Monday, November 23, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
"Christians"
I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.
-Mohandas Gandhi
Click for a must read and watch Exhibit A. Unless of course, you are OK with "Christians" calling for the death of our President.
-Mohandas Gandhi
Click for a must read and watch Exhibit A. Unless of course, you are OK with "Christians" calling for the death of our President.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Stewart As Beck
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| The 11/3 Project | ||||
| ||||
Brilliant!
Thursday, November 5, 2009
The Future of the Tea Bagger Movement
This pieces together Fox coverage of the NY-23 race over the last few days of the campaign. It is interesting to watch how they paint the race as being a major test of the tea party activists political power and declare Scozzafava's withdrawal a major victory for the tea party movement. Then, the moment their candidate loses, the importance of the race was suddenly "grossly exagerrated" and not such a big deal for the tea bagger movement after all. Typical.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
The Evils of Halloween
This is a link to a blog that appeared on the Christian Broadcasting Network website. It has since been pulled but I found this cached version for you to enjoy.
The gist of it is: Halloween is Satan's Holy Day and Candy Is How Demons Steal Your Soul! Enjoy.
The gist of it is: Halloween is Satan's Holy Day and Candy Is How Demons Steal Your Soul! Enjoy.
Columbus Marathon 2009 Race Report
If you want the short version, I sucked. If you want the details, read on.
Training:
Looking back, I should have expected a tough race. My training was OK, but not great. After running the Boston Marathon I decided I needed to finally let my piriformis injury heal. I had been running in pain for over a year and I had had enough. My goals of qualifying for Boston and then running a repectable race at Boston had been achieved. Now it was time to get healthy.
Getting healthy meant cutting back on my training and really playing it safe. It felt good to be running pain free again and I didn't want to screw it up. So what happened was I didn't run as hard, didn't run as far, didn't run as fast, and didn't run as often. I was really running with no mojo.
My speed work really took a hit and it took me quite a few weeks to realize that I was subconsciously holding back. I was in the middle of a less than stellar tempo run when I remembered that my tempo runs used to be so hard that I would let out inadvertent whimpers while trying to breathe. So I forced myself to really push the pace and I had a break through run but it was a little too late in the training cycle.
Closing in on race day, I realized that I might run a 3:18 or I might run a 3:38 and I really had no idea which one it would be. Several days before the race I felt a cold coming on. I started pouring electrolytes down my throat and trying to get as much rest as possible. But no matter how much I rested I still felt tired and just wanted to sleep. Not good.
The Race:
I woke up on race morning feeling surprisingly good and started to feel confident that I could have a good race. I had been toying with the idea of trying to run a 3:15 but I really had to be honest with myself and admit that my training was just not strong enough to achieve that goal. So I decided to line up with the 3:20 group and if I felt good I could push ahead later and if I was struggling I could back off the pace.
We hung out with some friends at a fitness club about a block from the starting line and then made our way downstairs about fifteen minutes before the start of the race. As we approached the starting line, it was absolute chaos. People everywhere. I started trying to make my way to the front of the pack so that I could line up near the 3:20 pace group but I quickly realized that I was never going to make it anywhere close to the front. Runners were packed in like sardines for as far as the eyes could see. Meanwhile, it's getting dangerously close to start time. It's decision time. I remember a few years ago when I got stuck in the middle of the pack and spent the first 5 miles trying to weave in, out and around slower runners in a desperate attempt to find my pace. My race was over before it even started. I knew I couldn't let that happen again. I had to get to the front of the pack, whatever it took. I heard the announcer say that there was 2 minutes until race time. I pushed my way to the sidewalk and started running. I made it to the 3:20 area and then had to climb the fence. Up and over. One minute. Off with the throw away clothes. 35 seconds. I check my Garmin. It was still trying to locate a signal. Time to panic. 20 seconds. I decide I'm just going to have to run without the Garmin. Just then the Garmin finds a signal. The gun sounds. We're off.
I went out at around 7:40 pace and it didn't feel as easy as it should have. By the third mile I was still struggling slightly. I just had no energy. I decided to stick with the pace for a while longer and see if I could make it work. The race was pretty uneventful. I knew the course and hit every tangent but I just couldn't find my groove. Around mile 8, I started to have some stomach cramps. Tolerable, but I knew from experience that these things generally only get worse until you're finally force to make a pit stop.
I kept pushing but I really just didn't have it. Around mile 10 I started considering dropping out at the halfway point and just running the half marathon. I knew I had another marathon coming up in seven weeks and since today was going so poorly it would be just as well to save myself for the next race. I spent the next 2 miles trying to decide what I would do. My stomach continued to churn.
Somewhere just after mile 12, a friend caught up to me. He was having a miserable day too. We briefly compared notes and I told him of my plan to just run the half and save myself for the Las Vegas Marathon. He sounded like he wanted to keep trying so at the last minute I said, "let's suck it up" and instead of turning left toward the finish line, we pushed forward. My decision was made. We ran together for the next mile and when Ron asked me our split for mile 14 I could tell that he was deflated by my answer. For me, I already knew that a 3:20 was out of the question and my only goal was to save enough energy to finish. At this point I also realized that my stomach issues had disappeared. I had dodged a bullet.
At mile 15, my friend decided to call it a day. I certainly didn't blame him and was actually thankful that he had come along at the exact moment when I had been ready to quit and gave me the push I needed to continue.
I continued running through the campus area, remembering how we had tried to drive this portion of the course the previous day only to find it impossible to navigate. So I was interested in seeing how the course actually ran as opposed to how it looked on paper. Before I knew it we were running past the Horseshoe, home of Ohio State football. I realize this is like a mecca to many people in Columbus but trying to route a race past the stadium never seems to work. We wound up running through the parking lot and then making a 180 degree turn back in the other direction. Totally pointless, except to be able to say we ran past the Horseshoe.
From there, we hit an uphill section where we started winding our way through the other end of campus. I was in a pack of about 15 runners and I was the only one who ran the tangent. One other guy saw me and veered toward me. He tried to make a joke about saving "2 steps". I told him that over the course of the race those 2 steps would add up to close to a quarter mile of extra running for those who didn't run the tangents. He didn't say anything but I noticed he started running the tangents.
We headed into Upper Arlington and as we approached the 20 mile marker I heard an announcer call out the name of a friend. He was about 40 seconds ahead of me and I looked for him but couldn't see him. If I had seen him I might have tried to catch him but as it was I was basically just hanging on, conserving energy, trying to finish. My race had ended long ago.
I made it to Grandview and the last few miles of the race. I tried to pick up a few runners who had given up and were walking. I managed to coax one guy into running again when I told him there was a nice downhill coming up on First Avenue.
I kept pushing toward Victorian Village. I was running on fumes at this point and my pace was really dropping. I didn't really care, I just wanted to finish. On Fifth Avenue, they had one lane of traffic open and some guy in a car drove past yelling, "fuck you, fucking runners, fuckers, fuckers, fuckers..." I was laughing so hard. It was clear that our very presence had ruined his day.
The home stretch. One more mile. They're handing out buckeyes and I grab one to give to my wife after the race. Knowing the finish line is near, I try to run a little harder. I come up behind a guy and girl and the guy is yelling to the crowd that the girl is going to Boston. The crowd is cheering. I remember how 2 years ago, my friend had done the same thing for me. I remember the awesome feeling of having the entire crowd cheering for you, calling out your name, pushing you toward the finish. There's no way I'm going to pass her. This is her day, her moment. I happily tuck in behind her, smiling the rest of the way.
We make our final turn, finishing kick, cross the finish line. 3:35:24. My second worst time ever but I'm just happy that I finished.
Aftermath:
Sometimes it takes a bad race to get you motivated again. The good news was that even on a day when I had absolutely nothing in the tank, I was still able to achieve a respectable time. It also made me realize that if I want to race my best I need to train my hardest. If I had run a fast race despite minimal training then I might have never trained hard again. Instead, I've been out there all week training with the intensity that I lacked last training cycle. I'm not sure if I have enough time to put it all together for Vegas but I'm damn sure going to try.
Training:
Looking back, I should have expected a tough race. My training was OK, but not great. After running the Boston Marathon I decided I needed to finally let my piriformis injury heal. I had been running in pain for over a year and I had had enough. My goals of qualifying for Boston and then running a repectable race at Boston had been achieved. Now it was time to get healthy.
Getting healthy meant cutting back on my training and really playing it safe. It felt good to be running pain free again and I didn't want to screw it up. So what happened was I didn't run as hard, didn't run as far, didn't run as fast, and didn't run as often. I was really running with no mojo.
My speed work really took a hit and it took me quite a few weeks to realize that I was subconsciously holding back. I was in the middle of a less than stellar tempo run when I remembered that my tempo runs used to be so hard that I would let out inadvertent whimpers while trying to breathe. So I forced myself to really push the pace and I had a break through run but it was a little too late in the training cycle.
Closing in on race day, I realized that I might run a 3:18 or I might run a 3:38 and I really had no idea which one it would be. Several days before the race I felt a cold coming on. I started pouring electrolytes down my throat and trying to get as much rest as possible. But no matter how much I rested I still felt tired and just wanted to sleep. Not good.
The Race:
I woke up on race morning feeling surprisingly good and started to feel confident that I could have a good race. I had been toying with the idea of trying to run a 3:15 but I really had to be honest with myself and admit that my training was just not strong enough to achieve that goal. So I decided to line up with the 3:20 group and if I felt good I could push ahead later and if I was struggling I could back off the pace.
We hung out with some friends at a fitness club about a block from the starting line and then made our way downstairs about fifteen minutes before the start of the race. As we approached the starting line, it was absolute chaos. People everywhere. I started trying to make my way to the front of the pack so that I could line up near the 3:20 pace group but I quickly realized that I was never going to make it anywhere close to the front. Runners were packed in like sardines for as far as the eyes could see. Meanwhile, it's getting dangerously close to start time. It's decision time. I remember a few years ago when I got stuck in the middle of the pack and spent the first 5 miles trying to weave in, out and around slower runners in a desperate attempt to find my pace. My race was over before it even started. I knew I couldn't let that happen again. I had to get to the front of the pack, whatever it took. I heard the announcer say that there was 2 minutes until race time. I pushed my way to the sidewalk and started running. I made it to the 3:20 area and then had to climb the fence. Up and over. One minute. Off with the throw away clothes. 35 seconds. I check my Garmin. It was still trying to locate a signal. Time to panic. 20 seconds. I decide I'm just going to have to run without the Garmin. Just then the Garmin finds a signal. The gun sounds. We're off.
