Wide Awake In America

U2 Denver VIdeo

2011-05-22T18:13:00.010-06:00

Video from last night's concert at Mile High.

Even Better Than the Real Thing

I Will Follow

Mysterious Ways

Until the End of the World

All I Want is You

Stay

Zooropa

City of Blinding Lights

Where the Streets Have No Name

Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me

U2 Setlist Denver May 21, 2011

2011-05-22T09:42:00.002-06:00

Even Better Than The Real Thing
I Will Follow
Get On Your Boots
Magnificent
Mysterious Ways
Elevation
Until The End Of The World
All I Want Is You
Stay
Beautiful Day
Pride
Miss Sarajevo
Zooropa
City of Blinding Lights
Vertigo
I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight (Discoteque, Please snippet)
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Scarlet
Walk On (You’ll Never Walk Alone snippet)
One
Where The Streets Have No Name
Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me
With Or Without You
Moment of Surrender

2011 NFL Draft

2011-04-28T15:53:00.001-06:00

The Denver Broncos have the second pick in tonight's NFL draft, which is the highest draft pick the Broncos have ever had.  Fortunately, the Broncos no longer have Josh McDaniels at the helm, and they shouldn't screw up this pick.  As I wrote last year, I wanted the Broncos to take C Maurkice Pouncey or G Mike Iupati.  Both players had solid rookie seasons and Pouncey even was selected to the Pro Bowl as a member of the AFC champion Steelers.

Having the second pick gives the Broncos and new GM John Elway a chance to get one of the top talents in the draft.  The players that I have liked all along since the offseason started are CB Patrick Peterson, LB Von Miller, and DT Marcell Dareus.  All of these  players have huge athleticism and could make an immediate impact on the Broncos' weak defense.  I like Peterson the most, but the Broncos need serious help on the front seven.  Miller may be better suited for a 3-4 defense, but he could be tenacious pass rusher as a SAM linebacker.  Lastly, Dareus may be the safest of the picks as he could shore up the interior of the line and be a real run stuffer.  

This year's draft, I don't expect to be shocked by any of the moves the Broncos make.  While it wouldn't surprise me to see the Broncos trade down in the draft if they have any offers, I do not expect them to make any head scratching moves like selecting a running back in the first round, trading a future first rounder for a second round corner back, or throwing all your chips in Tim Tebows corner, as we saw under the McDaniels regime.  The Broncos are in solid hands now.

Fav U2 Songs at the Moment

2011-04-22T13:25:00.000-06:00

U2 are coming back to Denver next month, so I am going to go on a little U2 kick for the old blog. I have updated my list of favorite U2 songs, although this list will likely be different next week. Many of the big singles are missing, but that is because I have heard them so much. For example, I would have to say a song such as "One" is one of the greatest songs of all time, but you hear it so often that I currently prefer a few other songs from Achtung Baby.

1 - Stay (Faraway So Close)
2 - Bad
3 - Acrobat
4 - The Fly
5 - Out of Control
6 - Breathe

7 - Where the Streets Have No Name
8 - Gone
9 - City of Blinding Lights
10 - Heartland
11 - Bullet the Blue Sky
12 - Elevation
13 - Please
14 - Moment of Surrender

15 - Stories for Boys
16 - In God's Country

17 - 11 O'Clock Tick Tock
18 - Seconds
19 - Hawkmoon 269
20 - In a Little While
21 - Unknown Caller

22 - New Year's Day

23 - Lady with the Spinning Head

24 - Dirty Day
25 - Rejoice

The Daily Show on Teacher Salaries

2011-03-07T17:08:00.003-07:00

The Daily Show - Crisis in Dairyland - For Richer and Poorer - Teachers and Wall Street
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

2011 Academy Award Predictions

2011-02-26T23:14:00.003-07:00

Continuing my annual tradition, I thought I would share my predictions for the winners of the major awards. Updated - only missed one - Fincher shoulda got it though

Best Picture - The Kings Speech
Best Director - David Fincher (The Social Network) Tom Hooper (The Kings Speech)
Best Actor - Colin Firth (The Kings Speech)
Best Supporting Actor - Christian Bale (The Fighter)
Best Actress - Natalie Portman (The Black Swan)
Best Supporting Actress - Melissa Leo (The Fighter)
Best Original Screenplay - The Kings Speech
Best Adapted Screenplay - The Social Network
Best Animated Film - Toy Story 3

The pick that I am most uncertain about is best picture. The Social Network could take it.

Best Albums of 2010

2011-02-14T15:29:00.003-07:00

Last night's Grammy Awards reminded me that I forgot to list my top albums of 2010. Two of my top three took home some hardware last night, with Arcade Fire deservedly winning Album of the Year, and The Black Keys taking home the awards for Best Rock Album by a Group and Best Alternative Album (Kanye's album was released after the cutoff date). Here are the albums that I really enjoyed last year.

Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Nightmare
Drop your biases against Kanye. Yeezy takes it to a whole nutha level as he confidently hops between different styles and puts together arguably the best rap album of the last decade.

The Black Keys - Brothers
Great blues influenced garage rock. They could have trimmed off some of the fat at the end of this album and made it an even better album, but I won't complain about getting more songs for my money.

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

I love Arcade Fire, and this album contains some amazing music. However, as someone who grew up and currently lives in the suburbs, I don't quite think they captured the Suburbia theme they were seeking. Still, a great album.

The Broken Bells - The Broken Bells

James Mercer of The Shins plus Danger Mouse equals a kick ass album.

The National - High Violet

This album got a huge write up in the NY Times, which is great for a deserving band such as The National.

Mumford and Sons

An english band who sounds like and Irish band playing American folk rock. Good stuff.

Kings of Leon - Come Aound Sundown

Other really good albums from 2010:
Jack Johnson - To the Sea

The New Pornographers - Together
Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record
Band of Horses - Cease to Begin
Spoon - Got Nuffin
She & Him - Volume 2

Best Shows on TV

2010-12-16T16:09:00.003-07:00

I haven't written a lot on TV lately, because network TV pretty much sucks these days. I have been going back and Netflixing shows that I missed, such as The Wire (sooo good). In fact, if you aren't watching any of the shows below, I would recommend doing the same. Here are what I deem the good ones.

Dexter - Ah yes, America's favorite serial killer. A little dark, a little creepy, and quite hilarious too.

Modern Family - Amazing cast and damn funny.

Community - Most creative.

The Office - Still good, but I wonder how it will fare after Steve Carell leaves.

Friday Night Lights - The best drama on network TV. Too bad this is the last season.

The Daily Show/Colbert Report - Best "News" reporting on TV.

Bye Bye Coach McD

2010-12-07T15:22:00.004-07:00

So the Broncos fired Coach McDaniels. Not a huge surprise that he would be fired, but kind of surprising that he was fired mid-season. I think that he could have success in the future as a head coach, but he was in way over his head in Denver.

Like I have said before, the coaching hasn't been the issue in Denver. It is the player decisions. The NFL has become too complicated for one person to handle the coaching and personnel decisions - especially a 34 year old rookie head coach. Owner Pat Bowlen needs to hire a solid General Manager first and foremost.

I have detailed my issues with the Broncos handling of the draft and roster on this blog many times. Shanahan left the Broncos with a solid offense, and it was the defense that led to his firing. Under the McDaniels regime, the Broncos only used 7 of their 19 draft picks on defensive players, and only two of those were for defensive lineman. I am tempted to discuss all of the other terrible roster moves that McDaniels made, but I really don't have the time to cover it right now.

So, who should the Broncos hire? There are loads of names being floated around right now, such as former coaches Bill Cowher, Jon Gruden, Brian Billick, or a college coach such as Troy Calhoun, or maybe a NFL coach who is still coaching (Jeff Fisher or John Fox). If the Broncos want to hold on to all of the time and money they have already put into Tebow, they should hire Jon Gruden. Before last year's draft, ESPN did a feature with Gruden each of the top QBs in the draft (Bradford, McCoy, Claussen, and Tebow). Gruden had the biggest mancrush on Tebow that I have ever seen. At one point, the expression on his face looked as though he just jizzed in his pants while watching Tebow.

But, I don't think that the Broncos should throw all their chips in Tebows basket. Hire the right coach and GM, and if Tebow is good enough to be a QB in the NFL, he will become one. There are far bigger issues on the defense and offensive line that the Broncos need to tackle first.

NFL Breakdown

2010-11-22T12:58:00.003-07:00

I haven't written much about sports recently, so if figured I would write a quick post about the NFL. After 10 weeks of play, a few teams have risen to the top of the NFL, and unlike past seasons, there aren't any undefeated or one loss teams remaining. Thus, it is much harder to tell which teams are most likely to make it to the playoffs and the Superbowl. Here are the top tier teams that I think have the talent and coaching (and some luck) to win it all.

AFC

Baltimore

They are playing with a high intensity, and I wouldn't bet against them in any game, especially at home, where they are undefeated. They have three losses, but two of those were to New England (in OT) and Atlanta.

New England

The Patriots are also undefeated at home this year and once again showing that the combination of Bill Belicheck and Tom Brady is tough to beat regardless of whom else is on the team (bye bye Moss). Their two losses were to the Jets and, surprisingly, to the Browns, but that was mainly due to Peyton Hillis stomping all over the Pats (so glad we traded him, way to go Coach McD).

NY Jets

This is one of the luckiest teams I can remember, but like they say, you make your own luck. They squeaked out overtime or last second wins against Denver, Detroit, Cleveland, and Houston. But, their only two losses are to other top tier teams (Baltimore and Green Bay). I just don't know if the Jets can count on getting the lucky breaks in the playoffs.

Pittsburgh

Once again, the Steelers post season hopes ride on the defense. If they can get Coloradan Aaron Smith (torn triceps) back for the playoffs and Polamalu and Timmons healthy too, they will be a force to be reckoned with. Their only weakness is their offensive line.

Others to watch:

Indianapolis - you can't count out a team with Payton Manning at the helm, no matter how banged up the team is.

NFC

Atlanta

The Falcons' two losses were to top tier teams (Pitt in OT and Philly). They are also undefeated at home and have wins against Baltimore and New Orleans.

Green Bay

The losses to Chicago, Washington, and Miami are pretty glaring, but they were all by a filed goal and two of the games went to OT. Green Bay has quality wins against Philly and the Jets (shutout). Next week's game against Atlanta should be a great matchup.

Philly

This is looking like the team to beat in the NFC right now. In two of their three losses, the starting QB was knocked out of the game. When Vick has played a complete game, they are undefeated.

Others to Watch

New Orleans

They seem to be pulling out of their post Super Bowl hangover, so we will have to see if they turn it on during the remainder of the season. A coach and QB tandem that is second to only the Patriots.

NY Giants

Turnovers have been the Achilles heel of this team. Can they hold onto the ball all the way to the Super Bowl?

Coloradans: Vote NO on 60, 61, and 101

2010-10-21T15:59:00.001-06:00

Colorado has a bunch of bad measures on the ballot this fall, and I am going to cover what has been dubbed "The Ugly Three" here. Amendment 60, 60, and 61 are toxic to Colorado's economy, and could lead to a loss of over 73,000 jobs if passed.

A coalition of over 600 organizations is opposed to these measures. This includes a broad spectrum of businesses, municipalities, and organizations. Groups such as AARP, CH2M Hill, Denver Chamber of Commerce, Colorado Trout Unlimited, Colorado Springs Police Protective Association, Colorado Ski Country USA, Continental Airlines, and the Home Builders Association of Northern Colorado have signed on to voice their opposition.

These measures claim to save taxpayers money, however, if these measures pass, taxpayers can expect pay many new or increased costs. For example, college tuition will skyrocket far more than current anticipated increases, your water and wastewater rates could increase by 100%, and you could see new toll booths on the highways.

The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel newspaper even went as far as to write an opposition to the bill on the front page of the newspaper, violating a self imposed rule of keeping editorials in the editorial section.

"Proponents of the three ballot measures will no doubt accuse us of scare tactics, as they have anyone who criticizes the measures. But there is ample reason to be scared if you value a state with adequate law enforcement and judicial systems, respected higher education, good schools, functional roads, responsive local governments and a healthy private sector."

The Greeley Tribune writes:

"Republicans, Democrats, unaffiliated voters — it doesn't matter what political philosophy people embrace. These two amendments and one proposition could mean disaster for Colorado.

That's why political affiliation has played no part in who opposes these ballot issues. They have received opposition from every sector of the political arena.

There's a good reason for that. The extreme nature of these tax- and fee-cutting measures would cripple local governments and school districts, as well as worsen an already bad situation with the state budget."

The Boulder Daily Camera writes:

"We could speculate what roads and bridges will look like, patched with pennies. Or how a judicial system with courts, cops and prisons will work, run on pennies. Or just how badly our students will fare against their competition elsewhere in the country and abroad after we trap them in huge classrooms in cramped buildings, destined for failure.

But instead, voters could consider this one thing: Jobs. Would employers be able to attract workers to such a state? Would good teachers move here? Would any company in their right mind want to move, or stay, in Colorado?

No on 60. No on 61. No on 101."

The website, www.donthurtcolorado.com provides the following summaries of the ballot measures.

AMENDMENT 60

Schools would lose more than a billion dollars in funding each year. The school districts would be required to cut property taxes by 50 percent. Think of it – school tax revenue cut in half! This would be on top of cuts that have already occurred. Inevitably, there will be more closings and even fewer teachers.

The language in the amendment claims that the state would have to make up the difference, but where would the money come from? The state is already strapped for cash and has cut billions from the budget.

Would overturn hundreds of local elections – commonly called de-Brucings – that have occurred since 1992. Local voters throughout Colorado have chosen to give greater flexibility to their school districts, library districts, fire departments, police departments and other services to meet local needs. If Amendment 60 passes, local control would be usurped by the state, resulting in financial chaos for local communities and especially for our schools.

Bottom line - The lure of lower property taxes is a hollow promise, further crippling our schools and other vital local services.

AMENDMENT 61

Amendment 61 will collapse Colorado's economy, robbing us of any chance of economic recovery. It eliminates Colorado's ability to build or expand its schools, roads, hospitals, college buildings, light rail, water and sewer systems, prisons—in fact, any of its capital infrastructure.

The amendment would severely limit – even prohibit – what it calls "government borrowing." On the surface, it might sound like a good idea. But in reality, this proposal has nothing to do with problems at the national level like borrowing and deficit spending. Proponents are trying to mislead voters by using words like "government borrowing" when, in reality, they are trying to do away with state and local bonding.

Bonding is a prudent form of financing that governments have relied on for decades. Bonding makes it possible to build schools in your neighborhood, fire stations, water projects, prisons, airports, health facilities, highways, transit, colleges… the list goes on and on. Amendment 61 would make it very difficult – even impossible – for the state and local governments to issue bonds.

Local districts would have to repay bonds within ten years, instead of a reasonable time frame such as 20 years. Eliminating longer-term bonds for large projects could raise repayment costs to exorbitant levels. Why should such fiscal handcuffs be put into our State Constitution? Let the decision be made the local level on case by case basis.

The state would be prohibited from using financial instruments like "revenue anticipation notes" and "certificates of participation." The state has used these tools for decades to even out cash flow throughout the year. Not being able to use these tools will impede the state's ability to provide services – even meet payroll – during times of the year when revenue is low.

