Tigers Deserve It

Via Drew Sharp at The Free Press - Party time!

They came within one game of tieing the major league record for losses in 2003.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_Tigers#Recent_Futility">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_Tigers#Recent_Futility

In 2003 Mike Maroth lost 21 games
which represented the first time a starting pitcher had lost more than 20 games since 1980!

But now when I walk around town many people have the Tigers games on their TV. It is a great thing to see. And the current team is made up of 11 players from that 2003 team. In terms of organizational management this shows what can happen with the right mix of experience, talent, leadership, rookie excitement, and character and is similar to the formula the Boston Red Sox used to win the 2004 World Series.

The key elements are:
Pudge
Kenny Rogers
The highly underrated Brandon Inge
Carlos Guillen
Placido Palonco (evidenced by the Tigers struggles while he was on the DL)
Todd Jones (who was booed by the fans early in the season)
The core pitchers from the 2003 season (Bonderman, Maroth, and Robertson)
Jim Leyland

Senate Intelligence Report On Iraq

Via The Washington Post - Iraq's Alleged Al-Qaeda Ties Were Disputed Before War

Get the reports here:

http://intelligence.senate.gov/

This is from the WaPo story:

As recently as Aug. 21, Bush suggested a link between Hussein and Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, who was killed by U.S. forces this summer. But a CIA assessment in October 2005 concluded that Hussein's government "did not have a relationship, harbor, or turn a blind eye toward Zarqawi and his associates," according to the report.

And in a recent press conference the following question and answer took place:

BUSH: The terrorists attacked us and killed 3,000 of our citizens before we started the freedom agenda in the Middle East.

QUESTION: What did Iraq have to do with it?

BUSH: What did Iraq have to do with what?

QUESTION: The attack on the World Trade Center.

BUSH: Nothing. Except it’s part of — and nobody has suggested in this administration that Saddam Hussein ordered the attack. Iraq was a — Iraq — the lesson of September 11th is take threats before they fully materialize, Ken. Nobody’s ever suggested that the attacks of September the 11th were ordered by Iraq.

Watch it here:
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/08/21/bush-on-911/

Shoreline Fishing For Salmon

Via Dave Richey - Surf Fishing Can Pay Off Now

We used spawnbags tied with orange or yellow mesh material, and we added one or two tiny Styrofoam kernels to the egg sack. This caused the bait to float up off bottom.

Our fishing rig was simple. We ran our 6-pound line through a 1/4-oz. egg sinker and tied the line to one end of a barrel swivel, We then tied in a four-foot length of 4-pound leader, tied on a hook, baited up, and cast into the water where the river current and lake water met.

The bait would roll along bottom, and usually it may roll only a few feet before we felt the tap-tap-tap strike as a coho salmon picked up the bait. We'd give the fish a bit of slack, set the hook, and then watch the explosive jumps of an angry and wild salmon.

More information on shoreline fishing is in the Great Lakes Fishery Trust's 'Let's Fish Lake Michigan' angler's guide.

More Ominous Parallels

Via Wired.com - NSA Bill Performs a Patriot Act

A Review Of Reviews For Electronic Devices

ViewScore.com - Product Ranking - All Reviews Combined

Looks similar to ConsumerGuide.com. Too bad it is missing HDTV reviews.

I Like Ike

Via Wikiquote - Dwight D. Eisenhower quotes

* I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its stupidity.

* A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.

* All of us have heard this term 'preventative war' since the earliest days of Hitler. I recall that is about the first time I heard it. In this day and time... I don't believe there is such a thing; and, frankly, I wouldn't even listen to anyone seriously that came in and talked about such a thing.

* Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children.

* I was against it on two counts. First, the Japanese were ready to surrender, and it wasn't necessary to hit them with that awful thing. Second, I hated to see our country be the first to use such a weapon.
-Newsweek (11 November 1963) On his stated opposition to the use of the atomic bomb against the Japanese.

* (On military character) Character in many ways is everything in leadership. It is made up of many things, but i would say character is really integrity. When you delegate something to a subordinate, for example, it is absolutely your responsibility, and he must understand this. You as a leader must take complete responsibility for what the subordinate does. I once said, as a sort of wisecrack, that leadership consists of nothing but taking responsibility for everything that goes wrong and giving your subordinates credit for everything that goes well.

* May we never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion.

Internal Combustion Hydrogen Retrofit For Your Auto

Via Wired.com - 'Blimp' Your Ride With Hydrogen

Hail Google

Google Wants To Will Save The World

It is reported that Google has a for-profit charity at Google.org.

Via IHT - Philanthropy the Google way: Doing good while making money

One of its maiden projects is bound to get attention. According to people briefed on the program, the organization, called Google.org, is aiming to develop an extremely fuel efficient, plug- in hybrid car engine that runs on ethanol, electricity and gasoline.

The philanthropy is consulting with hybrid engine scientists and car manufacturers, and has arranged for the purchase of a small fleet of cars with plans to convert the engines so that their gas mileage exceeds 100 miles per gallon, or about 42 kilometers per liter. The goal: to reduce dependence on oil while alleviating the effects of global warming.

Another One-Bag Packing Theory

Via Instructables.com - Pack A Carry-On Suitcase

More For The "I wouldn't Join A Club That Would Have Me As A Member" Department aka Politicians Are Morons

Politicians won't debate fringe candidates because they don't want to give them credibility as an opponent. Terrorists are fringe opponents and do not represent the majority anywhere (not even during the U.S. Revolution when a majority of people wished to remain British subjects). Therefore by flaming fear, declaring "war", and debating the ideology in the public forum these same politicians legitimize the terrorists.

What they won't do for their fellow patriotic polical rivals they will do for foreign terrorists. So, in a way, when politicians say we should worry about the terrorists they then are sympathizing with the enemy.

See DRShow.org - Interview with Louise Richardson: "What Terrorists Want" (Random House)

Saddam Hussein Is A Big KITH Fan

Via CNN International - Angered Hussein: 'We will crush your heads'

Saddam is just misunderstood - when he said "crush your heads" in the courtroom he was obviously attempting levity in these troubling times but referencing the famous-in-some-circles Kids In The Hall skits.

Flattered Into Buying It

Via the International Herald Tribune - Stretch truth a size or two, and vain shoppers will buy

The Globalization Of Terror Tactics

Via the CS Monitor - Taliban adopting Iraq-style jihad

The NATO and US forces are taking two steps backward for each step forward:

Schooled in the extreme Deobandi strain of Islam followed by most Talibs, he joined 18 months ago, prompted, he says, when US troops arrested his cleric father from their home in Kandahar after a roadside bomb went off nearby. The father's body was dropped off at the hospital by US forces 10 days later, the militant claims.

What a needless, chaotic mess...

NATO urges extra force for Afghanistan due to Taliban resistance
Nato plea for Afghan troops is rebuffed
Soldiers reveal horror of Afghan campaign

Real American Heros

From The Fun Times Guide - Bud Light Real Men of Genius Commercials ... Listen Now!

The Most Important Thing

From NPR - A Better Breakfast Can Boost a Child's Brainpower


Michael: What comes before anything? What have we always said is the most important thing?

George Michael: Breakfast.

Michael: Family.

George Michael: Family, right. I thought you meant of the things you eat.

I create breakfast with oatmeal as my canvas and the following is my paint:

Protein/Fat:

walnuts
peanut butter
sunflower seeds

Fruit:

raisins
dried cherries
fresh or dried blueberries

Sweetness:

maple syrup
honey
brown sugar

The best combination iswalnuts, cherries, and maple syrup on top of the oatmeal. Peanut butter, raisins, and a hint of maple syrup is good too.