I went out at around 7:40 pace and it didn't feel as easy as it should have. By the third mile I was still struggling slightly. I just had no energy. I decided to stick with the pace for a while longer and see if I could make it work. The race was pretty uneventful. I knew the course and hit every tangent but I just couldn't find my groove. Around mile 8, I started to have some stomach cramps. Tolerable, but I knew from experience that these things generally only get worse until you're finally force to make a pit stop.
I kept pushing but I really just didn't have it. Around mile 10 I started considering dropping out at the halfway point and just running the half marathon. I knew I had another marathon coming up in seven weeks and since today was going so poorly it would be just as well to save myself for the next race. I spent the next 2 miles trying to decide what I would do. My stomach continued to churn.
Somewhere just after mile 12, a friend caught up to me. He was having a miserable day too. We briefly compared notes and I told him of my plan to just run the half and save myself for the Las Vegas Marathon. He sounded like he wanted to keep trying so at the last minute I said, "let's suck it up" and instead of turning left toward the finish line, we pushed forward. My decision was made. We ran together for the next mile and when Ron asked me our split for mile 14 I could tell that he was deflated by my answer. For me, I already knew that a 3:20 was out of the question and my only goal was to save enough energy to finish. At this point I also realized that my stomach issues had disappeared. I had dodged a bullet.
At mile 15, my friend decided to call it a day. I certainly didn't blame him and was actually thankful that he had come along at the exact moment when I had been ready to quit and gave me the push I needed to continue.
I continued running through the campus area, remembering how we had tried to drive this portion of the course the previous day only to find it impossible to navigate. So I was interested in seeing how the course actually ran as opposed to how it looked on paper. Before I knew it we were running past the Horseshoe, home of Ohio State football. I realize this is like a mecca to many people in Columbus but trying to route a race past the stadium never seems to work. We wound up running through the parking lot and then making a 180 degree turn back in the other direction. Totally pointless, except to be able to say we ran past the Horseshoe.
From there, we hit an uphill section where we started winding our way through the other end of campus. I was in a pack of about 15 runners and I was the only one who ran the tangent. One other guy saw me and veered toward me. He tried to make a joke about saving "2 steps". I told him that over the course of the race those 2 steps would add up to close to a quarter mile of extra running for those who didn't run the tangents. He didn't say anything but I noticed he started running the tangents.
We headed into Upper Arlington and as we approached the 20 mile marker I heard an announcer call out the name of a friend. He was about 40 seconds ahead of me and I looked for him but couldn't see him. If I had seen him I might have tried to catch him but as it was I was basically just hanging on, conserving energy, trying to finish. My race had ended long ago.
I made it to Grandview and the last few miles of the race. I tried to pick up a few runners who had given up and were walking. I managed to coax one guy into running again when I told him there was a nice downhill coming up on First Avenue.
I kept pushing toward Victorian Village. I was running on fumes at this point and my pace was really dropping. I didn't really care, I just wanted to finish. On Fifth Avenue, they had one lane of traffic open and some guy in a car drove past yelling, "fuck you, fucking runners, fuckers, fuckers, fuckers..." I was laughing so hard. It was clear that our very presence had ruined his day.
The home stretch. One more mile. They're handing out buckeyes and I grab one to give to my wife after the race. Knowing the finish line is near, I try to run a little harder. I come up behind a guy and girl and the guy is yelling to the crowd that the girl is going to Boston. The crowd is cheering. I remember how 2 years ago, my friend had done the same thing for me. I remember the awesome feeling of having the entire crowd cheering for you, calling out your name, pushing you toward the finish. There's no way I'm going to pass her. This is her day, her moment. I happily tuck in behind her, smiling the rest of the way.
We make our final turn, finishing kick, cross the finish line. 3:35:24. My second worst time ever but I'm just happy that I finished.
Aftermath:
Sometimes it takes a bad race to get you motivated again. The good news was that even on a day when I had absolutely nothing in the tank, I was still able to achieve a respectable time. It also made me realize that if I want to race my best I need to train my hardest. If I had run a fast race despite minimal training then I might have never trained hard again. Instead, I've been out there all week training with the intensity that I lacked last training cycle. I'm not sure if I have enough time to put it all together for Vegas but I'm damn sure going to try.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Friends...Easy Come, Easy Go.
I know, I know. I hardly ever post anything on here anymore. Let me tell you a little story.
About eleven months ago, I discovered this little website called Facebook. Maybe you've heard of it. Before long, I was reconnecting with old classmates and friends, old and new, some of whom I hadn't talked to in over 20 years. It was cool.
After a few months on Facebook, I started to post an occasional political link or comment on the political topic du jour. What I found was an outlet where I would receive immediate feedback on whatever I posted. I could actually have a discussion with people about the topic in real time. Some agreed with me, some did not. I loved it. I was able to get valuable insight into what my conservative friends thought and why they thought it. In return, I could give my point of view, rebut any fallacies that they brought up and generally engage in what was sometimes a healthy political discussion.
Of course, I had to take the good with the bad. It turns out some of the people were only capable of spouting whatever weak talking points they had heard on whichever crazy tv/radio personalities show they had most recently had the misfortune of experiencing. Once I carved through their weak argument they had nothing further to say. In fact, I found that many of them couldn't even put together a concrete argument about anything they had mentioned. Their beliefs were only "sound bite" deep.
Jackpot! I thought. These are the people who I can really reach. I can show them the truth about some of these topics and get them to think about things independently instead of just believing whatever nonsense they hear from the conservative talking heads. I can present them with the other side of the coin and maybe they'll change their mind, maybe they won't. But at least this way they could get more than one perspective.
So I started posting more and more political topics and really enjoyed the back and forth conversation that some of those topics would induce. It was fun. I was learning some things and I hoped that my Facebook friends were too.
Then one day I attempted to go to a friends page to wish him a happy birthday when I realized that I was no longer listed as his friend. He had "unfriended" me. I was shocked then saddened when I realized that the only likely explanation was that he "unfriended" me because of my political views. So I checked my friendship status with a few other friends who I knew to be conservatives and believe it or not I had lost at least 4 "friends" that I could remember for sure.
Here I was, thinking that I was doing a good thing, providing friends with valuable information that could help shape their opinion on a myriad of topics, only to find out that the very people who most desperately needed to hear these things were deleting me as their friend. I was shocked. I mean, I was doing this for THEM!
So that made me reevaluate the whole political talk on Facebook thing. It was a wake up call for sure. I learned that some people, no matter what evidence is put before them, are going to continue to believe what they want to believe and there's not a damn thing you can do to change them.
That is why you're always going to have people tuning into Beck, Limbaugh, Fox News, et al. Because these people tell those people what they want to hear. Hating black people doesn't make you a racist. Cheering for the failure of our President doesn't make you a traitor to your country. You feel this way because there is a vast conspiracy by a Socialist/Fascist Kenyan born dictator who is bent on destroying everything you are told you believe in. After all, your favorite TV station tells you this 24/7/365 so it must be OK to believe it.
But what the hell, if you're going to be a paranoid, racist, America hating loser, at least you can tune in with the rest of your ilk and not feel like you are all alone. But I digress.
Anyway, it has been a really enlightening experience. It is also the reason that I haven't blogged very often lately. Perhaps that will change now that the lesson has been learned.
About eleven months ago, I discovered this little website called Facebook. Maybe you've heard of it. Before long, I was reconnecting with old classmates and friends, old and new, some of whom I hadn't talked to in over 20 years. It was cool.
After a few months on Facebook, I started to post an occasional political link or comment on the political topic du jour. What I found was an outlet where I would receive immediate feedback on whatever I posted. I could actually have a discussion with people about the topic in real time. Some agreed with me, some did not. I loved it. I was able to get valuable insight into what my conservative friends thought and why they thought it. In return, I could give my point of view, rebut any fallacies that they brought up and generally engage in what was sometimes a healthy political discussion.
Of course, I had to take the good with the bad. It turns out some of the people were only capable of spouting whatever weak talking points they had heard on whichever crazy tv/radio personalities show they had most recently had the misfortune of experiencing. Once I carved through their weak argument they had nothing further to say. In fact, I found that many of them couldn't even put together a concrete argument about anything they had mentioned. Their beliefs were only "sound bite" deep.
Jackpot! I thought. These are the people who I can really reach. I can show them the truth about some of these topics and get them to think about things independently instead of just believing whatever nonsense they hear from the conservative talking heads. I can present them with the other side of the coin and maybe they'll change their mind, maybe they won't. But at least this way they could get more than one perspective.
So I started posting more and more political topics and really enjoyed the back and forth conversation that some of those topics would induce. It was fun. I was learning some things and I hoped that my Facebook friends were too.
Then one day I attempted to go to a friends page to wish him a happy birthday when I realized that I was no longer listed as his friend. He had "unfriended" me. I was shocked then saddened when I realized that the only likely explanation was that he "unfriended" me because of my political views. So I checked my friendship status with a few other friends who I knew to be conservatives and believe it or not I had lost at least 4 "friends" that I could remember for sure.
Here I was, thinking that I was doing a good thing, providing friends with valuable information that could help shape their opinion on a myriad of topics, only to find out that the very people who most desperately needed to hear these things were deleting me as their friend. I was shocked. I mean, I was doing this for THEM!
So that made me reevaluate the whole political talk on Facebook thing. It was a wake up call for sure. I learned that some people, no matter what evidence is put before them, are going to continue to believe what they want to believe and there's not a damn thing you can do to change them.
That is why you're always going to have people tuning into Beck, Limbaugh, Fox News, et al. Because these people tell those people what they want to hear. Hating black people doesn't make you a racist. Cheering for the failure of our President doesn't make you a traitor to your country. You feel this way because there is a vast conspiracy by a Socialist/Fascist Kenyan born dictator who is bent on destroying everything you are told you believe in. After all, your favorite TV station tells you this 24/7/365 so it must be OK to believe it.
