I have tried to avoid Ms. Coulter for awhile, mostly because any attention she gets she basks in like the media whore she is. And, I also can’t decide if she believes the utter nonsense she writes in her books and espouses on television, or if she is the greatest actress of all time. Maybe she pushes the bullshit meter to 11 (Spinal Tap reference) to make herself rich and it’s all an act – like Elvis Presley’s death (since we all know he’s alive and well and living in Kalamazoo, Michigan).
But if we take what she says at face value, if she’s not acting, she is the dumbest person on the planet. Last night was the first of her “speaker’s series” with comedian Bill Maher, and according to Yahoo news and Politico.com, she and Maher “went on to debate evolution, Iraq and whether Wall Street is full of liberal Democrats, as Coulter claimed.”
Now, we aren’t going to take up evolution or Iraq, but she says that Wall Street is full of liberal Democrats? Where has she been? Wall Street is the haven of Ayn Rand style capitalism as anyone who has spent time near a trading floor knows. While I know of traders who are bleeding heart liberals like myself, that is not the traditional makeup.
As we watch the Republican Party self destruct, bowing to the Buddha-like frame of Rush Limbaugh; here is yet another example of the death knell – idiots like Coulter don’t even know who they traditional constituency is. More and more, it looks like Republicans are rich, white bullshit artists who can influence poor white trash into voting against its own best personal interests.

There is little happy news in the papers these days, especially when discussing someone losing their job, but in the case of a loudmouthed, “me-first” athlete who underperformed and creates chaos for every team that he plays for, it is a nice story.
A couple of months after jettisoning Adam “formerly known as Pac-Man” Jones, the Dallas Cowboys released Terrell Owens last night. Simply put, Owens dropped too many passes and created too much controversy to be worth the millions of dollars he gets paid. Finally, Cowboys coach and GM Jerry Jones got the message. Wade Phillips did everything but drive Owens to and from Texas Stadium, and Owens still complained about Tony Romo not “looking his way enough.” Romo is probably dancing for joy (probably with girlfriend/America’s bimbo Jessica Simpson).
What is more interesting is that Owens’ only suitor may be Oakland. Al Davis still loves the long bomb and Owens can still go out and get the long touchdown pass. And the Raiders have, historically, gone out and gotten old veterans supposedly finished and gotten solid play out of them.
But Terrell Owens is not one of those kinds of veterans. He still thinks (and he has put up numbers that suggest he’s right) that he is one of the top receivers in the league, and the NFL will sign anyone if a team thinks that player will help. However, he drops too many balls, especially easy catches, and will bitch and complain if he isn’t thrown to enough. For a team that has sucked for almost a decade and with a young quarterback with upside potential (JaMarcus Russell), Owens may be good for the stats, but bad for a young player’s ego.
Best, however, is that if Owens does go to the Raiders from “America’s Team” the Cowboys, means little national television exposure, and that means that we will hear less and less of this overgrown baby, his childish rants and silly protests.

Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for?
– Robert Browning (1812–1889),

I have just finished listening to U2’s new CD – “No Line On The Horizon” and I have to say that while it has some really low moments, it is a decided step in the right direction.
Enlisting long time producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, the band is once again reaching toward new sounds and soundscapes, and while it is not the unmitigated masterpiece that was Achtung Baby (still their best album), or as experimental as Zooropa, it finds the foursome stretching the music, and for the most part, coming up with some interesting places. It has no great fast anthems like “New Year’s Day” or “Elevation,” it is mostly a mid-tempo collection, but that’s alright since my all time favorite song of theirs is a slow one {“Stay (Faraway, So Close)” from Zooropa).
This is a stark comparison to the band’s last two CDs, “All That You Can’t Leave Behind,” and “How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb.” While far from bad CDs, it was recycled U2, from the October or Boy periods. Looking back sounded fresh on “…Leave Behind” but was boring by the time “Atomic Bomb” came along. Again, not horrible, since I love U2’s entire old catalog, but we had obviously been there before.
The title song opens the CD and it has the similar backdrop of “Zoo Station” from Achtung. It is a straight forward opening song. Some critics don’t like the second song, “Magnificent,” but I like some of the odd chord changes added to the mix. Just the feeling that we haven’t been here before is welcome in comparison to “Bomb” which rarely got played by yours truly. “Moment of Surrender” is a seven-minute gospel-meets Eno that hasn’t grown on me yet, but probably will.
“Unknown Caller” starts as a fairly typical U2 song then descends into a weird call-and-response that is intended to be a crescendo of commands from a computer or other device. The main portions of the song are alright, but the “commands” portion doesn’t work. But, again, at least they are striving.
Then, the band takes a step back. “I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight” could have been perfectly at home on “Leave Behind” or “Bomb.” It’s like the band thought, we have to have one or two songs that can be played on the radio: 4:10 in length, atmospheric, but not too “out there.” Again, not a bad song, but not a trail blazer.
Speaking of taking a step backward, the CD’s first single “Get On Your Boots,” tries to be a rocker, with a heavy bass line and rapid fire lyrics ala R.E.M.’s “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine)” mixed with Pop’s first single “Discotheque.” I liked “Discotheque” at the time, but I don’t play it much now. I have the feeling that “Boots” will share the same fate. Then comes the CD’s nadir: the hip hop-ish, “Stand Up Comedy” which has a U2 break, mixed with a continued shout of “Stand Up.” It didn’t make me want to stand up, it makes me reach for the forward switch on the iPod.
“FEZ-Being Born” is a true aural experience, with the band being processed through tape loops. The “song” such as it is, doesn’t go very far, but it is more reminiscent of the “Passengers” territory: U2 trying not to sound like U2. It succeeds, but you won’t be dancing to it.
“White as Snow” is a close as the band ever gets to telling a straight forward story – the story of a soldier dying in Afghanistan. “Breathe” is another straight ahead mid-tempo number, nuff said. “Cedars of Lebanon” is another “message” song and it is an interesting if downbeat way to end the CD. Again, it reminds some of “The Wanderer” which ended Zooropa, but that song had the late Johnny Cash on vocals, which automatically lifts it above this one.
So, all told, 11 songs: five really good, four decent, and may improve with more listenings, and two songs that aren’t very good. Not one of U2’s better efforts, but better than “Pop” or “Atomic Bomb.”

