Coolest Guy Ever!

This man is going to be starting in left field for the national league in the All-Star game. Also, in case you don't already now, C.C. Sabathia is now a member of the Milwaukee Brewers! I don't want to jinx this in any way, but this is very exciting stuff for the Brewers, the city of Milwaukee, and the state of Wisconsin. CUBS SUCK!!!

P.S. For the thousands of readers that don't reside in the state of WI, or hail from there as I do, my humble apologies for geocentric post. However, you should become a Brewers. They are the new Red Sox, for real. If you are one of those great people that always cheers for the perennial underdogs, the Brewers are your team. Oh yeah, one more thing, VOTE FOR COREY HART!!!

RockNRolla

Wow! Has Guy Ritchie finally made a good movie again?

The Rape of Alaska

With the Supreme Court's decision to stike down the DC gun ban grabbing the headlines today, I think it's important to highlight the fact that the Court is having an all-star week. Yesterday, they cut the damages paid by Exxon Mobil to Alaskan victims of the Exxon Valdez oil spill from $5 billion to $500 million. Unfortunately, the Times article does not quite capture the gravity of this decison. If you do the math, that's a 90% reduction. It would also have been helpful for the Times to have noted that just a few months ago Exxon Mobil posted record profits. In fact, Exxon Mobil's annual profit for 2007 ($40.6 billion), is the largest annual profit ever recorded in US history! Needless to say, Exxon Mobil has plenty of resources at its disposal that could go a long way towards assuaging the anguish suffered by residents of the Alaskan coastline. I'll end with this excerpt from Justice John Paul Stevens' dissent:

In light of Exxon’s decision to permit a lapsed alcoholic to command a supertanker carrying tens of millions of gallons of crude oil [through] the treacherous waters of Prince William Sound, thereby endangering all of the individuals who depended upon the sound for their livelihoods...the jury could reasonably have given expression to its moral condemnation of Exxon’s conduct in the form of this award.

Photo used courtesy of Flickr user, jimbrickett March 23, 2008

The Smiths - Girlfriend in a Coma

Probably, the most underrated band of the 20th century.

The Police State

Julian Sanchez has perhaps the best round-up of the FISA bill passed by the House this week, and currently pending in the Senate. It seems that Russ Feingold and Chris Dodd are going to attempt to filibuster the bill. Let's hope they are successful. Certainly, if Barack Obama were to step on this issue, siginificant progress could be made. I don't really have anything to add to Sanchez's article. Read it and weep.

The Fool King of Maverick

Via Ezra Klein, I discovered that when queried by a Fortune reporter as to "what the greatest threat to the American economy" was; John McCain responded that it was Islamic extremism. Wait, what!?! That doesn't even make any sense! Islamic extremism? That's like me saying that pepperonni pizza is my favorite candy bar. Klien is right to point out, not only does McCain not know anything about the economy, he doesn't even really care about the economy. He's completely uninterested in anything other than foreign policy. It should also be noted, that he only really cares about foreign policy when it involves threatening the use of the U.S. military. Then again, John McCain is to mavericky for economics. The fact that this man might be the next president of the United States is very unsettling.

It's All About the Oil

I don't have much to add to this article by Andrew Kramer appearing in the New York Times. It seems that adding additional commentary would take away from what is already apparent. If you find this surprising, read Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine for an in-depth look at the often fatal intersection of war and the free market.

Photo used courtesy of Flickr user BenLikesPictures September 9, 2007