Song of the Week - Sam Cooke - A Change Gonna Come
Saturday, November 1, 2008
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gone come
Just a few more days folks....
1 year ago
Really Seattle? 5 Electonic Voting Machines?
Thursday, October 30, 2008
That's it? For all of King County's million or so people you could only scrap up one room in the middle of Renton with 5 electronic voting machines for early voting? Yes, I am aware that paper ballots are available and there are drop boxes all around the Seattle metro area.
But consider this. Maybe some of us didn't want to do a paper ballot.
Maybe some of us just wanted to bring our disabled relative in early to vote to avoid crowds and get in & out in less than an hour and a half.
I understand that there are other things that are going on right now, but it just seems like the city could have had....I don't know...maybe two rooms with ten total electronic machines?
Or maybe separate rooms for the people doing paper ballots and the people voting electronically?
Or, if you really wanted to just shoot for the moon, how about multiple sites across the area with voting machines in all of them? There seems to be a considerable amount of people in the actual city of Seattle. I think they might have appreciated not having to drive all the way down to Renton. I also seem to recall that there are a handful of people in Bellevue, Redmond, etc that also might have appreciated a room in one of the many federal buildings around the Seattle metro.
But I understand. I am sure there are more important things going on right now that require the resources of the city.
I mean, come on. Mass transit stinks. You gave away the Sonics. Must this city half-ass everything?
Greatest Campaign of All Time?
It certainly has to be one of the best of my relatively short life.
I really think history will show that Obama ran one of the greatest campaigns ever. Every challenge. Every threat. Pretty much every opportunity to make headway in this election, Obama has snatched it and ran with it. And then last night, with victory pretty much a lock, he once again stepped back in the pocket and delivered another touchdown pass. Ta-Nehisi Coates (one of my favorite bloggers) sees visions of Tom Brady. I'm thinking more Joe Montana, but still. The fact remains that Obama has been cool under pressure and keeps marching his team down the field.
If you are one of the 3 people in America who has not watched this, check the video below.
The NBA Returns....
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
The new NBA season tipped off last night and we got treated to three teams that should make serious noise and one that might still be spinning its wheels. My initial thoughts...
The Kids Called Him "Mr. Glass"
If you don't get that reference, go out and rent Unbreakable tonight. You have to feel sorry for Greg Oden. The guy just can't seem to catch a break. But, if we're all honest with each other we know that neither him or Lebron are really as young as they claim to be. Just kidding. Kind of. While Lebron has always been a flat out freak of nature, Oden has always just looked old. Last night was no different. If I was a Blazer fan, I would be more concerned with how bad he looked out there than his ankle. The injury looked pretty minor when it happened and x-rays were inconclusive. I think he'll be fine as far as that goes.
His actual skills on the court looked terrible. His movements were slow. He had no offensive game whatsoever. He looked average on the defensive end and that is saved only by his skills as a shot blocker. He looked like he was laboring up and down the court BEFORE he hurt his ankle. I'm hoping he is just still out of shape from sitting out a year and was suffering opening night jitters, but he looked like a bigger project than I expected out there.
Can Mr. Glass bounce back and lead the Blazers back to greatness? Stay tuned....
Showtime?
Let me just get this out of the way. I am a Laker die hard and my posts concerning them will either be filled with praise or completely out of proportion bashing of a poor performance.
Last night's game gave me mixed feelings. I saw a lot of things I liked. Gasol and Bynum looked good together. I think they played off of each other pretty well out there and the duo showed a lot of promise. The team as a whole has been working on defense and it showed. They held Brandon Roy in check and never allowed the Blazers to get anything going all game. Odom looked good coming off the bench. Also, if Ariza can get his jumper steady I don't think it will be long before he takes Vlad out of the starting line-up.
Oh yeah, that Kobe guy looked alright out there too.
On the downside, the team still showed some of the sloppiness that has been plaguing them for a while now. While Kobe is definitely a good facilitator, he also has high turnover games. It is touch for me to figure out who is at fault on some of those, but a turnover is a turnover and better teams will capitalize on it. The entire team needs to play crisp if they are going to get back to the Finals.
