Thought of the Day

Crises, precipitate change

The Economist offers an interesting perspective on the aftermath of the “dirty-bomber” arrest and why this event offers fear and hope. The scariest aspect of the entire ordeal is that an American was an integral part of the operation (see below also).


This Florida native went from serving tacos at the Bell to attempt to server radioactive material for the al-Qaida.

Walter Willams offers an argument about why we need to profile.

“In 1985, TWA flight 847 was hijacked in Athens and a U.S. Navy diver was murdered by whom? In 1988, Pan Am flight 103 was bombed by whom? In 1993, the World Trade Center was bombed by whom? In 1998, U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed by whom?”

Incase there ever was any question about Maureen Dowd and her sanity; she has answered it with another scathing piece attacking the handling of the possible dirty-bomber. Maureen please be quiet.

Christopher Hutchinson takes aim at David Brock and leaves us with many quotables.

If this is what the Muslims are teaching their children over in the Middle East, we should be very afraid.

Business

10,000 CEO’s have made a break for the Mexican boarder according to satire. The CEO’s did not include ImClone Systems' Sam Waksal and Dennis Kozlowski of Tyco as they have already been indicted.


Sports

Pittsburghis going to the Super Bowl. The Steelers are armed and dangerous for this NFL season and ready to compete in AFC North. Let's forget about how last season ended.

Elton Brand let this young lady from Duke have it after she emailed him when he jumped to the league before he graduated.



Italy rolls or crawls, to more aptly phrase it, into the second round after getting the tie with Mexico. If we get a tie or a win and we will meet one of these two teams. Personally, based on the ten bucks I have on the US (40-1), Senegal (40-1) and Italy (5-1), I want us to play Mexico. As my friend R. Crump so eloquently stated in an email, Italy tends to under perform in the early and then pick it up. Let’s get going now boys.

According to Michael Davies’ diary

The Media Tribune, Italy 1, Mexico 1, 9:25 p.m.
I take it back, Trapattoni's a genius. He subs Totti (having a bad, bad hair day in the humidity of Kyushu's rainy season) for the diminutive Del Piero 77 minutes into the game and, five minutes before full time, the Juventus forward nips in and scores.
Fortunately, extremely fortunately for Italy, Croatia somehow manages not to beat Ecuador (according to Taki, who is at that game working for ESPN, and calls me as soon as it's done, he's not sure Croatia really tried). It seems hard to believe. Oh, Croatia. Yes, I understand. Italy qualifies with 4 points. Not a lot. But I like it.
Or do I? If the United States wins its group, it now plays Italy; if it finishes second (less likely, it seems to me), it plays Mexico. Psychologically, I think the Americans would rather play Mexico, but as Rob Stone wrote Wednesday on ESPN.com, they absolutely cannot play for a draw. Que sera sera. In this World Cup, that might be the only thing we can all agree on.

This is from Germany, where Scotty Wyatt currently resides, and is his take on the World Cup fever over there. Hopefully, Scotty and I will meet up Hamburg come August.

“Coming correct with World Cup Fever. Understanding the importance and meaning of soccer to the world outside of the United States can be comprehended by observing World Cup Facets. Having a backstage pass to the German viewpoint (a tournament favorite) has allowed me insight beyond my belief. The World Cup elicits nationalism by fans and countrymen everywhere when there is no other outlet for it. The athletes come together to unite for a common goal. In most circumstances, a simple game transcends into a cause for the entire country. In Senegal, their debut against France was reason enough for a holiday, and upon their victory caused public celebration. England's match against Argentina focused so much on their previous WAR that even the players started answering questions about hatred between the two nations. In Seoul, certain protestors used the venue to denounce the US military presence within the country. Russian's rioted after a loss, and chinamen and china women attempted the same stunt when officials turned off a big screen public television. Each game is more than a game. Seemingly every German watched the game against Cameroon, waving country flags, wearing face paint and country colors, drinking large amounts of alcoholic beverages. All this with a start time of 0435 and work the following day. Germans live, eat, drink and sleep the World Cup because this is their stage to dominate ALL other countries. This feeling resonates throughout countries in the world cup. Americans don't grasp this concept and, until we do, we won't be a major player on the world soccer stage. We have the greatest athletes in the world, but without reconstructing the mindset of the American public, we will not enjoy continued or, in my opinion, even limited success in the sport of soccer. “

Yao or Jay ? Liking Jay to the Bulls, so I have a reason to go to games next year. I wouldn’t touch Yao even though he has all the potential in the world. The images of Shawn Bradley and Yinka Dare are imbedded in my brain.

