Bad Boys, Bad Boys...

Wanna Talk About Sin?

Judge orders release of Abu Ghraib Photos.

What is so interesting to me are the reactions from the Right. In a thread on Fark, several people argued against this because it would “inflame the insurgents/terrorists (which I acknowlege is a legitimate concern, but not an excuse) and variations on the “It’s just a bunch of Frat-Boy pranks. They’re chopping off heads! What the big deal?” theme. Either way, they don’t want anyone to see those pictures, including themselves.

First of all, it was not “a bunch of frat boy pranks.” It was torture, period, of a group the majority of which were innocents. And as much as Mr. Rumsfeld wants to convince everyone that it was an instance of aberrant behavior from a group of emotionally disturbed malcontents, our now-Attorney General’s memo in 2002 seems to show that a culture that condones torture was being encouraged in the higher ranks of our government. The fact is someone in our government condoned, if not encouraged, these actions.

I thought the entire point of us trying to spread western democracy is that we are so much more socially and politically advanced than nations in the Middle East, that we are better than they are. I thought the entire point of toppling Saddam’s regime was to bring these people freedom from such atrocities. Way to win hearts and minds people! Way to show them the advantages of American democracy.

The Right does have a point in that these photos might very well inflame the insurgents further, putting soldiers who have only served with honor at greater risk. But that is why the Geneva Conventions exist, not to benefit our enemies but to benefit us, to protect our soldiers from this kind of treatment. When American soldiers ignore the Geneva Conventions, it’s only announcing that other American soldiers are fair game for the same heinous treatment by our enemies. Something the people at Abu Ghraib should have considered before they condoned torture.

But God Damn it! We’re Americans, we’re supposed to be better than this. We are the Land of the Free, Home of the Brave and we are supposed to deplore this kind of behavior. Period. It doesn't matter what the Insurgents have done, it’s doesn’t matter what anyone else has done. We hold ourselves to a higher standard than they do because we are Americans. Trying to excuse what happened at Abu Ghraib because “it wasn’t as bad” as the cutting someone head off or “it wasn’t as bad” as the Holocaust is rationalizing, pure and simple. It’s wrong and no moral relativism can make it right. It should have never happened and there is no excuse.

From...

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” ~ The Declaration of Independance

And...

“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” ~ The Constitution of the United States of America

To...

""Are we willing to *Admit* that we want to do that? After all, if that *is* the path we take, then should the American public not be informed that that is the road that we are taking? So that they may know what they wreak? So that they may take responsibility for the lives they have lost? So that they may take the responsibility knowing that they took it upon themselves to decide who should live, and who should die?

Or are you saying we should keep it a secret, because most Americans are moral cowards, and don't want to admit they have blood on their hands for their victory?" ~ Felgraf, Fark.com

Good Question.

The fact that many in the Far Right still attempt to rationalize or even justify these acts is a huge ‘red flag’ to where these people want to take this country. They are not interested in the ideals this country is founded on, only in glorifying the name “United States of America” through power and might, no matter how little it may actually mean anymore. “Torture? That’s o.k. Destroying civil liberties? Hey, anything to make us safe.” They will turn “America” into an empty, meaningless word so long as everyone in the world fears it.

On to something lighter...

Not Bad But Stupid, X 2

Financier Runs Up a 64K tab (U.S.) to Bag Model.

"Miss Lennard said: "Even though the guy was very sweet, it was not quite enough to make me leave my boyfriend."

She added: "Maybe he could try diamonds next time!"

WTF?

First of all, I understand the celebratory nature of it, but it looks like this went a little beyond thet norm. He could have bought a car and hired a high class hoooker for that amount. I mean, if he wanted to sleep with a mercenary bitch that would fall for his black Amex, he might as well go to the one that is at least honest about it.

The 2nd dumbass is this gal's BF who stays with her while she goes out with people like this. This obviously wasn't a business dinnner and her behavior (allowing some guy to blow that kind of cash on her) combined with her comment afterwards, whether joking or not, says "I'm for sale!" even if it's the whole tease/make me cheat thing. I used to joke with one of my BF's about his "other girlfriends" and in all my relationships both of us have had friends of the opposite sex, but they weren't blowing thousands of dollars trying to impress either one of us. Who the hell puts up with someone cruising line of infidelity that heavily?

Dumbasses.

Shock & Awe

To wrap up story of the Dover winners shocks and to show how much ingenuity goes into being a Crew Chief for NASCAR:

“Roush Racing president Geoff Smith said he expects NASCAR officials to issue a technical bulletin as early as Friday outlawing the trick shock absorbers used by Hendrick Motorsports teammates Johnson and Kyle Busch in their 1-2 finish Sunday at Dover International Speedway.

Instead of soaking up bumps, as shocks normally are designed to do, Smith said the Hendrick cars' shocks were designed almost to work in reverse; every time they hit a bump, the shocks jacked up the car's rear end for about 15 seconds. Because cars encounter frequent bumps at Dover, the shocks apparently kept the Hendrick cars' tails elevated about an inch beyond what NASCAR rules allow for most of the race, directing more air to the cars' rear spoilers and creating extra aerodynamic "downforce" that helped the cars stick to the track.

Cheating? Not exactly, Smith said.

"It was clearly an ingenious engineering exercise, and they ought to be commended for their ingenuity," he said.

Johnson's team declined comment through a spokesperson.

This explains why the two Hendrick cars failed an initial technical inspection by NASCAR officials Sunday night but passed the maximum-height requirement after they "settled," as NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston explained this week. Officials confiscated the Hendrick cars' shocks after the race, along with shocks from four other cars.

Smith expects NASCAR to prohibit all teams from using such shocks beginning with the Oct. 9 race at Kansas Speedway. The Hendrick shocks wouldn't help in this weekend's race because downforce isn't a major concern at Talladega and teams typically try to get their cars as low to the ground as possible without violating NASCAR's minimum height requirements.

Smith figures that Busch, a rookie, has been testing the system all season. "That didn't show up for a championship (contender) the day before Dover," Smith said. "That required a lot of effort, a lot of testing."

Penske Racing president Don Miller, meanwhile, wondered why the Hendrick cars apparently were given a second chance to pass officials' maximum-height measurement. "All I can say is, if it comes in as too high, it should be black and white," Miller said.

Said Poston, via e-mail: "When the (No.) 48 went up on the platform, it was initially high, but in a matter of seconds the car settled and it made the required height. Absolutely no one made an adjustment to the car; however, as often is the case, an inspector was under the car but did not touch it. The 48 only made one trip through inspection.”

Damn, that’s clever.

I’ll Feel Better Sunday

Sunday is Superspeedway racing at Talladega. Lots of drafting, lots or aero. I love it!

Best of luck to Mark Martin and the #6 team in his bid for his First Championship and lots of luck to Elliott Sadler and the #38 guys for their bid to hold onto the 11th Place in the standings and lots of luck to Dale Jr. and the #8 team as they get the 8 car back on top!

Film at 11.

Muffled Squeaks No Longer.

Of course the big news is Tom Delay’s indictment in using corporate funds for campaigns in Texas which is a violation of Texas state law. The centerpiece for the indictment is a $100K check that went from Tom Delay’s Texans for a Republican Majority Political Action Committee to the Republican National Committee which was then given to republican candidates in Texas and where that money came from. It’s political money laundering. Delay’s charge is general, conspiracy to violate state law, while his underlings are being charged with actually doing it.

Delay has accused the prosecutor that brought the indictment, calling him a partisan fanatic. Yet of 15 the major indictments Ron Earle has brought 11 have been against Democrats, so that one fell flat as soon as the Delay camp tried to launch it. This isn’t about party politics; it’s about the law. Given the depths of Delay’s moral and political depravity, it feels kind of like nailing Al Capone for tax evasion, but I’ll take it.

The Bush administration is facing accountability at last. Hallelujah! This month Brown & Delay, next month Karl Rove. Maybe we can bring up Rumsfeld on charges of gross incompetance for *still* not arming our troops properly and find out who authorized the torture at Abu Ghraib. I've been quiet as a mouse, letting the misdeeds of the Neo-Conservative Right in power speak for themselves, but there are times I just want to scream “I TOLD YOU SO!” I told all the Republican conservatives in 2004 that they had picked the wrong horse, to just let these jackasses go and wait for the next elections in 2006 & 2008 to pick a decent Republican candidates. But NOOOOOO, they were Republican, so they had to vote for them because they were Republican. This is what they get for their blind loyalty to political sub-group that is so blatantly, so solely out for power at any cost and don’t give a damn about the American people. Stop voting for one party over another just because your Daddy did, actually look at the damn candidates next time! The responsibility of freedom is vigilance; that means awareness of what the heck your politicians are doing, not simply checking off boxes on a ballot because they fall under the right column!

AAIGH!

*pant*pant*

You have no idea how long I have wanted to say that.

*breathes*

This isn’t a Democrat/Republican thing. I’m registered Green Party, I think they both suck. But I really, really, *REALLY* hate the Bush administration and the political depravity it has encouraged in their cronies. I disagree with some of John McCain’s positions but I respect him. I disagree with some of Kerry’s positions, but I respect him. I loathe the Bush Administration.

Republicans, just take your damn party back. Now. And Democrats, stop trying to be be Republicans. Now.

Lets Talk About Sex Bay-bee…

Bush Administration Seeks Recruits for the “War on Porn”.