The amendment also would require that after bonds have been repaid, any taxes used for repayment must be lowered – even if those taxes weren't raised in the first place. For instance, when the bonds that financed T-REX and other transportation projects have been repaid, the state gas tax would have to be cut by $168 million a year – at a time when our road needs are greater than ever.

Instead of attracting investment, Colorado will be an investment-flight state. Once companies bypass Colorado with jobs and capital investment, we risk losing existing companies to other states, and our ability to recover from this recession will be lost to other states.

Bottom line – Amendment 61 is a crazy experiment that would eliminate any practical means for state and local governments to make capital improvements.

PROPOSITION 101

Eliminates a major funding source for road and bridge construction across the state. The annual vehicle registration fee would be cut to an arbitrary $10 – no longer based on vehicle size or weight. The registration fee hasn't been that low since 1919 when the state had only a handful of paved roads. Road budgets would be cut by hundreds of millions of dollars, meaning more potholes and crumbling bridges. Not only would state highway projects be cut, but local projects would be as well, since cities and counties receive a major portion of their road funding from this fee.

The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) estimates that Proposition 101 would eliminate a quarter of its annual revenue – about $277 million!

The Specific Ownership Tax on cars would be reduced to $2 on new cars and $1 on used cars. This revenue actually helps fund schools districts and other local government priorities. Local revenue would be cut by some $500 million annually.

The state income tax also would be reduced incrementally to 3.5 percent. This would eliminate a quarter of the state's revenue from income tax when state budget already has been severely impacted by the recession. Such a drastic reduction would mean even more cuts in critical state services.

Bottom line - Proposition 101 would severely impact everything from roads to schools, with no regard for the actual cost of providing these vital services.

Oh My, Oh My

2010-10-21T10:34:00.002-06:00

Delaware Republican Tea Party Candidate Christine O'Donnell made the news again when she asked if the separation of church and state is in the U.S. Constitution, after she advocated the right of public schools to teach creationism or intelligent design. CNN's Anderson Cooper nails her in this clip.

Seeing the forest for the trees

2010-10-18T15:16:00.001-06:00

Has the past decade of politics brought us to the point where, as citizens, we don't even realize when the government does something right?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/13/AR2010101305530.html?nav=most_emailed

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101018/ap_on_bi_ge/us_prolific_congress

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/17/business/economy/17leonhardt.html?_r=1

What is the Tea Party?

2010-10-12T14:44:00.002-06:00

The Tea Party movement consists of a network of loosely affiliated groups that may or may not fall under the umbrella of one of six national Tea Party organizations. These national groups are the Tea Party Nation, Americans for Prosperity, Tea Party Patriots, Tea Party Express, FreedomWorks, and National Tea Party Federation. The movement started mainly as a protest of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (Wall Street bailout), American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the Stimulus), and health care reform.

While claiming independence from the Republican Party, polls show that the majority of Tea Party members are staunchly conservative, older, Christian (47% identify themselves as part of the religious right), and white. They often feel as though whites in America are now oppressed and state that they are opposed to deficits even though they supported George W. Bush and the Republican congress - they are only now speaking out against it, because the Obama administration pushed them to the brink. (I wonder if any of them realize that Obama passed the largest middle class tax cut in the history of the United States as part of the Stimulus bill?)

By and large, the Tea Party candidates resemble past radical right wing candidates, only this time, they have the endorsement of the Tea Party. In fact, many Tea Party candidates are career Republicans, such as Sharon Angle and Christine O'Donnell (who lost to Joe Biden as the GOP candidate in 2008).

Many of the Tea Party candidates hold similar beliefs, such as privatizing social security, ending Medicaid, abolishing the Department of Education, ending federal student loans, banning abortion even in the cases of rape or incest, denying climate change is occurring, lowering or abandoning minimum wage, and other radical ideas. Some of the other extreme stances that individual Tea Party candidates hold include banning IUDs and birth control pills, criticizing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, making air quotes when saying the word autism, opposing masturbation, defending BP, and believing Muslim law is taking over U.S. communities.

So, just who is behind these national Tea Party organizations? Well, in many cases, it is the same people who have been doing behind the scenes work for right wing causes for many years. Americans for Prosperity was founded by the billionaire petroleum and chemical baron, Charles Koch. His company, Koch Industries, was recently named one of the top ten air polluters by University of Massachusetts at Amherst's Political Economy Research Institute. Charles and his brother David have long campaigned for libertarian, free market, and other right wing causes. They have used the Tea Party movement to advance their support for decreased corporate taxes, minimal social services, and decreased regulatory oversight (especially environmental regs).

FreedomWorks is chaired by former Republican House majority leader Dick Armey. Prior to the Tea Party movement, FreedomWorks accepted money from Verizon to oppose telecommunications regulation and accepted money from Phillip Morris to oppose smoke free workplace laws and tobacco taxes. It is now mainly focused on opposing health care reform, climate legislation, and taxes.

Much of the Tea Party platform has been supported and publicized by Fox News Channel. Fox News personalities have repeatedly voiced support for the Tea Party and promoted Tea Party events. Fox even labeled the tax day Tea Party rallies as the "FNC Tax Day Tea Parties." And let's not forget that Sarah Palin, who is a paid contributor to Fox, has become one of the public faces of the Tea Party movement, attending rallies and endorsing candidates.

Essentially, the Tea Party is a concentrated version of the Republican Party, with an extra dose of right wing libertarianism. It includes many of the same participants who have been involved in right wing politics for more than a decade, pushing their extreme agendas. If this is what the Republican Party is becoming, I am quite alarmed.

Its 9-02-10 Bro!

2010-09-02T21:12:00.003-06:00

Video of the Month

2010-08-30T21:27:00.001-06:00

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
Tags: The Daily Show: The Parent Company Trap, COMEDYCENTRAL

or

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-august-23-2010/the-parent-company-trap

Obama's a socialist!?!

2010-08-12T13:32:00.001-06:00

At first, I just laughed it off thinking that people would realize the stupidity of what they were saying. But two years later, many Americans still call Obama a socialist. I am going to explain why he isn't close to being a socialist and also try to determine why people have been mislead to believe this.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines socialism as (1) any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods (2 a) a system of society or group living in which there is no private property (2 b) a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state.

Many have tried to paint Obama as a socialist by pointing to the bailouts of Wall Street (TARP), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the automotive industry. Anyone whose paid attention to the news over the past couple of years or has access to the Internet can immediately discover who was President when those "socialist" measures were taken. That's right - George W. Bush. At the start of his term, Obama was forced to put in an additional $60 billion above the $25 billion Bush put into GM, Chrysler, GMAC, and Chrysler Financial to save the auto companies. Fortunately, it appears that GM and Chrysler have turned the corner and are actually operating with profits. Thus, if this trend continues, the US should recoup its investment in the companies.

Washington Post columnist E.J Dionne Jr. wrote a column praising the success of the auto bailout. In it, he quotes a line that conservative Steve Forbes wrote in an article Politico stating, "GM's management is using solid, conservative, free-market management principles to get the company back to long-term profitability." This is more evidence that Obama did not undertake a socialist takeover of the auto industry.

An opinion piece from the Millwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel also examines if Obama is a socialist by comparing Obama's policies with the platform of the Socialist Party USA:

1) The socialists call for a steeply graduated income tax; Obama's is most modest, and only on the top 5%.

2) The socialists' health care plan would eliminate health insurance companies; Obama's won't.

3) The socialists call for public ownership of the drug companies, airlines, cable/satellite corporations and corporate farms; Obama suggests no such measures.

4) The socialists immediately would cut the military budget by 50% and close all bases abroad and most at home; Obama is increasing the military's budget.

5) The socialists would abolish the CIA, NSA and Department of Homeland Security; Obama does none of these.

6) The socialists would raise minimum wage to $15 an hour, legislate a 30-hour workweek with six weeks of paid vacation, provide a right to retire at 55 with a $25,000-a-year pension and cap salaries at 10 times the lowest-paid workers'; Obama is suggesting nothing like that.

7) The socialists would provide free day care from infancy and ensure that the student-to-teacher classroom ratio be 15 to 1; Obama has not proposed any such measures.

8) The socialists call for public ownership of all natural resources; Obama does not.

9) The socialists want public funding of newspapers and magazines; Obama has never suggested this.

Regarding Health Care Reform, Obama even stopped pushing for the Public Option in order to get the reforms passed. And remember that the Public Option would have only given people an alternative to the private insurance companies for buying insurance. It would not take over that industry.

Obama does believe in regulation and oversight of industries, but this has been a part of the American government since its founding (Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution). Regulations can be good or bad, depending on how and why they were enacted. Just remember that a lack of regulations and oversight led to crises such as the Great Depression, the recent recession, and the BP oil spill.

I would also like to direct you to an article by the free market advocating magazine, Reason, which does a much better job stating why Obama is not a socialist than I can do.

So, why do so many (right wing) people say or believe that Obama is a socialist? Well, first I think that many people are uneducated on political topics. They simply don't know the what socialism is. Second, I think that right wing politicians and media members try to paint Obama as a socialist to gain support. These claims are disingenuous or outright lies. The media tried to paint many prominent democrats as elitist liberals in the past. That argument became old and stale, so they have tried to play off people's past fears of the Soviets and communism by labeling Obama as a socialist. The people who believe this typically don't even realize that there is a difference between socialism and communism.

You can also provide many of these individuals with the information that I have presented above, and they will still believe that Obama is a socialist. Why is that? It is most likely due to confirmation bias. Confirmation bias is a cognitive bias whereby one tends to notice and look for information that confirms one's existing beliefs, whilst ignoring anything that contradicts those beliefs. People who already have a bias against Obama (such as him simply being a Democrat or black) will seek out news sources, such as Fox News, Glenn Beck, or Rush Limbaugh, to support their bias against him. When Rush Limbaugh says that Obama is a socialist, it confirms their beliefs, regardless of the truth.

These media outlets actually prey upon this bias, as they are able to capitalize on this in the form of viewer/listener numbers for ad sales. Many people don't like to question (or have others question) their belief systems, thus they will watch, listen or read media that supports their beliefs. Once again, this is regardless of the truth. In the act of doing this, these media outlets are also promoting the political agendas of their owners and or management. An inaccuracy or lie is justifiable to these people if it returns them to power.

2010 Music, First Half

2010-07-20T15:32:00.001-06:00

I put together a playlist featuring some songs from my favorite albums released in the first half of 2010. If you want a copy, let me know. Also, if you know of any other good albums that came out this year, let me know about them.

New Pornographers - Crash Years

Jack Johnson - From the Clouds

Black Keys- Howlin for You

Broken Bells - Mongrel Heart

The National - Anyone's Ghost

Broken Social Scene - Sentimental X's

She and Him - In the Sun

Spoon - Got Nuffin

Band of Horses - On My Way Back Home

Jack Johnson - You and Your Heart

New Pornographers - Sweet Talk, Sweet Talk

Broken Social Scene - Texico Bitches

The National - Afraid of Everyone

Black Keys- I'm Not the One

Broken Bells - The Mall and Misery

BP Oil Spill Articles

2010-07-01T15:48:00.001-06:00

Here are a couple of articles that show the destruction of the BP oil spill on a more personal level.

http://www.gq.com/news-politics/big-issues/201007/oil-spill-rig-workers-coast-guard-crewmen

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=100630/tarponfishing

2010 NBA Draft

2010-06-24T11:24:00.001-06:00

Every year for the NBA draft, I like to put on my NBA General Manager pretend shoes and make a couple of picks. I pick one top ten player and one player who will be taken later in the draft. It is then interesting to see how well my picks perform in their careers. My picks are heavily influenced by the NCAA tournament, but I did pick a couple of high schoolers. Here are my past picks:

1994

Grant Hill (3)

NBA co-Rookie of the Year (1995), 7× NBA All-Star (1995–1998, 2000–2001, 2005), All-NBA First Team (1997) , 4× All-NBA Second Team (1996, 1998–2000), NBA All-Rookie First Team (1995), 3× NBA Sportsmanship Award (2005, 2008, 2010), jacked up ankles, one of a few Duke players I actually like.

Jalen Rose (13)

NBA All-Rookie Team (1995), NBA Most Improved Player (2000)

1995

Kevin Garnett

NBA Champion (2008) , NBA Most Valuable Player (2004), NBA Defensive Player of the Year (2008),13× NBA All-Star (1997-1998, 2000-2010), 4× All-NBA First Team (2000, 2003-2004, 2008), 3× All-NBA Second Team (2001-2002, 2005), 2× All-NBA Third Team (1999, 2007), 8× All-Defensive First Team (2000–2005, 2008-2009), 2× All-Defensive Second Team (2006, 2007), NBA All-Rookie Second Team (1996), NBA All-Star Game MVP (2003), J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award (2006), I read an article about him when he was in high school, and just had a feeling about him becoming an NBA great. Can still name his high school in Chicago – Farragut Career Academy

Corliss Williamson (13)

2002 NBA Sixth Man of the Year

1996

Marcus Camby (2)

NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award (2007), 2x NBA All-Defensive First Team (2007, 2008), 2x NBA All-Defensive Second Team (2005, 2006), NBA All-Rookie First Team (1997)

Kobe Bryant (13)

5× NBA Champion (2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010), 2× NBA Finals MVP (2009–2010),

NBA Most Valuable Player (2008), 12× NBA All-Star (1998, 2000–2010),

2× NBA scoring champion (2006–2007), 8× All-NBA First Team (2002–2004, 2006–2010),

2× All-NBA Second Team (2000–2001), 2× All-NBA Third Team (1999, 2005), 8× All-Defensive First Team (2000, 2003–2004, 2006–2010), 2× All-Defensive Second Team (2001–2002),

NBA All-Rookie Second Team (1997), 3× NBA All-Star Game MVP (2002, 2007, 2009),

NBA Slam Dunk Contest winner (1997), sexual assault allegations (2003)

I really, really don't like Kobe, but I remember thinking that he could be great. Of course it was Jerry West who traded Vlade Divac to the Hornets for thirteenth pick and Kobe (the thirteenth spot was pretty good over those three years).

1997

Chauncey Billups (3)

NBA Champion (2004), NBA Finals MVP, (2004) 5× NBA All-Star (2006–2010), All-NBA Second Team (2006), 2× All-NBA Third Team (2007, 2009), 2× All-Defensive Second Team (2005, 2006), J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award (2008), NBA Sportsmanship Award (2009)

Yeah, I am a homer. Tim Duncan was the no brainer in this draft, but I would have picked Mr. Basketball Colorado.

Bobby Jackson (23)

All-Rookie Second Team (1998), Sixth Man of the Year (2003)

1998

Antawn Jamison (4)

NBA Sixth Man of the Year (2004), 2× NBA All-Star (2005, 2008), NBA All-Rookie Second Team (1999)

Paul Pierce (10)

NBA Champion (2008), NBA Finals MVP (2008), 8× NBA All-Star (2002–2006, 2008–2010),

All-NBA Second Team (2009),

3× All-NBA Third Team (2002–2003, 2008), NBA All-Rookie First Team (1999), NBA 3-Point Shootout champion (2010)

I guess this doesn't technically count as he was a top ten pick, but I thought he might drop.

1999

Richard Hamilton (7)

NBA Champion (2004), 3x NBA All-Star (2006, 2007, 2008)

I had no second pick this year.

