Score One for Democracy

Lebanon's Syrian-backed government resigns. Next up the removal of Syrian troops in Lebanon. I hope :)

They Might Want to Bring That Internet Thing to Russia

During President Bush's visit to Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized President Bush for firing the CBS news reporters who lost their jobs over the story on President Bush's National Guard record. According to one senior administration official, "It was like something out of 1984." Indeed.

Another Reason to Hate the Cubs

As some of you may know, I am a die-hard Chicago White Sox fan and one of the requirements to being a die-hard White Sox fan is to have an intense hatred for the Cubs. Recently, the Cubs did something very crafty, but very illegal. They formed their own ticket broker service called Wrigley Field Premium Tickets. In this arrangement, the Cubs sell some of their tickets to Premium Tickets, who then sells it well above face value. For example, during the Cubs-Yankees series two years ago, the Cubs sold a number of its most expensive seats ($45) to Premium Tickets who then sold the tickets for $1500 a piece. Not surprisingly, some Cubs fans were not pleased with this new arrangement and sued the Cubs. Unfortunately, these Cubs fans got stuck with a brain-dead judge who ruled that the Tribune Company owns Premium Tickets and not the Cubs, even though the Tribune owns the Cubs. Because of the Cubs success in starting their own ticket broker, other major league teams are ready to do the same thing, which is unfortunate because these kind of operations only serve to line the pockets of fat cat owners and not the fans.

If you want to read more about what the Cubs are doing, Greg Couch of the Chicago Sun-Times, who wrote the story linked above, has written several columns on the issue. They are here, here and here.

Hotel Journalism

Bartle Bull, who has reported for the New York Times on Iraq has some harsh words for his MSM colleagues on its coverage of Iraq. Here's the first power quote:

I try to avoid the hotels and the green zone and the Fort Apache press compounds when I am here. Sometimes it seems as though I am on a different planet from my colleagues in big media, and at those moments I worry briefly that I am getting the story wrong. The people at NBC news are not even allowed to go to the restaurant in their hotel. They report from the roof. When I went to the BBC's Baghdad bunker for some interviews after the election, the reporters I had been watching on television asked me, "So what's it like out there in the real world?" They meant the Iraqi street.

Here's the second power quote:

The failure of "hotel journalism" might be forgivable if it were truly about prudence or even laziness. But there has been something willful about the bad reporting of this story. It is weirdly personal: Iraq must fail. It is in fact the press that failed, on a scale for which I cannot think of a precedent. Will the big media outlets demand the same accountability of themselves that they demand of everyone else? They should, for the success of these elections was not so surprising to those who dug below the surface of Iraq.

I have been critical of the MSM coverage in Iraq for its narrow focus on the soldiers dying and the insurgent attacks and not paying sufficient attention to other events such as the rebuilding effort. It's good to see someone in the MSM taking a critical look at its coverage.

All But Won?

That's what Jack Kelly of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette proclaims today about the U.S.'s efforts against the insurgents. I don't think the U.S. is quite there yet with the insurgents still able to carry out significant attacks such as the attack against Shiite worshippers last week that left 30 dead and 40 wounded. However, I think the insurgency has been considerably weakened with a successful, free-election in Iraq.

The One Time the U.S. Might Want to Listen to Europe

This past week, President Bush went on the charm offensive in Europe, pledging to work more closely with his European allies. Slate's Fred Kaplan is pessimistic about President Bush backing up his words with actions, especially when it comes to dealing with Iran. While I do not share Kaplan's pessimism for now, I do agree with him that the U.S. should join Britain, France and Germany in its talks with Iran to dismantle its nuclear program.

The U.S. has three options right now to deal with Iran: invasion, encourage and support an internal uprising or join Europe in its talks to disarm Iran. The first option is dead in the water with the U.S. military still deeply involved in Iraq. The second option is riddled with problems too. It's unclear whether they are enough people in Iran so fed up with the mullahs that would support and engage in an uprising. In addition, I worry about the instability that a semi-successful uprising would cause in that the mullahs would lose control of the nuclear facilities and terrorists taking advantage of the power vacuum were able to take nuclear material from these facilities. While having the Iranian mullahs in control of nuclear weapons is a bad situation, terrorists having even a faction of this material is an even worse situation. The third option of a nuclear disarmament agreement certainly has problems too. There is a good possibility that with any agreement reached with Iran, that Iran will try to cheat. However, cheating can be minimized with an agreement that allows for random inspections from the U.N. and IAEA where ever and when ever and an agreement that has sufficient carrots and sticks to encourage compliance.

