Welcome to Earth

The NFL is back, and therefore so am I!

2006-09-08T10:16:00.000-04:00

I finally have something to write about again. I wanted to create another political blog - but let's face it. There are already so many of them, and it's such a depressing subject. So instead of writing on humanity's gradual self-destruction, I'm going to focus on a much more pleasant subject. Football! I'm going to have to rework my blog template into a Black and Gold scheme, because it's no secret that I'm a fan of the current World Champs.

For Steelers fans, the offseason has been a rollercoaster of highs and lows - from the hordes of fans swarming the downtown streets in early February to welcome the Champions home, to Roethlisberger's nearly fatal motorcycle accident. Key players were lost, our number 1 draft pick was arrested twice, and questions are still being asked about Roethlisberger's readiness to take a big hit. As my girlfriend and I walked from downtown to the South Side to catch the game at a new projection-screen equipped bar, we passed through the intersection where Ben had his accident. The chalk lines and blood stains are no longer visible (they were for a few weeks after the accident), but the memory was vivid - and I couldn't help but feel nervous about the upcoming game against the Dolphins.

Roethlisberger, after looking solid in the preseason, was all set to go against the dolphins, until he was suddenly sidelined by an apendectomy. Back-up quarterback Charlie Batch, Pittsburgh native (I actually worked at the school he went to as a kid) would get the start. Now Charlie's not a bad player - many people think he's underrated. As a starter for the Lions, he had moderate success. But he's no Ben Roethlisberger, and I was sure the Dolphins would be able to take advantage.

I'm glad I was wrong. Batch was outstanding in his start, throwing for 3 touchdown passes. He spread the ball around, was mobile in the pocket, and looked for all the world like a good, starting quarterback. Key catched by Hines Ward kept drives alive in third down situations, and Willie Parker carved up the Dolphins defense for over 100 yards on the ground. The defense was outstanding up front - holding the Dolphins to a paltry 35 rushing yards, and creating loads of pressure up front. That being said, there were some weak spots defensively - several missed tackles from the cornerbacks allowed for big passing gains by the Dolphins. Polamalu and Joey Porter made up for it late in the game by intercepting the ball, with the latter even running it in for a touchdown to seal the victory late in the 4th quarter.

It has to be a dream come true for Charlie Batch, who's been a Steelers fan all of his life. Starting the first game of the season for the defending champs, and posting a Peyton Manning-like passer rating of 125.5. At the very least, it's a dream come true for the fans simply to see our team back on the field after another long off-season. Now that we can't say "One for the thumb" anymore, we're going to have to come up with a new slogan once the playoff push begins. I'm sure I'll enjoy the ride, regardless.

Cool little video

2006-06-20T16:25:00.000-04:00

Sorry, haven't been blogging with this the way that I had initially hoped.
I'm not sure if I'll be getting back to it or not - being that I'll likely be cancelling my internet subscription at the end of the month. In the meantime, here's a really neat little video I came across on Youtube. It's an animated music video featuring vikings, electrical guitars, and gigantic robots. What could possibly be cooler than that?
Oh, and the music kicks ass, too. It's sort of like a chopped-up, funky, "Blood Sweat n' Tears". I can't stop listening to it. Check it out.

1st Amendment under fire. Again.

2006-05-09T15:48:00.000-04:00

Haven't posted in ages, I know. I've been busy with life, working two jobs (only one of which pays me money). Things are hectic, but I recently came across an interesting article, and felt compelled to write again. It's all over the net, but here's a short summary from allheadlinenews.com:

"Senate Panel Approves Anti-Flag-Burning Amendment

May 5, 2006 9:30 a.m. EST

Shaveta Bansal - All Headline News Contributor

Washington, DC (AHN) – The Senate Judiciary constitution subcommittee approved a measure on Thursday that would let the Congress ban burning of the American flag.

The measure passed by a vote of 6 to 3 must pass the Senate by a two-thirds majority and win the support of at least 38 states within seven years before it takes effect.

