Regarding Michael

As everyone with a pulse knows, Michael Jackson died yesterday from what appears to be cardiac arrest. It's a strange thing - I've never once thought of Jackson as someone I'd call a favorite artist - in fact, not even close - but his impact is undeniable. As many, many folks have said, his passing is akin to Elvis or John Lennon dying.

That's a hard thing for some folks to digest, because in the last 20 years, he's been nothing but a joke, often a sick one. I have a hard time ignoring all the claims - many of which seem justified - of what newscasters seem to be calling "inappropriate" behavior with children. I can't just shelve that, and it's hard to also ignore the fact that he was trying to get away from himself - his race, his sex, his appearance - through crazy surgeries that not only made him look unlike himself, but weird and alien.

Still, there's no denying his talent, his impact on music and the world, and his presence and impact deserves all the respect it is getting. Like I said, if I made a list of my favorite musicians, it would have to be a LONG list before Jackson made an appearance, but I can probably sing along verbatim with 20 of his songs, and even enjoy it. "Thriller" remains the greatest video of all time, and even if someone tries to top it, the sheer impact of Thriller can't be topped; it defined, in many ways, a new medium.

Plus, what other artist could inspire this? Sure, I can't see it ever happening at San Quentin (this is in the Phillipines), but it's still pretty awesome.



Andrew Sullivan, normally writing exclusively about politics, wrote this yesterday and I think it's relatively spot on:

Watching him change his race, his age, and almost his gender, you saw a tortured soul seeking what the rest of us take for granted: a normal life.

But he had no compass to find one; no real friends to support and advise him; and money and fame imprisoned him in the delusions of narcissism and self-indulgence. Of course, he bears responsibility for his bizarre life. But the damage done to him by his own family and then by all those motivated more by money and power than by faith and love was irreparable in the end. He died a while ago. He remained for so long a walking human shell.

I loved his music. His young voice was almost a miracle, his poise in retrospect eery, his joy, tempered by pain, often unbearably uplifting. He made the greatest music video of all time; and he made some of the greatest records of all time. He was everything our culture worships; and yet he was obviously desperately unhappy, tortured, afraid and alone.

I grieve for him; but I also grieve for the culture that created and destroyed him. That culture is ours' and it is a lethal and brutal one: with fame and celebrity as its core values, with money as its sole motive, it chewed this child up and spat him out.

I hope he has the peace now he never had in his life. And I pray that such genius will not be so abused again.

When someone dies, they say Rest In Peace. Perhaps Michael Jackson will finally find that.

GOP Sex Scandal Flow Chart

It's hard to keep track of them, so Talking Points Memo has done the hard work for you!




Note: This is only valid for sex scandals from 2006-2009.

Google Continues World Domination.

In the book biz, things are definitely changing, and Google Books just announced that it will let you embed a preview of qualifying books (a lot don't apply, but more do than you'd think). It's a YouTube approach and if it's anywhere near as viral, it's got the potential to change the game. You be the judge if it's a good changer or a bad one.

Here, for instance, is a preview from an Edgar Allen Poe book of stories:




Certainly interesting, that's for sure.

Second Quote of the Day

I really thought that the quote from President Obama below would take the cake, but Time writer Joe Klein deserves some kudos for this one:

"To put it as simply as possible, McCain--and his cohorts--are trying to score political points against the President in the midst of an international crisis. It is the sort of behavior that Republicans routinely call "unpatriotic" when Democrats are doing it.

I would never question John McCain's patriotism, no matter how misguided his sense of the country's best interests sometimes seems. His behavior has nothing to do with love of country; it has everything to do with love of self."

I mean, goddamn.

The Right Response

This, courtesy of Kevin Drum (but I've seen it many times already elsewhere): When President Obama was asked why he won't spell out the consequences of further violence in Iran right now:

"I know everybody here is on a 24-hour news cycle. I'm not. OK?"

Good for him.

As noted before, this picture says it all:



FYI, this answers the hopefully rhetorical question of, "Would you react the same way if George Bush had responded similarly?" (Answering the rhetorical question anyway, the answer is, "Hell no. Cause no one once thought to make a photo of Bush like the above, for obvious reasons."

