Il Mio Foro

Jeff Query Mullets

2008-08-16T20:37:00.003-05:00

Who doesn't love Jeff Query and his amazing blonde mullet?

2006-12-06T00:02:00.000-06:00

Sta Passando Novembre

Una bella canzone di Eros...

SA & Corruption: Two Peas in a Pod

2006-10-30T16:07:00.000-06:00

The University Standard was one of the first publications to break the SA scandal that has engulfed UWM as of late. Attached is the scathing article written by "The Rat that Knew the Ship was Sinking":

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Democracy Now An Illusion At UWM

The noble idea behind student government is to allow students to be actively involved in the decisions that govern their experience at UWM. Law allows students to set and allocate the segregated fee portion of tuition. These fees in turn are meant to enrich UWM for all students on campus.

Your Student Association (student government) is based off of the U.S. system of democracy. Three branches that work for the common good of those they represent. Three branches of government that create a constant pattern of checks and balances. With such noble ideas and such a great basis for a governmental system, what are we lacking at UWM? What has happened to corrupt our system? Simply, personal greed has eroded the foundation on which our student government is based.

Our student government is no longer a powerful democracy. Instead, it has become a corrupt and oppressive dictatorship. A system not governed by its own laws and rules; rather, it is a system that bends and tailors its laws to gain power for a few “fat cats”. At its current state, our grand Student Association’s three-branch system has been demolished and only one true power remains.

Our judicial branch is no longer functioning after the resignation of Justice Michels. This renders the court inactive and leaves students without a way to bring complaints before the student government. The only choice for possible action is to present a case to Student Association President Samantha Prahl. What if your complaint is against her? What can be done then? The answer is nothing can be done. The only way to create a functioning court would be for the SA president to appoint a new justice. Chances are the current administration will continue to use the same tactic former President Rueden used. They will simply not appoint a new justice. This way, they can’t be challenged and control more power.

What about the legislative branch you ask? Aren’t they the back bone of any true democracy? Don’t they represent the students they were sworn to represent in these matters? Not in this system. The most disheartening consequence of this administration has been its butchery of the Senate – the heart and sole of democracy. Led by former President Rueden, the Senate meetings sound more like a soliloquy then a place of meaningful debate and discussion. No senator is needed to motion for, or second, a piece of legislation as called for in Robert’s Rules of Order – the rules the Senate supposedly follows. Instead, Rueden simply calls unanimous approval. So, where are the concerned senators elected to call out this kind of crap? They have been systematically dealt with.

In one cowardly move, President Samantha Prahl submitted a new set of executive bylaws to the Senate this summer. The bylaws were released to members of the Senate the day before the meeting and showed none of the usual underlines or strike-throughs that bylaw amendments usually feature. These marks allow the Senate to see all the changes that are proposed. Instead, President Prahl stood in front of the Senate and told them all the changes only to leave out the crucial change that would allow members of her executive branch to retain seats on the senate. This meant that the President’s paid employees would represent votes in the Senate.

This all happened under the watchful eye of current Senate Speaker Rueden. The irony is that it was Rueden himself that made the ruling to separate the branches when he was Chief Justice. His reasoning was that there was an implicit conflict of interests with having paid members serve in two branches of the government. What changed his mind? Could it be his longtime rumored relationship with President Prahl? Could it be that this brought them one step closer to absolute power? This is the guy who, The Post reported, is being investigated for allegedly embezzling $10,000 worth of student money.

So where does this leave the Senate? More than half of the current Senate is on the executive branch’s payroll. This means that more than half of a branch charged with checking and balancing the executive branch is currently employed by THE same executive branch. Is biting the hand that feeds you not a conflict of interest?

Without a functioning court and with a crippled Senate left bewildered by countless strategic moves, what is left of the proud system that governs us students? It leaves us with only an executive branch – a true dictatorship. Does that scare you? It should. As a student at UWM, you are charged more in segregated fees than you would be charged if you attended any other campus in the state. These fees are set by your student government – the Student Association. A government that is by far the highest paid student government in the state. Your President alone makes $9,500 a year. She also controls a budget of over $80,000 to be spent on executive employees. I will never argue that creating student jobs is not one of the greatest accomplishments the Student Association could achieve for students. Why, though, do all of these jobs have to be internalized solely in the executive branch? Isn’t the goal of the student government to spread the wealth?

It was the Three Musketeers that coined the phrase, “All for one, one for all!” It seems that somewhere along the line the current administration lost sight of the second half of that phrase. They are elected to serve all students, not just themselves.

Where does this leave the future of our student government? Due to internal power acquisitions, all consistent external sources of guidance have been eliminated. These are key resources that allow for smooth transitions when power changes hands. If and when a new power steps into office, they will be left with a Student Activities Office and an entire line of resource centers in shambles. Without the presence of SAO and without an SA advisor (who was eliminated by President Rueden last year) the elects will be lost and without any resources to maintain order. Our government is all but doomed when the current dictatorship is over.

How did it get to this point you may ask? It wasn’t a set of random occurrences. Trace this to its beginnings last spring when a botched election took place. The Independent Election Commissioner was paid more for two months of sub-par work than the highest paid members of the Senate. The Speaker got paid less for an entire year and countless hours of work than the IEC did. How did this happen you ask?

After being appointed by then President Rueden, she took over two-thirds of the pay that was set aside for poll workers and other election employees? All that was left was for someone to sign off on her time card. A time card that featured two separate pay rates set personally by the IEC. The latter of the two rates was at a rate in excess of twenty dollars an hour. Who would sign off on a time card like this, worth thousands of student dollars? Former President Rueden would of course.

I can’t say for sure what happened throughout the election process. I do know that there was a lot of information left behind closed doors. When you are paying a personal close friend an exorbitant amount of money for less then a month of work, red flags have to be raised. I mean, if the fact that the IEC knocked an entire party off the ticket for questionable reasons isn’t enough, what do we have? We have an entire election that was bought.

The mutiny of a student’s rights and money continues further yet. The one committee on campus that directly affects more students in a positive way than any other is SAC – the Senate Appropriations Committee. The sole purpose of this committee is to hand out money to the hundreds of student organizations on campus so they can positively add to the campus and community. This year was to be monumental. After a fiscally tight year last term, I was able to convince the Senate to give the committee more money than it had ever received in the past. This meant that the roughly three hundred student organizations on campus would be eligible to receive part of more than $600,000. The football team would get pads, Habitat for Humanity would get hammers, Alliance for Animals would bring in a nationally-recognized speaker, this paper would be printed and every fraternity and sorority on campus would have markers and paper to make signs to attract the next group of involved students.

Instead though, the committee was taken over by graduate students with different ideas for that money. They felt that SAC was wasteful and that adult students should get their own money. They said “SAC is not a father with an open wallet”. So they did things their way. They immediately changed the bylaws to send all unspent funds back to the Senate at the end of the year. So, money that last year’s Senate voted to be given directly back to the students was turned 360 degrees and is now headed directly back into the pockets of the fat, greedy pigs. Every penny this year’s committee refuses to spend will go back to the Senate. In past years, it would simply roll over to next year’s SAC committee so it could be given back to the students it was intended for.

This year’s committee allows a student organization $25 for printing and supplies. If you have ever filled out the paperwork to receive SAC funding you would know the printing costs of the forms for a year would cost well in excess of every penny they are giving for printing. The committee is also clueless on any laws concerning the allocation of segregated fees. All funding has to be given out in an extremely neutral manner. So, when the current chair of the committee tells a group presenting to the committee not to worry because he is a Democrat, you have to wonder. The committee acts in violation of more of its own bylaws, state laws and federal Laws than I can count. If anyone has the money for a lawyer and wants to make a case against these idiots let me know, I’ll give you the list. My case against them in the Student Court was dropped when the court became inactive.

I feel the tide coming in and I see the ship is starting to take on water. So, I am fleeing ship; I have resigned from my position as a Senator. I can’t make positive change for those I represent when the system is broken. What can be done, and what is the best course of action?

What can be done when a system is geared to eliminate external influences? You can’t knock on the door and ask for change. I think, more importantly, the question is what are you gaining from your current Student Association? What, if any negative effect would you feel without them? These are all questions being asked by powerful student organizations on campus, sickened by the current state of the administration. In the next few weeks, you will probably be approached by a petition asking for your signature to abolish the current student government. It is a move that has taken place twice in Madison with positive results. Weigh your thoughts, beliefs and obligations. Then ask yourself, is your money and government working for you and your school, or are you working to pay them? I won’t ask you to sign the petition but I may just ask to borrow your pen to make my opinion known.

(Republished from the University Standard, October 2006, Vol. 1 Issue 3)

Education and Ethics: Doyle's Worst Nightmare

2006-10-28T20:50:00.000-05:00

The question was raised four years ago to then-Attorney General Jim Doyle as he hoped to win the race for governor: “What will you do to make tuition affordable for UW students?” He replied, “I’m going to make sure the university is affordable for every single student.” Asked if that included supporting a ten percent cap in the budget, Doyle quickly gave his support even adding that “frankly, ten percent seems a little high to me.” College students will go to the polls this November in hopes of electing a governor who will help our financial and educational situation.

It’s funny how things have changed since Doyle’s statements four years ago. What has happened since that commitment? Students in the UW system have seen their tuition increase not only ten or twenty percent but more than fifty percent according to a Journal Sentinel study! Doyle did keep his word to try and make our universities affordable to every student though – he tried to give in-state tuition to illegal immigrants (note the word “illegal”). Furthermore, Doyle managed to decrease tuition for non-Wisconsin residents by $2000. I sense something wrong here. How is it that a governor who is supposed to be fighting for Wisconsin and its students is actually helping out everyone but native Wisconsinites?

This education issue is vital to the future of Wisconsin. At a time when the state is struggling to retain graduates, Doyle is making it harder for Wisconsin students to have affordable tuition costs. Do we simply allow Doyle to point the finger elsewhere as to the reasons for significant tuition increases? Obviously, Doyle and his campaign quickly blamed the UW Board of Regents for the increases. However, let’s remember who signs the budget that approves these increases, Governor Doyle. It isn’t the UW Board of Regents – it’s you! The point is that Doyle promised students four years ago that he would do everything he could to protect our rising tuition costs. Yet, all he’s done is just allowed it to balloon to over fifty percent as well as give access and aid to everyone but students from within the state.

If Doyle’s solution hasn’t worked, it’s only fair to look at what gubernatorial candidate Mark Green proposes to do. According to Green’s proposal, the solution is part of an overarching UW system reform. At its most basic form, the plan would include capping tuition at the rate of inflation. In addition, Green stated his intent to eliminate any proposed diversity tuition increases. Lastly, any increase that occurs with tuition would likewise increase financial aid for students. The question of whether or not it will work is yet to be seen. However, as it stands, Mark Green’s plan seems reasonable – especially after seeing Doyle’s promises go down the drain. So, if you can imagine Doyle’s backtrack on education, you have to be ready for his statements about ethics.

In his most recent debate, Doyle was asked, “What is your plan to strengthen the people's trust in Wisconsin government, assuring them the common good of all people will take precedence over special interests and party power?” Remarkably, Doyle threw out this gem on government ethics: “I hold myself to the highest standards of ethics and I expect everyone around me to do the same.”

Apparently, the highest standards of ethics are comparable to our very own Student Association’s code of ethics. In other words, Doyle’s administration has had about as much ethical behavior as a Clinton or Nixon administration. Chiefly (and most likely responsible for his election), was Doyle’s Kerry-esque flip-flop concerning the legislative oversight of gaming. Initially, Doyle was against such a measure; yet, after receiving almost $1 million in contributions from casinos, he approved the largest expansion of gaming in Wisconsin history. I wonder what could have changed his mind so convincingly.

But the casino issue wasn’t the only ethical problem hitting our Governor’s administration these past four years. Doyle also tried to influence the state’s Election Board. As a result, the Journal Sentinel was able to uncover the truth and even its somewhat liberal editorial board denounced Doyle’s attempts. Furthermore, Doyle’s problems with Travelgate, the sale of nuclear power plants and direct links to campaign donations are just a few of the many ethical issues that he has had to face and provide damage control. And we haven’t even touched the rest of his administration – remember our Attorney General getting caught driving a state vehicle while intoxicated? Way to represent our state and our people Mr. Doyle and Co. The attempt of Doyle and his campaign to attach ethical problems in the form of campaign contributions to the Green campaign is quite sad. It’s hard to point out the stick in someone else’s eye when you have a log in yours.

The state of Wisconsin has given Mr. Doyle four years to keep his promises; yet, we have seen nothing but lies and scandal. Students continually see rising tuition costs with no end in sight as long as Doyle is willing to approve them. Furthermore, an administration as ethically oblivious as this one doesn’t deserve another term in office. While there are numerous other issues that are at play in this election (namely taxes), the point is that the most important issues affecting students are at stake in this election. Do we want to continue to pay more and more for higher education while others are taking advantage of our increases? The choice is yours. Make a difference and make a change. Wisconsin depends on it and so does your checkbook.

(Written for the University Standard, October 2006, Vol. 1 Issue 4)

Comments, Comedy and Chavez

2006-09-21T18:52:00.000-05:00

Comments, Comedy and Chavez

Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez really got it right yesterday during his speech before the UN General Assembly. I’m not talking about his repeated use of the “devil” to describe President Bush or about his thumping of resident idiot Noam Chomsky’s latest anti-American book. Rather, there are two things that Chavez stated correctly. Frankly, most clear-headed Americans have realized this for quite some time:

1. The United Nations in its current system does not work and is anti-democratic.
2. The United Nations needs to be moved out of the United States.

Those two points were dead on. While the UN was a good idea in theory, the truth of the matter is that this organization serves just about as much a purpose as a Cindy Sheehan book signing. It’s useless. Furthermore, a system that’s supposed to be democratic will not be democratic when less than 50 of the member states are actual democracies! Brilliant deduction, Hugo! It really is not hard to see the UN’s downfalls. They have been numerous, humorous and embarrassing.

The day has come for the UN to pack up and leave. Would any organization ever tolerate a building placed on its property that would continually be the center stage for dissent, disapproval and denouncement all the while being funded by the condemned organization? That notion is absolutely ludicrous! Yet, we continue to not only allow such a building on our land but also fund it with our own money. The United States annually takes on 22% of the UN’s budget which totals $423 million. That is way too much money to give to an organization that remains the haven for ineffectiveness and unabashed anti-American vitriol.

To allow the low-lifes of the world the ability to spread their hate message on our soil is unacceptable. The US should leave this defunct organization, withdraw funding and watch them cry foul.

Now, this brings me to the actual speech of Hugo Chavez. The Venezuelan leader is certainly no friend of the US, albeit he might be buddy-buddy with anti-American Cindy Sheehan. His behavior in front of the UN General Assembly was to be expected – this coming from a man who compared Israel’s recent attacks to the Holocaust. Not to mention, his good buddy denies the Holocaust even happened.

It was more of the same in regards to his speech. His speech was basically a repeat of the speech he gave before the UN in November of last year. Instead of coming across as an inspirational voice to a competent audience, Chavez was the court jester in the presence of buffoons. It was good to see him continue in his comedy routines – repeatedly calling Bush “El Diablo” and claiming the spot in which he was standing smelled like “sulfur”. And while the name-calling and jokes may have been entertaining, the rest of the speech contained no other useful information besides the two accurate points he made about the UN. The true class was shown when President Bush chose not to even comment on Chavez’s statements – they merit no response.

Furthermore, it’s truly difficult to try and listen to people like Chavez and Ahmadinejad rant on evil America when the hypocrisy is slapping them in face. Maybe if these countries were the bastions of freedom and democracy we could take them more seriously. Rather, the bashing of our country is a façade for their respective self-interests. It’s okay, it’s easy to hate number one.

However, if there was one tell-tale sign that our time in the UN has come to an end, it would be how Hugo’s speech was received: the prolonged applause. Apparently, most of the UN General Assembly would be in agreement with Mr. Chavez. An alarming scene and definitely a justifiable reason to leave an organization as futile as the UN. When dictators and oppressors are praised, truly the UN’s claim to be the proclaimed international forum to engage in discussion and promote peace and freedom around the world is a joke.

(Written for the University Standard, September 2006 Vol. 1 Issue 2)

The Sicilian Specialists

2006-09-21T17:35:00.000-05:00

It's a great day to be a fan of Palermo!

The Sicilian Specialists
Roberto Gotta

One of the things that has always amused me and the more iconoclastic among my colleagues before a big match in Italy is the customary press release by the home club, whichever it is, announcing the number of foreign countries that will watch the game live.

Tevez or no; Palermo out-thought and out-fought West Ham at Upton Park.
Some of the numbers in the past beggared belief, and one would have had to try hard to keep a straight face in learning the Sicilian derby and top of the table clash between Palermo and Catania on Wednesday night was going to be broadcast in 180 countries.
First of all, surely there must not be that many in the whole world, although at times I suspect the former Soviet Union itself broke up in no less than 150 different nations, most of them with a name ending in 'stan'.

Second, how do you keep count, really? And then, at least half of those nations dropping in to watch - and it's always a cute round number, 180 or 250 or 300, not 157 or 183 - would have had trouble locating Sicily and the two towns on a map, or know something beyond obvious cliches.

Speaking of which, not that some East End entrepreneurs bothered to check their facts and read their history books, last week, when they made the mother of all shortcuts in summing up what a name evokes for them by printing T-shirts with the words 'The Hammers v The Mafia' as Palermo visited Upton Park in the Uefa Cup.

I was there and was amused and disheartened by the bare-boned rudeness of those jerseys more than offended, but the visiting fans and writers were deeply offended by the juxtaposition, which brought a tense, typically rhetoric-filled response - even before a ball had been kicked - by the Governor of Sicily.

Not exactly what the good-taste doctor ordered, perhaps, as he's been under investigation for alleged links with - you've guessed it - the mafia.

The best reply, of course, was Palermo's on the Upton Park pitch, that night. It took a few minutes for them to find their feet, just as some of their correspondents in the pressbox had been overwhelmed by the magnificent intensity of the local fans' chanting at the beginning of the match. I always get a kick out of watching how first-timers in an English stadium react to a level of noise which is on a completely different planet to Italy's.

But once Palermo absorbed West Ham's furious start they were clearly the more poised side and deserved the win. So it may or may not have been exactly 180 countries being beamed the satellite signal of Palermo-Catania on Wednesday night, but those who did enjoyed one of the finest displays of attacking, worry-free football in recent times.

Palermo won 5-3, bringing the aggregate score of their first two home matches this season to 9-6 and more significantly lifting themselves to the top of the table in style, with eight different players having so far found the net for the Pink Ones' eleven goals.

Catania's Palermo-born striker Giorgio Corona, who plays with the lower part of the right leg of his shorts rolled in inside his underwear, put the visitors ahead with an identical goal to the one Hernan Crespo would score a few minutes later for Inter at Roma.

Taking the ball at the defence on the left side, he feinted inside then turned outside, embarrassing Christian Zaccardo (Philippe Mexes was the one left stranded by Crespo in Rome) then side-footed the ball home with his right foot through the feet of goalkeeper Federico Agliardi, a hero on Sunday at Lazio, but who would later gift Catania an equaliser at 2-2 by completely missing the ball while trying to chest it down while on his knees, a don't-try-this-at-home feat if ever there was one. He apparently believed a teammate had touched the ball last and did not want to handle it.

The derby game was marred by crowd trouble, all too predictable given the circumstances and the horribly customary Italian habit of knowing you will hardly get punished for your acts of violence, but as with the mafia thing, the bad deeds of few should not receive front page notice at the expense of the good deeds of most.

Among them the Palermo players, who shifted gears in the second half after allowing Catania, newly promoted and on four points now, to dictate play for much of the first period.
Palermo's tactical sophistication is superb. Midfield general Eugenio Corini, 35, is a natural leader. He ran back to comfort Agliardi after putting Palermo level within two minutes of the goalkeeper's blunder and then pulling the strings in a Pirlo-like role, flanked by goalscoring midfielder Fabio Simpicio and hard-running Giovanni Tedesco, another local lad who equalised Corona's goal, alongside the creativity of David Di Michele and the hard running of Mark Bresciano.

Francesco Guidolin, who returned to the scene of his latest triumph after an indifferent spell at Monaco, does not get much press because he never allows himself to indulge in the glad-handling that earns other managers a sympathetic ear from the media, but has always struck me as a hard-working fellow with little time for self-promotion if not of the tactical kind.
Fulfilling the predictions of many, he showed up for the post-match interviews wearing a pink shirt - not only Palermo's colours, but also the shirt donned by the leader of cycling's Tour of Italy, the least Guidolin, a renowned cycling enthusiast, could do.

It's early doors yet, but you can just sense Palermo are on a roll now, and could well be challenging for the Scudetto because of above-average talent, versatility, variety and a reasonably deep bench, although they will need to keep scoring a lot to offset the potentially awkward state of their defence, despite the presence of World-Cup winners in Cristian Zaccardo and Andrea Barzagli.

They also found an unlikely supporter in Alessandro Del Piero, who on being asked on live TV some time ago which side he rooted for now, replied, with an almost completely straight face, 'Palemmo', imitating a local's way of pronouncing their town's name.

Remember 9/11

2006-09-11T06:29:00.000-05:00

It was the event that defined our generation. A half decade ago, most Americans woke up to just another day while most of us were getting ready for another day at high school. The morning papers were covering the latest news on the Chandra Levy case. Just how innocent was Gary Condit? If those names don’t ring a bell, you’re not at fault – the Chandra Levy case would very rapidly disappear from headlines all over the world. The world abruptly changed on September 11th, 2001.

What we saw that morning was unlike anything Americans had ever seen before. It hit close to home – much closer than the attack on Pearl Harbor did. We were caught off guard. As Americans, we had always felt a sort of invincibility towards the rest of the world. Yet, the terrorist attacks on American soil shattered that nonexistent cloak of invincibility and left us as a nation in utter shock and disbelief.

As a senior in high school, I could have never imagined that an event such as this would take place in my lifetime. After all, it was very easy to read about the defining moments of past generations and the struggles they faced while always thinking in the back of my mind that I was fortunate to live in the period of “Pax Americana”. Minor conflicts such as the First Gulf War or Desert Storm (as I remember it) were just that – minor ones. Yet, September 11th became the next chapter in our history books. What was previously the post-Cold War Era became the pre-9/11 and post-9/11 periods.