The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur. He is the first sitting head of state the court has ordered arrested. Court spokeswoman Laurence Blairon said, “He is suspected of being criminally responsible … for intentionally directing attacks against an important part of the civilian population of Darfur, Sudan, murdering, exterminating, raping, torturing and forcibly transferring large numbers of civilians, and pillaging their property.”
Now, should George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Condolezza Rice, Paul Wolfowitz, Donald Rumsfeld and others be afraid to get the mail or see strangers at their doors?
Makes one feel a little bit better, doesn’t it?

I have been busy at work, so much so that I have just gotten around to putting these few, inadequate words together. I was, like most people, shocked when I heard of the deaths of Chicago Bulls legends Johnny “Red” Kerr and Norm Van Lier.
Perhaps I wasn’t as shocked by Mr. Kerr’s death since it was well known that he had been battling serious illness for some time, especially as the team unveiled the staue of his at the United Center just a few weeks ago. The man did not appear well, and it is a good thing that the team honored him while he was alive.
I knew Mr. Kerr, but not well. He was a genial man and was very nice to me, but for whatever reason, we never got to know each other well. I cannot say the same for Mr. Van Lier.
“Stormin’ Norman” was the guard for the Bulls of my youth, half of the toughest back court combination in NBA history with now Utah coach Jerry Sloan. Van Lier back dwon from no one; not Jabbar; not Oscar Robertson; not Jerry West. No one. He could score; he made assists; but he was just a bulldog on defense. No one went down the lane unscathed if Van Lier was out there.
But I got to know Norm long after he stopped playing. When he was the TV analyst for the Bulls, often the team played matinee games on national holidays. Well, I had those Monday holidays off, and I would spend the morning sitting in on the tapings of The Sportswriters on TV, for which I was background researcher. We always taped on Monday’s around 11 AM. And when we were finished, Norm would be there, waiting for the crew to take down the Sportswriter’s set and bringing forward the Bulls set (which was never “taken down” just moved back with other sets placed in front of it. I always had great conversations with Norm, and he even met my grandmother at a taping, and afterward, he would always ask how she and my mother were doing and to say hello to them.
He was tough and uncompromising, which is why he lost the Bulls’ job – he was just too honest, especially after the two Jerrys – Reinsdorf and Krause dismantled the Michael Jordan dynasty, even though the team had at least one more championship left in it. Van Lier was hard on the management, and harder on the players who didn’t hustle, who just cashed the big checks and didn’t work hard on the floor like he did.
Narm Van Lier died last Friday at the prime young age of 61. Even though I haven’t seen him in quite some time, I feel the loss. Now, as The Chicago Sun-Times columnist Carol Slezak wrote, it long past time for the Bulls to retire Van Lier’s number 2. Other players who have had prickly relationships with Reinsdorf and his teams have been brought back to publicly reconcile with the team, most notably, former White Sox catcher Carlton Fisk.
Mr. Reinsdorf, I know that you probably don’t read my material because I’ve been a critic of your ownership of the Sox and Bulls over time, but don’t you think it’s time to do the right thing by Norm Van Lier??