This isn’t about child pornography, they’ve got an entire division devoted to stopping that, this is about Playboy, Penthouse and pay-per-view pornos in hotel rooms. I am not saying that children should be exposed to this material, but on the list of things the government is responsible for protecting us from, the “threats to families and children” they should be devoting time and tax dollars to stopping, this is pretty far down. Making sure kids do not see a Hustler magazine is the responsibility of the parents, not the government.

But what is it about the American culture that will allow people to watch very graphic autopsies (CSI) and a man being blown up with his bloody shreds raining down on witnesses (final episode of the first season of LOST) on prime time television without comment, but we have to have an entire task force of the FBI devoted hunting down nudie pics. Why is a nude woman or man considered a “threat to families and children”? What is so scarring and horrible about naked breasts or labia or penises that the government itself feels the need to crack down on it? Can someone explain to me exactly how the dynamic works that having a child view a naughty magazine endangers his or her family? How is it that a child seeing sex is somehow more damaging and (supposedly) dangerous than a child witnessing violence?

I’d like to point out that it was not *that* long ago that children were very aware of sex at an early age due to the pastoral and agricultural nature of our society. Back in the golden days of yore in frontier, self-reliant Americana, kids grew up very aware of sex as they watched the animals surrounding them and if they were poor and living in a one-room cabin, probably aware of when their parents were having it. The country seems to have survived that o.k..

All the valid arguments about the fine line between art and obscenity aside, personally I have no problems with pornography. I don’t even have problems with my boyfriends having pornography. Men are visual creatures and they enjoy it, so what? At the risk of TMI, I myself enjoy it from time to time. It's fun. Pornography can be addicting, overused/abused and destructive to relationships, but so can alcohol and gambling. So can any recreational escape. It is gambling or alcohol’s fault if the adult lacks the self-control to use alcohol or gamble in moderation? Is it the government’s fault if the parent can’t keep his or her stash of dirty mags out of the hands of his or her kids? What happened to personal responsibility? Aren’t Conservative Republicans supposed to be the party of personal responsibility?

We made alcohol illegal in the 1920’s. Did people stop drinking? Was there more or less violence and crime because alcohol wasn’t readily available? Right. So why bother with pornography?

You Knew Someone Was Going To.

Alabama State Senator, Al Queda and Pat Robertson Blame Hurricane Katrina on Sin.

I love it when Fundamentalists come together...they have so much in common.

There was a passage in a book I was reading once…in the story an adulterous wife’s husband died of a sudden illness and she was wracked with guilt, berating herself, saying that God was punishing her for her sin. A friend of hers asked if her husband has been a good man. The answer of course was yes. Theirs had been loveless, arranged marriage but he had always been kind to her.

“Why then, would his life count so little that God would throw it away to punish you? What makes you so much more important than him?”

How could the lives of the righteous count so little to God that he would destroy them to punish the wicked? For the loving God of the New Testament, it simply makes no sense. I always have to wonder about the Christians that dwell on the fire and brimstone, eye for an eye Old Testament God, ignoring Christ’s teachings of kindness and forgiveness. By focusing on the Old Testament, does that in fact make them Jewish? ;)

This wasn’t about divine retribution, this was about weather. About the only reason one can perhaps add to it is Global Warming, but that simply exacerbated storms not caused them. As the article points out, severe hurricanes had been seen before industrial pollutants and vanishing rainforests came into play. Scientists had been predicting the effects of a Cat5 on the Gulf Coast for 20 years. If anyone holds any blame it is all of America for ignoring their warnings and not being adequately prepared. Beyond that, no one is to blame. It is simply another face of Nature human beings live with and must acknowledge, accept and adapt to if we are to survive. If there is anything we as a people should take away from this is that we ignore Nature at not only our long term, but our immediate peril.

Hello, I Must Be Going.

Sorry. Things have been pretty crazy here on this end of the world.

Dover

Everyone on his best behavior, less from the penalties dealt out for Loudon than for the big pile up in the Busch race in Saturday though. ;)

Each track is as unique. Not simply for length, but shape, banking and surface can make each track as individual as each driver (making a Crew Chief’s life hell *chuckle*) Dover is an interesting track as it is the only one that is entirely concrete instead of asphalt. This is a benefit in that it’s tougher and it's temperature doesn't chnage as much over the course of a race, as well as standing up to season temperature changes better. It’s hindrance because concrete combined with steep banking on a short track chews up tires like bubble gum. There is no such thing as a two-tire pit stop. You take 4. Period.

Unless you’re Elliott Sadler. :D The difference in time between a two and four tire stop is usually around five seconds. The difference in places means a driver going into the pit’s 11th , such as Elliott, can come out with the lead.

Boo YAH!

It got him up front and from which he dropped back to 6th place by the end of the race, getting him back up to 11th place in the standings. I’m feeling better and better about his new CC all the time.

Dale’s day was…very, very frustrating for a fan. Like I have said, Tony Jr. can make a good car. Dale started in 4th place and was hanging in the top five getting as high as 2nd place when his brake pedal went to the floor with a vibration in the right front on lap 20. Bringing the car into the pits and checking the line cost him 7 laps (probably air bubble in the line). He made up one the hard way, racing it back (the guy is a damn good wheelman), but lost it again when there was a misunderstanding (benign) on Pit Road. I was confused as Dale’s car was so strong as to actually beat the leaders back a lap, that they didn’t trying staying out during the cautions to make a couple of them up. But then it was pointed out to me that he would have scarified performance and wouldn’t have made up enough to really make a difference in the season. The team just treated the rest of the race as a test session for next year. Very smart of them.

Mark Martin pretty much stayed in the top five all day, though a call to stay out during a late caution cost him the lead and dropped him back to finish 4th. He’s currently 4th in the standings, only 21 points out of first. *Yeah!*

Jimmie Johnson won which propelled him to the top of the standings, but Monday the word came down that his and his teammate Kyle Bush of the #5’s shocks had been confiscated.

Dun-dun-duuuuun!

Oooo.

When you jack the back end of a stock car up, or more pointedly the spoiler on the back end, it gives the car more down force allowing it to handle better, so we’ll have to wait to find out if Jimmie’s win stands.

I, Robot
I also saw this over the weekend. Had it been called anything else but this, it would have faired well as big budget popcorn summer blockbuster action film. It’s fairly meaningless but lots of fun. The problem being that beyond Isaac Asimov’s three laws of robotics, it has nothing to do with the Book “I, Robot” which is one of the seminal science fiction works. This book is a collection of short stories that is/are incredibly influential in the Science Fiction genre. Not only is almost every robot or android you encounter in SciFi been based on those in Asimov’s works, the main thrust of the research and design that goes on in RL robotics is inspired by Asimov’s literary creations. Also “I, Robot” opened up an fields of philosophical thought about beings that do not have what we perceive has a human consciousness, how we treat them and whether or not such a perception is in fact, true. Honestly, the book reads rather dry and for a modern audience it may feel a bit hokey at points. But the atmosphere is still slightly chilled and eerie, the stories still slightly disturbing and themes still very thought provoking.

This film was pretty much none of that, but it was still a jolly romp worth the rent. :) I feel a bit silly about being a snob about it when it came out…if they just had used another title it would have been a hit.

Tony Delay, Boobs and the Judgment of God. Right after this...

Crash

My tastes are so eclectic, I rarely see a film and say “everyone should see this” because I understand what I enjoy may not be for everyone. But the film “Crash” starring an ensemble cast so diverse as Sandra Bullock and Thandy Newman to Don Cheadle and Ryan Phillipe, that was released earlier in the year just came out on DVD and yes, I think everyone should see this. I missed this in the theatre, even though I had heard what I great film this was, because I was worried that it might be one of those deep dark films you want to stick you head in an oven afterwards but I was both pleasantly surprised by it’s tone as well as thought provoked. On the surface, the film is about ethnicities and sub-culture relations. I do not use the term “race” because there is only one: The Human Race, we are all the same. We all eat, breathe, strive, hope, love, hurt and bleed. But in reality the film is about choices, what people chose to see and do. One person sees a latino with a shaved head and tattoos and sees a criminal, another sees a Persian family and assumes they are potential terrorists, the Persian sees a caucasian and assumes that are trying to cheat him, yet in desperate moments when all the crap is stripped away each person sees another human being. The only bad guy in this film is assumption and preconceived bias (and in some cases outright bigotry).

But the film does raise some interesting questions about Americans and how we all get along in this melting pot. In the end we are all Americans, but to deny that there are no sub-cultures in this country is just plain silly, not to mention damaging because we then assume that everyone that does not act as we do is deviant in some form, that what they are doing is “wrong” to some degree. Looking at the world through a historical lens, I tend to see people with multiple layers. I look in the mirror and I see me, I see a woman, I see an American and I see the Irish ancestors my family came from (and if you look at my sister you will see the English, my elder brother the Norman French and my eldest brother the Norse *chuckle*). I can look at the White Anglo Saxon Protestant culture of the U.S. and say “Yes, we are materialistic” and understand that that aspect of our subculture stems from the Calvanist settlers because Calvanism viewed material success as sign of God’s favor. Doesn’t make it right, doesn’t make it wrong, it’s just understanding the root of it. Ambition for material success can be the driving force that brings a person and/or family up from the poorer classes and grant opportunities to following generations, but if it runs unchecked it is a destructive thing sacrificing human emotional well being for things.

