on politricks, nonsense, etc

P O L I T I C S.   N O N S E N S E.   S N A R K.

23 March 2011

On Chris Brown.

Remember this?
Kanye West gave a performance that will never be forgotten at the MTV Video Music Awards, but unfortunately for him, it had nothing to do with his music. 
The rapper stormed on stage to unleash an astonishing rant during an acceptance speech by country starlet Taylor Swift at the MTV Video Music Awards last night. 
The 19-year-old singer, who was collecting Best Female Video for You Belong To Me, was left humiliated as West snatched the microphone from her hands.
In an outlier to her authentic-as-astroturf albums, Swift had this to say:
I was standing on stage and I was really excited because I'd just won the award and then I was really excited because Kanye West was on stage. And then I wasn't excited anymore after that.

17 March 2011

Romantic sacrifice.

CBS/Turner signs 14-year, $10.8 billion deal with the NCAA for exclusive rights to the men's basketball tournament after the NCAA opts out of the final three years of an 11-year, $6 billion dollar contract.

ESPN signs 12-year, $1.86 billion deal with the Atlantic Coast Conference for exclusive rights to broadcast conference football and men's basketball games.

CBS signs 15-year, $800 million deal with the Southeastern Conference for football and basketball rights.

ESPN also signs 15-year, $2.25 billion deal with the SEC for sport broadcast rights — ultimately more than 5,500 televised events, including football games not already on CBS.

ESPN signs 20-year, $300 million deal with the University of Texas for sport broadcast rights, including at least one football game per year.

ESPN signs $125 million-a-year deal with the Bowl Championship Series for exclusive rights to the four most prestigious post season NCAA Division I Football post-season games and the "BCS National Championship Game".

Big Ten schools earn $22 million-a-year from television contracts, football bowl games and NCAA licensing.

The University of Georgia generated $52.5 million in football profits from 1 July, 2009 to 30 June, 2010.

A.J. Green, former Georgia football player and projected first-round pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, wore the number '8' on his jersey. Price of an "Authentic" Georgia football jersey, from the official NCAA merchandise store, adorned with the number '8': $150.00.  Green's name, hysterically, is not across the back of the jersey because the NCAA believes that itself and schools should not profit off the name of amateur athletes.  That even though they market them, that even though they sign billion-dollar contracts to showcase them on television where they are repeatedly called by name, they won't sell a jersey with an athlete's name on it in the name of keeping the sport 'pure'.  In the name of upholding 'amateurism'.

So, on 8 September, 2010, in the name of maintaining the purity of collegiate athletics, the NCAA suspended Georgia football player A.J. Green four games for selling a game-worn bowl jersey for $1000.

12 March 2011

Scott Fitzgerald actually said this stuff.

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald had a few things to say:
Today, the most shameful 14 people in the state of Wisconsin are going to pat themselves on the back and smile for the cameras.
I know the Bucks have wildly underperformed their expectations this season, but is that enough to call their players 'shameful'?  Shouldn't we — as fans, as people — withhold such rhetoric until a higher threshold of shame is crossed?  Hell, Andrew Bogut rushed back from a catastrophic elbow injury just for a fast-becoming apathetic fanbase.  Shameful is a low blow, Senator.  

Subtracting Redd from the usual 15-man roster, however, is hysterical.  Touché, salesman.
They're going to pretend they're heroes for taking a three week vacation.
Oh.  He's talking about the Senate Democrats who left the state in an attempt to stop a totalitarian regime from ramming a bill through.  Great.

Straight Rights Watch: Indiana

This week, on 'Adventures in Sexcrime'...


What are you up to, Indiana?
"The vast majority of both the Senate and House are pro-life legislators, and I think we truly represent Hoosier constituents," said Rep. Eric Turner, R-Marion, who authored House Bill 1210, the bill that would make abortions illegal after 20 weeks. Current state law bans it after the fetus is viable, which a doctor determines, generally around 24 weeks
That... hmm. That certainly doesn't justify an hour of programming on Lifetime. False alarm, thanks for reading, be sure to-

Oh. There's more?

10 March 2011

Jeff Fitzgerald: 2 + 2 = 5

Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald today:
We ran on this.  We were going to get the fiscal house in order. This is how we ran in our election. This is how we picked up 14 seats from you guys.  The public spoke (in the elections).  They said, ‘no more, no more. We want you to go to Madison and do what you say you’re going to do.’
Says PolitiFact
But Walker, who offered many specific proposals during the campaign, did not go public with even the bare-bones of his multi-faceted plans to sharply curb collective bargaining rights. He could not point to any statements where he did. We could find none either.

09 March 2011

"This is a violation of law!"

The Wisconsin State Senate passed a stripped-down version of Governor Scott Walker's "budget-repair bill" earlier tonight. Having had all budget-related elements expunged from the bill in an earlier, makeshift committee with only one Democrat present — Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca — the nineteen Senate Republicans were able to vote on Walker's bill as a non-budgetary action in the Senate does not require a successful quorum — what the Senate Democrats had been blocking with their escape from state troopers to Illinois.

