NBA Screwjob of Phoenix Now Complete

No players or coaches are allowed to say much against "the league" - the gestapo of NBA basketball, for fear of getting fined or benched (or deported?) but everyone hinted around the real issue tonight as a talented Phoenix Suns team finally ran out of gas and lost game 5, after having been forced to play without their 2 top centers Stoudemire and Diaw, who were suspended because of a mild reaction to a flagrant foul or two by Robert Horry in game 4. They left their bench area! Oh my! The Phoenix starters played 45-47 minutes each tonight and just didn't have the depth; nevertheless they almost had the game, but at crunch time a sneak play by Ginobli to pull Nash on top of him after a 3-point shot faked the referee into calling a foul. 3 made free throws later, San Antonio had almost caught up.

Could Phoenix feasibly go back to San Antonio and win game 6 and then go on to win the series? Yes, it's possible, but the damage is done and the unfair burden placed upon Phoenix boggles the mind and taints the '07 Playoffs for good. Only if Phoenix wins it all will there be any justice.

It's just a game I'm reminded, and so in the end there will be a "victor" and it could quite possibly be San Antonio, but it'll be an empty victory and pointless. The Suns are awesome!

[Scoreboard]

Virginia Tech Victim Profiles

New York Times presents an easy-to-use layout of
Virginia Tech Victim Profiles.

Heartache: 32 Fallen

The Collegiate Times Web site is the site of the Virginia Tech College paper.

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Winner of 111th Boston Marathon Has Real Bragging Rights

To win any Boston Marathon would be a monumental achievement, but to win THIS year's race through one of the region's worst nor’easters in history, amidst cold rain, 40 degree temperatures, and high winds, would give a person bragging rights for decades.

Congratulations to repeat winner Robert K. Cheruiyot, of Kenya, and the women's champ Lidiya Grigoryeva, of Russia.

[Link: Cheruiyot and Grigoryeva Win Boston Marathon Titles]

Garry Kasparov Just a Pawn In Russia's Game

Chess master Garry Kasparov and 170 protesters were arrested by an overwhelming 9,000 Russian troops at a pro-democracy rally that was held against the Russian government's wishes. [Link - Russia Cracks down hard on protesters]

Makes me proud to be an American, where we don't have to rally about our freedoms and can focus instead on false propaganda such as "Bush Lied People Died." [Link: Who is lying about Iraq?] | [Link: Interview With General Georges Sada]

There's Just Something About That Wheat in Uganda

Ug99 Stem Rust is spreading fast. Scientists and Researchers need to continue to pool together to stave off this latest strain of wheat-killer, which could devastate world food supplies. In the meantime... GO WITH SPELT.

Ug99 may take several years to reach North America, but it is inevitable. (Image courtesy HULIQ.com)



[Link: dangerous-wheat-disease-jumps-red-sea]

Someone should just shut MSNBCtv down - your whole network is offensive

Dear MSNBCtv:

From Keith Olbermann's show, to your "Worst Person In The World"
feature, to Hardball, I'm thinking, you can't really get much more
offensive than that... so if you're going to fire IMUS, why not just
shut the whole network down? You've done enough damage for one decade I think.

One thing will be true after Imus is gone - MSNBCtv will now officially
have no sense of humor at all. Not that Imus was very funny either,
but at least he was in POSSESSION of a sense of humor. At least he
could smell humor when it existed within 60 feet of his nose, unlike
your other hosts.

I've got an idea for you! How about a "Worst Network In The World"
spot and you can just feature MSNBCtv there everyday?!

I feel sorry for Tucker. How did he get stuck on your network? He may
be the one exception to your humorless rule, although as your lone
conservative, isn't he mainly there to act as punching bag?

Anyway - I'll just mention that Keith Olbermann is perhaps the only
news show host that actually makes me want to vomit each time he opens his mouth. I'm usually fortunate enough to miss his show, and I fortunately am not even sure what channel MSNBCtv is on (is it 312, or 272?) but on those occasions when I do catch a show I'm reminded why I watch FOX.