Is it wrong to see other subcultures in the U.S.? The current PC environment says “Yes it is.”. But if we do not, aren’t we simply separating ourselves further from one another? If we do not go and see or experience another way of being an American, whether through the African American community or the Latino American Communities or the Asian American communities, are we not missing out on understanding one another more fully? We was having a discussion in the lunchroom at work around the 4th of July one time and I mentioned how when I visited the Statue of Liberty, it was one of the most stirring patriotic moments of my life. Then one of my co-workers said, “Well, my people had a different experience of coming to this country.” And she was right; instead of immigrant ships, her family had been packed aboard slave ships. Her ancestral or cultural experience had been different from my own and so her families view of the United States and what it meant to be American is slightly different than my own. It’s not better, and the root cause aside it’s not worse, it’s just slightly different. Is being different so bad? Does she have to conform to my view and experience of being American to be acceptable?

I’m not saying that being of one sub-culture or another excuses one from being a law abiding, contributing member of society (the usual far-right accusations of the left), only that are differences and that much of what we consider America culture comes from the interaction of those differences. The music, the food, the art, they all were products what we consider subcultures within the U.S. and their dynamic interplay. If we do not see them, allow them to be, appreciate them, are we not ignoring essential parts of American history? Are we not losing an essential piece of what America is? “American” is not just the White Anglo Saxon Protestant culture, in truth it never was. Various Native American cultures have had influence, Africans have been here in North America almost as long as the Europeans have and Maryland, if you remember, was a Catholic colony. While we were fighting for independence, Germans were coming here in large droves and in the 19th century everyone was complaining about the Irish that were flooding into this country on the East coast and the Chinese coming in on the West coast. I have friends and coworkers of African, Chinese, Philippine, Guatemalan, Mexican, Russian, Jewish decent among others. We have all contributed to making this country what it is. We all built this country together. Should I ignore those Americans that are not from European decent and pretend they are no different than I, that their cultural experiences are the same? I want to talk to all these people, to ask where their families came from and their experiences, how that fits into American history and it’s cultures and how it influences their experience of being American, but I feel like I am not allowed to.

As this film points out, it is assumption that is the evil, we should not look at an individual woman who is caucasian and assume she is materially oriented, we should not look at an individual woman of asian decent and assume she is submissive or look at an individual woman of latino decent and assume she is brash, just as we can not look at individuals of other ethnicities and assume they are gang bangers and/or criminals. Hell, our FedEx guy was covered head to toe in Asian full sleeve tattoos, but he was of Hawaiian decent and was focused on finding love and becoming a real estate baron in Las Vegas. You can’t make assumptions based on appearances. But can’t we acknowledge the cultural differences that have come together to make us Americans, that make this such in interesting, colorful and dynamic country to live in? If we were all the same, wouldn’t this such a boring place?

Now, having said all that…

Best of luck tomorrow to Dale, Elliott and Mark at Dover tomorrow!

If You're Really Bored...

History for Bored People

A couple books for those of you that think history is dull.

For those of you that roll your eyes while listening to purists like myself having intellectual spasms every time a new Historical Epic comes out, Hollywood History of the World by George MacDonald Fraser is a delightfully light and witty tour through Hollywood’s historical epics from “1 MillionYears BC” to “Apocalypse Now” pointing out what they got right and what they got wrong without condemning them outright (unless they happened to be really, really bad). Any book that includes "Carry On Cleo" in an overview of History can't be all bad.

Route 66 A.D. by Tony Perrottet is a fun and interesting view into the lives of ancient Roman tourists by following in their footsteps around the Mediterranean. Mr. Parrottet accompanies his travels to Pompeii, Sparta, the Nile and such with first person accounts, both licit and il-, of tourists of the ancient world, religious, recreational, hedonistic, sexual. Believe me, this book proves there is nothing new under the sun when it comes to the travel industry and human nature while providing a fun window into the Ancient World.

And one of the greatest introductions to History EVER: The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody by Will Cuppy. This is a series of brief vignette’s covering the greatest figures in history, from Choeps to Miles Standish in extremely human terms.

“Egyptologists say they have no idea what Khufu (Cheops) was doing when he was not building pyramids, since he left no inscriptions describing his daily activities, and they would give a good deal to know. Then they say he had six wives and a harem full of concubines. They do not seem to make the connection, but you get it and I get it. We do not need any hieroglyphics to inform us that Khufu dropped around occasionally to see how things were getting along and to tell the ladies how many cubic yards of limestone he had laid that afternoon.”

“Alexander III of Macedonia was born in 356 B.C., on the sixth day of the month of Lous. He is known as Alexander the Great because he killed more people of more different kinds than any other man of his time. He did this in order to impress Greek culture upon them. Alexander was not strictly a Greek and he was not cultured, but that was his story, and who am I to deny it?”

“Attila was now sixtyish. His mind was weakening and he decided to marry again, as he had been terribly misunderstood the first three hundred times.”

Cuppy humor is of the dry British wit type, heavy on sarcasm and irony, and though occasionally yes he does chose the more lurid sources (and yes, people could be quite lurid back in the day), everything in the work is based on meticulous research. Reading the footnotes is essential.

"*Livy informs us that Hannibal split the huge Alpine rocks with vinegar to break a path for the elephants. Vinegar was a high explosive in 218 B.C., but not before or since."

If you’ve ever thought History was dull and dry and “who cares?”, this book will definitely change your mind.

Underwater Tourism

It’s not up on their site yet, The Smithsonian Magazine has an article about the B-29 that crashed into Lake Mead during a testing mission in 1948 that the National Park Service is opening up to divers. This is probably the only B-29 submerged in the U.S. and it’s sound like a spectacular dive. This highlights the Submerged Resources Center, previously the Submerged Cultural Resources Unit or “SCRU” which is what happens when you let divers run amuck with Government funding ;). Not only does the SRC take care of water in the National Park Service in the U.S. but also wrecks in U.S. Territorial waters all over the world. The taste you get in this article is expanded on in Daniel Lenihan’s book Submerged. The article in the Smith reminded me of one of the chapters in Submerged in which they dove on the Nagato, the famous flagship of Admiral Yamamoto in which he lead the Pearl Harbor Attack which was sunk in Operation Crossroads Test Baker at the Bikini Islands (a witness said that the entire crew on deck of the one of the attending American ships spat in the water as she sank) in order to ascertain whether or not the radiation had dissipated enough to open it up to sport divers. The ship had flipped upside-down, but the bridge broke off and remained relatively intact and accessible to divers.

Submerged is an excellent introduction to the field of underwater archeology, not only informative but extremely readable and entertaining, outlining the serious, the sublime and silly (one dive on a WWII Japanese Submarine wreck off the Aleutians in which he suddenly realized he was sitting on a live torpedo includes all three) that one encounters in this line of work. I think it’s very cool that the NPS is thoroughly studying each site and opening it up to the public, though I have misgivings about damage to the site (there are idiot souvenir takers in every field) and monitoring the skill of those diving on the sites. 170 feet down is too deep for your average sport diver new to helium mixes and one of the SRC more gruesome duties (which is also covered in Submerged) is body recovery. I guess you just have to chalk it up to personal responsibility and Natural Selection.

Anyway, an interesting article and a fun book for those interested in the field, or some plain real life adventure.

When Life Gives You Lemons...

After all the excitement this weekend, Robby Gordon has placed his helmet up for bid on E-Bay for Hurricane Katrina Victim Relief. Yes, that is the famous helmet in question, now signed by both Robbie and Michael Waltrip. There was some sad confusion with fake bidders, but the helmet has gone back up and is going for 51K at the time of this posting. Either there are some really devoted Robbie Gordon fans or there are a lot of people in the sport that want to take a poke at Mikey Waltrip. :D Perhaps drivers need to be throwing more stuff. :D Ward Burton once chucked his fire retardant booties at Dale Jr. (and I understand he also threatened to shoot him *chuckle*) and Elliott launched his helmet in a perfect pitch at the center of Ryan Newman’s windshield (over traffic even). Wonder how much they would fetch?

Gregg Biffle has also started up an auction for the Furry Victims of Katrina

There's Advantages to Disadvantages

I’ve been working on getting my credit report cleaned up for my student loan applications and I realized there is a great advantage to having poor credit. You never have to worry about identity theft.

“Look, it’s my Social Security Number! See! See! It will do you NO GOOD! No GOOOOOD! BwaHAHAHAHAHA!”

Now I have to fret.

:D

"Sinister, Sinister, Sinister-Dexter-Sinister..."

Rolling With the Punches

I’m cleaned up and added a tiny bit to my entry below. I know, given my post about scientific proofs a couple months back, that such a belief sounds hypocritical. But that’s what it is: a belief. I can’t prove it, I’m not saying it’s fact. Just saying in my experience that it usually intriguingly accurate.

Happy Mabon/Autumnal Equinox Everybody!

Speaking of Lightning.

Mother Nature put on a show the put Hollywood to shame through Monday night and Tuesday morning with a highly unseasonable lighting storm that hung out until this afternoon. The lightening was quite spectacular. I was up in Palos Verdes when it started and got incredible view of a strike looking out over Los Angeles. Usually we don’t see rain until the Holidays, usually after Christmas, but 11pm Monday evening I was out cleaning my gutters a bit earlier than I anticipated. *chuckle* Scattered showers that the storm brought brought an early end to forest fire season, Thank the Gods, but also snarled traffic as Californians once again have to relearn how to drive in the rain. “Water falling from the sky! Aaigh! Must inch along at 15 mph, or bomb down the freeway at 80!” However, had I been barreling down the 405 yesterday morning I might have missed the rainbow over Marina Del Rey. Quite lovely.