While a nuclear disarmament agreement appears to be the best of the imperfect solutions to deal with Iran, it has little chance of coming to fruition without the presence of the U.S. in the talks. The U.S. is the lone superpower, and can provide the biggest carrots and sticks in any agreement. Iran is not going believe anything Britain, France or Germany tells them about what the U.S. will do if they agree to disarm. In addition, to borrow a point from Kaplan's article, Iran is building nuclear weapons in part out of fear of an attack by the U.S. and Israel and not Britain, France and Germany. U.S. presence is needed to give any credibility to disarmament talks with Iran.

Quote of the Day

"This notion that the United States is getting ready to attack Iran is simply ridiculous. And having said that, all options are on the table."

President Bush

Another Way to Fix Intelligence

Michael Schrage in the Washington Post has an interesting proposal to improve intelligence analysis. He argues that analysts should add numerical probabilities to their estimates and assessments (e.g., there is 20 percent chance that people in Iran will rise up against the mullahs). I think this a great idea. If investment banks can quantify the risks of its investments (world events certainly play a role in the risks of its investments), then why can't analysts at the CIA do the same?

Last Rant on Traffic Cameras (I think)

Citing "widespread suspicion and criticism of the program," Council Member Phil Mendelson, chairman of the Judiciary Committee on the D.C. City Council called a hearing on Wednesday to discuss the traffic camera program. Mendelson had some pointed questions and comments for Police Chief Charles Ramsey and Edward Reiskin, the city's deputy mayor for public safety.

Mendelson asked Ramsey why out of the 40 most dangerous intersections (in terms of the number of accidents), only 11 of them had red light traffic cameras. Think about that for a moment. Nearly three-fourths of the 40 most dangerous intersections do not have red light cameras. You would think that if these cameras were about safety, that at least a majority of these intersections would have cameras. Ramsey's response is that he did not want to pull cameras out of intersections where accidents and red-light has gone down and see it spike back up. Ramsey failed to answer Mendelson's question. He wasn't asking Ramsey to pull out the red light cameras out of some intersections and put them in others. He was questioning on why some intersections have cameras and why others don't. Ramsey pulled the old politician trick of let me answer the question I wished you asked me, so I can stick to my talking points.

But the lack of firm answers was not most troubling aspect of yesterday's hearing. Mendelson questioned Reiskin about a letter from Mayor Anthony Williams to the City Council concerning the approval of ACS's contract with the city. ACS is responsible for processing and sending out all traffic camera tickets. In the letter Mayor Williams said there is "an urgent need to ensure the continued processing of District tickets and the collection of District revenues." The letter makes no mention of any safety concerns if ACS contract is not renewed. Very interesting. Mayor Williams does have a point. When the program brings in close to $100 million in six years that would hurt the city's coffers significantly if the program was no longer around. But the city reluctantly takes the $100 million because hey this is about safety (excuse me while I let out a good laugh). Of course after the City Council received the letter, they renewed ACS's contract.

While the City Council renewed ACS's contract, some of the City Council members may have wanted to take a closer look at the fine print. Mendelson criticized the new contract with ACS, which calls for a flat fee of $651,735 a month, and an additional $19,500 to $23,000 for every group of 2,500 citations that exceeds the monthly threshold of 53,750 tickets. Let's see you have a for-profit company that potentially gets more money if they write more tickets. Oh I'm sure that won't lead to abuse. In fact, the city seems to be practical counting on that being the case, as part of the contract states, "If the city were to roll out everything contemplated in the District's plan, the city could be issuing over 103,300 photo-enforcement tickets per month." Again, at $30 to $200 bucks a pop, the city could generate $100 million not in six years, but in one year! Ramsey claimed that he did not know about the provision. I'm sure as one of the biggest champions, Ramsey keeps himself blissfully ignorant of all the details of the traffic program.

The more I find out about the traffic program, the more disgusted I become of it. On a positive note, WUSA in Washington, D.C. is reporting that the House of Delegates in Virginia was successfully able to fight off efforts by the Virginia Senate to renew the traffic camera program after the renewal of the traffic camera program died in a House of Delegates committee last week.

