Welcome to Daily Contentions... Born in February 2003, DC is a daily-updated weblog covering a wide variety of issues, contemporary and timeless-- always with a unique perspective and open attitude.
John Kerry once served his country in Vietnam. We know this, because his brain was apparently captured by Charlie and is still listed as M.I.A.
Here is an excerpt from Kerry's speech as Pasadena City College today:
"You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."
Well, how's that for motivation when one feels the pangs of senioritis coming on? Better pass physics, or else it's off to the Sunni Triangle!
Yes, Democrats are the party of the "little guy" alright. Liberals are all-feeling, sensitive, caring, loveable little types. And they're never elitist in any way, shape or form. Kiss my ass. This is exactly what pretty much all libs think of the military: they're a bunch of idiotic grunts who failed out of high school and are being mindlessly recruited by the big bad Pentagon to become baby-killers.
Kerry, of course, is saying that his words were taken out of context, and that he was really referring to President Bush's stupidity of getting "stuck" in Iraq. But if that was the thought he was trying to express, Kerry gets an "F" in composition. Bush graduated from Kerry's alma mater, Yale, and holds an M.B.A. from Harvard. Two somewhat selection institutions of higher learning. So that kind of blows a hole in that argument.
Add to this that it's not the first time Kerry has slandered U.S. troops. Kerry, on Face the Nation, CBS, December 4, 2005:
"But I think what we need to do is recognize what we all agree on, which is you've got to begin to set benchmarks for accomplishment. You've got to begin to transfer authority to the Iraqis. And there is no reason, Bob, that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, you know, women, breaking sort of the customs of the—of—the historical customs, religious customs." (emphasis added)
So, Senator Kerry, could you please explain to my classmate who plans on joining the JAG corp after he receives his juris doctor this year that he's about to throw his life away? Or perhaps to my uncle, a Vietnam veteran, who graduated summa cum laude and spent over 30 years as a VA official? Or to my high school friend, who after previously enrolling in medical school and passing his MCATs, joing the U.S. Navy?
Senator Kerry, you are a pompous asshole, and in your race to be the most embarassing senator from Massachusetts, you just took the lead.
1. Ohio State 2. Michigan 3. Texas 4. Notre Dame 5. Auburn 6. Florida 7. Tennessee 8. Louisville 9. West Virginia 10. California 11. USC 12. Boston College 13. Arkansas 14. Rutgers 15. Boise State
Rationale:
Ok, so trying to order these teams is getting increasingly challenging. That said, the AP and coaches' polls are both a complete joke right now, so I think I can do better.
Ohio State still is undeniably number 1. They whipped a team they were supposed to whip while Michigan struggled a bit with Northwestern. With Oregon State's upset of USC, USC drops to number 11. Oregon State is not that good of a team, and Cal absolutely beat up on them earlier in the season as did Boise State. The AP and coaches' polls only dropped USC to #9, which makes absolutely no sense and is a slap in the face to Cal. It's also a slap in the face to the other 1-loss teams, most of who lost to far better teams.
Despite Texas' near upset, I'm moving them up to take USC's previously held spot. They didn't look pretty at first but they showed an ability to score at will in the second half. Remember: Texas' only loss is to Ohio State and it was not a blowout. In a move that should please my critics :-), I moved ND up 3 spots to #4. As I stated earlier; ND, Auburn, Florida, and Tennessee are in an extremely tight pack in my mind, so only the slightest advantage in a given weekend can make a significant change.
So how did these 4 teams do? ND doubled the spread against a very respectable Navy (5-2 before the game; beat UConn by a similar margin as West Virginia did). Auburn barely beat a below average Ole Miss program, so they move below ND to #5. Tennessee's win over South Carolina was even less impressive than Florida's win over Georgia, so Florida leaps Tennessee (arguably where they should have been last week), and they both get leaped by ND since they did not win as well as they should have.
Louisville, West Virginia, and California, didn't play so their positions remain the same. (the AP poll has Cal move ahead of ND... completely inexplicable!). Boston College, Arkansas, and Rutgers all won as they should have and move up the list replacing Clemson. Boise State now rounds out the 15. They beat up Oregon State...
"Love, by its very nature, is unworldly, and it is for this reason rather than its rarity that it is not only apolitical but anti-political, perhaps the most powerful of all anti-political human forces."
- Hannah Arendt
With all the talk of politics this week, and with the recent gay marriage/union decision in New Jersey, this quote seems apposite.