And it wasn't even legal. Wisconsin law requires a twenty-four hour notice before a public body — like the aforementioned makeshift committee — can meet and only two hours were given. This breach of conduct weighed not on the Republican's minds for a second nor did the incredulous protests of Barca. "This is a violation of law! It's not a rule!"

Michigan thinks Walker isn't extreme enough.

Let's see what Michigan is up to.
Legislation that would allow emergency financial managers to throw out union contracts and overrule elected officials in financially distressed municipalities and school districts was approved in the Senate today.
Remember how Obama was being lambasted for using 'czars'? Even though they had no power? And were just glorified advisors that took his positions in meetings and would report back with status updates and their own views? Remember that? And the outrage from Republicans? There's no way any Senate Republicans from Michigan voted for this measure. No way. That would be hypocritical beyond hysterics.

08 March 2011

Barcelona 3 - 1 Arsenal

Shots on goal:
Barcelona - 19
Arsenal - 0

Possession:
Barcelona - 68%
Arsenal - 32%

Completed passes:
Barcelona: 738
Arsenal: 199

Has Lionel Messi:
Barcelona: Affirmative
Arsenal: Negative


Shake it off, Sergio  All is well.

NASCAR sucks.

At the Beijing Olympics, swimmer Michael Phelps won eight gold medals, the most ever by an athlete at a single Olympiad.  But, since it's swimming, Phelps didn't swim as fast as he could eight different times, be it in a relay or shorter and longer distances.  Oh no.  Phelps swam forwards, backwards, in an elliptical balderdash and then whatever the hell the "front crawl" is, all at distances of either one hundred or two hundred meters in individual and relay races.

Also at the Beijing Olympics, sprinter Usain Bolt became the fastest human being that ever lived.  He set the world-record in the 100-meter dash — while celebrating well before the finish line — and then won the 200-meter dash — besting Michael Johnson's thought to be untouchable world record.  He then merely helped his Jamaican compatriots set the world record in the 4x100-meter relay.

Bolt — the fastest human being ever — was overshadowed, of course, by Phelps in the media.  Bolt had three things going against him: Phelps being white, Phelps being American, swimming valuing different styles of strokes over fastest times.

07 March 2011

On Wisconsin, part three.

The conclusion of 'On Wisconsin'. Part one. Part two.

A narrative tossed about lately calls for public-union employees — namely teachers — to do their part. That the private sector is hurting, that jobs are being lost, that benefits are disappearing, that it is only fair for the hurt of the worst economic collapse since The Great Depression to now be shared by employees of the state by way of reduced benefits.

Purely and wholly on a basic level, this narrative makes sense. Perhaps it even qualifies as fair, given the unions agreeing to the monetary demands of Walker's budget repair bill.  But beyond the level of discourse found at a kindergarten playground, the argument is specious at best and Ostrichian at worst.

Composite sketch of the typical Governor Walker supporter


05 March 2011

Straight Rights Watch: Texas

Women seeking an abortion would have to first get an ultrasound under a measure approved on Thursday by the Texas House of Representatives. 
The proposal, the first significant bill considered by the House this year, was designated by Republican Governor Rick Perry as an emergency priority. A similar measure has already been approved by the state Senate.
An emergency priority, Governor?  Your state has a $30 billion dollar deficit and forcing women seeking an abortion to get an ultrasound is an emergency priority?  Is the next emergency priority new tetherballs for playgrounds or did you already get to that one?

Fun at the polls.

Public-Policy-Polling

Side with Governor Walker or the public employee unions:
Walker: 47%
Unions: 51%

Side with Governor Walker or the Senate Democrats:
Walker: 47%
Democrats: 52%

Walker's approval rating:
Approve: 46%
Disapprove: 52%

On public employee rights:
Fewer: 41%
Same: 44%
More: 11%

On public-unions having a right to collective bargaining:
Should not: 37%
Should: 57%

04 March 2011

Straight Rights Watch: South Dakota

The Straight Rights Watch is back!  Today, let's look to South Dakota:
South Dakota's governor said Thursday that he'll likely sign off on new abortion guidelines that would be some of the strictest in the country, requiring women to wait 72 hours before they could go through with the procedure and to submit to counseling about why they shouldn't. 
[...] 
But the 72-hour wait would be the longest in the nation, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights.

It appears Blackwhite is contagious.

Republicans* said and did some really absurd and scary things yesterday.