Well, That’s That.

The penalties have come down, surprisingly nothing too extreme.

But the median nature of the penalties has raised a question. Back in 2002, Kevin Harvick was suspended or “parked” from a Cup race when he retaliated twice against another driver during a Craftsman Truck race. Parking is very serious because that makes the driver and owner answer to the sponsor who wants to know why his/her logo is not on the TV for 5 hours on Sunday. Some people are up in arms that Khane, Gordon and Jarret (for a incident a couple races ago) did not warrant the same treatment Harvick did. What the NASCAR pundits (Marty) fail to remember, is that Harvick was already under probation for a dust up with Greg Biffle when NASCAR decided enough was enough. Neither the K-9 (Kasey Khane) nor Robby Gordon were under any probations.

But what Gordon and Khane did was dangerous, not simply to they or their foes, but to others on the track. When Gordon tried to back into Mikey, he could have wrecked Tony Stewart, the points leader and dominant car of the race. This is one of the many ways auto racing differs from any other sport. If a football player decides to get stupid in the field he’ll probably break an arm, most likely his own. If a driver decides to be stupid with a 3400 lb stock car, he potentially puts 42 other guys at risk. That’s why NASCAR has a 0 tolerance drug policy and why they come down on rough driving such as what happened this last weekend.

But is this the best way to handle it? If you were playing for the New England Patriots, and some Raider kept grabbing your face mask during the game but the refs never flagged it. Wouldn’t you get pissed eventually? Wouldn’t you end up flagged for “unnecessary roughness” yourself? Trying to punish those that in the heat of the moment feel they are simply defending themselves isn’t the best way to handle it. That only encourages the drivers who start this crap to begin with, which only encourages other drivers to start being as sneaky about being overly aggressive. It becomes a “who can get the “accidental tap” in first” kind of thing. But the question then becomes how do you sort out that accidentals from the intentionals? Kyle Busch’s contact with the #9 was an accident, but both Mikey and Robbie are pointing fingers at one another and how the heck do you sort that out? Parking is really serious, you don’t want to put someone sponsor dollar death row for an accident.

I suppose with any sport you are simply going to have to deal with a certain amount of bad apples and a certain amount of “unnecessary roughness”, but with auto racing the danger makes keeping things from getting out of hand imperative.

Maybe they need to keep a boxing ring set up behind the haulers? They probably could make a heck of a lot of money from the ticket sales. “Cold Pass”, “Hot Pass”, “Ringside Pass”

Surprise!

Geez, two of my drivers don't make the Chase and I end up talking about NASCAR even more than before. ;)

Elliott Sadler Gets a New Crew Chief.

Parrott and Jarrett, Lawd what an alliteration in the making, were the pair that got Robert Yates Racing its first Championship in 1999. I assume Todd was given to Sadler to give him the best shot. Now Sadler is getting shiny spanking new CC for the rest of the season.

My first reaction was “YEEK! Don’t throw Elliott to the sharks!”. Granted, I don’t think the Parrott - Sadler thing was working out. Parrott had done some dumb things this season as had Sadler and from what I heard at Fontana, tempers were getting frayed. Perhaps putting a new guy in there is a good thing. Perhaps Elliott isn’t as mechanically savy as he should be and needs to communicate better. Having someone new at the game someone who might take some time to explain what the changes will do, will improve Elliott’s performance.

""It seemed like we were on the wrong side of every decision," Sadler said. "When I should have gone left, I went right. When I went right, I should have gone left. I mean, flat tires, we got caught up in everybody else's stuff. It was like anything bad that could happen to us, happened to us."

He said the expectation of more bad luck began to grow the last month. Sadler said he began to question his "ability and knowledge on the racetrack."

And the bad luck simply fed on itself."

When you start to doubt youself, it becomes self fulfilling prophecy.

I just hope this kid is gifted as hell and/or they find a kick-ass CC for the #38 fast so that they also can spend the off season building cars. And i hope Elliott can pull himself out of this funk. *crosses fingers* :( Remember what I said about Taurus/Capricorns and curve balls? Elliott has to learn to look at this as a challenge/opportunity.

Just When You Thought They Couldn’t Sink Any Lower.

No, the failure of the government to save these people wasn’t the government’s fault, oh no. It was the Left spoiling black people. That’s who to blame. And this isn’t the only pundit to try and make this point. As if the failures of the Democratic Mayor of New Orleans and Governor of Louisiana aren’t enough, they’re trying to blame the victims.

“In fact, white America does remain morally culpable — but because white leftists in the late 1960s, in the name of enlightenment and benevolence, encouraged the worst in human nature among blacks and even fostered it in legislation.”

Isn't it funny though that the black kid who robs a convenience store gets 8 to 10 in Pelican Bay, while the white collar criminal who steals millions of tax payer dollars get 6 months in a Federal Country Club?

Yeah, black people aren't held accountable at all. *rolls eyes*

"Through the late 1960s blacks burnt down their own neighborhoods as gestures of being “fed up”. But blacks had been “fed up” for centuries: why were these the first riots initiated by blacks rather than white thugs — when the economy was flush and employment opportunities were opening up as never before? Because the culture had changed, in ways that hindered too many blacks from taking advantage of the civil rights revolution."

First of all, this statement makes no sense is it was the Civil Rights movement that was changing society to open up opportunities for African Americans.

What the author is referring to is the Watts Riots of 1965. This from USC:

"1964 seemed to mark a turning point in America; with the passage of the Civil Rights Act, a new age in race relations appeared to be dawning. But the states acted quickly to circumvent the new federal law. California reacted with Proposition 14, which moved to block the fair housing components of the Civil Rights Act. This, and other acts, created a feeling of injustice and despair in the inner cities.

On August 11, 1965, a routine traffic stop in South Central Los Angeles provided the spark that lit the fire of those seething feelings. The riots lasted for six days, leaving 34 dead, over a thousand people injured, nearly 4,000 arrested, and hundreds of buildings destroyed.

After the riots, then Governor Pat Brown named John McCone to head a commission to study the riots. The report issued by the Commission concluded that the riots weren't the act of thugs, but rather symptomatic of much deeper problems: the high jobless rate in the inner city, poor housing, bad schools. Although the problems were clearly pointed out in the report, no great effort was made to address them, or to rebuild what had been destroyed in the riots."

Yeah, how dare they be pissed off about not being treated as equals with the White citizens of Los Angeles. I mean, we just let English Parliament walk all over us in the 18th century, why should they do any different?

Oh wait...

"In 1966, however, a group of white academics in New York developed a plan to bring as many people onto the welfare rolls as possible."

And what the 1966 law did was allow people to collect welfare if they were in job training, enrolled in school or had childcare needs. This was not some "Liberal agenda" but a poorly construted revision with too many loopholes. I would also point out that it was Clinton who pushed the 1996 welfare reform law through.

"The multigenerational welfare family with grandmothers in their forties became typical: young women had babies in their teens because there was no reason not to with welfare waiting to pick up the tab."

Gee, golly, white people never do this. I guess this person never visited the finer trailer parks across the U.S. Gretchen Wilson must have just been making all that stuff in her song up, and heck no her mom wasn't 16 when she had her. Wilson just made that up too.

"Hopefully, legions of poor black people who return to New Orleans will take advantage of the job opportunities that rebuilding a city will offer."

Why should they when Bush just promised his pals at Haliburton et al. that they didn't have to pay their construction workers prevailing wage? He just added not only to these individual's problems, but hobbled the economic recovery of these states. He just added to the problem of the poor in this region of the country.

There is a very large difference between welfare and Disaster Relief. They are two separate issues. One of the purposes of the Federal Government is to take up the slack, to assist, when the local and state governments are overwhelmed in an emergency. This failed to happen. FEMA’s delayed and confused response had nothing to with welfare. The people at the Superdome were told to go there because busses were to evacuate them from the city, they did not realize they were going to be stuck there for 5 days. Even if they had followed the common wisdom of having food and water for 3 days they still would have run out before they were rescued. And while this article points to the those the media focused on that did run amuck, it forgets the tens of thousands of those stranded that did not and those that did step up to help those more in need them themselves. Because of the chaos, it will be along time for all the stories of heroism to trickle through, but I can guarantee you there will be more heroes than villains in this tragedy.

Prayers and Crossed Fingers for Everyone in the Path of Hurricane Rita.

Astrology and NASCAR: What the Hell.

As many of you know, I’m a Neo-Pagan, which means I’m quietly into some stuff that may seem odd to the more mainstream reading audience. Truthfully, as Neo-Pagans go, I’m rather dull. I don’t dance around the woods naked under the moonlight (it’s bloody cold!) and as I explained before I don’t believe in Atlantis, Lemuria or that aliens built the Pyramids.

However, I do dig astrology. Not the horoscopes that much, I think the universe a little too vast for us to be interpreting signals that detailed, meaning "Yes, they are so vague they could mean anything". *chuckle* However, I have seen even the most skeptical people start squirming when they read detailed descriptions of their charts and I do feel it has helped me understand some of the people in my life who otherwise seemed incomprehensible…like my brother. *chuckle*

So I'm hanging out this evening, waiting for an applicant to wrap up their interview and got to typing. Now, I’m not an expert. I know my planets and signs, but not my houses and nodes and such, so this is just a very casual overview from a layman. I’ll only be discussing three planetary placements: Sun - ego or self, Moon - emotions and Mars - aggression and action. Take it as serious and as silly as you like. Whatever. I'm having fun, you have fun too.

