Return of Fred Mertz?

I don't know if this dude in the story is any relation to the actor that played Fred but he has a similar name so that qualifies as "fact checked" for me...

Either way, I'd like to party with the guy...

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. (AP) -- The University of Mary Washington fired its president Monday after he was charged with drunken driving twice within two days.
The board of the 5,000-student public liberal arts school said in a brief news release that it was in the university's best interest that William J. Frawley, 53, be terminated, effective immediately.
Frawley, 53, was placed on paid leave April 12, a day after he was charged in Fredericksburg. He also was charged in Fairfax County with drunken driving, stemming from the same crash.
Frawley flipped his car in Fairfax on April 10 and left a hospital the next morning against medical advice, police said. A warrant was issued charging him with drunken driving.
He was arrested in Fredericksburg the next day after a witness reported seeing him driving in a car missing the right front tire and police tried to pull him over. Frawley didn't stop until he reached his home, where he was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving and refusal to take a breath test, police said.

So Many People...

on both sides of the Iraq policy argument seem to register surprise that George Tenet is liar.

Surprised??..not at all....but show me someone involved in the Bush push to Iraq that isn't a liar and I would be absolutely astonished that such a person exists. There is just no way to convince me that someone with even the most limited access to this administration couldn't see the books being cooked. The incompetency defense again....doh!!....you would think it slightly embarrassing to admit to being an idiot on national TV.

Surely, they realize that people don't buy this crap anymore. ...don't they?

So Terrorism is up 25%...

according to the State Dept annual report on such things. That's the one the Condi was going to suppress and I guess we can all figure out why.

Now we can look forward to hearing why this is somehow a good thing...

Tony Snow took a few practice swings today when he posited that Bush never tried to link Saddam and 9/11. I'm guessing just to get loose after a 6 week stint on the DL. I'm sure he'll let'r rip soon with incisive analysis on how 25% increase will benefit us all mightily.

That'll show us idiots who think that terrorism going DOWN would be something useful.

A Terrible week for Baseball...

if you are a Yankee fan. I had to try to keep busy doing some carpentry work...something I'm not exactly well known for. Anyway I built these benches in our poolside garden and then gave'm a good shellacking to take out my frustrations...

I think they look good enough though..

Click on the image if you want to view the exquisite detail.

Hey Brian Cashman...

Put Mike Myers on the waiver wire to get everyone's attention...

That guy sucks beyond belief...if we can get an 11 year old girl for him...pull the effing trigger post haste.

Tell Procter he has 1 more outing....1..then it's off to bus rides in Scranton.

This is ridiculous. I don't have enough going on to fill the next 5 months so the Yankees better get it together starting tomorrow.

God, I hate the Red Sox.

Moyers...

nails it as usual with the new PBS feature on the ineptitude of major media outlets on the Iraq war run-up. This is a "don't miss" under any circumstances piece. Fascinating in a car wreck kinda way...it is also quite a commentary generally on today's state of the media. Hint....it ain't good.

Moyers is back with a weekly series also...Fri. nights on PBS...Lehrer Report, NOW and Moyers Journal...nice line-up.

Baseball Blogging..

There is something about a day baseball game in mid week that just makes you feel good. Lunch on the patio at the Knothole club and cold beer with waitress service and 80 degree temperatures may also play a significant part as well.

To paraphrase James Brown...."I feel Good"!

Wax on, Wax Off..

The Waxman hearing today should be required viewing for the dead ender war supporters...just stunning testimony giving Pentagon mendacity an unfortunate visual imagery....how sad it is for the families of fallen soldiers....as if it could be worse... that they will now never know if the provided accounts of their loved ones sacrifice was accurate or just a part of marketing campaign.

So fucking sad.

PS...link is to Kos but so many had it that I had to pick and I picked K.

State of the Yankees..

is not good right now after this weekend. They say things come in 3's sometimes but I guess they come in 4's too...as in 4 homeruns in a row off of Yankee pitcher Chase Wright. Ouch Man, that's gotta hurt your confidence plenty.

Gonna a need an upgrade for back-up catcher as it appears clear that Nieves is not up to the task. How about letting Phelps take a crack at it as he used to play catcher for Toronto a few years back....just a thought.

One of the masters..

checks in and you have to like it when Paul Butterfield comes to play.

Pretty good..

Saturday night fare...

The best part is..

the size of the spliff the guy is rolling...

Real Time..

is a great show...but some of the guests piss me off so bad....I just added 2 names to my list of people I'd like to punch in the face. The stupidity and mendacity is astounding sometimes. National Review people make my head hurt from so much dumbfuckery.

Chaulk Up...

2 more for A-Rod...but this one is gonna leave a slight bruise. Ouch.

Baseball Blogging..