Sincerely,

BLRBS.com

Striking The Word Nappy From Middle English

From Stevie Wonder's "I Wish"

Looking back on when I
Was a little nappy headed boy
Then my only worry
Was for Christmas what would be my toy
Even though we sometimes
Would not get a thing
We were happy with the
Joy the day would bring

[Link]

The album Songs In The Key Of Life is one of the greatest in the history of American music. One of those tunes, "I Wish" starts off with the lyrics posted above - and as far as I knew as a "white guy" from Iowa, it was perfectly OK to use the term nappy headed. It was ok for Stevie. Now come to find out thanks to Imus, I'm not allowed to say nappy headed. That's racial according to the Reverend Al. That's ridiculous according to Reverend Merriam. What now... can Al presume to remove words from the dictionary? Nappy derives from nap: Etymology: Middle English noppe, from Middle Dutch, flock of wool, nap - a hairy or downy surface (as on a fabric). Nappy is a perfectly decent descriptive adjective.

As for the rest of Don Imus' little quip (and it was very brief), he was trying to make a joke at the expense of others. That's what comedians do (and Imus is not a very good one). You just have to make sure that "the others" are not Muslim, or black, I guess, or you'll receive either death threats or get fired, depending. Better to slam safer targets such as America, George W, or any person who is either white, Republican, Christian or Catholic, because friends, it is open season on them.

The RIAA Casts Gloomy Web

The Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) has announced its decision on Internet radio royalty rates. Bottom line - Webcasters will now have to pay $500 per station annually, and about 1.28 cents per listener hour, retroactively to the beginning of 2006.

For Live365.com, a service that allows individuals to legally run small Internet radio stations, the decision could be a backbreaker. In the Internet business, it's hard enough to predict the future, but when you also have to predict the past, it can feel like a real rift in the space-time continuum. "Live365's royalty obligation for 2006 is running in the range of $350,000 per month, and that's not even addressing the question of the $500 per station mininum!" - RAIN

[Link]

Free Speech in Russia - Please!

"Now that we've killed off all the journalists we didn't like, we're now good to go with that whole free speech thing." (author embellishment)

"Ivan Safronov, the military affairs writer for Kommersant, died Friday after falling from a fifth-story window in the stairwell of his apartment building in Moscow, officials said..."

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said in January that 13 Russian journalists have been murdered in contract-style killings since 2006, making Russia the third-deadliest country for journalists after Iraq and Algeria in the past 15 years.

[Link]

Who's the idiot now?

After a co-worker quipped to Ed O'Neill that "some idiot" hadn't claimed an $800,000 Powerball winning ticket, Mr. O'neill chuckled, and then after further investigation realized the winning ticket was purchased where he bought his, so he checked the numbers and realized that he was that idiot.

O'Neill will now be an idiot whose mortgage is paid off, as well as his children's mortgages. The co-worker will remain just another idiot co-worker.

[Link]

Another Successful Non-Union Company

Toyota to Build $1.3 Billion SUV Plant in Mississippi

This is about 10% of what Ford lost last year. Chump change I guess, for these players. But I have to ask myself why Americans are so sworn to buying Japanese cars, and can we somehow get a grip before we lose our entire auto industry?

Perhaps if unions such as UAW didn't break the backs of the companies who produce American cars, we could compete and win in a global marketplace.

[Link]

Hillary Staying Positive

After David Geffen raised millions for Obama and not Hillary, and called her a smooth liar, she shot back:

"I want to run a very positive campaign, and I sure don't want Democrats or the supporters of Democrats to be engaging in the politics of personal destruction."

Hillary only wants to slander and personally destroy Rebublicans.

Muslim Blogging - Please Be Nice!

Abdel Kareem Nabil is a 22-year-old a blogger who was convicted of insulting Islam with his blog, and sentenced to 4 years in prison. Nabil (known as Kareem Amer online) referred to Egypt's Al-Azhar University in his blog as "the university of terrorism" and accused it of suppressing free thought.

Honestly, the Egyptian government doesn't suppress free thought, as long as people don't express any of those thoughts. Then they might go to jail.

[Link]

Senators Know the Importance of This Vote

This is one vote the Democrat's 2008 hopefuls know they need to attend. This non-binding resolution on Iraq will be a key to the Presidential debates in '08, where they will be able to say they voted for a resolution about Iraq.

Is the vote meaningless? Yes. But it's an all-important vote as potential candidates study polls intensely to help them choose what position on the Iraqui conflict will garner more votes in '08.