Interestingly (to me anyway), I got in a discussion couple months back about Tony Stewart, an extremely talented driver originally from open wheel who is well known for his temper outbursts. Tony is a Taurus. Tuarus the big, settled, homebody Bull. A Taurus with his Moon in Aries and his Mars in Aquarius. Run for the hills!

Aries is the fieriest of fire signs (Leo and Sagittarius are the other two). Biggest temper, most self oriented, most active and action driven. “I must win and I will no matter what it takes! I am #1! Get outta my way!” While Leo will worry about what others think of his conduct in a competition which will limit the lengths he will go to, the Aries have no such compunctions. Basically, what drives Tony is winning, nothing more than winning, being the first one there, "You all suck, I win!". Winning is the goal in and of itself, not for ego, not for a step or benchmark in one’s career, they just have to win.

They also have tempers. BIG ONES. Let's put it this way: Russell Crowe is an Aries. People with Moon in Aires tend to be emotionally turbulent and demanding, easily angered principally by simply not getting their way. What has made this an extra challenge in Tony's chart is his Mars, remember planet of aggression and action, is in the unusual and unpredictable Aquarius.

I have Mars in Aquarius, this means my temper is unpredictable and hard to control. Appearing like lightening (even to me), frying someone and then vanishing just as fast.

*“fzzzk-KaPOW!”*

Aquarius is also the rebel, which means that when we’re mad, we simply do not care what society thinks. In fact, in that moment instinctually we delight in pushing it as far as we can as a simple “Fuck you” to the world at large, though we may really, really wish life had a "rewind" button later.

Kip sheepishly, “Oops sorry.”

From what I understand, Tony is similar. He has deep regrets about his more violent temper outbursts within hours and what sets him off today will having him laughing tomorrow.

At least though his Moon is in demanding Aries, he has a decent chance predicting what will set him off and so prep himself not to get mad. Mine is in Pisces which means it’s the instinctual mysterious inner workings of my psyche that may manifest itself as that lightening bolt. Meaning it’s *really* unpredictable and so trickier to tame. Though with time I have had some success as it appears this year that Tony has as well.

I also find I have something in common with Kurt Busch.

Kurt is an interesting character. Roush bypassed the usual step of the Bush series bringing Kurt straight in from the Craftsman Truck. By his own admission, he was too young (the guy is only 27 now) and not prepared for the fishbowl that is Winston/Nextel Cup racing. Even his most determined detractors cannot deny his talent and skill, but his arrogance cost him a lot of fans early on in his Cup career. He also has a bad tendency to mix his words up. The guy had completed I think a year in a half or so of a Pharmaceutical degree in college before he dedicated himself full time to racing, so he’s not stupid. But his language is a little high flown for the traditional NASCAR fans and when he flubs (which after hard driving in a 140 degree cockpit for 4 hours is understandable), they delight in jumping all over him for it. From what I have seen, Kurt is not actually a bad guy, he just doesn’t fit into the Jock/Good ol’ Boy stereotype preferred by the fan base. He’s also seems like a nerd grown up. Social awkwardness masked by ego. The ego is the Leo part.

I don’t know if it’s because I am a Leo that I can see and relate to it on other Leos like Kurt (who is actually a double whammy: Sun and Moon both in Leo) but a Lion’s first defense is a strong offence. A Leo’s first reaction to criticism is ego. “You shouldn’t have done that…” “*ROAR!*” It’s instinctual, our first gut reaction. If someone gets in our face, whether deserved or no, our visceral instinct is to get in their face. We have to learn, train ourselves, to accept criticism objectively. There is always that first reaction though. “You shouldn’t have done that…” “*RO-..O.k. you have a point.” This has been Kurt biggest problem in the past; getting in faces and copping attitude with older drivers well established among the traditional fan set, something he is still making up for now.

Dale also has a Leo moon with his Sun in Libra. Leo as the heart and Libra as the head make for a great combination, blending very well in a strong driven warm personality that is tempered with thoughtful, objective mind and personal charm, important qualities of leadership. But each sign does have it’s issues.

Most people read the part about Libras being beauty loving, peace loving and indecisive and assume that they are these mellow, gentle characters who dither a lot.

Na-uh.

For one thing, Libras can be moody as hell. When the scales are in balance, it’s wine and roses time but a lot of the time the scales are swinging back and forth as little things cause Libra’s mood to rise and fall faster then the Dow. But Libra is an air sign (like Gemini and Aquarius), a thinker. Those scales also make him consider and weigh in balance all the issues that he faces and help him make the best decisions. It may take him a while to come to those decisions, but you can be guaranteed that the decision that is finally made has been thought through thoroughly.

Now, if you watch Dale Jr.’s DVD, you see the Leo “problem”. ;) This strawberry blonde bouncing around, teasing and getting on everyone nerves, calling attention to himself like a youngest sibling at a family gathering. This is the Star, “Look at ME!”, the egotistical Lion of his Moon sign popping out the balanced, charming, suave Libra of his Sun. Yet no one teases him. He’s never made to look silly as he makes others. He’s “Joe Cool”. With the moon in Leo he is probably more sensitive to slights and criticism than he lets on (to his fan base anyway or at least when he was younger and less mature) and his friends have probably picked up on that and so let him dish out without dishing back. However, it’s also where much of his competitive nature and drive to achieve comes from. “I’m Leo, I have to be on top because I’m the best there is! I’m the star!” This is what pushes the peace-loving, conflict avoidant Libra into trading paint at 180 mph. (Probably also that fiery temper that has popped up in the past because his Mars is in Libra like his Sun which reads: Conflict Avoidant or Resentful Snapping.)

But for the most part, these two signs blend very well. Leo pushes forward while Libra sorts out the details and smoothes the way. By nature both signs interested in defending the underdog and both signs are postive and upbeat. The Leo moon provides a stability to the ever-swinging scales of the Libra Sun. And both signs are also very appearance conscious, Libras for simply sake of good aesthetic taste and Leo’s for “lookin’ gooood”, so yes this is a man who likes to shop. But the danger of these two appearance conscious signs is that Dale may be perhaps overly conscious about how he comes across to people, perhaps to the point of masking who he really is with who he feels he should be, that people expect him to be.

As I observed earlier in the Year, Elliott’s birthday is on Beltane: April 30th, which would make him very popular at Pagan parties. :) (I’ll explain that one later) Now, Elliott isn’t as out there in public the way Dale Jr. is, so I am not as familiar with his personality so this is just what I have gathered from his Chart and what little I have seen. Taurus’s are an earth sign like Capricorn and Virgo, very concerned with material things like home, family and career/money. With Taurus, “Home” is at the top of that list. Taurus’s have a rep for being stubborn to the point of being the immovable object, what they don’t talk about in the books as much is the “Ferdinand the Bull” aspect of Taurus’s: the “Leave me to my peaceful field, I am happy.” gentle part of them. Taurus delight in their homes, their creature comforts and their routines. Taurus's are very easy to get along with, until you run into the one issue they will not budge on and then they will not budge. Period. They are slow to get moving and difficult to stop once they do. So how the heck do you get a race car driver out of that?

His Moon. His moon is in Capricorn, which is the very career oriented, success driven sign. Material success is what drives him from within. I’m not saying that people with this placement are materially greedy, but that they are goal oriented. There are measurable goals that they push themselves towards. Sports provides very clear career benchmarks: Being the strongest, being the fastest, beating that guy, getting on a team, winning a game or a race, a playoff, a championship, so on. Not for a glory or ego purposes, it just satisfies them, provides a structure they are comfortable with that encourages them forward in their lives to the next mark, goal or level. Remember if Elliott hadn't blown out his knee he might be in the NBA. His favored recreation is to go out of play golf a couple times a week. Sports was his chosen profession, period.

Being both earth signs, these two also blend well giving Elliott a grounded, down to earth nature that really works. The Taurus side keeping the career driven Capricorn anchored in what is really important while the Capricorn keeps the Taurus from stagnating. However, every sign has it's downside. Niether sign is famous for coping well with major changes in their lives. The Taurus part is espcially prone to getting into a rut and while the Capricorn does move forward on their chosen path, they do not handle the curve balls life may throw at them well. Taurus's are family oriented and usually warm and affectionate (in my experience, Taurus's are big on physical affection, very touchy people), but Capricorns are usually not being more concerned with career and success, so having his emotional center this sign could be problematic for Elliott and those close to him.

Elliott’s Mars is in Pieces, which is a very odd placement even more so that Dale’s Libra. Pisces are sensitive daydreamers, which blunts the Taurus’s difficult to rouse but volcanic temper by raising the sensitivity but mitigating (damn MSWord autocorrect) the anger. So a temper that is not so bad, but more easily set off by more emotional triggers. If allowed to simply react, both guys have tempers not to be trifled with, but if allowed to time they will usually talk themselves out of it, Dale by thinking, looking at it objectively, and Elliott by emotions, feeling his way through it or worse, burying it where it can fester.

I think, this is what their charts say. I could totally be off.