Uh, just made this post a day or 2 ago...but A-Rod homered again? Another walk off job.

He's absolutely sick right now...but let's see what happens in Beantown. If it goes big, then I'll be a believer. But, ya got do it against them. It has to be that way.

Stupid...

Much...uh..yeah actually.

Gun Control...

or lack thereof will get revisited in a non-serious way after this week but it's hard to understand why the issue is so radioactive.

As it relates to 2008, we can assume GOP candidates will talk about "enforcing" laws on the books...that worked well, huh? We'll most likely see some rope-a-dope from the Dem's on it, without anything substantive at all.

But, why is that? Can't afford to offend the 30% of assholes who wouldn't vote for you if promised them a cabinet position? Fuck them and fuck the fence sitters too. This shit needs to stop and someone needs to come out with position that says "enough is enough".

How about framing some arguments that position the righties as unwilling to take proactive steps to prevent school shootings. Say it out loud....Hey, this guy won't do anything to protect the lives of students and other citizens through reasonable oversight of mortally dangerous weaponry. Major Bob Bateman had a great post on Alterman's site today that cuts to the chase.

I am sick of idiots with an agenda pretending that what happened at Virginia Tech is not because we have too many damned guns in this country. Muzzle-loading blackpowder rifles, single-shot breech-loading hunting rifles, and single-barrel breech-loading shotguns, and that is about it, are all that should be allowed. Those tools can be used, legitimately, to hunt. You want more, move. Leave the United States to those who know the difference between something that is useful for hunting, and something that replaces the manhood you never attained.

I think the Dem's should recognize an opportunity to do some good here and I'm not talking only about an election wedge issue. The time to talk about a serious gun control policy is now. Not after the wounds have healed as many NRA'ers will gladly tell you. Now is the time and it's about time.

Baseball Blogging..

Quick Hits...

• A-Rod homers again...that's 9 for less than 3 weeks of games
• Buerle (sp) unfurls a no-no for Chi-Sox...nice going!
• 1st Yanks/Red Sox series on tap this weekend...oh yeah.
• What happened to the Angels? They stink....must be because I'm going to see them this weekend. Glad I'm not going to Boston...

I Stand Corrected..

and I guess somewhat embarrassed that I could underestimate the ability of some righties to get that bar underneath a snail. In this case, courtesy of of Media Matters...we see this skank rooting for a "Paki" Muslim as the VA Tech shooter...ugh.

Is It Just Me...

or have others had the same thoughts???...if so I haven't seen much written on it yet but I truly believe that when the story about the VA Tech shootings broke, there was a whole shitload of righties praying for a Muslim to be responsible. It's a terrible, sad tragedy but at least it won't likely be able to be exploited for the war on terra. At least families of victims won't have to be subjected to that.

I hope that statement bears out.

OK, a little late but....

Who had POS Pavano going on the DL after 2 starts in the pool?....See the cashier....

AG May Be...

Channeling George Costanza...."if you believe it.....it's not a lie Jerry"

Likely to hear on Thurs:

• I mean sure...I was at the meeting but I don't recall seeing any memo.
• I might have discussed the issue but I didn't make any decisions.
• We have thousands of employees and I can't keep track of everything.
• My previous statements were accurate as I remember them

3 Guesses as to who...

is in that costume.

Sonny Boy...

Greg Allman has a new radio show on XM called Offstage. He was reminiscing about listening to the blues as a kid...and he talked about Sonny Boy Williamson being such an influence. His version of "One Way Out" is the model Greg used for the Allman rendition. I was aware but not familiar with Williamson. I think I'll find occasion to hear more of his stuff in the future.

Anyway...ran across this with the great Muddy Waters...can't go wrong there. Enjoy.

Hey Farnsworthless...

You STINK!!!!!!!!

Just Disappeared Huh?

I'm not skeptical..... That would imply some degree of doubt. I have no doubt that word came down to lose the emails because they were simply too damaging. Take the PR hit but lose the emails was the strategy.

Problem is that most data is recoverable these days so there may be more to come here and you can bet that there will be some finger pointing along with a desperate hunt for a new fall guy. Some jerk off nerd propeller head in charge of emails I'm guessing will do for now. Once they are recovered, they will need someone more substantial.

The Jury is Still Out?

on voter fraud despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. The things that the Bushies seem easily convinced of are things that most serious people are highly skeptical of ....like WMD in Iraq and such. It's pitiful that these people were elected in the first place but anyone who votes Republican now can never really consider themselves interested in reality.

April 17th....

has some serious significance...I already filed my taxes so I'm just waiting on Bertie's testimony up on the Hill. The word is that he's not up to the task so I wonder if we might be in for some maneuvering to delay the main event.

