Musings from Brian J. Noggle
Saturday, November 05, 2005
 
Cronyism in the White House
Say a politician wins the presidential election and then installs his little brother as attorney general. Would never happen, ainna?

Already did, my fellow young people. Already did.


- posted by Brian J. @ 11:41 PM   0 comments
Friday, November 04, 2005
 
Safety Warning
When out for a romantic evening with your spouse, choose "If You Wanna Be Happy" at the karaoke bar at your own risk.


- posted by Brian J. @ 4:55 PM   2 comments
Thursday, November 03, 2005
 
Another Public and Private Partnership Triumph
In Oakland:
    It's official. The deal that brought the Raiders back to Oakland 10 years ago is an unmitigated disaster. At Wednesday's news conference announcing the extinction of personal seat licenses, city and county officials smiled bravely.

    And why not? It's better than crying.

    As it stands right now, Oakland is clinging to the Raiders with a hope and a prayer, neither of which have proved to be an especially effective tactic in dealing with Raiders owner Al Davis. The team's lease on McAfee Coliseum expires in 2011, which means it has until then to complete one of the greatest marketing turnarounds in the history of the NFL or the team will almost certainly leave.

    As Davis said at the news conference, "We have a deal we can live with -- at least for the next five years."

    Now there's a rallying cry.

    The facts are these: Personal seat licenses, which were supposed to painlessly and effortlessly retire the $200 million bond issue used to spiff up the Coliseum-Arena complex, were the worst idea since drafting Brigham Young University quarterback Marc Wilson. The licenses not only weren't selling, they were less popular than the Denver Broncos. Even the stopgap idea, proposed by several pundits, that the Raiders should take the 10-year licenses and turn them into lifetime licenses, wasn't going to fly.
So a professional sports team has screwed its fans with the "Personal Seat License," nothing more than a convenience surcharge on the convenience surcharges inherent with buying season tickets, and has screwed its host city with hundreds of millions of dollars in debt.

And the cities come back for more.


- posted by Brian J. @ 9:30 PM   0 comments
 
Profit Tax On Media Companies!
An era of record movie prices, record newspaper prices, and record cable television rates coupled with increasing revenue?
    Time Warner Inc., the world's largest media company, reported an 80 percent increase in third-quarter earnings Wednesday and raised its stock repurchase program to $12.5 billion from $5 billion in an effort to meet shareholder demands to lift its slumping stock price.

    The New York-based company, whose properties include the Warner Bros. studio, HBO, CNN, a major cable TV company and Time magazine, posted net earnings of $897 million versus $499 million in the same period a year ago.
Time to levy a federal punitive tax on these businesses! After all, what's good for the oil companies should be good for the media companies who cheerlead immoral (even if rendered not illegitimate by faux populists in the legislature) profit confiscation and redistribution, ainna?


- posted by Brian J. @ 6:28 PM   0 comments
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
 
Sensitivity Note
To spare the feelings of afflicted persons, this blog shall hereafter refer to the little Irish men in green with pots of gold as Hansensdiseaseachauns.

Thank you.


- posted by Brian J. @ 6:20 PM   1 comments
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
 
Book Report: The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King (1999)
I inherited this book from my aunt. She might have read it, she might not have. Almost a year after her death, I cannot remember whether she particularly liked Stephen King amongst her reading within the horror genre.

This book chronicles the story of a nine-year-old girl who gets lost in the Maine Woods and is stalked by something called the God of the Lost. She has only her wits--inflated through the magic of fiction--and Tom Gordon, her hallucinated rendition of the Boston Red Sox reliever.

Pretty much, that's it. It's a short story for King--a mere 210 pages--but it moves along quickly and draws the reader along with its simple Girl against Nature (and Girl against Supernatural, or maybe Girl against Herself) conflict and its long paragraph descriptions. King could probably write a shopping list and make it compelling and enjoyable reading. As it stands, his hike one day inspired a story that kept me preoccupied a couple of nights.


- posted by Brian J. @ 7:35 PM   0 comments
 
Burning Villiages, Saving Villiages
Senator Harry Reid has confused them again:
    "I demand on behalf of the American people that we understand why these investigations aren't being conducted," Democratic leader Harry Reid said.

    Taken by surprise, Republicans derided the move as a political stunt.

    "The United States Senate has been hijacked by the Democratic leadership," said Majority Leader Bill Frist. "They have no convictions, they have no principles, they have no ideas," the Republican leader said.

    Reid demanded the Senate go into closed session. The public was ordered out of the chamber, the lights were dimmed, and the doors were closed. No vote is required in such circumstances.
UPDATE: Just to be clear, and more pithy, always beware the elected official who, on your behalf and for your own good, does things behind closed doors or without telling you what it is. One would almost expect the elected official to add, furthermore, that it hurts him/her more than it hurts us.