But what the hell, if you're going to be a paranoid, racist, America hating loser, at least you can tune in with the rest of your ilk and not feel like you are all alone. But I digress.
Anyway, it has been a really enlightening experience. It is also the reason that I haven't blogged very often lately. Perhaps that will change now that the lesson has been learned.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Fear of a Black President
This is required reading for anyone with a brain. Click here and enjoy. One of my favorite paragraphs:
America has a robust and colorful history of parents pulling their children out of school to prevent them from being exposed to a black person -- far more history of that than of being outraged--outraged I tell you!-- at exposing children to their President. It is unclear what, exactly, terrifies them so much. From the level of drama, one can only presume that Obama will be reading passages from the fabled Negronomicon.
America has a robust and colorful history of parents pulling their children out of school to prevent them from being exposed to a black person -- far more history of that than of being outraged--outraged I tell you!-- at exposing children to their President. It is unclear what, exactly, terrifies them so much. From the level of drama, one can only presume that Obama will be reading passages from the fabled Negronomicon.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Health Scare, part 3
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Rachel really does a nice job of breaking down exactly who is behind these fake grass roots uprisings. If only the mainstream media would spend this much time researching and reporting reality.
Here is a must read quote from the video clip:
To talk about these town hall events as some organic outpouring of average American folks who have concerns about health care is to be willfully blind to what is really going on, which is professional P.R. operatives generating exploitative, manufactured, strategically deployed outrage in order to line their own pocket.
These P.R. spin misters get paid a lot of money for doing it. The corporations they work for get to kill legislation that would hurt their profits. And the real people who they launch into these town hall settings after they're told that health care reform is a secret commie plot to kill old people and to mandate sex changes, those real people get more, and more, and more and more angry, and more, and more, and more alienated, and ultimately they get left, like the rest of us, with a health care system that is broken and doesn't work in the interest of the American people, but does work in the interest of the corporations that profit from the way the system is now.
This is professional, corporate funded Republican staffed P.R., and it should be reported as such.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Shilling For Dollars
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
There's such a fine line between "spontaneous uprising" and "paid operative". I think it's really important to get the word out about exactly who these people disrupting the town hall meetings are and who is behind it. Remember, too many people form their understanding of reality based on a twenty second video clip and/or sound bite. That leaves entirely too much room for the spread of misinformation. Which is exactly what these people want. Let's protect our more gullible brethren and help expose these bastards for who they really are.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Health Scare, part 2
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
I posted a few months ago about how interesting it would be to follow the money during the health care debate to see the relationship between how much money each Senator and Congressman received from the health care industry and how strenuously they objected and stood in the way of passing new legislation. This video serves as a good follow up to that post.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Four Dead in U-S-A
Let's see, that's 2 Pittsburgh cops, a doctor, and a security guard, who have been killed so far. All since this ridiculous, laughable, insulting DHS memo was released.
Here's what Gingrich had to say about the report at the time:
The person who drafted the outrageous homeland security memo smearing veterans and conservatives should be fired
1:40 PM Apr 14th from TwitterBerry
Sure, Newt. Kill the messenger. As I said on Facebook last night, rather than acknowledge the merits of the report, Gingrich and company twisted what the report actually said and tried to make people believe that it was a smear job on veterans and conservatives. It wasn't. In fact, the report never once even used the word "conservative". But when blowhards like Gingrich read the phrase "far right-wing extremist", for some bizarre reason, they think it means "conservative". Chew on that for a minute.
This led to an endless beating of the drum by Beck, Limbaugh, etc. which served to fire up and encourage the very extremist fringe that the report was talking about, even more. The result, four dead and counting while the right-wing talking heads continue to spew their hate while refusing to accept any blame for the harm that their words are inspiring their unstable listeners to cause.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Fuzzy Math
Yesterday, I was going to blog about empathy and how it was going to be the latest Republican four letter word, temporarily replacing socialist, fascist, San Francisco values, etc., as the buzz word of the week. Because, you know, empathy is such a weak character trait. It's hard to be a grumpy old rich white guy AND show empathy. I digress.
I tuned in to Beck and then Limbaugh and sure, I heard the "E" word, but Limbaugh decided to take a different route. He started talking about what a horrible reversal rate Sonia Sotomayer had in cases that she had ruled on. He was ranting about some absurd number like 80% of her decisions were later reversed. Now, knowing Limbaugh I knew that a)there had to be more to the story or b)he was just making shit up.
Fortunately, The Daily Kos, exposed the real story. I'll let them take it from here:
Diamond legend Ted Williams once said that hitting a baseball "carries with it the continuing frustration of knowing that even if you are a .300 hitter... you are going to fail at your job seven out of ten times." The same, apparently, is true for Supreme Court appellees. Over each of the last several terms, the high court has reversed 75% of the cases that have come before it.
That number might seem high, but it makes perfect sense. The Supreme Court, unlike the federal circuit courts of appeal, can choose which cases it wants to hear (a perogative called certiorari). The Supremes select just a handful of matters (maybe 1-2% out of thousands) each year, and they generally pick rulings they'd like to overturn. After all, if they're happy with an appeals court decision, why spend more time on it if they'd only uphold it?
Judge Sonia Sotomayor, though, seems to have something in common with Teddy Ballgame - her average was well above average. Indeed, Sotomayor's decisions were upheld far more frequently than the norm. Apparently, out of the 380-odd opinions she penned while on the Second Circuit, the Supreme Court granted cert on just six. And of those six, Sotomayor was reversed on only three. That's a .500 batting average, a figure even Ted Williams would have to admire.
Hmmm. Quite a different story when you take away the Oxy-moron's twisted slant, huh? So either Rush is dumber than I thought or he believes that his listeners are dumb enough to buy into his bullshit. Or both.
I tuned in to Beck and then Limbaugh and sure, I heard the "E" word, but Limbaugh decided to take a different route. He started talking about what a horrible reversal rate Sonia Sotomayer had in cases that she had ruled on. He was ranting about some absurd number like 80% of her decisions were later reversed. Now, knowing Limbaugh I knew that a)there had to be more to the story or b)he was just making shit up.
Fortunately, The Daily Kos, exposed the real story. I'll let them take it from here:
Diamond legend Ted Williams once said that hitting a baseball "carries with it the continuing frustration of knowing that even if you are a .300 hitter... you are going to fail at your job seven out of ten times." The same, apparently, is true for Supreme Court appellees. Over each of the last several terms, the high court has reversed 75% of the cases that have come before it.
That number might seem high, but it makes perfect sense. The Supreme Court, unlike the federal circuit courts of appeal, can choose which cases it wants to hear (a perogative called certiorari). The Supremes select just a handful of matters (maybe 1-2% out of thousands) each year, and they generally pick rulings they'd like to overturn. After all, if they're happy with an appeals court decision, why spend more time on it if they'd only uphold it?
Judge Sonia Sotomayor, though, seems to have something in common with Teddy Ballgame - her average was well above average. Indeed, Sotomayor's decisions were upheld far more frequently than the norm. Apparently, out of the 380-odd opinions she penned while on the Second Circuit, the Supreme Court granted cert on just six. And of those six, Sotomayor was reversed on only three. That's a .500 batting average, a figure even Ted Williams would have to admire.
Hmmm. Quite a different story when you take away the Oxy-moron's twisted slant, huh? So either Rush is dumber than I thought or he believes that his listeners are dumb enough to buy into his bullshit. Or both.
Waterboarding Part 2
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Olbermann interviews the conservative radio host who underwent waterboarding to prove that it wasn't torture and 6 seconds later declared that it is "absolutely torture".
I haven't been able to confirm this but I heard that up until 2005 the CIA actually called waterboarding "water torture". What an odd name for something that supposedly isn't torture.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Waterboarding
If you do nothing else today, take the time to check out this video. It shows a conservative radio host being waterboarded to prove once and for all that it's not torture.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
FU Rush
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Olbermann can be a little over the top at times but considering the subject of this rant, you reap what you sow.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Secede Already
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
The more the Texas Governor talks about secession, the more I'm in favor of it.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
BillyBillyBilly
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Nice point by point smackdown of BillyO and his use of Nazi propaganda to try to smear Obama. What a class act. Sometimes I truly feel sorry for people who trust this fool for their information.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Beat the Rich
This is pretty funny. It starts out slow but stick with it until they are actually playing the game. It's worth it.
Friday, May 8, 2009
The Defense Rests
Dick Cheney said in a recent interview, "We resorted, for example, to waterboarding, which is the source of much of the controversy, with only three individuals."
So now that he has officially confessed to war crimes, can we finally begin proceedings to prosecute this evil sociopath?
So now that he has officially confessed to war crimes, can we finally begin proceedings to prosecute this evil sociopath?
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
One Day At A Time
We've been slowly making our way through the Penn & Teller Bullshit! series. Last night, we watched the one about 12 step programs (Season 2, Disc 3), which focused primarily on the Alcoholic Anonymous program. I had already determined that these 12 step programs are bullshit, but until last night, I had never bothered to actually look closely at what the 12 steps actually say.
I will share them with you in a moment. But first, let's cut straight to the bottom line, which is that these programs have absolutely no effect on whether or not a person gets sober and stays sober. The research shows that the AA success rate is around 5% and the success rate of someone who just decides for himself to stop drinking is around 5%. What it comes down to is if a person is ready to quit, they're going to quit, with or without AA.
The main difference is that the person who decides for himself only has to go through one step, change the behavior. The person who goes through AA has to admit that they are powerless losers and the only way they can be saved is if they submit entirely to an invisible deity, who will then magically cure you. But only after you have completed all of the steps.
I had heard that religious groups use these meetings to prey on new members while they're at their lowest and most vulnerable but I never realized just how over the top the 12 steps are in their religious mumbo-jumbo. This is nothing short of a cult.
Take a look at all 12 steps and tell me which one's you couldn't do by yourself, without a make believe higher power, and which one's you really need to do at all in order to change a behavior. I'll go first.
AA Steps
1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable.