Through 7 games, my preseason ND prediction has been correct on 100% of the games. Now if you look at how I said some of the games would proceed, I'm not so hot. But hey, a guy can't be perfect--just close. For example, here's what I said about UCLA:
"ND wins: It's a PAC-10 team and it's not USC. We'll win. They might be able to put up some points on us, but God help an opponent who tries to beat ND in a shootout. We'll put up 50+ if we have to."
Looking forward. I feel confident that my prediction will hold through USC. USC itself worries me. ND needs a running game, but USC has shown fallibility. Should be a fun one to watch.
Michigan(2) plays Northwestern *Notre Dame(7) plays Navy Auburn(5) plays Mississippi Boston College(13) plays Buffalo Ohio State(1) plays Minnesota USC(3) plays Oregon State *Florida(8) plays Georgia *Texas(4) plays Texas Tech Arkansas(14) plays Louisiana-Monroe *Tennessee(6) plays South Carolina
Sunday:
Rutgers(15) plays UConn
Not playing:
Louisville(9), West Virginia(10), and California(12) do not play this weekend
...
Games of Note:
I wouldn't have considered the Clemson Virginia Tech game important before yesterday, but now that V. Tech won, the game will have obvious implications on the Sayre15. Navy has only lost 2 games (though one was to Tulsa and the other was a creaming by Rutgers), but they beat Stanford by a larger margin than ND did and they beat UConn by about as much as West Virginia did. If ND walks all over Navy, that'll be a strong statement in favor of supporting/bolstering their #7 ranking. But they might struggle.
Florida versus Georgia is huge. There has been some criticism of my ranking of Florida worse than Tennessee, though that ranking is not out of line with the other polls. This is a better contest than Tennessee versus South Carolina, so a Florida victory would likely move them higher. But South Carolina is a quality 2-loss team, so how well Tennessee beats them will be relevant. Finally, I'm calling Texas versus Texas Tech as a good contest, because the 2 teams have traditionally had some bloody games. Some upset potential.
I just hope that Dan Brown is following the continuing saga of Notre Dame bashing that is going on at ESPN and in the MSM. There's no better fodder for his next novel than what these pundits are shoveling. And unlike The DaVinci Code, this one would go under "non-fiction."
Just when you thought it was safe to proclaim "The Worldwide Leader in Sports" a rational network again (Brady Quinn made it into Ivan Maisel's top 3 Heisman contenders!), along comes the incorrigible Mel Kiper. Upon being asked why ND dropped in the rankings after its victory over UCLA:
SportsNation Mel Kiper: (1:31 PM ET ) Any time you're a two touchdown favorite at home and you eke out a win in the final seconds against a team that lost to Oregon State the week before with their starting QB on the sideline with injury, that's going to happen. Great finish. Charlie Weis is saying a win's a win, but not in college football. This is not the NFL. No one cares in the NFL if you win by 10 or 20. Winning margin in college football is important. When you struggle at home, you're going to slip. That's the nature of college football, without the playoffs.
SportsNation Mel Kiper: (1:32 PM ET ) If you're undefeated, it doesn't matter if you win by one or 21. But if you have a loss, then it does matter. After losing once already, they can't afford to struggle at home.
Sigh. Where to begin?
Perhaps with the most obvious. UCLA did not lose to Oregon State the week before ND. They lost to Oregon. Even if you're one of those morons who calls it "Oregone", you should at least not forget that the addition of "State" afterwards makes quite a world of difference.
Further on this point, UCLA only lost to Oregon (sans State) by 10 points, on the road, and with their "back-up" QB starting this game as well. Far from being pathetic, the Bruin's performance in Eugene should have been a warning to all that they would come prepared to play the Irish.
And about that back-up QB Cowan. I've read more than a few UCLA blogs/boards that would prefer to see him remain behind center even after the starter comes back. Just as soon as his throat heals and the tears dry up, of course.
And the other teams that barely squeaked by this past weekend? Why do they get a pass? Texas barely beat Nebraska, on a fluke play. The Husker's are probably #2 on the Longhorns SOS, but that's not saying much, being that they haven't beat anyone better than K State.
Tennessee? Now here's what really bugs me. The Vols and the Irish had virtually the exact same experience on Saturday; the games themselves were nearly coterminus. Tennessee faced a 5-2 Alabama squad; ND played 4-2 UCLA. The Vols won by 3 in the final moments; ditto the Irish. ND was about a 2 TD favorite, at home; the Vols were giving 12 at home.