The Supreme Court ruled in 1989 that flag burning is protected under constitutional free-speech guarantees, invalidating laws in 48 states.

The measure has strong chances of being passed as it has attracted 57 co-sponsors in the 100-member Senate.

But Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Russell Feingold said that the amendment would undermine the freedom of expression that the flag symbolizes.

With President Bush's approval ratings touching historic lows and recent polls showing the Republicans losing their lead on national security, the party also plans votes on other emotional issues like abortion and gay marriage over the coming months to retain control of approaching elections. "

Here's the crazy thing - this isn't just one party doing this. While people like Santorum are hardly a surprise, Sen. Hilary Clinton is backing this thing as well. It's an obvious play to appeal to the flag-waving fundamentalists who would get behind such an atrocious proposal.
All I can say is: wow. Just how much are they spending on all of this, I wonder? I hate to think my tax dollars are going to help these morons trample all over the first amendment. These guys are actually looking to amend the constitution itself to push this through.
Now before you jump up and start screaming "America hater!" to me, think about what such an amendment is saying. It's putting the flag up as an idol, an untouchable symbol. It's saying that it's wrong - and even illegal - to demonstrate an opinion of dissent towards America. It's fascism, and we've got majority Senate approval for it.

Aren't we supposed to be defending "freedom"? Isn't that what America's about? We're certainly headed in the wrong direction here. While it's doubtful that this will actually pass, it's incredibly disturbing that our leaders are concerned with this sort of thing. But that's politics for you.

I say we fire the lot of them, and elect some real, honest, hard-working people based on their qualifications and experience, and not on their DC connections and pocket-books. Wouldn't that be nice?

(I'm just kidding, you silly government watchdogs. Please don't invade my house and burn my books)

That goofy Lone Star state;;;

2006-03-23T10:57:00.000-05:00

Just a funny little piece of news for the time being. I'm still determined to get regular with this blog thing... I just have to do my taxes first. This is an actual story, not something from the Onion.com

Texas arresting people in bars for being drunk
Undercover agents pursue inebriates in a pre-emptive strategy

SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Texas has begun sending undercover agents into bars to arrest drinkers for being drunk, a spokeswoman for the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission said on Wednesday.

The first sting operation was conducted recently in a Dallas suburb where agents infiltrated 36 bars and arrested 30 people for public intoxication, said the commission’s Carolyn Beck.

Being in a bar does not exempt one from the state laws against public drunkenness, Beck said.

The goal, she said, was to detain drunks before they leave a bar and go do something dangerous like drive a car.

“We feel that the only way we’re going to get at the drunk driving problem and the problem of people hurting each other while drunk is by crackdowns like this,” she said.

“There are a lot of dangerous and stupid things people do when they’re intoxicated, other than get behind the wheel of a car,” Beck said. “People walk out into traffic and get run over, people jump off of balconies trying to reach a swimming pool and miss.”

She said the sting operations would continue throughout the state.

Stay tuned....

2006-03-20T15:03:00.000-05:00

I'm busy studying for my insurance examination tomorrow morning, and have been for the past couple of days. It'll allow me to be another annoying salesman ringing the door at your local business. But it pays. Getting that MBA is sounding more appealing every day.

I plan on posting another "article" soon, though, so stay tuned. I'd like to rant about the "liberal media", and what that actually means. If I have the ability and opportunity to put my thoughts down in an organized manner, I'll be posting it here.

I'm also trying to figure out how to put a new custom header on my site, courtesy of my brother and his photoshop skills. So, like I said, stay tuned.

Looks like I was right..