Now, the five-year anniversary is upon us. A lot of questions have been answered and even more still remain. How far have we come since that fateful day? More importantly, what do we remember about the events that took place? I’m sure many of us could pinpoint the exact time and location of where we were when we first heard the news. Yet, in the midst of all this, have we still forgotten?

While many would scoff at the idea of us already forgetting about 9/11, I caution you to stop and think about that for a second. I know that we recognize the date and even might take a moment of silence, but I believe that most of us have let the poignant images and actions of that day fade from our memories. Sure, we all remember the sight of the World Trade Center towers collapsing to the ground. Some of us even can vividly recall the plane that struck the Pentagon and of course the heroics that thwarted the final plane from reaching its destination by crashing in Pennsylvania.

But what has September 11th become other than a date frequently mentioned in passing? I remember thinking after the first anniversary had passed how long it would take before 9/11 loses the impact it had that first year.

Instead of a period of reflection, September 11th has become a sickening launching pad from politicians and people on both sides of the aisle. It is all too easy for one of these politicians (Democrats and Republicans alike) to try and use the date for their benefit. The media can also be blamed for its grouping of 9/11 with other present events. You can rarely read an article now about 9/11 that does not reference another conflict that is going on right now. September 11th was its own event – it should be mentioned that way.

Now there are films out covering 9/11. It was only a matter a time. After all, only a month or so afterwards, the entertainment industry was salivating over the idea of producing such a story and placing it on the big screen. Who would get the rights to the story and who would be the first to go ahead with its development? Obviously, one year was too quick to put something out. Yet, here we stand five years later and several movies have already covered the tragic events. I should clarify that I am not stating that any sort of movie or film depicting 9/11 is wrong. Rather, the motives behind the development of such a movie are questionable. One can claim that these are for the sake of those who gave their lives on that day – but is that the truth? Or does that person see a paycheck? After all, such a story would quickly bring in money.

The point is this: We should be remembering September 11th for what happened. The lives lost in New York, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania should never be forgotten. What we saw was a nation whose qualities, values and character – which had always been talked about in the past (namely, the World Wars) – come to fruition on that day and the weeks and months following. America and the rest of the world saw our resolve and our strength in the midst of fear and uncertainty. We had done it in the past and we did it again. The unprecedented levels of unity in our nation were incredible and it is sad that it took a tragic event to bring us together. Yet, five years later, we are perhaps more divided than ever. This September 11th, take a step back and reflect on the day that defined our generation. Are we taking those lives that were lost for granted? Remember them – we owe them that much at the very least.

(Written for the University Standard Sept. 11th Issue)

L'origine Del Mio Cognome

2006-08-28T16:27:00.000-05:00

As the title says (for those of you who don't know Italian - "The origin of my last name"), I have done some research and found out about the origin of my last name "Vicini". While very uncommon in the U.S., the name is an Italian one not Sicilian. This is due to the fact that my nonno was born in Italy but his parents both died and he was moved to Sicily - where the overwhelming majority of my relatives still abide. So, after visiting some Italian websites to read up on my last name I was able to come up with this:

VICINI

Si distribuisce lungo la via Emilia, da Rimini fino a Milano, deriva da un soprannome legato al vocabolo vicino (prossimo o perchè nelle vicinanze, o per affinità), potrebbe in qualche caso derivare dall'aferesi di cognomi come Bonvicini, in molti casi può definire il fatto di essere abitanti di un villaggio da vicus: "...Vicus, ut praedictum est, ipsae habitationes urbis sunt; unde et Vicini dicti....", come si legge nel De aedificiis et agris Isidori Hispalensis Episcopi.

And while I'm sure that means alot to all you non-Italians here is the English translation, more or less:

VICINI

It is distributed along the region Emilia, from Rimini until Milan, derives from a nickname to the word "close" (next to or in the neighborhoods, or for affinity), would be able in some case to be derived from the results of surnames like Bonvicini, in a lot of cases can define the fact of to be inhabitants of a village from vicus: "...Vicus, ut praedictum est, ipsae habitationes urbis sunt; unde et Vicini dicti....", how it would read in the De aedificiis and agris Isidori Hispalensis Episcopi.

Interesting, no?

Festa Italiana 2006

2006-08-17T14:01:00.000-05:00

GRANDE AMICI!!!!!!

I Sbandieratori 2006!

2006-07-17T00:01:00.000-05:00

Tributo Italia Campione 2006

This video says it all...Perfect. Say what you want, but Italia are true World Champions!

4 stars. Brasil - watch out!

2006-07-06T19:50:00.000-05:00

Last 2 Goals (Italy Germany)

This is the best video in English I have seen. The British commentators have describe it perfectly. I still have goosebumps...

2006-07-06T19:12:00.000-05:00

The Final 2 Minutes

Here's the last two minutes of the game as commented by SkySports Fabio Caressa and Beppe Bergomi!

Andiamo a Berlino!!!!!

2006-07-06T18:15:00.000-05:00

Tears started to well up in my eyes as I sat and watched the Italians 3 minutes away from the end of the second overtime seemingly destined for penalty kicks. During the 4th of July, a living room full of Italian-Americans sitting on the edge of their seats were anxiously awaiting the outcome. This team cannot go out like that I kept thinking.

After the Italians won a corner for what seemed to be the 30th time, I was urging them to place the ball AWAY from the long reach of Jens Lehmann. What happened next was INCREDIBLE.

2 minutes from penalties, Del Piero took the corner and put it out of the reach of Lehmann. The ball was headed out by a German defender but went right to the feet of Andrea Pirlo at the top of the box. SHOOT IT! We were screaming at the tv but Pirlo instead dribbled parallel to the goal dragging 4 German defenders with him. As everyone including the German defense thought he would shoot, Pirlo calmly and deftly passed the ball to a waiting Fabio Grosso who one-time the ball PERFECTLY.

We watched as the ball curled around the futile outstretched arms of Lehmann and glided around the back of the net.

The reaction was priceless. Grosso's astonishment and celebration was almost an exact carbon copy of the celebration going on in the room (not to mention that it is reminiscent of Marco Tardelli's magnificent goal in '82!). In fact, Simon Evans of Reuters said it best of the Palermo player's reaction:

For the Italians it is the image of the World Cup so far -- the look of utter disbelief on the face of Italy Fabio Grosso when he celebrated his vital goal in the semi-final win over Germany.

The wide-open eyes and yelling mouth as Grosso shook his head, while racing deliriously around the pitch, reflected not just his amazement at a beautifully taken strike.

A minute ago tears had been on the verge of flowing at the very thought of penalty kicks. Now, tears were creeping up at the uninhibited bliss of such an outcome at the very last minute of the game.

After the Germans gave one tremendous push at the goal a minute later, the omnipresent Cannavaro headed the ball to safety, then stole it away from the German midfielder who chested it down. Cannavaro passed on to Totti who saw a running Gilardino. A perfect pass met Gilardino with only one defender to beat. Gila brought him to the top of the '16 where he played with the ball only to catch another running Del Piero come into the box. Gila had a remarkably timed backheel that Del Piero deftly slotted home in the upper right corner.

The game was over. Euphoria ensued. My emotions had run the gamut between extreme sorrow to extreme jubilation. The Italy Germany game became an instant World Cup Classic. A great game by all means and an even greater finish that put the Azzurri thru to the final - and deservedly so.

Italy will face France in the final - trying to exorcise the demons from losses to Les Bleus in WC '98 quarterfinals and the Euro 2000 final. Please win! It would place the perfect exclamation point on an improbable storybook run.

Forza Italia!

2006-06-30T22:12:00.000-05:00

Germany Awaits!

Ukraine provided no match for the Italian powerhouse. Germany awaits in the semifinals!

In the past, Italy has had Germany's number but as hosts Germany have some great advantages. Including a never beaten run where they play in Dortmund!

But, for now, let us relish the victory over Ukraine and the masterful play by Zambrotta, Gattuso and Luca Toni!

Forza Gli Azzurri!!!!

And Another Examination of the Aussie Foul!

2006-06-28T23:25:00.000-05:00

This one includes helpful freeze frames and commentary!

2006-06-28T23:24:00.000-05:00

Diving?? Yea, OK!

Here's a good angle from the Italy vs. Australia game that should at the very least stop people from crying about a Fabio Grosso dive. You can clearly see Neill's hand connect with Grosso's left foot.

To the Quarterfinals!

2006-06-26T23:16:00.000-05:00

Ecstatic! My reaction to Totti hammering home a deciding penalty kick in the last minute of stoppage time can only be accurately described by my brother - "I felt sorry for you cuz I thought you were about to cry."

Say what you will, once again poor officiating marked this game although it didn't have to. A ridiculously harsh penalty that gave Materazzi the send off with a direct red certainly gave the tough Aussies what they needed. However, the stingy Italian defense shut down every effort the Aussies gave and ultimately a very late break by Fabio Grosso in the Aussie box in which he faked and avoided a tackle on one Socceroo defender and then almost avoided another - his right foot was free while his left got caught on the body of a second sliding Aussie defender. The penalty was awarded and Totti calmly slotted it through.

Let the hating on Italians ensue. It's nice to sit back and listen to the namecalling from embittered fans - I'll take it if it means the Azzurri keep progressing, exorcising demons along the way. Hey, call it revenge against Guus Hiddink's VERY fortunate Koreans in '02. And Totti was there to put the ultimate nail in the coffin.

The call in the box was a hard one to make. I agree. The defender missed the ball but impeded an unobstructed path to the goal (it was just Grosso and the Aussie GK at that point). Tough call to make but ultimately you can't let something like that go.

And, to let everyone know, I feel no sympathy for Guus Hiddink - especially after his postgame comments:

'Even when Materazzi was on the park we controlled parts of the game and
then when we were sent off, we assumed full control,' he said.

'Then we fully dominated against a team that is much more highly ranked
than us, before we got caught out in the last minute and if you see the replay
there is no doubt it wasn't a penalty.'

In a game of few chances, Hiddink said his team at least tried to play
attacking, creative football - in stark contrast to the Italians.

'Italy just tried to play on the counter-attack and we tried to play
another style, a style that is more attractive for the spectators to see but
that (counter-attacking) is their style,' he said.

'The Italians wanted to play defensively, they love to play with a wall
(across the back) - they don't think about attractive football, they just think
about the result.'

Hiddink - you're an idiot. Creative football? You had a man advantage for basically the entire second half and only managed 4 shots on goal. Count them! 4! Who cares what type of football a team plays in terms of attack if it means winning at the end! "They just think about the result". Of course we do you idiot! What are we supposed to be thinking about, solely entertainment??

Think about that one - you have 4 years to sit on it. Let's just say payback kinda sucks, doesn't it?

Enough!

2006-06-25T22:56:00.000-05:00

I love the U.S. It's my country. However, when it comes to Calcio (aka football, futbol, soccer, etc.) I have always rooted for the Italians - the country of my ancestors. Sorry if that offends people, but that's how it's always been and that's how it'll always be. The U.S. has my support in everything else - American football, baseball, basketball, etc. Now, that said, all the hype leading up to the World Cup has been circling around the strength of the U.S. and their chances after such a successful run in '02. Always being a skeptic when it comes to Americans and "soccer" (I lost a bet with my buddy Ryan about who would proceed farther last WC, Italy or the U.S.), I had my doubts about this highly-touted team - albeit silent doubts. Now, with the first round done and the Americans sent packing all I've heard is the continual complaining and downright whining from U.S. supporters who actually know about this "World Cup" competition going on. The U.S. apparently can blame ALL of their disappointing WC performances solely on the refs shoulders and the horrific officiating.

PLEASE! I can't tell you how much constant bemoaning from these fans as if the U.S. is the only squad to suffer from bad calls. I'm not going to point out all the counterpoints to such nonsense as it takes quite the energy out of me arguing with hardheads who couldn't tell you the difference between a free kick and a penalty kick but feel the need to inform the informed about what warrants a red or yellow card. SO, I will let a soccer analyst/columnist list the American's problems going into and proceeding through their very short stint in this World Cup.

The writing was on the wall people! The U.S. wasn't good enough and you can credit that to a number of things. It's unfortunate that they play in CONCACAF - football's equivalent to the CFL. Hopefully in the future they can step up their game. I hope they do!

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Warning Signs
Andrea Canales

If the penalty call had not been botched so badly.

If the red card had not been pulled so quickly.

If the shots that hit the post had just gone in.

If the goal had not been called for offsides.

"If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you," Rudyard Kipling once wrote, obviously prophesying the fans' reaction to the U.S. team's efforts in the 2006 World Cup.

All the maybes aren't flying this June, though.

After all, it's not as though the U.S. couldn't see what was coming.

So the country couldn't seem to get the benefit of a call. That's not new at the World Cup.
One also might take notice of the fact that the U.S. isn't very popular in Europe, either.
Of course, world events shouldn't affect a sporting event, but the clue of the ripple effect probably could be found even before the tournament kicked off. Not a single American referee made the FIFA cut for the World Cup. American referees have been at more World Cups than American teams have; the sudden omission was not a good sign.

More telling was the assumption by many that the World Cup automatically would kick up the intensity and focus of the players. It happened in 2002, but that kind of lightning is hard to bottle.

The Americans had a tepid offense in many games leading up to the World Cup. They tied Jamaica, a team that didn't even make the final round of World Cup qualifying, 1-1. They barely defeated Poland, 1-0 on a fluky goal. They lost to Morocco, a team that didn't qualify for the Cup, by the same score. Only another bizarre goal saved the team from being shut out against Germany in a 4-1 trouncing.

There were excuses every time, though. The best players weren't present. Training had drained energy from the team. One slipup had changed a game the U.S. dominated. If the U.S. team had nothing else completely ready to go at the World Cup, the justifications had been rehearsed thoroughly.

Unlike, for example, Landon Donovan's preparation at forward. One might think that if Donovan was going to spend half of the World Cup in that position, at least one of the lead-up games would have featured the team using him there as practice for the real thing.

There also was more negativity in the air at the World Cup -- and not just because having U.S. practices blanketed in security made them a depressing reminder of the need for such measures.

Coach Bruce Arena continually was trying to put out the fires started by player comments. First, there was DaMarcus Beasley's about how much he disliked the secretiveness and uncertainty of the lineup. Then, there was Bobby Convey's statement that the players were unsure of their roles. Eddie Johnson's declaration comparing the World Cup to a war didn't help matters, either.

On the other hand, perhaps the most surprising proclamations were those by Arena himself. After the team's first game, a comprehensive defeat by the Czech Republic, he was sharply critical of certain players, apparently oblivious to the risk of further eroding their confidence while group play was still ongoing.

He then curtly established that the players were fine with his statements, even though Beasley had taken issue with them. Arena blamed the media for overblowing a rift that wasn't there, but it was hard to verify such a claim when media access to Beasley was denied completely.

Despite the U.S. complaints about cards and calls, a valid point was brought up when Arena was asked directly whether he had planned beforehand to prepare his players for how tightly the games were going to be called. FIFA had trumpeted its intention to crack down on cynical fouls and even had set up a special page on its Web site, complete with photos of examples of plays referees had been instructed to card.

Arena admitted he did not show the Web page to his players, saying instead that he expected them to be "professional."

Indeed, it's not as if Pablo Mastroeni didn't know it was incumbent on him to avoid harsh tackles unless they were completely necessary.

Even before the tournament, Oguchi Onyewu was aware that his size makes him a bit of a card target.

Perhaps it was too much trouble, taking into account the factors and coming up with a game plan to help mitigate the circumstances of anti-U.S. perception, the track record of weak scoring, the issues of discretion concerning player performance and the reality of FIFA's new standards on fouls.

Perhaps such signals were lost in the flush of confidence given by the team's supremacy over CONCACAF rivals.

"I would tend to think that if it's not broken, don't fix it," Arena said during a news conference. He was referring to Ghana's potential strategy, but the statement revealed something of his own sentiments, as well.

A more proactive approach might have served the U.S. squad better.

Few might have been willing to admit how vulnerable the U.S. team was, though. Without any superstars or credible depth, the one major asset the Americans possess is their cohesive teamwork. If that is compromised in any way, other elements waver.

The signs were there, the writing on the wall, but as with that Web page, no one bothered to see it.

Italia 2 Czech Republic 0

2006-06-23T22:51:00.000-05:00

So much for the #2 ranked team in the world! A well deserved victory over a team that simply felt overwhelmed. It's unfortunate that Nedved and Co. had to dip out of the tournament like they did but big show of support to Ghana - the virtual dark horses to make it out of the real Group of Death!

Was the Ref in the wrong??

2006-06-19T17:53:00.000-05:00

The U.S. have no one to blame but themselves for the 1 - 1 draw with the Azzurri. Much has been said about the poor officiating but when it comes down to it, the U.S. played a very rough, physical style of football. Your players should know better when a game is being called very tightly - De Rossi's send off was very appropriate - and such incidents should have alerted the players as such.

What possessed Mastroeni to slide in with both feet up 70+ yards away from his goal? Furthermore, why would Pope slide from behind when he already had a yellow in hand? I think the U.S. team spent as much time slide tackling as the Italians found themselves on the ground. Call it diving or whatever you'd like, but the U.S. needs to learn how to play a type of defense that doesn't call for a sliding challenge on every attempt.

Now both teams seemed tied together in their fate. The U.S. needs the Italians to beat the Czech in order for them to realistically advance with a win against Ghana. Ghana is without their 2 goal scorers, the U.S. is without their 2 defenders. It should be an interesting game.

I leave you with an 8 minute clip that recaps the Italy - U.S. game. Look closely at the fouls and the type of play that the U.S. is in engaging in. In fact, watch the progression of Gilardino's goal. Behind Gilardino you can see Onyewu practically tackling an Italian player who is trying to make his way towards the ball. Physical? Yes. Plenty of fouls? Definitely. Blaming the refs? Whining.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrF8FHVuBjw

'Moggi told us we will win'

2006-06-13T18:13:00.000-05:00

After yesterday's encouraging match, ESPN's Italian football representative Roberto Gotta shares his thoughts:

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"Moggi told us we will win"

HANOVER - One thousand kilometres away from the calcio scandal, although it takes less than two hours to fly from central Italy to Hanover, the Azzurri gave itself a huge push towards respectability with their win over Ghana.

World Cup opening matches have a tendency to spring surprises, especially when a traditionally good team meets a debutant, but in Italy's case the fear of the unknown was never going to be as strong as the chance to at last put the events of the past month, which may have changed the face of Italian football forever, behind.

The Ghana match proved to be a valve for discharging the tension, the nervousness, the acrimony and the boredom that had been building up in day after day of practice: listen to question, give standard reply, practice again, listen to a different question that sounds the same, give the same answer with different words.

Inside the Hanover Stadium, only a couple of banners reminded onlookers of what has been left behind, smouldering, in Italy: and one of them reassured the Azzurri, because (former Juventus general manager) 'Moggi told us we will win'.

Italians abroad are never the biggest travelling army you'll see, because club loyalty is so strong it sometimes fogs the sentiments of fans, and there's never going to be a mass exodus like the England supporters, rather a migration of individuals and groups of friends in search of some good, violence-free, pure football. But the blue contingent inside the stadium managed to keep a reasonably noisy level of support, although never close to Mexico's on Sunday or England the day before.

That their night ended with the loudspeakers booming a rendition of Azzurro, Adriano Celentano's most famous song, was only fitting, although 24 hours earlier Mexico had been greeted at the final whistle by... another great Italian song, Volare (actual name Nel blu dipinto di blu), whose link to the talented Central Americans eludes me.

Italian fans do not have a song specific to the national team: they're usually adapted from club songs, but most of them are so short and simple, not to mention old-fashioned, that one is truly inclined to believe in the fact the Azzurri draw a different, more family-oriented type of supporters from club sides.

Ghana were all but unknowns, of course: Appiah played for Brescia and Juventus and considers Marcello Lippi a mentor, Sulley Muntari has been at Udinese for a few years and Michael Essien's performances for Chelsea are on Italian satellite TV every week, so it was not like Italy were playing Haiti, like they did in 1974, when they got stung by a goal which at least jolted them into action and a 3-1 win.

Getting over first-day nerves and the fear of a false start with the tough matches still to come was huge for Italy and Lippi, whose calm demeanour in the post-match press conference spoke volumes about how he felt.

As Lippi put it, had Italy lost, their next match against the USA would have been 'very, very difficult'. A draw with Ghana would have made it only 'very difficult', whereas now no adverb is needed, it is simply going to be a difficult game, next Saturday in Kaiserslautern.

The final scoreline, 2-0, is a bit flattering to the Azzurri, who had their positives and their negatives from this opening match, so better clarity lets look at the good and the bad.

Positives

• Andrea Pirlo looked much better than he had in the last part of the season with Milan. He directed play and conducted his usual clinic in how to position his body while receiving a pass in order to kick the ball with maximum effect and minimum effort. He intercepted more than his regular share of passes and, of course, opened the scoring with a shot from outside the area following a corner which Ghana failed to clear and then close down properly

• Nesta, more than captain Cannavaro, was a rock in central defence, his experience far more suited to this game than the Ghana forwards' youthful exuberance. He appeared to suffer no ill effects from the injury that had made his presence in the starting line-up doubtful until a couple of days before the game.

• De Rossi's push on Asamoah Gyan in the second half looked like a penalty to me. The Ghanaian's momentum helped him fall, but De Rossi clearly pushed him away from trouble with both hands, and that ref Simon waved play on obviously ranks as a positive for the Azzurri. In the other controversial moment inside the Italy area, though, Asamoha clearly dived. He, after all, has been studying for his diving certificate in the best possible place, Italian football, the Serie B, with Modena. You go to England to learn English, you spend time in Iran to learn tapestry, and you join an Italian team for diving lessons, even though the sea is one hour away.

• Toni and Gilardino did not score, but in the words of Pirlo their intelligent movement and their knack at switching positions and thus becoming moving targets helped the midfielders direct their passes more safely. Toni again showed why he's been a revelation in the last three years, with a control and right-footed shot on the run which hit the underside of the bar.

• De Rossi gave an assured performance, especially in helping take the heat off Pirlo, and displayed his game in a nutshell: strong tackling, a tendency to be a little over the top, a powerful shot, a knack for late runs into the area that allow him to use his other great asset as a strong header of the ball.