2000

Kenyon Martin (1)

NBA All-Star selection (2004), NBA All-Rookie First Team (2001), bad tattoo of the year award (2008)

Mateen Cleeves (14)

2001

Jason Richardson (5)

NBA All-Rookie First Team (2002), 2× NBA Slam Dunk Champion (2002-2003)

Richard Jefferson (13)

NBA All-Rookie Second Team (2002)

2002

Drew Gooden (4)

Strangest Neck Patch (2007)

Juan Dixon (17)

Banned by FIBA for testing positive for steroids (2010)

2003

This year, I truly couldn't decide between LeBron and Melo. I loved Melo for helping me win my NCAA bracket. Both are great, but LeBron has the potential to be top ten all-time. This was such a great draft year, and thank goodness the Nuggets didn't have the second pick and draft Darko (which they would have done). Here are LeBron and Melo's accomplishments.

LeBron James (1)

2× NBA Most Valuable Player (2009–2010), NBA Rookie of the Year (2004)

6× NBA All-Star (2005–2010), NBA Scoring Champion (2008), 4× All-NBA First Team (2006, 2008–2010), 2× All-NBA Second Team (2005, 2007), 2× All-Defensive First Team (2009–2010),

NBA All-Rookie First Team (2004), 2× NBA All-Star Game MVP (2006, 2008)

Carmelo Anthony (3)

3× NBA All-Star (2007, 2008, 2010), All-NBA Second Team (2010), 3× All-NBA Third Team (2006–2007, 2009), NBA Rookie Challenge MVP (2005), NBA All-Rookie First Team (2004)

Josh Howard (29)

NBA All-Rookie Second Team (2004), NBA All-Star (2007), likes to get high

2004

Emeka Okafor (2)

NBA Rookie of the Year (2005)

NBA All-Rookie First Team (2005)

Jameer Nelson (20)

NBA All-Star (2009), NBA All-Rookie Second Team (2005)

2005

Chris Paul (4)

NBA Rookie of the Year (2006), 3× NBA All-Star (2008–2010), All-NBA First Team (2008), All-NBA Second Team (2009), NBA All-Defensive First Team (2009), NBA All-Defensive Second Team (2008), NBA All-Rookie First Team (2006)

Loved him in college, but soured on him after Wake's poor showing in the NCAA tournament and Paul's cock punch of Julius Hodge. Thought about picking Marvin Williams instead – yikes!

Hakim Warrick

2006

Brandon Roy (6)

NBA Rookie of the Year (2007), 3× NBA All-Star (2008–2010), All-NBA Second Team (2009), All-NBA Third Team (2010), NBA All-Rookie First Team (2007)

Jordan Farmar

2× NBA Champion (2009, 2010)

2007

Kevin Durant (2)

NBA Rookie of the Year (2008), NBA All-Star (2010), NBA Scoring Champion (2010), All-NBA First Team (2010), NBA All-Rookie First Team (2008), 2× H-O-R-S-E Competition Winner (2009–2010)

I couldn't believe that people thought Oden should be the first pick. Durant was as close to a sure thing as you can get.

Glen Davis (35)

NBA Champion (2008)

2008

Derrick Rose (1)

NBA Rookie of the Year (2009), NBA All-Star (2010), NBA All-Rookie First Team (2009), Skills Challenge Champion (2009)

Roy Hibbert (17)

2009

Blake Griffin

Ty Lawson

2010

John Wall PG - Kentucky

No brainer

Ekpe Udoh PF – Baylor

He might fall in the top ten, in which case I guess I would pick Craig Brackens PF – Iowa State

Also like Jordan Crawford, who was so much fun to watch in the double OT loss to K-state in the NCAA tournament. I liked Udoh for this pick, but I think he will be a top ten guy now. If Da'Sean Butler hadn't blown out his knee in the Final Four, he might have been my pick here. I also like Scottie Reynolds, but don't really see how he will be great in the NBA.

Some Sports Thoughts

2010-06-24T08:05:00.000-06:00

Thank goodness for the US Soccer team advancing and the Saints winning the Superbowl this year, otherwise, this would have been the worst 365 days in sports that I can remember. In the last year, the Yankees, Lakers, and Duke have all won their respective championships. Throw in the Nick Saban coached Crimson Tide, and you have a real turd sandwich of a sports year.

In other good sporting news, Graeme McDowell won the US Open last weekend. GMAC is from Portrush, Northern Ireland, the same town as my father grew up. I have played on GMAC's home course, The Royal Portrush Golf Club, and it is extremely challenging. One of the oldest golf courses in the world, it also one of the toughest. I am not surprised that Graeme was able to survive this year's US Open and become the first European in 40 years to win it.

The Isner-Mahut tennis match at Wimbledon is simply unbelievable. The current score is 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (3), 59-59 and the match has lasted 10 hours (with two delays due to night). If you figure that a typical set averages 9 games, then their fifth set is the equivalent of playing 14 sets! I hope that this epic match does not come to a quick end today.

Chip Off the Old Block

2010-06-08T16:36:00.001-06:00

On Saturday, I farted twice in front of my 17 month old son. He laughed both times. That's my boy!

A Delayed Broncos Draft Analysis

2010-05-24T14:45:00.001-06:00

It has taken me a few weeks to write about the Bronco's draft, as it was another confusing draft, and I kept procrastinating. Mainly, I have been trying to put my head around the Denver Broncos drafting Tim Tebow in the first round. This move will probably define Josh McDaniels' career as the Bronco's Head Coach more than his two other controversial decisions - the trades of Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall.

Tebow brings strong athleticism and leadership skills to the Broncos, although I have no idea if he will be able to adapt to the Pros. I obviously want him to be successful, as that will mean good things for the Broncos. Tebow has an enthusiasm and energy level that is captivating to many, while off putting to others. His mannerisms, positivity, and speech remind me a lot of a friend of mine, who is liked by almost everyone, which does endear Tebow to me. I am sure these are some of the qualities that help Tebow lead his teammates on the field.

A lot has been made of Tebow's faith, but I really don't give a crap about it. Does the Iranian National Soccer team's Islamic faith make them a better soccer team? Did Lance Armstrong's absence of faith in a higher being affect his ability to win multiple Tour De France titles? As long as he doesn't proselytize in the locker room and create a negative environment, I don't think it matters. I do not agree with him doing an ad for Focus on the Family, as I personally perceive FoF as being a divisive, hypocritical, and overtly political religious group. But, I don't hold that against him. We are all free to have our own beliefs. Just don't let it negatively affect the huddle.

I am almost as puzzled with this year's draft as I was with last year's. As you may recall, last year, I thought the Broncos should have taken Brian Orakpo with the 12th pick of the first round. During his rookie season, Orakpo was selected to the Pro Bowl, placed fourth in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting, and was named NFC Defensive Player of the Week for week 14. This year, I thought the Broncos should have drafted C Maurkice Pouncey or OG Mike Iupati due to issues with their offensive line. However, with all of the trades that the Broncos did, it is hard to tell who they could have taken where and when. I really liked how they moved up and down the draft board with the trades, but am not certain they took the right players.

I also thought I would also try to summarize the results of the Cutler and Marshall trades. It was a rather tricky task, but try to follow this (players selected with draft pick and pick number are in parenthesis):

The Broncos traded Jay Cutler and 2009 5th round draft pick (WR Johnny Knox, 140) to the Chicago Bears for their 2009 1st round draft pick (DE Robert Ayers, 18), 2010 1st round draft pick, and Bears 2009 3rd round draft pick. Subsequently, traded Bears 2009 3rd round draft pick (WR Mike Wallace, 84) and Broncos 2009 3rd round draft pick (OT Kraig Urbik, 79) to the Steelers for a 2009 second round draft pick (TE Richard Quinn, 64) and 2009 4th round pick (OG Seth Olsen, 132). Since the Broncos had two first round picks in 2010, they traded their own 1st round pick (S Earl Thomas, 14) to the Seahawks for a 2009 2nd round draft pick (CB Alphonso Smith, 37).

The Broncos kept the Bears 2010 1st round draft pick. They then traded this pick (OT Anthony Davis, 11) to the 49ers for the 49ers' 2010 1st round draft pick and 2010 fourth round draft pick. They then traded the 49ers 1st round pick (DE Brandon Graham, 13) to Philly for their 2010 1st round, 2010 3rd round (WR Eric Decker, 87), and 2010 3rd round draft picks. The Broncos then traded the 1st round pick acquired from Philly (WR Dez Bryant, 24) and 4th round pick acquired from the 49ers (TE Aaron Hernandez, 113) to the Pats for their 1st round pick (WR Demaryius Thomas, 22).

Before the 2010 draft, the Broncos traded Brandon Marshall to Miami for a 2010 2nd round pick and a 2011 2nd round pick. The Broncos traded the 2nd round pick (LB Sergio Kindle, 43) acquired from Miami, one of the 3rd round picks (TE Ed Dickson, 70) acquired from the Eagles, and their own 4th round pick (TE Dennis Pitta, 114) to Baltimore for their 2010 1st round draft pick (QB Tim Tebow, 25).

So, to sum it up, the Broncos gave up QB Jay Cutler and WR Brandon Marshall along with the following players drafted with picks that were traded WR Johnny Knox, WR Mike Wallace, OT Kraig Urbik, S Earl Thomas, OT Anthony Davis, DE Brandon Graham, WR Dez Bryant, LB Sergio Kindle, TE Aaron Hernandez, TE Ed Dickson, and TE Dennis Pitta (obviously, there is no way they could have drafted all of these players, but these are the guys who were eventually drafted with picks that dealt in trades).

In return, the Broncos got QB Kyle Orton, DE Robert Ayers, TE Richard Quinn, OG Seth Olsen, CB Alphonso Smith, WR Demaryius Thomas, QB Tim Tebow, and a 2011 2nd round pick.

I think I would have rather taken the offensive lineman mentioned earlier or kept the two picks in the first round that the Broncos would have had if they hadn't done so much maneuvering. The players selected in those spots were OT Anthony Davis and S Earl Thomas. Only time will tell if they made the right moves.

The Marshall Plan?

2010-04-15T10:07:00.001-06:00

The Denver Broncos traded Pro Bowl wide receiver Brandon Marshall to the Miami Dolphins for second-round draft picks in 2010 and 2011. The Dolphins then signed Marshall to a four-year, $47.5 million contract extension that includes $24 million in guaranteed money, making him the highest paid wide receiver in the NFL.

This is good for Marshall, as I think that Marshall needed a change of scenery after the Darrent Williams murder. I think that there was just so much weight surrounding that whole incident that it drug Marshall down. Throw in his drunk driving and domestic violence arrests and his issues with Head Coach Josh McDaniels, and the situation had become toxic. He now gets a fresh start with a franchise that looks to be improving.

It is also great for the Dolphins, as they get someone who I consider one of the top five WRs in the NFL (the others are Larry Fitzgerald, Andre Johnson, Calvin Johnson, and Randy Moss). Marshall is coming off of three straight seasons with 100+ receptions and 1,000+ yards. The dolphins have a great offensive line and run offense, which could allow Marshall to receive single coverage. The rest of the time he will be in double coverage, opening up the field to allow for big runs or for speedster Ted Ginn to make plays downfield.

As a Broncos fan, I think this totally sucks. Yes, I just stated that the situation with Marshall had become toxic. This trade illuminates some of the issues with the Broncos organization.

I think the Cutler and Marshall trades set a bad precedent. If you are a rising star on the Broncos team and want a new contract, why wouldn't you start a controversy with Coach McDaniels? The Broncos immediately shipped off Cutler and Marshall who then signed huge contracts with their new franchises. McDaniels tried to paint them as selfish players who didn't embrace teamwork. But that didn't stop other teams from vying to trade for them. Professional sports are littered with selfish superstars, who likely have a better overall success rate than those who don't.

The Broncos got a lot in exchange for Cutler and Marshall, but I don't know if the Broncos are better with Kyle Orton, Robert Ayers, Alphonso Smith, two second round draft picks, and a third round pick that the Broncos packaged with their own third rounder in a trade with Pittsburgh to draft TE Richard Quinn and OG Seth Olsen. When the Broncos hired McDaniels, it looked as though only the defense needed improvement. The Broncos brought in defensive coordinator Mike Nolan and signed Pro Bowler Brian Dawkins. McDaniels has now chased off Mike Nolan, and I highly doubt that Dawkins would have signed with the Broncos was going to be in the rebuilding process. Now, if you are an opposing team, who on the Broncos offense scares you? Ryan Clady?

McDaniels is still trying to be Bill Belichick 2.0. He needs to realize that few coaches can be as controlling yet successful as Belichick (or his mentor Bill Parcells). He needs to create his own identity. McDaniels could pull it together and create a successful coaching and management style. Unfortunately, if history is to be acknowledged, one must realize that both Bill Belichick and Mike Shanahan were fired from their first head coaching jobs before reaching Super Bowl glory. That initial failure led them to make adjustments to their coaching styles.

Maybe the future performance of Cutler and Marshall will justify McDaniels's actions. Maybe the players received in exchange for them will turn into Pro Bowlers. Maybe McDaniels will become a successful head coach in Denver. I just don't know if Bronco Nation has the time and patience to wait it out.

Fish Tales

2010-04-05T17:52:00.005-06:00

A couple weeks ago I met up with some old friends in Colorado to do some flyfishing. We hit a river that is known for its large, but tricky to catch, fish. I gotta say it was one of the more fun and exciting trips we have taken. I caught a nice 22 inch rainbow that I was quite pleased with.

The fish that I caught was nice, but it didn't compare to this football of a fish that Buck caught.

And then Josset went and changed our entire perspective on what it is to catch a big fish. Using a 5 weight rod, 5x fluorocarbon tippet, and a size 22 disco midge, he caught the fish of a lifetime. He spent over fifteen minutes landing the rainbow trout (which took two nets). The river is catch and release, so he let it go. At least Urbach got some photos before Josset let it loose again for another angler to try and catch.

2010 Academy Award Predictions

2010-03-05T11:15:00.003-07:00

Update: Missed both of the screenplay awards.

Continuing my annual tradition, I thought I would share my predictions at the winners for the major awards.

Best Picture - The Hurt Locker
Best Director - Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker)
Best Actor - Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart)
Best Supporting Actor - Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds)
Best Actress - Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side)
Best Supporting Actress - Mo'Nique (Precious)
Best Original Screenplay - Inglourious Basterds
Best Adapted Screenplay - Up in the Air
Best Animated Film - Up

The pick that I am most uncertain about is best picture. Avatar could take it.

Still Awake

2010-02-16T13:57:00.001-07:00

I started this blog five years ago (shortly after the re-election of George W. Bush) due to my dismay regarding the lack of comprehension at what the Bush administration and congress were doing to our country. I felt that many people were completely switched off to what was happening. Thus, I named the blog, "Wide Awake in America". I felt that I was awake, worrying about things, while so many others were asleep. The title is also an homage to the EP Wide Awake in America by U2. No title could better sum the feelings I was having while also describing the content of the blog.

I decided that this blog would combine politics, sports, pop culture, and anything else that interested me. There is so much information out there these days, that I decided to filter through it to provide you, the reader, with items I thought were interesting, important, or entertaining. And, yes, I actually do have a few readers (I have a site traffic tracker). Although I have taken a hiatus from writing about politics, I am sure that I will return to that topic eventually.

Overall, I haven't written as much as I would have liked this past year, but with the birth of a child, "Wide Awake in America" took on a new meaning. Limited time has always affected both the volume of writing and the quality of the writing, but never so much as now. I often cringe at the poor grammar or incomplete ideas in my past posts. At least I can use the excuse of being an amateur.