Speaking of which, why is Mel so obsessed with point spread? It's not like Vegas is the end-all measuring stick of a college team's strength. The "line" is just the exact mid-point of what oddsmakers think the outcome will be, not necessarily what it should be or could be. But silly me, I thought the BCS removed margin of victory from its calculations. Maybe Mel has another reason for being so attached to Sin City.
[DeNiro, left; Kiper and Wife, right (I hope she doesn't end up like Sharon Stone's character did!!)]
Finally, before Kiper could end his non-logic by cutting off his own hand, he wrote that last paragraph about how, apparently, if you're undefeated, you can not beat the spot as many times as you want, and it won't matter in the rankings.
Well, we will call this the Pasadena Proviso for starters. Why doesn't it matter??? Whether you're unbeaten or .500, when you don't beat the spot, aren't you still showing weakness? This makes no sense at all. Especially considering the Notre Dame itself didn't get the benefit of the Proviso when it "eeked" by Georgia Tech 14-10 and then promptly dropped 2 spots in the rankings. Got jumped by Texas when the Longhorns spanked North Texas Joint Vocational School 56-7 (I guess Mack Brown didn't know about the margin-of-victory thing either).
Fins. Another week, and another chapter in the on-going worldwide conspiracy against our Our Lady. Thankfully we have this guy to defend Her.
I was asked in a comment below my election post why I thought the next 2 weeks may see a trend in favor of the GOP. This is an important enough matter, I think it deserves its own post. So here goes.
Here are a few factors I believe *could* lead to minor GOP gains in the next 2 weeks:
1. Foley scandal fading into the past 2. Bush's speech/press conference today on the topic of Iraq. It was pretty solid and stressed flexibility, at least in the rhetoric. 3. Unfortunately, I think the gay marriage ruling in NJ will motivate some of the "christian" right. 4. Some of the GOP base, who have been sitting on the fence up until now because of their discontent with the party, are finally going to be forced to face the fact that if they don't choose Republican, they'll be ushering the Democrats into a power--a notion at least some will be quite uncomfortable with. 5. The GOP has a bigger warchest of campaign funds and will use them in the next 2 weeks.
The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled today that same-sex couples are entitled under the state's constitution to the same rights and benefits accorded heterosexuals in marriage. The Court has left the question open to the legislature as to whether these unions should be called marriages or something else.
On October 3, I detailed the 9 races that will decide control of the Senate. And today, just 2 weeks before the election, these same 9 races are key. The House is much to vast for me to breakdown but it's not looking good for the GOP right now.
The Senate 9:
1. Tennessee - Moves up from #5. This race hasn't been outside of the statistical margin of error for weeks. But the Republican Bob Corker has led more often than he's been behind. The call: toss-up with slight lean to the right.
2. Missouri - Moves up from #3. Mostly the same deal as Tennessee, but the Democrat Claire McCaskill has had led in the 5+% range in a few isolated polls. Still the latest polls have Talent up a few points. The call: a complete toss-up.
3. New Jersey - Moves down from #1. This race is borderline between a toss-up and leaning Democrat. Keane is running out of time to pull ahead of the Democrat Menendez. The call: 55% odds of a Democrat retention.
4. Virginia - Moves up from #8. Allen's lead over the Democratic challenger refuses to break 5%. Webb is even up a point in the latest poll. This race is going to be closer than I previously thought. The call: 60% odds that GOP retains.
5. Montana - Moves up from #6. Burns deficit to his Democratic challenger has pulled to within 5% in most polls. This is the closest he's been in a couple months. The call: 60% odds of a Democratic pick-up.
6. Rhode Island - Moves down from #2. Sheldon Whitehouse has extended his lead over Republican incumbent Lincoln Chafee to consistently above 5%. The call: was a toss-up, now 67% odds of a Democratic pick-up.
7. Maryland - Moves up from #9. The latest poll has Republican challenger Michael Steele tied with the Democrat Cardin. But this poll is out by itself as prior polls in the last couple weeks don't have him any closer than 5%. The call: 70% odds of a Democratic retention.
8. Ohio - Moves down from #4. Ohio has been a disaster for Republicans, much because of local problems. Republican incumbent Mike DeWine's deficit has expanded to more than 5% consistently and around 10% most of the time. The call: 75% Democratic pick-up.
9. Pennsylvania - Moves down from #7. Santorum has imploded and his deficit consistently measures 10+%. The call: 80% odds of a Democratic pick-up. ...