• Iaquinta scored his first goal for Italy and he clearly couldn't believe it. Neither did the fans and most of the media, who'd been puzzled by Lippi's decision to call up the Udinese striker, who's had a troubled domestic season, ahead of Livorno striker Cristiano Lucarelli. His introduction, replacing Gilardino, had drawn an unusually muted response from the Italy fans, a vastly different reaction from the huge cheer that erupted from the stands when Del Piero later replaced Toni. Iaquinta's claim after the match - no tongue in cheek could be detected, despite close inspection - that he could be 2006's version of Paolo Rossi is better left untouched, unless circumstances dictate otherwise. And I suspect they will.

Negatives

• Italy allowed Ghana too many shots from outside the area, and must be thankful Essien and the other midfielders couldn't shoot straight, except for the Chelsea man's dipping shot which Buffon did well to palm away for a corner. When you consider the Czechs have Rosicky and Nedved, you know Italy must make a better job in this part of the field, where Ghana often employed one-twos to free one of their players for an unobstructed view at goal, albeit from afar.

• Zambrotta's injury meant Zaccardo started on the right of defence. He did a reasonable job, but his presence means the attacking burden on that side is left to Perrotta, who's had an excellent season for Roma doing just that - albeit from a more central position - but cannot match Camoranesi in that category, and once Lippi brought on the Juventus winger Italy had better chances on the right side, with Zaccardo staying at home.

• Italy could not put away the match until ten minutes were left, and great teams don't leave it until the end to do that.

• Francesco Totti's return to the starting line-up yielded the expected results: the Roma captain had some good passes, a couple of nice touches, a free kick from long distance that forced Kingston to make a difficult save and looked the part as the Messiah - only with shorter hair than we're used to - until fatigue and a kick in the left leg moved Lippi to replace him with Camoranesi, who took his place on the right side thus steering Italy from the 4-3-1-2 to a 4-4-2.

Totti had a nice gesture at the end, consoling Roma teammate Kuffour after the Ghana defender's under hit back pass had allowed Iaquinta to pounce on it, round the goalkeeper, score and take a few moments before taking it all in. He then proceeded to mention that 1982 goalscoring hero. See, we never mention the war, but Paolo Rossi is a much nicer subject, isn't he?

Italia 2 Ghana 0

2006-06-12T22:44:00.000-05:00

Italia victorious over a strong Ghana team. Hopefully Gli Azzurri can continue against a U.S. team that was overmatched by the Czechs.

Remembering United Flight 93

2006-04-13T08:14:00.000-05:00

While eating lunch at the Gasthaus in the Union yesterday, I was watching CNN and its coverage on the release of more phone calls from United Flight 93. CNN was able to get Todd Beamer's father on for a brief interview. Todd Beamer was one of the men who stormed the cockpit of the hijacked plane and successfully caused it to miss its intended course. Todd also uttered words that would become famous with "Let's Roll". I just wanted to post the comments that Beamer's father made yesterday because they were quite striking. It's very easy to forget about 9/11 and the emotions that poured afterwards. It's always good to sit back and remember the heroes from 9/11:

"You know, my -- my creator, God, created me with a free will, to accept him, reject him, to live my life as I please, and in all manners of religion and speech and what we decide to do with our families. Those precious freedoms came at a great cost.

And certainly, we grieve every time we hear that another American has made the ultimate sacrifice for us. But I'm -- I'm confident that we'll continue to do whatever it takes to preserve our way of life.

Because our enemy does not have -- does not have the word "surrender" in his dictionary. And we must not have the word "retreat" in ours."

Idiocy, Irony and the Illegal Immigration Movement

2006-04-12T18:24:00.000-05:00

My most recent article as published in the UWM Times:

Idiocy, Irony and the Illegal Immigration Movement

Tell me what’s wrong with this picture: thousands of illegal immigrants take to the streets to protest for their rights to become U.S. citizens…while waving Mexican flags. To use comedian Carlos Mencia’s expression, “Dee dee deeeee”! I certainly cannot be the only one who sees the utter ridiculousness in the way illegal immigrants are crying for their “rights”.

There has been a lot of dialogue coming from the pro-illegal immigration crowd. Many of them are claiming that the America’s recent resolve to crackdown on illegal immigration is nothing more than racism. Therefore, their protesting is the start of a new civil rights movement. Timeout. Not only are these people illegal they also need a brief history lesson about the last civil rights movement in the United States:

The civil rights movement of the 1960s centered around the denial of basic rights to a whole group of United States citizens – African Americans. These rights were guaranteed to them under our U.S. Constitution. To make it even more obvious, African Americans were originally forced to come here. They had no choice. They didn’t hop a border to escape the depressing state of their homeland and make a better life by working cheap labor. In fact, African Americans worked for free, as slaves. After slavery ended, things gradually got better for them; however, it wasn’t until the push from the civil rights movement that African Americans truly reached equality status.

The present situation is exponentially incomparable. Where do you find the audacity to claim you have the right to work in a country that you snuck into? There is no inherent “right” for you to sneak into this country illegally, shirk that nation’s laws and then look like idiots when you protest about your illegal status. I don’t think there has ever been a movement that has been so clueless about the issues. Sure, they can amass very large numbers to protest, but their rhetoric is uninformed . Don’t believe me?

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa addressed a crowd of 500,000 last Saturday, “There are no illegal people here today.” He added: “America was built on the backs of immigrants.” Why yes, immigrants did help lay the foundation for America, Mayor Villaraigosa, but they came here legally – a very distinct point that you are blurring.

One protestor remarked that he was here “to make sure that Mexicans get their freedom, their rights.” Comments from these adults have a trickle-down, “dumbing”-effect on the recent student protests.

The students have shown to be even less informed. Reading the accounts from these “walk-outs” is quite entertaining. One student asked why illegal immigrants are being “treated like criminals.” This kid answered his own question! I’d suggest that he look up the word “illegal” for starters. He’d also find that a synonym for “illegal” is “criminal”. Imagine that!

Here are some other interesting and ironic facts: Some of the student walkouts took place on a day honoring the memory of Cesar Chavez. Funny they would dishonor a man who stood for labor.

Furthermore, students have been replacing American flags with Mexican flags at several schools. In one instance, student protests resulted in the American flag flying upside-down and underneath a Mexican flag. While you may be outraged at first, you might not have realized the stupidity of their actions. An upside down flag represents “distress” and is used as a signal in instances of extreme danger to life or property. See the irony? These kids think they are showing disrespect for the flag, but in actuality they are signaling to everyone that United States is in trouble.

These protestors do not know what exactly they want. All they know is that they don’t want to be deported back to the country they left. Instead, they’d like to keep the emotional attachments for their homeland by displaying Mexican flags while profiting off of a better life here in America. A majority of these people consider themselves Mexicans first – with no desire of assimilating into American life.

Teddy Roosevelt put it best when he said, “if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the man's becoming in very fact an American, and nothing but an American… we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.”

I have not heard one argument from these protests that can justify why the United States should allow people to stay as citizens when they broke one of our laws as soon as they crossed our border. One of the most claimed reasons as to why they should stay is that illegal immigrants are needed to do the jobs Americans won’t do. Just say, “West Virginia Miners”. There is no job that Americans won’t do; however, they will lose out when businesses hire illegal immigrants because they can pay two to three of them for the wages of one American.

Even the statistics don’t back up the illegal immigrants’ argument. Statistics from the Pew Hispanic Center show that illegal immigrants make up 24 percent of workers in agriculture, 17 percent in cleaning, 14 percent in construction and 12 percent in food production. If you do the math, that leaves hefty percentages in favor of Americans or legal immigrants working these off-limits jobs.

Furthermore, this harms poor Americans the most, because they're the group that generally ends up competing with illegal aliens for jobs on the low end of the pay scale. The unchecked flow of unskilled labor significantly lowers wages for entry-level jobs, which in turn renders all poor Americans, including millions of teenage workers, less than competitive.

Perhaps the greatest problem with allowing illegal immigrants to shirk the system is the message it delivers to those who are trying to come here legally. Giving these illegals amnesty is a slap in the face to those who have patiently been waiting in line and our own law. Since when is it okay to ignore our own laws? Any way you look at it, it is not fair. You cannot convince me that just because a person has been here for five years he should be able to stay when there have been people waiting in line for the same amount of time who still have not made it here.

The point is this: Instead of living off of the profitability of our country and maintaining their native identity, Mexicans should put pressure on their government to make the changes necessary for their country to achieve prosperity. Mexican President Vincente Fox doesn’t feel the need to stop his people from leaving his country. That speaks volumes about the nature of this debate. Our leaders in Washington need to step up to the plate and not give in to the demands of 500,000 people who cannot even vote in our elections. The absurdity in caving in to their demands is obvious – especially when their own protests display the lack of understanding of our history and culture. There is a right way in handling this, but if we choose to let outsiders tell us how to run our country we will lose in more ways than we think. After all, if they think they can intimidate Americans they are severely mistaken; yet if they think they can intimidate our legislature that’s a whole different story I’m afraid.

Scalia, Sixpacks and Sanity

2006-03-17T15:06:00.000-06:00

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has always been one of the more outspoken justices on the SCOTUS. His latest speech to the New England School of Law truly shows what a gem of a justice the U.S. has on the highest court in the land.

Scalia has long been a strict constructionist on the Supreme Court and does not abuse his position. In fact, he decried the "judge-moralist" era by comparing judges to "Joe Sixpack" in showing that neither are more qualified than the other to decide issues of morality. I agree with Scalia whole-heartedly. This might surprise all the liberals who CRINGE every time they see or hear the name "Scalia" but Antonin does not believe that questions on abortion and gay marriage are NOT to be decided by the courts, but rather the public through elected legislatures. He stated that "anyone who thinks the country's most prominent lawyers reflect the views of the people needs a reality check."

Justice Scalia also assumed rather correctly that a judge with his views could NEVER get elected to even the U.S. Court of Appeals much less the SCOTUS. Frankly, the stupidity of labelling liberal judges as "mainstream" or "moderate" is blatantly evident:

"What is a moderate interpretation of (the Constitution)? Halfway between what it says and halfway between what you want it to say?" he said.

It is an honor to have a person on the nation's highest court who interprets the U.S. Constitution as it is supposed to be interpreted. I may not agree with every single interpretation he has ever taken, but the man is consistent - and that is admirable. All the Scalia-haters need to wake up and look at a man who doesn't let his moral views cloud his decision-making.

UWM Baby!

2006-03-16T22:19:00.000-06:00

Once again, the underdog UWM Panthers prove why they belong in the Big Dance after they dominated a beaten Oklahoma team. That, and a little later that day Marquette lost to Alabama. Hm, I remember a certain team that beat a better Alabama team a year ago...

UWM's successes in the tournament can only help Rob Jeter and recruiting for our school! We will really miss our seniors though. Hopefully, they can be replaced with the same able bodies.

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Davis, Tucker lead No. 11 UW-Mil. past No. 6 Sooners
ESPN

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- Wisconsin-Milwaukee wavered, but never cracked. The Panthers almost never do at this time of the year.
Once again showing why they've stopped surprising themselves in the NCAA Tournament, the Horizon League champions pulled off their third upset in two years by eliminating No. 6 seed Oklahoma 82-74 in the Minneapolis Regional on Thursday.
Boo Davis scored 26 points and Joah Tucker had 24 for Milwaukee (22-8), which blew a 10-point lead only to rebuild it to double-digits again and hold off the favored Sooners to advance to a second-round matchup against No. 3 seed Florida.
"That's where experience comes in," said Tucker, one of five fifth-year seniors who start for Milwaukee.
"You know there's going to be runs in the game. You've got to find a way to stop the runs. … We had to find ways to get baskets and get to the free-throw line. But the most important thing is that we stayed poised."
Tucker, one of the stars in Milwaukee's stunning run to the round of 16 last season, scored nine during a 23-7 surge that carried the Panthers to a 60-46 lead with just over seven minutes to go.
The closest Oklahoma (20-9) got the rest of the way was six. Terrell Everett led them with 21 points on 10-for-20 shooting, but most of his production came after it was too late.
"It was hard to play catch-up," Everett said. "They made their free throws. They did everything right to win the game."
Four starters remain from the team that upset Alabama and Boston College before losing to eventual national finalist Illinois in last year's tournament. But Milwaukee got it done this time without former coach Bruce Pearl, now at Tennessee.
First-year coach Rob Jeter instituted the necessary changes to begin putting his signature on the team, but was also careful to listen and find a way to coexist with the team's veteran leadership.
"You have a group of freshman, you can just tell them what to do," Jeter said. "With seniors who have been around the block, of course they are going to see how far they can go. But with this team, it's all in fun."
Oklahoma finished what many feel was an underachieving season with three straight losses, one of them a 24-point setback at Texas.
Inconsistency undermined the Sooners all year, and it looked like they could be in for a long afternoon when Tucker's high-arcing 3-pointer put Milwaukee up 24-14 with just over eight minutes left in the opening half.
But just as quickly as it appeared the game might be slipping away, Michael Neal hit a 3-pointer and Kevin Bookout made two easy baskets to start a 17-9 run that closed Oklahoma's deficit to 33-31 at the half.
The Sooners closed the gap despite playing the last three minutes of the half without Bookout, who walked off clutching his already taped left wrist after getting tangled with a Milwaukee player and tumbling to the floor.
The Oklahoma forward returned for the start of the second half with his wrist taped even more heavily and finished with 14 points. David Godbold had 15 points and leading scorer Taj Gray had 13 before fouling out in the closing minutes.
Neal, another key to Oklahoma's offense, played with a sore foot and was limited to three points on 1-of-8 shooting.
"I don't want to make excuses, but he just couldn't move," Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson said, adding the turning point in the game was a sequence early in the second half when Oklahoma had the ball on four straight possessions with a chance to take the lead, but turned it over three times.
Tucker was only 5-for-14 from the field, but made 13-of-16 free throws to help Milwaukee outscore Oklahoma 26-5 from the foul line. Davis came up big in the decisive surge, too, delivering two long 3-pointers and driving the lane for a difficult layup to put the Panthers up by double-digits.
Oklahoma, which has made 11 NCAA appearances in 12 seasons under Sampson, lost in the first round for the first time since being beaten by Indiana State in 2001.

The Real Revolutionaries

2006-03-12T23:18:00.000-06:00

My latest article for the UWM Times:

The Real Revolutionaries

A quick glance at the student body at any university across the United States would easily display the many different groups that students sort themselves into. Within these groups, you can find those who display their political ideology very easily. You will see them walking around in their popularized and commercialized “Che Guevara” t-shirts (I wonder what communist Che would say about his face on a popular t-shirt further representing the successes of capitalism). However, do these students truly know and consider themselves revolutionaries? And if so, what revolution are they exactly fighting for?

In November of 2004, UWM was bombarded with information and propaganda for the upcoming political elections. While there were all sorts of phrases displayed on the sidewalks (and in some cases, the walls), one phrase stuck out: “Viva la Revolucion”.

That phrase along with liberal groups on campus that constantly label themselves as “revolutionaries” has particularly led me to question whether the liberal students on campus are leading a revolution. After all, revolutions usually constitute changes in how things are operated in a system.

First off, it would be helpful to see the actual definition of “revolutionary”. Webster’s dictionary states that being “revolutionary” in essence means “constituting or bringing about a major or fundamental change.” Webster also defines the term “revolution” to be “a fundamental change in the way of thinking about or visualizing something: a change of paradigm.” So according to Webster’s definition, liberal groups on campus must be seeking fundamental changes to the way our universities are being run.

Now, wait a minute. Am I to believe that the strongholds of liberal thought are in need of a good revolution to change the views and ideologies of its faculty and student body? Perhaps, these students do not know what “revolutionary” actually means. It is common knowledge that the university system is the hotbed for liberal and leftist thought.

A quick examination of a university’s faculty would confirm this statement easily. Take the University of Colorado for example. The Wall Street Journal reported several years ago that the number of registered Democrats on the faculty exceeded the number of registered Republicans by an astounding 31-1 ratio. While this statistic is surprising, it really isn’t in the context of ideological composition at such institutions. A recent survey taken among faculty members across the United States showed that 72% of professors view themselves as having a leftist/liberal ideology. That number compares with 15% who claim to be more conservative leaning.

Not only is the faculty comprised of unabashed liberals, but often times the invited speakers to campuses are radical and extreme leftists. In fact, it is almost humorous to examine the lists of speakers who are frequently invited to address university functions. Why do universities seek out communists, socialists and extremists with such gaiety? In fact, it often comes down to small groups of conservative students and off-campus organizations to assemble the funds to invite a conservative speaker to campus.

Furthermore, students are being taught by a faculty that consists of left-leaning members. While I won’t say that all professors incorporate their own beliefs and opinions in their teachings, instances in which professors attempt to indoctrinate their students has been well documented. After all, the only real place left to find such radical thought is the university system. The vast majority of Americans realized the failure of such ideas as communism, socialism and radicalism years ago. Yet, professors don’t want to let go of their foolish dreams and ideas; therefore, it is up to them to teach their students the beauty of these failed systems.

So, once again, why do liberal students on campus think of themselves as revolutionaries? Maybe they like the term. Not to mention, it looks cool on their t-shirts. In actuality, I think many of them don’t understand what a revolution is. Liberal students are living in the majority on campuses across the nation. There is no need for a revolution when one’s ideologies are being represented in vast numbers. Attention liberals: you aren’t campus revolutionaries.

I say to the liberals who dream of revolutions: you are sadly mistaken. Go ahead and claim to be bringing about change in a setting where incorporating a revolution would involve the removal of yourselves for the sake of conservative thought. Think about it. You are surrounded every day by thousands of other self-proclaimed “revolutionaries” who don’t exactly know who the face on their t-shirts belongs to. It doesn’t matter though because they are fighting against the oppression they so often face on campus! That just sounds funny not to mention ridiculous.

The fact of the matter is that the real revolutionary ideas belong to those who are seeking tolerance of their views. The real revolution is taking place to fight for the promotion of intellectual pluralism. Tolerance, diversity and equality are no longer terms that belong to liberals. It is the conservative movement on campus that seeks these tenets. After all, any other type of political thought that does not fall on the left side of the spectrum is subjected to an amount of hostility.

Liberal universities do not want to see any semblance of conservative thought having an outlet on campus. It is for good reasons that they do so. They realize that after students graduate, the appeal and popularity of liberalism is often replaced by the rational adoption of conservative views and values. Universities know that they only have a short time to indoctrinate their students. Therefore, the presence of another ideology is simply unacceptable. The conservative movements on campus are definitely attempting to seek representation.

This is the change that would constitute a revolution. To go from a system with room for the dominance of only one ideology to a system that encourages and promotes differing political views.
And to all those “Che” t-shirt wearers out there, do you really want to support a guy whose ideal revolution can be summed up with his notion that “the solution to the world’s problems is to be found behind the Iron Curtain”? I didn’t think so.

Stunned? Nope, just whooped!

2006-03-02T17:25:00.000-06:00

World Cup hosts Germany were crushed yesterday during a friendly against Italy in Florence. The "Azzurri" dominated the game and beat the Germans 4 to 1 after a delightful performance by some up and coming stars. Luca Toni, who scored in the match, is one of those players who might flourish in what appears to be his only World Cup appearance (he'll be 29 by the time the World Cup rolls around). It is refreshing to see the Italians attack the whole game for once, rather than sit back on a goal's lead. Perhaps Coach Lippi realizes our errors and we'll continue to provide an attacking squad - we certainly have a plethora of talented strikers.

Of course, Italy can also lay an egg come World Cup time. I can't get too confident with Italy having the toughest draw in the World Cup. If they make it out of the group stage, they'll certainly have proven their worth.

And their jerseys are pretty awesome too!

Al Gore! Ha!

2006-02-22T18:33:00.000-06:00

I thought I'd address the latest installment in the Al Gore saga by writing my article in the UWM Times about him. So here it is for your enjoyment:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If the Price is Right, He’ll Do It

Sometimes certain things haunt you for so long that you never truly get over them. I know of a person that undeniably is haunted by his past. Just look at this quote from September 23rd, 2002: “Iraq’s search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to deter and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power. We know that he has stored secret supplies of biological and chemical weapons throughout his country.”

Before you jump the gun and call out who made that statement, you would be surprised to find out that the previous quote was taken from our former Vice President Al Gore. The 2000’s have been rough for Mr. Gore after looking so promising at one point. This man was a heartbeat away from becoming our 43rd President in 2000. Now, six years later, a very different man emerges from so long ago.

Instead of being in the headlines every day, Mr. Gore finds himself fighting for media attention. Apparently, Gore’s network channel “Current TV” cannot provide him with all the attention he needs. So, Al Gore has been popping in and out of the headlines with some pretty crazy talk.

In 2004, Al Gore delivered a speech in New York before a Move On audience (I’m not quite sure where “Move On” is moving other than their continual movement away from the mainstream). Gore pulled no punches when he attacked the situation in Iraq and the Abu Ghraib incidents as just the natural progression of President Bush’s policies. After all, Mr. Gore claimed that “the abuse of the prisoners at Abu Ghraib flowed directly from the abuse of the truth that characterized the [Bush] Administration's march to war and the abuse of the trust that had been placed in President Bush by the American people in the aftermath of September 11th…David Kay concluded his search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq with the famous verdict: ‘we were all wrong.’ And for many Americans, Kay's statement seemed to symbolize the awful collision between Reality and all of the false and fading impressions President Bush had fostered in building support for his policy of going to war.”

That’s a pretty bold statement considering that his own administration had been making the same comments in 1998. However, we should keep in mind that the man who invented the Internet has never been to keen on keeping his facts straight or his own comments for that matter. Later on in the same speech, Gore revealed his thoughts on how the United States runs its daily operations. Speaking about torture, Gore said that “we all know these things [torture], and we need not reassure ourselves and should not congratulate ourselves that our society is less cruel than some others, although it is worth noting that there are many that are less cruel than ours.”

Remember folks, this man was running to be our torturous nation’s next leader! It’s hard to digest that ridiculous statement but I guess we shouldn’t blame Mr. Gore for appearing delusional and disconnected. He knows how close he was, he knows that he could have continued the Clinton dynasty another four years and he knows that if he would have carried his home state during the election he wouldn’t have to worry about making the news.