The best comedians have kernels of truth interspersed in their routines. From the controversial (Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Lenny Bruce) to the more sedate (Bob Newhart); the best all take a look at humanity and tell us something about ourselves.
That said, The Onion is and always has been hilarious. I am on their website almost daily to see what they have come up with now. Today, they posted this piece: “Thousands were left stranded at airports nationwide Tuesday, when the Federal Aviation Administration grounded all commercial flights due to the harsh, discordant squawks emitted by a nearby crow. ’We apologize to all passengers affected by the cancellations, but he sounds really close,’ acting FAA administrator Robert Sturgell said at a press conference, adding that the nation’s airport security officials have determined that the crow is in either a tree somewhere close by or possibly on a roof. ‘Flights across the Eastern Seaboard will resume just as soon as we can shoo it away.’”
As ludicrous as this item is, it has some truth to me. As you know, I live in the Chicago area and because I have a job that requires travel and a family that likes to travel for fun, I am constantly passing through O’Hare International Airport, and as anyone who travels by plane can tell you, delays at O’Hare are a daily experience.
Now, when you are trying to fly into O’Hare, the common excuse is “weather.” That’s easy because winds and rain and snow can cause airplanes difficulty. However, it often involves “weather” issues that appear invisible. The weather will be clear downtown, or even in Skokie, which is a northern suburb, and O’Hare will be “experiencing difficulties due to weather.” What weather? Midway, on the South Side and admittedly 30 miles away, will have 20-30 minute delays, as O’Hare is nearly closed. The Chicago metropolitan area is huge, and weather conditions can vary significantly, but often, it’ll be a nice day, but O’Hare is delaying flights due to weather. (And yes I know that O’Hare handles many more flights than Midway, but still…)
In short, there’s caution, and then there’s fear (the Tom Skilling version of weather broadcasting), and I often think that the O’Hare folks have taken this to an art form. If the wind gets up to 10 mph, someone says “we’d better delay all flights untile things die down.” Or, when there is a steady rain, instead of slowing things down, somebody decides that it might be more prudent to stop all traffic until everything is ABSOLUTELY optimum before we allow that 3:40 United from Omaha to land.
Or, perhaps some air traffic controller, still pissed off because then-President Reagan fired all of the controllers when they went on strike back int he 1980s, and is taking revenge on the world. Or, more likely, the control tower has run out of Diet Coke, and they just can’t get anything done until the machine is restocked. Or perhaps, the lead controller is taking a REALLY nasty crap, and it creates a ripple effect (pun intended) to the other controllers that slows down the world’s second busiest airport?

I know some people who grew up in Arkansas, and while I always smile when they talk about the place, I must admit that I can’t get excited over the place. Many times, I can’t come up with a reason; today, I got one.
An Arkansas State Senate panel rejected a bill that would allow concealed handguns in Arkansas churches. If the measure had passed, the only places in Arkansas in which concealed guns are banned would have been bars.
The State House had approved the measure earlier this month. The Senate Judiciary Committee stalled the bill on a voice vote Wednesday. It’s a good thing because Gov. Mike Beebe has said he’d sign the bill if passed.
Unfortunately, this may not be the end of this story. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Beverly Pyle, R-Cedarville, told the panel after the vote that she may try again with the proposal. “This is not a gun question, it is a question of religious freedom,” Pyle said.
Huh? I know that people in the Deep South are deeply offended when they are characterized as ignorant rubes, but often, they turn out to be ignorant rubes.
First, I agree with Robin Williams when he said that we should have the right to bear arms when we are given the right to arm bears. I still think that the “Founding Fathers” are having a good laugh at us in the great beyond; shaking their heads in disbelief; or weeping uncontrollably. That you can walk around with concealed weapons in Arkansas is deeply scary; but so is being in Arkansas.
In addition, I’m not very religious, but according to the Bible I studied as a child, Christianity is a religion of peace and love; love thy neighbor, turn the other cheek, all that stuff that I think are good tenets to live by, whether there is a God behind it or not. I have never read “thou shall be armed,” or “thou shalt always be armed and ready to defend your sanctuary in case a gang of violent atheists show up to start trouble.” Maybe that’s in the newly revised version?
I heard about Alexandra Pelosi’s (The Speaker of the House’s daughter) documentary on the far right, and that one guy was filmed weeping because “his America” was gone with the election of Barack Obama. I admit that I haven’t seen the documentary; I think that I would be angered, or sickened by watching it, but maybe, despite President Obama and the good he is trying to do, it’s time to cut and run with these people. Darwin was right, and maybe this is the section of the population that should be allowed to take their guns and Bibles and live out their lives waiting to be as extinct as the dinosaurs?

(However, some say that they are at the Conservative Political Action Conference which is in session, even as I post this. A scarier group of small-minded, bigoted, hateful, group probably cannot be found anyplace. Outside of Arkansas anyway.)