In summary: 2 toss-ups; 4 Democratic pick-ups; 2 Democratic retentions; 1 GOP retention. Thus, if the election were held today the worst case scenario for the GOP would be to lose control of the Senate with only 49 seats, and the best case scenario would be for the GOP to retain control of the Senate with only 51 seats.
The trends Democrats have gained some ground since October 7. New Jersey, Rhode Island, Ohio, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and Virginia have all moved to the left in varying degrees. Montana and Maryland have moved slightly to the right. Missouri's status remained the same.
I'll do another election update next week and we'll see if any trend develops in the GOP's favor as I suspect it will.
Stephen Colbert's genius take on 80s music videos... Watch this and then do a search for Journey's "Separate Ways" and then watch that... Amazing song but a lame video.
Victor Davis Hanson has a must read column up about Iraq. I'm serious. Read it and realize how skewed much of the media's coverage of the Iraq war has been and how people have lost track of the real and ultimate blame for the problems there.
Here are a select few quotes, but just to entice you to read the whole thing:
I don’t know whether such pessimism [surrounding the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan] is true or not, but I am interested in the frequent analysis that it is somehow the fault of the United States or its allies, not the Islamists themselves.
Consider Kurdistan that is still thriving. Its population, devoutly Muslim, apparently understands the advantages of Western commerce and tolerance in a manner not true of the Iraqi Shiia and Sunni communities, or the Afghans...
While we argue over various mathematical formulas to determine how many have died in the Iraq war, note that the passive is the voice of choice—as in “50,000 have been killed”, or “100,000 have died.”
Culpability is ignored. And so we have the following Orwellian situation: the aggregate number must include everybody who dies violently in Iraq: an “insurgent” in jeans who blows himself up in an IED mishap, a terrorist killed by a Marine, a child murdered in a school by Islamists, Shiites blown up by Sunnis and vice versa—all these are lumped together as collateral civilian deaths...
It is difficult in history to find any civilization that asks as much of others as does the contemporary Middle East—and yet so little of itself...
Glenn Reynolds has referred to the recent Democratic tactic of outing gay Republicans as "sexual McCarthyism" and I think the term is apt. Just check out this rant from a gay Democrat:
Gay Republicans are as bad as Nazi collaborators. They are working with the people who would outlaw and exterminate their own kind. And to any moral person, that would be an untenable position. They are not entitled to privacy. It's open season. I am going to be front and center enjoying every bit of the excruciating personal agony and political destruction that is going to rain down like fire from heaven on outed Republicans.
No rational person thinks any gay Republican is working for the extermination of their own kind. This blogger was obviously blinded by his own hatred that gay Republicans are just not the right kind of gays.
It's Andrew Sullivan versus Glenn Reynolds... basically the first 2 bloggers I ever read and certainly 2 of the biggest inspirations for my own blogging.
And in this case, I'm definitely siding with Reynolds. Sullivan has let his judgment become skewed by self righteousness (see also this post of mine). Let's break it down:
- In his post, Reynolds says he voted for Republican Bob Corker for Senate, but he states that he also voted for a Democrat for governor, a Democrat for his House district, and he voted against a gay marriage ban amendment.
- Sullivan attacks with: "Here you have a "libertarian" who patently couldn't care less about habeas corpus, torture, and massive government spending and borrowing..." ... The problem with this attack is that Reynolds voted for 2 Democrats, he HAS written strongly against government spending, and many feel that the U.S.'s use of waterboarding falls short of torture. But anyone who disagrees with the self-righteous Andrew Sullivan must be an evil torturing Republican.
- With regards to his vote for Corker, Reynolds wrote "Not long ago I was thinking that a Democratic majority in Congress wouldn't be so bad; but the sexual McCarthyism from the pro-outing crowd, coupled with the Dems' steadfast refusal to offer anything useful on national security, has convinced me that they just don't deserve a victory with those tactics."
- Sullivan attacked with "I might add that, given the huge issues we are now dealing with, Glenn Reynolds' citation of this issue as one of two defining reasons he voted for Corker over Ford is, well ... absurd bordering on unhinged." ... Convenient that Sullivan didn't mention the other reason: national security. But isn't it ironic that Sullivan's attempt to paint himself as a saint against the Bush administration on waterboarding has caused him to weigh the issue far greater than homophobic exploitation in the Democratic party.