- posted by Brian J. @ 6:10 PM   0 comments
Monday, October 31, 2005
 
Why Stop There?
So I understand that Judge Alito, should he become a Supreme Court justice, immediately use the superpowers granted by the robe to spin the earth backwards and turn back the clock, some estimates up to 70 years. Why stop there? I'm unclear why the opponents think that the justices would undo only part of the Constitutional recreation that has occurred...why wouldn't they turn the clock back 216 years and undo the Constitution? Why not 230 years and undo the Declaration of Independence? Yea, why not 790 years and turn back the clock on the Magna Carta?

Because the events of history are only important as guest stars in the drama that is the narrative of American History, where the eventual and sometimes lucky triumph of the common decent folk can only be corrected by the super-legislature courts with their supreme insight into what should be done, not what the Constitution's authors meant in their drive to restrain government power.

Instead of judges who base their abjudication on the Constitution, some people want judges who turn forward the clock by any means necessary, whether granted by the Constitution or whether checked by other, elected government officials.


- posted by Brian J. @ 6:00 PM   0 comments
 
Has It Been That Long Since OJ?
From presiding over the most-watched trial in history to the Supreme Court.

We at MfBJN congratulate Judge Ito!

Eh? Alito you say? I thought they said Al Ito.

(Submitted to the Outside the Beltway Traffic Jam.)


- posted by Brian J. @ 5:46 PM   0 comments
Sunday, October 30, 2005
 
Exactly How I Would Defend Favre
Jeff Goldstein defends Brett Favre's play choices.

Sort of.


- posted by Brian J. @ 7:32 PM   0 comments
 
Ahead of the Curve

I oppose the Lewis Libby nomination to the Supreme Court.

Just in case NZ Bear ever wants to know.


- posted by Brian J. @ 7:12 PM   0 comments
 
Meanwhile, On Another Blog.....
Draft Matt Blunt 2008 makes a top ten list.


- posted by Brian J. @ 10:31 AM   0 comments
 
Out of the Quagmire
April 1, 1945: United States Tenth Army invades Okinawa, Japan.

October 29, 2005: United States announces Half of U.S. Marines to leave Okinawa.

After sixty years of resistance, the Okinawan insurgents have thrown some of the American invaders out.

I fear we won't have enough boots on the ground to weed out the remaining insurgency and to help spread democracy and capitalism to the Far East. Can the ramshackle Japanese government, originally appointed by the US and later selected in a number of sham elections and creation of a faux constitution, handle its own affairs without falling into a bloody religious civil war? Will the native warlords and the militant people live together peacably to build a nation together?

I also fear that it sends the wrong message to other insurgents around the world that if they resist and carp enough, they, too, can cause US political will to crack and to force 7,000 American soldiers to cut and run to Guam.

(Submitted to the Outside the Beltway Sunday Drive.)


- posted by Brian J. @ 10:06 AM   0 comments
 
This Urban Legend Brought to You By The American Dairy Association and Your Local Grocer
You know why they have expiration dates on yogurt? Because that's how long it takes the fruit in fruit yogurt to ferment. Dude, I know a guy --he's a friend of a friend to you--who bought a couple twelve packs of Dannon marked down because they were going to expire, and he put them in his fridge. A week later he's hungry, and its three days after their expiration date, but he ate a couple of them and got a buzz, so he ate them all. He got so wasted on yogurt that he blacked out and woke up in his backyard wearing nothing but his Playboy robe.

I guess the yogurt manufacturers put those dates on them so the grocery stores won't sell them to underage people. But if you want some cheap liquor without an ID card, you should look through the grocery stores' dairy cases for the old yogurt. Sometimes, you can even find stuff that's already expired.

Go ye forth, and pass it on. You know it's true, because it happened to a friend of this guy you know, and you read it on the Internet. That's double-checked accurate.


- posted by Brian J. @ 9:52 AM   0 comments
 
By The Duties Invested In Me By The Hockey Whoopass Jamboree
The Los Angeles Dammit There's Demitras beat the St. Louis Blues last night, ergo here's the logo:
Los Angeles Kings logo


Kudos to Brandon for selecting someone other than the worst team in the NHL, which I did out of duty and obligation.

Long Winter Update: Yes, friends, that does mean that my three winter teams (Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Admirals, St. Louis Blues) are a combined 5-17, but the Milwaukee Admirals are on a 2 game winning streak, and the Green Bay Packers are about to begin their winning streak which will lead them to Super Bowl XL, so perhaps it won't be a long winter after all!


- posted by Brian J. @ 7:28 AM   1 comments
To say Noggle, one first must be able to say the "Nah."