The other problem is our guards are selfish. No, I'm not talking about Kobe. Fisher, Sasha, and Farmar jack up a lot of shots. It's good to have guys who are willing to shoot, but I'm definitely old school in this regard. I think the best player on the team should always at least touch the ball on pretty much every possession excluding fast breaks. So with the Lakers, either Kobe or Gasol should touch the ball pretty much every trip. But our guards like to pull up and take shots. Even worse, they like to pull up and take shots when guys aren't in position to grab rebounds. Now if we were talking about consistent shooters, I wouldn't be as upset. But Farmar, Sasha and Fisher are the definition of streaky. I want them to be confident to take open looks, but Phil should probably reign them in a bit if they continue being jump shot happy.
And yes, it is ridiculous to be so critical of a team after a 20 point win.
Lebron Still Can't Shoot or Defend
To me, Lebron and Dwight Howard are the most physically dominating players in the NBA. Lebron definitely knows how to use his size and power to deliver damage on the court. The problems for Lebron remain his suspect jumper and defense. Don't get me wrong, Lebron has definitely gone off on people and knocked down jumpers. He just doesn't do it consistently enough and it was apparent last night. He also is still lacking on the defensive end. Someone with Lebron's size, strength and athleticism could simply dominate an opponent on the defensive end any time he wants. If he truly commits himself on the defensive side of the ball and works out his jump shot, then the best player in the NBA tag is his and his alone.
Celtics Will Be Back in the Finals
The Celtics were the Celtics. I think the losses of Posey and PJ Brown will be bigger than people think, but they are still a force on the defensive end and ultimately I think that gets them through the East again.
Better to Be Silent
Sunday, October 26, 2008
There is one message that comes through loud and clear in this campaign, be careful what you say.
Case #1
The Candidate - Jack Murtha
The Quotes - “There’s no question Western Pennsylvania is a racist area” “...this whole area, years ago, was really redneck.”
My take - There is really no doubt that there is truth in Murtha's statements. This was exposed pretty clearly in Democratic primaries. However, I was a little perplexed at why everyone seems so up in arms about it. In and of itself, while the comments were definitely blunt they didn't seem to be enough to justify Murtha's fall in polling numbers. And they weren't. There had long been an effort to paint Murtha as out of touch with his district. His comments have added fuel to that fire. With him still leading by 5 points, I think he will pull it out as long as he can keep his muzzle on.
Case #2
The Candidate - Michelle Bachman
The Quotes - "I would say, what I would say is that the news media should do a penetrating expose and take a look -- I wish they would. I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out, are they pro-America or anti-America? I think the people would love to see an expose like that."
On Senator Obama - "Absolutely. I'm very concerned that he may have anti-American views. That's what the American people are concerned about. That's why they want to know what his answers are. That's why Joe the plumber has figured so highly in the last few days"
My take - Wow. That's all I can say every time I watch her Hardball appearance. It was downright scary. Fortunately, it also might get her out of office. An estimated 1.4 million in contributions have flooded into the campaign of her rival, Elwyn Tinklenberg and their race is now virtual deadlock. Had she just turned down Chris Matthews' invitation to Hardball, she likely would have cruised to victory.
Case #3
The Candidate - Sarah Palin
The Quotes - Good Lord, what hasn't this twit said? The latest, an attack on fruit flies. "For many parents of children with disabilities, the most valuable thing of all is information. Early identification of a cognitive or other disorder, especially autism, can make a life-changing difference. Where does a lot of that earmark money end up anyway? […] You’ve heard about some of these pet projects they really don’t make a whole lot of sense and sometimes these dollars go to projects that have little or nothing to do with the public good. Things like fruit fly research in Paris, France. I kid you not. "
My take - Does anyone do even the most basic research on what she is saying? Fruit fly research has lead to a ton of breakthroughs that benefit man. Including, as it turns out, autism...
"[S]cientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have shown that a protein called neurexin is required for..nerve cell connections to form and function correctly.
The discovery, made in Drosophila fruit flies may lead to advances in understanding autism spectrum disorders, as recently, human neurexins have been identified as a genetic risk factor for autism. " See Think Progress for more...
Palin's mistakes really just boggle my mind. Even the most basic google search could have prevented her from making that kind of gaffe. Actually, gaffe is the wrong word. That is just pure ignorance. No way should this woman be in any office, anywhere.
Final Verdict - There's certainly some poetic justice in all these people being directly responsible for their own downfalls. However, it does make you a bit more fearful. If these are the things that actually come out of these and other politicians mouths, what other terrible things are swirling around in their heads? On second thought, I really don't want to know.
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