:D What the hell. *shrug*

P.S. Believe it or not, there are actually a lot of Neo-Pagan NASCAR fans (The standard joke being that we "could never sponsor a car. Ya'll race Widdershins.") we've just been very, very quiet in the Religious environment of the tradtional NASCAR fanbase. ie. "Jesus-land". ;)

Reactions

First I want to apologize for that Gawd-awful cheesy analogy of last week. It was late, I was trying to wrap things up. It sucked I know, but my heart was in the right place. :D

Woo-Nelly!

Well, driving to work this morning the morning shows were a buzz about Sunday’s race and with good reason. This was the first time NASCAR had to Red Flag (Stop) a race due to Bad Behavior.

First of all, the track was tough. Because it is so flat, Louden is a tough track to pass at to begin with (though they did improve matters greatly by resurfacing a couple years ago). Add to that having been washed by the rains, the track was “Green” meaning there wasn’t already a layer of rubber laid down for tires to "grip" or “stick” too, if you will. When car started a run, the tires are “cold”, meaning not only are their surfaces not as soft and “sticky”, if you will. They are also under-inflated. As the heat builds up in the tires, the air expands to the tire's proper air pressure. So at the beginning of runs, tires do not grip as well and cars going into turns could either slide to the outside of the track or spin out.

The craziness started in Lap 2 when Scott Rigs in the #10 got crazy loose and slid up into Elfboy, the #97 of Kurt Busch, putting him into the Wall and taking him out if the race. Now, this isn’t the first time these two have had run ins, back at Indy Kurt got into Scott. Once he limped the car into the garage where the #97 team began cutting off the front end, Kurt flew out of his car (swear I’ve never seen anyone exiting a car so fast) and as he stripped off his helmet and HANS device, started towards pit road. About half way there he seemed to realize that maybe he was acting precipitously. And by the time he climbed up on the #10 team’s pit box, he simply asked is Rigg’s tag had been payback for Indy. That, with some grumbling comments about Scott driving ability or lack thereof, seems to have settled it.

Later on, Kyle Busch in the #5 ended up doing the same thing Scott Riggs did to Kasey Khane in the #9. Khane went back into the wall, twisting his chassis so much that only 3 wheels were on the ground. At first Khane pulled away from the tow-trucks, making the crowd think his was going to pull it into the garage. Nope, he pulled down to the bottom of the track so that he could back into Kyle Busch as the cars went by.

What finally brought out the red began as yet another fight over “real estate” (the same place on the track) gone wrong. First Joe Nemechek (01) and Mike Bliss touched in turn 3, both spinning out into the walls. Then as the caution came out, Robby Gordon and Mike Waltrip got into it, putting Robby Gordon into the wall. Problem for the fans is that the because they were all looking at the only footage that one camera seems to have caught is after the fact as Robby’s #7 slamming into the wall right in front of it. Both driver are claiming the other was at fault, but we have no way to judge the matter. #7 was trashed, but like Khane, Robby declined to offer of the “wrecker”, the tow truck, to try to back into Michael Waltrip as he went by, almost wrecking Tony Stewart *again* (He took Tony out of this race last year while trying to retaliate against Greg Biffle). But that wasn’t enough. He got out of the car, strode like a matador into traffic and hucked his helmet at #15 as it went by. And to top is all off, he called Mikey a “little shit” in his post race interview.

Ouch.

But then Mikey started to flip Gordon off after the helmet bounced off his driver’s side door...but quickly changed it into a wave after Truex’s penalty last week.

Completely forgotten in all the ruckus poor Mike Bliss had to limp his car into the garage all by his lonesome. :D

That’s when NASCAR made all the drivers go to their “Naughty Spot” (Pit Road) and gave them a time out.

Kasey, Mikey and Robby all got called into the NASCAR Trailer after the race and penalties will come down tomorrow.

First thought is; Where is the 5 second delay NASCAR promised after Dale Jr.’s slip o’ the lip last year?

Second Robby Gordon can drive anything with a wheel. He is an incredible talent. He also can be a hot headed trouble maker, and he just conveniently gave NASCAR three reasons to make an example out of him. What sad is that this year Robby is running his own team, scraping together three major sponsors to cover his races this year rather than the traditional one principal sponsor most teams enjoy. So he is the one guy of the three who can least afford it but sadly, by his determined retaliatory actions, most deserving.

Third I understand where these guys are coming from. NASCAR refuses to do anything to stop the incidents that cause the resentment retaliating drivers are acting on in the first place. Not only do they not come down on “rough driving”, but they refuse to demand or allow Goodyear to make better tires or raise the spoiler back up to allow more downforce/better control of the car to lessen the number of accidents. Both Rigg’s and Busch slides up the track were accidents. NASCAR doesn’t seem to care about preventing wrecks and incidents, only about collecting the fine afterwards.

Fourth Do we want drivers to be drivers now? It used to be this sort of thing happened a lot more frequently. Drivers retaliated on and off the track. Fist fights between the haulers were common place. Sometimes when you have guys spending every weekend living in 4 to 5 hours of road rage, you need to let a bit of that aggression bleed off so that it can come down to manageable levels. Modern media means the drivers are under closer scrutiny than ever before, but do we want them to be automotons? Given the levels of violence in today's society, do we just want to let tempers run unfettered? How would NASCAR (if it ever had the inclination) strike a balance between the two?

What is sad a that like the Patriots/Panthers Superbowl, all this silliness obscures what was some really great racing. At the final lap, Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman were racing each other hard and clean, pulling off some great moves. Behind them, Matt Kennseth and Greg Biffle fought it out, while a car behind them Mark Martin and Rusty Wallace fighting hard and fair for 6th place. It was some honest to Gawd great racing.

Mark continued his drive for consistency in his championship run, coming in 7th. He’s doing great, but he needs to really find a new gear if he wants to take home that trophy at Homestead. (A forward gear. *chuckle*)

Elliott’s day, oh, so disappointing. :( After spending much the race running in the top five, Elliott started to slip back. I’m not sure what happened there, he doesn’t have his race report up yet. But all of the sudden late in the race Elliott had damage. Something about which neither NASCAR felt the need to throw a caution for nor the announcers felt to explain until 20 –30 laps later. Elliott had spun out going into a corner, bounced off one car on the outside, then bounced off Dale Jr. coming up on the inside, straightening out #38 to just continue on…and improving the handling on the #8 as a bonus.

Mad craziness.

Yesterday also marked the return Tony Eury Jr. to the #8 pit box and the change was quite noticeable. Dale remained in the top five for most of the race, even leading a lap and finally finishing 5th. No one can deny results, but after some of Tony Jr.’s comments on NACAR Online about how the 8 Team’s bad year was in fact due to Dale’s “lack of commitment”, I still think he’s a spoiled punk and a shitty team player. All this after it was his childishness in refusing to share notes with Pete Rondeau that buried the #8 the first half of the year. He’s the king of “IT’S NOT MY FAULT!” and pointing fingers in the press, something Dale Jr. learned not to do last year. Even if Dale has spread himself a little too thin this year between his obligations as a driver and as the owner of two teams, you don't say that kind of crap to the reporters, you say it to his face. Way to build team spirit Tony. Maybe Dale should give the muzzle Tony Sr. gave him for Christmas to his cousin. I really do wonder how different he would be there was ever a chance of him being actually being fired. As it is, he is set for life so why bother changing his childish behavior?

Still, as I said, you cannot deny results. The guy can build race cars. They did a great job getting the #8 up top the front and keeping him there and I’m sure the next year will find Dale Jr. making a strong run for the Championship.

And congrats to Ryan Newman on his first win of the year in some good hard racing against Tony Stewart. I have to wonder if Stewart hadn’t clipped Dale as Dale was getting on pit road, damaging Stewarts’ front end to the point where it rubbed down the tire, would Ryan have had enough? Tony had led most of the race because his car could run most anywhere on the track, high or low, but at the end he couldn’t get it to run low anymore, ergo making it very hard to pass Newman.

Still, a win is a win. Tony put up a great fight and it was a great race to watch.

What An Asshole!

I have tried to stay out of the political games of Hurricane Katrina, but this just went too far.

Last week President Bush signed an executive order allowing government contractors to pay their workers less than the prevailing wage for the reconstruction of the Gulf Coast, hobbling the area’s economic recovery by stymieing the pay of the many families living there. For many moths, possibly years, construction is going to be the biggest game going in town and a majority of the remaining population is going to be involved in one way or another. If you do not pay these people a living wage, how are they supposed to not only support their families, but have enough income to attract businesses to return?

I refer to a letter from the Representative Jan Schakowsky of Illinios

“Letters to the Editor of the Chicago Sun Times
Reconstruction ruling benefits Bush pals
September 19, 2005

As the death toll across the Gulf Coast rises, one of the largest reconstruction efforts in American history begins. An estimated 400,000 jobs have been lost, and 1 million Americans have been displaced from their homes. Workers who have found the courage to return to their devastated communities suffered another blow last week when President Bush suspended the Davis-Bacon Act.

Davis-Bacon ensures that workers who perform similar jobs for government contractors are paid the local prevailing wage. In New Orleans, where a quarter of the residents lived in poverty before Hurricane Katrina, that wage was $8.49 an hour for service workers and slightly above $10 an hour for most construction workers: not an excessive wage by any stretch. In fact, if the minimum wage had kept up with inflation, it would be $8.88 today.

