Got the "Slow News Cycle" Blues?
No worries … college football starts tonight!!!
Unlike last year where everybody knew from beginning to end it would come down to Texas and USC, this year college football is loaded with contenders for the title. Here is SI’s Preseason Power Rankings.
It’s hard to argue with Ohio State and Notre Dame in the top two spots. I would, however, move West Virginia up to No. 3 given the great talent they are returning this year. USC and Texas are so deep that, even with the loss of numerous stars from both squads, they can still be counted on to make strong title runs.
At Florida, we get to see if Chris Leak, in his senior year, turns the corner to the greatness that was expected of him. If so … look out. Auburn, Florida State and Cal are also in the preseason top ten and are not unrealistic picks for a title run. In the second ten, I wouldn’t count out LSU or a Miami squad that is fully loaded on defense. Louisville is a longshot for the title, but will field an exciting squad that has a favorable schedule given its two toughest games against Miami and West Virginia will be at home.
Here’s this week’s Mac Daddy picks:
In the best game of the opening weekend, Cal is favored by 2 on the road at Tennessee. Give up the points and take the Golden Bears and watch Marshawn Lynch run wild.
The Irish embark on another incredibly difficult schedule (well except fot the military academies) by traveling to Georgia Tech for a battle with Chan Gailey’s Yellowjackets. The oddsmakers have not gotten caught up in the Notre Dame hysteria and have wisely pegged the South Benders as 6 1/2 point favorites. I was actually hoping for an irrationally high line for the Irish, so I could get a gimmee with a tougher-than-expected G Tech squad (jeebus, just think of Calvin Johnson and a usually tough D). Notre Dame will win by a touchdown and just clear the spread. Also with the over/under at 50 1/2, I say bet the under.
USC is favored by 8 at home againt Arkansas. USC is dying to avenge its Rose Bowl loss to Texas. So look for the Trojans to put the wood to the Razorbacks.
In yet another Pac 10 game, we have an intriguing matchup in LA where the UCLA Bruins are favored by 3 in a face off with Utah, the perenial Pac 10 upsetter. This is an extremely difficult pick so early in the season. UCLA is loaded with talent but never seems that well coached. Utah has pretty good talent and always seems well coached. Yet, coaching seems to be a bigger problem for UCLA later in the season (especially in the bowls) so take the Bruins to be prepared for this early season challenge and give up the points.
Blackwater Mercenaries
Apologies to The Doobie Brothers…
Blackwater Security may have a little trouble.
Iraq For Sale…just like the New New Orleans?
Blackwater and other Mercenaries are Big Business
political, political cartoons, cartoons, Bush, Terrorism, Homeland Security, War on Terror, Blackwater, Doobie Brothers
John Lee Hooker: Tupelo, Mississippi
A relatively recent version of this song that John played for many years. The more things change, the more things stay the same.
Iraq Security Statements
The chief of Baghdad’s police stated that Baghdad should have security in twelve to eigtheen months…..
Gen. Casey, commander of US forces in Iraq, believes that Iraqi forces, with minimal US support can take over security throughout the entire country in the next twelve to eighteen months.
So it is good to see some agreement on timelines and capabilities between US and Iraqi leadership…. BUT there is one problem. The claim that Baghdad would be secured in twelve to eighteen months was made on January 6, 2004….
Baghdad, Iraq, security, Five O’Clock Follies
Their Lies Were Mocking God
I heard a piece on NPR yesterday about the contracting and sub-contracting of debris removal in the aftermath of Katrina. I don’t remember the exact number, but there was about 7 or 8 levels of subcontracting. The initial bid got $23 a cubic yard, and by the time it got down to the last level of contracting, the company doing the actual work was getting $3 a cubic yard. This is your Republican controlled, “Conservative” government at work.
Shakespeare’s Sister is doing a round-up of links for a Hurricane Katrina blogswarm.
political, political cartoons, satire, Bush, cartoons,parody,Zora Neale Hurston,Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurricane Katrina, Katrina, fema, levees, New Orleans, Mississippi, Halliburton,
Surprise! Fox’s Expert Was A Lil Wrong About Whackjob Karr
The Whackjob Karr has been cut loose from the Boulder, Colorado jail. Ya see … his DNA didn’t match.