A Remembrance: The Miracle on Ice

Yesterday was the 25th anniversary of the United States's victory over the Soviet Union in the 1980 Winter Olympics. I got to catch a replay of the game on ESPN Classic last night. I got a tremendous sense of pride watching the underdog United States beat the vaunted Soviet Union team, that just two weeks earlier had beaten the U.S. 10-3. I found myself joining the crowd and chanting, "USA! USA! USA!" I was feeling all this emotion even though the game took place two years before I was born. I think that says something about the significance of this event in U.S. history. In fact, I believe this game was the turning point in the United States winning the Cold War against the Soviet Union. The U.S. at the time was experiencing a number of difficult events. There was high inflation and high unemployment. Gas shortages were frequent. U.S. hostages had been taken in Iran. The Soviet Union had begun its invasion of Afghanistan. The U.S. looked as though its best days were behind it. But something changed after the U.S.'s victory over the USSR. People began to believe in America again. They felt proud to be an American. One of the most touching moments of the rebroadcast of the game was actually a moment that occurred outside of the arena after the game. ABC Broadcaster Jim McKay was the on the verge of tears as he described people in bars spontaneously singing the National Anthem after the U.S.'s victory. Ronald Reagan was able to capture this new found optimism and told Americans on the campaign trail that America's best days were still ahead. People believed him, and the rest is history. Who knew that a stupid little hockey game could have such an effect on how one felt about their own country.

Editor's Note: For those of you who have ESPN Classic, they are showing the game again at 8 PM ET on Thursday.

Karl Rove: Evil Genius

This will be one of the rare times that I will blatantly rip off a post from a fellow blogger, but this is too funny to pass up. Congressman Maurice Hinchey has accused Bush advisor Karl Rove of planting the fake National Guard memos to bring down Dan Rather. Tim Blair has recreated the conversation that put this plan into motion. The conversation is below.

(Rove enters the Chamber of Destruction and greets his assembled operatives)

Rove: Gentlemen. Ladies. Mr. Gannon. Mr. Murdoch.

(Various responses: "Hiya!" "Howdy." "G'day.")

Rove: People, you have done good work. You have tirelessly attempted to undermine John Kerry's bid for the presidency. And yet the latest polling shows that Kerry may still win.

(Murmured complaints: "Dang!" "This is soooo not happening." "Can't compete with a Magic Hat.")

Rove: Silence! I cannot tell you how much this disappoints and angers me.

(An assistant appears at Rove's side with a baseball bat. He is waved away)

Rove: But now is not the time for fault-finding, or skull-crushing. Now is the time for action. Serious action. In fact, the most serious action it is possible for us to undertake.

Murdoch: You don't mean ... ?

Rove: Yes. It is time for us to deploy the Doomsday Device.

(Several reel from the table in shock; two are ill)

Rove: Mr. Gannon, please fetch the Device. And put some pants on, for God's sake.

Gannon: Y-yes sir. Right away, Mr. Karl, sir.

(Gannon exits the room; the anxious conspirators listen as the sound of several vaults being sequentially opened echoes throughout the Chamber. Presently Gannon returns, carrying a briefcase)

Rove: Open it.

(Gannon enters the security code -DAILYKOS- and the briefcase springs ajar. Looking away in fear and torment, he nudges the briefcase towards Rove)

Rove: And now it is time. Time to unveil our most hideous, most perfect plan. (Rove grips the briefcase with both hands) Do you people truly know of the evil that man can attain? Do you know of the Dark Lord's majesty? Do you know of a terror so sublime that any lesser atrocity-Salem; the Holocaust; our coming assassination and cannibalism of the Pope-will from this point on make you giggle like little girls? Behold!

(Rove removes from the briefcase several sheets of paper. He studies them intently; every eye in the room is trained upon him. Finally, Rove speaks ...)

Rove: This is the frickin' Doomsday Device? A bunch of bogus National Guard memos? What the hell?

Clarence Thomas: Well, what we thought we'd do, see, was hand these over to the media and ...

Rove: Oh, come on! These are dated 1972 but they're in Microsoft Word! Hellloooo! You think anybody in their right mind will fall for these? Oh, look here; you haven't even changed the default settings! Why, I could type these up at home!

Ann Coulter: With respect, sir, the plan was to ...

Rove: Plan? Plan? Listen, legs, this plan wouldn't fool a Kennedy! Or a crack-addicted homeless person! This so-called plan wouldn't rate a segment on Air America! This plan I'm looking at wouldn't be posted at Democratic goddamn Underground! This half-assed, retard plan isn't worth the ...