--- You're not powerless over alcohol. You just have bad habits and bad self discipline. Decide you don't want to be that person anymore and then fix it. And don't give me that lame "disease" argument. Cancer is a disease. Alcohol is a beverage.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
--- How? I mean this one is just insane. You're all there is and even if you go pretending or actually believing that there is a higher power guiding you, in the end you did it all by yourself. Yes you did.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
--- No, you made a decision to change your behavior. That's all.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
--- Good. Everyone should do this from time to time. But it's not going to have any bearing on whether or not you stop drinking.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
--- If it makes you feel better, go for it. But it's not going to have any bearing on whether or not you stop drinking.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
--- If God made you (in his image) didn't he put those defects of character there on purpose? Why would your God want to remove them? And if the "defects of character" actually means "drinking", then again, all you're doing is changing a behavior.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
--- Ummm...see my answer to #6.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
--- Go for it but again, it's not going to have any bearing on whether or not you stop drinking.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
--- See answer to #8.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
--- See answer to #8.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
--- This has absolutely nothing to do with drinking or changing a bad behavior. This is nothing more than pimping their religion.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
--- Spiritual awakening? Hardly. All you did was change a habit. And in the process, you were tricked into becoming members of a religious cult and now the next step is they want you to go out and start recruiting new members.
So when you break it down, very few of these 12 steps actually have anything to do with actually changing a behavior. Instead, it's all geared toward conditioning you to start buying into their religion, which is what they are really selling you...one day at a time.
I will share them with you in a moment. But first, let's cut straight to the bottom line, which is that these programs have absolutely no effect on whether or not a person gets sober and stays sober. The research shows that the AA success rate is around 5% and the success rate of someone who just decides for himself to stop drinking is around 5%. What it comes down to is if a person is ready to quit, they're going to quit, with or without AA.
The main difference is that the person who decides for himself only has to go through one step, change the behavior. The person who goes through AA has to admit that they are powerless losers and the only way they can be saved is if they submit entirely to an invisible deity, who will then magically cure you. But only after you have completed all of the steps.
I had heard that religious groups use these meetings to prey on new members while they're at their lowest and most vulnerable but I never realized just how over the top the 12 steps are in their religious mumbo-jumbo. This is nothing short of a cult.
Take a look at all 12 steps and tell me which one's you couldn't do by yourself, without a make believe higher power, and which one's you really need to do at all in order to change a behavior. I'll go first.
AA Steps
1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable.
--- You're not powerless over alcohol. You just have bad habits and bad self discipline. Decide you don't want to be that person anymore and then fix it. And don't give me that lame "disease" argument. Cancer is a disease. Alcohol is a beverage.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
--- How? I mean this one is just insane. You're all there is and even if you go pretending or actually believing that there is a higher power guiding you, in the end you did it all by yourself. Yes you did.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
--- No, you made a decision to change your behavior. That's all.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
--- Good. Everyone should do this from time to time. But it's not going to have any bearing on whether or not you stop drinking.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
--- If it makes you feel better, go for it. But it's not going to have any bearing on whether or not you stop drinking.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
--- If God made you (in his image) didn't he put those defects of character there on purpose? Why would your God want to remove them? And if the "defects of character" actually means "drinking", then again, all you're doing is changing a behavior.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
--- Ummm...see my answer to #6.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
--- Go for it but again, it's not going to have any bearing on whether or not you stop drinking.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
--- See answer to #8.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
--- See answer to #8.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
--- This has absolutely nothing to do with drinking or changing a bad behavior. This is nothing more than pimping their religion.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
--- Spiritual awakening? Hardly. All you did was change a habit. And in the process, you were tricked into becoming members of a religious cult and now the next step is they want you to go out and start recruiting new members.
So when you break it down, very few of these 12 steps actually have anything to do with actually changing a behavior. Instead, it's all geared toward conditioning you to start buying into their religion, which is what they are really selling you...one day at a time.
And on the Eighth Day...
The running joke on the left is that the new symbol of the GOP is a dinosaur. I wonder why?
Friday, May 1, 2009
Oops, We Left Out an Important Part of the Quote
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
The truth about the new ad from the National Organization for Marriage.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
100 Days of Right Wing Propaganda
I was toying with the idea of marking Obama's 100th day with a list of all of the right wing smears against him over the same period. I quickly realized that this would be a bit too ambitious of a project to fit within the few minutes per day I have to devote to blogging. Fortunately, Media Matters has done the job for me. Be sure to check their website for comprehensive info on how the right wing has behaved since January 20.
I started watching this video and quickly thought that it would become monotonous. But then I realized something. If you relied on Fox as your news source, this is a small sample of what you would have heard day in and day out for the past 100 days. This is an amazing example of propaganda at work.
Pay Per View Waterboarding, Part 2
It's been almost a week and after volunteering to be waterboarded for charity, Sean Hannity still hasn't set a date. Keith Olbermann kept the pressure on Hannity during Monday's show and then went on to say, "I don't think he has the courage to even respond to this, let alone do it."
Do I expect Hannity to actually go through with his promise and submit to waterboarding? Absolutely not. He's just one of the many talentless hacks who get paid to push right wing propaganda to anyone dumb enough to listen.
But I think we need to keep the pressure on here. I really believe that Hannity should be waterboarded (since he's the one who volunteered and he gets paid to tell us that he doesn't believe it is torture) and that it should be done on national television for all eyes to see. Let Americans see for themselves exactly what happens when someone is waterboarded and then we can decide once and for all if it is indeed torture or just "enhanced interrogation".
Who knows? Maybe we'll watch it and say, "that's waterboarding? What's the big deal?" This could be a great opportunity for the right wing to show that they are right about something. Come on, Sean. Do it for your country. Do it for your party. Do it for your owner's ratings. Be a man. Just do it.
Do I expect Hannity to actually go through with his promise and submit to waterboarding? Absolutely not. He's just one of the many talentless hacks who get paid to push right wing propaganda to anyone dumb enough to listen.
But I think we need to keep the pressure on here. I really believe that Hannity should be waterboarded (since he's the one who volunteered and he gets paid to tell us that he doesn't believe it is torture) and that it should be done on national television for all eyes to see. Let Americans see for themselves exactly what happens when someone is waterboarded and then we can decide once and for all if it is indeed torture or just "enhanced interrogation".
Who knows? Maybe we'll watch it and say, "that's waterboarding? What's the big deal?" This could be a great opportunity for the right wing to show that they are right about something. Come on, Sean. Do it for your country. Do it for your party. Do it for your owner's ratings. Be a man. Just do it.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Fox "news" Caught Making Shit Up Again
From Daily Kos:
Media Matters has caught another Fox fabrication.
This time, Fox News 'reporter' Wendell Goler repeatedly aired a video clip in which President Obama seems to declare his support for imposing a "European-style" universal health care system on the United States. Goler used the clip to support Republican attacks on the President's spending policies and his supposedly "European" priorities.
The problem is, President Obama never said any such thing. The clip Goler used was from a March 26 online town hall event, and President Obama was paraphrasing a written question submitted by the audience. In his answer, the President said that while he does support universal health care, he doesn't support imposing a European or Canadian system on the United States.
"I actually want a universal health care system; that is our goal...whether we do it exactly the way European countries do or Canada does is a different question, because there are a variety of ways to get to universal health care coverage... I don't think the best way to fix our health care system is to suddenly completely scrap what everybody is accustomed to and the vast majority of people already have. Rather, what I think we should do is to build on the system that we have and fill some of these gaps."
Despite the plain meaning of President Obama's words, Fox and Goler took them completely out of context to support the President's Republican critics.
It wasn't an accident -- Fox aired at least three different versions of Goler's hit piece. Watch the video, starting with what President Obama actually said.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Pay Per View Waterboarding
So Sean Hannity doesn't believe that waterboarding is torture. No, instead it is "advanced interrogation". Shut the fuck up. Tell that to the Japanese soldiers who were executed for waterboarding American soldiers during WWII. The dumbass goes so far as to say that he would agree to be waterboarded.
I say we jump all over this one. This is a great idea. Let's take these idiot blowhards, who make a living off of keeping the ignorant Fox "news" viewers scared and stupid, and allow them to be waterboarded on live television for the world to see. It will be educational and it will be profitable.
Keith Olbermann has offered Hannity $1000 per second that he lasts while being waterboarded. With the money going to the troops or families of the troops or something. Let's step it up a notch. Let's get as many people as possible to donate dollars per second. Imagine the good we could do while waterboarding Sean Hannity. It would be great.
But let's not stop there. Let's get Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Ashcroft, Rove. Hell, there's no end to the number of people we could line up to be waterboarded for charity. Let's turn it into a series of pay per view events. Every Friday night, a different piece of shit gets waterboarded on live TV. We could use the proceeds to pay down the national debt that the Bush Administration created. It's win-win every way you look at it. And I just know they would all agree to do it because they are true patriots and they love their country so much that they're willing to do anything for it.
Plus, it's not torture. These people have told us over and over again, it's NOT torture. It would just be good old fashioned fun. I mean, how bad could it be? They know we're not really going to let them drown, right? And even if it goes too far, we'll have a doctor available to try to revive them. What do you say?
We might also end up with the unintended consequence (if this method of "advanced interrogation" works the way they pretend it does) of actually getting these pathological liar sociopaths to actually tell the truth about everything they've lied about for the past eight years.
Come on wheelers and dealers. Let's make this happen. For America.
I say we jump all over this one. This is a great idea. Let's take these idiot blowhards, who make a living off of keeping the ignorant Fox "news" viewers scared and stupid, and allow them to be waterboarded on live television for the world to see. It will be educational and it will be profitable.
Keith Olbermann has offered Hannity $1000 per second that he lasts while being waterboarded. With the money going to the troops or families of the troops or something. Let's step it up a notch. Let's get as many people as possible to donate dollars per second. Imagine the good we could do while waterboarding Sean Hannity. It would be great.
But let's not stop there. Let's get Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Ashcroft, Rove. Hell, there's no end to the number of people we could line up to be waterboarded for charity. Let's turn it into a series of pay per view events. Every Friday night, a different piece of shit gets waterboarded on live TV. We could use the proceeds to pay down the national debt that the Bush Administration created. It's win-win every way you look at it. And I just know they would all agree to do it because they are true patriots and they love their country so much that they're willing to do anything for it.
Plus, it's not torture. These people have told us over and over again, it's NOT torture. It would just be good old fashioned fun. I mean, how bad could it be? They know we're not really going to let them drown, right? And even if it goes too far, we'll have a doctor available to try to revive them. What do you say?