1. Ohio State 2. Michigan 3. USC 4. Texas 5. Auburn 6. Tennessee 7. Notre Dame 8. Florida 9. Louisville 10. West Virginia 11. Clemson 12. California 13. Boston College 14. Arkansas 15. Rutgers
Rationale:
The top 4 positions stay the same. Michigan's win wasn't terribly impressive but USC didn't even play. As much as it pains me, I had to move ND back 2 positions. They looked average against UCLA through most of the game and their schedule strength weakened with GT's terrible loss to Clemson. Auburn leapfrogs Tennessee because Auburn had an easier victory, but since it was against an easy team this duo is a coin toss in my mind. Florida doesn't move up because they also didn't play this weekend. California barely pulled out a victory against an average Washington so they get leapfrogged by W. Virginia who had another easy win and Clemson who dominated Georgia Tech. Boston College and Arkansas are another coin-toss duo in my opinion. Finally, undefeated Rutgers rounds out the 15 with Oregon's loss knocking them out entirely. I could have just as well put LSU in spot 15, but Rutgers will face challenges in W. Virginia and Louisville that could naturally knock them out or earn their place on the list.
I don't know if we'll beat USC. I don't know if we'll finally win a bowl game. But I do know one thing: I won't touch the remote until the clock reads 00:00.
Luke's Rebels are not the only high school team facing off against a doppleganger Irish squad this evening. The undefeated Cardinal Mooney Cardinals take on the evil, hated, developmentally-challenged Ursuline Fighting Irish in the annual battle of Youngstown's two Catholic high schools.
GO CARDINALS!!! Chase those scum-sucking Irish up Wick Avenue back to the Northside holes they crawled out of!!!
This week marks the beginning of the Indiana high school football tournament (one of the earliest in the nation, I think) and Roncalli again plays its Catholic rival Cathedral. There simply isn't a bigger game in the state...
I'll see if I can take some snaps with my cell phone and make some mobile posts from the game.
Some might call the latest political situation facing the Republican party poetic justice. The popular theme pushed by the media lately is this: Karl Rove helped Republicans win the last few elections by courting the evangelical vote, largely at the expense of gay rights (marriage, adoption, etc.), so now the Foley scandal and other gay revelations in the party might scare away that vote.
But the astute political observer should take note that Democrats have taken advantage of the Foley scandal in an orchestrated campaign to paint the GOP as the Gay Old Party. Why did ABC sit on the Foley story for a few MONTHS before going public in October? Why are anonymous sources coming forward outing Republican staffers as gay and making crazy and unsupported accusations, such as was made about Rep. Jim Kolbe's camping trip with pages and others?
Yes, Republicans certainly made themselves vulnerable for this type of attack, but this Democratic tactic must be seen for what it is: pure homophobia. Is promoting and taking advantage of others' hatred any less morally wrong than that hatred itself?
Further, articles in The New Republic and in the Washington Post make it out like gay Republican staffers are fearing for their jobs and are trapped in some type of Republican hypocrisy on the matter of homosexuality. In trying to sell his new book, the newly self-righteous Andrew Sullivan has called this hypocrisy a "cognitive dissonance" within the party.
Posh!
Opposing gay marriage and loving and respecting gay people are not completely incompatible notions. For many Republican congressmen there is no hypocrisy here. One can take a stance based on principle and tradition and not based on bias or hatred. Are these pundits too cynical to recognize anything but negative motivations?
And there is no trap either. There is more to a person's political persuasion than their stance on one issue, such as gay marriage. Congressmen know this. Staffers know this. Why do so many in the media pretend they don't know it?
So do Republicans have a gay problem? Only if too many buy into the cynicism and homophobia of their opposition.
Ohio State(1) plays Indiana *Texas(4) plays Nebraska Louisville(9) plays Syracuse Auburn(7) plays Tulane * Notre Dame(5) plays UCLA Michigan(2) plays Iowa *Tennessee(6) plays Alabama *California(10) plays Washington *Boston College(15) plays Florida St. Oregon(14) plays Washington St. *Clemson(12) plays Georgia Tech(13)
USC(3) and Florida(8) do not play this weekend.
Games of Note:
I'm deeming this "separate the wheat from the chaff" weekend. Texas finally faces another test with Nebraska whose only loss was to USC. UCLA should not challenge ND nor are they a complete pushover. This is a chance for ND to make a statement. I don't see Michigan versus Iowa as a close game at all, but Michigan can make a statement here as well. Alabama will show us if Tennessee deserves to be this high on the list. Is California for real? BC versus Florida St. should be a great game and even Oregon is not 100% safe in my mind. A Georgia Tech victory over Clemson would bolster ND even more.