After that speech in 2004, it should be no surprise that Al Gore has reappeared in the news after a steady absence from the spotlight. However, this time Al Gore one-upped himself – and that’s a pretty difficult task. This time, the venue was not New York but rather Saudi Arabia. He was to address the annual Jeddah economic forum and for Al Gore the price was right to resume the bashing of America. I wonder if Mr. Gore knew that the forum he was speaking at is sponsored in part by Osama bin Laden’s family – that’s almost fitting for such talk (even though the bin Laden family has tried to distance itself from their “little terror”). What he did know is that the oil money he was pocketing for such an appearance would ease his mind from what he was about to say.

According to Al Gore, the United States committed “terrible abuses” against Arabs after 9/11. They were “indiscriminately rounded up, often on minor charges of overstaying a visa and not having a green card in proper order, and held in conditions that were just unforgivable."

Leave it to Al Gore to use broad and vague language that is not backed up with hard facts. The Arab American Anti Discrimination Committee reported that 1,200 Arabs were incarcerated after 9/11. 725 were held on immigration violations, 100 on unrelated criminal charges, and 360 for possible links to terrorism. How does this number (1,200) compare to the number of Arabs within our borders?

The U.S. Census Bureau shows that there are more than 3 million Arabs within the United States. I don’t know about you but you know what that is in comparison to the 1,200 who were arrested after 9/11? You get .04% of Arabs were rounded up after we were attacked. To claim that an “indiscriminate” number of Arabs were yanked into custody is a ridiculous and careless comment. I see nothing “indiscriminate” about the .04% of Arabs who were brought in.

As ridiculous as Gore’s comments on Arab detainment are, he went one step further to appease the audience he was speaking to (an art form that John Kerry mastered). Apparently George W. Bush and Co. are “playing into al Qaida's hands" by subjecting Saudi visa applicants to special scrutiny, Mr. Gore said. "The worst thing we can possibly do is to cut off the channels of friendship and mutual understanding between Saudi Arabia and the United States.”

I guess Al Gore forgot that 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudis. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who planned the 9/11 attacks, told interrogators most of the hijackers he selected were Saudis because they had the easiest time getting visas. According to statistics gathered by the Government Accountability Office, before 9/11 only 3% of Saudi applicants were interviewed prior to being issued a visa, and only 1% were refused. All this information can be found in the 9/11 Commission Report but I don’t think Mr. Gore took the time to read that.

When did Al Gore become so “buddy buddy” with the Saudis? After all, wasn’t it President Bush who has such deep ties with the Saudis? Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit.com knows that this recent rhetoric from Al Gore is nothing new because “only Al Gore could come up with the idea of criticizing Bush for not sucking up to the Saudis enough.”

It’s sad to see a man be so utterly consumed with bitterness and contempt for the current President. Sure, there is always the “robbery conspiracy” from the 2000 election; but with all the “what if’s” the fact of the matter is that this man’s words are nowhere close to being presidential or even American for that matter. I guess Democrats and Republicans alike can be thankful this guy is sitting on the sidelines playing the part of the annoying fan rather than being the quarterback of the football team in the big game.

More from the UWM Times

2006-02-13T18:59:00.000-06:00

The double standard in racism has been around for a long time. I felt it was time to start addressing the issue - so in our last issue of the UWM Times I wrote about it. Here's my article from the February 9th issue:

It’s Only Racism If You’re Conservative

You can call it the exploitation of one’s political views. You can call it willful ignorance by those who are so easily offended. Whatever you want to call it, the fact is this: shameless people are often too quick to label a statement from a conservative as “racist” – but a blatant racial epithet from a liberal is quickly overlooked.

Why is there a double standard when it comes to racially insensitive remarks? Perhaps, liberals believe they are the standard when it comes to political correctness; therefore, they can be racist and sexist whenever they feel. After all, everyone knows that liberals would never say or do anything that would diminish the worth of all cultures and sexes.

In order to give the proper attention to some of the most offensive remarks that have occurred, a review of these instances is warranted. Therefore, let us revisit some of the stories that might not have received the dominant airtime that it would have if these comments came from a conservative:

The 2004 presidential election was a hotly contested race with very high stakes and in the end Bush prevailed to return for a second term. After the 2004 presidential election, liberals simply could not get over the reelection of President Bush. Despite having the most diverse cabinet in U.S. history, the personal attacks on Bush’s cabinet members were relentless. Previously, Secretary of State Colin Powell had to face the accusations of being “Bush’s puppet”. Funny how that works, considering that if Al Gore would have won the presidency in 2000, Colin Powell was being speculated for the same job. After it was made known that a conservative black woman would be the new Secretary of State, liberals started firing away.

Wisconsin’s own liberal talk show host John Sylvester called Rice “an Aunt Jemima”. Others decried her lack of “competence” for the position. Political cartoons came out depicting Dr. Rice with exaggerated features that looked like they were taken out of the Jim Crow era. Forget about the fact that she is a strong, accomplished woman with a PhD. None of that matters if you’re a conservative minority because then, you’re called a “token”. That’s classy.

One of only two black Supreme Court Justices in the history of the court, Clarence Thomas is “Scalia’s puppet” according to liberals Mary McGrory and the ACLU’s very own Alvin Bronstein. Democratic Senator Harry Reid agrees because “[Clarence] has been an embarrassment to the Supreme Court…his opinions are poorly written”. Poorly written opinions? Has Senator Reid even read one of Clarence’s opinions? Justice Thomas has a proven track record to go along with his extensive background. However, considering he’s a conservative justice on the Supreme Court, he must not be that bright.

These three prominent black leaders have all had to face discrimination due to their political views. The sad reality is that these sort of demeaning comments do not get enough coverage throughout the media outlets. What does it mean when you call a black person a “puppet”? I’m sure that if any conservative leader, columnist or talk show host made a reference to a liberal minority being the “puppet” of another white person the political fall out would be staggering. Calls for the person’s head would be made, retractions warranted and they can forget about ever running for office again. Most likely, it would end in a resignation. In the cases of these three leaders, they are all deemed sell-outs for their views. The racism doesn’t just stop at the national level. In fact, at the state and local level it can be much worse.

Take the recent incidents involving current Maryland Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele, a black conservative Republican. He is currently running for a seat in the U.S. Senate against former NAACP leader Kweisi Mfume. The tremendous amount of racial vitriol directed towards him is unfathomable. So far, Steele has had Oreo cookies thrown at him during a campaign appearance, been called an “Uncle Tom” by his liberal foes and depicted as a black-faced minstrel on a liberal website that contained the caption, "I's Simple Sambo and I's running for the Big House”. Apparently, such degrading treatment is justifiable according to black Democrats.

Black Baltimore Democrat Delegate Salima Marriott believes such actions are not racial. She claims that “if they call him the ‘N’ word, that’s racial…just because he’s black everything bad you say about him isn’t racial”. Oh really? She further states that Mr. Steele welcomes comparisons to a slave who loves his cruel master or a cookie that is black on the outside and white inside because his conservative political philosophy is, in Marriott’s view, anti-black. Conservatives would NEVER be able to get away with such lowly, pathetic stunts to a man who was Maryland’s first ever black man to win a statewide election. No matter how hard you try and say otherwise, there is no justification for the actions against Mr. Steele. Furthermore, remarks don’t have to contain the “N” word in them to be racist. Just ask Rush Limbaugh.

Conservative pundit and a minority, Michelle Malkin knows all about these types of attacks. She’s been called names ranging from “whore of the Republican party” to being told to inject more collagen in her lips so that she can “play the part” better. It’s hard for liberals to get over the fact that there are minorities out there who don’t adopt liberal policies. Liberals simply cannot tolerate conservative minority dissenters. The liberal left does not believe that minorities should have the right to an opinion – unless they espouse liberal ideals. So, they’re labeled as sell-outs.

And now the latest accusations from current chairman of the NAACP, Julian Bond. Bond is no stranger to wild and outlandish comments. Back in 2001, he claimed Bush’s nominees came from the “Taliban wing of American politics… whose devotion to the Confederacy is nearly canine in its uncritical affection”.

Bond, whose organization represents the “advancement of colored people”, has fallen back on attacking his own people. In a speech at Fayetteville State University, Julian Bond compared the Republican Party to the Nazis and called out Colin Powell and Condi Rice. According to Bond, these black conservatives are nothing more than “tokens”. However, later in his speech he claimed that black people “have to fight discrimination whenever it raises its ugly head”. Funny he should talk about discrimination when five minutes earlier he was attacking two black people for being “tokens” of a political party. His speech so offended some members in the audience that one black family got up and left during the middle of his speech. Resorting to name calling appears to be the norm when debating the issues no longer works.

It is people like Julian Bond that exploit their own people when they resort to such pitiful tactics. The list continually grows every day and there is little that is done about it. When will people wake up to this blatant double standard and realize that political affiliation does not matter when it comes to racism?

Racism has been a problem throughout our history and has been a problem since before our country began. I realize that liberals and conservatives alike can be offenders in regards to racism and bigotry. However, allowing one group to get away with such obvious racial remarks belittles the cause towards equality. It is time for people to call out these delinquents regardless of their political views if they will resort to attacking the person’s racial composition rather than the issues. If we do not do so, we are merely promoting the racial tension we so desperately want to stop.

Commit To Milwaukee's Phase II If You Don't Value Your Education

2006-02-13T18:54:00.000-06:00

Here's my article from the January 26th edition of the UWM Times:

Commit to Milwaukee’s Phase II If You Don’t Value Your Education

Many of you may have received an email in October from the UWM Coalition for Diversity and Access that called for the implementation of the Milwaukee Commitment’s Phase II Plan. For those of you who do not know what this plan entails, here is the basic rundown of the program:

The Phase II Plan has several goals – the most important is to close the achievement gap through retention and graduation. Phase II is a follow-up proposal to the original Phase I initiative. Phase II strives to create more diversity at the UWM campus by enacting several proposals. Mainly, these proposals include accepting not only more students of color, but also professors that resemble the racial composition of the Milwaukee community.

This is a noble cause. At first glance, one could hardly find fault with its earnest attempts at diversifying this campus. However, the proposals in this initiative would raise tuition significantly – thereby undermining its own attempts at creating a “diverse” campus. The proposed initiative does more damage than good.

It is logical for a university to accept students based on their accomplishments during high school. I would rather have students accepted based on their merits and achievements – not their race/ethnicity. What does it say to a student when you accept them because they fell into a category? "Oh, you're important - your grades don'tmatter, but you're important - we let you enter into school because you makeour university look more diverse".

This sort of thinking hurts not only the university, but the student who was accepted. True concern for minority students is not there. Rather, Phase II makes UWM look more concerned about their ethnic composition rather than their dedication to the success of all its students.

I know what most people are thinking by now. This kid is a bigot – he doesn’t care about the diversity of his university. Instead, he would rather let his university become a “cookie-cutter” institution of no racial make-up. Wrong. Is UWM really not diverse? Most people would beg to differ. In fact, statistics from the Milwaukee Commitment show how diverse our campus is compared to other schools within the UW system.

According to its own numbers, in the 2003-04 academic year, while UWM enrolled 16% of all students in the UW system, our proportion of enrollment of students of color in the system is twice that at the undergraduate level (32% of all undergraduate students of color in the UW System) and more than twice at the graduate level (37% of all graduate students of color in the system). Additionally, to the graduating class of 2002-03, UWM awarded one third (33%) of all bachelor’s degrees and more than one half (52%) of all master’s degrees awarded by the UW System to African American students.

These statistics certainly show our campus as the leader in diversity among the other UW institutions. Professors and Teacher’s Aids also resemble a very diverse racial makeup. Just sit in one of your classes and you can agree that our educators do not fit into one racial category.

Going back to the admission of ethnic students, I would love to see minority students accepted into UWM. However, I do not want them accepted with the stigma of being labeled as a "Phase II" student and seen as one who has been successful in his/her academic pursuits. It is vital to respecting the student and the university. We need fairness in university admissions. Do you not see where I am coming from?

Many people think that I might be talking about standardized testing as the yardstick. Many statistics have been thrown out there trying to prove why standardized testing does not work (i.e. timed tests). However, this is not what I mean at all when I call for fairness in university admissions. To clarify, my "fair" strategy is not taking a pre-entry test such as the ACT to determine access to the university. Rather, how you perform in high school gives a good sign of how you will perform in higher education.

Even after examining this statistical data, it is hard for me to look at these figures when other statistics glaringly stick out. For example, truancy rates in the state of Wisconsin are appalling and ridiculous. MPS habitual truancy numbers show an increase from each school period - elementary, middle school, high school - to the point that in 2003, the MPS high school average rate of habitual truancy was 73%! Add in the fact that MPS enroll about 11% of the students in the state, and report more than 50% of all the habitual truants in the state – a large percentage being minorities.

The yardstick I am calling for is not standardized testing. It is the willingness to be successful in high school. These would include activities mentioned by the UWM Coalition for Diversity and Access: community involvement, blue-collar work ethic, etc. It is this dedication that brings about academic success. The responsibility to a student’s success does not fall under one category.

More importantly, parents must be aware and involved in their child’s academic life. Truancy rates would severely decline if parents would accept the responsibility of their child, not pass it off to the government or schools. After all, who has the ultimate responsibility for their child? The obvious answer is the parent. Mark my words: academic achievement and success would skyrocket if parents assume their natural and inherent responsibility.

On a side note, I would be interested in seeing the racial composition of applicants to UWM. This, broken down into locale, would also help to see if minorities are beingunfairly treated in admissions. Are the people we are trying to help evenbothering to apply? At the very least, the people who are serious about attendinguniversity – not those who failed in high school due to lack of interest in education (seenin truancy rates, grades, etc.) – are those who should be studied.

A big concern is the cost of the Phase II initiative. This will most certainlyraise the cost of education. Does this not hurt the same people we are tryingto bring into UWM? Or are we placing the burden of cost on others? Where is themoney coming from to fund this unproven program? These are serious questions that need to be addressed.

One final thing, there is the proposal within Phase II that calls for professors to match the racial composition of UWM's community. This is a very disturbing suggestion. What does this mean? Quite possibly, we could be denying qualified professors positions at our university because they don't pass the litmus test of race! Here is the point: I don't care if you are black, white, yellow, orange or purple. The professors at UWM should be the most qualified people in their field – regardless of race. This remains the responsibility of any university. The denial of qualified professors is the denial of a student’s right to the best education possible.

These are the issues that need to be addressed before we commit to a programthat could damage the university more than preserve it. Committing to this program devalues a student’s education for the sake of outward appearance.

Mr. Abstinence!

2006-01-29T15:13:00.000-06:00

It's been a while since I last posted - busy busy busy busy! Anyway, I couldn't pass up this little gem I found while looking at various news reports. Apparently, our good friend Silvio Berlusconi is campaigning hard and with it making some great campaign promises! His latest? Oh, just that he is promising Italians lower taxes, raising pensions and of course, no sex til after the elections! Wow, I'm glad that will win over the voters - we all love leaders who sacrifice! Read the article here to believe it! Hey, you gotta give the guy credit for continuing to make headlines!

Keep visiting the site - plenty of things have happened in the past month since my last post and I will try to bring everyone up to speed!

Ciao tutti!

Bush Lied?

2005-12-28T15:15:00.000-06:00

Finally a MSM source has produced an excellent article regarding the Bush Administration's case for going to war with Iraq! The editorial in today's Chicago Tribune (28.12.05) clearly answers the questions of whether "Bush lied" or rather, his critics who performed masterful deception. In doing this, the Trib's writers began an inquest:

We set out to assess the Bush administration's arguments for war in Iraq. We have weighed each of those nine arguments against the findings of subsequent official investigations by the 9/11 Commission, the Senate Intelligence Committee and others. We predicted that this exercise would distress the smug and self-assured--those who have unquestioningly supported, or opposed, this war.

After all this, what do the editors have to conclude?

After reassessing the administration's nine arguments for war, we do not see the conspiracy to mislead that many critics allege. Example: The accusation that Bush lied about Saddam Hussein's weapons programs overlooks years of global intelligence warnings that, by February 2003, had convinced even French President Jacques Chirac of "the probable possession of weapons of mass destruction by an uncontrollable country, Iraq." We also know that, as early as 1997, U.S. intel agencies began repeatedly warning the Clinton White House that Iraq, with fissile material from a foreign source, could have a crude nuclear bomb within a year.

Furthermore, the Trib systematically lays out all 9 arguments and provides a point-counterpoint of the White House statements, what actually happened and the verdict. Here's an example:

Reform in the Middle East

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE SAID
Supplanting Hussein's reign with self-rule would transform governance in a region dominated by dictators, zealots and kings. The administration wanted to convert populations of subjects into citizens. Mideast democracy would channel energy away from resentments that breed terrorism.

WHAT WE KNOW TODAY
U.S. pressure has stirred reforms in Lebanon, Egypt and Saudi Arabia and imperiled Syria's regime. "I was cynical about Iraq," said Druze Muslim patriarch Walid Jumblatt. "But when I saw the Iraqi people voting . . . it was the start of a new Arab world... The Berlin Wall has fallen."

THE VERDICT
The notion that invading Iraq would provoke political tremors in a region long ruled by despots is the Bush administration's most successful prewar prediction to date. A more muscular U.S. diplomacy has advanced democracy and assisted freedom movements in the sclerotic Middle East.

It is an EXCELLENT article and worth your time reading. After all, we are better off reading this because we know there are certain anti-everything groups that refuse to believe anything that doesn't agree with their feelings and sentiments!

Read the full editorial: Judging the Case for War!

I Spy

2005-12-28T14:23:00.000-06:00

My good friend (and former collegiate pal) over at The Armchair Potentate has another great post on the recent wire-tapping saga and the frenetic citizens who are not educated enough on the subject to know what the wire-taps involved. No, Pam, the U.S. government has not been listening in to your phone conversation with Amy about your hot co-worker Bob. Most notably Jordan points out that these "spying efforts" are not domestic communications:

"...[T]his is a very important point -- people are running around saying that the United States is somehow spying on American citizens calling their neighbors. Very, very important to understand that one party to the communication has to be outside the United States." - Alberto Gonzales, AG

The communications, however do pertain to Al-Qaeda:

"…[W]e have to have a reasonable basis to conclude that one party to the communication is…affiliated with al-Qæda…. We view these authorities as authorities to confront the enemy [with] which the United States is at war…."

Please go and read his full post here. It's alot more amusing and entertaining (as he incorporates Ann Coulter and poor Mr. Daschle in his post). Oh yea, and it also includes another one of his "famous lists"!!

You're an Odd One, Mr. Grinch!

2005-12-28T14:17:00.000-06:00

This is just too funny not to post on! Please check out this story titled "Man Accused of Lobbing Urine Into Yards". Apparently, the man calls lobbing urine a "hobby"! Priceless.

Kofi Loses Kool About Kojo's Kar

2005-12-27T15:19:00.000-06:00

Last week, the usually calm Secretary General had an unusual outburst of anger towards a journalist from the Times of London in which Kofi Annan called the journalist an "overgrown schoolboy". The UN SG had been facing continuing questions on the Oil-For-Food scandal and his son Kojo's purchase of a tax-free Mercedes under Kofi's name.

Well, James Bone (the journalist who was on the receiving end of Kofi's verbal slap) has written an editorial on "Why Kofi Annan said I'm not a 'serious journalist'" in the WSJ. Read his article here! Trust me, it's very entertaining! After all, the UN knows how to smother scandals:

It is a time-honored tradition at the U.N. to bury a scandal by conducting an inadequate inquiry and then declaring the matter closed. Mr. Annan did precisely that when news first broke in January 1999 of his son's involvement with a Swiss firm that won a U.N. contract in Iraq.

Thanks Duke for the post!

Google's Bias?

2005-12-26T00:37:00.000-06:00

This is pretty interesting. If you type in the word "failure" in a search on Google and click the "I'm feeling lucky button" guess what website pops up? George W. Bush's Biography on the White House website. Are you kidding me?? If you don't believe me, please try it yourself before Google realizes (although I'm sure they know) their results.

Hollywood's Class Act

2005-12-25T20:54:00.000-06:00

Please don't pull a "Hollywood" this year and forget about our troops across the globe and the many stationed in Iraq! These celebrities show where their care and concern is after I read this latest story from the UK's Guardian Unlimited: "Stars turn backs on America's troops in Iraq" This shameful display truly displays where these snobs hearts are...

[T]he United Services Organisation, which has been putting on shows for the troops since the second world war, is struggling to get celebrities to sign up for even a short tour of duty.

And when they do offer up their services, many of them make wisecracks about the president...I think they fail to realize that many of our military are pro-Bush believe it or not...

But the comedian (Robin Williams) said he mostly tries to keep politics out of the show after he did a few jokes about Bush's brainpower at a base in 2003 and got a chilly reception.

So please, everybody, do what you can to remember and support our troops this year!

Merry Christmas!

2005-12-25T20:53:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas to all! Let us not forget what Christmas is truly about!

Quagmire?!

2005-12-15T15:46:00.000-06:00

“Every purple finger is a bullet to the chest of the terrorists.” - Iraqi Expat on Fox News

Headlines: Upwards of 15 million vote in Iraq; violence minimal; polls stay open an hour late to accomodate high turnout; in several Sunni areas, ballots run out...

Killing by Color

2005-12-15T14:19:00.000-06:00

During Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, President Bush and the federal government were heavily criticized for their "slow" response. People derailed the government's slow response as undeniable proof that George Bush was slighting the blacks in the region. Remember some of the comments?

Kanye West during the Katrina Telethon: "I hate the way they portray us in the media. You see a black family, it says, 'They're looting.' You see a white family, it says, 'They're looking for food.' And, you know, it's been five days [waiting for federal help] because most of the people are black... with the way America is set up to help the poor, the black people, the less well-off, as slow as possible...We already realize a lot of people that could help are at war right now, fighting another way -- and they've given them permission to go down and shoot us!...George Bush doesn't care about black people!"

Damu Smith, founder of the National Black Environmental Justice Network: "Whether they (the federal government) got in a room and conspired or not, what they did is they ignored us, they forgot about us ... because we look like we look." (As he was speaking, Smith held out his arm to show his skin color).

Well, new statistics show that the so-called abandonment of blacks in New Orleans just isn't so. Take a look at the latest piece from CNS News:

Statistics released by the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals suggest that fewer than half of the victims of Hurricane Katrina were black, and that whites died at the highest rate of all races in New Orleans...the state's demographic information suggests that whites in New Orleans died at a higher rate than minorities.