2006-03-15T12:31:00.000-05:00

Just a quick addition to my previous post on the UAE ports deal -
Turns out UAE has been running a port down in Miami for years, well before 9/11. Thus far, there have been no terrorist attacks as a result. What does this tell you?
Could our senators and congressmen be so ignorant that they didn't even realize this before standing up and declaring jihad on the pending ports deal? It seems possible - if they had known, they'd also be aware that this info would get out, and make them look like ignorant morons in the process. It's not very promising when our country's leaders are so eager to score political points that they'll completely ignore the facts.
Don't be surprised if some other big controversy pops up in the upcoming days or weeks. The best way to save face after something like this is to make people forget it ever happened.

American Ignorance on Display

2006-03-13T12:37:00.000-05:00

We've all been hearing about the collapse of the proposed deal that would give administrative control of 6 US ports to the United Arab Emirates. A political disaster for Bush, who strongly supported the deal, despite cries of outrage from both sides of the political fence. Bush now faces some of the lowest numbers in his presidency, and support for his administration's policies is collapsing even among his fellow Republicans, who were as vocally outraged about the UAE ports deal as any Democrat. The general attitude among major news outlets is one of victory - victory of the American people over a threat to our national security. Victory over a big business deal that regarded money over the lives of Americans. Victory for congress, over a president that has repeatedly tried to wield more power than is due his position.

What people aren't focusing on, at least with any real intensity, is the fact that the collapse of the UAE ports deal is a perfect study in American bigotry and racism, displayed on a global scale. Charges of racism have been tossed around since the beginning of the UAE controversy, but have generally been shot down by all sides as improper and without merit. But the reality is plain: there has been no in-depth, mainstream discussion of the history of the UAE, and any connections to terrorist organizations. What the collapse of the ports deal boils down to is the fact that the UAE is an Arab organization, and for that reason alone, people feel threatened.

What is that, if not racism? Let's look at some of the facts here: UAE is an established trade partner with the US, and has been for years. The UAE even owns a rather large, current contract with the US Navy. Being an established trade business, the UAE no doubt recognizes the fact that were it to use its control of ports to aid terrorists, it would lose countless port contracts across the world. Helping terrorists would be very bad for business, in other words.
Like any other major corporation, the UAE depends on its network of contracts and an established reputation for its success.

Despite this, politicians of all political leanings have been swift to condemn this ports deal. Does this meant that the politicians themselves are racists? Not necessarily. It may just mean that the politicians are aware of the fact that majority of Americans are prejudiced against Arabs in general (hell, it worked for the Iraq war). Democrats saw the ports deal as not only another opportunity to make Bush look bad, but also to gain a political foothold on the homeland security issue - something Republicans have had a firm lock on since 9/11. The Republicans naturally saw this coming, and eager to keep their ace firmly in the hole, came out strong against the deal themselves, none too worried about throwing their already unpopular president under the bus in the process. Whether or not these men and women, standing on their soapboxes, declaring their will to keep Americans safe from terrorist attacks, actually believe any of this is irrelevant. All that matters is that the American public eats it up.

What will the end result be from the collapse of the Dubai World ports deal? Nobody can say for sure, but one thing is for certain: America stood up tall, and proudly declared to the world that we are a nation of jackasses. Sensationlist, bigoted, jackasses. Considering the rapidly declining reputation of the US across the world, we should embrace opportunities to improve our standings with other countries. The UAE deal becoming public presented one such opportunity, but Americans instead further isolated themselves from the rest of the world, in an incredibly arrogant and spiteful manner. Instead of burning what few bridges we have left, we should be building them whenever possible. Instead of shooting down a company based solely on the race of its operators, we should be open and willing to work with Arabs, to let the world know that we're not a bunch of ignorant punks.

But that's too much to ask of our ignorant, pop-culture addicted, attention deficit public. Sensationalism and knee-jerk reactionism are the order of the day, with long-term consequences never being given a thought. America is quickly becoming the big bully on the global playground. Size and strength, both economically and militarily, give Americans a general sense of superiority and independence. We've got the biggest guns and the best jobs, so why should we care what anyone else thinks? Just remember - Rome was invincible too.

-Rizzo