Burn Hollywood Burn

Unfortunately the Lakers have three peated. Ok, Kevin you can quit calling me after the Lakers win, it is over. Thankfully the Nets didn’t drag it out one more game. Time to riot


Democraps say no to ending the Estate Tax. Granted both parties stink, but it just seems like time and time again the Democrats stink a bit more.


Henry Kissinger offers his view of what makes soccer such a remarkable game and explains the game for the part-time fan. This article dates 1986, but is a timeless piece. He also breaks down the different powerhouses and their respective styles. Thanks for the link Paul.

“The modern style of soccer in fact emphasizes defense — with few exceptions like Brazil, Argentina and France. The basic alignment has become four defensive and four midfield players; the forwards have shrunk to two. Massed defenses can in general be overcome only by rapid thrusts involving very accurate passing. The result is a very tactical game, its complexity becoming a fascinating reflection of national attitudes.”

I also have some commentary from a friend over in Germany that I’ll post tomorrow. Scotty whoo (yes whoo, that is not a typo) sent me an email that attempts to explain the pandemonium that the World Cup creates for the Germans.

Interesting article on a WWF wrestler that died of what this ESPN magazine author believes was riods. Mario Di Pasquale is pretty well respected and wrote a great book that I read called the Anabolic Diet. Don't know who is right and who is wrong, but I would say that whatever people want to do to themselves they should be allowed to do. If you want to take X, go ahead, just don't harm anyone else.


Really, who buys this garbage? Eminem opens at #1 again on the music charts, further displaying the decay caused by Clear Channel and the record industry. Please do not support this guy and his horrible lyrics that don’t even broach amusement.

As far as new albums go, a disappointing release by Raphael Saadiq formerly of Toni, Tony, Tone and founder of Lucy Peral. The album contains a few quality tracks, but also an abundance of so-so joints.

A review of the yet to be released Camp Lo album…If this album even comes close to approaching their previous release, six years ago, it will be amazing.

The new URB magazine sampler CD they give you free with a subscription is blazing. The track of the week is on it, DJ Jazzy Jeff (yep from the Fresh Prince) and is titled For The Love Of The Game. His album is dropping in Japan and should be in the US shortly. This track includes the hook “Love what you do and do what you love”, mixed over Jazzy’s beats. URB is the best magazine for a mix of house, trance, dance, hip-hop, and other eclectic sounds.

Marques Wyatt, For Those Who Like to Get Down is a hot release that dropped a couple weeks ago. Check this CD out, with plenty of pleasant tracks, like the cut “Days Like This”, you won’t be disappointed. If you have broadband or have speakers at work, check out KCRW and you will hear some of Marques’ quality joints and other fantastic music. If you live in Santa Monica, you can just arrange the dial on your radio and groove.

I’m out like the Nets, Argentina and France…

The Hot Music

Sports

First and foremost, props to my boy, Darius Songaila, who represented in Chicago. D is a legitimate good person and a great basketball player. It hurt in March to watch the Deacons fall to Oregon, especially with everyone injured. Look for Darius to land in the NBA come draft night and check for his jersey up in the rafters at the Joel sometime soon.

Darius Songaila, Wake Forest
The Numbers: 10 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 60.9 FG%
The Performance: Some would say Songaila should have been more aggressive offensively at the camp, and perhaps that is true. However, it’s hard to fault the ACC star for what he did when he received the ball, which was put it in the basket. Songaila has a series of effective post moves, only some of which scouts at the camp got to see. While his dunks may be few and far between, the Lithuanian forward has a total package of skills at the power forward spot and has proven time and again how physically strong and tough he is. He led all players at the camp with six steals, another facet of his underrated defensive game. Whether Songaila is picked in the first round or not, he has the skills and bearing of a long-term NBA player.

