Quote of the Muthaf*cking Day

"The Indians had a liberal immigration policy, and look what happened to them."

- Pat Buchanan, as a joke, talking about why the U.S. needs to control Mexican immigration

Amazing

You have to watch the clip attached to this story. This cat should have been in Jet Li's Fearless, though I'm shocked his helmet throw was so inaccurate given his ever-so-perfect jump.

I Hear Ya

"I'd pick the Saints tonight against the '78 Steelers."

- Chris Berman on ESPN's pregame show before tonight's Saints - Falcons MNF game at the Superdome


Yes, at the end of the day its "just" a football game. And its likely that 95% of the people who are able to attend tonight's game are probably best apt "to deal" with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and that most natives of New Orleans are hardly any better off than they were a year ago today...but I'm in the camp that it means something.

However much that something is, no matter how small or big, (and with no ill feelings toward the Falcons whatsoever), I'm rooting like hell for the Saints of New Orleans tonight.

see

"All our institutions for gathering and validating knowledge - universities, corporate research laboratories, foundations - reward and support specialization."

... see, now this is why i'm a generalist.

Why We Fight

Since, I'm in one of my "why the fuck are we still in iraq modes", check out Why We Fight. I just watched the documentary, and its a pretty articulate description of the military industrial complex. Capitalism v. democracy.

"half your face is pork"

Check out Katt Williams. Seriously, this is the funniest stand-up i've seen in like 5 years...

52 Books, Week 30: The End of Work

Jeremy Rifkin, your favorite futurists', favorite futurist. To be fair, Time Magazine once described him as the "most hated man in science". So take your pick, either way... His late 90's book, The End of Work, describes the impact of globalization (primarily increased productivity) on the modern worker.

I bought this one a year ago, shortly after I saw him in a lecture.

The Book: Rifkin takes a fairly radical approach to economic policy recommendations, and discusses a reduced work week (4 days) to allow for a greater distribution of the spoils of 21st century capitalism.

Stolen Blurb: In this challenging report, social activist Rifkin contends that worldwide unemployment will increase as new computer-based and communications technologies eliminate tens of millions of jobs in the manufacturing, agricultural and service sectors. He traces the devastating impact of automation on blue-collar, retail and wholesale employees, with a chapter devoted to African Americans. While a small elite of corporate managers and knowledge workers reap the benefits of the high-tech global economy, the middle class continues to shrink and the workplace becomes ever more stressful, according to Rifkin. As the market economy and public sector decline, he foresees the growth of a "third sector"-voluntary and community-based service organizations-that will create new jobs with government support to rebuild decaying neighborhoods and provide social services. To finance this enterprise, he advocates scaling down the military budget, enacting a value-added tax on nonessential goods and services and redirecting federal and state funds to provide a "social wage" in lieu of welfare payments to third-sector workers.

Should You: If you're interested in public policy I would say yeah, check it out. The ideas are interesting enough, and will generate some new thinking (hopefully). Now implementation??? In America??? I don't think Rifkin himself can see that future.

wow

What's the most disturbing part about this video? The kids? The man wearing the wig? The chicken? The bangin' ass beat???

When one door closes...

So you're not holding your breath for another OutKast album (... or you are, and you're killing yourself softly.) At least you'll have like 13 Jay-Z albums in your collection before this kat retires for real. That's something.

... Right?

(p.s. 13 is a ridiculous number of albums for one artist to produce.)

52 Books, Week 28: Winning The Future

Yes, that Newt Gingrich.

Why in the hell did you read this?: Now this is an interesting story. So, most people who deal with public policy will tell you that Newt Gingrich is probably one of the smartest people in the country (regarding his understanding of economic and political systems). I was at a conference in which he spoke, and got a chance to chop it up with him afterwords. I asked him a question (who knows what about), talked to someone on his staff, and I figured since I'm reading a book a week, and i'm interested in public policy, and i'm from georgia... why not.

Stolen Blurb: According to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, America currently faces five threats that could undermine, if not eliminate, the United States if immediate steps are not taken to correct them. The threats as he sees them are Islamic terrorists and rogue dictatorships armed with nuclear or biological weapons; the removal of God from American public life; a loss of patriotism and sense of America's history; a decline in economic supremacy because of poor science and math education; and the increasing budgetary burden of Social Security and Medicare.