President Obama On Iran

While I know that folks like Dick Cheney and Bill Kristol would love to use the crisis in Iran as an excuse to drop some more bombs and spread "peace," it seems that President Obama has taken the right approach and is again, with his words today, right on point in terms of the escalating violence and appalling behavior of the 'government' of Iran:

The Iranian government must understand that the world is watching. We mourn each and every innocent life that is lost. We call on the Iranian government to stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people. The universal rights to assembly and free speech must be respected, and the United States stands with all who seek to exercise those rights.

As I said in Cairo, suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away. The Iranian people will ultimately judge the actions of their own government. If the Iranian government seeks the respect of the international community, it must respect the dignity of its own people and govern through consent, not coercion.

Martin Luther King once said - "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." I believe that. The international community believes that. And right now, we are bearing witness to the Iranian peoples' belief in that truth, and we will continue to bear witness.

One of the saddest things I can remember is that when George W. Bush ran against Gore, his supporters - thinking of the scandals of the Clinton administration - said things to the effect of, "Now we'll have grownups back in the White House." That didn't turn out so well. If you want to know what a leader says and sounds like, read the above quote again.

I am fearful that things are really not going in the right direction in Iran, but cool heads in some way must prevail.

As the President says (emphasized above by myself), 'suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away.'

That's something we can all do well to remember.

Trash Talk Training Camp

Is there such a thing? Are there classes professional athletes can go to so that they can work on their trash talk?

If so, it's possible that Titans RB LenDale White - known as much for his belly as his on-field success - could enroll.

The backstory - after the Steelers won the Super Bowl, somebody sent the Titans locker room a Terrible Towel with the inscription: "The Steelers Nation would like to present you with our new Terrible Towel. Hang this up in your locker room. Sincerely, the Black and Gold. P.S. Hope you enjoyed the Super Bowl."

This was in response to White and Titans LB Keith Bulluck stomping on the towel on the sidelines during a regular season game where they beat the Steelers.

Bulluck has said this motivated him, but that he wouldn't repeat his antics on the sidelines.

White, on the other hand, had this to say:

"I'm a professional towel stomper," White said. "My nickname is LenDale 'The Towel Stomping' White. I've seen the big Ben Roethlisberger sandwich on TV. So if anybody wants to freeze it and send one over, I'll be more than happy to eat it.

Yeah, that needs some work, LenDale.

But, on the other hand, I am indeed ready for some football!

That's Gotta Hurt

As has been documented on this blog frequently, I'm a huge fan of Survivor. It's probably one of my top five shows ever. And, as also noted, I've long thought 'reality TV' shows would be better if Jeff Probst was forced to host each and every single one of them.

But I have never had a moment of inclination to want to BE on the show. I have friends who have applied, and a friend of a friend of mine was actually on it once. Sending in an application tape, waiting in line at a casting call - all that is fine if you want to do it.

But this guy -- wow. Not only did 26-year-old Greg Insco walk 2,000 miles to prove a point nobody cared about, he got shown the door upon applying.

"I'm the guy that walked across America and had my dreams killed," he said. "The producer said I would get eaten alive. I said, 'By who? Ronald McDonald?' If being too nice doesn't get you on a TV show, that's crooked isn't it? Should I just be a jerk?"

My guess? Nice had nothing to do with it. The show consistently does cast people who aren't good at strategy, and some last and some don't. If he looked like a model, this would have worked. Also, I suspect he failed the 'crazy' test -- one thing you NEVER see on the show is someone who is actually, genuinely even a bit crazy. Weird, to be sure. Socially awkward, definitely. But someone who is willing to do this I bet raised a few alarm bells at Central Casting.

Next time, Greg? Just send in a DVD.

On Iran

I don't pretend to know more about the issue than anyone else, and indeed I know far, far less. But here are a few good posts about what Obama should or shouldn't be doing.

The first is from Curtis Edmonds, someone far to the right politically, pointing out that many of his conservative brethren have it exactly wrong when they are encouraging President Obama to insert himself into the Iranian Election process.

Obama is President, and he is doing absolutely the right thing - the only thing he can do, which is to keep his big fat mouth shut. (Anyone who doesn’t think that’s the best strategy in most instances has never been married.)

Next up is The Anonymous Liberal, who points out that the new meme, that Reagan inserted himself with Poland in the 1980s - is entirely irrelevant:

The last thing Mousavi and his supporters want is for the President of the United States to express his solidarity with their cause. That would play right in to Ahmadinejad's hands.