Hugh Hewitt: Actually, we were thinking of giving the memos to Dan Rather.

Rove: Proceed.

And since this is will be one of the rare instances of plagiarism , I figure I should go all out.



This is the flashing siren used by Matt Drudge when he has a breaking story. Apparently, the siren has been stolen and been pass around to so many websites that this lowly blog now has it.(hat tip: Daily Contentions)

Quote of the Day

"His first public act was sitting down to dinner with his European nemesis, Jacque Chirac. Surely, that sent a message?"
"Yes Jon. I did what I wanted. I got re-elected. I'm not going anywhere. So lets eat dinner and make the first course feasting on my ball sack."

Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert discussing President Bush's Visit to Europe on the Daily Show

I Don't Think This Would Ever Happen at Notre Dame

A University of California-San Diego student, Steven York, aired a porn movie he made and starred in on the school's closed-circuit television network several times. The airing has generated a lot of controversy. Critics say the student-TV station should not be broadcasting obscene material. York says that it's free speech. Whatever the school administrators' opinions are on the matter, the worse punishment York could face would be the shutting down of the student-run TV station (Student President Jenn Pae says that this unlikely). If UCSD does not shut down the TV station, York has promised to air additional homemade porno movies he's made. It's good to see California's tax dollars being used towards such a worthy cause. (hat tip: All Dumb)

Party Loyalty or Idiocy?

According to a poll done by Washington College, in a theoretical match-up between President George W. Bush and the father of our country, President George Washington, 62 percent of Republicans would vote for the current President.

Where Are the Notre Dame Big Men?

Notre Dame got absolutely manhandled tonight by UConn 88-74. The difference in game was the frontcourt play. Notre Dame was outrebounded 38 to 24 and their frontcourt was outscored 42 to 27. Whenever UConn needed a rebound or a score they got it. Notre Dame's current record is 16-8 with three games remaining. They play UCLA, Rutgers and Pittsburgh (all at home) and are going to need to win two of those three games to seal a NCAA bid. The UCLA and Rutgers games are very winnable games, but they cannot be outrebounded like they were tonight if they hope to win any of the next three games. Granted, UConn has one of the best frontlines in the country, but it looked like the UConn big men were outhustling and more aggressive than Notre Dame's big men, which is inexcusable. Notre Dame may be able to steal some games here and there with lights out three point shooting, but if they want to play consistently, Notre Dame is going to need help up front and they need it fast.

That Didn't Take Long

Just yesterday, I expressed a hope that other localities such as Washington, D.C ., would follow the example of Virginia and rid themselves of their traffic cameras. It looks like D.C. is going in the opposite direction. The Washington Post reports that the police are activating four new stationary photo radar cameras.

The D.C. police argue that the additional cameras are needed to reduce the number of the speed-related fatalities. The problem with that argument is that one of the locations that a new stationary camera is going up, MacArthur Boulevard NW, has not had a speed-related crash in seven years.

Another problem with that argument is that the burden of paying these photo-enforced tickets is on non-D.C. residents. According to the article, 60 percent of the photo-tickets issued last month were to cars registered in Maryland, 1o percent of tickets were to cars registered in Virginia and 25 percent of the tickets were to cars registered in D.C. This statistic suggests that the locations of the cameras are in areas more likely to nab non-D.C. residents (e.g., New York Ave, NE which is near I-295).

If this is the case, it's politically astute on the D.C. government's part because non-D.C. residents can do little to get the D.C. government to change its stance on traffic cameras. I think if the numbers were reversed and 60 percent of these tickets were issued to D.C.-registered drivers, there would be much more of an uproar to the city's efforts to expand the traffic camera program than there is now, especially when these tickets cost drivers anywhere from $30 to $200 a pop.

While it's politically astute to be ticketing non-D.C. registered drivers instead of D.C.-registered drivers, it shows the fallacy of the police's reasoning that these cameras are about safety. If these cameras were about safety, shouldn't most of the people ticketed have cars registered in D.C. I think it's a safe assumption that a majority of the cars on roads of D.C. are D.C.-registered cars. Are D.C. drivers that much safer than non-resident drivers? After driving around this town for six months, the answer is a firm no. But hey lets keep the good times rolling in D.C. The government has a $1.2 billion surplus, and it doesn't hurt that since 1999, that the traffic camera program has generated nearly $100 million for the government.

