My last attempt at swaying Nash

Good enough for the Rooneys, good enough for all of us!

Trendsetters

I don't care what anybody says, Sean, Sean and I started this trend with our Boston adventure ...

Mancations: Guys get away to make memories, sustain friendships

Guns a gray area for McCain, Obama

For my boy Nash ...

BOSTON (AP) — John McCain supports background checks for buyers at gun shows and has his name on a law restricting special-interest group advertising, two positions strongly opposed by the National Rifle Association.

So how'd he end up with the group's presidential endorsement? By running against Barack Obama, whom NRA leaders accuse of wanting to put the firearms industry out of business.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iws_NUP4CywbKPEd1Czf0PY8NWVAD93QQH6G0

Sacked by the Market

OK, this left an empty feeling in my stomach ...

An adviser says Dan and Art Rooney are making progress. But even if they do manage to cobble together a deal, hurdles remain. Three-quarters of the league’s 32 teams would have to approve a transaction. While every owner admires the Rooneys, not every one is likely to back a highly leveraged sale of a Rust Belt franchise in the teeth of a recession in advance of an expected labor showdown in 2011.

So the Steelers and the league are left attempting, in the words of one lawyer involved, “a high-wire act in an alternative universe.” There are the N.F.L.’s rules. There’s the economy. There’s the powerful history. And there’s the family itself. The five Rooney brothers have 29 children to account for, not to mention an identity wrapped up in the franchise. For proof, try lifting “Ruanaidh” (Gaelic for Rooney), a family memoir that Art Jr. self-published earlier this year. The book runs 483 pages, or some 400,000 words.

“Your emotions are, You never want to get out of the Steelers,” Art Jr. told me a few weeks after the September conference call. “But you know the facts. The grim reaper is right down the street.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/sports/playmagazine/112colbiz.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=sports&pagewanted=all

Joe? Where are you Joe?

A perfect microcosm of the utter FAIL of McCain's campaign ...

It's time!

Tonight at 7 p.m. If you can't catch it then ...

UCA in the NYT ... unfortunately

Two killed on my old college stomping grounds ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/28/us/28arkansas.html

Ah, geez, don't get my hopes up

On Thursday, an ESPN.com writer who covers the AFC North has picked Pittsburgh to make the Super Bowl this season ...

Big Ben-led Steelers won't be stopped in weakened AFC

Don't they know I'll have a newborn in the house by then? I can't be yelling and screaming during a Super Bowl this year!

Ultimate proof Palin is not smart

How else do you explain a Republican VP candidate wearing a "Vote Democrat" scarf at a campaign event?

Remind me not to defend Arkansas in the future

The next time I hear somebody talking about the hicks and hillbillies living in Arkansas, I'm afraid I'll have to shrug my shoulders and STFU.

That's because a University of Arkansas poll revealed a whopping 20 percent of Arkies believe Obama is actually a Muslim.

But, on the bright side, 55 percent oppose Act 1. Originally touted as a way to keep gay couples from adopting children, it's been written to prohibit unmarried heteros who live together and single heteros from adopting as well. That means, God forbid, anything happens to me and Jen and this passes, then my mother wouldn't be able to adopt her granddaughter.

http://www.arktimes.com/blogs/arkansasblog/2008/10/poll_watching.aspx

Political Compass

All this political talk here and on Nash's blog got me to thinking. Maybe my views have changed. So I visisted PoliticalCompass.com to see how I scored. Here's my chart ...

I heart Hines Ward

Sunday feature on Obama

I was struck by the candid comments Obama made in this article. And I think we all agree with this one ...

“If voters are similarly polarized and if they’re seeing two different realities, a Sean Hannity reality and a Keith Olbermann reality, then we’re not going to be able to get done the work we need to get done,” Obama said.

Working for the Working- Class Vote

Once again, Steelers > Cowboys

Once again, the mighty Steelers have bested the dirty, loathsome Cowboys. This time, it's in Sports Illustrated's stadium rankings. Pittsburgh's Heinz Field was rated second-best in the NFL, behind Green Bay's Lambeau Field.