It seems to easy nowadays to play the race card whenever a political advantage can be seen. It's a dirty shame that during a time when the U.S. could have rallied around the city of New Orleans, the media, public figures and otherwise unintelligent idiots were escalating rumors, lies and personal opinions instead. Maybe we will learn our lesson next time. I, for one, won't get my hopes up though.

A "Broken" Military? HA!

2005-12-13T16:09:00.000-06:00

Remember when the U.S. Army was broken?? Well, the reports the MSM were giving us earlier in the year combined with statements from politicians certainly made it seem like everything was about to implode. The Army has a different story. The Washington Times published an article that reveals some truth to the nay-sayers amongst us:

The Pentagon yesterday said the Army signed up 5,856 recruits in November, 5 percent above its goal. It previously announced the Army also exceeded its target in October, the first month of the 2006 fiscal year.

The Army has that [it] hit its recruiting mark for six straight months, a promising development for the Bush administration. President Bush's critics had cited the Army's failure to achieve its recruiting goals in fiscal 2005 as proof that the war in Iraq is breaking the force.

The failure to meet recruiting goals in 2005 could be explained by the fact that "the active-duty Army is growing by 30,000, making the sign-up goal larger, and parents in some cases are counseling against joining the combat arms..." Also, the rest of the armed forces (Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force) all met their enlistment quotas for November.

Makes me think...whatever happened to the draft that was planned if Bush was elected again...?

Ah Yes, Italian Football

2005-12-12T11:45:00.000-06:00

Well, it seems Italian football ("soccer" for you uneducated folk) is always mired in some sort of controversy. Yesterday's match between Lazio and Livorno was bound to be an interesting one from the start. These two cities are both known for their extremist political views - Livorno representing the far left views and Lazio has a group of ultras known for their far right views. The game featured "a poisonous atmosphere" where half of fans were singing anti-fascist songs and the other half were displaying swastikas.

Enter Lazio man Pablo Di Canio. Now if you remember, back in January I posted on Signore Di Canio. Never one to let down his ultra fans, Di Canio gave them another repeat of the fascist salute (although in January he claimed there was no correlation between the salute and fascism). I don't know, but it seems to me that it looks an awful lot like you're giving the sign to Il Duce...Judge for yourself! Unless this is some sort of stiff arm problem, I'm pretty sure it's a salute.

Italian football has been under plenty of scrutiny for racial problems, extreme fans, finances and of course the whole relegation fiasco from last season. The last thing the Italians need is more attention for the crazy antics of Di Canio and his ultras. Authorities must crack down on him and others who appeal to these crazies. Check out the rest of the story here. Oh, and check out Di Canio's face in the pictures...he kinda looks deranged! No, I take that back...he is deranged.

Unabashedly Nuanced (It's the UN Again...)

2005-12-08T10:44:00.000-06:00

The UN has done it again. It shouldn't be surprising, although the MSM hasn't even covered this story - I had to find it on the blogosphere. The UN's anti-Israel views are so blatantly obvious it's amazing to see that Israel has managed to maintain membership in the UN for 56 years. The UN has established a "UN Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People". The photos taken at the event are revealing. One photo shows the Palestinian and UN flags. In between them stands a map of what should be Israel - however, the map is called a "Map of Palestine" with no mention or even partition lines showing an Israeli state. Furthermore, don't forget the tribute the UN made towards those who committed terrorist acts:

"I invite everyone present to rise and observe a minute of silence in memory of all those who have given their lives for the cause of the Palestinian people and the return of peace between Israel and Palestine."

It seems to me that if you are going to have peace between Israel and Palestine, it would help if you gave the nation of Israel at least some say within the UN. Israel is the only nation banned from being able to sit on the UN Security Council - they can't even be nominated. Kind of odd, huh? Imagine the response if this were a "Day of Solidarity with the Israeli People" that honored fallen Israeli soldiers...I can see the public outcry now. Don't fear, I'm sure there will be plenty more on the UN in future posts!!

Pajamas Interviews

2005-12-08T09:59:00.000-06:00

My good friend Duke of DeLand has recently started up another blog that will hold interviews with some of the more familiar names around the blogosphere. I encourage you to take a look at the two interviews he's had so far. The first with Chris Muir of Day by Day Cartoon and the second with Iraqi citizen Omar from Iraq the Model. The interview with Omar provides some good insight on the situation in Iraq from an Iraqi's point of view. Here are a few excerpts from the interview:

"We [Iraq] have thousands of internet cafés and hundreds of thousands if not millions of Iraqis are using the internet and internet is available even at the most remote points in Iraq, even in the marshes area."

"People now get news from various sources rather than one source like it used to be in Saddam’s time. Now they can work their minds to verify what is true and what is wrong among what they get."

"Speaking of being ready for government, I think Iraq doesn’t lack the qualified people who can run a good government."

Please check out this new interviewing blog (Pajamas Interviews) and provide some feedback! Thanks Duke! Keep up the good work!

Striking a Chord

2005-12-03T18:00:00.000-06:00

The UWM Times continues to create a firestorm from the far left wing. We have been generating alot of attention from all across the spectrum. However, some groups are having a coronary over our publication. We are no longer just conservatives - but we are promoting a "racist, sexist, anti-worker agenda". Somebody stop the press! Well, actually that's what the latest post on Indymedia Milwaukee is calling for in regards to our publication. In fact, the post calls for a meeting to help accomplish this goal. The call to destroy the UWM Times:

FOR NOW, WHEN YOU SEE THE PAPER'S LYING OUT, OR SITTING IN ONE OF THOSE WOOD CABINET THINGS, FEEL FREE TO PLEASE TAKE THEM OUT AND THROW THEM IN THE RECYCLING BIN. I RECYCLED ABOUT 100 OF THEM TODAY ALREADY AND IT FELT GREAT!

Well, at least he recycled! Stay tuned, there will definitely be more to come...check out the Indymedia post here.

"Fascist" Times Update

2005-12-02T18:06:00.000-06:00

The UWM Times, which has been called a "fascist" paper, will not be held down. In fact, since we are supposedly "fascists", it comes as no surprise that I was able to quickly find out who the perpetrators are that are responsible for slipping fliers in our publications and actually increasing readership of our paper.

Anyway, my university (UWM) is pretty diverse - although some on campus complain that it still lacks "true" diversity. Within this diverse student body are communists, socialists, anarchists and every other type of -ists you can find. Apparently, we have irked some communists but mainly the anarchists have their lawless "undies in a bunch". The anarchists on campus (I have no idea how many there are, I'd like to think that it's a small number) cannot stand our conservative, or, uh, I mean..."fascist" views. They were responsible for slipping the flyers IN our papers and they make no effort to hide it. Well, if they did make the effort to hide it, they aren't very good at it.

So, let me show you what THEY have to say about politics, life and a vegan diet...Here they are in no particular order:

This post was entitled "Bash the Fash" and lists the incriminating evidence....

Read up on this guy...he's SOO angry...haha (he's in the pic to the left)

This chick is pretty "rad" too...

So, anyway, read up on their respective journals...They have some crazy stuff on there. Not to mention, they take alot of these quizzes that seem to boost their self-esteem. Although, I guess that would help the guy on the left. However, these quizzes label them to see how extreme they are I guess. For instance, they were taking this quiz to see what type of "anarchist" they are - Anarcho-Syndicalist, Anarcha-Feminist, Anarcho-Capitilist etc. I was quite amused when I saw the "What type of soldier are you?" Quiz. This guy scored as a civilian - what's entertaining about this is the actual description of being a civilian as opposed to a medic, gunner, officer or whatever else you can be. Here's the description of the noble and intelligent citizen:

You scored as Civilian. You're a civilian. Not a soldier, period. You don't enjoy fighting. And more or less think all the people who do are retrads who need to use thier brains more than thier brawn. Beware the day will come when even peace lovers and budhist monks will pick up shotguns in defence.

So, whoever came up with this description wasn't using their brain. What are "retrads"? "Thier"? "Budhist"? Come on, at least use spell check, that's not against the rules is it???

Ah well, these groups are certainly entitled to their opinion - after all we are in the United States. Another country wouldn't be so kind to these types. However, if you disagree with someone's ideology you can protest it without trying to hijack it. It backfired anyway...There are other places for your wonderful fliers than in our publication.

I have to go though, Mussolini is calling the cell...

The "Fascist" Times??

2005-12-01T13:03:00.000-06:00

Well, once again we have ANOTHER display of the "tolerance" of the left. The UWM Times published its' second issue for distribution last night. We distributed the December edition late last night (around 9 pm) in various locations - tables, drop boxes, etc. It took less than 12 hours for the intolerance of any conservative viewpoints to be brought to light.

After class this morning, I was walking through the Union and walked past one of the drop boxes where our paper is located. When I looked, I saw the UWM Times displaying in the provided insert on the front of the box. Sticking out from behind the paper was a flyer - the top of which was only visible. It read: "14 defining characteristics common to each fascist State:". The flyer displays 14 of these characteristics that derived from an article written by Political Scientist Dr. Lawrence Britt who studied the regimes of

"Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia), and Pinochet (Chile)" [and] "Dr. Britt found they all had 14 elements in common. He calls these the identifying characteristics of fascism."

The 14 characteristics are displayed on the one page, two-sided flyer. Along with each characteristic comes a photograph that relates to the United States. An example of how quickly this is put together is characteristic #10 - which states "Labor Power is suppressed". Next to that characteristic is the title of one of the headlines from our December issue: "Unions Destroy the American Automobile" -the UWM Times, December 2005, p.5. So, apparently someone picked up a copy last night and worked to put together this flyer and have them INSIDE of some of our newspapers as well as in the insert displays around campus.

These people are obviously not very bright because they are drawing more attention to our paper because of the fascism cry. The UWM Times is currently being read all over campus and we have to bring more copies to campus for further distribution. Is it any wonder why our universities continually cry for diversity and tolerance yet conservative viewpoints are squashed?

Even more interesting, for my Contemporary Political Theory class we just finished reading a book published by University of Wisconsin Professor Donald Downs entitled Restoring Free Speech and Liberty on Campus. The book highlighted the suppression of free speech that the Free Speech Movement fought so hard for. It discussed several cases, all of which were instances where conservatives came under attack. The vast majority of universities are structured for liberal (ideology) thought and it cannot become more obvious how intolerant they are when the opposition tries to have a voice.

So, the UWM Times is merely a fascist publication that is promoting the fascist regime of George W. Bush. World domination is next on the agenda...

A Moron of Monumental Proportions

2005-11-30T23:37:00.000-06:00

The UWM Times has posted its' second issue today. I broke my own vow of silence on Cindy Sheehan with this latest article. In my defense, listening to her talk is quite amusing - just think, if her and John Madden ever got together! Oh, the possibilities! Here is one of my articles that appears in this month's edition:

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A Moron of Monumental Proportions

With the return to Crawford, Texas during the Thanksgiving holiday, anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan was presented a monument displaying the words “Sheehan’s Stand” as a tribute to her protests.

So, what has Mrs. Sheehan been doing since arriving outside of Bush’s Texas ranch last August? Her original motive – a second meeting with the president – has not occurred. However, the media had given her such grand coverage that her main goal has taken a back seat to her undeserved fame. It is no surprise, then, when most people who are outraged that Sheehan has not been able to speak with President Bush do not know the comments she made the first time they met.

Let me refresh your memory: Cindy Sheehan met with the George W. Bush at Fort Lewis in June of 2004. What words did she have for our president after the first meeting as reported by her local newspaper in Vacaville, California? “I now know he's sincere about wanting freedom for the Iraqis. I know he's sorry and feels some pain for our loss. And I know he's a man of faith.” She went on to say that the meeting brought about a sense of normalcy which was something “the president gave us, the gift of happiness, of being together.”

A year later, Sheehan’s account of the meeting had changed drastically. In an interview on CNN, a sympathetic president never appeared at the meeting. Rather, Bush “acted like it was a party” and "[Cindy’s family] wanted to use the time for him to know that he killed an indispensable part of our family and humanity. And we wanted him to look at the pictures of Casey.” After further questioning on the party comment, Cindy restated that “[Bush] came in very jovial, and like we should be happy that [Casey] died for his misguided policies.” Now, I have not heard such double talk since Kerry voted for the war before he voted against it!

Cindy Sheehan’s comments about her son being tricked into military duty are just plain lies. After serving his first term, Cindy’s son, Casey, actually re-enlisted in the U.S. Army voluntarily when he was 24-years-old. He was attached as a mechanic to the artillery division of the 1st U.S. Cavalry in Iraq and earned a Bronze Star. Perhaps Cindy’s grief has been so overwhelming that she cannot recount the facts correctly.

What makes this woman’s story even better is the fact that liberals allowed this woman to be their loudest spokesperson. No longer did she speak out solely about the war in Iraq. She used this newfound fame to comment on a wide range of issues. This lady is now an expert on everything from history to international diplomacy. Listening to this woman speak is basically hearing slapstick comedy. Let’s take a look at the vast knowledge of Cindy Sheehan verbalized:

Appearing at SFSU, Sheehan claimed that “[the administration is] not waging a War on Terror but a War of Terror,” and “the biggest terrorist is George W. Bush.” Furthermore, Sheehan spewed some anti-American vitriol, “We have no Constitution. We’re the only country with no checks and balances…Let George Bush send his two little party animals to die in Iraq. It’s OK for Israel to have nuclear weapons but we are waging nuclear war in Iraq, we have contaminated the entire country. It’s not OK for Syria to be in Lebanon. Hypocrites! But Israel can occupy Palestine? Stop the slaughter!” It is good to see such a scholar on American history who truly knows how our government system operates. Yea, lady, next you are going to agree with the former Canadian Minister of Defence’s statements that the Bush administration is allowing the military to build a base on the moon, “to keep track of the goings and comings of the visitors from space, and to shoot at them.” Get ready for intergalactic war everybody! Isn’t that right, Cindy?

One comment jammed in between her statements on the U.S. Constitution and Israel is disturbing: “Let George Bush send his two little party animals to die in Iraq.” Now, I thought Cindy was this loving, sweet, caring mother who speaks for the sake of children. So much for that image.

It is amazing that the main stream media chooses to ignore certain comments. During the same SFSU speech, Sheehan proclaimed that “America has been killing people on this continent since it was started. This country is not worth dying for...” Does this comment need justification? I certainly think so, but her lunacy reaches new levels every time she opens her obnoxious mouth. During Hurricane Katrina, Sheehan cried for the National Guardsmen to be brought back from Iraq because they needed to fill in the void left in New Orleans. Yet, a couple weeks later, Sheehan posted this statement on Michael Moore’s website:

“George Bush needs to stop talking, admit the mistakes of his all around failed administration, pull our troops out of occupied New Orleans and Iraq, and excuse his self from power. The only way America will become more secure is if we have a new administration that cares about Americans even if they don’t fall into the top two percent of the wealthiest.”

Make up your mind Mrs. Sheehan! I don’t think she realizes the stupidity of her comments. Either that, or she suffers from short-term memory loss. The liberals in Congress slowly realized that Cindy Sheehan had worn out her welcome after she lambasted the “war hawk” Hillary Clinton. With her comments directed towards favorite liberals, Mrs. Sheehan quickly lost most of the venues that had been so freely bestowed upon her. The proof can be seen with the latest rally attempt in Crawford with Mrs. Sheehan and company managing to garner only two hundred people. Yet, there are still some nutcases that are calling for her to run for Senate or possibly the presidency. I don’t know what is more hilarious, the thought of Cindy Sheehan trying to run our country or Geena Davis’ attempts. At least, Hillary Clinton has already been there!

It is sad to see how Mrs. Sheehan has hurt her son’s noble cause in our military. I truly feel sorry for her loss, yet the exploitation of her son has hurt her credibility enormously. Her husband filed for divorce and members of her family produced a statement that disagreed with the way she has publicly promoted her own personal agenda. The venue for political dissent should always be allowed in our great country, yet Cindy Sheehan has crossed the line with her reckless comments in the name of Casey Sheehan. I suppose the monument given to Cindy with the words “Sheehan’s Stand” was expected to draw parallels with Custer’s last stand. If these people did their homework, they would have recalled that Custer died in the Battle of the Little Bighorn and suffered a major defeat. But, we all know Cindy Sheehan has never been known for fact-checking.

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And with her recent book flop (see: Cindy waits), Sheehan is going to continue to fade from public view. It's about time people realize what a moonbat she really is. You might as well let a 3rd grader lead the charge against the war!

Our Troops Must Stay

2005-11-29T13:54:00.000-06:00

After picking up my Wall Street Journal today and glancing at the Editorial page, I came across an article by Senator Joe Lieberman (D - Connecticut). Senator Lieberman just returned from his fourth trip to Iraq and has some excellent things to report on that the MSM does not. I challenge these quitters who call for immediate withdrawal to take a deeper look at what is going on in Iraq and then tell me that everything is a disaster. Thank God we didn't have you types of people during World War I or World War II or who knows where our country would be at right now. Here are a few excerpts from Senator Lieberman's report in the Wall Street Journal:

Our Troops Must Stay
America can't abandon 27 million Iraqis to 10,000 terrorists.
By Joe Lieberman

I have just returned from my fourth trip to Iraq in the past 17 months and can report real progress there. More work needs to be done, of course, but the Iraqi people are in reach of a watershed transformation from the primitive, killing tyranny of Saddam to modern, self-governing, self-securing nationhood--unless the great American military that has given them and us this unexpected opportunity is prematurely withdrawn.

It is a war between 27 million and 10,000; 27 million Iraqis who want to live lives of freedom, opportunity and prosperity and roughly 10,000 terrorists who are either Saddam revanchists, Iraqi Islamic extremists or al Qaeda foreign fighters who know their wretched causes will be set back if Iraq becomes free and modern. The terrorists are intent on stopping this by instigating a civil war to produce the chaos that will allow Iraq to replace Afghanistan as the base for their fanatical war-making. We are fighting on the side of the 27 million because the outcome of this war is critically important to the security and freedom of America. If the terrorists win, they will be emboldened to strike us directly again and to further undermine the growing stability and progress in the Middle East, which has long been a major American national and economic security priority.

In the face of terrorist threats and escalating violence, eight million Iraqis voted for their interim national government in January, almost 10 million participated in the referendum on their new constitution in October, and even more than that are expected to vote in the elections for a full-term government on Dec. 15. Every time the 27 million Iraqis have been given the chance since Saddam was overthrown, they have voted for self-government and hope over the violence and hatred the 10,000 terrorists offer them. Most encouraging has been the behavior of the Sunni community, which, when disappointed by the proposed constitution, registered to vote and went to the polls instead of taking up arms and going to the streets. Last week, I was thrilled to see a vigorous political campaign, and a large number of independent television stations and newspapers covering it.

None of these remarkable changes would have happened without the coalition forces led by the U.S. And, I am convinced, almost all of the progress in Iraq and throughout the Middle East will be lost if those forces are withdrawn faster than the Iraqi military is capable of securing the country.

The leaders of Iraq's duly elected government understand this, and they asked me for reassurance about America's commitment. The question is whether the American people and enough of their representatives in Congress from both parties understand this. I am disappointed by Democrats who are more focused on how President Bush took America into the war in Iraq almost three years ago, and by Republicans who are more worried about whether the war will bring them down in next November's elections, than they are concerned about how we continue the progress in Iraq in the months and years ahead.

Here is an ironic finding I brought back from Iraq. While U.S. public opinion polls show serious declines in support for the war and increasing pessimism about how it will end, polls conducted by Iraqis for Iraqi universities show increasing optimism. Two-thirds say they are better off than they were under Saddam, and a resounding 82% are confident their lives in Iraq will be better a year from now than they are today. What a colossal mistake it would be for America's bipartisan political leadership to choose this moment in history to lose its will and, in the famous phrase, to seize defeat from the jaws of the coming victory.

Does America have a good plan for doing this, a strategy for victory in Iraq? Yes we do. And it is important to make it clear to the American people that the plan has not remained stubbornly still but has changed over the years. Mistakes, some of them big, were made after Saddam was removed, and no one who supports the war should hesitate to admit that; but we have learned from those mistakes and, in characteristic American fashion, from what has worked and not worked on the ground. The administration's recent use of the banner "clear, hold and build" accurately describes the strategy as I saw it being implemented last week.

These are new ideas that are working and changing the reality on the ground, which is undoubtedly why the Iraqi people are optimistic about their future--and why the American people should be, too.

These are just a few excerpts from Lieberman's editorial. I wish for once people would drop the bi-partisan banter and open up their eyes to the real progress and dedication taking place with the aid of Americans and Iraqis alike. However, I know that people can be out of touch with reality (see: nutjob Cindy Sheehan) and asking this is usually asking too much from these idiots. Ah well, at least the rest of the American people can hear what is going on!

Oh, and of course the MSM makes it sound like the terrorists and insurgents outnumber the pleased Iraqi citizens with their constant defeatist tone every day. Instead of 10,000 terrorists and 27 MILLION Iraqis, the MSM would have you believe it's the other way around. No, the U.S. CANNOT abandon 27 million Iraqis for the sake of 10,000 terrorists!

Please read Senator Lieberman's full article here.

Update: The UWM Times

2005-11-21T14:50:00.000-06:00

Previously, I posted on the publication that we had started at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. Barely 3 hours into distribution, a university official shut us down because of the "UWM" in our title.

This simple action has prompted a series of activity that affects all publications on campus bearing the UWM name. We pointed out the ridiculousness of this policy by bringing forth the publications of "The UWM Post" (www.uwmpost.com) and "The Leader" (www.uwmleader.com). Furthermore, The Leader claims on its publication to be "UWM's Finest Arts and Entertainment Newspaper." Why is it that our publication entitled "The UWM Times" cannot be distributed on campus nor our website be allowed (www.uwmtimes.com) because we incorporate "UWM" in our title when both these existing publications can?

The official with whom myself and Tom Keeley spoke with had little to offer in the way of explanation. He even proclaimed that he didn't know specifically why it was such a big deal. All we can say is that the case is being examined by lawyers from both sides - our own and the University's. What makes this even more ridiculous is that the University claims it would still be responsible for the content we publish even with a disclaimer! That certainly makes no sense when you realize that the previously mentioned publications have disclaimers. Maybe UWM is concerned with our "Writing What's Right Since 2005" tag on our papers. I must admit that these tie-ups related to our publication are very frustrating - we want to publish our next issue in December but the University's lawyers have offered no timetable for coming up with a decision. Meanwhile, as this issue is dragging out, we are drawing attention from other media forms...