We might also end up with the unintended consequence (if this method of "advanced interrogation" works the way they pretend it does) of actually getting these pathological liar sociopaths to actually tell the truth about everything they've lied about for the past eight years.
Come on wheelers and dealers. Let's make this happen. For America.
Defending the Indefensible, Part 2
From The Daily Kos:
Over the past couple of days, Karl Rove and Fox News have offered a new argument in defense of the Bush administration’s torture policies.
Now, they say, waterboarding Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM) yielded intelligence that led to the disruption of an al Qaeda plot to attack the tallest building in Los Angeles, the Library Tower (which both Bush and Rove called the Liberty Tower, for some reason). There’s just one problem with Rove’s new story: it couldn’t possibly be true.
As Timothy Noah pointed out in Slate, the Los Angeles attack was foiled in February of 2002. KSM was not captured until March of 2003, however — more than a year later.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that timeline is impossible. Perhaps appropriately, then, here’s a video of George W. Bush — in his own words — proving that Karl Rove and Fox News are lying about torture.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Defending the Indefensible
There is a great moment in this video where Paul Begala literally leaves Ari Fleischer speechless when he says, "We, our country executed Japanese soldiers who water-boarded American POWs. We executed them for the same crime that we are now committing ourselves. How do you defend that?" Ari eventually regains his voice and goes into his usual, tired old blah blah blah about how it isn't his buddy Duh's fault and trying to make everything political. Not everything is political, Ari. Sometimes it's just a question of right or wrong.
Ari reminds me of the joke about how everything said by Rudy Giuliani is nothing more than a noun, a verb, and 9/11. That's how Fleischer is every time I see him on TV. He refuses to admit ANY wrongdoing by the Republican party regardless of how big or small and he tries to turn everything around and point fingers at Democrats every chance he gets. It's tired, stale and a bit pathetic.
Torturing BillyO
Watch as BillyO gets increasingly frustrated because the "yes men" that he is interviewing won't go along with his ridiculous claims. Two predictions here. One, whoever booked these guys gets fired and two, these two guys will never appear on this ass clown's show again. Oh, and maybe a third. "Tough guy" O'Reilly will go to great lengths to try to smear these guys over the next week or two while they're not there to defend themselves.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
2009 Boston Marathon
Boston 2009 was all about redemption. I tried to run the race last year with a pretty bad injury and the course just chewed me up and laughed in my face. So I had last year's nightmare hanging over me and to be perfectly honest, the course intimidated the hell out of me. So since last April I spent a lot of time thinking about what I needed to do to prepare for the Boston course so that I might be able to conquer it on my second attempt.
The answer seemed to lie in hill work. I still wasn't 100% healthy so I knew that I wasn't going to be able to do a lot of speed work but I thought that if I could just get comfortable running hills then that would be half the battle. So I incorporated hill work into almost every run. I had to retrain my body (and mind) to accept that hills were a fact of life. I didn't worry about how fast I was running the hills. It was enough just to be running them. Six milers turned into eight milers, then ten milers. In March, I tested myself by running a very hilly half marathon and I came through just fine.
Fast forward to Boston. The plan was to run with my friend Lisa and shoot for a 3:30 or better. Going into the race, I felt that I could hit 3:30 but that it was going to be tough.
The day before the race, Mark, Lisa and I drove out to the Newton Hills to familiarize ourselves with the four big hills that come in the second half of the race. We basically drove (and sometimes walked) the last ten miles of the course. This helped quite a bit.
Race day...cutting to the chase. The plan was to run a very controlled first half of the race, not get carried away, and save our strength for the Newton Hills beginning at mile 16, where the real race begins. Lisa and I did a good job of holding each other back anytime that one of us started running too fast or getting caught up in the pace of the crowd of runners around us. We just needed to run slightly faster than 8 minutes per mile.
Splits:
5k: 24:33
10k: 49:34
1 7:56
2 7:43
3 7:57
4 7:51
5 8:11
6 8:01
Pretty solid through the first 10k, but we were both having a little trouble grabbing on to a pace. This is probably due to the rolling hills that encompass the first half of the course. But our splits were fine and we chugged along. I wasn't totally confident in my ability to maintain this pace at this point but I was determined to keep pushing forward.
The course levelled off over the next few miles and our splits were steady. We really concentrated on not going too fast. Somewhere during mile 11, Lisa made a sudden veer toward the side of the road and yelled for me to keep going. At the time, I thought she saw someone she knew in the crowd or maybe she had prearranged for someone to hand her fluids or a gel or something at a designated point. I kept running and before I knew it I heard the screams and knew that I was close to Wellesley College. I ran through the "Wellesley Wall", which is basically maybe a quarter mile stretch of college women screaming their heads off as the runners pass. Right after Wellesley, Lisa caught up to me and we resumed our push toward Boston.
Splits:
15k: 1:14:07
20k: 1:38:53
1/2: 1:44:16
7 7:55
8 7:53
9 7:53
10 7:58
11 8:00
12 7:53
13 7:54
14 7:53
At this point, I was starting to feel a lot stronger than I had in the early miles and I was actually starting to look forward to the hills. I really wanted to conquer the hills that had so humbled me the year before. Lisa mentioned something about how I had never seen her crash and burn during a race before and at the time I thought it was just her way of getting mentally prepared for what was ahead. I remember her telling me to get ready to mentally toughen up (or something like that).
We finally hit the first hill and it was no problem. Then we hit the second hill and again, no big deal. Then it seemed like forever before we reached the third hill. I remember commenting that I just wanted the hills to get here. We finally reached hill number three and for the third hill in a row, Lisa started ahead of me and then I passed her as we went up the hill. This was surprising to me because when we ran our practice race last month she totally smoked me up the hills. I should have realized that something was wrong at this point but we were in the mile 19 range and the brain wasn't functioning at full capacity.
We crest the third hill and I'm fired up. I notice Lisa is not quite as enthusiastic as me so I try to pump her up a little by saying that we have this and that there is only a little over 10k left to run. We keep pushing and finally we reach Heartbreak Hill. Up and over. I'm working hard but I'm feeling so strong and confident. I've just crested the highest point of the course and I'm still in pretty good shape. I look at Lisa and tell her that we just need to be smart.
As we head down the hill toward Boston College, Lisa suddenly says something about desperately needing fluids. I start looking for the next water station and as we reach it I assume that Lisa will chug some water or Gatorade and be back beside me before I know it. This was the last I saw of Lisa until after the race.
Splits:
25k: 2:03:42
30k: 2:28:34
15 8:06
16: 7;44
17: 7:59
18: 8:07
19: 7:56
20: 8:04
21: 8:25
It takes me a while to realize that Lisa hasn't caught up to me yet and as I head down a long hill I start looking over my shoulder but she is no where in sight. Still, I'm feeling confident that she'll pull up beside me any minute, like she has so many times in the past. I'm still feeling strong and wondering if I can somehow manage to pick up the pace a little and push for a 3:28. Before I know it, runners start passing me and for a moment I'm confused. Then I look at my Garmin and it says my current pace is 8:23 and the sudden realization sets in. I've hit the wall.
I slow down considerably over the last two miles and at this point I start to really worry about Lisa because I'm now running so slow that she should have easily caught me and I realize that something must be wrong. But I'm still thinking that she's going to come breezing by me at any moment. I pass the Citgo sign at mile 25. I'm hurting but I keep on pushing. My hamstrings are threatening to cramp and I mentally try to ward them off. Before I know it I am turning onto Hereford Street and then onto Boylston. As I make the turn, I can see the finish line. I try to give it everything I have left (which isn't much) and both hamstrings cramp simultaneously. I let out a string of expletives and come to a limping, grinding halt. I'm barely moving forward for about ten seconds and then I just started to try to run again and the cramps somehow subsided just enough for me to hobble down Boylston Street to the finish.
I'm wiped out. There's no finishing kick. There's no celebration. I've left it all on the course. I cross the line at 3:32:46, exhausted but happy. I can barely stand up and I pull off to the side and start looking for Lisa. I wait about five minutes and at this point I realize she's not coming and I'm freezing and weak and I need to take care of myself. I head through the chutes and receive my medal. Mission accomplished.
Splits:
35k: 2:53:58
40k: 3:19:56
22 8:01
23 8:15
24 8:14
25 8:30
26 9:07
26.2 3:01 (.33 per Garmin)
Finish: 3:32:46
Lisa did finish in 3:35 and I'm still wondering how I missed her finish. She must have finished on the right side of the road while I was waiting for her on the left. But she overcame some major illness and GI issues and earned some serious hardcore points for sucking it up and finishing strong under some pretty horrible circumstances.
So it's a tale of two races. For me, it was redemption and a strong, satisfying race with an unfortunate, but acceptable fade late in the race. For the person who ran beside me for the majority of the 26.2 miles, it was a difficult struggle and an awful day. But on the bright side, there aren't that many of us who can claim a 3:35 Boston Marathon as our worst race ever.
Thanks for reading.
The answer seemed to lie in hill work. I still wasn't 100% healthy so I knew that I wasn't going to be able to do a lot of speed work but I thought that if I could just get comfortable running hills then that would be half the battle. So I incorporated hill work into almost every run. I had to retrain my body (and mind) to accept that hills were a fact of life. I didn't worry about how fast I was running the hills. It was enough just to be running them. Six milers turned into eight milers, then ten milers. In March, I tested myself by running a very hilly half marathon and I came through just fine.
Fast forward to Boston. The plan was to run with my friend Lisa and shoot for a 3:30 or better. Going into the race, I felt that I could hit 3:30 but that it was going to be tough.
The day before the race, Mark, Lisa and I drove out to the Newton Hills to familiarize ourselves with the four big hills that come in the second half of the race. We basically drove (and sometimes walked) the last ten miles of the course. This helped quite a bit.
Race day...cutting to the chase. The plan was to run a very controlled first half of the race, not get carried away, and save our strength for the Newton Hills beginning at mile 16, where the real race begins. Lisa and I did a good job of holding each other back anytime that one of us started running too fast or getting caught up in the pace of the crowd of runners around us. We just needed to run slightly faster than 8 minutes per mile.