Gingrich goes after the usual suspects in this one (bureacratic government, terrorists, "protecting america," etc.); but there are some interesting arguments (caps for some lawyer fees; health-care reform, the global competitiveness stuff). All in all, a distinct view of some of the most important policy issues of our time. Don't break your neck rushing to read this one. If you're interested, just check out his website.

True to my word...

Things I wish everyone could see:

• Jason Reynolds doin the Chicken Noodle Soup dance (yes, I find it appropriate to use his full name.)

• The look on my face when Jason Reynolds does the Chicken Noodle Soup dance

• Jason Reynolds crumping, undeterred by the look on my face when he was doin the Chicken Noodle Soup dance

(and since when does chicken noodle soup come with a "soda on the side"? why wasn't it fried chicken... or catfish and fries... with a soda on the side? is there some intuitive relationship between soup and soda that i dont know about?)

No Can Help

Bigfoot sometime get called rolling stone.
Called irresponsible.
Have bad debt.
Trail of bad lady relationship.
No can help.
I a hunter gatherer.

And maybe just a bit of an asshole.

Sometimes I forget...

Whenever I find myself stuck in traffic at 2:30 in the afternoon, I can't help but think... What the hell??? Why aren't you people at work?! Has everyone figured out some secret formula for living well without working that I don't know about? And then I remember... Oh yeah...

P.S. The entertainment value of Flavor of Love escapes me completely. It's like that shit is broadcast on a frequency I'm incapable of perceiving. But I am (apparently) not in the majority. Just my thoughts.

P.P.S. I don't care who you are... Chris Brown - Poppin' is the smoothest groove you've heard in a long time.

Quick Hits

Sports:

• Ryan Howard is in the same category as LeBron James, Bo Jackson, Albert Pujols, and the 6'8" Little Leaguer who looked just like Byron Leftwich: Man-childs.
• Tiger Woods: Catching up to Annika Sorenstam of years past. (He also has the ability to cause rain, if you saw his win - last week. Not this week, or three tourneys ago, or four tourneys ago, or five tourneys ago.)
• FSU and The U: All speed, all dominant, hard-hitting defenses. Good thing to see in college (once a year).
• I, as much as anyone, agreed that College Football needed to be sped up. The change where the clock runs after the ball is set after a change of possession, however, is one of the worst and most flawed rule changes in sports. Simply don't go to commercial, start the play clock, BUT the game clock shouldn't run - no way. Ridiculous rule change.
• Tier-2 Sports in America get elevated to Tier-1 during their marquee events...when viewed in HD. (I was already a tennis fan, though.)

Random:

• Anyone know what the Yin-Yang Twin said on Flava of Love (even with the captions)? It was like listening to Camp Lo rap at Bone Thugs-N-Harmony like speed. Note: Hnnnnnnnnnnnn...is not what I'm looking for.
• Flying cross-country with DirecTV makes a world of difference.
• For you users out there, if you can believe it, Facebook is about to get even more addictive... or all-in-the-business... dependent upon your perspective.

True Love

At dinner recently my boss and I got to talking about our mutual love of all things sports-related (except soccer). We concur that the start of football season is cause for celebration and that there may be nothing more exciting than March Madness. We also agree that something about NBA ball is just a little less than satisfying. When baseball comes up, she says, and I am quoting... "Wouldn't it be the greatest thing ever for the White Sox not to make the playoffs?" That was followed by something about her love of Dusty Baker (whom I don't dislike) and the Cubs (whom I root for when they don't suck).

Between the look on my face and the sound of me choking on the air I was breathing, conversation at the table came to a screeching halt. I reminded her, since she had obviously forgotten, that she lives and works on the South Side. She either didn't hear me or didn't care. As a Political Scientist, she seems blissfully ignorant of the politics of baseball in the City of Chicago. Ever hopefull that the Sox will pull out the Wild Card, I told homegirl on the other side of me that when they did, I was gonna leave a copy of the sports page outside my boss's office. My boss looked at me (smile-free) and informed me that I'd be out of a job.

Hmmmmmmm... Ego or Employment. That is the question. See you in the Playoffs.