Mal Kline from Accuracy in Academia lists the plight of us here at UWM as well as other schools within Wisconsin. Read his article.

Here's to Being Italian

2005-11-16T13:53:00.000-06:00

Boy, if some of these statements aren’t the truth when it comes to my childhood!! I’ll highlight the more appropriate ones as they relate to me!

Here’s to Being Italian
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1. You have at least one relative who wore a black dress every day for an
entire year after a funeral.
2. You spent your entire childhood thinking what you ate for lunch was pronounced "sangwich."
3. Your family dog understood Italian.
4. Every Sunday afternoon of your childhood was spent visiting your grandparents and extended family.
5. You've experienced the phenomena of 150 people fitting into 50 square feet of yard during a family cookout.
6. You were surprised to discover the FDA recommends you eat three meals a day, not seven.
7. You ate pasta for dinner at least three times a week, and every Sunday.
8. You grew up thinking no fruit or vegetable had a fixed price and that the price of everything was negotiable through haggling.
9. You were as tall as your grandmother by the age of seven. (Sorry nonna, but it’s true!)
10. You thought everyone's last name ended in a vowel.
11. You were surprised to find out that wine was actually sold in stores.
12. You ate your salad after the main course.
13. You were hit at least once with a wooden spoon.
14. You thought every meal had to be eaten with a hunk of bread in your left hand.
15. You learned to play bocce before you went to school.
16. You have at least one relative who came over on the boat.
17. You grew up calling the bathroom the baccausu. And you only had one.
18. You were surprised to learn most kitchen utensils had another name which didn't end in a vowel.
19. All of your uncles fought in a World War.
20. You have at least six male relatives named Tony, Nicky, Frankie, Joey or Louie.
21. You have relatives who aren't really your relatives.
22. You have relatives you don't speak to.
23. You drank wine before you were a teenager.
24. Your grandparent's furniture was as comfortable as sitting on plastic. Wait!!!! You were sitting on plastic.
25. You thought that talking loud was normal.
26. You thought cookie cakes and the Tarantella were common at all weddings.
27. You thought everyone got pinched on the cheeks and money stuffed in their pockets by their relatives.
28. Your mother is overly protective of the males in the family no matter what their age .
29. Every lunchmeat you ate ended in a vowel.
30. Boys didn't do house work because it was women's work.
31. You couldn't date a boy without getting approval from your father.
32. You know what lemon ice is.
33. Your Christmas tree was silver.
34. You have at least one irrational fear or phobia that can be attributed to your mother.

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Yea, I guess there are a lot of things on that list that relate to me…yikes! Actually, it’s a good thing!

After 2 Weeks, I'm Exhausted!

2005-11-15T15:34:00.000-06:00

Well, it has been a very hectic past 2 weeks! During this time, I have gone from East coast to West coast in less than 48 hours. On November 4th, 18 UWM students went to Virginia to work on the close governor's race that was taking place. In its final stages, we assisted the GOP campaign by working on phone banks, walk routes, h.s. football games and urging people to get out and vote on election day. The GOP candidate for governor, Jerry Kilgore , lost his bid for the seat. However, the other top two seats - Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General - were both won by Republicans Bill Bolling and Bob McDonnell respectively.

After leaving Virginia and flying out of D.C. on the 9th, I arrived back home in Milwaukee for just over 36 hours. I left for California in the early morning of the 11th. A group of 4 of us went to attend the West Coast Leadership Conference in Santa Barbara sponsored by the Young America's Foundation. At the conference, we had the pleasure of listening to some of the nation's leading conservatives speak on various issues. A few of the speakers at this year's event were Michael Reagan, Dinesh D'Souza, Steven Hayward, Lt. Col. Scott Rutter and Kate Obenshain Griffin (Chairwoman of the GOP in Virginia whom I had seen just over 48 hours earlier at the Virginia Victory Campaign party). The conference was an awesome experience, not to mention that we were in sunny and warm California staying at the fancy DoubleTree resort for free!

I returned back in Milwaukee on the 13th only to have to submit a paper that was due by 10 pm that evening as well as study and take 2 midterm exams on Monday followed by another make-up exam today! After several all-nighters, I am finally caught up with school and the like. Now, if I can only catch up on sleep!! That's ok, sleep is optional and both trips were well worth it!

You Can't Spell "Unethical" Without UN

2005-11-13T12:50:00.000-06:00

We have just started a newspaper at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee called the "UWM Times". Our first edition was just published 2 weeks ago. Needless to say, our paper is more conservative-leaning and the school managed to shut us down in 2 hours and 46 minutes after distribution. I'll mention why they did in a later post - a pretty weak reason. It could possibly be that some of the deans don't like the fact that a Conservative group had put out a publication that offered an alternative to some of the more liberal publications on campus. The article I wrote might have contributed to the agitation of some of our liberal deans. Here it is in full:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You Can't Spell "Unethical" Without UN

What do Cuba, Sudan, Syria, North Korea, Libya, China, Pakistan and Swaziland all have in common? If your answer was that they are all human rights violators and states where liberty and political dissidence is suppressed, you would be correct. However, that is not the answer I was looking for, but we will get back to that later.

Most likely, not a day goes by where the United Nations does not make the news. This comes as no surprise, as the United Nations is the proclaimed international forum to engage in discussion and promote peace and freedom around the world. Yet, it is startling to see that the news covering the UN is not revealing its true nature: The UN is a failure on all levels. International talks at the UN are a joke, the UN is not a powerful advocate of peace nor is it a defender of freedom. Rather, the organization is riddled with corruption, mismanagement and scandal.

I can already sense the anger seeping through some people’s veins as they are reading this. How dare I criticize the international bearer of all that is good! After all, look at all they have done for the many countries in the world. Right, about that, when was the last time the UN did something good that benefited peace and liberty? Oil-for-Food? Well, let’s not bring that up seeing that it didn’t work out so well.

Here are some little known facts about our good friend, the United Nations: Of the 191 members that comprise the UN, fewer than 50 (yes, that number is accurate) are democracies. If we put that number directly at 50, that would mean a whopping 26% of the nations within the UN are democracies. That seems strange doesn’t it?

The United States is the leading financial contributor to the UN. What is the US funding exactly? It is possible that we our providing the 17,000 UN bureaucrats with some very comfortable living arrangements. After all, “directors” and “assistant directors” within the UN (and there are many of them) make anywhere between $126,713 and $186,144. They also get rent subsidies, US tax exemptions, expense accounts for entertainment and numerous other perks. Secretary General Kofi Annan receives $227,253 a year, in addition to his $25,000 entertainment allowance, house, and car. Compare these salaries to our own congressmen who make $158,100 and the average Joe in the US who pocketed about $36,764 in 2002 and there’s a big problem. In fact, American taxpayers pay 22% of the UN's annual budget! These bureaucrats are being way overpaid; or, at the very least, they are not doing nearly enough within the UN to warrant their hefty salaries and perks.

It is amazing that the UN is not laughed out of operation. The UN peacekeeping force is a farce. What other international body overlooks genocide (see Sudan) while brutal dictators massacring their own people are allowed (North Korea, Zimbabwe)? Just examine the Security Council, the UN’s most important organization whose goal is to maintain international peace and security. The Council is comprised of 5 permanent members (US, Britain, France, China and Russia) and 10 members elected to 2-year terms. Any member can be elected to the Security Council, except ONE. Israel, you are not allowed to be nominated or elected to the Council; it does not matter that you are a democracy – you cannot participate. Meanwhile, the Council’s authority seems to be irrelevant. When Saddam Hussein refused to follow the 17 Security Council resolutions demanding him to disarm and allow unlimited access to weapons sites by UN inspectors, the Council reacted with inaction.

The UN Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) is a joke. Where else would you find flagrant violators presiding on the Commission? In 2001, the United States was thrown out of the UNCHR while the bastion of human rights Cuba was kept on. At the same time, the UNCHR was welcoming the terrorist states of Libya and Syria. In 2005, the Human Rights Commission elected Cuba, Saudi Arabia and Zimbabwe to decide which cases of human rights violations should be brought before the Commission. That’s like allowing sex offenders to choose where they want to live. Am I missing something here?

Perhaps, the UN’s most damaging and dangerous claim is that it is the sole executioner of what is or what is not “legitimate” international action. I cringe at the thought of the US being subjected to a “global test” before we use military action as was mentioned by some candidates during our last presidential election. Does that not blatantly conflict with the US Constitution? Article I Section 8 Clause 11 states that the “Congress shall have power to declare war.” Handing over the constitutional power to declare war to the UN would give the UN the power it so desperately seeks. After all, the UN’s real initiative is to grab as much power as possible while in the process spewing out anti-American garbage.

Remember the question I asked at the beginning of the article? Parade Magazine came out with its most recent list of the ten worst dictators in the world (Feb. 15, 2005). Out of the 10 named in the article, 9 are honored members of the UN! The countries I listed at the beginning of this article are all on this list.

What is the solution to the UN problem? Leave. Immediately. The UN has no accountability when democracies are the minority within its buildings. The US should withdraw from the organization and take with it as many other democracies as possible. The United Nations originally offered the opportunity to establish a forum where the world’s peace-seeking nations could come together and solve international problems. Former US Ambassador to the UN and former Democrat Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan described the UN as “a theater of the absurd, a decomposing corpse, and an insane asylum.” The time has come to start over with a new organization truly committed to establishing freedom and democracy throughout the world.

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I don't know...maybe it's just me. However, one thing is certain: look for the next issue of the UWM Times in early December.

Guilty of Stating the Obvious

2005-10-28T14:28:00.000-05:00

Can someone please tell me what Air Force football coach Fisher DeBerry is apologizing for? The coach is accused of making racially insensitive comments about African-American athletes. Here are the comments he made after Air Force's loss against TCU:

"[TCU] had a lot more Afro-American players than we did and they ran a lot faster than we did. It just seems to me to be that way - Afro-American kids can run very well. That doesn't mean that Caucasian kids and other descents can't run, but it's very obvious to me that they run extremely well."

After making these comments, the media jumped all over him - turning this non-story into one that made the frontpage on ESPN's website and newspapers and sports sections across the country. This media hype/frenzy forced DeBerry to apologize for comments that aren't even offensive:

"It is my desire to make a public apology for remarks I made recently about minority recruitment. I realize that the things I said were hurtful to many people and I want everyone to understand that I never intended to offend anyone. ... I should have never said what I did."

Ok, now who has been hurt because of the comments Mr. DeBerry made? Who, exactly, has lost sleep over such demeaning comments (sarcasm here)? PLEASE! What the Air Force coach did was merely state what everyone else knows. African-Americans are better athletes than Caucasians. What's so bad about that? For crying out loud, the guy even used the racially sensitive term "Afro-American" instead of "Black" in his description!

I'm sorry, but I just don't see how these comments are offensive. This whole notion of political-correctness is being taken WAY too far. Tom Knott of the The Washington Times agrees. Nowadays, it seems you can't hand out compliments to specific races anymore...I know I certainly am offended when someone says Italians are good meatball makers! HA!

Grand Delusions

2005-10-26T11:25:00.000-05:00

Please, will he ever go away? This guy is still trying his hand at being an armchair president. Senator John Kerry recently announced his plan for Iraq. Actually, he was telling Bush what he should do. According to Kerry, Bush needs to bring 20,000 troops back home after the elections in December. Yes, Kerry even revealed his reasoning behind this statement:

"It is essential to acknowledge that the insurgency will not be defeated unless our troop levels are drawn down, starting immediately after successful elections in December."

Apparently, in order to win against these terrorists, less is more. I haven't seen this kind of "strategerie" since Gideon in the book of Judges. However, in Gideon's case God told him to use this procedure; and I hardly doubt that Kerry had a biblical revelation here... Nevertheless, Kerry continued to explain his speech at Georgetown University:

"To undermine the insurgency, we must instead simultaneously pursue both a political settlement and the withdrawal of American combat forces linked to specific, responsible benchmarks..."

Thanks for the input John. Is anyone listening to you? On second thought, I might have actually HELPED you by giving you blog space. I'm sorry, Senator Kerry, but you just aren't presidential material - why is it that you are the only one who thinks differently??

Straight Talkin'

2005-10-19T20:11:00.000-05:00

It's about time someone tells it like it is. No more of this "political correctness" garbage. One man has continued to point out the stupidity in political correctness by making people laugh out loud.

Carlos Mencia is the MAN! He's a comedian who recently got his own show on Comedy Central called "Mind of Mencia". As a Hispanic comedian, he can say some of the things that white people can't.

Nobody is spared from his comedy: blacks, hispanics, asians, whites even midgets! The point is this: Mencia makes us realize how retarded political correctness can be. The U.S. is proud of its diversity - to single out everybody all the time in such a way is not "unifying" at all. Rather, it divides us into tiny ethnic groups that fall victim to the political correctness bug.

Live life and laugh!

Check him out on Comedy Central on Tuesday & Wednesday nights 10:30pm/9:30pm Central.

Coming Soon to Bookstores Near You...

2005-10-14T16:10:00.000-05:00

It's been rough for the New York Times these past few years. Plenty of controversy, false reporting, etc. So, I guess I can understand why they have all of a sudden switched how they report stories or non-stories.

Yes, folks, the NYT is no longer reporting the news - but they are brushing up their writing skills in an effort to crack the best seller's list under the Novel category. Where would I get this information from? Look no further than today's article from Richard Stevenson on the Karl Rove/CIA Leak.

Here's the opening:

"Karl Rove nosed his Jaguar out of the garage at his home in Northwest Washington in the predawn gloom, starting another day in which he would be dealing with a troubled Supreme Court nomination, posthurricane reconstruction and all the other issues that come across the desk of President Bush's most influential aide.
But Mr. Rove's first challenge on Wednesday morning came before he cleared his driveway: how to get past the five television crews and the three photographers waiting for him. He flashed his blinding high beams into the camera lenses and sped by."

I don't know about you, but this sounds like it could be the opening chapter of the latest political novel from Grisham, or perhaps closely align with Dan Brown's "Deception Point".

The rest of the "article" carries on pretty much like the opening. I can't really tell where the actual news-writing is supposed to be taking place. That said, I am eagerly awaiting the NYT's first full-fledged novel!

And the Oscar goes to....

2005-09-27T14:00:00.000-05:00

Dianne Feinstein for her leading role in the Supreme Court nomination hearings on John Roberts. Feinstein (D - California) played the part of "over-the-top, concerned person of the common people" by asking the tough questions, or perhaps maybe they were not really questions, but self-praising anecdotes about herself. George Will of the Washington Post certainly thinks so in his Op/Ed piece:

Now, some people might think that detachment is a good thing in a judge -- that it might be the virtue called judiciousness. Never mind. Feinstein's real worry is, she said, Roberts's failure to explain how he planned to be "in touch" with "the problems real people have out there." She was dismayed by the inadequacy of his discussion of "the importance of reaching out to communities that he normally would not be in contact with, and spending time to understand the problems that average people face, in my communities of Hunters Point, of East L.A., of some of the agriculture areas of our state." ...

Feinstein should have been more fluent because she was talking, as senators are wont to do, about . . . herself. Some of her "questions" to Roberts were a familiar form of preening, of moral exhibitionism. They were an example of how liberals compete, mostly among themselves, in the sensitivity sweepstakes. She might as well have simply said: Look here, Roberts, are you or are you not in my league as a world-class reacher-outer to, and a stayer-in-touch with, plain people?

Cue the violin.

Will does a great job in this article highlighting the liberal's false "cause for the common man" - check out his full article.

Hurricane Katrina

2005-09-03T18:10:00.000-05:00

It's a sad day when natural disasters that take the lives of many fall prey to political spin. The matters at hand are about life and death - not liberal or conservative. I don't believe I can be shocked any more when any sort of tragedy that takes place is quickly used towards a political end. When will people wake up? Perhaps never, for their ignorance and hatred blind their common sense.

Please take the time to donate to the red cross:

http://www.redcross.org

2005-08-24T23:25:00.000-05:00

Pretty much sums it up...eh?

Playboy

2005-06-22T18:17:00.000-05:00

He's the Man...

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is at it again. The man certainly can be a charmer and at other times provide quite the quote. His latest?

PARMA, Italy (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi repeated one of his most famous diplomatic gaffes on Tuesday by insulting the cuisine of Finland which Italy beat to host the new European Food Safety Authority.

"I've been to Finland and I had to endure the Finnish diet so I am in a position to make a comparison," Berlusconi told local dignitaries ahead of the inauguration of the EFSA in the northern Italian town of Parma.

Berlusconi didn't stop there though in order to pry away the hosting of the EFSA from Finland...

"I had to use all my playboy tactics, even if they have not been used for some time," said Berlusconi.

Well done, sir...well done.

Italian Futurists and the Sintesi

2005-04-25T16:18:00.000-05:00

Recently, in my regional identities in Italian drama class we've been examining the Futurist movement that originated in Italy around the early part of the 20th century. It was a new "art" form that cast off all previous notions of what was "art". You can only imagine then, what these so-called "artists" proceeded to create. The movement created several manifestoes to lay out all that Futurism entailed. So, let them tell you what the movement was all about: Futurism emphasized...

the power, force and motion of machinery combined with the contemporary
fascination with speed while at the same tim denouncing 'static' art of the past
and the passeist (or old-fashioned) establishment.

Now, this wasn't all that it entailed, for the Futurists also

promoted the glorification of war, the denigration (raping) of women and the
favoring of Fascism while also using the vilification of artistic tradition 'to
destroy the museums, libraries and academies of every kind'.

Well, I guess you could say that Futurists were the antithesis of the hippie movement from the 60's. Oh, and they also produced some pretty crazy plays and poems. Basically, gibberish and nonsense were viewed as "higher art". No joke...there were some real nutjobs in the genre.

Anyway, our teacher asked us to make a Futurist play. After hearing some examples of Futurist sintesi (that's the word for plays in Futurist lingo), I did not worry too much about my task. To let you know just how easy it could be, some plays could literally take 30 seconds long. Futurists were all about condensing and cutting to the chase. I guess I could enjoy them from that aspect, but they took it to the extreme. One play is just a dog crossing the street - that's it - curtain closes, go home.

Well, I proceeded to write a play roughly 10 minutes before class. Simple enough, right? Gibberish isn't that hard to spit out. That being said, here is my Futurist piece:

"Demonstratives"

Setting: A small park with benches strewn down a stretch of trail. Two old people are sitting on a bench watching those who pass by.

Old Man: It might rain tomorrow.
Old Woman: If the sky is red it might, but only in the morning.
Old Man: The people who walk past us are slowly dying in a pool of mixed passions. They live for all that is wrong.

Old Woman: What are we then, but mere pawns in a disillusioned game of life?
Old Man: Rather, we are what wills us…(a long pause)…it might rain tomorrow.

CURTAIN

Teacher's Notes: "About 20 years after Futurism, the Absurdists were the next big theatrical avant-garde; this piece seems to be a good mix of the two! (Absurdists were basically existentialists). Smudges are a nice touch!!"

I should add that I smudged the ink after I printed the document to give it a "Futurist" look. They were known for their odd artwork as well...So, pretty decent for someone with no previous Futurist experience eh? And I even mixed art forms in there! Funny, I didn't know I had any absurdist in me...

If you want more info on the Italian Futurist movement, you can always find stuff about them online.

It's Madness Baby!

2005-03-23T18:00:00.000-06:00

Representin' my school

It's a great time to be a University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee student. Not only representing mid-Majors in the Big Dance, in only their second tournament appearance, the UWM Panthers have managed to shock opponents and entertain audiences with their uptempo style of play.

They've knocked off 5th seed Alabama and 4th seed Boston College. Bruce Pearl has been the hottest coaching name mentioned in the nation. The only true Cinderella team left (N.C. State has the goods in Julius Hodge). What lies ahead for these Panthers? Just the #1 team in the country - Illinois!

This game appears to be a blowout on paper, yet one would assume the last two teams also had it in the bag as well. Nevertheless, this is March Madness. Anything can happen. While the more reasonable side of me tells me that UWM has no chance, I'm reminded of that 'Nova - Georgetown upset 20 years ago.

This tells me that no matter what happens...March always brings about some peculiar outcomes.

GO UWM!

2005-03-16T22:51:00.000-06:00

It's the Family...

2005-02-24T22:16:00.000-06:00

A Classic Love Story

Get Excited!

2005-02-16T19:29:00.000-06:00

Spring training is right around the corner. Usually this means more of the same for the Milwaukee Brewers...how bad will they be this year? NOT this season! Excitement has been bubbling all over Milwaukee as new management and young players converge to build upon an organization that appears to be on the rise! Don't believe me?? Ask the experts:

MILWAUKEE BREWERS

What must go right: The Brewers swapped closer Dan Kolb and center fielder Scott Podsednik when their value was high, and in return, they got outfielder Carlos Lee and hard-throwing Jose Capellan. That means Milwaukee has to find a new closer and fill other holes around ace pitcher Ben Sheets and a decent young lineup. Nobody expects them to win 105 games like the Cardinals did last year, but they might get a whiff of the front-runners in the NL Central this summer. And, believe it or not, for the first time in years, the Brewers might be on the verge of having a window of opportunity to contend.

What could go wrong: Sheets's status -- will he sign a long-term deal, or won't he? -- will be a priority for the organization in the months to come; an inability to lock him up would be devastating for the Brewers. It stands to reason that the better the Brewers play this year, the more likely it is that Sheets will feel comfortable remaining in Milwaukee, rather than waiting until after the 2007 season to sign long-term with someone like the Yankees or Red Sox.
The X-Factor: The Brewers have a wave of talented infielders on the verge of reaching the majors together -- first baseman Prince Fielder, second baseman Rickie Weeks and shortstop J.J. Hardy. While Hardy might open the season with Milwaukee, it's possible that Fielder and Weeks will arrive sometime later in the summer, depending on how they fare in the minors and depending on the needs of the team.

Numerically speaking: It's a mind-boggling set of numbers that flew under the radar last year, along with the rest of the Brewers -- Sheets struck out 264 batters and walked only 32 in 237 innings

Yes...maybe not this year...but it's only getting better Milwaukee!

2005-01-28T17:51:00.000-06:00

Don't you just love Hollywood? ...Idiots

21?

2005-01-13T16:47:00.000-06:00

20? HIT ME! No, actually I'm not talking about BlackJack...