Italy - Mexico coming up....Huge, huge, huge game. Italy needs to take it.

Politics

Some summer reading to catch up on from the Weekly Standard …


Great Satireon Greenpeace that sums up the organization…

“It's all bad, it all needs to stop," said a Greenpeace spokesperson, who added the group will no longer send out action alerts calling for opposition to specific issues, but will instead issue daily alerts to all members that read, "No" in 37 different languages.”

Can these guys do what all the broadband giants failed to deliver? I hope so cause there are a lot of people missing out on this amazing broadband revolution.

Music

People are always asking me about downloading music, so I thought I would drop the Audio Galaxy link. A no brainer for the best place to find the largest selection of tracks. A must for anyone with broadband... Tomorrow after my beach volleyball game, I am hoping to review a couple new cds. Stay posted people.

The Life

Worked out today and did some quads. Great, great workout and the reason I bring this up is because I have a newbie that is working out with me. Recently, a friend from high school moved to the chi and told me he wanted to get diesel. Basically for someone to workout with me they have to sell out 100% to the program. Honestly, going into it, I thought this was going to be an impending disaster. Personally, I hate to workout with other people because what I do works and I don't have time to argue about exercises etc. Anyway, things are going well and I think it is actually pushing me to get stronger too. Right now, Pee-Wee, the nickname I'll give this training partner because he would like to remain nameless, is in the early phases of what should be a rewarding transformation. I will update his progress as the days pass, and hopefully the news will be all good. The best part is that the first couple weeks is where you get to make your largest percentage gains in weights. I know that so far he feels better and has already been getting stronger. Not for nothing, he also is improving his diet exponentially and this will only led to further gains. A couple other people have recently consulted with me, so hopefully they will see a marked improvement also. I am not telling anyone anything special, just things that work if you want to put the time and energy into making it happen. If anyone has any questions please feel free to email me. Thanks...

In another issue, props to Kovanda for whooping on me at chess today like a true Georgetown Hoya. It was like he was the Iverson of chess today. Don't know what happened, but I got my butt kicked.

One other quick hit... If you notice there is a site meter in the bottom right hand corner that tracks the number of hits the blog is getting. Kind of a cool feature, especially the time zone option. Anyway check it out if you get a second.

Lates - Christian

Hot Music

New, Politics and Notes

Teflon no more , John Gotti passed away.


Snooze Power: Midday nap may awaken learning potential. This is hot. We need some studies done and then make the nap an essential part of the office.

Lake Champlain houses the beast known as Champ, could we be related?

Zarzynski says he doesn't believe the stories about a 30- or 40-foot monster, theorizing it's more like 12 to 15 feet long, as in the Mansi photo. He believes, however, as do many others, that Champ is a surviving prehistoric beast, most likely a plesiosaur, a marine reptile with a snakelike neck and four large flippers. Plesiosaurs ruled the seas during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, during which time dinosaurs dominated the land and pterosaurs the skies. The plesiosaurs varied from 15 to 40 feet in length and became extinct, most people assume, 65 million years ago.

Who believes Zarzynski, hundreds of witnesses, Samuel de Champlain, and other Champ believers? The Vermont House of Representatives, for one body, which passed H.R. 19 in April 1982, protecting Champ "from any willful act resulting in death, injury, or harassment." The New York State Assembly and State Senate followed suit the next year, also protecting Champ against death, injury, or harassment, and "encouraging report of sighting of such animals."


Blogging goes big time at Berkley. Please call me a journalist.

“The Berkeley class on blogging is the latest in a series of signs that the media establishment is starting to warm up to what was long seen as legitimate journalism's loud-mouthed kid sister.”

Sony vs. Sony…How the company is interestingly playing both sides of the electronic music battle. Sony has been both fighting the bootlegging of music and pushing blank discs, mp3 players and CD burners. See Sunday’s blog for a further discussion of the coming apocalypse for the music industry.



Michael Young, from Beirut, parallels World Cup soccer to the globalization movement. Further proof that sports has become the definitive religion for the masses.