And now, for the latest episode of "Ivan Maisel abandons all pretense of objectivity."
As previously blogged, I have longed believed that Mr. Maisel is a card-carrying member of the vast left/right/center/kitty-corner conspiracy against Notre Dame football. Now, it is confirmed.
Last weekend, Northern Illinois RB Garrett Wolfe turned in a dismal performance against Western Michigan. The would-be Heisman contender rushed for only 25 yards. Wolfe already faced an uphill climb, since many (including this writer) discounted Wolfe's exceptional rushing performances because they largely came against what is really a glorified Division I-AA conference, to wit: the MAC. Now, having folded against the Broncos, a reasonable objective observer would have to conclude that any chance Wolfe had of winning the Heisman died in Kalamazoo.
Enter Maisel.
"Heisman Hype"
"5. Garrett Wolfe, Northern Illinois, RB: He might have rushed for 25 yards against Western Michigan, but what's he going to put up against Temple?"
Ever the optimist, Ivan. Ever the optimist. [voice from the audience: "But Emperor Dan! Maybe Maisel sincerely believes Wolfe should be a contender. If he really wanted to keep Brady Quinn out of his Heisman top five, he would have just put in some clearly unqualified player that no one would ever dream of even inviting to New York.]
"4. Bobby Reid, Oklahoma State, QB: The Cowboys' quarterback is putting up great numbers and has led Oklahoma State back from a miserable 2005."
Quinn, in his worst game this season, threw for 234 yards, 3 interceptions, and 3 touchdowns. Even if you believe that this is rougly equivalent to rushing for 25 yards, certainly you cannot ignore that Notre Dame's loss came to the #2 team in the nation, while Northern Illinois' meltdown was to a team WHO IS NOT EVEN THE BEST DIRECTIONAL MICHIGAN TEAM IN THE MAC!!!
The only things that seperate Maisel's #1 Heisman hopeful, Troy Smith, and our Brady Quinn are 2 interceptions and loss to Michigan. Nevermind the fact that it is a very real possibility "the team up North" could equalize the situation a month from now. To say that one will win the Heisman over the other is one thing. To say that players like Wolfe and Reid will it before Quinn is quite another.
Wave good-bye to credibility, Ivan. This guy is now more believable than you.
I'm more than a bit exhausted with those who are choosing to label Bush and his advisers as evildoers. And when I was reading Andrew Sullivan yesterday, it finally dawned on me why he and the others are going to such great lengths to call Bush's policies evil: they have made themselves into self-proclaimed evil-haters. I mean...what in the world would feel better than championing oneself as a righteous voice of values in regards to the war on terrorism?
And you realize how empty their evil labels are when they compare President Bush to the evil lord Sauron from Lord of the Rings. Don't believe me? Check it out here...
Why is President Bush the #1 enemy of so many liberals when Bin Laden and the Iranian ayatollahs are still threatening us?
From this Bloomberg article bluntly titled "Bono, Preacher on Poverty, Tarnishes Halo With Irish Tax Move":
Bono, the rock star and campaigner against Third World debt, is asking the Irish government to contribute more to Africa. At the same time, he's reducing tax payments that could help fund that aid.
After Ireland said it would scrap a break that lets musicians and artists avoid paying taxes on royalties, Bono and his U2 bandmates earlier this year moved their music publishing company to the Netherlands. The Dublin group, which Forbes estimates earned $110 million in 2005, will pay about 5 percent tax on their royalties, less than half the Irish rate.
2005: Notre Dame is racist! How dare they give Charlie Weis a contract extension after half a season when they fired Ty Willingham so early! He doesn't need this extension! He's not worthy! No one in the NFL would want that mediocre Weis! You idiots!
1. Ohio State 2. Michigan 3. USC 4. Texas 5. Notre Dame 6. Tennessee 7. Auburn 8. Florida 9. Louisville 10. California 11. West Virginia 12. Clemson 13. Georgia Tech 14. Oregon 15. Boston College
Rationale:
Michigan's spot at number 2 is now indisputable. They've faced tougher competition than USC and they have had far more convincing victories. Florida drops to number 8 because they lost. I had a lot of trouble choosing where to put Auburn/Florida relative to Notre Dame/Tennessee. Basically a flip of the coin in my mind. That moves Texas and others up a spot. I moved ND ahead of Tennessee, even though ND didn't have a game this weekend, because of two reasons: first, Tennessee's victory over Georgia isn't as impressive as it first seemed and second, they lost to a team who has now lost as well. Louisville and West Virginia continue to get dinged because they still haven't played anyone worth mentioning. Finally, Boston College definitely deserves to make the list, as much as it pains me to place them there, with their solid victory over V. Tech.