Of course, it is quite vain of me to think that others would be interested in what I write, but at the very least, I have a record of my own thoughts that I can peruse to remind me of what I was thinking or doing during a certain point in time. I thank those of you who read this blog for your time and especially thank those of you who have left comments as it provides me with feedback if my posts are sound, off key, or actually interesting. I hope to continue updating this blog more in the future, but cannot make any guarantees as to the frequency of posts. Please continue to stop on by.

Best of 2009

2010-01-27T17:04:00.001-07:00

Yes, I realize that we are almost a month into 2010, and everyone else ran their Best of 2009 analyses in December, but I figured I should wait until the year is over to assess things and share my opinions. So here it is, my Best of '09 entertainment picks.

Movies

I managed to see five movies in the theater that were released in 2009. Not too bad, considering we just had a child last January. Gotta love when the grandparents come to visit and will babysit. Fortunately, none of the movies turned out to be a dud.

The animated movie Up by Pixar hits you with the following topics in the first twenty minutes: youthful ambition, love, commitment, miscarriage, aging, forgotten dreams, and death. Pretty heavy topics for a children's movie, but it handles this in a manner understandable and touching to both children and adults. And like all Pixar movies, Up reminds you of what the imagination is capable of creating.

The Hangover was hilarious. After watching it, I had an overwhelming urge to go to Vegas, and to call up all my dental friends and say, "Paging Dr. Faggot". One of the best comedies of the decade.

Up in the Air is the perfect movie for George Clooney. It is almost too easy of a role for him, but no one else could have played the role as well as he did. He excellently portrays the vulnerability of the lead after brilliantly portraying him as a indelicate, arrogant, and selfish individual.

I grew up watching Jeremy Brett's portrayal of Sherlock Holmes on PBS. This definitely wasn't the same Sherlock Holmes, but that doesn't mean necessarily mean it was worse. It sticks with the basis of Sherlock Holmes' methods - deductive reasoning, observation, and forensic skills, while updating the action to satisfy today's movie going public. A good popcorn flick.

My parents recommended that we go and see It's Complicated. I figured that is was meant for middle age woman, and I wasn't too far off based on the demographic at the theater. My wife and I were definitely the youngest there, and I was one of two men. But don't let that put you off the movie. It was pretty funny and much better that most chick flicks. Alec Baldwin, Meryl Streep, and Steve Martin all give outstanding performances.

Music

Every year, there are one or two albums that become my personal addictions. They typically take a few listens to grow on me, but then I have to stop myself from putting them on replay. This year, those two albums were No Line On the Horizon by U2 and xx by The xx. What? You aren't surprised that I picked No Line? Yes, my obsequious devotion to U2 may lead you to think that I cannot be impartial, but I truly think this is one of the best albums of the past decade. The tracks, Moment of Surrender and Breathe are amazing, and the album reveals itself with repeated listens.

The first time I listened to The xx, I wasn't all that impressed, and I actually forgot that I had bought the album after a couple weeks. I am so glad I gave it a second chance. The album is nuanced, delicate yet driving, and damn sexy. Romy Croft and Oliver Sims' vocals play off each other perfectly. An amazing debut album.

Other albums from '09 you may want to check out are Middle Cyclone by Neko Case, I and Love and You by The Avett Brothers, Wolfang Amadeus Phoenix by Phoenix, and White Lies for Dark Times by Ben Harper and the Relentless 7.

The best new TV show last year was Modern Family. It uses a faux documentary style, a la The Office, to tell the story of a multi cultural, multi sexual, modern day family. This isn't the Cleavers.

Books

The best book is the Book of Basketball by Bill Simmons aka The Sports Guy. If you like the NBA or reading The Sports Guy on ESPN.com, you will enjoy this book. Extremely in depth and entertaining analysis of the NBA's history and its players.

More Broomball Highlights

2010-01-20T21:34:00.002-07:00

I broke out the afro wig, but it was not the lucky charm like in kickball.

Football Must Reads

2010-01-15T08:50:00.001-07:00

Here are liks to a couple of articles that you might be interested in reading. The first is Malcolm Gladwell's article from the New Yorker about concussions and the NFL. The second is from GQ detailing Marvin Harrison's alledged shooting (and possible murder) incident.

Concussions

Harrison Shooting

Broomball!

2009-12-19T12:00:00.002-07:00

I am playing in a broomball league this winter. Here are high(low)lights from week one.

This league is done through Six Pack Sports, which also has inner tube water polo, pentath-a-lawn, flag football, and other sports.

Hottest Celebrities of the 00's

2009-11-06T10:55:00.002-07:00

At our Halloween party, we had quite an entertaining conversation about who were the hottest celebrities. It even got broken down into sub categories, such as natural hot, fake hot, and dirty hot. Thus, I thought this would be the best topic for the next two Best of the Decade Polls.

Best TV Drama of the 00's

2009-10-30T10:30:00.004-06:00

The fourth poll in the series.

Best TV Comedy of the 00's

2009-10-26T21:06:00.002-06:00

Poll number three about the best of the decade.

Best Movie of the 00's

2009-10-06T14:21:00.003-06:00

This is my second poll about the 00's. The first poll was for the best comedy, and some of those choices could arguably be considered for this poll, but I decided to separate out some of the comedies. Please vote.

Best of the 00's

2009-09-29T15:35:00.002-06:00

So, Bill Simmons at ESPN beat me to this one, but I decided to go ahead and do it anyway. Since we are at the end of the "00"s, I wanted to do some polls to gauge what my friends thought was the best over the past decade. So, here is the first poll.

What was the best comedy movie of the past decade?(opinion)

If you don't like the choices, feel free to add your choice as a comment.

Friday Videos

2009-09-25T09:37:00.002-06:00

Will Ferell and his crew at Funny or Die do a public service announcement for health insurance companies.

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

Comedian Louis CK (not safe for work)

O'Reilly Supports Public Option!?!

2009-09-18T09:59:00.002-06:00

Gosh, I wonder if his fellow Fox "News" colleagues will start calling him a socialist?

Yellowstone and the Tetons

2009-09-12T13:18:00.007-06:00

Sometimes you forget how big and beautiful a country we live in. I made my first trip to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons Nation Parks over Labor Day weekend. Here are some photos we took of the scenery.

Yellowstone River and Bison

Bison

Old Faithful

Tower Falls

Grand Tetons/Jackson Lake

Grand Tetons/Snake River

Grand Tetons

Obama to Speak to Our Children!

2009-09-08T09:32:00.001-06:00

President Barack Obama has prepared an internet video welcoming students back to school that stresses the importance of education, hard work, and personal responsibility. Ironically, some conservatives in the media are telling parents to keep their children from going to school as a protest against Obama's encouragement of students to stay in school and get a good education. They are espousing crazy conspiracy theories about Obama brainwashing children or creating a secret youth army. So, I decided to go read the speech to see what the conservatives were so scared about. After all, Obama certainly isn't the first president to address the students of our nation. Well, after reading it, I can only conclude that those opposed to the speech are either total nutjobs or they are so opposed to Obama that they will critcize anything he does, regardless of how good it is. You can read the transcript from the video here.

Health Care Reform Info

2009-08-21T16:05:00.001-06:00

For anyone out there who had been out of the loop on health care reform, here is a primer.

Americans spent over $2.5 trillion dollars on health care last year. In 2007, health care expenditures equated to over 16% of the GDP. France is the next highest at 11%, while Canada is 10.1% and Ireland is 7.6%. The average for modernized countries is 8.9%.¹

Over 45 million people in the U.S. under the age of 55 do not have health insurance. This includes 9 million children.²

Despite spending more on health care than any other country in the world, the United States ranks 50^th in life expectancy³ and 45^th in infant mortality rate⁴.

American families with insurance pay a hidden tax of roughly $1000 for the cost of caring for people without insurance.⁵ In 2008, the uninsured cost Americans $57.4 billion. Of this amount, 75% is paid by federal state, and local funds. The other 25% by private dollars.² We are currently paying for the uninsured via tax dollars or it is passed on to us in our health insurance premiums.

A recent study by Harvard University researchers found that 50 percent of all bankruptcy filings were partly the result of medical expenses. According to the study, the average out-of-pocket medical debt for those who filed for bankruptcy was $12,000. The study noted that 68 percent of those who filed for bankruptcy had health insurance.⁶

The Obama administration believes that health care reform should:

Reduce long-term growth of health care costs for businesses and government
Protect families from bankruptcy or debt because of health care costs
Guarantee choice of doctors and health plans
Invest in prevention and wellness
Improve patient safety and quality of care
Assure affordable, quality health coverage for all Americans
Maintain coverage when you change or lose your job
End barriers to coverage for people with pre-existing medical conditions⁷

President Obama has promoted the creation of a public plan as an option in addition to the current private plans available. Many of the uninsured would be covered by the public plan. This is not socialized medicine but actually encourages competition within the private health insurance cartel.

Many opponents of health care reform claim that the government will impose rationing of treatment. These people do not realize that rationing by the private health insurance companies already occurs.⁸ Denying care to individuals is fundamental to health insurance company profits. This denial includes current customers, as well as those seeking insurance. Health insurance companies deny or drop care for sick customers in order to turn a profit - customers who have paid them lots of money for their insurance products. This is a truly disgusting practice.

Opponents have also come up with the bizarre claim that the government is going to set up "Death Panels" that will euthanize Grandma and Grandpa. Rather, the House bill provides an option for voluntary advance care planning. This would allow elderly patients or terminally ill individuals to meet with health professionals and learn more about living wills, health care proxies, hospice care, and other forms of end-of-life planning. Advance care planning gives the patient control over end of life decisions and provides them with the information necessary to legally make these decisions. Both Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich have advanced the fallacy of death panels. This is truly hypocritical, as both endorsed end of life counseling prior to taking the partisan stance of opposing it.⁹

The battle over health care reform unfortunately is not about health care. Blue Dog Democrats are worried about losing campaign money from insurance companies. But mainly, it has turned into a purely partisan battle. The Republican Party believes that defeating health care reform is their best way to strike a blow to the Democrats and President Obama. They hope that by doing this, they will be able to claw their way back to prominence nationally. It is unfortunate that they feel they must use the health of the American people as a pawn in their political game.

1. http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/46/2/38980580.pdf

2. http://www.kff.org/uninsured/upload/7451-04.pdf

3. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2102rank.html

4. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2091rank.html

5. http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/faq

6. http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/reprint/hlthaff.w5.63v1

7. http://www.healthreform.gov/about/index.html

8.http://commerce.senate.gov/public/_files/PotterTestimonyConsumerHealthInsurance.pdf

9. http://thinkprogress.org/2009/08/13/palin-deathpanel-flipflop/

2009 Broncos Season

2009-08-05T10:31:00.001-06:00

I have been fairly critical of the Broncos this off season, and that has led some to think that I may be turning my back on the team. That couldn't be further from the truth, as I want the team to make it to the Superbowl every year. This year, my head says that they are going to finish 6-10, but my heart says 10-6. After focusing on many of the negatives over the past few months, I am going to focus on some of the positives.

Fresh Blood

The Broncos likely needed a new coaching staff, as players will eventually tune out a coach. You can only hear so many motivational halftime speeches from a coach before it becomes repetitive. Broncos management and head coach Josh McDaniels have brought in a crop of new talent, and hopefully, that will fix many of the deficiencies from last season.

Improved Secondary

Champ bailey will likely be the only remaining starter from last year's secondary. Although the lack of a pass rush is to blame for last year's problems with the secondary, it still needed to be revamped. The team brought in Safety Brian Dawkins for his leadership and experience. Check out this clip of Dawkins pumping up his teammates before a game. The Broncos also signed Miami teammates S Renaldo Hill and CB Andre' Goodman. As offensive coordinator for the Patriots, McDaniels had to face Hill and Goodman twice a year. I am guessing that he saw something in them over the past few years and Broncos received some underrated talent. The Broncos also drafted CB Alphonso Smith in the second round. If he is as good as the hype, he will provide additional talent for nickel situations. The biggest worry about the secondary is their age. The four starters will be the oldest secondary in the NFL in the last decade.

Solid Offensive Line

The Broncos offensive line was sweet last year, giving up only twelve sacks over the course of the season. After a full year together, hopefully, they will gel even more. Center Casey Wiegman made the Pro Bowl last year, and LT Ryan Clady had an amazing rookie year, giving up only half a sack. The Broncos also have one of the best blocking tight ends in Daniel Graham, so no wonder they gave up so few sacks last year.

Bounty of Offensive Weapons

The Broncos are stacked at wide receiver, with Brandon Marshall, Eddie Royal, and Brandon Stokely (assuming Marshall actually plays). I have also heard good reports from training camp about rookie WR Kenny McKinley, not that he is expected to make an immediate impact.

The running attack should be improved from last year. Injuries to the running corps were a key reason for the Broncos missing the playoffs. The Broncos added some veterans running backs, LaMont Jordan and Correll Buckhalter, and took the first running back, Knowshon Moreno, in the draft. Throw in Peyton Hillis and Ryan Torain from last year's squad, and you have a nice group of rushers. I just hope they can avoid last year's injury bug.

Areas of Concern

I still have no idea what the defensive line will look like, but in all honesty, they were so bad last year, that it won't be hard to improve. New defensive coordinator Mike Nolan is switching the d-line to a 3-4 formation, so it will take awhile to see how the old and new players fit with the new scheme.

That leaves the quarterback as the last major position that I haven't addressed. Projected starter Kyle Orton is often called a "game manager", which is sometimes a euphemism for a weak arm. We should expect Orton to do a good job of running the offense, but we shouldn't expect any amazing throws or deep bombs. There is a story from training camp that highlights this issue. Brandon Marshall was running a deep post route and was well ahead of Champ Bailey. Orton and everyone else watching saw this. Orton unleashed the ball and it floated and floated and floated. By the time it came down, Bailey had made up the lost ground and broke up the pass. In other words, if the Broncos have any huge passing plays, it is going to be up to the receivers to make yards after the catch.

Friday Videos

2009-07-24T09:46:00.002-06:00

Thanks to Buck for reminding me about this video.

Jon Stewart America's most trusted news source.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

The Born Identity

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

Joke of the Day

Reporting from Wasilla...

2009-07-14T13:58:00.002-06:00

My friend Allison is currently living in Wasilla, Alaska, the hometown of soon to be ex-Governor Sarah Palin. She has been taking advantage of her time up there catching king salmon, halibut, sockeye salmon, shrimp, and even an octopus. Between her fishing adventures, I asked Allison to provide me with some info on the state of things after Palin's resignation. Here is her humorous report.

So the riots have diminished and the upheaval has ebbed over the Sarah "the Quitter" Palin controversy. I personally got a big screen TV, an i-pod, and a "I survived the resignation of '09" t-shirt out of the whole ordeal. Honestly, folks here really aren't too concerned with this. I heard some old guy wearing Levis, an "Alaska Grown" t-shirt, and suspenders say, "it must be that Palin girl's time of the month". Swear to God.

In REAL news… last weekend's Moose Dropping Festival went to "shit"! This is basically the biggest summer event each year in the Mat-Su valley. Please read this article… or at least read the comments at the end. This is no joke. These folks really talk like this!

http://www.frontiersman.com/articles/2009/07/14/local_news/doc4a5c131c845db545098983.txt

(by the way, when is the last time you saw the word "mayhem" in print?)