The lower wages resulting from Bush's action will increase contractors' profits but harm workers who need to rebuild their financial security. Any savings gained by paying substandard wages will not be reinvested to fund the reconstruction efforts or given back to the taxpayers. Instead, it will go to the cronies of the Bush administration who have already received no-bid contracts in the aftermath of the hurricane.

While residents of the Gulf Coast are returning home looking for work, the same cast of characters who were rewarded with contracts in Iraq -- Halliburton, Fluor and Bechtel -- are busy setting up shop. Under the Bush administration, disaster has been consistently (and rapidly) followed by profiteering.

For many, Katrina exposed what life is like for the 37 million Americans who live in poverty and gives new meaning to the president's ''ownership society.'' If you owned a car, had a full tank of gas and enough money for a hotel room, you were able to escape the hurricane. Those without the means to escape were left behind, trying to survive the storm and its aftermath.

Hurricane Katrina forced the country to confront poverty, but it also has made us think about the role that government should play in providing economic opportunity, protecting our communities and keeping our country strong. We can promote an ownership society in which you're on your own. Or we can demand government that promotes a shared community in which we care for each other and are stronger for doing so.

We saw the results of a ''sink or swim'' approach to government in the aftermath of Katrina. Katrina evacuees who are willing and able to work should be hired to help lead reconstruction efforts in the Gulf region. At a bare minimum, those workers should be given the same wage protections that have been in place for the last 75 years.

Our government, which failed to adequately prepare for and respond to the hurricane, should now give them a helping hand in rebuilding their homes and their lives. Bush's suspension of Davis-Bacon is just another example of his ''take from the poor, give to the rich'' philosophy, which apparently applies even in times of grave crisis.”

President Bush just fucked the South. When are they going to open their eyes?

Catharsis & Hope

Catharsis

It’s been hard to come up with entries for the last couple weeks. A. Because we’re busy here and I don’t have a lot of time on my hands, but also B. Gawd, what do you say man?

First of all, before I talk about this stuff, allow me to say that anything I have gone through in the last couple weeks does not even compare in the slightest to what those on the Gulf Coast have suffered. My company is working in conjunction with several groups caring for various families that found their way here to Los Angeles. I am not comparing myself to them in any way shape or form.

When the 9-11 attacks happened I went into “Historian Mode”, I started to collect information: Who, What, When, Where, Why. It wasn’t until several day later after I had a nightmare about working the WTC and looking up from “my bosses desk” to see the plane coming straight at me, maybe a couple hundred yards away and closing faster than I could breathe, that I emotionally reacted.

A similar thing happened with Katrina. I gathered what happened, what was happening (or not happening), I donated money, I made a sign to take to the race to show my support. I went through all the motions. Monday night after the races at Fontana, I was watching the news and they came to this animal shelter, I don’t know where, that had been flooded with about 4-5 feet of water. The shelter employees had “elected to evacuate”, LEAVING THE ANIMALS LOCKED IN THEIR CAGES. They only had smaller stacking cages, the animals in the higher tier of cages survived despite having a foot to 18 inches of water in them. The animal trapped in the lower cages drowned. Yet the Shelter Boss/Head/Whatever was standing there talking about “Triumph of survival” and smiling like she was a damn hero.

I started to yell, swear, throw things at the TV. I was enraged. One would think that a civic shelter would have some evacuation plan for fire and such, in the face of a storm that they were notified about at least 24 hours in advance such a plan would be easy to enact. One would think that even if they could not get the animals away from the area, they would at least have had the compassion, the humanity, to open the cages to allow the dogs and cats a fighting chance.

But no, they just left them locked in, trapped, to watch the water rise and blot out their lives.

If you’ve grown up around water, and you have elder siblings as I did, you probably have had a couple very scary near drowning experiences. If you have not, I suggest you go read one of the final chapters of Sebastian Junger's “The Perfect Storm”, the one the describes in detail, what it feels like to drown. The most horrifying thing is the lights don’t go out as soon as the water hits your lungs, you have to wait for the heart to stop and then your brain to use up all the oxygen before you die. If you aren’t scared shit-less after reading that chapter, you’re stupider than you look.

Now think about the people. All those people in the nursing homes, or those invalids at home, trapped….

But yesterday morning I was listening to NPR on my way to work. One of their reporters is also a volunteer for the Red Cross and he and his compatriots are delivering hot meals to those displaced in Mississippi. He said that many times when he arrived in a devastated neighborhood, people would turn them down because “There must be someone who needs it more than we do…”

And I cried.

I know I am not the only one who has moments like this, moments of extreme anger, sadness and goodness so natural and yet so poignant it breaks your heart. I just needed to get mine out.

And Hope.

See, Tree Hugging Environmentalism Works!

Ten Endangered Species Back From the Brink

Including the Grizzly Bear, the Southern Sea Otter and the Bald Eagle.

“More Than a Symbolic Victory
BALD EAGLE
Status: Threatened, awaiting removal from list
Year declared endangered: 1940
Lowest count in lower 48 states: 417 nesting pairs

In 1782, the Second Continental Congress incorporated the bald eagle into the first great seal of the United States as a symbol of “supreme power and authority.” Unlike the king’s England, where wildlife was the exclusive property of royalty, in this new nation wild animals belonged to all the people.

By the 1930s, the national symbol was in trouble. Bald eagles, once soaring over most of the country by the hundreds of thousands, had plummeted in number to an estimated 10,000 pairs by the 1950s. Hunting, land clearing and accidental poisoning (eagles often ate toxic meat set out by ranchers to kill wolves and other predators) contributed to the decline. In 1940, Congress jumped to the fore with the Bald Eagle Protection Act, which acknowledged the scientific and political reasons to conserve the distinctive white-headed bird with a seven-foot wingspan. “The bald eagle is no longer a mere bird of biological interest but a symbol of the American ideals of freedom,” the law states. It prohibited the killing of bald eagles for virtually any reason.

But the introduction of DDT in 1945 dealt the animal a critical blow. The pesticide, sprayed far and wide to eradicate mosquitoes and agricultural pests, crept into the food chain. Fish ate exposed bugs, eagles and other birds ate pesticide laced fish, and the DDT ingested by the birds so thinned their eggshells that chicks couldn’t survive. By 1963, only 417 bald eagle nesting pairs were found in the lower 48.

In 1972, ten years after Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring publicized the insidious threat of DDT, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency banned the pesticide. Still, the hunting and chemical regulations would not have been enough to revive the bald eagle. The passage of the ESA provided critical help by protecting the bird’s habitat. Other federal laws would also contribute. Efforts to decontaminate the Chesapeake Bay, prompted by the Clean Water Act, benefited the eagle by slowly reducing harmful pollutants from prime bald eagle feeding grounds.

Widespread affection for the emblematic bird also made a difference. Eagle lovers monitored nests, educated the public and campaigned to close nesting areas during the breeding season. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) banned hunters from using lead shot nationwide, which can poison eagles and other raptors that scavenge waterfowl that have been struck by the shot. Meanwhile, the eagle itself adapted to living near people—even setting up nests a few miles from the U.S. Capitol.

In 1995, wildlife authorities changed the bald eagle’s status from endangered to threatened, an important moment in conservation history. Today, with about 7,678 pairs of bald eagles in the lower 48, the bird awaits a final OK to be taken off the ESA’s threatened list, a move that many anticipate will come quickly. “People want success,” says Jody Millar, Bald Eagle Monitoring Coordinator for the FWS, in Rock Island, Illinois. She says that the recovery of the beloved national symbol has generated public acceptance of conservation measures. “No government can protect a species if the public doesn’t want it.”

If we can bring back the Bald eagle from the brink, the Gulf Coast will certainly come back from this near extinction. It may take 30 years, but the Gulf Coast will certaily take flight again.

Now you all take care of your national symbol. Don’t make us do this again!

Thank a hippie. ;)

And with that hopeful note, everyone have a great weekend and best of luck to Dale Jr. & Co., Elliott Sadler & Co. and Mark Martin and Co. this Sunday!

Interlude

This

They can’t get him to remove it, but will they dock him 25 points?

I love the first amendment!

That

Sea Lions Sink Boat in Newport Harbor

Ha-Ha!

Love it when Mother Nature takes back (in a non-apocalyptic sort of way, of course), especially when it’s rich people with too many toys.

And Th’other.

Awww.

Quote of The Day

"When Jimmy Carter makes you look weak, you have a serious image crisis." ~ Geotpf

The Future

First of all, I applaud President Bush’s acceptance of responsibility for the Federal government’s sluggish and disorganized failure in responding to Katrina. While yes, Mayor Nagin and Governor Blanco also share in that blame in their lack of preparedness, it was nice to hear the President admit that his overly centralized powerbase filled with unqualified cronies is not the best way to run a country, that having .75 of every FEMA dollar devoted to terrorism as opposed to other disasters is a bad idea. I think putting an experienced Fire Chief in charge of FEMA is a great first step for disaster response. Putting someone with a strong military background or an FBI director with a background in criminal investigation and law enforcement in charge of Homeland Security would be an excellent second step in reorganizing how the government protects their citizens from dangers.

Katrina Questions

In the wake of this, the greatest natural disaster this young country has ever seen, people with an eye for history such as myself have much to ponder. While we donate our dollars, our time, our space and box up goods for food, clothing and toiletry drives, we also watch and wonder what the results, both physical and philosophical, of this grand experiment are.