Many important decisions were made in '05 in preparation for the '06 elections. The goal? To promote the following talking points:

1. It's not a War on Terror - it's just a war in Iraq. Issues related to Al-Qaeda, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Pakistan, Palestine, Israel, 9/11 - comPLETEly unrelated
2. Bush (and any Republican even loosely associated with Bush) is responsible for the war in Iraq
3. Bush lied about WMDs

Getting people to believe those three points may have seemed like an impossible task, but considering that many voters already sincerely believe that the Government is covering up information about aliens and UFOs, it's not really such a stretch.

Amazingly, a large percentage of voters now believe points 1, 2, and 3, as gospel truth. With the crucial '08 elections only 21 months off, it's important that the public sees that the Democrats in the House and Senate have been busy talking and voting on stuff, because once the debates come up, it'll be very important to be able to cite what various candidates voted on and talked about. Meanwhile, Bush (and any Republican even loosely associated with Bush) can continue to shoulder responsibility for the War on Terror illegal invasion of Iraq, unless by some amazing miracle, the new government in Iraq starts to stabilize, in which case it'll be important to jump on the bandwagon and find times when candidates said things in support of the War on Terror. Important decisions made now to stop funding the troops could help to ensure that this won't happen.

[Link]

Necessity is the Okaa-san of invention.

Milk surpluses in Japan and declining consumption gave one entrepreneur the idea: BILK. Beer + Milk! It does a body good.

Could I get some milk in my beer, please?

[Link]

Tim Hardaway Comes Out of the Closet

It was time for former NBA star Tim Hardaway to finally come out... and say it. He's a homophobe.

"You know, I hate gay people, so I let it be known. I don't like gay people and I don't like to be around gay people. I am homophobic. I don't like it. It shouldn't be in the world or in the United States."

Hardaway should be thankful he's not running for political office.

[Link]

Hello - this is your blog calling.

Imagine picking up the phone, and being greeted by a computer/blog asking your opinions, and, by the way, if you want to leave verbal comments, they could appear on the blog as well. It's already happening according to Business Week's Stephen Baker who received a call from Barista.net, soliciting his opinion regarding a local hotel.

Listen blog, how about if I call you back?

[Link]

Dixie Chicks Long Road of Great Suffering has Finally Come to an End

It has been four long grueling years for the Chicks since the American music-buying public had the audacity to stop wanting to hear their recordings. Forced to gut it out living simply on the royalty checks from their previous best-selling recordings Home and Wide Open Spaces, the Chicks managed to eke out an existence going from magazine cover to TV commercial to finally getting hired as the house band for the Democratic Party.

By taking the top 5 major awards at this year's Grammy Awards, the Chicks are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Acknowledging the amount of suffering her husband and children endured, Emily Robison thanked them for hanging tough through the hard times. Although they're still not sure how they'll be able to pay for their next meal, it's at least comforting to know that the Recording Academy feels sorry for them.

The Chicks have begun working on their next CD already - a recording which will focus on why their music deserves to get more air play on college radio, and the pain they've gone through dealing with the disorganized PR schema of that medium.

Dixie Chicks Had a Record Out This Year?

OK - as a musician I can tell you the buzz all year came as a result of John Mayer's new recordings. Continuum is a solid, special recording, and I didn't run into one musician all year who was buzzing about any Dixie Chicks record. I guess the Dixie Chicks did have a recording out this year... something I first learned of this evening at the Grammys. But the amount of awards they won tonight was obscene. Did it have anything to do with music?















Anyway - the Mayer recordings will be the ones influencing guitarists, bassists, drummers, and songwriters for years to come. The Dixie Chicks record was politically inspiring to some folks, but I thought they looked like the "Ridiculous Chicks" tonight. What's with the Cocktail party dress, playing a strat? Am I supposed to take this seriously? Apparently I am - the "Academy" says so anyways. Even the Dixie Chicks knew that their awards were more about making a "statement" than they were about music.

Don't get me wrong. The Dixie Chicks are a solid professional act. I can see booking them in Branson or maybe Vegas. But you can't seriously expect me to believe theirs was the best album of 2006?!

Props to John Legend, The Police, Carrie Underwood, Rascal Flatts, Mary J Blige, John Mayer, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beyonce, Gnarls Barkley, and Christina Aguilera, (among others) who all gave incredible performances at this year's Grammys. The Dixie Chicks? Not so much.