So, between trying to keep up on the hourly changing fishing regulations, I'm also distancing myself from the inner-city Anchorage gangsta's and studying city code, making sure I abide by these 3 simple Wasilla ordinances.

1. No books.

2. No jumping.

3. All organized gatherings/group outings/social functions/meetings/festivals must center around some form of mammalian excretion.

Hey, at least the bars stay open 'till 5am!

-This is Allison reporting from the front lines in Wasilla "this aint no ghetto", Alaska.

Bottled Water News

2009-07-10T11:16:00.001-06:00

Continuing my discussion of tap vs. bottled water, here are two recent articles discussing the topic.

Stricter labeling urged for bottled water.

A town in Australia bans the sale of bottle water.

Podcasts

2009-06-18T09:57:00.003-06:00

I really wish that I had the time and technology to put together a podcast to accompany this blog. I would absolutely love to have some of my friends on as guests. I could talk to the Josser in Montana about flyfishing and politics, my friend Travis about U2, my old college buddy Buschy about crazy stuff, such as if he really did vote Libertarian or if he was fucking with me, or we could chat with Urbs about all things Urbach. No one else might be interested, but it would entertain the heck out of me. But, since my heroin and porn addiction takes too much of my time, I guess I will just share with you other people's podcasts that I enjoy. You can find all of these on iTunes, but I have also included links to their websites.

The Sports Guy Bill Simmons
Bill Simmons is a very entertaining sports writer, and he pulls some pretty interesting guests form the sports and entertainment industry for his show. Other than the excessive Boston coverage and Subway plugs, it is a really good podcast with interesting insights to the world of sports.

At the Movies with Peter Travers
Rolling Stone movie critic Peter Travers hosts a video podcast that covers the weekend's upcoming releases. He typically recommends one big budget and/or one indie movie to go see and tells you which movie to avoid like the plague. He is kind of a twat, but I typically like his reviews more than most critics.

Delta Park Gets Lost
Hosts Jason and Anna thoroughly analyze each episode and use audio clips from the shows to provide insights about everything Lost. They also are quite sarcastic and poke fun at many elements of the show.

The Adam Carolla Podcast
As expected, Adam Carolla's podcast is irreverent, crass, and full of f-bombs. Good stuff. He pulls some interesting guests from the entertainment industry and he likes to share his observations about topics such as wives treating their husbands like children or asshole neighbors.

Guitar Music Theory
After never playing an instrument for my entire life, I decided to take up the guitar a couple years ago. It is hard learning about the guitar without any visuals, but Desi Serna does a good job of explaining things. He also has videos on his website for beginners (which I am, but I like the podcast too).

Lost

2009-06-10T15:19:00.001-06:00

So, I finally watched the Season 5 finale for lost this week, and I decided to share some of my thoughts about the episode with any other Lost watchers out there. I hope if any of you do watch Lost that you will share your thoughts about the show and what I am about to write.

The episode starts off with a pretty good scene, in which we finally see Jacob and meet his nemesis on the island. They have the following conversation:

JACOB: I take it you're here 'cause of the ship.
NEMESIS: I am. How did they find the Island?
JACOB: You'll have to ask 'em when they get here.
NEMESIS: I don't have to ask. You brought them here. Still trying to prove me wrong, aren't you?
JACOB: You are wrong.
NEMESIS: Am I? They come. They fight. They destroy. They corrupt. It always ends the same.
JACOB: It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress.
NEMESIS: Do you have any idea how badly I wanna kill you?
JACOB: Yes.
NEMESIS: One of these days, sooner or later... I'm going to find a loophole, my friend.
JACOB: Well, when you do, I'll be right here.

This leads me to believe that these two individuals have special or godlike powers. As this past episode has been about "time travel", I wonder if these two individuals have essentially been playing the same chess game against each other, with the island as the game board and any occupants as the chess pieces. There are rules that must be followed, and it would appear that Jacob always wins, but his Nemesis is searching for the loophole that will result in a different ending. I believe that Jacob and the Nemesis represent free will and fate respectively.

Jacob also appears in flashbacks during the episode. He returns to the mainland and interacts with Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sayid, Locke, and Sun and Jin. In each of the scenes, he touches the characters. As we know that Jacob has special powers, I wonder if he is bestowing some special gift or power to each of the characters. Since he touches some characters before the crash of Oceanic Flight 815 and some after they left the island for the first time, I don't think that he was "selecting" them to come to the island. There must be a greater purpose for him touching them. When he visits Ilana in the Hospital, he does not touch her, but only asks for her help.

Returning to the activities of the Survivors, Locke has turned into a badass and leads The Others to go visit Jacob. He also tells Ben that they are going there to kill Jacob, and Ben is going to do it. Back in 1977, Jack and the other Survivors head to The Swan site to detonate a hydrogen bomb in hopes of preventing the crash of Oceanic Flight 815 twenty seven years later.

Locke and Ben visit Jacob in the foot of the statue of the Egyptian goddess Taweret. While they are inside, Ilana's crew shows up outside and they show Locke's body to Richard Alpert and The Others. Thus, we quickly realize that the Locke meeting with Jacob is not the true Locke, as Locke is actually dead (dead is dead).

We then return to the fake Locke, Ben, and Jacob, where Jacob immediately recognizes fake Locke as his Nemesis.

NEMESIS: Hello Jacob.
JACOB: Well you found your loophole.
NEMESIS: Indeed I did. And you have no idea what I've gone through to be here.

Ben ends up stabbing Jacob, and before the Nemesis kicks him into the fire, Jacob says, "They're coming."

Back in 1977, the Dharma Initiative taps into the electromagnetic energy pocket right as Jack is trying to set off the bomb. He throws the bomb in, but it does not detonate. Everything metallic starts to get sucked into the shaft, including Juliet, who gets some chains wrapped around her. Juliet is still alive after falling into the shaft and conveniently lands next to the bomb. She slams a rock into the bomb and the screens turns white.

Regarding Jacob's Nemesis, we learn that he can assume other people's identities, as he not only took Locke's form, but he also has his memories. I think that the Nemesis is also the smoke monster, or Smokey as I like to call him. When Eko was killed in season 3, he saw his brother Yemi right before Smokey killed him. During this scene, we learned that Smokey is able to read the thoughts and memories of people.

Other characters, specifically Christian and Alex, have also appeared after their deaths. I would like to note that The Others and the Dharma Initiative bury the dead as soon as possible after their deaths. I believe that the bodies of the characters that have appeared post mortem were not buried immediately. The appearances of Christian and Alex were very instrumental in helping the Nemesis find his loophole. For example, Christian told Locke that he must leave the island and that he would die in his quest to get the Oceanic Six to return. The death of Locke makes his "resurrection" all the more surprising after the Ajira Flight 316 crashes on the island. Ben then faces Smokey in the temple and is visited by Alex. Alex threatens Ben that she will destroy him if he doesn't follow Locke's command. The Nemesis was able to use its various manifestations of the dead to direct the course of events that culminate in the stabbing of Jacob by Ben.

After being rescued from the island, Jack, Hurley, and possibly Kate all had visions of the dead. Could it be that Smokey appeared to them off the island? Smokey seemed to be more bound to the island, so I wonder if Jacob, who we saw off the island in flashbacks, is also able to take form of others.

Heading back to 1977 and the hydrogen bomb detonation, I think that there must be a connection between that event and Jacob stating, "They're coming." That statement seemed to startle the Nemesis. Had Jacob made plans to counteract the loophole? If the hydrogen bomb worked as Daniel Faraday theorized, Oceanic Flight 815 should arrive safely in Los Angeles. Did Jacob touch the survivors to allow them to remember the events that would have never occurred and allow/encourage them to return and save him somehow? Or was the flash after the bomb exploded similar to when Desmond activated the fail safe mechanism to destroy The Swan station in Season 2? Desmond did not die, although all that remained of The Swan station was a huge crater. Desmond also had the ability to predict the future and had some odd time travel occurrences. Thus, did the bomb detonation send the 1977 survivors back to 2007? Or did Jacob's touching them give them some other form of protection?

The Season 5 finale left us with just as many, if not more, questions as past season endings. There are still loads of unanswered questions that hopefully will be addressed next season. Why doesn't Richard Alpert age? Why did Claire warn Kate not to bring Aaron back to the island? What else does Desmond have to do on the island? Why weren't women able to conceive children on the island after 1977 at the earliest? What is the deal with all of the Egyptian imagery? Who are Jacob and his nemesis? What is the significance of the Oceanic Flight 815 survivors? How is everything connected? When will we get to see Vincent's flashbacks? Is it all about quantum physics and electromagnetic energy? Are they in purgatory or trying to reach a higher spiritual plane? I could go on and on, but I guess I will just have to wait until next year. Feel free to leave your comments, theories, or any questions that you have about Lost in the comment section.

Friday Video

2009-05-29T08:46:00.002-06:00

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

M - Th 11p / 10c

American Idealogues

thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Economic Crisis

Political Humor

Friday Video

2009-05-22T10:49:00.002-06:00

Basketball Articles

2009-05-11T17:47:00.003-06:00

ESPN Outside the Lines just released a great article about Denver's own Chauncey Billups that I highly recommend reading.

The Disposable Superstar

It reminded me of another great article from the New York Times Magazine about Shane Battier, whom I loathed as a Duke player, but now really like and respect as a player.

The No-Stats All-Star

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-10T13:00:00.001-06:00

This is for all the mothers and motherlovers out there.

Huh? The Broncos 2009 Draft

2009-04-28T14:36:00.001-06:00

Oh, what to say about the Denver Broncos draft, other than it defied conventional wisdom. Any fan of the Denver Broncos could tell you that the front seven on defense was the team's biggest weakness. Special teams, the secondary, and running back were also areas of concern. New coach Josh McDaniels and new GM Brian Xanders spent part of the offseason shoring up the secondary and running back positions, signing one cornerback, two safeties, and three running backs to free agent contracts. The Broncos are also in the process of switching to a 3-4 defense, and thus, they are in need of players who fit this defensive scheme. So what did the Broncos do in the draft? They drafted a running back (Knowshon Moreno) with their first pick, drafted two safeties (Darcel McBath, David Burton), a cornerback (Alphonso Smith), and only drafted one defensive lineman (Robert Ayers). Of their ten picks, only four were for defense.

I love the selection of Knowshon Moreno, but just not for the Broncos at this time. Granted, consistency in the running game last year likely would have helped them to win at least one more game, saving Mike Shanahan's job. Still, I think that the defensive line was so weak that the Broncos really needed to focus on it. The Broncos ended up trading away one of their first round picks for 2010 for a cornerback in the second round, and I wonder why (maybe they tried) they didn't package it with the number 12 pick to move up in the first round to select BJ Raji, who went 10th to the Packers. The 3-4 defense is anchored by the nose tackle position, and Raji was the best prospect for that position. The Packers, who are also switching to a 3-4, realized this and grabbed Raji.

Alternately, the Broncos could have taken highly touted defensive end Brian Orakpo with the 12th pick and then selected either Ayers or Moreno with the 18th pick, as either player would have likely still been available at the 18th spot. The way the Broncos draft unfolded in the second round makes me wonder if they realized they were too timid in the first round and thus overcompensated in the second with some confounding moves.

In the second round, the Broncos traded one of their first round picks for 2010 to move up to the 37th spot to draft CB Alphonso Smith, even though he possibly would have been available at the 48th spot. The move also doesn't make much sense, when USC linebacker Ray Maualuga, who slipped from the first round, was still available. The Bengals selected Maualuga with the next pick. The other odd move by the Broncos was to trade their two third round picks (79 and 84) to Pittsburgh for their second round pick (64) and a fourth rounder (132) to select tight end Richard Quinn, a projected fourth rounder. When you already have one of the best blocking TEs in Daniel Graham and a solid catching TE in Tony Scheffler, why reach for a player who was not considered by anyone else to be a second round choice.

I do think that the Broncos got some quality players, who could have an impact in the next few years. Still, they are in desperate need of players who can stop the run and rush the passer. Former Coach Mike Shanahan stated in his final press conference for the Broncos that the "new coach would have to be crazy not to keep the people who made the offense happen". As a Broncos fan, I can only hope that Coach McDaniels is crazy like a fox and not crazy like Al Davis.

Luck of the Broncos

2009-04-03T09:50:00.003-06:00

I just realized how incredibly lucky the Broncos were with the Cutler trade. If you recall, this all started because the Broncos wanted to trade Cutler for Cassell in a three team deal. The Patriots ended up trading Cassell and Mike Vrabel to the Chiefs for a 2nd round pick. Then the whole soap opera started with the Broncos, and yesterday the Broncos announced that they traded Cutler to the Bears. They ended up getting two first round draft picks, a third round draft pick, and Kyle Orton. Josh McDaniels should be thanking his lucky stars. He went from screwing up the Cassell trade (who the Pats thought was worth a 2nd round pick and salary dump) to picking up a bunch of good draft picks and a QB who some people think isn't that much worse than Cassell. McDaniels' ineptitude at pulling off the initial trade actually paid off in the long run.

Cutler to Chicago

2009-04-02T18:52:00.004-06:00

The Broncos did a little better than I expected, getting two first round drafts picks and Kyle Orton in exchange for Cutler and a fifth round draft pick. I don't know if Chris Simms or Kyle Orton is answer for QB, so the Broncos might look to fill that position in the draft. Not the scenario that I would have hoped for the Broncos at the start of the offseason, but I guess at least it is settled.

Cutting Ties With Cutler?

2009-04-02T12:08:00.001-06:00

It looks as though the Broncos are actively trying to trade QB Jay Cutler now. Owner Pat Bowlen announced on Tuesday that the Broncos would, "begin discussions with other teams in an effort to accommodate his request to be traded." I am quite surprised that it actually came down to this, but I now realize why.

Pat Bowlen made the decision to hire Head Coach Josh McDaniels, and thus, he had to stand behind the man he hired. If Bowlen actively supported Cutler, he would have undermined McDaniels and showed that he doubted his decision to hire him. Cutler was essentially Shanahan's hire, and thus Bowlen is less inclined to back him. I am not saying this was the right decision, but basically the safe one for Bowlen. I still think he handled the situation extremely poorly, as I mentioned in my previous post.

I also don't agree with Bowlen's announcing that Cutler is on the trading block. He has in effect shown his hand and let the league know that the Broncos have to get rid of him. Bowlen won't be able to get as much value for him, as he would have if teams thought the Broncos still might keep him. Bowlen must now hope for a bidding war to get full value for Cutler (which they could have done previously).

It is not a big surprise to see so many teams reportedly interested in obtaining Cutler's services. Looking at the list of teams, I can see quite a few that would be attractive to Cutler, although he will have very little control over where he ends up. Here is a list of several teams that are supposedly interested in Cutler.

Detroit - Their QB situation is about as hopeless as last year's defeated team. Still, Calvin Johnson would be a great target for Cutler (and they share the same agent). Also, the Lions have changed their stance and now are open to trading the first pick in the draft for Cutler, although, that carries a huge salary that the Broncos may not want to take on.

Tampa Bay - Tampa was one of the original teams involved in a Cutler - Cassel - (insert team commodity) three way. Tampa desperately needs a QB, however, they do not have as much to offer as other teams.

Minnesota - This would seem to be one of the most likely places for Cutler to end up. The Vikings have NFL rushing leader Adrian Peterson, a solid offensive line, and a tough rushing defense. The weakest link on their playoff team last year was the QB position. The Vikings have reportedly said that they are happy with Tavaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels, but I find that hard to believe.

