35-11

I just gotta say that I love Coach Hoke.  Michigan should keep him for a long, long time if he keeps this up.  Spartans for Hoke!  And Buckeyes! And Gophers!  And....Scarlet Knights?   If it keeps going this way, they're going to be playing the Little Giants again soon.

OK, seriously, lest I be accused of total Schadenfreude, let it be noted that Rich Rodriguez is 6-1 at Arizona this year.  He's doing great with a school that hasn't traditionally been first tier in the PAC-10, and this raises the question of whether someone has "put a spike" into the University of Michigan's ability to put a good football team on the field.   Is that je ne sais quoi lost?

And I've also got to admit that, looking at the game pictures, many of the MSU players are true physical specimens.  I am hoping that this indicates great recruiting and great training, and not the kind of steroid nonsense that the George Perles teams that Tony Mandarich played on were known for. 

Paging "Urban Dictionary"

Apparently Monica Lewinsky has found her mission in life; having been hurt greatly by "cyberbullying" in the 1998 scandal for which she is rightly infamous, she is going to campaign to stop the same.

My prediction is that within a few weeks, "Urban Dictionary" adds a new definition for the term corresponding to the actual reason she suffered, and count on comedy shows to feature sleazy guys telling ladies of dubious character "you can cyberbully me anytime."

Prediction #2; Miss Lewinsky will not learn the real lesson of scandal, which is to apologize for your part in it and move on with life.  Just like her former boss, I guess.

In "honor" of Oregon's first "lady"....

....or "first stoner", I guess.  Enjoy.

http://vimeo.com/37683622

For the uninitiated, the live-in lover of Oregon Governor Kitzhaber has apparently not only fraudulently married an illegal immigrant (to give him legal status), but has also invested in an illegal marijuana growing operation.   And yes, if you're curious, Kitzhaber is a Democrat. 

To be honest, I'm not a big fan of banning "funny weed", but I've got to admit that if a couple more people had been arrested for using it--specifically Barack Obama and this Ms. Hayes--this world just might be a much better place.

Happy Columbus Day

I will confess that there are things that make it somewhat difficult to celebrate the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Americas.  Things like his mistakes in navigation, his enslavement of natives, and the bringing of European diseases to the Americas, among other things, come to mind.  History is rarely a simple endorsement in full of everything anyone did.  It's like we're all sinners or something. 

And then, quite frankly, I do a little bit of thinking, and I remember that many of the "natives" were engaged in constant warfare and human sacrifice (e.g. Aztecs, Mayas, Pawnee, Incas), and that those diseases were going to come to the Americas sooner or later, as the English did find the Grand Banks off eastern Canada for fishing not long after Columbus--which was why Samoset was able to be kidnapped by them and develop a taste for beer while a slave. 

And so, with the coming of true religion to this hemisphere and the end of constant wars to feed human sacrifice, I have to say something very politically incorrect; a lot of the natives had it far better under Spanish rule.

Along the same lines, a Christian was recently rejected for a position with Amaruk Wilderness Corp. in part because of her faith, and the managers who rejected her appear to be endorsing traditional Norse religion as superior to Christianity.

Now that's their right if they like, and therefore it's my right--being descended mostly from the tribes victimized by the pre-Christian Norsemen--to point out that we're really a lot better off since the Vikings stopped worshipping Thor, Odin, and the like.  So if you're thinking of taking a trip with Amaruk, maybe consider what those ViQueens did when the party got out of hand, eh?

Happy Columbus Day.  Happy end of legal human sacrifice in the Americas!

A thought on the Secret Service scandals

Now I will grant that there are numerous issues with the Secret Service--failures to do background checks of those who will be near the President, failing to stop a White House intruder, failing to keep the front door closed and watch the White House lawn, etc..--but it struck me that reports are claiming that the first agent who failed to make a tackle once the intruder was in the White House was female.

Now I will grant, cheerfully, that there are likely many places for female agents.  Attending female members of the President's family comes to mind, and it also occurs that there are many places where the best intelligence can be gleaned by a woman.  There are probably a lot of other great places for women in the Secret Service.

However, I would also hope that we could agree that the most important duty of the Secret Service is to make sure the most likely perpetrator--say a large, athletic male--does not get close enough to the President or his family to injure them or worse.  And as such, I would hope that we would agree that a key qualification for those closest to the President and his family is to be able to block or tackle a 250 lb, athletic man.

And, like it or not, with all due respect for former East German swimmers, I believe that the job description will all but read "only large, healthy, athletic males need apply."    Just like in the NBA, and just like in the Marines, sometimes physical ability matters.  Hopefully we get some people in the Secret Service who understand this before someone gets hurt.