Splits:
5k: 24:33
10k: 49:34
1 7:56
2 7:43
3 7:57
4 7:51
5 8:11
6 8:01
Pretty solid through the first 10k, but we were both having a little trouble grabbing on to a pace. This is probably due to the rolling hills that encompass the first half of the course. But our splits were fine and we chugged along. I wasn't totally confident in my ability to maintain this pace at this point but I was determined to keep pushing forward.
The course levelled off over the next few miles and our splits were steady. We really concentrated on not going too fast. Somewhere during mile 11, Lisa made a sudden veer toward the side of the road and yelled for me to keep going. At the time, I thought she saw someone she knew in the crowd or maybe she had prearranged for someone to hand her fluids or a gel or something at a designated point. I kept running and before I knew it I heard the screams and knew that I was close to Wellesley College. I ran through the "Wellesley Wall", which is basically maybe a quarter mile stretch of college women screaming their heads off as the runners pass. Right after Wellesley, Lisa caught up to me and we resumed our push toward Boston.
Splits:
15k: 1:14:07
20k: 1:38:53
1/2: 1:44:16
7 7:55
8 7:53
9 7:53
10 7:58
11 8:00
12 7:53
13 7:54
14 7:53
At this point, I was starting to feel a lot stronger than I had in the early miles and I was actually starting to look forward to the hills. I really wanted to conquer the hills that had so humbled me the year before. Lisa mentioned something about how I had never seen her crash and burn during a race before and at the time I thought it was just her way of getting mentally prepared for what was ahead. I remember her telling me to get ready to mentally toughen up (or something like that).
We finally hit the first hill and it was no problem. Then we hit the second hill and again, no big deal. Then it seemed like forever before we reached the third hill. I remember commenting that I just wanted the hills to get here. We finally reached hill number three and for the third hill in a row, Lisa started ahead of me and then I passed her as we went up the hill. This was surprising to me because when we ran our practice race last month she totally smoked me up the hills. I should have realized that something was wrong at this point but we were in the mile 19 range and the brain wasn't functioning at full capacity.
We crest the third hill and I'm fired up. I notice Lisa is not quite as enthusiastic as me so I try to pump her up a little by saying that we have this and that there is only a little over 10k left to run. We keep pushing and finally we reach Heartbreak Hill. Up and over. I'm working hard but I'm feeling so strong and confident. I've just crested the highest point of the course and I'm still in pretty good shape. I look at Lisa and tell her that we just need to be smart.
As we head down the hill toward Boston College, Lisa suddenly says something about desperately needing fluids. I start looking for the next water station and as we reach it I assume that Lisa will chug some water or Gatorade and be back beside me before I know it. This was the last I saw of Lisa until after the race.
Splits:
25k: 2:03:42
30k: 2:28:34
15 8:06
16: 7;44
17: 7:59
18: 8:07
19: 7:56
20: 8:04
21: 8:25
It takes me a while to realize that Lisa hasn't caught up to me yet and as I head down a long hill I start looking over my shoulder but she is no where in sight. Still, I'm feeling confident that she'll pull up beside me any minute, like she has so many times in the past. I'm still feeling strong and wondering if I can somehow manage to pick up the pace a little and push for a 3:28. Before I know it, runners start passing me and for a moment I'm confused. Then I look at my Garmin and it says my current pace is 8:23 and the sudden realization sets in. I've hit the wall.
I slow down considerably over the last two miles and at this point I start to really worry about Lisa because I'm now running so slow that she should have easily caught me and I realize that something must be wrong. But I'm still thinking that she's going to come breezing by me at any moment. I pass the Citgo sign at mile 25. I'm hurting but I keep on pushing. My hamstrings are threatening to cramp and I mentally try to ward them off. Before I know it I am turning onto Hereford Street and then onto Boylston. As I make the turn, I can see the finish line. I try to give it everything I have left (which isn't much) and both hamstrings cramp simultaneously. I let out a string of expletives and come to a limping, grinding halt. I'm barely moving forward for about ten seconds and then I just started to try to run again and the cramps somehow subsided just enough for me to hobble down Boylston Street to the finish.
I'm wiped out. There's no finishing kick. There's no celebration. I've left it all on the course. I cross the line at 3:32:46, exhausted but happy. I can barely stand up and I pull off to the side and start looking for Lisa. I wait about five minutes and at this point I realize she's not coming and I'm freezing and weak and I need to take care of myself. I head through the chutes and receive my medal. Mission accomplished.
Splits:
35k: 2:53:58
40k: 3:19:56
22 8:01
23 8:15
24 8:14
25 8:30
26 9:07
26.2 3:01 (.33 per Garmin)
Finish: 3:32:46
Lisa did finish in 3:35 and I'm still wondering how I missed her finish. She must have finished on the right side of the road while I was waiting for her on the left. But she overcame some major illness and GI issues and earned some serious hardcore points for sucking it up and finishing strong under some pretty horrible circumstances.
So it's a tale of two races. For me, it was redemption and a strong, satisfying race with an unfortunate, but acceptable fade late in the race. For the person who ran beside me for the majority of the 26.2 miles, it was a difficult struggle and an awful day. But on the bright side, there aren't that many of us who can claim a 3:35 Boston Marathon as our worst race ever.
Thanks for reading.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Oh No, The Teabaggers Been Done Got Infiltrated
I want to be done with the teabaggers, I really do. But this stuff is just pure gold. Crazy Glenn Beck went on the air last night and talked about how the teabag parties were "infiltrated" by liberals from The Daily Kos and The Huff Post. Not quite sure what his point was other than that maybe not all of those "hundreds" of teabaggers were actually there to support Beck's lunacy.
No, what Crazy Glenn calls "infiltration", sane people would call reporting and documenting. Here is a video by a blogger/"infiltrator" at a Cleveland teabag rally. He captured a lot of good paranoia, racism and ignorance. Enjoy.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
I Beck To Differ
I'm sure Beck would feel the same way if there was a Republican in the White House and a Democratic Governor was talking secession, right?
Or would he be going on and on about the Governor being a socialist/communist/fascist traitor to his country and a disgrace to the people who elected him? I'm pretty sure he'd be calling for this guy's head.
And if someone were to say what Beck says in the clip,
"I was quite impressed with Gov. Perry on this statement", then that person would be a traitor too. Right? What exactly "impressed" you about that statement? Was it the lunacy of the statement that was so impressive? The ignorance? Enlighten me.
But the funny part is how serious Beck tries to make it. "I don't think Texans are screwing around. I really don't." Really, Glenn? One yahoo mouthing off in front of a microphone and you're ready to declare that the entire state of Texas is behind him. And that they're serious. You're an even bigger joke than I thought you were.
How much longer until Beck gets his own morning show complete with trailer park transvestites and a live studio audience chanting his name every time a "spontaneous" brawl breaks out on stage?
Teabagging the Teabaggers
Funny how the attitude of the crowd changes when faced with a little dose of truth.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
A Whole New Kind of Crazy, Part 2
Holy idiot. Even comic strips are making fun of Beck and his Woodrow Wilson fascism "connection". http://www.salon.com/comics/tomo/2009/04/14/tomo/
Monday, April 13, 2009
Boston Training, Week 17
This was a "better safe than sorry" week. My piriformis was bothering me more than usual and I just didn't want to risk doing anything too stupid.
Tuesday - 8 miles at 8:22 pace on treadmill. Piriformis was sore so I just took it easy.
Wednesday - 3.5 miles at 8:55 recovery pace. Piriformis was sore and tight all day. I considered taking the day off but decided to go out nice and easy and see if it loosened up. I think it actually helped some.
Thursday - 7 miles at 8:15 pace. My 7 year old rode his bike beside me for this one. It was fun, when he wasn't complaining. "I'm thirsty, I'm hungry, my stomach hurts, a mosquito landed on me, I'm getting a cramp, how much further..." But he was also a tough coach, in that he never let up until we passed every person in front of us. Overall, I think he helped me keep my mind off of the pain.
Saturday - 10 miles at 8:15 pace. I just went out at a comfortable pace and didn't worry about it. The piriformis was still pretty sore but it's going to be OK.
That was it for the week. One week to go. I'm just going to do some easy pace runs on Monday and Friday, with a dress rehearsal run on Wednesday that will include a couple of miles at marathon goal pace. Then I'll likely run an easy 2 or 3 miles Sunday morning in Boston to burn some stress and stay loose. Then it's show time. I'm hoping that taking every other day off this week will help me turn the corner on this piriformis issue.
Bottom line is I'll be ready to race. I still have some mental preparation to attend to and I wish I was 5 pounds lighter, but compared to last year, I'm ready to go.
Tuesday - 8 miles at 8:22 pace on treadmill. Piriformis was sore so I just took it easy.
Wednesday - 3.5 miles at 8:55 recovery pace. Piriformis was sore and tight all day. I considered taking the day off but decided to go out nice and easy and see if it loosened up. I think it actually helped some.
Thursday - 7 miles at 8:15 pace. My 7 year old rode his bike beside me for this one. It was fun, when he wasn't complaining. "I'm thirsty, I'm hungry, my stomach hurts, a mosquito landed on me, I'm getting a cramp, how much further..." But he was also a tough coach, in that he never let up until we passed every person in front of us. Overall, I think he helped me keep my mind off of the pain.
Saturday - 10 miles at 8:15 pace. I just went out at a comfortable pace and didn't worry about it. The piriformis was still pretty sore but it's going to be OK.
That was it for the week. One week to go. I'm just going to do some easy pace runs on Monday and Friday, with a dress rehearsal run on Wednesday that will include a couple of miles at marathon goal pace. Then I'll likely run an easy 2 or 3 miles Sunday morning in Boston to burn some stress and stay loose. Then it's show time. I'm hoping that taking every other day off this week will help me turn the corner on this piriformis issue.
Bottom line is I'll be ready to race. I still have some mental preparation to attend to and I wish I was 5 pounds lighter, but compared to last year, I'm ready to go.
Obama, FTW!
This is from Jed at The Daily Kos:
Here's how desperate Republicans are to find a winning issue: conservatives from Newt Gingrich to Glenn Beck to the rest of Fox News all bet against the Obama administration's ability to rescue Richard Phillips, the American ship captain who was taken hostage by Somali pirates last Wednesday.
They must have thought that a tragic ending to the crisis would have been a political opportunity, so they pre-positioned themselves to take full advantage. Except their plan went up in smoke when Navy SEALs -- acting on orders from President Obama -- rescued the captain, killing three pirates in the process.