Washington - The Redskins weren't looking for QB during the off season, but with the latest news regarding Cutler, they have now entered the picture. With an owner like Dan Snyder, you can never count out the Redskins when a high profile free agent is available. Clinton Portis, Santana Moss, Antwaan Randle El, and Chris Cooley would be a decent group of skill players to join with Cutler.

Chicago - I can't remember the Bears having a decent QB in the last thirty years, other than maybe Jim McMahon, so it makes sense that they would be interested. The Bears don't have as much to offer as some other teams, so they will also have to be creative in putting together a package that would be attractive to the Broncos.

Cleveland - New coach Eric Mangini has no vested interest in Brady Quinn or Derek Anderson, and is holding an open competition between them. There has been talk of a direct deal involving Quinn and defensive tackle Shaun Rodgers or a three team deal that might send Derek Anderson and draft picks to the Broncos. Braylon Edwards name has also been tossed around in trade rumors. Cleveland seemingly has more to offer to the Broncos than other teams, so it wouldn't be a surprise if they were involved in a Cutler trade.

New York Jets - The Brett Favre era was short lived in New York, and QB is now one of their weakest areas. The Jets have let it be known that they are interested in trading for Cutler. Also, Cutler's agent was also Favre's agent.

Several other teams, including San Francisco, Jacksonville, and Tennessee have also been floated around as possible destinations for Cutler. I still find myself wondering why the Broncos are so eager to get rid of a player that so many other teams want. I know he pouts on the sidelines when the game is going poorly, but I always took that as a sign of competitiveness. Maybe there are more behind the scene (locker room) issues than I realize.

Cutler Quandary

2009-03-24T15:37:00.002-06:00

I am going to weigh in on the Jay Cutler issue. A part of me wants to say to Cutler, "Hey, this is professional sports, anyone can be traded, suck it up." However, a larger part puts all of the blame on the Broncos ownership and management.

According to NFL insider Mike Lombardi of the National Football Post, Denver was more involved in starting the trade talks than they have let on. The New England Patriots put the franchise tag on Matt Cassell to keep him on their roster and use him for a trade. The downside of the franchise tag is that it gives him a large cap number, so you can't get his full value. Still, it was better than letting him enter free agency and not getting anything for him. During the NFL combine, New England approached the Detroit Lions and Tampa Bay Bucs management regarding a trade for Matt Cassell. Neither team was interested at the time, however, shortly after this, both teams approached New England about a trade. New England realized that something else was going on, and word began to spread about Denver wanting Cassell.

Denver did not want to deal directly with New England, as they were in the process of signing two other New England players, a long snapper and third string receiver. New England ended up striking a deal with Kansas City that gave them a second round draft pick and freed up $14 million of cap space. If Denver Coach Josh McDaniels truly wanted to put his stamp on the Broncos by bringing in his former player, Cassell, he should have directly had talks with New England about a three team deal and not tried a backdoor method. It blew up in his face and amplified his inexperience. Listen to Bill Simmons' podcast with Mike Lombardi on 3/17 for more info on this.

Now, I still don't understand why McDaniels would bring in Cassell over Cutler. Yes, Cutler's record is only 0.500, but you can't put the blame on him for the Broncos' ineptitude the past two seasons. Cutler's record is 13-1 when the Broncos Defense held opponents to under 21 points (NFL average was 22 ppg last year). In 2008, he threw for 4,526 yards, 25 touchdowns, and 18 interceptions. The Broncos terrible defense and poor running attack were the downfall of last season. Still, I can only think of one time that Cutler blamed the defense or another player for a loss, and even that was indirectly.

After firing Mike Shanahan, Owner Pat Bowlen said, "I run the show." Then later, he said of Cutler, "Obviously, he is the man around here now." Well, obviously, that hasn't turned out to be the case. Bowlen screwed up in the first place by not hiring a GM first and then a coach second. This was the same problem with Shanahan, as Mike was a great coach, but a mediocre GM. Now, McDaniels has become the co-general manager. Bowlen should have fixed the biggest problem first and hired a GM.

Anyone agree or disagree?

Ski Helmets

2009-03-21T11:49:00.003-06:00

Actress Natasha Richardson, wife of Liam Neeson and daughter of Vanessa Redgrave, tragically died after a fall on the ski slopes of Mount Tremblant in Quebec. Although the fall was minor, she was not wearing a helmet, and the autopsy declared blunt trauma to the head as the cause of death. I wonder if this will be a tipping point for ski helmets. It often seems as though an incident involving a celebrity is needed to get mass publicity or interest in an issue. I can think of country music star Barbara Mandrell and seat belts in the 80s or Magic Johnson and HIV in the 90s as prior examples. I do not wear a helmet while skiing, but I think I will purchase one shortly. Here is a link to my friend Dr. John Hudson being interviewed on 9 News about ski helmets (video is on the right).

Daily Show Rips CNBC

2009-03-06T15:33:00.002-07:00

Jon Stewart is on fire, once again.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

CNBC Gives Financial Advice

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Joke of the Day

A Deal on the Horizon

2009-03-04T15:31:00.001-07:00

For those of you with iPod and digital music players, Amazon.com is selling U2's new album, No Line on the Horizon, for $3.99
Click here or try the link below

http://www.amazon.com/No-Line-On-The-Horizon/dp/B001S6HZTE/ref=dm_ap_alb1

Don't know how long the deal will last.

Obama Address to Congress

2009-02-27T09:05:00.005-07:00

Obama hit it out of the park during his address to Congress on Tuesday night. He returned to many of the goals and promises from his campaign, such as investment and responsibility. He stressed the need to invest in clean energy, education, and health care, and taking responsibility for ourselves and our fellow man.

I also really enjoyed the Republican response to Obama's address by Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal. It was so bad, conservative columnist David Brooks called is a "disaster" and "nihilism". Check out the video about comparisons of Jindal and Kenneth the Page from 30 Rock.

2009 Academy Awards Predictions

2009-02-22T11:06:00.003-07:00

Updated - eight out of nine (I should have listened to my gut on Sean Penn).

Once again, I thought I would put up a guess at the winners for the major awards.

Best Picture - Slumdog Millionaire
Best Director - Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire)
Best Actor - Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler) Sean Penn
Best Supporting Actor - Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)
Best Actress - Kate Winslett (The Reader)
Best Supporting Actress - Penelope Cruz (Vicky Christina Barcelona)
Best Original Screenplay - Milk
Best Adapted Screenplay - Slumdog Millionaire
Best Animated Film - WALL-E

The pick that I am most uncertain about is best actor. Sean Penn could take it.

No Line On the Horizon

2009-02-20T09:04:00.003-07:00

I just finished listening to U2's new album, No Line On the Horizon. Wow. Although I have only listened to it once, I think it might be their best album in the last 15 years. The songs are relatively complex and will likely take several listens to discern the different layers. The album covers a range of emotions, but there is an overriding sense of joy. I will try to write a more thorough review once I have had a few more listens and time to let the songs soak in. I know that I am hugely biased towards U2, but I highly recommend going out and buying it on March 3rd (US release). You won't be disappointed.

Understanding the Economic Crisis

2009-02-06T09:39:00.006-07:00

I have been meaning to write about the economic crisis, but I haven't had the time, until now. Here is a simplified summary of what happened to the global financial markets and the U.S. Government.

The current collapse on Wall Street and other financial markets began with the subprime mortgage crisis. The subprime mortgage crisis was like a snowball rolling down a hill that eventually picks up enough snow around it to form an avalanche. It exposed many weaknesses and deficiencies in the free market system.

The subprime mortgage crisis began when the rates on adjustable rate mortgages started to adjust. As the monthly payments increased, homeowners found that they could not pay their mortgages any longer and were faced with foreclosure.

Some of these loans, amazingly, didn't require either a down payment or for the applicants to provide proof of employment or assets. There was little incentive for the loan originators not to sell these loans to applicants, as they received their payment on the number of loans sold. Applicants were able to get into houses beyond their means for a temporary low monthly cost and briefly live the good life. So how did this effect the rest of the market?

The foreclosures should have been isolated to the housing market and not affected the global market. However, these individual mortgages were bundled together and sold as securities or bonds on the global market. Often times, the values of these securities were not properly assessed, as no one truly knew the value of mortgages or assets behind them. As foreclosures rose and housing values fell, the values of the securities plummeted.

The securities were improperly rated by the rating agencies, giving investors a false sense of security (pun intended). Many purchasers of the mortgage backed securities leveraged their investment by purchasing them with loans and thus exposing themselves to large losses when the securities underperformed. Lastly, investment firms tried to protect against their debt risk by utilizing credit default swaps.1

Credit default swaps are insurance-like contracts that promise to cover losses on certain securities in the event of a default. They typically apply to municipal bonds, corporate debt and mortgage securities and are sold by banks, hedge funds and others. The buyer of the credit default insurance pays premiums under the belief that that their losses will be covered if a default happens.2 The credit swaps market is not regulated, and these contracts were also sold or traded. When the economy was booming, banks and investors made a lot of money selling credit default swaps. However, in the end, these back-up protections were not adequately funded and were not financially viable during a big downturn in the overall market. The credit default swaps were unable to cover the losses of the securities.

This has led to an overall freeze in the world economy. No one is truly certain how much money people have lost and everyone is afraid to lend money, also referred to as a credit freeze. Thus, the economy slows even more, as companies are unable to gain the money needed to survive, and are forced to close, scale back operations, and/or layoff employees. Thus, we are now in the Great Recession.

Here are some articles that provide more information on the crisis, and use better terminology. A This American Life episode that does a good job of explaining it all. You can listen to it or download a transcript.
MIT article about quants and derivatives.
Time article about credit default swaps.2
A STATS article about understanding the crisis.1

So what about the U.S. government? We went from good (at the end of the Clinton administration) to pretty bad in just eight years. How did projected surpluses turn into huge deficits? The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities performed an analysis that shows that of the legislation enacted since 2001, 82% of the difference between the projected surplus and the actual deficit is due to tax cuts and defense and security increases. The Bush tax cuts greatly favored the wealthy and created the largest income inequality in the U.S. since right before the Great Depression. The wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other enhanced security measures have cost $864 billion according to the Congressional Research Service Report to Congress. Of that total, 76% is for Iraq, 20% for Afghanistan, 3% for enhanced security and 1% is unallocated.

Now, the solution for getting us out of the current recession and returning the U.S. to a sound financial position is an extremely complex and uncertain issue. For anyone who is interested, here are a couple of articles with different viewpoints (although both are from progressive media outlets) that I found very interesting.

Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman's letter to President Obama
Niall Ferguson article on HuffPost

What was Great in '08

2009-01-30T17:24:00.001-07:00

Hope. Pregnant wives. Kings of Leon. Kickball. Lost. Beck. The Dark Night and Heath Ledger. New career. The Black Keys. Cabo. Tina Fey as Sarah Palin. Dogs. The Sports Guy's podcast. TV on the Radio. The Daily Show. Fantasy Football. Mountain Sun Kind Ale. Gaslight Anthem. Shamwow commercials. Paul Krugman. Green energy. Subarus. Santogold. Friends and Family. Change.

Leave a comment with what you thought was great in '08.

Friday Video

2009-01-23T11:11:00.002-07:00

Inauguration and Address

The 44th President of the United States of America

2009-01-20T10:55:00.001-07:00

It is a wondrous day. A day filled with the hope and promise of a new chapter in the history of this great country. The vast sea of people gathered together on the National Mall in Washington D.C. filled my heart with joy. It is a message to the world that we, the people, have chosen a new direction and abandoned the leadership and policy of the past 8 years. We have chosen a new course that represents the masses and not the few. A return of humility, compassion, and strong intellect to the oval office. The challenges facing the Obama administration are greater than any other president in my lifetime. But I have faith that President Barack Obama is the right person for the job. God bless President Barrack Obama and God bless America!

Friday Video

2009-01-17T12:19:00.000-07:00

Nappien - Simpson's Ambien Parody

Skier Hangs By The Seat of His Pants

2009-01-07T20:42:00.000-07:00

Link 1
Link 2

Slurry Spills

2009-01-02T16:27:00.005-07:00

Recently, there was a huge coal ash slurry spill that occurred in Tennessee, causing extensive environmental damage to the region. The Tennessee Valley Authority coal ash spill reminded me of the Martin County coal slurry spill that I worked on in Kentucky for my previous employer. While looking for more information regarding the TVA spill, I ran across an article that actually referenced the MC coal slurry spill.

The MC spill, which occurred on October 11, 2000, was remarkable not just for its magnitude, but also for the lack of coverage by the media. Hopefully, there will be more exposure of the TVA spill, as it has has been estimated at over one billion gallons, compared with 300 million gallons for the MC spill (for reference, the Exxon Valdez spill was 10-12 million gallons). I thought that this would be a good time to write about my experience with the Martin County coal slurry spill.

The coal slurry was stored in a 70 acre impoundment at the top of the mountain, above the mine. The bottom of the impoundment collapsed into the mine workings, filling the mine with slurry. The slurry then spilled out of two of the mine adits on opposite sides of the mountain and headed down Wolf Creek and Coldwater Creek. It is a small miracle that no one was inside the mine when the collapse occurred. Thanks to the sludge entering two drainages, the houses next to the creeks were not washed away and no one was killed. Additionally, when driving on the road along Coldwater Creek, the sludge left a "high water" line indicating that the sludge was much higher than the roadway. Fortunately, no one was driving on the road when the spill occurred.

The slurry filled the beds and covered the banks of the creeks, finally making its way to the Big Sandy River. Over 100 miles of waterway were affected. Fish and other aquatic insects and species were killed immediately, and other wildlife got stuck in the sludge or were unable to drink from the creeks. The creeks, which were already affected by the mining in the area, were completely decimated.

Coal slurry consists of solid and liquid waste and is a by-product of coal mining and the coal handling processes. When it dried on the banks of the creeks, it became solid and rubbery, reminiscent of asphalt. In the creek, it remained watery, and if you hit a pocket of it while walking in the creek bed, you would immediately drop to the bottom of the bed. There were a few times that I dropped below the top of my hip waders.

A local construction crew utilized track hoes, bulldozers, and front end loaders to remove as much of the slurry as possible. The company that I worked for was hired to rebuild the stream channels. We installed coconut fiber coir logs, laid erosion control fabric, planted willow cuttings, sprayed mulch, and installed silt fences along stretches of the creeks that were damaged during cleanup and needed stabilized to prevent further erosion.

My main responsibility was to perform construction oversight. A local company was hired to perform the work, and they were a very interesting and entertaining bunch to work alongside. This is one of the poorest areas of the country. In 2000, the median household income in the county was $18,279 (compared with $41,990 for the US). The majority of people who live in the area were employed directly or indirectly by Massey Energy, which owned and operated the mine.

It was during the middle of the summer, and the conditions were suffocatingly hot and humid. Growing up in Colorado, I had never experienced humidity such as that. Still, the workers never complained as they were simply happy to be working "above ground". A job with the coal company typically meant working a night shift or a ten to twelve hour day shift. During the winter it was often dark when they went in the mine and dark when they came out. These guys were just happy for a relatively decent paying job that allowed them to work outside in the sun.