Fusing Libertarian and social conservative agendas
By Luke
Dick Armey says there was a time when evangelicals and libertarians were unified in their interests within the Republican party. This unification, he argues, has been broken by power-hungry leaders of the Christian conservative movement. But don't take my word for it. Go to Ryan Sager's website to read the full text of a letter written by Armey on this matter. Here are my favorite excerpts (with the best ones in my bold):
There was a day when social conservatives were united with economic conservatives in the belief that small, limited government was not only good for our economy and the prosperity of American families, but essential to protect traditional family values. We all fought for a limited federal government — a government that had the decency to respect the American people by staying out of their lives. Small government meant that all Christians could practice their faith as they saw fit. Big government violates those rights by meddling in our lives, misusing our hard-earned money, and dictating cultural norms to us...
And while for most in the Christian conservative movement these issues still resonate, the same cannot be said for some of our Washington, D.C.-based religious leaders...
As Majority Leader, I remember vividly a meeting with the House leadership where Dobson scolded us for having failed to “deliver” for Christian conservatives, that we owed our majority to him, and that he had the power to take our jobs back. This offended me, and I told him so.
In a later meeting Dobson and a colleague came into my office to lobby against a trade bill, asking me to stop the legislation from going to the House floor. They were wrong on the issue, and I told them no. Would you at least postpone the vote, they asked? We have a direct mail fundraising letter about to go out to our membership, they said.
I wondered then if their opposition to the bill was driven less by their moral compass and more by the need to rile their membership and increase revenue. I wondered then, if these self-appointed Christian leaders, like many politicians, had come to Washington to do good, but had instead done well for themselves...
Nowhere was it more wrong, with more disastrous policy ends, than in the Terri Schiavo intervention. While her case was heartbreaking, our Founders created a government built on checks and balances, not a nation run by an arbitrary and imperial Congress. Congress cannot simply override our entire state and federal legal system to intervene in one person’s situation. It was truly a chilling act...
Freedom is a gift from God Almighty, and we have a responsibility to protect it. Christians face a temptation to power when we are fortunate enough to have a majority of support in Congress. But government can never advance a faith that is freely given, and it is corrosive to even try. Just look at Europe, where decades of nanny-state activism— including taxpayer support for churches and for religious political parties— have severely eroded the faith. In America today, too many of our Christian leaders fail to recognize the temptation to power and the danger it holds for our society and our faith...
We must avoid the temptation to use the power of government to perfect our society and its citizens. That is the same urge that drives the Left and the socialists, and I can assure you that every program or power we give government today in the name of our values can be turned against us when the day comes where a majority of Congress is hostile to us.
Instead, we need to limit the sphere of government and create civil space where private institutions, individual responsibility and religious faith can flourish. By reducing the size of the welfare state, we increase the importance of the works of Christian charities and our church communities. By reducing the tax burden on families, we make it easier for Christian households to tithe or for young mothers to stay home to raise their children. The same is true for retirement security based on ownership. Reducing the ever-growing reach of the federal government means local communities, and more important, parents, are free to establish the standards and values for the education of their children.
Our movement must avoid the temptations of power and those who would twist the good intentions of Christian voters to support policies that undermine freedom and grow government. Freedom is what gives America its unique place in the world, and protecting and expanding our freedom is what creates the space necessary to keep our faith strong and growing.
The mystery surrounding North Korea's nuclear test remains. The U.S. is still officially silent on the matter, France is saying the test was a dud with a blast from only .5-1 kiloton (matching South Korea's estimate), Russia is saying it definitely went nuclear with a blast between 5-15 kiloton, and Norway measures the blast at 1-10 kiloton.
Meanwhile, France has bashed the Russian number as an unsupported hypothesis. This, along with the U.S. intelligence leak measuring the blast at less than 1 kiloton, makes me believe the test was indeed a dud. If it went nuclear, it was an extremely sloppy blast, probably using a fraction of the available nuclear material.
So what are the strategic reasons that may be biasing the numbers? Here are two opposed theories: first, hype up the test as successful because saying the test was a dud would only challenge Kim Jong Il to do another test; second, challenge him to do as many tests as possible so as to waste a significant amount of North Korea's nuclear material.
