isn’t planning to repeal NAFTA, but he wants to amend it to make it stronger for U.S. workers.' The Canadian embassy writes it up as, 'Well, maybe Obama is not as tough on NAFTA as you might think.' And the Clintons start waving this and saying, 'See? Actually, he’s the one.'" [Mississippi Rally, 3/10/08]

4. 2/29/08: Sen. Obama: 'It did not happen.' Anchor: "So, completely inaccurate, did not happen, end of discussion." Sen. Obama: "It did not happen." [WKYC TV, 2/29/08]

3. 2/28/08 - Rice: 'There had been no contact.' “The Canadian ambassador issued a statement that was absolutely false. There had been no contact. There had been no discussions on NAFTA. So we take the Canadians at their word…period.” [MSNBC, Susan Rice, 2/28/08]

2. 2/27/08 – Obama advisor just said 'hello.' "Goolsbee: Canada's consul general in Chicago contacted him ‘at one point to say ‘hello’ because their office is around the corner." [ABC, 2/29/08]

1. 2/27/08 – 'No conversations have taken place' with the Canadian government on NAFTA. “Earlier Thursday, the Obama campaign insisted that no conversations have taken place with any of its senior ranks and representatives of the Canadian government on the NAFTA issue.” [CTV, 2/29/08]

SCOREKEEPER-IN-CHIEF

Anybody else notice that the candidate of hope and the future is now talking about Math and the Past, as in "I've got more delegates. I've got more popular votes. I've won more states. I'm in first place"

Never count your money while you're sittin' at the table. There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.

WHICH IS WORSE?

Being "Elected Official A" or "Client #9"?

HELPFUL AUBURN COMMENTS--COMBAT VETERAN AS UNSTABLE MURDERER: THANKS, MOM

The suspect in custody for the kiling of the young woman at Auburn has now had his Mommy step in and trash all combat veterans. She says she's sorry that her son has done this and helpfully adds that he just hasn't been the same since he returned from Iraq.

Oh, sure, that works. We all know those fellas who go off to serve their country come back dangerously unstable. Of course, it all makes sense now. Uncle Sam taught him to kill coeds.

Ma'am, I don't know if your son killed anybody or if he's even a veteran. What I do know is you've assassinated the character of a whole generation of american heroes to offer a lame justification for what you believe your son has done. We're sorry for your pain but please don't generalize about combat veterans. Find your solace someplace else.

KIRON, IOWA: OPTICS, MY AUNT FANNY--RACIST CRAP IS RACIST CRAP

Iowa is one of the most tolerant and evolved states in our nation. It is difficult to believe that the good people of that state would reelect a jerk who says stuff like .........


this (click here)

WE INTERRUPT THIS HIGH-FLYING NATIONAL POLITICAL DEBATE......

.........to bring you grass roots politics.

Tonight in Illinois 202 County central committees will meet and select their leaders for the next two years. If "all politics are local" then this the most important night in the Illinois political calendar.

CHICAGO MOVES: NAFTA GOOD, NAFTA BAD?

Obama's econ guy goes to Canadian consulate in Chicago and a memo is prepared by one of the charges there to the effect, pay no attention to what the Senator says about NAFTA, we're cool.

Word leaks out of the meeting. Obama denies there was any meeting. The memo leaks out. Obama denies the purpose of the meeting was to discuss his "two stories" on NAFTA. It was a tour, man, just a tour. The Canadians just wanted to show Obama's econ guy who they can grow hydrangias indoors during the Chicago winter. The Canoodlians, now having comprehensively messed their pants, issued a non-denial, denial to the effect they were not "trying to influence the American election." At no point do they retract the truth of what the charge wrote in the memo.

Telling one interest group one thing and another group another? Gee, that sounds like the "old" politics, to me. A whopper to cover it up? That's not new. Where did I leave that that Nixon Poster? Everything old is new again.

Oh, and if the meeting to "tour" the facility was so innocent, why was it necessary to LIE ABOUT IT FOR A WEEK?

Two stories? Who ya gonna believe, a Washington Politician or a Canadian Diplomat?

My take, why would a diplomat--just a note-taker in this case--have a motive to misstate what he was told?

"Change Washington" has left the building.

DISTRICT 172 KABUKI PLAY: PERSONNEL RULE ONE--DON'T PUT YOUR BUSINESS IN THE STREET

Disclaimer first: Lonny Lemon is a friend. Tom Dickerson is a friend. Thus, when I comment on their public behavior, I mean no disrespect. This is just a fascinating case study.

Added Disclaimer Second (Sunday March 2): I am starting to surmise that the only explanation is that these folks never talked about salary requirements and expectations before sometime on Friday. If that's true, it's a damn shame that there wasn't some time and space between whatever the initial offer was and the applicant's response. This is big boy, life-changing decision stuff for both sides. A sunrise or two couldn't have hurt anything.

First, how did they get to "finalist" stage without having a general discussion of the applicant's salary requirements?

Second, after they met, why didn't they get their stories straight? The initial story out of the board was that they had met and they were going to go over all their options. Later, it came out that they had actually met with LLemon. OK, fine. From here, there's two possiblities. He told them straight out that it wasn't enough money. That's one possibility. The other is that they shot him a figure and he called later and told them "No Thanks".

In the first instance, the Board would have a need to prove they did something and Lonny would need an affirmation they found him worthy of the job. Simple, they just release a joint statement that they tendered the job to him and they couldn't get together on terms. Simple.

Really, the second possibility should get the same result. Again, Lonny should be thinking about this next job application. Hard to become a finalist when there's a possibility you'll call the place at which you apply a cheapskate by implication. The Board, again, needs to show it did something, but needs to show it's holding the line on salaries. So, if Lonny called this one in, there still should have been an agreement on what would be said publicly. The way it played out, it looked like the Board initially was going to keep to themselves the notion that they had offered the job to Lonny. That would have been unacceptable to Lonny. Then it looked like Lonny, in an effort to demonstrate, truthfully, that he wasn't rejected, told his long form version of the story. Once that happened, the Board had to make its own long form explanation.

My topic here is not whether it was a good idea for the Board to hire Lonny (I can't imagine any school system who wouldn't be proud to have him) or for Lonny to decline (Hell, it's his career, his life and the job is no day at the beach.). It's certainly not the Board's process, which seems to me to have been thorough. It's the way the publicity side of this has been handled. I think both sides could have done better. I also think Lonny hurt himself by saying too much. Finally, I hope I'm wrong because I wish him nothing but the best.

All in all, yesterday was a curious Friday.