Finally Someone Gets It

Recently, I wrote a rant against traffic cameras that some jurisdictions such as Washington, D.C. and Maryland use to catch people running red lights and speeding. As I pointed out in the post, the cameras actually decrease traffic safety and serve only as a means to provide income to the government. Well, one state has decided to scrap its traffic camera program. On Friday a committee in the House of Delegates in the Virginia rejected legislation that would have continued to allow communities in Virginia to use traffic cameras to ticket red-light runners. The traffic camera program will end July 1. This was a nice turn around for the House of Delegates, who last week embarrassed themselves by passing legislation that regulated the height one could wear one's pants. Let's hope other jurisdictions follow Virginia's example in ridding its communities of traffic cameras.

Just Shut Up

Last Sunday former major leaguer Jose Canseco was on 60 Minutes promoting his new book, Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big. In the book, Canseco claims that steroid use in baseball is rampant and that several prominent players have used steroids including Ivan Rodriguez, Rafael Palmeiro, Miguel Tejeda, Bret Boone and Mark McGwire. Among Canseco's most startling claims, Canseco alleges that he injected McGwire and other teammates and that when he played for the Texas Rangers, team owner and current U.S. President, George W. Bush, knew about the steroid use within the team and did nothing to stop it.

What shocks me most is not so much Canseco's allegations, but rather that people actually believe what he says. ESPN's Skip Bayless said that Canseco came off "quite convincingly" in his 60 Minutes interview and that it "might open a window into our national pastime through which only a few media members have peeked." Chicago Tribune's Rick Morrissey argues, "[I]f you want to find out about steroids, it makes sense to ask a guy who made a career out of them, just as you go to Dennis Rodman if you want to know about tattoos." The San Francisco Chronicle in an editorial adds, "The credibility of the former Oakland A's slugger was widely dismissed several years ago, when he suggested that 80 percent of major leaguers had used steroids. But that was before the BALCO scandal and the grand-jury testimony of superstars Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi shed a harsh light on the use of performance-enhancing drugs at the highest levels of sport."

Along with the media, the general public is gobbling up the book with it listed #12 on Amazon's Best Seller List. Now I certainly don't have my head in sand and believe that steroid use was limited to just to a few players. However, I would believe something Bill Clinton said before I would believe anything that Jose Canseco said. Canseco is a man with significant financial problems. According to ESPN, he owes over $30,000 in taxes to the State of Massachusetts. Just a few months ago, Canseco put up for bid on eBay an opportunity to hang out with him for a few hours with the bidding starting at several thousand dollars (no one bid on the item). With the book selling at $25.95 a pop, that should help ease Canseco's financial situation. [UPDATE: Canseco has put up his World Series ring for sale and it can be yours for the low price of $40,000.]

However, it is not Canseco's motivations that destroys his credibility, but rather his own words. Jeff Merron of ESPN points out that Canseco's memory is a little fuzzy. For example, Canseco states in his book, "I remember one day during 2001 spring training, when I was with the Anaheim Angels in a game against the Seattle Mariners, Bret Boone's new team. I hit a double, and when I got out there to second base I got a good look at Boone. I couldn't believe my eyes. He was enormous. 'Oh my God,' I said to him. 'What have you been doing?' 'Shhh,' he said. 'Don't tell anybody.'" The only problem with Canseco's claim is that in the five times that Canseco's team (the Angels) played the Mariners in spring training in 2001, Canseco never reached base.

Baseball certainly needs to clean up its act after the BALCO scandal and it has taken an important step in reducing steroid use with a new, tough steroid policy that has a mandatory suspension for the first positive test. I have no problem with someone naming people who have used steroids, but I'll wait for a more reliable source than Jose Canseco.

Welcome

I would like to welcome all of you to Musings of a Domer. I've been guest-blogging from time to time on Daily Contentions, and I've gotten the itch to do this everyday, hence the birth of this blog. The focus of this blog will be a complete lack of focus. There will be posts on sports, on politics, on movies, on television, on books and anything else that I deem interesting. About the only recurring topic you'll see will be Notre Dame (hey I got to live up to the title and support my alma mater), which you will see an increasing number posts about when football season begins. The goal of my blog is simple: to inform and to entertain. If you have any suggestions or feedback about blog, don't hesitate to send me an e-mail, although don't be expecting any fancy graphics since my html knowledge next to zero. All right enough of this welcoming non-sense. On to the posts!