Oh, what's that Cowboys fans? You say the Cowboys will move to No. 1 when when that affront to good taste that Jerry Jones is building opens next season? Not so fast.

According to the survey, Cowboys fans themselves said Dallas fans aren't that smart when it comes to football. A whopping 6.8 percent said their fellow Dallas fans had "Poor" or "Below Average" football IQs. That's compared to just 3.9 percent of Steelers fans.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/specials/fansurvey/2008/index.html?bcnn=yes

A baby name we won't be considering

A new father has secretly named his baby girl Sarah McCain Palin after the Republican ticket for president and vice president.

Mark Ciptak of Elizabethton put that name on the documents for the girl's birth certificate, ignoring the name Ava Grace, which he and his wife had picked earlier.

"I don't think she believes me yet," he told the Kingsport Times-News for a story to be published Tuesday. "It's going to take some more convincing."

http://www.wbir.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=66550&catid=2

McCain booed ... at his own rally

McCain and Palin spend day after day whipping up the anger and paranoia among the GOP, then when McCain says Obama isn't the anti-Christ he's booed by his own voters ...



In my last post, Nash commented and asked "Is this really a self-proclaimed libertarian in charge of this blog?"

Yes, I still consider myself a libertarian.

But I'm disgusted at the Rovian tactics John McCain, an honorable and principled man, resorted to in an attempt to win this election. This is a man who lost the South Carolina primary in 2000 to GW Bush thanks to a smear campaign. Yet now, thanks to a crashing economy, he resorted to the tactics once used against him. My gosh, the man repeatedly mentions William Ayers in every stump speech, yet he didn't have the cahones to say it to Obama's face. I took that as a sign that McCain knew it was a distasteful tactic. That video above confirms my suspicion.

The 2000 version of John McCain has got to be deathly embarrassed by the 2008 version. The sad thing is John McCain 2000 would have been a great POTUS, if he'd just been the same person this election season as he was then I think he'd have won. And probably won easily.

Man, I totally can see reasons to vote for McCain instead of Obama (experience being first and foremost). But this campaign and the GOP followers have debased political discussion in the USA. Every American is dumber for having lived through this election thanks to the mouthbreathers forwarding e-mails that actually claim the Bible predicted Obama is the anti-Christ, or that he's a super-duper secret mole controlled by Islamic fundamentalists.

The past week has completely turned me off of McCain. So if people can vote against Obama because he's black, or the anti-Christ or Osama bin Laden's BFF, then I can vote against McCain because he led us down this path to idiocy instead of sticking to, you know, the issues.

And that's a shame, because I voted for him in the 2000 Arkansas primary. If John McCain 2000 was running now, I'd consider voting for him again. But this 2008 version of him won't get my vote.

Springsteen on this year's election

Normally, I don't give a damn about the political statements issued by celebrities. Their opinions are no more valid or informed that yours or mine.

That said, Springsteen gave a poetic and inspired speech on behalf of Obama recently ...

All I want for Christmas

Authentic Guinness® Home Pub

There are plenty of reasons to raise a pint to the Irish. Saint Patrick, the Blarney Stone. One of the greatest occurred in 1759 when young Arthur Guinness founded a brewery at St. James's Gate, crafted a hearty, distinctive stout, and won a place in our hearts forever. Celebrate the 250th anniversary of that first delicious keg with our exclusive, once-in-a-lifetime gift. The folks at RiRa Pubs will design a fully functional, traditional Irish pub and build it in your home in 2009. It will be crafted from historic Irish architectural elements and authentic Guinness artifacts. There's also a VIP trip for two to Dublin with first class airfare, luxury accommodations, and insider access to the magic still being made at the historic working St. James's Gate brewery. (All members of your party must be at least 21 years of age.) Plus fresh Guinness Stout for your pub. For an entire year.

A toast! To calling 1.877.9NM.GIFT for more information, detailed terms and conditions, and to order! Sláinte!

©2008 GUINNESS & Co. Always Drink Responsibly.
Item
Authentic Guinness Home Pub
Price $250,000.00*
OCBF9_NMO3605

http://www.neimanmarcus.com/store/sitelets/christmasbook/fantasy.jhtml?cid=OCBF9_NMO3606&cmCat=christmas&icid=NMCBpage79

Jen's Alexis story

Jen writes about our cat ...



http://jensamom.blogspot.com/2008/10/aint-no-sunshine-when-shes-gone.html

And thanks to everybody for your kind words. We appreciate it.