But that's not what's spooky... What's spooky is that both Notre Dame and the Colts have byes this week. If it were not for Roncalli playing tonight this would be like the dark days outside of football season.
No worries though; I have more than enough political matters to fill the space :-)
So Google has created a service called Picasa Web Albums. They already had a photo organization program called Picasa but now they also let users upload their photos online, a service offered by dozens of other companies. As usual though, Google does it better. Also, they offer a plug-in that lets Mac users easily upload albums from iPhoto. Best of both worlds. So here are my crappy photos from the ND-Stanford weekend:
Well, perhaps it wasn't that egregious an error, but still, Ivan Maisel's latest "For Argument's Sake" column certainly contains some revisionist history. The passage that bothers me?
[on Michigan's win at Notre Dame] "It didn't take long to figure out this was not the same Meeshigan. Prescott Burgess stepped in front of Brady Quinn's second pass, intercepted it and returned it 32 yards for a touchdown. Exit crowd noise, exit momentum, exit the Irish -- and by the time Michigan led 34-14 at the half, exit the Carr doubters. "
Hey Maisel, a word to the wise: it's fine if you prefer your women fast and loose, but when it comes to reporting the facts, that just won't cut it. Burgess most definitely did not step in front of Quinn's pass; he caught the deflected pass in the air after ND tight end John Carlson bungled what was a decent pass from Brady.
Oh, but Daniel, you say... you're making a mountain out of a Maisel. Notre Dame still lost badly to Michigan, and Quinn still had less than a stellar day. Ivan's memory must just be a little bad. It's certainly not true that there's any evidence that he for some reason bears ill will towards the Irish.
Well. Dig a little deeper.
Maisel doesn't even rank Brady in his top five Heisman candidates. Hmm... still plausible...
Notre Dame is ranked 14 in his top 16. One spot ahead of Irish victim #1 Georgia Tech, but THREE SPOTS BEHIND ARKANSAS!
Ok, so Maisel has a unique opinion. So what. It's not like ESPN has it out for ND. Sure, you had ESPN analyst Craig James say last week that Georgia Tech should be ranked ahead of the Irish (despite the pesky fact that the Yellow Jackets lost to ND in week 1).
You're just paranoid, Emperor Dan. There is no conspiracy here. Nothing at all.
Here are the contests that my Super15 have this weekend. I've placed asterisks next to the key games...
Thursday
Clemson(12) plays Temple.
Saturday
West Virgina(11) plays Syracuse Iowa(14) plays Indiana Arkansas(15) plays Southeast Missouri State *Ohio State (1) plays Michigan State *Louisville(8) plays Cincinnati California(9) plays Washington St. Texas(5) plays Baylor *Florida(2) plays Auburn(10) USC(4) plays Arizona St. *Michigan(3) plays Penn St.
Tennessee(6), Notre Dame(7), and Georgia Tech(13) do not play
...
So that's 4 key matchups. How well Ohio State plays against MSU will indicate how good they really are. Plus, MSU is an emotional an inconsistent team and could pull a shocking upset if things go their way.
Cincinnati looked very strong against OSU earlier this season. We'll see if Louisville is for real this game. Look for an upset. This would bump ND up a position in the AP and coaches polls.
Florida versus Auburn is obviously huge. If Auburn wins, look for them to leapfrog ND. If Florida wins, they'll secure the #2 position and probably even get some #1 votes.
Finally we have Michigan versus Penn State. I look for Michigan to dominate this game, but Penn State is not a complete pushover. Michigan securely at #3 and encroaching on #2 after this game.
Shockingly I'm not talking about football in this post :-) So here are a couple stories regarding Notre Dame's continued efforts to maintain academic elite status.
The first is the results of ND's annual fund for the 2006 fiscal year. In that period, ND raised $180.7 million in donations, setting a record for the university.
The second is a story in ND Magazine about the school's new science building: Jordan Hall of Science. The $70 million structure will include increased space for advanced classrooms, labs, and meeting/social space. It also features a 136-seat planetarium and an observatory with "a telescope unsurpassed by any other in the Midwest" along with 9 telescope pedestals for undergraduate use. Even cooler, all of these telescopes and the Large Binocular Telescope Observatory in Arizona can patch their feed into the planetarium.
This Chinese saying perfectly vocalizes what is going on in China and Russia these days...
In China, Communist Party chief Hu Jintao has undertaken a campaign to consolidate his power. Besides the normal communist techniques, Hu has also accused lower level party bosses of corruption.