The loons will certainly deny that they ever made a political bet against the U.S., but they can't run from the video proof.
The Annotated Glenn Beck
I wanted to blog about "crazier than crazy" Glenn Beck's little Thomas Paine skit but it was honestly just too painful ("paine"ful?)to watch more than once. Well, thanks to the good folks at The Daily Kos, that problem has been solved. Sit back and enjoy the annotated version of the skit.
As an aside, wouldn't it be funny if Beck's audience would actually take a moment to read and understand Thomas Paine's writings for themselves? I'm picturing an entire generation of far right wing christian nut jobs reading "Age of Reason", thinking that Thomas Paine is their hero (because "crazier than crazy" Glenn Beck said so) and then being like, "What? Huh? The bible says what?"
Anyway, I'll leave you with a thought to ponder. Who is crazier, Glenn Beck or Timothy McVeigh? And for extra credit, which one is more dangerous to America?
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Wow, Just Wow!!!
I've been listening to Glenn Beck's radio show a lot lately. As I've mentioned before, this guy is beyond crazy. He makes crazy look normal. So I've been wondering who in the hell listens to this guy and buys into his ignorant bullshit? After watching this video it has become crystal clear. Or maybe I'm just brainwashed.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Boston Training, Week 16
Week 1 of taper. Just trying to get the piriformis back into shape at this point and avoid doing anything too stupid.
Tuesday - 8 mile hill workout at 8:06 pace. Piriformis was quite sore after this run. The hills seem to be aggravating it again.
Wednesday - 4.1 miles at 9:01 recovery pace.
Thursday - 7 miles at 8:19 pace. Piriformis still pretty sore.
Saturday - 4.1 miles at 9:17 recovery pace.
Sunday - 14 miles at 8:33 pace. Not much energy during this run. Didn't sleep well the night before and the piriformis has been really sore, even when I'm not running.
I'll be taking it easy from here on out and hopefully everything will heal and strengthen. Starting to get excited but still need to settle on a race strategy and get mentally prepared.
Tuesday - 8 mile hill workout at 8:06 pace. Piriformis was quite sore after this run. The hills seem to be aggravating it again.
Wednesday - 4.1 miles at 9:01 recovery pace.
Thursday - 7 miles at 8:19 pace. Piriformis still pretty sore.
Saturday - 4.1 miles at 9:17 recovery pace.
Sunday - 14 miles at 8:33 pace. Not much energy during this run. Didn't sleep well the night before and the piriformis has been really sore, even when I'm not running.
I'll be taking it easy from here on out and hopefully everything will heal and strengthen. Starting to get excited but still need to settle on a race strategy and get mentally prepared.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Strong Language Can Poison Weak Minds, Part 3
I wonder where this kid could have gotten the crazy idea that Obama was going to take away his guns?
And for the record, Obama has repeatedly expressed his support for the Second Amendment and opposes a ban on firearms in the United States. Read that last line until it sinks into your Fox "news" rotted brains.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Strong Language Can Poison Weak Minds, Part 2
I knew that Glenn Beck had been stoking the crazies recently but I didn't know the half of it.
Here is video and background of one of his show last month;
Beck and NRA's LaPierre warn of insidious Obama plot to grab our guns
And I wonder if the right wing Pittsburgh Tribune Review may have had anything to do with this guy's irrational fear of the government taking away his weapons. Maybe this article that appeared three days ago might offer some clues.
It should be interesting to see where the backlash leads.
Here is video and background of one of his show last month;
Beck and NRA's LaPierre warn of insidious Obama plot to grab our guns
And I wonder if the right wing Pittsburgh Tribune Review may have had anything to do with this guy's irrational fear of the government taking away his weapons. Maybe this article that appeared three days ago might offer some clues.
It should be interesting to see where the backlash leads.
Strong Language Can Poison Weak Minds
(the title of this post is borrowed from a quote by Bill Maher)
I really don't want to use the tragic murder of three police officers in Pittsburgh today to score political points but this man's mind was clearly effected by the propaganda of the far right wing, the NRA, and most likely my ass-clown of the week, Glenn Beck.
From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Mr. Perkovic said Mr. Poplawski was fearful that his right to own weapons would be taken away but he wasn't a member of an organized group or militia.
"He always said that if someone tried to take his weapons away he would do what his forefathers told him to do and defend himself."
"He said he'll be ready if there's ever an invasion of the United States and that he had stockpiled foods and guns for that eventuality."
This is what can happen when people buy into all the bullshit propaganda and lies that Fox "news" and their ilk are constantly putting out there. This man honestly believes that Obama is trying to take away his constitutional rights. This is exactly the kind of nonsense that Glenn Beck has been spouting over the last few months.
This is an isolated incident, right? How about this from today's New York Times:
...the unrelenting meme being pushed by the right that Obama will mount an assault on the Second Amendment has helped fuel the panic buying of firearms. According to the F.B.I., there have been 1.2 million more requests for background checks of potential gun buyers from November to February than there were in the same four months last year. That’s 5.5 million requests altogether over that period.
Clearly, this irrational fear is being vigilantly fueled by these silly fucks. But you know damn well they will never be held accountable.
I really don't want to use the tragic murder of three police officers in Pittsburgh today to score political points but this man's mind was clearly effected by the propaganda of the far right wing, the NRA, and most likely my ass-clown of the week, Glenn Beck.
From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Mr. Perkovic said Mr. Poplawski was fearful that his right to own weapons would be taken away but he wasn't a member of an organized group or militia.
"He always said that if someone tried to take his weapons away he would do what his forefathers told him to do and defend himself."
"He said he'll be ready if there's ever an invasion of the United States and that he had stockpiled foods and guns for that eventuality."
This is what can happen when people buy into all the bullshit propaganda and lies that Fox "news" and their ilk are constantly putting out there. This man honestly believes that Obama is trying to take away his constitutional rights. This is exactly the kind of nonsense that Glenn Beck has been spouting over the last few months.
This is an isolated incident, right? How about this from today's New York Times:
...the unrelenting meme being pushed by the right that Obama will mount an assault on the Second Amendment has helped fuel the panic buying of firearms. According to the F.B.I., there have been 1.2 million more requests for background checks of potential gun buyers from November to February than there were in the same four months last year. That’s 5.5 million requests altogether over that period.
Clearly, this irrational fear is being vigilantly fueled by these silly fucks. But you know damn well they will never be held accountable.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
A Whole New Kind of Crazy
I'm in the car this morning and I turn on the Glenn Beck show and he is going on and on about a "wheat dime", making these Limbaughesque leaps in logic and concluding that starting with Woodrow Wilson in 1916, the liberals have had the goal of turning America into a fascist state. His big proof? The back of the wheat dime has a symbol that is similar to a symbol of fascism and since the dime came into circulation during Wilson's presidency then obviously it was Wilson's idea and there is your proof that liberals have been trying to bring fascism to America. Crystal clear, right?
First of all, if fascism has been the goal of liberalism since 1916 then I'd have to say it has been one big huge giant FAIL. But kudos to the liberals for keeping the dream alive through successive generations. I think Beck has been reading too many Illuminati conspiracy books lately.
Anyway, I laughed it off because it was Beck and he's well known for being a complete idiot. But then, I got back in the car nearly three hours later and he was STILL going on about his conspiracy du jour. So I came home and did a little research on the fascist dime and it turns out that Wilson DID design it all by himself and forced it into circulation in 1916. Yeah, right. Type in wheat dime at Wikipedia.com if you want a somewhat more SANE history of the dime.
Then, I found this video of Beck going on about, you guessed it, wheat dimes and fascism on his tv show last night. Which is funny, because Beck never said a word about fascism when Duh was holding prisoners without charging them, torturing them, illegally spying on innocent Americans, ignoring the Constitution, etc.
What it all comes down to is this. The ridiculous "socialist" tag didn't stick. Next on the right wing nut jobs list of propaganda words to march out? You guessed it, fascist. This is what happens when a political party has no ideas and an eight year path of failure directly behind them.
It would be funny if I didn't see people actually buying into this nonsense. I mean we're going to have to invent a whole new word to describe crazy when referring to Beck. You can't just say he's crazy, you have to say he's "Glenn Beck crazy". But what do we call the people who actually believe the ignorance that oozes out of this guys pores?
I'm done.
Major GOP "Issue" of the Day...an iPod.
Hahahaha. Can't stop laughing. Right wingers going nuts (pardon the redundancy) over Obama giving the Queen an iPod. Hahahaha. That's so funny, so inappropriate, what an idiot. What? She requested the iPod? It's something she really wanted? She's happy with it? Oh crap. That's OK, just leave that part of the story out.
Copy and Paste
Fox passes off GOP press release as its own research -- typo and all
Summary: In purporting to "take a look back" at how the economic recovery plan "grew, and grew, and grew," Fox News' Jon Scott referenced seven dates, as on-screen graphics cited various news sources from those time periods -- all of which came directly from a Senate Republican Communications Center press release. A Fox News on-screen graphic even reproduced a typo contained in the Republican press release.
The full report is here.
Summary: In purporting to "take a look back" at how the economic recovery plan "grew, and grew, and grew," Fox News' Jon Scott referenced seven dates, as on-screen graphics cited various news sources from those time periods -- all of which came directly from a Senate Republican Communications Center press release. A Fox News on-screen graphic even reproduced a typo contained in the Republican press release.
The full report is here.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Feeling Minnesota, Part 5
I've been avoiding revisiting this topic but the following tweet from this swine can not go unchallenged.
newtgingrichMy hunch is republican jim tedisco wins in new york special when absentee ballots are counted Republicans have to fear franken like theft
That's right, according to Newt, Republicans have to fear a Franken like theft. A Franken like theft? Newt is referring to the Minnesota Senate race in which incumbent Norm Coleman initially held a slight lead and encouraged Franken to concede in order to "save the tax payers" from having to pay a minimal fee for a recount.
Then a funny thing happened. Once ALL of the votes were counted, Franken had the lead. So of course Coleman did the right thing and conceded, right? I know, I crack myself up. No, instead he has gone legal again and again and again only to be defeated in court again and again and again.