Just about everyone in the world understands this basic reality except American conservatives. At first I thought they were just feigning ignorance and using the situation to try to score cheap political points. I'm sure that's true of many of them. But there are a number of them--and I would put Ed [Morrissey] in this category--who appear genuinely oblivious to the basic diplomatic realities of the world.

Last but far from least is Joe Klein, commenting on recent Presidential candidate John Sidney McCain, who just can't help himself when it comes to trying to meddle with Iran and pretend that his voice is on par with the guy who, you know, actually won the election. Says Klein:

For two years now, John McCain has been entirely consistent on Iran: every last statement he's made--at least, those that I've seen--has been (a) fabulously uninformed and (b) dangerously bellicose. He's still at it, apparently. There is no question that President Obama's more prudent path is the correct one right now. There is also no question that the neoconservatives are trying to gin up this situation into an excuse for not engaging with the Iranian government in the near future--and also as a rationale for their dearest, looniest dream, war with Iran.

Emphasis mine.

Go read them all, why doncha.

Megan Fox Should Be Regulated

I found the first Transformers movie pretty unbearable, made less so slightly by the shockingly hot Megan Fox, shown just below in her most memorable moment from the film:



I honestly can't remember much of her acting as there wasn't much in the film in general (zing!), but every time I log on, I find myself inundated with visual evidence that she's always looking really, almost impossibly hot.





But now, during the press tour for the Transformers 2 film, she shows up dressed like this - seriously, is this even legal?



What's truly admirable about this photo (aside from, cough, the obvious) is that Fox isn't just showing off her assets, she's doing so in a dress that makes nerds like me think of Princess Leia. That's just using your dome.

It's Freakout Time, Version 3038320

Another famous, supposedly "good guy" baseball player has been busted for steroids.

Yep, this time it's Sammy Sosa which should come as a surprise to just about nobody who has ever paid attention to the game. In fact, when folks started pointing fingers at Barry Bonds, talking about the remarkable transformation his body and game had made, I was confused as to why NOBODY wanted to point out the same thing about Sosa.

A discussion on this, why and if it should matter, and a truly disturbing photo of Mr. Sosa follows the jump.


If you've read a whit of this blog, you should know that I find the steroids story completely boring. It's no longer really a story as much as it is a continuing conversation. Moreso, as a Giants fan, I'm still ticked that there was so much of an overt attempt to paint Bonds as "the bad apple" of steroids when it was painfully obvious that this was a huge widespread problems.

The two guys I thought avoided any scrutiny but deserved it? Roger Clemens and Sosa. Clemens has literally had his day in court, and I am quite happy about that. Now, it's Sammy's time.

Let's take a look at his early career, shall we?


Sosa first hit 33 HR with the White Sox and Cubs ... in THREE SEASONS. At the same time, he stole 60 bases. (This was from 1990-1992.) Sosa was, at the time, a speed guy with a little bit of pop.

He then developed more power - which in and of itself is neither aberrant or cause for suspicion. He turned into a guy who generally hit about 30-35 HR, once notching 40 in a season. Dude was a power hitter for sure.

And then...kaboom. From 1998 - 2001, he hit 66, 63, 49 and 64 HR and I'm frankly suprised he didn't ever hit the field with a syringe stuck in his ass. When folks pointed fingers at Bonds for an abnormal leap in power, it seemed VERY suprising that nobody wanted to talk about Sosa. When his power started sapping in 2004, he got caught using a corked bat - and still, everyone wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. Can anyone reasonably pretend Bonds would have gotten the same break? Of course not.

Why? Because Sosa was great with the fans, and more importantly, great with the PRESS.

It's true in politics, it's true in sports - it's a massive failure of our media. If they believe something to be true - whether Sammy Sosa is "a good guy" and Bonds an evil one, or John McCain is a "maverick" and Barack Obama is "out of touch" - or, should you prefer, that Obama is godlike and Republicans are all evil - that's the story. You have to be able to read between the lines and make decisions for yourselves.