“More meaningfully, soccer personifies the benefits of globalization, as well as its worst flaws. It is a blend of multinational administrative corruption, salutary free-market capitalism, and old-fashioned chauvinism. As The Economist noted recently: "Football is not just a sport or a business. At the top level it is also closely intertwined with politics and national pride."

This is one of the most thought provoking and enjoyable blogs that I have run into in cyber space. Take a minute and check out these students from Oxford, you won’t be disappointed.

Gazing outside the window the sunny skies dwindle
And now it's full of stars a hurling comet soars
While during the body slumber the soul begins to wander
To dream dimensions see the inner conscious doesn't pause
Keeps moving where it's bound to say now I lay me down to
After that stretch and yawn energy left and gone
The sandman's on your shoulder whispering in your ear he told you
Let all your problems go tonight I'm rapping hear my song
A day of work completed a night of rest is needed
Almost done with a book but eyelids to heavy to read it
The fireplace is kindling snug with your queen and building
About the victories tomorrow's gonna bring your way

peace - christian

My 2 Cents For The Take A Penny Give A Penny Dish

I am letting Chicago native, Common do the talking for me.

"Why do these girls, look so good in the summer?" - Common

USA, regardless of my prediction of a victory, takes a tie. Not all bad...

Enjoy the Monday...

- C doubled

Thanks for all the feedback and visiting to the blog. Appreciated the positive vibes that I am getting from everyone. It appears as if in addition to my thoughts, we should have an abundance of comments from abroad, with readers right now in Spain, Denmark, England and Hong Kong.


What an amazing weekend! Aimed to maximize the amount of time spent out in the sun and did a pretty impressive job. The tan is starting to come around.

By the numbers:

Hours at the beach 6.0
Hours at the park 2.0
Hours on my bike .5
Hours at the Art Fair 4.0

Total Time Outside 12.5.hours…

Just had to run the numbers right quick.

Respond, React and Talk Back

Paul Cella, my freshman year roommate and a part-time political commentator, offered this riposte to my Machiavelli quote…

"As regards your favorable quotation of Machiavelli: To even approach Niccolo Machiavelli is to play with fire. His project was nothing less than the overturning of the political philosophy of the ancients -- Plato, Cicero, etc. He was, of course, successful: Machiavelli represents the intellectual genesis of modernity in politics. The great Swiss historian Jacob Burckhardt wrote of him "the objectivity of his political judgment is sometimes appalling in its sincerity." Machiavelli sought to construct a science of governing -- but first he had to deconstruct the towering edifice of virtue and morals and ethics that so interested the ancients. Reading of the casual, pervasive brutality, impiety and unscrupulousness of the early Renaissance despotism of Italy, one is inclined to sympathize with him; but nevertheless, we must consider Machiavelli the great profaner of politics. Some have argued, persuasively, that Machiavelli's intellect was so powerful that his influence remains fundamentally unchallenged even now: that there has not been a truly new political philosopher in nearly five hundred years."

Gavin Williams, arguably the authority when it comes to Pittsburgh Sports and someone who already has a stint at espn under his belt, offered this rant on the Doug Christie and the nba…

Doug Christie and the NBA:

I hope his wife enjoys choking because that's what Doug's forte seems to be. If you can't hit the inside of the rim with a wide open look at that level given five looks at it in crunch time, you have no earthly business being on the floor. Especially with the fearless Bobby Jackson sitting idly by. A special and related jeer to Peja Stojakovic who can win the NBA three point contest with relative ease but can't even draw iron from that very same distance with a chance to send his Kings to the finals. What a joke – Mike Bibby's back must be exhausted from carrying those wannabes that far. And someone please tell Hedo Turkoglu to guard someone, cause I'm still waiting. For all those haters of Duncan and even Webber to an extent, when you are triple-teamed in the post it does you no good at all to try and get to the basket or force a post move no matter how good you are. Eventually your teammates have to pose some type of threat to score or a team as savvy as LA will simply allow you the opportunity to beat yourself. Ask the Spurs and Kings - bet they'd knock down those looks in practice, right Danny Ferry? And for you Jason Kidd for MVP followers, see how many triple doubles he'd have with Bruce Bowen, Malik Rose and the washed up twins David Robinson and Steve Smith on the other end of his passes. Quite possibly the worst supporting cast ever.

