Wednesday, December 31, 2003

Clark Bot This site was on my referrer list today.  It is a site affiliated with the Wesley Clark campaign, and though I don't fully understand how these things work, it searches RSS feeds from various blogs and other sources that reference Wes Clark.  Clark enthusiasts (or possibly even actual campaign employees) can then go to the source and "defend" Clark.  Actually, this blurb at the bottom of the site says it best: These links have been collected by the Clarkbot, a Perl script written by Rick Heller. It searches the Feedster RSS search engine for references to "Wesley Clark" To be picked up by the Clarkbot, a blog must generate an RSS Feed, and that feed must be listed with Feedster. Please use this as a resource for rapid response to attacks on Clark, and leave some encouraging comments at bloggers who support Clark. As always, be civil even to those critics of the General who are not civil themselves. I think that's pretty interesting, and I assume that many of the other candidates are doing similar types of activities as well.  It's a pretty smart way to carry on a discourse with people the Clark campaign might want to win over, assuming you get cogent and courteous people who can go out and engage the people who are writing about Clark.  I suppose this is old hat to people who know the internet well, but it's a new tactic to me.  3:46:28 PM    Say what?[]

The Evolution of the NFL Running Back Interesting piece in Slate today about the current state of NFL running backs, and this paradox: The more yards a back gains, the less likely he is to help his team win. 2:06:41 PM    Say what?[]

The Pipeline End Of The Year Spectacular! I'd like to write something about all the great things that happened in 2003, or all the weird things, or the big stories, but the truth is that I really can't remember very many of them unless prompted.  It's all in one year, out the other.  Besides, we all pretty much read the same stuff every day, right?  You don't need me and every other news outlet in the world to tell you that the Kobe arrest and Saddam capture were Big Stories.  You don't need me to tell you that the album of the year was the New Pornagraphers' Electric Version, or that the best porn movie name of the year was Masturbater and Ass Commander.  You know these things.  But do you know what the top five lies I told this year were?  Do you know what the five most disappointing meals I ate this year were?  Do you know what the five Most Fun Things I Did this year were?  Soon, you will.  Just sit back, relax, open that first bottle of wine and relive some of the great moments of 2003 with me. Top Five Lies I Told In 2003 "Nothing." "I didn't do that." "I already did that." "That's my highest priority." "Because I have a lot of work to do." Top Five Disappointing Meals In 2003 That one rotissierie chicken that was too dry Those brats that were really more like polish sausages That sandwich I had at the Argentinian Steak House in L.A. That one night at the Old Country Buffet That other night at the Old Country Buffet Top Five Fun Moments In 2003 (no kids version) The Milwaukee weekend-Played ball, watched ball from a box seat, all with friends in a great old town Jane and I in L.A., specifically Trivial Pursuit and tequila with Greg after watching the Lakers game Watching TV that one night at Cliff's Going to Lambeau with Brent, Brad, Ian, Craig and Grant My fantasy baseball draft Top Five Fun Moments In 2003 (family version) Lily's birth Going with Linus to see Jim, Mercedes, Reeve and Melissa in DC Canoeing at the cabin with Jane and Linus Sitting on our back deck in the July sun as Lily slept and Linus swam At the park in south Minneapolis with Grandma Cheryl and Grandpa Ronnie And, finally, let's look ahead to 2004 with some prognostications... Kobe walks Michael Jackson doesn't The Yankees or Red Sox still don't win the Series Reality shows start to tank in the ratings Bush wins reelection Nobody laments the loss of "Friends" The Patriots win the Super Bowl The Wolves get to the second round America's love affair with Katie Couric comes to a shocking and tragic end The North Koreans will claim to be ready to launch a Death Star Bill Clinton will get a talk show that will go gangbusters in the ratings Everybody on the Atkins diet just up and dies Rob Schneider will resurrect his career with "The Lenny Bruce Story", on E! You will decide to never read Pipeline again Everybody on the team in ESPN's "Playmakers" turns out to be gay Pakistan is recognized as the biggest current threat to world security All air traffic will be stopped for at least two days in 2004 Violent crimes continue to decline Spending on education continues to decline Spending on military-related items continues to grow The government finally admits that without junk mail, there would be no U.S. Postal Service I remember that I am a pull hitter, and hit .500 in my softball league And, finally...we will all continue our inexorable march toward death. Happy New Year!         11:48:52 AM    Say what?[]

Ashcroft's Recusal: Why Now? That was my first question when I saw that U.S. AG John Ashcroft had recused himself from the Valerie Plame leak investigation.  The investigation has been going on for months now, which seems to indicate that something of substance has taken place very recently to lead Ashcroft to take this action. What's more, Talking Points Memo has an angle that makes a lot of sense, which is that the timing of the announcement relative to the news cycle might portend a significant development.  In other words, they could have buried this story by announcing it late today or tomorrow, during the holiday.  That would have fit the profile of any Administration-led news effort, but this seems to be beyond the Administration's control at this point.  Indeed, today's New York Times includes the following passage: White House officials said that President Bush was informed of the decision several hours before Mr. Comey formally announced it but that the White House played no role in it. Indeed, the decision appeared to surprise both political figures in the White House and law enforcement officials at the Justice Department, leaving many to speculate about what led Mr. Ashcroft to disqualify himself from the case now after months of political pressure. Yes, I'll bet that was a surprise to the White House.  Word is that the prosecutor assigned to the case, Patrick Fitzgerald, is a straight-shooter with no overt partisan leanings. Regardless of the outcome of the investigation, this was the right thing to do.  Fitzgerald's findings will be far more trusted than anything Ashcroft is involved with.  No question, there will be some who will claim impropriety if no heads roll, but Ashcroft's recusal takes a great amount of steam out of that idea for most people. I, for one, would love to see this bring people down, specifically Karl Rove.  I think the Plame incident is a textbook case of the kind of smear tactics he has verifiably used in the past, and was an example of intimidation designed to stifle dissent of Presidential policies.  People like that need to be shown the door, no matter which party they work for. Beyond that, his tactics were recycled, short-sighted, and laughably transparent.  Darwinian theories apply to political operatives, too.   10:24:07 AM    Say what?[]

Giant Snake Found In Indonesia From the AP: Villagers claim to have captured a python that is almost 49 feet long and weighs nearly 990 pounds, a local official said. If confirmed, it would be the largest snake ever kept in captivity. A local government official said the reticulated python measured 48 feet 8 inches and weighed 983 pounds. The Guinness Book of World Records lists the longest snake captured to be 32 feet. The Indonesian newspaper Republika said the snake eats three or four dogs a month. Reticulated pythons are the world's longest snakes. They are capable of eating animals as large as sheep, and have been known to attack and consume humans. Talk about shattering the record!  You would have to think that somewhere, there's an even bigger snake than that yet to be found.  Amazing. 10:03:15 AM    Say what?[]

© Copyright 2004 DH. Last update: 1/2/2004; 9:25:12 AM.