But let’s not forget Curt Baggett. He was the handwriting expert who got massive publicity in the media - most notably with John Gibson on Fox - by claiming a match between Karr’s high school yearbook notes and the note left at the JonBenet murder scene.
An “expert” … uhm, apparently not. But let this be a lesson, there is always some “expert” the media, especially Fox, will trot out to deliver the desired spin. Remember the “Nobel Prize nominated” jackass Hannity trotted out during the Schiavo controversy.
Now how does that old saying go, “Fool me once …”
To be fair, Baggett was only 99.9999% sure that Karr wrote the murder note. You can expect he’ll be right the next 999,999 times.
Peanuts Featuring Heckuva Job Brownie
political, political cartoons, satire, Bush, cartoons, Peanuts, Charlie Brown,parody, Hurricane Katrina, Katrina, fema, levees, New Orleans, Mississippi, Halliburton,
Friday FUBIR Blogging: Rockey Serenades Bush
AnntiChrist S. Coulter on Rockey Vaccarella
political, cartoons, Political Cartoons, Humor, Satire, Bush, Hurricane Katrina, Katrina, Rockey Vaccarella, FUBAR, FUBIR, Katrina and The Waves
Tippling The White Fantastic
The BackPedaling on Tippling The White Fantastic continues
political, cartoons, Political Cartoons, Humor, Satire, Senate, Republicans, Congress, GOP, George Allen, racism, Virginia, Virginia politics, jim webb, james webb, macaca
Troop Availbility for Iraq to Jan 21 2009
Via Think Progress:
President Bush said:
We’re not leaving so long as I’m the president. That would be a huge mistake.
Okay, some of this is political language of the GOP strategy of still casting Bush as “strong and resolute” who does not govern according to polls, evidence or reality, but some of this actually seems to be stated policy. So where does that leave the US Army on troop availiability?
January 21, 2009 is two and a half years from today, so that means at least two full rotations of troops into Iraq are still on the schedule. The current rotation going into Iraq is composed of thirteen active duty Army and Marine brigade equivilants and one National Guard brigade. The US had been trying to draw down to six to ten brigades for this rotation in order to build breathing room into the rotation schedule, but reality intervened.
The Army is stretched and it is exhausted. The ideal rotation schedule for US Army combat units would be one year in Iraq and at least two years out of any combat zones to reconstitute and retrain. That schedule is being routinely broken. This is why the US Army wanted to get down to six to brigades by next January, to be able to rest several units and start rebuilding rested units. The Marines are in the same basic situation, but most of their combat units have either completed or are on alert to deploy for their third seven month tour.
The Army has seen at least six of the ten active duty divisions (101st Airborne, 1st Armored, 1st Infantry, 1st Cavalry, 3rd Infantry, 4th Infantry) either complete or in the middle of their second deployment to Iraq. The 82cd Airborne Division, 25th Infantry Division and 10th Mountain Division have seen multiple tours of duty split between Iraq and Afghanistan, while the 2nd Infantry has seen elements do multiple tours in either Iraq or Afghanistan while a single brigade stays in Korea. The independent brigades (2nd and 3rd ACR, 172nd Infantry, 173rd Airborne) have also seen multiple tours.
The Army had relied upon National Guard units to bridge the availability gap in the first four rotations of forces into Iraq. However the better trained and equipped brigades, the fifteen former Enhanced Seperate Brigades, have all been used. The remaining brigades have either deployed, are commited to Afghanistan, Bosnia, Kosovo, or the Sinaii or are unready for combat operations at this time. There is very little slack left in the Army force pool. Instead the National Guard is incapable of meeting its domestic mission requirements of diseaster response.
So where do the forces come from? Under the optimistic/delusion scenario, peace breaks out tomorrow morning and everyone sings kumbaya. Highly unlikely to say the least. The two options for US force levels in Iraq are to either withdraw to the periphery, in either Kurdistan or Kuwait [good discussion on options at Belgravia Dispatch] or to gring the Army into dust with third and fourth combat deployments of active duty formations. The National Guard will be able to help the Army out starting in the winter of 2008 as two former ESBs will see their deployment clocks reset to zero, but until then, if the United States Army is to maintain twelve or more brigade equivilants in Iraq, plus whatever the USMC can contribute, it is going to be an overwhelmingly active duty show.