After work, the guys would park their cars at the car wash in Kermit, WV and drink beers or moonshine. Other highlights included ridge riding, eating hillbilly pickle, chasing girls, and throwing bottles at street signs. One of the guys regaled stories of escaping from the cops in car chases, Dukes of Hazard style. He would evade them by driving down windy, bumpy backroads, and a couple of times even drove straight down the middle of the creek.

During my work on the project, I would cover many miles of the creeks by car, four wheeler, or foot. You never knew what to expect when from one day to the next. You had to always be on the lookout for copperhead snakes, timber rattlers, thick spiderwebs with large spiders, and mean dogs. And the property owners were just as scary sometimes. The work crew was chased off of a few properties by gun toting residents who were protecting their marijuana plants or moonshine stills. Also, on one occasion, I heard water pouring into the creek downstream for about 10 seconds. When I went to investigate, I realized that their toilet flushed directly to the creek.

It was saddening to see just how poorly the Wolf and Clearwater Creeks had been treated. The slurry spill obviously destroyed them, but they weren't in the best of condition before the spill. Several old timers told me stories about growing up in the area. The creeks had rock bottoms, and they would regularly go fishing and swimming in the creeks. Now the streambeds were filled with silt deposited from the upstream coal mining operations, changing the water quality completely. The water was muddier, the swimming and fishing holes filled up with silt, and they didn't see nearly as much wildlife in and around the creeks as when they were young.

I had a chance to go up to the headwaters of Wolf Creek and witness how beautiful the creeks could be. The crystal clear water was only a few inches deep and a couple feet wide. It flowed directly over bedrock and was bounded by lush green grass, moss, and other plants. It was completely unrecognizable from the creek a mile or two downstream.

The company that I worked for lost their contract due to political reasons, and I didn't get to see the final results. Fortunately, this area was one of the greenest, lushest, and most fertile areas that I have visited. I am quite certain that nature will recover from the disaster in the long run, although the continuing degradation of the creeks due to human activity will make it unlikely that the creeks will ever return to their pristine condition. For more on the Martin County Coal Slurry Spill read this article.

Friday Video

2009-01-02T12:58:00.000-07:00

Friday Video

2008-12-19T09:33:00.002-07:00

Economic Crisis Falsehoods

2008-12-12T16:35:00.003-07:00

In my previous post, I was going to expose many of the lies and falsehoods about the economic and automotive crises that have been reported in the media. In my research, I came across an article by Media Matters that does a much better job than I could. Click here.

Auto Bailout

2008-12-12T16:09:00.003-07:00

I am thoroughly disgusted with the hypocrisy of the Senate Republicans. Last night, they blocked $14 billion dollars of assistance to the Big Three auto companies, because there weren't enough wage and benefit concessions from the autoworkers. This coming from many of the same senators who voted for the $700 billion dollar bailout for the banking industry. A bailout that has little oversight and does not include any wage concessions for banking CEOs or employees.

The labor cost for a new car averages 10% of the vehicle cost (click on the link to also find out why the $73 an hour claim is misleading). Even if the labor costs were cut in half, that would only result a decrease of $1,500 on a $30,000 vehicle. It is the poor vision and leadership of the management of the auto companies that have led us to this situation - not the workers. The Republicans are simply trying to destroy the United Auto Workers Union.

I am not too pleased with Democrats in Congress either. They didn't fight for enough oversight with the $700 billion bailout of the banking sector. The Bush Administration is controlling the distribution of the funds. The same inept administration that has screwed up so many other facets of our country's government.

Friday Video

2008-12-12T16:08:00.000-07:00

Update

2008-12-10T09:41:00.001-07:00

The few of you who are still checking this blog have likely noticed that I haven't written too much recently. After writing so many election posts, I felt like I needed a break. I am also having a hard time remembering what I used to write about before the election. I seem to recall the topics mainly involving the incompetency of the Bush administration, music, pop culture, the occasional personal story, and the incompetency of the Bush administration. Also, life has been super hectic and this blog has been pushed to the back burner. I am going to try to write more soon. Thanks for your patience.

Friday Video

2008-12-05T15:52:00.001-07:00

My mother always warned to check the water before diving in. Crazy Russian.

Friday Video

2008-11-28T11:43:00.001-07:00

See more Will Ferrell videos at Funny or Die

Friday Videos

2008-11-21T10:22:00.002-07:00

This reminds me of waking up in the summer with a bowl of Lucky Charms and Richard Dawson hosting the Family Feud.

On oldie, but goodie from Bill O'Reilly. Warning: Offensive Language

Godwin's Law

2008-11-14T08:19:00.003-07:00

Godwin's Law states, "As an online discussion continues, the probability of a reference or comparison to Hitler or to Nazis approaches 1." Mike Godwin created the law, as he felt that the overuse of Hitler and the Nazis in discussions demeaned the impact of what actually happened in the Holocaust. This law has been used with online discussions to end threads. If someone brings up Hitler or the Nazis, he or she "loses" the argument.

I really like the concept of this law, as people too often throw out Nazis in an argument to attempt to prove their point. Often, it is a sign of laziness or intellectual deficiency. The person isn't able to assemble his or her thoughts and arguments in a clear and cogent manner, and fall back on Hitler or the Nazis to defend their point. This typically illustrates that the person has a poor understanding of either the historical significance of Nazism or the point that he or she is arguing.

During the recent election, TV and radio show host Rachel Maddow, proposed a corollary to Godwin's law that states, "As the time a liberal candidate is believed to be winning an election or argument increases, the probability that they will be labeled communist or socialist approaches 1." I have been quite amused at how often I have heard President-elect Barack Obama called a communist, socialist, and even a Nazi. If you truly think about the irony behind this, it makes you chuckle.

Friday Videos

2008-11-14T00:31:00.001-07:00

Friday Videos

2008-11-07T08:07:00.000-07:00

Yes, We Did

2008-11-04T22:24:00.002-07:00

To quote President-elect Barack Obama, "Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington – it began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston. It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give five dollars and ten dollars and twenty dollars to this cause. It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation’s apathy; who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep; from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers; from the millions of Americans who volunteered, and organized, and proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this Earth. This is your victory."

A Vote for Obama

2008-10-31T09:23:00.004-06:00

Barack Obama represents the promise of the United States of America and the belief that Americans can do anything. He has the empathy to understand the condition and plight of others. He is calm, collected, and methodical in his decision making. And he has the leadership to guide our country on a better path. Watching him during this campaign has reminded me of the power of the human spirit. Not just his actions, but those of his supporters. A belief in the good of this country, the strength of its people, and the promising ideals that the U.S.A. represents. My parents immigrated to the U.S. in 1974, the year before I was born. I am the first U.S. citizen in my family, and I strongly believe in this country. My child, who is due in January, will be a second generation American. Everything that I do now and in the future will be for him. I want this country to allow him the opportunities that it has provided for my parents, for my brother, and for me. It is for his future that I voted for Barack Obama.

Friday Videos

2008-10-31T09:04:00.004-06:00

Ben Harper at Obama Voter Rally

2008-10-28T21:12:00.001-06:00

This article was written by a friend of mine, Joel Burns.

Ben Harper, Zach Braff Rally for Obama, Promote Voting Early at CU Campus in Boulder
Musician Ben Harper and wife/actress Laura Dern joined actor Zach Braff at Mary Rippon Theatre at the CU-Boulder campus to encourage Coloradans to vote early - and to vote for Barrack Obama.
View more »

Quick News Update

2008-10-26T21:29:00.005-06:00

Late last week, I heard the story about the woman in Pennsylvania who was supposedly robbed by a black man, and then assaulted when he found out that she was a McCain supporter. I could not believe the story and thought that it must be a racially motivated hoax. Well, turns out that it was a hoax, and the woman is being held in jail for a mental health evaluation and for filing a false police report.

Also, the largest newspaper in Alaska has endorsed Barack Obama for president.

Q&A #3: Covering the Colorado Ballot

2008-10-24T09:39:00.006-06:00

Here is the third of my responses to election questions posted by readers.

Can you go over all of the items on the Colorado ballot to help us sort through everything? - Kevin

When I first started voting, I realized that I didn't understand the difference between constitutional and statutory amendments. Constitutional amendments go directly into the Colorado Constitution and include detailed provisions that cannot be changed without another election. Statutory initiatives preserve the citizens' right to initiate laws, while giving the legislature flexibility to react when laws require clarification or when problems or unforeseen circumstances arise1. Another thing to understand is that a "No" vote means that you are sticking with the way things are currently set up (No means status quo). Thus, I typically only vote for a constitutional amendment if I truly feel that it is necessary. For most of the amendments on the Colorado ballot this year, I am planning to vote No. Here is an analysis of the statewide ballot.

46: Discrimination and Preferential Treatment by Governments
No
This amendment would eliminate affirmative action by any agency of the state or local government including college admissions. Hate to say it, but discrimination against women and minorities still exists. This is also a constitutional amendment. If it was a statutory amendment, it might be better, as it would allow the legislature to make modifications to the law to provide for needed exceptions. This is also being pushed by Californian Ward Connerly. I think the guy should stick to his own state and stay out of our politics. Quick question. Who has benefited the most from affirmative action since its inception? Answer: white woman. Ladies, you may want to think about future generations of woman and vote "No" for this one.

47: Prohibition on Mandatory Labor Union Membership and Dues
No
Another constitutional amendment. I am pretty much pro-worker, so I am voting against this and the other anti-labor amendments. Colorado has had a pretty good relationship between business and labor over the past 125 years. Why change things in favor of corporate interests? Also, Jake Jabs supports this amendment. He pretty much wants to avoid fair payment and benefits for his employees. If Jake Jabs supports it, vote against it. Check out here to see the diverse (liberal and conservative) groups that are opposed to Amendments 47, 49, and 54.

48: Definition of Person
No
The basic premise of this amendment is to make the new definition of "person" in the state of Colorado start at the moment of fertilization. This constitutional amendment is really vague in its wording. It could prohibit medical care, such as birth control (i.e. methods that prevent implantation of the egg in the uterus), chemotherapy, tubal pregnancies care, and infertility treatments, as medical professionals could be prosecuted for murder or manslaughter. This could cause huge issues related to in vitro fertilization techniques, and I don't have any comprehension about how miscarriages could be considered by the law.

49: Allowable Government Paycheck Deductions
No
This constitutional amendment interferes with public employees ability to make individual choices about paycheck deductions. Although amendments 47, 49, and 54 are supposedly pro-business, you might find it interesting that campaign finance records show donations were received from the Colorado Bankers Association, Western Plains Capital, ProLogis, Vail Resorts, 4334 LLC, Xcel Energy, and Wal-Mart (yup, you read that right) to fight these amendments. Also, see 47 link above.

50: Limited Gaming in Central City, Blackhawk, and Cripple Creek
I don't care
If you like to gamble, vote for this one. If you think that gambling brings to many ills to society, vote against it.

51: State Sales Tax Increase for Services for People with Developmental Disabilities.
I don't know yet.
This is a statutory amendment. I feel like an asshole for not supporting this, as I feel like I am neglecting people in need. However, I don't know if this is the right method for obtaining this funding.

52: Use of Severance Tax Revenue for Highways
No
I work in the water industry, but even if I didn't, I still would be opposed to this constitutional amendment. Amendment 52 diverts money that would help meet Colorado's rapidly growing water demand and maintain its aging water supply system. Half of the money shifted to highway projects under this measure would be available under current law to provide loans and grants for water projects, water conservation, and other programs. A recent study indicated that current and planned water supply projects are likely to meet about 80 percent of the estimated new demand between 2004 and 2030. By shifting over $100 million in the next four years from water projects to transportation projects, Amendment 52 hurts the state's ability to meet long-term water supply needs. It also takes $29 million away from programs such as wildlife conservation, soil conservation, bark beetle control, low-income energy, and zebra mussel control. I hate the congestion on I-70 just
as much as the rest of you, but this amendment actually doesn't guarantee the money will go towards the I-70 ski corridor. I don't think that highway spending should trump all these other needs. Let's allow the legislature to allocate additional funding for I-70 and other transportation projects (or obtain the funding from Amendment 58).

54: Campaign Contributions From Certain Government Contractors
No
Why only certain government contractors and why not all, if you really feel adamant about this constitutional amendment? This amendment would unfairly silence any person, or family member of anyone, who works on a government contract from contributing to a candidate and/or advocating for an issue at any level. Loopholes are built in to this amendment so that the laws will not apply to large corporations such as defense contractors and drug, oil, or energy companies. This constitutional amendment could make it impossible for candidates to raise money through grass roots fundraising for fear of receiving a contribution from someone involved in a government contract. Let us take a hypothetical scenario. I am a part owner of a small environmental firm. I win a bid from the state for a $105,000 mine remediation contract. Under this amendment, neither my wife nor I would be allowed to give a contribution to any political candidate or issue.

58: Severance taxes on the oil and natural gas industry
Yes
This is a constitutional amendment that I can support. As you can probably guess, the oil and gas industry has been pumping millions of dollars into defeating 58. This initiative will eliminate a severance tax credit that was granted to the oil and gas industry back when gas prices were very low. The increased revenue will primarily be directed to college scholarships for Colorado residents attending state colleges and universities - as well as the preservation of native wildlife habitat, enhancements in renewable energy and energy efficiency, transportation projects in counties and municipalities impacted by the severance of oil and gas, and community drinking water and wastewater treatment grants. For comparison, the severance taxes in Colorado are lower than they are in Wyoming. The oil industry isn't going to be hurting because of this.

59: Eduction funding and TABOR Rebates
Yes
Douglas Bruce is opposed to this one, so I am going to vote for it! This amendment creates a savings account for public education. It dedicates a permanent source of funding to public education, preserves the right of citizens to vote on taxes, and untangles the fiscal knot in Colorado's constitution, as TABOR limits spending growth while Amendment 23 requires spending increases in education. This amendment does not increase taxes, but places money collected above the spending limits of TABOR to be used for education (essentially this takes over for Ref. C, which is due to end in a couple of years).

Referendums
L: Qualifications for serving in the State Legislature
Yes
I don't see why a person age 21 or higher should not have the opportunity to run for office in the state legislature.

M: Obsolete Constitutional Provision Relating to Land Value Increases
Yes
This removes an obsolete provision from the constitution.

N: Obsolete Constitutional Provision Relating to Alcohol Beverages
Yes
This removes an obsolete provision from the constitution.

O: Citizen-Initiated Laws
Yes
This makes it a little tougher to get a constitutional amendment put on the ballot and a little easier for a statutory amendment. Just looking at the number of constitutional amendments this year, and you realize that it isn't all that tricky to do.

Remember - a No vote means status quo, Yes means that you really want to change something, and abstaining from voting means you are leaving it up to others to decide.

Colorado Ballot Information Booklet

Friday Videos

2008-10-24T09:02:00.004-06:00

Saw a great show by Kings of Leon last night. Here is a live clip of them playing their new single "Sex is on Fire."

Q&A #2: Obama the most liberal foreign senator?

2008-10-20T16:13:00.002-06:00

Here is the second of my responses to election questions posted by readers.

Some whack job that I work with said that Obama was the most liberal senator and that he was born in Kenya. I know this is BS, but you can you write something about these false allegations? - Anonymous

I will start by answering the question related to citizenship. Barack was born in the State of Hawaii, which is part of the United States of America. Some bloggers tried to claim that his birth certificate was fake, but his birth certificate has been examined by factcheck.org and confirmed to be legitimate. This false allegation is just another smear designed to divert attention away from the issues and raise doubts about Obama. In truth, John McCain is the one who was born in a foreign country. Still, I think that McCain should be considered a natural born citizen, as he was born on a U.S. military base.