Scott Fitzgerald, the Senate Majority Leader:
We simply cannot have democracy be held hostage because the minority wants to prove a point.
That's right, Scott Fitzgerald.  It is holding democracy hostage that the Senate Democrats are doing by staying in Illinois.  Because what your fellow Senate Republicans did—rubber-stamping a bill from the Governor's office with a nary a thought to what was in the bill, refusing to support any Democrat's amendment, refusing to submit any of your own amendments unless the Governor asked and voting to block any amendments from even being offered--is democratic.  Being an extension of the Governor's office as members of a separate branch of the government is democratic and the Senate Democrats leaving the state is not.

03 March 2011

Straight Rights Watch: Wisconsin

Dan Savage—author of the nationally syndicated relationship and sex advice column "Savage Love", founder of the "It Gets Better" project created in response to bullied LGBT youth committing suicide, architect of the Rick Santorum Google bomb "Spreading Santorum"(potentially NSFW) and all around good guy—reintroduces the "Straight Rights Watch" in his latest column.

Straight Rights Watch, you ask?
We used to have a regular feature at Savage Love called “Straight Rights Watch.” It lapsed when the Democrats took the House in 2006 and political attacks on the sexual freedoms of straight people decreased. But the GOP is back in charge of the House and state houses across the country, and attacks on the sexual freedoms of heterosexuals—attempts to ban abortion, restrict access to birth control, destroy Planned Parenthood (which doesn’t just serve straight people), even make it legal to kill abortion providers (!!!)—are back, and so, sadly, is Straight Rights Watch.

02 March 2011

Governor Charlie Sheen



On 22 September, 2003, Two and a Half Men debuted on CBS.  The Chuck Lorre-created, Charlie Sheen-starring comedy pulled in over fifteen million viewers its first season and since has generated enough revenue to justify paying Emilio Estevez's brother $1.8 million per episode.  While I haven't the first clue how much china white one could snort up for that scratch, Two and a Half Men now finds itself on indefinite hiatus because Charlie Sheen does.
Cue Sinatra's rendition of "It Was a Very Good Year":

8 February 2010 -- Charged with felony menacing, third-degree assault and criminal mischief, stemming from a 25 December 2009 arrest for domestic assault upon his then wife, Brooke Mueller.  Charlie, per police documents, told his wife, "You better be in fear. If you tell anybody, I'll kill you.  I have ex-police I can hire who know how to get the job done and they won't leave any trace."  Happy Christmas!

Wisconsin's war on Bart Simpson.

Also, my rug was stolen.


The rug was in the car?

01 March 2011

This is not progress.

Way to go, Georgia.  Way to go.
Georgia is the latest state to propose legislation that questions whether President Barack Obama was born in the U.S., joining 10 other states who have measures that want more proof before his name is put on the 2012 ballot.
Seriously.  Congratulations on an active attempt to confirm the stereotypes of your state and the south.  I'm going to pop a bottle of Bollinger Grande Année 1990 and party in your honour.  No, really, you've earned it.
The 10 other states with pending bills include: Arizona, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Connecticut, Indiana, Nebraska, Tennessee and Maine. The measure has failed this year in Montana.
Let's see.  Governor Walker, a hero of the tea party*, is trying to spar with President Obama in the media, there are Republican majorities in both the Senate and Assembly and those Senate Republicans have a Voter ID bill on the floor.. Wisconsin, obviously, won't soon be in line to join Georgia and the other ten states.  Nope, that won't be happening.

* -- I refuse to capitalize 'tea party'.  Never before, not now, not ever.

Scott Walker is a foul individual.

Walker gave a speech today, you might have heard about it.
Democracy does not just expect differences, it demands them. It’s the manner in which we discuss and resolve those differences that leads to bold solutions and innovative reforms. I ask that we continue to be mindful of our differences – as well our similarities – in the coming days, weeks and months. Above all, let us not lose sight of the fact that we were each elected to represent the people of this state by participating in our democratic process. 
I applaud the State Assembly and those in the State Senate who are here today for not losing sight of that.
When suggested the idea of placing agent provocateurs amid the protesters, Walker responded: "We thought about that. The problem with - my only gut reaction to that would be right now is that the lawmakers I've talked to have just completely had it with them. The public is not really fond of this.  My only fear is if there's a ruckus caused that would scare the public into thinking maybe the governor has to settle to avoid all these problems."  Certainly bold and innovative, I'll grant him that.

On Wisconsin, part two.

Part one can be found here.

1904.  New York City.  A burgeoning metropolis beginning to stand upright and not just walk, but run.  To sprint.  Feeling lactic acid immigrating to its tissues.  On the twenty-second of April, a wealthy textile importer and his painter wife have their first child.  The boy is named Julius.

Julius grows up in circumstances approaching dreams: a house with three original paintings from Van Gogh sprinkled between pieces from Picasso and Vuillard, studying at the Ethical Culture Society School which remains to this day a bastion of progressive thought, a father with a keen interest in schools who serves also as a member of the Society of Ethical Culture, a mother openly encouraging Julius and his younger brother to be eager with their interests and to try new things and to be inquisitive.