It's never a GOOD day when you realize that somewhere, a kid's hero has become yet another poster child for cheating. But them's the facts. And more and more, folks will realize that history will prove that those who weren't willing to sacrifice their bodies for statistics and the subsequent paychecks were the exception, not the rule. Pointing fingers at any one player with the hopes that they'll be the end of the story is a fool's errand.



What's more - check out THIS picture and realize just how truly icky Sosa has gotten in later years. Wow. Maybe there are steroids in his hair gel?

An Update From Governor Palin

This, apparently, from Governor Palin's 'interview' with Sean Hannity:

What's more than I thought would be is, we're hearing a lot of good rhetoric. A lot of this is wrapped in good rhetoric, but we're not seeing those actions, and this many months into the new administration, quite disappointed, quite frustrated with not seeing those actions to rein in spending, slow down the growth of government. Instead, China's the complete opposite. It's expanding at such a large degree that if Americans aren't paying attention, unfortunately, our country could evolve into something that we do not even recognize, certainly that is so far from what the founders of our country had in mind for us.

Does it even matter what the question was? There really should be someone, somewhere, telling her to THINK BEFORE SHE SPEAKS. She literally makes no sense.

On the other hand, as Kevin Drum says:

I very sincerely hope that she stays on the public stage as a face of the Republican Party for a very, very long time.

So, scratch that, Govnuh. Don't let ANYONE tell you what to say!

Added Benefit

There are a lot of good reasons to go to the gym, of course. But one that doesn't automatically factor into my calculus is that each elliptical trainer, treadmill, etc., has its own TV. This helps me, even though I listen to music, as I can watch the Giants, or whatever sports program is being aired.

Others watch what they choose. And though I can't hear the audio for any of those sets, it's also pretty obvious what's going on.

And the lesson - which of course, I didn't need to 'learn' - is that America may have no bigger idiot than Sean Hannity. Rush Limbaugh may have more listeners, Ann Coulter may say far more egregious things, and Glenn Beck's IQ is probably actually lower than Hannity's, but there's no bigger doofus, no larger hypocrite with as wide an audience as Sean Hannity.

I will add this - I can't really watch MSBNBC either, for as much as I love Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann, there's no pretense that it's unfiltered 'news' -- and that bias gets a bit burdensome. But at least they're pretty open about it. (And for those who criticize MSNBC, I will say that they give a Republican (Joe Scarborough) three HOURS in the morning. No liberal gets their own show on Fox, let alone the entire morning.) From what I can tell, Hannity still pretends - or heaven forbid, actually believes - that he's telling the truth, the unbiased, unfiltered facts. And nothing could be more wrong.

Except Sean Hannity, and the people who watch and listen to him.

The Mighty Heroes

Memories are interesting -- especially those of childhood. For instance, I used to say to folks, "Remember that cartoon, the one with the baby superhero?" And they'd offer up a few possible answers, none of which were right. And a Google search didn't yield much more information. But for some reason, I persisted and finally found what I was looking for.

The Mighty Heroes.

Do you remember it? It also featured Cuckooman, Strongman, Ropeman and Tornado Man? If you are unsure, just click below to see the opening segment from a favorite cartoon I managed not to forget about.

In all of its glory, here is the Mighty Heroes:



Man, I love the internet.

In Which Paul Auster Becomes A Children's Author

Yes, the same Paul Auster. And the best part? He didn't even know about it.

A funny thing happened during Granta’s B.E.A. panel on the state of American writing on Friday, when a woman from the audience asked Paul Auster whether it was his idea to turn Timbuktu, a novella he published in 1999, into a children’s book.

For a moment, Mr. Auster looked at the questioner blankly. “But it’s not a children’s book,” he said.

To read about this bizarre story - which is as much of a commentary about how ridiculous the publishing industry seems to be these days, click the link below to read more.


Here are some more details from this odd story:

The woman insisted that she knew what she was talking about—that the book she was referring to was an adaptation, published with full illustrations and packaged as a kids’ book. Mr. Auster said it was the first he'd ever heard of such a thing.

...

At that point, Picador publicist James Meader, who works on Mr. Auster's paperbacks, submitted in a somewhat sheepish tone that he had a copy of the book in his office, and would send one to him directly. Soon someone in the audience had Googled the book on her iPhone, and raised her hand to share her findings. "It has a gray fluffy dog on the cover looking over its shoulder," she reported.