Iraq, US Army, Bush, rotation schedule
Reason and Consequences: Bush vs. Judge Taylor
The media and the blogs are all a twitter with the conventional wisdom that Judge Taylor’s reasoning was in some aspects faulty though the result she reached was the correct one.
It’s true … she could have simply relied on FISA to halt the warrantless wiretapping program, but isn’t everybody missing the bigger point.
In authorizing and engaging in the program, the legal reasoning of the Bush administration was not only faulty but led to the wrong result … a result that has likely involved violating the legal rights of an untold number of American citizens.
So anyone expressing disdain for Judge Taylor’s reasoning should, if they’re intellectually honest, quadruple their disdain for the Bush administration and its plainly illegal program.
Friday Cat Blogging: Meow Mix Remix
Riggsveda, on the Emerging Face Of America
political, cartoons, Political Cartoons, Humor, Satire, Joe Lieberman, Lieberman, ned lamont, lamont, Connecticut, Senate, Republicans, Democrats, Friday Cat Blogging, TV commercials
John Bolton Gets A Song Stuck In His Head
Now, How did that happen? BadaBing!BadaBoom!
Did somebody say Moustache Rides? John Bolton’s Favorite “Journalist”
political, cartoons, Political Cartoons, Satire, Middle East, Israel, Lebanon, John Bolton, Bolton, Yosemite Sam, Warner Brothers, Looney Tunes, United Nations, U.N.
George Will Joins the Reality Based Community
Rather than try and say something new or creative about this article (The Triumph of Unrealism), which I can only assume has already been blogged about ad nauseum, I will simply say this. Short of his shallow attack on the blogosphere - the form and tone of which has become a ridiculously defensive journalistic meme as of late- I think George Will has hit the nail right on the head. I suggest you follow the link above and read it for yourself.
Joe Lieberman and Party Unity
political, cartoons, Political Cartoons, Humor, Satire, Joe Lieberman, Lieberman, ned lamont, lamont, Connecticut, Senate, Republicans, Democrats
The Underbelly of the Foiled UK Terror Plot
There are so many little threads in this piece its hard to no where to begin.
The piece starts with an anonymous “senior British official knowledgeable about the case” (backed up further down by an anonymous “U.S. official”) stating that the U.S. pressured the UK to foil the plot earlier than the UK desired. I don’t see a big significance here as it seems to be the result of a more cautious US versus a UK seeking to gain more evidence. It does, however, undercut the spin that the attack was imminent.
Thursday morning, when I first heard of the UK arrests, I was left with the impression that suspects with liquid explosives were apprehended shortly before boarding airlines. It was 9/11 being stopped at 6:00 am. By noon that day, I heard there were, in fact, no liquid explosives.
Next, we started hearing about “dry runs” in the plural.
The MSNBC story now notes:
In contrast to previous reports, the official suggested an attack was not imminent, saying the suspects had not yet purchased any airline tickets. In fact, some did not even have passports.
The source did say, however, that police believe one U.K.-based suspect was ready to conduct a “dry run.” British authorities had wanted to let him go forward with part of the plan, but the Americans balked.
Hey, I’m glad this thing got knocked down and we should be especially grateful when they’re knocked down in their infancy. But why do we constantly have to go through a stream of politically-motivated misrepresentations to get to the actual good story that happened. How are we ever going to be united on confronting the real issue of terrorism when our victories are spun as some proprietary issue belonging solely to the right and not as a true team effort in which we can all rejoice.
Yet, the story does not end there — hidden in the later part of the piece is a report about the arrest of the believed ringleader of the plot, Rashid Rauf in Pakistan.
We are told:
[The US and UK] also argued over the timing of the arrest of suspected ringleader Rashid Rauf in Pakistan, warning that if he was not taken into custody immediately, the U.S. would “render” him or pressure the Pakistani government to arrest him.
British security was concerned that Rauf be taken into custody “in circumstances where there was due process,” according to the official, so that he could be tried in British courts. Ultimately, this official says, Rauf was arrested over the objections of the British.
Jeebus NBC, quit beating around the Bush and cut to the chase. Ask the question. Was the disagreement over the arrest of Rauf about torturing him?
Condi Rice and her advisors
political, cartoons, Political Cartoons, Satire, War, Middle East, Israel, Lebanon, Condi Rice, Condoleezza Rice, Rice, U.N., United Nations, Bullwinkle, Rocky and Bullwinkle