Yea, the 13th of January means it's my birthday...21 now...I feel sooo old! Ha, I have plenty to learn - I'm sure all who know me can attest to that fact...

Anyway, I'm gettin ready to head out for dinner with some fam...

Fascists Unite!

2005-01-12T23:32:00.000-06:00

Pablo Di Canio and Benito Mussolini - Good Friends??

Italian calcio (football/soccer) and Italian politics have been meshed before...but is this latest incident too far? Apparently, Lazio star and team captain Pablo Di Canio was pictured at a match between Lazio and Roma after he scored a goal that ensured his side 3 points.

It's known in Italy that Lazio fans have an extreme die-hard neofascist rank among them called the Irriducibili. In fact, Il Duce, himself, used to frequent Lazio events which may be another reason the Irriducibili still reside as Lazio fans. So, as Pablo Di Canio has blown this gesture off as not a political statement, but rather an acknowledgment to a group of his supporters, the rest of Italy are talking about this latest incident in this professional's glittered past (IHT, 1/11).

Call of Duty: Finest Hour

2005-01-12T17:40:00.000-06:00

Ok, I've been raving about this game for quite some time now...I just got my hands on a copy a couple days ago and I've had some time to play it here and there.

So, let me just start by saying that this is the most UNBELIEVABLE war game I have had the pleasure of playing. I don't consider my self a "gamer" but I do like to sit down on my little brother's Xbox and play for a few.

In Call of Duty: Finest Hour, you assume the roles of a number of different characters from Russia, Britain and the U.S. The storyline places you in a war scenario as it appeared to the average citizen/soldier. While the storyline is good, it takes a backseat to the intense action. Literally, this game makes you feel like you are in the warzone...For instance, a large mortar goes off right near you...all of a sudden you are shaken, your vision becomes somewhat hazy, you can't hear anything and you seem to move in slow motion. Such jarring effects definitely give this game an edge compared to other games - such as Medal of Honor, etc.

The game is sure to get better the more I play and most of the reviews I have read have given this game the thumbs up. I'm sure the game has its glitches, but doesn't every game have at least some problems? Plus, I am not the uber-dork when it comes to gaming, so I am positive that my untrained gamer eyes have missed some obvious gaming intricacies.

Anyway, the game is great - so go out and buy it and let me know what you think!

Non me lo so spiegare...

2005-01-08T17:33:00.000-06:00

Un po’ mi manca l’aria che tirava

O semplicemente la tua bianca schiena..nananana

E quell’orologio non girava

Stava fermo sempre da mattina a sera.

come me lui ti fissava

Io non piango mai per te

Non farò niente di simile...nononono

Si, lo ammetto, un po’ ti penso

Ma mi scanso

Non mi tocchi più

Solo che pensavo a quanto è inutile farneticare

E credere di stare bene quando è inverno e te

Togli le tue mani calde

Non mi abbracci e mi ripeti che son grande,mi ricordi che rivivo in tante cose...nananana

Case, libri, auto, viaggi, fogli di giornale

Che anche se non valgo niente perlomeno a te

Ti permetto di sognare

E se hai voglia, di lasciarti camminare

Scusa, sai, non ti vorrei mai disturbare

Ma vuoi dirmi come questo può finire?

Non melo so spiegare

Io no me lo so spiegare

La notte fonda e la luna piena

Ci offrivano da dono solo l’atmosfera

Ma l’amavo e l’amo ancora

Ogni dettaglio è aria che mi manca

E se sto così..sarà la primavera..

Ma non regge più la scusa...

Better Days

2005-01-05T18:13:00.000-06:00

When I woke up this morning I just knew I should have stayed in bed. I woke up at 6:45...an hour too late to make it on time for work. Compound that with snowy roads and an hour+ drive to work - I should have just turned around and went back to bed.

I work in the Health Services department of a large financial organization. That being said, I come into contact with alot of people with health needs and know when something arises with an employee.

Today the bad news came around noon when the Health Clinic learned that a company employee took his own life this morning at his home. Sad sad news...its the second time in 3 weeks that an employee has died.

The day didn't get any better when another employee came into the clinic to see one of the nurses. After stepping into one of the exam rooms, the employee broke down - he yelled and slammed his fist on a counter and threw some papers onto the floor. This out of friction he has encountered with his manager - a problem that apparently has been ongoing for over a year. Being the only male in the health clinic (I'm not a nurse...I just help out with corporate health events and FMLA and DI cases), I was left to guard the door and make sure that nothing happened.

It was sad to see this man so frustrated that he broke down and even cried, but it became very tense after he claimed he should shoot his manager. Things eventually settled down and he was allowed to go home. Employee relations contacted him at home and held a conference call with him to make sure that everything was alright. Sometimes we act irrationally and say things we don't mean, yet people still are responsible for their actions.

After these incidents, the day carried on in a somber manner. Having even one of these events take place is bad enough, two is extreme. Hopefully the day will get better...after all it's the beginning of a New Year, not to mention it's always easy to laugh looking at how some people would like to claim "disability" just to get out of work!!

Happy New Year everybody....

Lessons from the Minister of Defense

2004-12-27T22:02:00.000-06:00

For those fans of the NFL, Green Bay Packers, Philadelphia Eagles and even the Carolina Panthers, yesterday's news of the death of Reggie White came as a shock.

At 43, Reggie White was not necessarily old in any terms, yet he passed away early Sunday morning. While the cause of his death is still unclear, the impression he left on earth is indelible.

Reggie White was arguably the best defensive end to ever play the game of football. But instead of focusing on the way he played the game, the path the "Minister of Defense" led is one that others should strive to follow. His strong personal convictions and his devotion to his faith, family and football speak even louder than his actions on the field.

He was a man of impeccable character and truly was unwavering in his beliefs. The admiration gathered from all those who knew him speaks for who he was not as a football player but as a person. I feel honored to have been able to watch him play for my beloved Green & Gold and only give more credit to him for the way he lived his life.

If you want more information on Reggie White from those who knew him click http://espn.go.com/classic/s/Whitememories.html

Buona Natale!

2004-12-25T11:25:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas everyone! I trust everyone will have a safe, fun holiday as we gather together with family and friends.

Let's not forget our soldiers who are currently fighting to defend our freedoms...
May we never forget the sacrifices they make each and every day.

Sound Familiar?

2004-12-12T14:52:00.000-06:00

Coming up to exam week there are more similarities in this comic strip than just my name.....

Quote of the Day

2004-12-02T01:10:00.000-06:00

I found a great quote while reading a passage from Tacitus on Agricola - a man who Tacitus diverts much praise...anyway, I can see the relevance of this quote even in today's age...

That is the crowning injustice of war: all claim credit for success, while defeat is laid to the account of one.

Everyone....take note...

A Tribute to Brett Favre - Overcoming Adversity

2004-11-28T19:10:00.000-06:00

Here's an article from ESPN on Brett Favre - my idol when it comes to football. Never in the NFL (or maybe all of sports) has there been anyone better, tougher or played at a higher level...

Sometimes, when the sky is falling in pieces all around you, all you can do is laugh.
A week ago, Brett Favre was needling his mother, Bonita, who was in the middle of a book tour to publicize her New York Times best-seller "Favre."
"You're not a spring chicken anymore," the Green Bay Packers quarterback told her.
"You sound like I sounded some years back, talking to you," she responded.
"Well, if that's the case," the son told his mother, "then you won't listen to me like I didn't listen to you -- so we're even."
One day later, Bonita was flat on her back in a Madison, Wis., hospital complaining of severe stomach pains. And with that piece of bad luck -- food poisoning was ultimately the diagnosis -- her streak of consecutive book signings was stopped at seven. Bonita sat out the signings scheduled for La Crosse on Thursday and Green Bay on Saturday.
Her publicist, Zoe Feigenbaum, insisted she would continue this week.
"She's a tough one," Feigenbaum observed. "She wants to keep going.
"She's a Favre."
Indeed.
In his 13th season with the Packers, Brett Lorenzo Favre has become synonymous with triumphing amid adversity. In sport, courage and heroism are often overstated. But the depths of the adversity that has visited Favre's life and the level of performance with which he has responded is, upon inspection, quite breathtaking.
Favre leaves the field with his wife Deanna one day after his father passed.In the last 11 months, Favre has lost his father, Irv, to a heart attack; lost his brother-in-law, Casey Tynes, in an all-terrain vehicle crash on his estate in Mississippi; and learned that his wife, Deanna, had breast cancer. Favre has played through a series of injuries this season -- concussion, bruised hamstring, sprained hand, sprained thumb -- but on Monday night he will step on Lambeau Field against the St. Louis Rams and start his 200th consecutive game, an amazing NFL record he continues to push further and further out of reach. By any measure, Favre's success under duress surpasses all understanding.
How does he consistently rise to these great occasions with such poise and precision?
Last week, Favre sat down for an introspective interview with ESPN's Suzy Kolber for an NFL Countdown feature.
"I wish I had an answer," Favre told Kolber. "I don't know. The most talented players don't always succeed. It's more what's inside. So much of a professional athlete's success depends not necessarily how you deal with good, but how you deal with the bad.
"It was kind of a wake-up call. When it hits you directly, it makes you realize how precious life is. There was a time when I thought football was the most important. Football will be over at some point -- the family goes on.
"When you lose someone, or when there are setbacks, it kind of puts it in perspective. When you lose a family member or something tragic happens, that stays with you forever. You never get over it."
Favre is 35, already graying gracefully around the temples. His place in football history is more than secure. He's led his team to a Super Bowl victory and is ranked among the top five in four major passing categories: touchdowns, attempts, completions and yards. He has thrown for 365 touchdowns, meaning only Dan Marino (420) has more. Think of all the territory that takes in; Favre has seen his passes reach the end zone safely more times than Elway, Unitas, Montana's and so many other great quarterbacks.
But it isn't the quantity he producers year after year, it is the sterling quality of his numbers when things are less than perfect. Some of his finest seasons came when he was, by his own admission, drinking too much. He won the first of three NFL MVP awards while he was addicted to painkillers in 1995. There have been memorable contests when Favre entered games listed as questionable with formidable injuries.
"You just never know what the next day is going to bring," Favre told Kolber. "That goes for football, goes for off the field, and I gave up a long time ago trying to predict the future and trying to deal with things I couldn't deal with. There is only so much I can do. You know, the old saying, when it rains, it pours. When it comes, it comes in bunches. It seems that way in my case.
"I have been asked the question, 'How do you focus on football with everything else going on?' I would think it's much easier. It enables you to escape for a brief period of time to kind of get away. You have to go back and deal with it, but it's a good escape."
“
The most talented players don't always succeed. It's more what's inside. So much of a professional athlete's success depends not necessarily how you deal with good, but how you deal with the bad. ”
—Brett Favre
Last Dec. 21, Irv Favre, 58, died of a heart attack while driving near his home. The Packers were 8-6 and competing fiercely for a playoff berth. Twenty-six hours later, under the bright lights of national television, Favre memorably torched the Oakland Raiders for 399 yards and four touchdowns in a 41-7 victory.
Favre led Green Bay to a 31-3 victory over the Denver Broncos in the regular-season finale, then guided the Packers to a 33-27 overtime win over Seattle in the first round of the playoffs. Favre couldn't quite carry the team past the Philadelphia Eagles in the divisional playoffs, when Green Bay fell, 20-17 in overtime.
Before the season, Favre said he thought the Packers were committed to reaching the Super Bowl, but Green Bay responded by losing four straight games after an opening victory at Carolina. The last of those losses, at home to Tennessee, was a game colored by more grief for Favre. On Oct. 6, Tynes was killed in an ATV accident in Hattiesburg, Miss. He was 24.
Eight days later, Favre discovered that Deanna has breast cancer. She had found a lump during a self-examination.
"I know that I handled it worse than she did," Favre told Kolber. "Learning of her diagnosis was like "Ah, where do we go from here?' I'm sure that deep down inside, she was probably really scared, and probably still is.
"But I felt helpless and still feel helpless. I want to go in and cure it right now -- I can't do that -- and that's pretty much the most difficult part."
Three days after the diagnosis, the Packers were 1-4 and playing at Detroit. If ever there was a chance for a distracted performance, this was it. Favre was polished and professional; he completed 25 of 38 passes for 257 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. The Packers won, 38-10.
Two days before the game against Dallas the following week, Deanna underwent a lumpectomy Oct. 22 at Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Favre responded with another terrific game against the Cowboys, completing 23 of 29 passes for 258 yards and two more touchdowns. Since then, Favre has been a bit uneven -- he threw three interceptions against the Redskins, but burned the Vikings for four touchdowns -- but the Packers are riding a five-game winning streak.
Favre and the Packers have won four five straight games.The most recent triumph, a gritty 16-13 victory over the Houston Texans, was typical Favre. The young Texans led 13-3 in the fourth quarter, but Favre rallied the Packers with three scoring drives. Ryan Longwell's 46-yard field goal as time expired followed a drive in which Favre completed six of seven passes -- the only miss being an intentional spike to stop the clock.
Packers head coach Mike Sherman said Favre, "gives you the confidence that he is going to do something special in those situations."
This has been the most difficult of his 14 NFL seasons, according to Favre. Tougher than 1999, when he played most of the season with an injured thumb and the Packers missed the playoffs with an 8-8 record. Tougher than last season when he played with a broken thumb and his father died.
These days, he and his daughters, 15-year-old Brittany and five-year-old Breleigh, are rallying around Deanna, who is still confronted by three months of chemotherapy and six weeks of radiation treatment. The prognosis after early detection, however, is optimistic.
"My wife is healthy, she's in the prime of her life," Favre said. "You think that it happens to other people, but it happens to everyone. God, he deals you with some blows that at some times you think you can't handle -- and there have been some things in the last year that we thought we couldn't handle -- but we've dealt with it up until this point."
Have these travails affected the choice between continuing to play or retire?
"(Deanna) keeps saying, 'Don't worry about me -- keep playing.' " Favre told Kolber. "I don't foresee my wife saying to me that it's time to give it up unless I just really suck, pardon my French.
"But there's times that I walk on and off the field thinking I'm the best and when things like the loss of my dad and Deanna's diagnosis and the loss of her brother come about, you go, 'God, I don't know if I've got it anymore. I don't know if I can go out there and lead us through the two-minute drill anymore.'
"I've got other things to worry about and (Deanna) says they're going to be there either way, so why not do something that you know you can do? She has said to me numerous times this year, 'I don't know if this is your last year or what, but it's your decision. I want you to play the best you've ever played,' which is probably putting more pressure on me than I can deal with because I don't know if I can play as good as I've played in the past.
"But I've told her that I would give it a try. There's still a lot of football to play, and we've fought our way back, so we'll see what happens."

I'll Take the High Road

2004-11-23T23:07:00.000-06:00

This is not the way I would have Republicans start their new term as leaders across the board.

From the New York Times:

"Spurred by an investigation connected to the majority leader, House Republicans voted Wednesday to abandon an 11-year-old party rule that required a member of their leadership to step aside temporarily if indicted."

Apparently, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay might be indicted by a partisan D.A. in Texas involving the illegal use of corporate money towards congressional races. It is not clear whether DeLay may be involved or not - in fact, it seems as a reach to try to connect him with these charges. Yet, the problem at question is that an 11-year old rule that was made by Republicans in 1993 to highlight legal troubles of big name Democrats is now being revised. Instead, it only mandates leaders who have been convicted to step down from their posts - not just indicted.

While this seems the more logical and plausible revision to the rule, this is the wrong time to change the rule. This can only be seen as a partisan switch of the rules when they don't seem to favor your side. Such a double standard should be condemned by both parties alike. And while I admire those Republicans who did see the error in committing this act I am ashamed at the number who took the low road by voting to change it.

The point is this: DeLay means alot to the Republican party for his strong leadership, yet it is not worth risking ethics in the face of bogus inditement charges that probably won't even stick. Even more so, the rule needs to be changed but the change should have come about way before the possible indictment or wait until this thing blows over. It was a bad, dumb rule - but once that rule is there you must live and die by it, not wait for one of your own to be burned by it and then change it. Double standards in any situation are bad, I do not care what political party/ideology you belong to. In order for our country to move forward and mend the bitter partisanship instances such as this one need not come about. I don't know which road you'll take, but as for me, I'll take the high road.

And the Mock Supreme Court Appointments are in!

2004-11-08T20:04:00.000-06:00

Well, my Constitutional Law class gives its students the chance to participate in several "mock" courts. Last Wednesday, the first two court cases were passed out to the respective members that comprise it. I was lucky enough not to belong to the first two mock courts - thus enabling me to watch and learn from the mistakes made by these groups. Every person participating in these courts is either a Supreme Court justice or an attorney.
Well, my day of reckoning finally came today when the final two court appointments were handed out. Since I knew that I wouldn't be an attorney (since those were volunteers), I had a pretty good feeling about which Justice I was going to be. Let's see, let's give the Italian kid with the funny name the Justice with the funny name (who is also Italian). Seems fitting enough - and that's how I wanted it. Antonin Scalia and I will prepare for the onslaught of Constitutional Literalism!!

Bush in '04

2004-11-07T15:32:00.000-06:00

After a long Tuesday night that turned into an early Wednesday morning, the presidential winner became clear. George W. Bush was able to win enough necessary electoral votes (270) to secure the presidency and a second term. The night was a good one for Republicans who continued to make gains in both the House and Senate. In contrast, Democrats were reeling after their Minority Leader Tom Daschle lost a close race against Republican challenger John Thune. So, with George W. winning the popular vote with 51% and Republicans making solid gains in Congress, what does this mean for the future? Well, for one thing Democrats need to take a step back and rethink their strategy when it comes to garnering votes. Who will emerge as the new leader of the Dems? Hillary Clinton? Russ Feingold? Perhaps newcomer Barack Obama? On the other hand, Republicans have been given an incredible opportunity to lay out their plans for America. How those plans turn out will be key to the future of this great country.

Election 2004

2004-11-02T01:00:00.000-06:00

Never has an election in recent times been more critical to the direction of the nation as what will take place in a few hours today. The differences between the two candidates are clear. The choice should be obvious...
Don't let the media and hollywood tell you who to vote for (or P. Diddy for that matter, and his ridiculous "Vote or Die" t-shirts) or Michael Moron's ridiculous movie thrown under the label of Documentary (look up the words "Documentary" and "Propaganda" in the dictionary).
George W. Bush is a principled leader in this country, his decisions might not be the most popular, but his convictions are clear. Unfortunately, John Kerry is a man who "is poll-driven, and it is therefore impossible to know where or for what he stands", among other inconsistencies in his messages.
But, all that aside.....The important thing is to get out and vote today!

God Bless...

Wisconsin - Key to Election 2004

2004-11-01T23:54:00.000-06:00

It's nice to see my state getting publicity not only nationwide, but worldwide as well.

Gladiators of America prepare for their fate
By Simon Jenkins

The decision now passes to the people...
THE high priests of polling ordained that George Bush and John Kerry should both hold last rallies next to each other under the cliffs of downtown Milwaukee yesterday — Hector and Achilles finally meeting beneath the walls of Troy.
As the rain fell and the wind raced in over Lake Michigan, the President arrived with the Oak Ridge Boys, Mr Kerry with Jon Bon Jovi. Everyone seemed exhausted. To the mayor, Tom Barrett, there had “never been a day like it in the history of Milwaukee”.
The presence of both candidates in this Midwest city is an eccentric climax to the bitter 2004 campaign. Polls show them as close today as at the start. But to the “big three” swing states of Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida have been added four more. A candidate could lose two of the three but still win if he takes Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin. The last went Democrat in 2000 by just 2,000 votes and is the most marginal. “If the President takes Wisconsin,” Mr Bush’s strategist, Matthew Dowd, says, “he’s won.” Hence the end game in Milwaukee.
These northern Midwest states are virtually a new Confederacy. Modern America sees them as embodying its polarity. Arriving in Wisconsin from New York or Washington is like coming to a war front.
Suddenly there is noise. Television screens erupt in abusive advertisements. Posters and canvassers are everywhere. Europeans may feel aggrieved at not voting on the leadership of the Western world, but so do New Yorkers, Californians and Texans. Because they are predictable, they have seen virtually no campaigning. Instead Mr Bush has been to Wisconsin 13 times, Mr Kerry 12.
This belief in the power of human touch is comforting in the age of electronics, as if candidates were holy relics with the power to effect miracles by their presence. Wisconsin has come to treat Mr Bush and Mr Kerry as old familiars. One cartoon has a wife asking her husband: “Darling, have you put the candidates out for the night?” The idea that left-wing Wisconsin should be a swing state was, until recently, incredible. Its biggest city, Milwaukee, was 70 per cent German a century ago. Until the 1970s, it was the capital of brewing and sausages, and the only American city regularly to vote Socialist. Its biggest event was the end of Prohibition, and the invention of canned beer. Today it has shed its nickname as “rust-buckle of the rust belt” and restored its bold city centre. It has also built a stunning icon of renewal in Santiago Calatrava’s lakeside art gallery, a great white goose wing seeming to fly out over the lake.
But prosperity brought suburbs and suburbs brought Republicans. Its governor, Jim Doyle, now regards the state as a microcosm of America, rich and poor, urban and rural. It saw the first attempt at Reagan’s workfare. The resulting income disparity between inner and outer Milwaukee is the widest in America, as is the gap between white and African-American schoolchildren.
Just as the war on terrorism divides the Bush and Kerry camps, so Medicare and social security divide Wisconsin. It is proper that the final battle should take place here.
The campaign now passes to the small people. As of tonight the artillery falls silent and the infantry fans out across the land. In a neck-and-neck election all depends on canvassers, telephoners, drivers and the new political mercenaries, campaign lawyers.
At a Kerry command post in Milwaukee’s West Allis district yesterday I watched workers wade through torn stickers, Coke cans and cold pizza to pore over maps and wall charts listing thousands of names, addresses and phone numbers. “The presidency could turn on this wall,” one said with pride.
Whereas the 2000 election argument in Florida was over ballot cards, 2004’s argument will be over voter registration. In 2000, 66 per cent of Wisconsin adults voted. This year a registration drive that claims 30,000 new names should push that above 70 per cent. And since wisdom holds that Mr Kerry benefits from high turnout, Milwaukee has been invaded by voter registration groups. They sleep on floors, man telephones and struggle to honour charitable status by merely “promoting registration”.
Republicans reply with lawyers. Most states have ordinances granting parties the right to challenge voters. In Wisconsin, the Bush camp first challenged 37,000 and is now fighting over 5,600, which it contends may be fraudulent. With voters needing only proof of identity to vote on the day, the invitation to challenge such provisional votes is irresistible.
In Ohio, 35,000 registrations have been questioned. Legal battalions are awaiting the result in Florida. One pro-registration group, Project Vote, was found to be paying $1.50 for each new registration. The FBI was summoned to check if felons were involved. Everywhere “ballot watchers” are watching, and being watched. The odds on the result being declared tomorrow night seem slim. Some believe that Americans must get used to elections taking days, if not weeks, to resolve.
Down in Florida they are still having trouble with touch-screen voting machines, which are liable to malfunction and leave no paper trails for recounts. Small wonder that the question most asked of visiting Britons is “how do you vote over there”? The answer is that Mr Gutenberg knew one thing that Mr Gates has yet to better — the value of a piece of paper.