Had Picador published a Paul Auster book without telling him or paying for the privilege? That’s kind of what it seemed like!

...

"It’s kind of a macabre idea for a children’s book," Mr. Meader said, "Because as you may know, the dog does commit suicide at the end."

In an interview today, Ms. Mann said she had gotten in touch with Minedition and that contracts and copies of the book—which is distributed by Penguin in the USA—are on their way to Ms. Mann’s office. Turns out a computer crash was to blame!

Emphasis in the above is mine.

I'm a little less charitable, and wonder how it's possible a computer crash could be to blame; how did this actually get published before any contracts were signed? Regardless, there are probably a lot of German kids reading this and wondering what the heck kind of story their parents wanted them to read.

(For what it's worth, Timbuktu is a favorite of many Auster fans, but one of my least favorite.)

A Quote That Can Stand By Itself

Here's a quote for you on Friday morning:

"It all really is so backwards and skewed as to sound like absolute nonsense when some of this economic policy is explained."

Doesn't make a lot of sense does it? Is it clever irony to talk about 'nonsense' in a non-sensical way, or just the garbled thick tongued rant of a moron?

You decide!

And who said this particular gem of brilliance?


Yep, that's former Vice Presidential nominee and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin for ya.


Every now and again, I realize there are millions of people who wanted her to be one heartbeat away from the Presidency and it gives me the chills.

OK, I'm not going to let it stand by itself because courtesy of Andrew Sullivan, I just saw the following which highlights the hypocrisy of politicians like Palin who think they just have to say they're fiscal conservatives to make it true:


Ya betcha.

Microsoft, Home of the Zune

I just love that this is how Seth Godin refers to Microsoft, a company clearly home to many other actually successful products. But his point is, as usual, exceptional:

Microsoft, home of the Zune, has just announced that they're going to launch Bing, a rebranding and reformatting of their search engine. So far, they've earmarked $100 million just for the marketing.

Bing, of course, stands for But It's Not Google. The problem, as far as I can tell, is that it is trying to be the next Google. And the challenge for Microsoft is that there already is a next Google. It's called Google.

Google is not seen as broken by many people, and a hundred million dollars trying to persuade us that it is, is money poorly spent. In times of change, the rule is this:

Don't try to be the 'next'. Instead, try to be the other, the changer, the new.

...

With $100 million, you could build (or even buy) something remarkable. Something that spread online without benefit of a lot of yelling and shouting. Something that changes the game in a fundamental way. The internet works best when you build a network, not when you buy a brand. In fact, I can't think of one successful online brand that was built with cash.

To which I can merely respond ... yep. Sounds about right.

Wow.

There is part of me that finds this story fascinating, and impressive - it's about a woman who is engaged who is not just a virgin, she's never KISSED a guy. Including her fiancee.

Rachel Welch says she decided at the age of 14 that she wasn't going to kiss any guy until she was married.

...

The 21-year-old says she and her fiancé show their affection by rubbing noses and giving hugs.

Kudos to her for keeping to this, and to her fiancee for being that understanding. Most folks wouldn't be into 'eskimo kisses' as the only means of affection until that wedding night.

The snarky liberal elitist in me wants to judge, but truly, nobody gets hurt by this and it's a nice demonstration of willpower and faith.

The a-hole in me thinks that she probably would still be single and lonely living out this plan if she wasn't, by all appearances, a pretty attractive blonde.

And the rest of me wonders how stuff like this makes headlines all over the place while Dick Cheney goes around to any open microphone telling lies that he's never challenged on.

A Chart I Didn't Want To See

I logged into my Schwab account and noticed that in the new layout, they also include your retirement account (I used to work there and still have my 401-K from that job in a Schwab account.)

The following was the chart I regrettably chose to look at, showing my performance over the last two plus years.

I've chopped off the actual numbers, but I think we can all agree that this isn't exactly what you look for when it comes to investment direction:

The New Face of Morons

Caution: As Joaquin Phoenix told Nic Cage in "8MM" -- there are some things you can't unsee. Watch these two blazer wearing fools rap rhymes about conservative love...



I really, really want to be pwned on this one, to find out it's all a satire, but I just can't believe it. I do love that their 'voice' of female conservative reason is Fox anchor Megyn Kelly. You couldn't find one rational conservative female politician?


Hmmm...