The Duvs emailed about starting his own blog, The Looking Glass, and offers up an article on purchasing a home versus renting. An aptly timed article for this audience, as many of us, myself included are currently wrestling with this idea.

Crump also requested some love for the US after they defeated Portugal in what wass the biggest victory in US World Cup history. Here is an interesting story on the ballsballs being used and the US reaction. Look for another resounding victory tomorrow morning versus the host country. As for the Italians, some how the Croats stole a game as two goals were disallowed, look for them to bounce back in the next game. Check out this diary for some interesting World Cup happenings.

This section of the blog should provide insight from various perspectives and endless entertainment.

The Hot Music

News, Politics and Notes

This Onion Article was picked up a Beijing wire and used as news. Granted Congress makes some outlandish spending decisions, but demanding a retractable roof and moving to Toronto or Memphis probably wouldn’t be one of them.

The disturbing Daniel Peral execution video that literally made me sick to my stomach.

Two amazing article by Thomas Sowell, who I have been grossly negligent in keeping up with lately. There is no free lunch, and an interesting take on stereotypes about stereotypes.

Music

Music Business is becoming the book business…A must read. An interesting article especially with the ease that one can go to audiogalaxy.com or winmx.com and dl entire albums. This article does an exceptional job of breakdown the key reason that the music industry is more or less screwed.

“The music business suddenly had to start producing music according to very stringent (if unwritten) commercial guidelines (it could have objected or rebelled -- but it rolled over instead; what's more, in a complicated middleman strategy of music brokers and independent promoters, labels have, in effect, been forced to pay to have their boring music aired). Format became law. Everything had to sound the way it was supposed to sound. Fungibility was king. Familiarity was the greatest virtue.
And then there is the CD theory. This theory is widely accepted -- with great pride, in fact -- in the music industry. It represents the ultimate music-biz hustle. But its implications are seldom played out. The CD theory holds that the music business actually died about twenty years ago. It was revived without anyone knowing it had actually died because compact-disc technology came along and everybody had to replace what they'd bought for the twenty years prior to the advent of the CD.
The music business, this theory acknowledges, is about selling technology as much as music. From mono to stereo to Walkman. It just happens that the next stage of technological development in the music business has largely excluded the music business itself.

It wasn't just that it was free music -- radio offered free music. But whatever you wanted was free (whenever you wanted it). The Internet is music consumerism run amok, resulting not only in billions of dollars of lost sales but in an endless bifurcation of taste. The universe fragmented into sub-universes, and then sub-sub-universes. The music industry, which depends on large numbers of people with similar interests for its profit margins, now had to deal with an ever-growing numbers of fans with increasingly diverse and eccentric interests.”

A great interview with Blackalicious…

J-Lo has split from her hubby Cris Judd after being married for less than a year. An unconfirmed rumor in the New York Post says P. Diddy had a little something to do with the separation.

Lifestyle

Drink green tea because as John Baradi explains…

Green Tea — Green tea, in our opinion, should be a staple beverage of any dietary regimen. In addition to the thermogenic, anti-cancer and cardio-protective benefits, green tea prevents lipid peroxidation as well as aiding in the cellular defense of the ROS released during carcinogenesis

Sports

I think everyone I know watched the Tyson-Lewis shenanigans on Saturday night. The fight itself was a joke with Lennox just beating Mike senselessly. Was it me or did Tyson go three or four rounds without even landing a punch? The most enjoyable part of the fight took place in the stands. The white guy that sat next to the rock was hysterical and the MVP of the fight. He had to have logged at least 25 cell phone conversations and then he kept looking up in the air and just yelling. The guy in the cream-colored suit guy, who stood up every five seconds, also provided some entertainment. Craig David, who sported a skullcap, kept doing combinations in the stands, apparently attempting to will his fellow Englishmen to victory. Hands down the most disturbing scene, even worse than Tyson’s face, took place when Iron Mike had a love fest with Lewis after the fight. I am half expecting to see Tyson begging for money on the corner selling streetwise newspapers.

Miscellaneous

Chelsey congrats on graduating...You go girl.

That’s it for the extra long Sunday night installment.

Have a good week.