A View From Britain

2004-11-01T23:31:00.000-06:00

We've heard so much about how the "world" backs Mr. Kerry - here's a refresher, someone unbiased and frankly, says it as he sees it...

We had Churchill. The US has Bush. When you need a man for a fight . . .
MICHAEL GOVE

THERE’S NO denying that Hamlet is the more interesting guy. But there’s a reason Fortinbras commands the stage at the end of the play. It’s easy to understand why the political Establishment wanted Lord Halifax to succeed Neville Chamberlain in 1940. But there’s a reason why it really couldn’t be anyone but Churchill. And no one can deny that John Kerry, the victor of this year’s presidential debates, is the choice of most intelligent and sophisticated people in Britain. But there’s a reason why I still hope America votes for George W. Bush today.
That reason? It’s one word. Will.
NI_MPU('middle');
In 1940 the British people understood that the virtues that had counted in a time of peace were no longer the qualities needed when fighting a war. The diplomacy practised by Chamberlain, designed to avert conflict, had failed. And those closest to him, who had sat in his Cabinet and shared his strategy, were temperamentally ill at ease with the requirements of a world in which so many of their assumptions had been shattered. An Establishment reluctant to admit that it had got so much wrong hankered after a new leader who would not mark too dramatic a shift from what had gone before. But what Britain needed, and what it found in Churchill, was a leader who saw clearly the nature of the threat we faced and therefore could promise nothing but the sacrifices necessary for victory.
Of course, as those who knew him were aware, Churchill had many flaws. His ministerial record, from Gallipoli to Narvik, was studded by failure. He had a worrying tendency to micro-manage what was best left to his subordinates. His wilder strategic notions left able lieutenants like the Chief of the General Staff, Alanbrooke, exasperated. Some of his very closest colleagues, such as his raffish confidante Brendan Bracken or Professor Frederick Lindemann, the advocate of area bombing, were mavericks whose ideas history doesn’t judge particularly kindly. But all these weaknesses didn’t count for nearly as much as Churchill’s central virtue. He possessed, from the beginning, a single-minded desire to win. He had a will to victory which endured through criticism, reverses and painful error until the job was done.
The case for Bush today is the same. He and his Administration have made many mistakes. Although Afghanistan is moving slowly towards democracy, more should still have been done to support it after its liberation from the Taleban. The public case for removing Saddam Hussein should have been made on many fronts, instead of becoming bogged down in attempts to prove possession of smoking guns. More troops should have been committed to the war itself and they should have been used more quickly to combat the terrorist counter-attack. In particular, coalition forces should have finished the job in Fallujah earlier this year, instead of handing control of the town over to one of Saddam’s former lieutenants, a move which only disheartened the majority of Iraqis who wished to see Baathists in jail rather than hired as security subcontractors.
More could have been done to give Iraqis ownership of the liberation from the beginning, in particular through the early empowerment of moderate Shia and Kurds. And the horrors of Abu Ghraib demanded an acknowledgement of fault more rapid, profound and far-reaching than initially offered.
But all these mistakes, serious as they are, are the consequence of getting the big thing right. Recognising that victory in war comes from taking the fight to the enemy. In every conflict even the greatest leaders falter. Pitt was guilty of repeated failures early in his struggle against Napoleon. Lincoln’s Union forces badly mishandled matters at the start of the American Civil War. But victory came to those who were determined, come what may, that they would be implacable in pursuit of the enemy. In the conflict we now face, a global war against fundamentalist terror, the greatest mistake of all would be a failure to show the necessary determination.
It was the belief that hard choices could be avoided, that negotiations, international agreements, concordats and colloquia could deal with our unruly world, which encouraged terrorism in the first place. The architects of 9/11 and the planners of the Madrid, Bali and Istanbul bombings have made a calculation that the West is decadent, addicted to compromise and incapable of shouldering the burden necessary to defend its civilisation. When the Spanish people responded to the Madrid bombing by voting for a Government which was pledged to scale down its commitment to combating terrorism, the leaders of al-Qaeda drew the appropriate conclusion. The West lacked the will to fight. They would prevail.
It is no reflection on John Kerry’s character or patriotism to say that, should he win tonight, then a similar conclusion will be drawn by the terror masters. He may well hope that his Administration would be more effective in fighting terror. But his words, and actions, betray a mindset uncomfortable with the sacrifices required. The man Kerry claims as his hero, John F. Kennedy, promised that America would pay any price and bear any burden in its fight for freedom. But Kerry promises Americans that he will reduce the burden; indeed, he’ll do anything to get others to shoulder it. When it comes to paying the price, he wants a discount. He’s told the American people they should spend less money fighting terror in Iraq so that more can be spent fighting fires at home.
A visible reluctance to commit everything possible to the fight against terrorism, and to risk unpopularity in order to prevail, is the surest way of communicating weakness to the terrorists and encouraging them to fight with redoubled energy. George W. Bush knows that instinctively. And, in the interests of a safer world, that is why I hope he wins.

9/11 In Memoriam

2004-09-11T22:09:00.000-05:00

Looking back on that fatefull day in September, it is hard to believe that already 3 years have passed since the attacks on American soil. The days that followed showed a nation in shock and disbelief - pausing from the daily routines of normal life. No one felt like doing anything - even the sports world was at a stand still. Americans needed something to help get things back to normal again. Sports played a big role in helping to reestablish that return to normalcy, howbeit with a solemn reminder of how trivial things like sports were in light of the bigger picture. I am reminded of a patriotic poem recited by a Hall of Fame announcer before the first baseball game after the attacks that served as a boost to a wounded nation.

Here is the late Jack Buck's Tribute to America:

Since this nation was founded, under God,
More than 200 years ago, We have been the bastion of freedom
The light that keeps the free world aglow.

We do not covet the possessions of others,
We are blessed with the bounty we share.
We have rushed to help other nations,
...anything... anytime... anywhere.

War is just not our nature.
We won't start, but we will end, the fight.
If we are involved, we shall be resolved,
To protect what we know is right.

We have been challenged by a cowardly foe,
Who strikes and then hides from our view.
With one voice we say, "There is no choice today,
There is only one thing to do."

Everyone is saying -- the same thing -- and praying,
That we end these senseless moments we are living.
As our fathers did before, we shall win this unwanted war,
And our children will enjoy the future we'll be giving.

Let us never forget the events of September 11th and the precious lives that were lost. Always remember that the price of freedom is never free.

Era Penoso....

2004-08-20T23:45:00.000-05:00

These days there is not much to cheer about when it comes to the Italian national team. While I still find pride in wearing the Azzurri shirt, it becomes increasingly difficult to wear it in public before any knowledgeable football fan. The latest result in a long running series of disappointments came Wednesday the 18th when the Italians lost to ICELAND in a friendly. Iceland....this is a team who had not won a game since last year when they beat the mighty Faroe Islands 1-0, an Iceland team who gave up 6 goals to England in June and a team who is 79th in the FIFA World Rankings. Unfortunately this pattern has been occurring far too long now and it is becoming tiresome to make excuses for a side who has more than enough talent to be among the elite in the world. I can trace the pain all the way back to 1998 when Italy lost to France in penalties. Then, in 2000, a glimmer of hope and glory in the Euro Championship when the Azzurri were within 1 minute of hoisting the trophy only for disaster to strike again in the form of a French equaliser followed by the golden goal a few moments later. Sadly, the 2002 World Cup only led the Italians to slide farther down its shameful path. After barely making it out of the group stage, Italy was shocked by a loss to the South Koreans in the second round game. South Korea? 1966 comes back to mind as a haunting date for Italian football fans. It was a shameful repeat of 2000 when the Azzurri failed to hold on to a lead in the waning moments of the game. Italy were among the favorites for Euro 2004 and looked as strong a squad as ever - finishing a strong campaign of qualifiers in which they were unbeaten. Yet the Italians disappointed (the word is not strong enough) again when they failed to qualify out of the group stage. And now.... Iceland. Iceland. Iceland. This is a country whose greatest claim to fame is Bjork. A shameful effort by the Italians - who were well deserving of a 2-0 defeat. The new Italian coach, Marcello Lippi, should have realized what he got himself into when he signed aboard as the new director of a lackluster squad. The Azzurri has played without passion - they always talk about the changes they have made, yet they have never followed thru on their vain promises. When will they learn? Perhaps they should study their younger counterparts - the Under 21 squad whose brilliance has shone in the past 5 years as they continually pump out championships. This is the only squad that offers hope to Italians who have grown weary of their national team consistently failing before the world. As the Under 21 team gets ready to play its Olympic quarterfinal match against Mali today, I can only hope that members of the national team will be watching to write down tips on how to play for pride and passion. The only good thing I can see of the 2-0 loss to Iceland is that it was only a friendly and not a World Cup qualifying match. But the national team must stop making excuses for its failures - I know I will.

(For similar stories please see: U.S. Mens Basketball team)

Long Time No Post

2004-08-15T22:46:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been a whole month since I lasted posted here on my blog - and for that I am ashamed. Alot has happened in the month since I have been away from this site. One of my friends was headed to Iraq but was able to stay home while another soldier took his place. I finally got a job on July 16th....way too far into my summer. Nonetheless, my job at Northwestern Mutual has been good to me. Right now I am in charge of a health/fitness program for the company's 4500 employees that is designed to encourage corporate health and awareness. It's a small competition where people grouped into different teams ranging from 4 to 10 members. They were each given a pedometer (measures one's steps) and told to keep track of the number of steps they take every day over the course of a week. They then log their results and submit them to their team captain who then sends them into me. How fun, eh? I tell you what though, logging almost 400 teams total's can get pretty monotonous - plus I've never been that fond of numbers anyways. Other than the job things have been going pretty well for me; yet, just when my summer is getting good the end is coming too fast! It's unfortunate that school is close to 2-3 weeks away. I'm not in any mindset to go back to school - nor getting back to studying. I guess I'll just have to enjoy the rest of the summer to its fullest while it is still here. Time goes way too fast....

Israel-Palestine: More than a Conflict

2004-07-15T13:05:00.000-05:00

A good friend of mine from school (Jordan F.) wrote a response some months ago to the shooting of a Palestinian father and son. The shooting by Israelis made headlines all across the world with footage that was replayed over the internet as well as media outlets. As I read his document I was moved at what was written and I saved the email he had sent out to me and others. I am now going to republish his document on my blog for all to see. I trust whomever reads this will come away with a better appreciation for the freedoms we have in the US as well as a conscious effort to disregard the trivial matters that we let grasp us and then complain about.

More than a Conflict

Death is always a tragic event. The death of one so young is perhaps the
greatest of tragedies. War is indeed a tragic thing, always leaving the
lives of those it touches worse in some way. War is an evil—not an act of
immorality per se, but evil insofar as it is a facet of a corrupt world in
which we were not intended to live.

But in an evil world, war is a sad reality for many. To combat those who
would spread their wickedness, malice must be met with equal force. To
those who live the dismal tale of humanity, war has always been, and shall
always be. The daily struggle for survival plaguing all who have the
misfortune of waking each morning in Isræl is but one sad chapter in this
long, sad tale.

This chapter, however, is longer than most. It is, in fact, destined to be
the longest installment in the struggle that defines us, for none has known
this conflict more intimately the Jews. Throughout history the Jews have
been maligned, despised, and ostracized for no greater crime than bearing
the stigma of having been born Jewish.

Still the Jews face daily the prospect of their spouses, children, and
parents being senselessly killed by those who choose to hate. Although
compelled to defend their very existence, the Jews have endeavored to make
peace with those who hold the annihilation of Israel as their defining duty.

Nor is racism a novel development in the history of the humankind. Disdain
for any who has the audacity to be different from one’s ideal is another
unyielding evil. Throughout the centuries, countless people — thinkers and
dreamers, and the common and vulgar alike — have been despised for daring to
challenge the prejudices of another, whether by thought, deed, speech,
status, means, appearance, or whatever. As long as man inhabits the earth,
there will be those who are different; as long as dissimilarity persists,
there will be intolerance.

Isrælis have reached out to those who hate them and in return receive
nothing but more hate, more lies, and more death. Even when Isræl must
resort to force to defend its people, it takes great pains to ensure the
humane treatment of all. IDF soldiers are under standing orders never to
fire live ammunition on minors, even belligerent ones. When an Isræli
soldier crosses the line between security and brutality, the punishment is
swift, sure, and severe. Many have found themselves stripped of their
command and facing criminal charges at courts-martial.

Despite the precautions taken by the government, nothing can stop an
individual from taking his feelings into his own hands. In societies where
hate and distrust have reigned for centuries, passing from generation to
generation, there can be no hope for reconciliation. In Israel, children,
Jewish and Arabic alike, are raised in communities under constant threat of
attack. Never knowing when the next strike will come or from where, they
are taught to be always be wary of those who are different. It is easy to
understand how even a well-meaning individual could misinterpret or
overreact to the actions of a stranger in an atmosphere of constant terror
and suspicion. Indeed, in a culture such as this, it is a wonder that
incidents like the heart-rending killing of this young boy are not more
common.

Sadly, those who seek to discredit Israel are fully aware of the dangers
posed by a culture of paranoia. Workers of terror shielding themselves
among groups of children seek to exploit Isræl’s precarious security
situation, forcing guards to fire or risk the slaughter of the citizens
(children included) they swore to defend. Preachers of hate poison the
minds of the young, teaching that Isræl is an enemy who seeks their
destruction. Children, easily convinced by the parents and teachers they
naturally trust, lob fiery cocktails at innocent soldiers and passers-by.

A tragedy? Yes, and a lamentable one. The result of Israeli misconduct?
Hardly. The fault for such events as this lies at the hearts of all those
everywhere who would deny to any the right to be different — the right to be.

What can be done to end such evil? In many ways, for Isræl it is perhaps
too late. But what about your community? Your home? Yourself, even? Have
you ever mocked or harassed someone simply because he failed to conform to
your concept of reality? The answer to our problems will not be found in
some book or treatise. The trouble will not be solved by sending more
troops, more food, more money (although those things may be needed). The
answer can only be found with a choice. Everyone must choose either to hate
or to love. The power to hate comes naturally. The power to love requires
an effort, a diligence. To love we must look beyond ourselves, a focus that
each of us finds difficult to maintain.

Your mother probably told you that you should always leave things better
than you found them. Each of us has the power to make the world a better
place. Each morning as you get out of bed is your goal to make your corner
of the world a better place that day? Or are you too busy trying to make
things better for yourself?

What will you choose?

-Jordan F.

Bush's Visit to Wisconsin and the War in Iraq

2004-07-14T10:19:00.000-05:00

Well, President Bush is making several stops in Wisconsin today in order to rally his base and make an effort to maximize the turnout in this hotly contested state. Wisconsin, along with Michigan and Minnesota, is a potential swing state in the upcoming election. Bush narrowly lost this state in 2000 to former Veep Gore. Shifting topics a bit, the Bush-bashing and repeated anti-war critics who claim Bush deceived this country into war is reaching ridiculous levels. I'm sick of most of Hollywood's celebrities denouncing Bush and his administration for everything imaginable meanwhile claiming that Bush is out of touch with the American public. First off, Hollywood couldn't be farther out of touch with the average American with their multi-million dollar mansions as well as luxury items that would cost an average person 2-3 years salary to buy. But that is all beside the point, the main problem is those who STILL insist Bush lied to the country in order to proceed into a war for oil. These people (including Michael Moore) are oblivious to recent reports from the Senate Intelligence Committee that clear President Bush of any wrongdoing. Rather than willfully lying to the public, Bush was unfortunately repeating dubious information that had been gathered by the shoddy workmanship of the CIA. The report also noted that there was no pressure from the Bush administration to "coerce, influence or pressure analysts to change their judgments related to Iraq's weapons of mass destruction capabilities" (Senate Report) as well as link Iraq to al-Qaida. Remember those 16 words in Bush's 2003 State of the Union address? ("The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.") Sad to say most of the media has bypassed the current revelations surrounding the matter. Apparently, the CIA consultant Joseph Wilson who visited Niger in 2002 and vehemently denied Bush's claim lied in doing so. The Senate report says that when Wilson returned from that trip he brought no information to cast doubt on the 16 words. In fact, a recent report from the Financial Times showed European intelligence sources confirming that Hussein DID discuss purchasing the uranium with smugglers in Niger. The CIA had a difficult task in trying to determine what was reliable information and what wasn't surrounding going to war with Iraq. What the CIA believed about Hussein's capabilities in WMD's production was widely believed by every other intelligence source in the world. Hussein also didn't help by trying to convince the world otherwise, in fact he did the opposite by resisting inspections to prove he had nothing. The point here is this: In September 2001, we were attacked on our soil by terrorists that took the lives of 3,000+ people. The intelligence that had been gathering over the years suggested that Hussein was building up WMD's to increase his stockpile of biological and chemical weapons. Hussein had used these weapons before in killing millions in his own country. With the intelligence coming forth into Bush's hands should we have hoped that the information was wrong and that Bush should have just ignored the intelligence? If he did bypass the intelligence and another attack occurred on U.S. soil people would be calling for his head (although some have done that already)! They would cite these same sources Bush had used to justify war based on mounting intelligence that was at his fingertips! The president has to make tough decisions every day and too often we take those decisions for granted. In this post-9-11 world, preemptive strikes have become necessary in order to combat would-be terrorists who seek to destroy life for the innocent here and abroad due to a hatred for the freedoms our country as well as countries across the world possess.

2004-07-12T00:31:00.000-05:00

My Boring 4th of July... (that's my sister)

Another Post

2004-07-12T00:02:00.000-05:00

Well...it's been a while since my last post so let me give you a brief update of all that has happened since that time: Greece shocked the soccer world by winning Euro 2004 (See previous post for comparison). The Fourth of July just wasn't the same with my cousins and aunt and uncle in Sicily - we were unable to celebrate the customary Independence Day with the collective gathering of a bunch of Sicilian/Italian relatives at a park where Italian music is blaring in the background while we feast upon the traditional foods you have at a picnic, namely, pasta and lasagna...hehe (don't ask). The Fourth was very quiet - but nevertheless, Happy (Belated) Birthday to the U.S.A.!! I'll be picking up my relatives from O'Hare on Tuesday - it'll be great to have them back in time for Festa Italiana this weekend!!! Congratulations to my Uncle Tommy also upon his recent engagement! I'm also happy to note that the Brewers have finished the first half of the season over .500 and in playoff contention! Um, my detractors from school should take note that I was serious when I said we would be contendors in 2 years...who would've thought that it's come sooner than expected. Oh yeah, we also swept the Cubs!!!!! Chicago can never win when it comes to the state of Wisconsin!! Hey Chicago, when was the last time YOU were in a World Series - oh, that's right - 1908, sorry!! Well, I have some interesting points and facts from Fahrenheit 9/11 so stay tuned!

Randomness

2004-06-30T11:39:00.000-05:00

Well, once again the Italian National Team fails to produce the true weapon they really are and does not make it out of the group stage in Euro 2004 - even though they did not lose a game. The bright side of this is that the Under 21 team won the European Championship for the 5th time in 7 tries, further outlining a bright future. Congratulations to Greece though for defeating defending champions France 1-0 in the quarterfinals – for anyone who knows about soccer it was an incredible shock. To put it in terms Americans can relate to – this is almost as shocking as when the U.S. hockey team defeated Russia in the Olympics back in ’80. My cousins (some of you might know them - Nina, Rosi, Sal) have departed for Italia with their parents as well as making the final stop in Sicilia where they will meet up with their relatives. I envy them - I would have loved to go to Sicily again but maybe I'll be able to go next summer. Hope they have a great trip! Anyways, in the near future I'll throw out a little something about the new Michael Moore film Fahrenheit 9/11. It should be interesting so please check back and see what I thought about it.

Honoring Ronald Reagan (Republished)

2004-06-30T11:19:00.000-05:00

When Ronald Reagan died on Saturday, June 5th, he left a legacy behind along with a world mourning his absence. Reagan became our nation's 40th president at a time when America needed a hero - a person who could restore the faith Americans had lost. It is ironic to note that this same man who preached against government was the man who restored faith in the presidency and American government. Reagan's presidency held a staunch resistance to communism and defeated that "evil empire" of the Soviet Union as well as comforting the nation during the Challenger disaster. Reagan reminded us that it was "morning in America" and he always believed in America's greatness. He was a man known as the Great Communicator and that can be witnessed by his uncanny ability to throw together a stunning quote or deliver a quick comeback to opponents. Ronald Reagan left the presidency with the highest approval rating of any president since Roosevelt. He won over the hearts of many Americans while in office and won over the public once again when he disclosed his bout with Alzheimers through a letter. Once again Reagan displayed his characteristic optimism and patriotism by stating, "When the Lord calls me home, whenever that may be, I will leave with the greatest love for this country of ours and eternal optimism for its future. I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life. I know for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead." America has indeed lost an icon. Perhaps New York Governor Pataki put it best when he remarked "The sun has set on the remarkable life of the great man who reminded us it is always morning in America." (First published 06.08.04)

Welcome

2004-06-30T11:06:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone! Welcome to my personal blog here - I'll be placing some of my previous stuff that I've posted through a different blog I had to get this up and going. Feel free to leave feedback through any medium - whether it's email, comments or even IM. I have AOL IM and Yahoo Messenger. My AOL SN is Zo Jr and my yahoo ID is (get ready for this) pinturicchio07 - yea it's the nickname of an Italian soccer player. Anyways, enjoy your time here!