Should New Orleans and the savaged Gulf Coast regions be rebuilt? One of long standing members of my SciFi/Fantasy board is a journalist from Amsterdam. The Netherlands, a country that has been living below sea level for 900 years. They take their dikes seriously. When he saw what New Orleans had in place before the hurricane he was appalled.

“Now, my country has fought rising waters for 900 years, no nation is more aware of how important dykes and levees are than the Dutch. We are just shocked to hear about how the dykes were grossly underfunded! That ought to have been priority number ONE! And yes, compared to the vast amounts of money America spends on useless consumerism, or on the military... well, there is only one word for it and that is DISGRACEFUL.

When rising flood waters threatened the dykes in the heart of Holland, 700,000 people were forcibly evacuated. It wasn't a suggestion or guideline like in New Orleans, no, everyone was ordered out and those without transportation were picked up. Nobody was left behind, except for the armed forces who guarded against possible criminals. Why were so many helpless people left behind in New Orleans?….” ~ Wajz the White

New Orleans is one of the oldest and most historic cities in the United States. Of course it should be rebuilt. The survival of the French Quarter shows that the French had a good notion when they settled there. But New Orleans will be a very large investment over many years and be very different from the “Nawlins” we have known.

Not only will the mechanical system for holding the water back have to be replaced outright, but civil engineering must take place to prevent or compensate for what was a major problem before Katrina came along: New Orleans was sinking. New Orleans was built directly on the Mississippi delta, on a layers of sediment and silt laid down by the river for millennia. When man built the levees, he routed the river directly out to sea stopping the process of laying down new sediment except in the harbor and channels where the City and State spent millions yearly dredging it out so that they were still useable for commercial ships. Combine this with pumping out all the groundwater to hydrate a large city and Nawlin’s began to sink approximately 3 feet a century. Some preliminary studies have pointed to this being a factor in the flooding as the storm surge overtopped the levees at Lake Ponchartrain. Somehow the engineers must find a way to allow nature to take it’s course for the city’s own survival.

I know less about the impact of man’s “taming nature” on the Gulf Coast during this tragedy, but his heavy prescience along the coast of Mississippi and Alabama was also felt painfully during Hurricane Katrina as communities and business built right on the water were destroyed by the 30 foot storm surge lashing inland. Yes, waterfront property is very valuable investment for the individual, the business and the city, but is it worth the cost of human life and clean up after a hurricane, something that strikes this coast regularly? Maybe it’s time for Alabama and Mississippi to set up a long row of state beaches as a buffer zone for everyone to enjoy and tell people and business to build further back from the water.

What will be the impact of the poor of New Orleans on the America? For a long time the Christian Right has been running around claiming there was a “Culture War” occurring in our midst, which is why they cling so tightly to a administration who’s incompetence and crooked deals have been proven time and time again; simply because they say the right things to keep evangelicals happy. But has Katrina stripped away the façade to show the real conflict in progress? A “War” on Americas Poor and Middle classes? I'm not talking about "the indigent" as Barbara mistakes them all to be, but the majority of the people left behind in the New Orleans. Families with a home and jobs, living paycheck to paycheck as all the Lower and Middle classes are like myself. I have a job, a duplex and car, but one bad earthquake and that's me on the floor of some sports arena. As it is, this isn’t about welfare, this is about human life. This isn’t a war with all out assaults but a war of neglect as the poor and middle classes take on more and more of the financial responsibility for supporting the government, yet can afford less and less of the basic needs to support a family, like owning their own home (or insurance on that home).

Nagin & Blanco’s evacuation plans for New Orleans’ simply did not account for a way to get the poorest citizens of the city out, those the most at risk from floods without an independent means of travel. Nor did it even include remotely adequate means of caring for them once they gathered at the central location Nagin named: The Superdome. On paper they simply fell through the cracks and in real life tens of thousands suffered and hundreds, if not thousands, died for it. Why? Why were the people of the Garden District better cared for by their city than those from the East Side who were much more at risk for flooding? Why did Nagin place the monetary interest of businesses over the lives of his city by he delaying making the evacuation mandatory? Are the wealthy politicians and lobbyists of City, State and Federal governments going to find themselves politically besieged by a renewed force of political activism from lower classes that have finally realized if they do not protect their vital interests, no one will?

And how will America as a culture change in the face of this? As so many of the people interviewed during this crisis have pointed out, we have billions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of troops to effect regime changes a world away, but not enough to protect our own people. Yes, that is grossly over simplifying the issue, but that is how it looks to many of those abandoned in Katrina’s wake. The economic heart of the Right just got gutted. How is that going to effect the Conservative’s and Moderate Republican approach to politics and American society? Is the banding together of individuals across political lines going to have any lasting effect on American society? Will the offers of assistance from countries like the much lambasted France and Venezuela perhaps get the more rabid neo-con “America Uber Alles” types to rethink their view of the rest of the world? Their view of themselves as good Christians?

What does Katrina reveal about us as Americans, as human beings? Well, that’s a heavy one. Human beings react extremely in a crisis (“Crisis”, hell one woman at the Convention Center described it as “Apocalyptic”, a far more apt term.), bringing out the best and worst of themselves. While the looters looted (and that’s “looters”, not people scavenging for food), the violent attacked and the politicians dithered, the American people mobilized on their own in a force more massive than anything anyone in rescue services was prepared for. Yeah, the bastards got all the air time, but there were far more people who donated cash, sent water, food and clothes, volunteered time, opened up their homes and their hearts….and I don’t believe that Americans are unique in this instinctual feeling of charity and community.

It may be naïve of me, but I have always believed that people were inherently good. You can throw all kinds of psychological and anthropological rationalizations at it, but in the end I believe that this showed that “the better angels of our nature” were alive and well in the 21st century.

Richmond

On to lighter fare.

First of all, let me deal with the Bush race and Truex subsequent fine. For those that missed it was the wildest damn thing I’ve have ever seen on TV. And that pic is just where it started. The #8 that you see going up into the wall then proceeded to go all the way around turns 3 and 4 on it’s side finally coming down right side up on the front stretch.

Needless to say, the normally staid Mr. Truex was a tad upset about this. After having asphalt grinding by 3 or 4 inches from your ear at 80 mph, you’d be a little upset too. So after he got out of the car he flipped the driver who forced him up into the wall, Mike Wallace, off. Twice.

“Naughty Naughty” said NASCAR and slapped Truex with a 25 point fine for, you guessed it, “Actions detrimental to stock car racing”

SO F-ING WHAT? As Jimmie once said, the thing that would surprise the fans the most are the amount of hand signal and gestures that get thrown around the track during races. These guys spend 3 to 5 hours in a perpetual state of road rage, flipping someone the bird is only the tip of the iceberg I am sure. So he flipped him off for scaring the living hell out of him (I know Truex said that he was upset about the wrecked car, but his reaction was a bit more…effusive than usual.) This is freakin’ ridiculous. I think the fine really has more to do with Truex’s Crew Chief getting in officials faces for black flagging Truex earlier in the race for not having all the tie down pins for his hood in.

As for Cup, well, like last year simply because it is the last chance for driver’s to make the Chase for the Nextel Cup, the second Richmond race becomes one of the most interesting races of the year as it become a wild balls out race for position for those team “on the bubble” (meaning they have a shot of either winning or losing their place in the Chase.) Two of my guys didn’t make the Chase and sadly both of them had performances in this race that showed why. *sigh* It was a bit frustrating to watch, not only because they both had lousy cars that hung around in the late-teens, but because they wasn’t any coverage of what was going on with Dale or Elliott. I didn’t find out until yesterday that both of them were fighting tight handling (meaning the car didn’t want to turn) cars through the entire race. The media was focusing more of the moves and shakers on the track that had a chance to get into the Chase such as Jamie McMurray, who got clipped by Tony Raines (“My brakes were bad” my ass) ending his Chase run. Or more colorful characters like Robbie Gordon and Sterling Marlin who’s game of bumper cars got them called into the NASCAR hauler after the race (no fines I know of).

But Mark Martin maintained a position in the middle of the standings, despite having a 13th place finish (they didn’t even cover him all that much either :P ) . Yay!

The Drivers in the Chase for the Nextel Cup are:

Tony Stewart - #20 - Home Depot
Greg Biffle - #16 - National Guard
Rusty Wallce - #2 - Miller Lite (Retiring this year)
Jimmie Johnson - #48 - Lowe Hardware
Kurt Busch - #97 – Sharpie/Crown Royal
Mark Martin - #6 – Viagra (Might be retiring at end of this year. Mark announced his retirement, but they have not been able to find someone to fill the seat for 2007.)
Jeremy Mayfield - #19 – Dodge Charger
Carl Edwards - #99 – Scott/Office Depot
Matt Kennseth - #17 – DeWalt
Ryan Newman - #12 – AlTell

While the points for everyone else remains as they were, just under 3000, these ten drivers have been bumped up to 5000, putting them out of reach of anyone else. Each place is then divided by only 5 points. Effectively leveling the playing field.

But team that finishes in the 11th place at the end of the year gets a million dollar prize which puts a big target on Elliott’s back since that’s where he is.

So Go Mark! Take that Championship home at last! And Go Dale and Elliott!
Though can someone tell me why when I type in www.elliottsadler.com into my address bar it comes out as “Adult users only: The Websense category "Sex" is filtered”

Elliott, just what have you been doing? ;)