Just yesterday, a three judge panel ruled in favor of Franken. The response from Coleman's camp? “This means we’re going to the [state] Supreme Court and, if need be, the federal courts,” the Coleman source said.
So this is the "theft" that Gingrich and his ilk are afraid of. The kind where all of the votes get counted, the people have spoken, and their candidate loses and they can't find a legal loophole to try to steal a victory. Theft indeed. If you want to see an example of theft, please refer to Bush v Gore.
And the mere fact that the Tedisco race is so close in a district that has been ruled by Republicans since forever, has to scare the shit out of the party of no.
But back to Coleman. Take it to the Supreme Court if you want. It doesn't matter. You will lose. You lost. You are a loser. And a sore loser at that. You lost to a frickin' comedian. And now people are laughing at YOU. But I'm sure you're used to it by now.
newtgingrichMy hunch is republican jim tedisco wins in new york special when absentee ballots are counted Republicans have to fear franken like theft
That's right, according to Newt, Republicans have to fear a Franken like theft. A Franken like theft? Newt is referring to the Minnesota Senate race in which incumbent Norm Coleman initially held a slight lead and encouraged Franken to concede in order to "save the tax payers" from having to pay a minimal fee for a recount.
Then a funny thing happened. Once ALL of the votes were counted, Franken had the lead. So of course Coleman did the right thing and conceded, right? I know, I crack myself up. No, instead he has gone legal again and again and again only to be defeated in court again and again and again.
Just yesterday, a three judge panel ruled in favor of Franken. The response from Coleman's camp? “This means we’re going to the [state] Supreme Court and, if need be, the federal courts,” the Coleman source said.
So this is the "theft" that Gingrich and his ilk are afraid of. The kind where all of the votes get counted, the people have spoken, and their candidate loses and they can't find a legal loophole to try to steal a victory. Theft indeed. If you want to see an example of theft, please refer to Bush v Gore.
And the mere fact that the Tedisco race is so close in a district that has been ruled by Republicans since forever, has to scare the shit out of the party of no.
But back to Coleman. Take it to the Supreme Court if you want. It doesn't matter. You will lose. You lost. You are a loser. And a sore loser at that. You lost to a frickin' comedian. And now people are laughing at YOU. But I'm sure you're used to it by now.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Grampy's Back!
"This is a remarkable move by the federal government -- I think unprecedented in the history of this country," said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). "What does this signal send to other corporations and financial institutions about whether the federal government will fire them as well?"
Yes, McCain is in a tizzy about the removal of GM CEO Rick Wagoner as a condition of GM getting even more American tax dollars in corporate welfare. As usual, McCain's memory has failed him. Not only is this move NOT unprecedented in the history of this country, but it happened as recently as September 2008. Senator McCain, you of all people should remember this very well. This was so important to you that you pretended to suspend your campaign and flew to Washington to get in the way...er...solve the financial crisis.
McCain probably doesn't remember because he was too busy staring at Palin's ass, but the CEO's of AIG, Fannie Mae, and Freddy Mac were all removed from their positions last September prior to those companies receiving their corporate welfare checks. But let's not let facts (which always seem to have a strong liberal bias) get in the way of a good spin.
And come to think of it, wasn't McCain one of the posers standing up there grandstanding a few months ago about how all of the auto maker CEO's who flew into D.C. on their private corporate jets to ask for welfare money should be fired? If there's one thing we've learned about McCain, he's in favor of which ever way the wind blows.
As for Mr. Wagoner, let's not cry too hard for him. His golden parachute is reportedly worth over $30 million. He won't be standing in line at the food pantry any time soon.
Yes, McCain is in a tizzy about the removal of GM CEO Rick Wagoner as a condition of GM getting even more American tax dollars in corporate welfare. As usual, McCain's memory has failed him. Not only is this move NOT unprecedented in the history of this country, but it happened as recently as September 2008. Senator McCain, you of all people should remember this very well. This was so important to you that you pretended to suspend your campaign and flew to Washington to get in the way...er...solve the financial crisis.
McCain probably doesn't remember because he was too busy staring at Palin's ass, but the CEO's of AIG, Fannie Mae, and Freddy Mac were all removed from their positions last September prior to those companies receiving their corporate welfare checks. But let's not let facts (which always seem to have a strong liberal bias) get in the way of a good spin.
And come to think of it, wasn't McCain one of the posers standing up there grandstanding a few months ago about how all of the auto maker CEO's who flew into D.C. on their private corporate jets to ask for welfare money should be fired? If there's one thing we've learned about McCain, he's in favor of which ever way the wind blows.
As for Mr. Wagoner, let's not cry too hard for him. His golden parachute is reportedly worth over $30 million. He won't be standing in line at the food pantry any time soon.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Boston Training, Week 15
This was the final week before taper. I ended up on the treadmill more than I would have liked but if that's all I can find to complain about then I'll take it.
Tuesday - 9.3 miles at 8:28 pace. This was a tough run. My legs were still weak from the 22 miler plus I was fighting some stomach issues for half of the run. I was surprised when I got home and saw my pace because I felt like I was really plodding along.
Wednesday - 5 miles at 9:02 recovery pace on treadmill. It was raining and I wasn't sure how strong my legs would feel so I went with the easiest possible scenario. Legs ended up feeling fine.
Thursday - 8 miles at 8:06 average pace on treadmill. Another rainy day so I made the most of it. I decided to do a combination speed/hill progression run. Basically a 1/2 mile uphill starting at 7.2 then a 1/2 mile flat but at .2 faster, then the hill at the faster speed, then flat at .2 faster until I got to 8.0. Then finished with 2 miles at 7.2. Turned out to be a pretty good workout.
Saturday - 20 miles at 8:29 pace. This was the last 20 miler of the training cycle so I was hoping for a strong run. I went out at around 8:20 pace and quickly realized that it was hotter and more humid than I had anticipated. I decided to stick with the pace anyway since this was likely to be similar to the race day conditions in Boston. I felt OK and eventually found my zone. All went well through 14 and then I started to crash. By mile 16 I was hurting pretty good and I really had to push and fight to make it through the next 4 miles. I was pretty wiped out when I finally stopped running but it was a good test and good practice for fighting through fatigue.
Sunday - 3.2 miles at 9:22 recovery pace on treadmill. Some nasty weather so I just took it easy with a nice, slow 30 minute easy run on the treadmill.
So this is it. Time to taper and get ready to race. Looking back at my training log for fall '07 when I ran my Boston Qualifier race, my last 20 miler was a walk in the park. My notes say that the first 12 miles seemed "effortless" and I cruised through 20 miles at 7:58 pace. And I remember having to hold myself back from running it faster. Although, back then I was healthy and able to run 7 mile tempo runs and solid, consistent vo2 max workouts. Obviously, I'm no where close to that level of fitness right now but I'm damn happy just to be healthy enough to go out and run a respectable race.
The goal for this training cycle was to train hard while not aggravating my piriformis injury or doing anything else too stupid. So I managed to make it through reasonably healthy. I wasn't able to do any long tempo runs or any vo2 max workouts but I did run a couple of solid half marathons as training runs, and I have three 20 milers and a 22 miler under my belt. All in all, I think I'm OK. The marathon goal heading into the training cycle was to finish Boston in under 3:30. Unless there are some extreme weather conditions to contend with, that remains the goal and I think it will be tough, but attainable.
Tuesday - 9.3 miles at 8:28 pace. This was a tough run. My legs were still weak from the 22 miler plus I was fighting some stomach issues for half of the run. I was surprised when I got home and saw my pace because I felt like I was really plodding along.
Wednesday - 5 miles at 9:02 recovery pace on treadmill. It was raining and I wasn't sure how strong my legs would feel so I went with the easiest possible scenario. Legs ended up feeling fine.
Thursday - 8 miles at 8:06 average pace on treadmill. Another rainy day so I made the most of it. I decided to do a combination speed/hill progression run. Basically a 1/2 mile uphill starting at 7.2 then a 1/2 mile flat but at .2 faster, then the hill at the faster speed, then flat at .2 faster until I got to 8.0. Then finished with 2 miles at 7.2. Turned out to be a pretty good workout.
Saturday - 20 miles at 8:29 pace. This was the last 20 miler of the training cycle so I was hoping for a strong run. I went out at around 8:20 pace and quickly realized that it was hotter and more humid than I had anticipated. I decided to stick with the pace anyway since this was likely to be similar to the race day conditions in Boston. I felt OK and eventually found my zone. All went well through 14 and then I started to crash. By mile 16 I was hurting pretty good and I really had to push and fight to make it through the next 4 miles. I was pretty wiped out when I finally stopped running but it was a good test and good practice for fighting through fatigue.
Sunday - 3.2 miles at 9:22 recovery pace on treadmill. Some nasty weather so I just took it easy with a nice, slow 30 minute easy run on the treadmill.
So this is it. Time to taper and get ready to race. Looking back at my training log for fall '07 when I ran my Boston Qualifier race, my last 20 miler was a walk in the park. My notes say that the first 12 miles seemed "effortless" and I cruised through 20 miles at 7:58 pace. And I remember having to hold myself back from running it faster. Although, back then I was healthy and able to run 7 mile tempo runs and solid, consistent vo2 max workouts. Obviously, I'm no where close to that level of fitness right now but I'm damn happy just to be healthy enough to go out and run a respectable race.
The goal for this training cycle was to train hard while not aggravating my piriformis injury or doing anything else too stupid. So I managed to make it through reasonably healthy. I wasn't able to do any long tempo runs or any vo2 max workouts but I did run a couple of solid half marathons as training runs, and I have three 20 milers and a 22 miler under my belt. All in all, I think I'm OK. The marathon goal heading into the training cycle was to finish Boston in under 3:30. Unless there are some extreme weather conditions to contend with, that remains the goal and I think it will be tough, but attainable.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
O'Reilly the Stalker, Part 3
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
O'Reilly the Stalker, Part 2
Wow, an update to this story already. Here is the link.
Also, it appears that Jon Stewart has already had a little fun with O'Reilly regarding these very issues in the past. Enjoy the clip.
Also, it appears that Jon Stewart has already had a little fun with O'Reilly regarding these very issues in the past. Enjoy the clip.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | M - Th 11p / 10c | |||
| Bill O'Reilly's Right to Privacy | ||||
| ||||
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