R.I.P. Alexis

Jen and I just got back from the vet a little while ago. Alexis is gone.

We woke up Sunday morning and she wasn't able to walk very well. She was stiff-legged and kept tumping over after a few steps.

We took her to the emergency animal clinic, they gave her an anti-inflammatory shot and we hoped it would help. It didn't. By the time we went to bed Sunday night, Alexis could barely get around at all. It was heart-breaking to watch. We carried her to the food bowl and litter box so she wouldn't walk.

This morning, the vet said it could have been a variety of things - neurological or cancer being most likely. The chance of getting her back to where she was 48 hours ago was slim. Rather than risk putting her through a lot of procedures with little chance of success, we chose to ... you know.

Alexis had been in Jen's life for more than 18 years. She'd been in mine for 10. Today is a heart-breaking day for us. We already miss her.

Things I think I think (CFB version)

1. Do you ever think Tim Tebow's older siblings just get sick and tired of him? I mean, they've got to right? It's just natural. Especially when they see signs like this ...



2. Speaking of Tebow, if everybody in the stadium and watching at home knows he's going to run a shotgun sneak to the right side of the line, then Houston Nutt can probably cipher it out as well. Urban Meyer = fail on that play call.

3. While Ole Miss fans are probably still celebrating, they fail to realize this is Classic Nutt. His teams always manage to beat a team it shouldn't, but also lose to a team it shouldn't. We've seen this with OM already. Lost to Vandy, but beat Florida. (And you can point to Vandy's record all you want, but it's still Vandy.)

4. Forget the AP, USA Today or any other poll you see. The best CFB poll comes to us via SportsJournalists.com ... click here . If nothing else, it's the funniest to read each week.

5. Georgia's shellacking at the hands of Alabama should put an end to all the ridiculous (Insert random color here)outs. If you have to schedule a whiteout, blackout or redout to get your team and fans excited, something is fundamentally wrong with both. This rule would not apply to something truly original, like if Cal-Berkeley scheduled a tiedyeout or a rural school had a camouflageout. Those would be awesome.

Magic 8 Ball Prediction
Will Arkansas cover the spread (currently 24.5) against Florida this Saturday?

(Views expressed by the Magic 8 Ball do not necessarily reflect the views of this blog, the blog owner nor this post's author. Advice from the Magic 8 Ball is for entertainment purposes only and not for actual wagering.)

Bonus Drink of the Week — With an 11:30 a.m. kick in Fayetteville following two skullcrushings, I'm sure some Arkansas fans are worried the "atmosphere" for this Saturday. As we all know, "atmosphere" is code for "number of rowdy drunks in the stands." Not to worry, we're here to help. Get a red plastic cup, fill it with ice. Pour DeKuyper Peach Tree Schnapps over the ice until the cup is half full. Top with Sunny D. Drink. Repeat until you feel atmospheric.

Palin debate flowchart

Slow Internet connection? Blame John McCain.

John McCain is an AT&T guy; Barack Obama is a Google guy. And that’s one of the most important policy differences between the two.

Think of the Internet as working at different layers. There are all the pipes that go into your home, and then there’s all the stuff on your screen—from e-mail to eMule. The telecom companies like AT&T control the pipes; the software companies, like Google, create the stuff.

In an ideal world, both these layers would be sites of great innovation and creativity. But in the United States, that isn’t so. The software industry may seem like a team of Gandalfs, constantly producing magic. But the average telecom company resembles Jabba the Hut: it moves slowly and slobbers a lot.

The United States created the Internet, but it’s the rest of the world that can really use it. People in Japan are twice as likely as Americans to have broadband connections, and their pipes are ten times as fast. Compared to France, U.S. Internet access is twice as expensive and one-fourth as quick. Since 2000, the United States has gone from fifth in the world to twenty-second in broadband penetration. We have become a nation of buffering YouTube videos.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2008/0808.thompson.html#Byline