One of the problems about the truth not being an option is that every statement is perilous. If you're not convincing and brazen about your lying, you will be vulnerable quickly. Especially since it is looking increasingly likely that the committee already has the goods...And let's face it....nobody believes Gonzo...nobody.

Man, this should be fun stuff huh?

A-Rod streak

is getting impressive....6 homers in 7 games. Probably not enough to win over the Yankee fan base but you have to give credit where due. It's not like they don't try to pitch him carefully....it's a nice damn start.

Dice-K?

Nope... real NY's should refer to him as D-Mat....it was his new moniker until a Boston focus group figured out the "door-mat" implications...All of sudden we're " Dice-K"...fancy effing nickname for a rookie.

Musical Interludes and..

observations tonight concern a favorite of mine...you may have heard of them.....Grateful Dead?

Anyway my rather pedestrian observation is that...a) they're good..and b) Jerry Garcia was one hell of a sharp dresser.

**** for the interested, there is a live DVD from Buffalo out that is amazing...Trucking to Buffalo is the name...not sure the geography will catch on but here is a partial play list....Bertha...Walking Blues....When I Paint My Masterpiece...Deal...Ship of Fools..All along the Watchtower...Morning Dew...Not Fade Away...... Unreal, unreal stuff...Cold Rain and Snow like you know it should be. I run to this stuff and have multiple versions of that song and this is one of the best of heard ever...fucking trip A recommended***

We're gonna get..

known as a Bruce station if we don't stop this...but check it out anyway....It's Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes but...




Back when Southside still thought he was going to help the Boss along........funny how things turn out some times.

Stripped Down..

old timey 60's stuff....they used to call the singer "Big Fat"...

...go figure.




Canned Heat had some good tunes though and were an important contribution to 60's rock and blues.

Eddie & Bruce...

'nuff said....


Ass-kicking good...really.

What Have You Done...

for me lately?...How about a granny into the black with 2 out in the bottom of the 9th. Wow!

That's 3 homers in 4 games.

Who say Child Molesters don't...

look like child molesters??

To bad they couldn't get the mugshot in the outfit.

D-Mat or the 2nd coming..

as he is known in Boston gave up a hit to the 1st batter he faced in the major leagues....that guy sucks.

Homer Fans...

Don't miss the classic # 1...just click to the right.

Mobile blogging is now operational...pics

Mobile blogging is now operational...pics in about month...very cool!

Some New Elements to the Layout

courtesy of Google...a video area that will change frequently...a news area current set to Yankees for a test run but will change as well....and a scrolling Yankee/baseball newreel area at the bottom that will be permanent.

Tom Trancedo?

Raised $1.3MM????...WTF are these people thinking..(via carpetbagger report)

Republican Candidates
Mitt Romney - $23 million (including a loan of $2.35 million from Romney himself)
Rudy Giuliani - $15 million
John McCain - $12.5 million
Sam Brownback - $1.3 million
Tom Tancredo - $1.3 million
Mike Huckabee - $500,000

Religious Devotion Matters...

to the media apparently. How else do you explain the constant description of people in news accounts as "devout". There is very rarely a qualification to the statement, such as self-described or PR flack described but you get the idea.

Kyle Sampson is routinely referred to as a devout Mormon. Maybe they meant moron but he's from Utah so I'll give benefit of doubt here. Anyway, who gives a fuck if he considers himself or others view him as devout? How fucking devout can he be if he is all in with the loyal Bushies?

Is that what Mormonism is about? Funny underpants aside, I'd like to think that most faith based belief systems including Mormons have an underlying theme of helping your fellow man, being a good person etc.
I'm guessing they probably just threw that banging your wife's sisters in when no one was looking and expecting it would get tossed anyway.....who knew it would stick for so long....

The larger point is that, objectively speaking devout means an awful lot of things to many different people. Unless, it is being used to illustrate the craven hypocrisy of a douchebag like Sampson, it doesn't belong in the story. File it with the bullshit about him being the second coming of Michael Jordan on the basketball court with Ashcroft.

I could riff on this one for days...pisses me off, man.

Note to NY Times...

No one who reads your paper cares about Wrestle-mania and I suspect that no one who cares about Wrestle-mania reads......

Doesn't Everybody?

get their day started like this guy...

Peragallo, 64, testified at his trial that he did drink beer and vodka, but not until after he had groomed the ice. However, he told police he had a shot of Sambuca with his breakfast coffee and two Valium-pills before work.

Baseball Blogging...

A perfect two-fer start to the season with the Yankees winning and Boston losing. Talk about perfect harmony...The Yanks broke open what was a close game and got a late jack from A-Rod to put the exclamation point on the 9-5 win. Out in KC Schilling turned in a stinker with his shortest outing in 10 years and watched his team lose 7-1...ouch!

And so it begins...

2 Words...

That are truly music to the ears...

PLAY BALL!