Now let's answer the other part of your question. I too have heard conservative pundits and republicans refer to Obama as the most liberal Senator. They often cite a flawed rating conducted by the National Journal as evidence. The National Journal's 2007 Vote Ratings, based its rankings not on all votes cast by senators in 2007, but on "99 key Senate votes" (out of 442 total votes). However, a study by political science professors Keith Poole and Jeff Lewis, using every non-unanimous vote cast in the Senate in 2007 to determine relative ideology, placed Obama in a tie for the ranking of 10th most liberal senator. Senator McCain was the 8th most conservative according to their study. For further information, I will refer you to Politifact.com for their report on this topic.

Friday Video

2008-10-17T08:34:00.003-06:00

This video was shown at the DNC on the jumbotrons in Mile High Stadium.

This is a great video and has excellent backing music. The song is an instrumental version of "Fake Empire" by The National. I would recommend that any of you that like independent music buy their album "The Boxer". Last year, I wrote about this album; "Singer Matt Berninger's baritone provides a melancholy mood, and adds additional depth to the complexity of the songs, which feature subtle layers of horns, strings, and piano. The songs are well crafted, revealing a band that is extremely comfortable with their craft and knows exactly the sound they want to create. A very rewarding album." I still agree with what I wrote, except I now find the album to be more uplifting. It is one of those great albums that really pays off after you listen to it for a few times, as it may take some of you a while to get used to Matt Berninger's baritone voice.

Q&A #1: What is the deal with ACORN?

2008-10-16T20:59:00.007-06:00

This is the first in hopefully a series of responses to election questions posted by readers.

What is the deal with this ACORN thing that Fox and Limbaugh are pushing? - Axel F

Let's start with answering, what is ACORN?
The Asssociation of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, is an organization that performs voter registration drives in low income and minority communities. They have registered over 1.3 million voters nationwide for the upcoming election. However, In some cases, registrations obtained may contain false information provided by those being registered or false registrations provided by part-time employees trying to pad their hours with fake or duplicate cards.

What does ACORN do with false registrations?
ACORN has a Quality Control staff which calls the person listed on every card to verify information. ACORN alerts election officials whenever its Quality Control staff find a card that appears to be a duplicate or problematic. In most states, the law requires that every signed card be turned into election officials, even if it is fake or incomplete. ACORN flags those cards. In the relatively few cases where some canvassers have turned in bad voter registration cards, the employees are fired and the employee's name is turned over to state election officials for possible prosecution. These cases appear to be workers trying to get paid for doing work they didn’t do.

What is Obama's connection?
IN 1995, Obama was part of a team of lawyers seeking to force the State of Illinois to implement the National Voter Law of 1993. In the lawsuit, ACORN, the United States of America (the Department of Justice), the League of Women Voters of Illinois, and the League of United Latin American Citizens were named as plaintiffs, and the decision identifies Obama as counsel representing ACORN and others. The plaintiffs won the lawsuit. Additionally, the Obama campaign has hired Citizens Services Inc. in the past, a consulting firm that subcontracts some voter registration work to ACORN.

Why is Fox and Limbaugh trying to make a big deal out of this?
I am not fully certain as to why conservatives are trying to implicate Obama in some "scandal" with ACORN, but I will hazard a guess. Low income voters and minorities are believed to typically vote Democratic. Thus, the Republican party would like to purge the voter registrations obtained by ACORN. It is a form of voter suppression. If they can make Obama look guilty of misconduct in the process, all the better for them.

Is this voter fraud?
No. This is voter registration fraud. Voter fraud is extremely rare, and in the few cases that it has been found, it involved people who were directly involved with the election and polling places. So, what is voter registration fraud? One example that I heard someone give on the radio was for a person who filled out a registration form as Mickey Mouse. If this person was to vote using that registration, they would have to show up at the polling place with a valid form of government identification with the name Mickey Mouse. For those of you in Colorado, here is a list of the forms of ID accepted for voting by mail or in person.

Axel F, I hope that provides the information you wanted about Acorn. Feel free to ask more questions.

Q&A Time

2008-10-14T15:58:00.001-06:00

If anyone has any questions about the upcoming elections, I would like to offer the chance for you to ask your question here. For example, you may want to know a candidate's position on energy, if something in a political commercial is accurate, or my analysis on an amendment on the ballot (Colorado only). You can leave a comment with your question, and I will try to provide a timely and informative response. As always, the comment can be left anonymous. Also, if anyone has any additional information or opposing views, that person can leave their comment on the post. The only thing more important than voting is being an informed voter.

DNC Footage

2008-10-10T15:55:00.002-06:00

Here is some "behind the scenes" video from the DNC in Denver. The bit about Obama's daughter and the Jonas brothers is pretty funny.

Note: Michelle Obama's brother, Craig Robinson, is the head coach of the Oregon State University basketball team. He is referring to basketball shots.

Health Care

2008-10-09T08:44:00.005-06:00

Health care is a big issue this election. Like Barack Obama, I believe that believe that every American has the right to affordable health care. We have amazing doctors and health care professionals in this country. Unfortunately, the health insurance system is broken and we need new solutions to improve it. I have tried to figure out John McCain's health plan, but frankly, it has left me scratching my head. I cannot see the benefit to the consumer. Economist Paul Krugman, who is the 2008 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economics, wrote an op-ed piece for the New York Times this week that does a better job explaining McCain's plan than I can. I recommend reading it here.

I definitely disagree with McCain's plan to deregulate the health insurance. This would allow health insurance companies to relocate to a state that is more favorable to them and less favorable to the consumer. Different states have different regulations, because we, as voters, have either voted directly for these protections or have elected legislators who have enacted these regulations. Deregulating the industry will take away our protections and will make it more difficult for many people, especially those with pre-existing conditions, to obtain adequate health coverage.

I will direct you to Barack Obama's web page that discusses his health care plan. To dispel any falsehoods you may have heard, Obama's plan is not socialized health care. As his website states: On health care reform, the American people are too often offered two extremes - government-run health care with higher taxes or letting the insurance companies operate without rules. Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe both of these extremes are wrong, and that's why they've proposed a plan that strengthens employer coverage, makes insurance companies accountable and ensures patient choice of doctor and care without government interference. The Obama-Biden plan provides affordable, accessible health care for all Americans, builds on the existing health care system, and uses existing providers, doctors and plans to implement the plan. Under the Obama-Biden plan, patients will be able to make health care decisions with their doctors, instead of being blocked by insurance company bureaucrats.

A good friend of mine, who is a highly respected surgeon in Denver, also has serious reservations about McCain's plans for health care. He recently wrote to me stating "I will say our health care system cannot take the potential onslaught of the McCain ticket." I couldn't have said it any better.

McCain Campaign Turns More Negative

2008-10-08T09:13:00.002-06:00

With the election slipping out of control, the McCain campaign has decided to make more personal attacks and smears against Barack Obama. Some of these tactics are simple, such as calling your opponent the opposite of the popular opinion. After the two debates, many have commented how presidential Obama appeared. Thus, the McCain camp runs an ad stating that Obama isn't presidential. Ooo, that is real "gotcha" campaigning.

Another method is to take a quote from your opponent and excerpt a portion of it to provide a false or misleading claim. The McCain camp is running an ad that has Obama saying that US troops are, "just air-raiding villages and killing civilians." The whole quote is; "We've got to get the job done there and that requires us to have enough troops so that we're not just air-raiding villages and killing civilians, which is causing enormous problems there." Unfortunately, there have been a large number of innocent civilians killed in Afghanistan. The Associated Press ran a fact check and also noted that US led coalition forces have regrettably killed more civilians than the militants, although militants have been known to use the disgusting and reprehensible tactic of using civilians as shields. Obama's comment intended to say that we need additional troops in Afghanistan to more effectively fight the Taliban and Al-Qaeda and prevent the deaths of innocent civilians. Collateral damage is one of the many tragedies of war. More troops and fewer air raids would likely decrease the number of civilian casualties. The deaths of innocent civilians makes it more difficult for the US to gain the support and trust of the Afghan people.

The McCain campaign has also run personal attacks against Obama this week. For example, they have decided to re-hash the issue of former-Weatherman Bill Ayers. McCain has unleashed Palin and is having her do his dirty work on the campaign trail. In a speech, Palin claimed that Obama "is someone who sees America as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists who targeted their own country." She even referred to an article in the New York Times that discusses Obama and Ayers. I guess she must not have read the article, as it states, "the two men do not appear to have been close. Nor has Mr. Obama ever expressed sympathy for the radical views and actions of Mr. Ayers, whom he has called 'somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago, when I was 8.' Read the entire article here.

The McCain camp has realized that it cannot run on the issues, and thus must try to attack the character of Obama. Their desperate tactic often ignores the truth and will likely backfire on them. As the public learns the truth about the claims, they lose more trust in him. Additionally, McCain has many skeletons in his closet that the Obama campaign can bring out if they are pushed too far.

Who Doesn't Support the Troops?

2008-10-04T14:15:00.006-06:00

The McCain campaign has been running an ad that says that Barack Obama is against the troops and voted against funding for the troops. Well, nothing could be further from the truth, and by this logic you could also claim that McCain is against the troops. Here are the details behind who voted "against the troops."

On March 27, 2009, John McCain voted against a bill, H.R. 1591, that would have funded the troops. It was an emergency spending bill that would have funded the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and would have provided additional funds to the Department of Veterans Affairs. The Senate passed H.R. 1591 by a margin of 51-47, and once the bill's conference report was agreed to by the House, the Senate again passed the measure on April 26, 2007, by a vote of 51-46. McCain did not vote on that version of the bill (McCain often abstains from voting against bills as a political move to protect himself from criticism). President Bush vetoed the bill, citing its provision for a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.[1]

The bill for emergency funding returned to congress as H.R. 2206 and did not include the provision for a timetable (which would have been set by the President). Barack Obama voted against this bill on May 24, 2007, as it did not contain the timetable. This was the only time that Obama voted against a bill with funding for the troops.

In summary, McCain and Obama voted differently on the bills due to their stance on a timetable for withdrawing troops from Iraq and giving control of the country to the Iraqi government. I don't think it would be fair to either candidate to say that they are against the troops.

Register to Vote!

2008-10-04T11:28:00.002-06:00

The deadline to register to vote in most states is October 6th. Click here or here to register, check registration status, or find out where your polling place is located.

The Daily Show Clip

2008-10-01T23:37:00.001-06:00

Another must-watch-clip from John Stewart.

Take the Money and Tube

2008-09-30T21:17:00.003-06:00

As my friend Alex said, this may beat tube to work day.

MONROE, Wash. -- Police here say a man who robbed an armored car driver at a bank Tuesday morning jumped into the Skykomish River on an inner tube to get away. Officers are searching the water and riverbank, and a Sheriff helicopter was circling the area, but so far there's no sign of the man. Police spokeswoman Debbie Willis said the man robbed an armored car driver at the Bank of America branch at 19917 Old Owen Road about 11 a.m. Mitch Ruth, who works across the street from the bank, said the robber sprayed the armored car driver with pepper spray and wrestled a bag of money away from the driver. The robber was wearing a surgical mask and wig, said Ruth, who tried to chase the man down but lost him in the woods. "He was a lot faster than I was," Ruth said. Willis said an inner tube was recovered in the area. Investigators believe accomplices could have picked the robber up at a nearby boat launch or park.

$700 Billion in Corporate Welfare

2008-09-25T16:42:00.003-06:00

The Bush Administration has asked Congress to give it a check for $700 million dollars to bailout various financial institutions that are in crisis due to poor decision making and lack of regulatory oversight. The administration has tried to fast track this bill, but fortunately, it looks as though Congress isn't going to rush into a rash decision. Part of the original bill given to Congress even included a section that states: "Decisions by the Secretary [of the Treasury] pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency." That is simply unacceptable. Based on the past track record of the Bush Administration, I have little faith in them handling this crisis properly.

Barack Obama gave a press conference to discuss the financial crisis that can be viewed here. Earlier in the week, Obama released a Statement of Principles for the Treasury Proposal. The statement includes the following stipulations for the proposal:

• No blank check. If we grant the Treasury broad authority to address the immediate crisis, we must insist on independent accountability and oversight. Given the breach of trust we have seen and the magnitude of the taxpayer money involved, there can be no blank check.

• Rescue requires mutual responsibility. As taxpayers are asked to take extraordinary steps to protect our financial system, it is only appropriate to expect those institutions that benefit to help protect American homeowners and the American economy. We cannot underwrite continued irresponsibility, where CEOs cash in and our regulators look the other way. We cannot abet and reward the unconscionable practices that triggered this crisis. We have to end them.

• Taxpayers should be protected. This should not be a handout to Wall Street. It should be structured in a way that maximizes the ability of taxpayers to recoup their investment. Going forward, we need to make sure that the institutions that benefit from financial insurance also bear the cost of that insurance.

• Help homeowners stay in their homes. This crisis started with homeowners and they bear the brunt of the nearly unprecedented collapse in housing prices. We cannot have a plan for Wall Street banks that does not help homeowners stay in their homes and help distressed communities.

• A global response. As I said on Friday, this is a global financial crisis and it requires a global solution. The United States must lead, but we must also insist that other nations, who have a huge stake in the outcome, join us in helping to secure the financial markets.

• Main Street, not just Wall Street. The American people need to know that we feel as great a sense of urgency about the emergency on Main Street as we do the emergency on Wall Street. That is why I call on Senator McCain, President Bush, Republicans and Democrats to join me in supporting an emergency economic plan for working families – a plan that would help folks cope with rising gas and food prices, save one million jobs through rebuilding our schools and roads, help states and cities avoid painful budget cuts and tax increases, help homeowners stay in their homes, and provide retooling assistance to help ensure that the fuel-efficient cars of the future are built in America.

• Build a regulatory structure for the 21st Century. While there is not time in a week to remake our regulatory structure to prevent abuses in the future, we should commit ourselves to the kind of reforms I have been advocating for several years. We need new rules of the road for the 21st Century economy, together with the means and willingness to enforce them.

Obama has not been reactionary in handling this crisis, but has been speaking about it for quite some time. He has attempted to pass legislation and spoken about it at various times on the campaign trail. You can read the transcripts of a speech he gave in March here. I find that his vision and ideas for helping to solve the financial crisis are strikingly different from John McCain. It is so hard to understand where John McCain stands these days, as his stance on issues is constantly changing. Don't forget that on September 15th, the day that the stock market suffered its greatest loss since the week after 9-11, he stated that the economy is fundamentally sound. Now, he finally says it is in a crisis. But if you review his history, you will understand a great deal more about McCain's economic past. McCain has been a supporter of deregulation that led to the Savings and Loan Scandal of the 80's, the Enron scandal, and now this one. Read this blog post, as it quickly summarizes McCain's past related to these scandals. I truly find it hard to believe anything that he is saying these days.

Now don't misinterpret me. We don't need heavy handed regulatory oversight, but we do at least need some. Many supporters of a free market society believe that the invisible hand of capitalism will cause the market to correct itself. Well, obviously that isn't the case, as the current "free market" Administration is now proposing a huge welfare check for Wall Street. Sensible regulations and oversight are needed to prevent crises such as this, which was a direct result of deregulation and greed.