cicero jones

Good way to get on SportsCenter

2007-10-28T15:05:00.000-04:00

Peanuts, parrots, and brownies

2007-10-23T08:55:00.000-04:00

Since 9/11, much has been made of the heroism of the "first responders" - police, fire, EMTs. Without a doubt, they deserve our utmost respect and appreciation. However, I'd like to bring attention to the "first responder" of the animal kingdom, Peanut the Parrot:

Shannon Conwell, 33, said he and his 9-year-old son fell asleep on the couch while watching a movie. They awoke about 3 a.m. Friday, Oct. 19th to find their home on fire after hearing the family's Amazon parrot, Peanut, imitating a fire alarm.

"He was really screaming his head off,'' Conwell said.

The smoke alarm had activated, but it was the bird's call that caught Conwell's attention.

This story reminds us that, in this post 9/11 age, we need to think outside of the box in terms of our personal security. Much as the government has created the Department of Homeland Security, we should all create our own Departments of Household Security. In fact, I was able to hire former FEMA director Michael "Heckuva Job" Brown to lead mine! I have also hired a staff of five parrots to work closely with Brownie on creating a repeater system for the one fire alarm I do have. Brownie convinced me this made more sense than getting more fire alarms, because, to quote him, "Parrots are the smartest people there are, and they can smell fire a mile away." Anyway, he's great, and I've never felt safer.

On Russert and soft support, and Gore as the New Sputnik

2007-10-12T13:16:00.000-04:00

It took this quote from NBC political hack Tim Russert to wake me up (blog-wise):

But right now the Democratic primary base is very happy with their field of candidates.

Tim, you are an idiot. How do you get off making that statement? It is an outrage that your network presents you as some sort of political-know-it-all when clearly you are anything but. Anyone, even the most ardent Hillary supporter, would admit that support at this point in the Democratic primaries is very soft (see this extensive explanation for more).

Huge percentages of potential voters remain totally undecided, even in the early primary states. And among those that have already "made up" their minds, on average OVER HALF are open to supporting another candidate. How can one conclude from that that the "Democratic base is very happy with their field of candidates"?

Yes, media men like Russert might be pulling for a Hillary candidacy. It would, after all, make their jobs far easier. They could simply pull out their notes from the late 1990s and happily regurgitate the same old "Clintons vs. the Angry Right" and "where is Monica" storylines. Russert might relish the opportunity to ponder, "Would Monica be given a cabinet position a hypothetical Clinton administration, given her extensive internship experience?" "David Broder, tell us the answer, as your words are fact and all else fiction."

Therefore, Russert chants to the Democratic base, "You are HAPPY with your candidates. So Happy. Don't worry: Be Happy, Democrats. Stay stuck in your media-centric world of hype."

Tim's statement, of course, was presented as part of his overall argument that Al Gore will not run. In Tim's uber-simplified world, satiation equals inaction, and he wants to slow our collective political metabolism to the point that Al Gore sees no need. After all, an Al Gore candidacy would be a disaster for Tim: it would likely bypass the traditional media, and it would focus on actual problems and solutions (how novel!) and not Monicagate Redux. Ratings would plummet.

I hope Al Gore stands up, shimmering with his various golden awards, hot, bothered, and ready to fight. I hope he jumps in. His entrance would not add to existing race; it would reformulate it entirely, recycling its contents into a entirely new, and ever-so-necessary dialogue on the future of the planet.

An Al Gore Campaign, and the ensuing Al Gore Presidency, would be a paradigm shifter. Moving from the Politics of Negative Definition (the scorched earth, destroy your opponent and avoid the issues paradigm), we would enter a post-political Age of Positive Action. The United States, and thus the planet, would never be the same.

Fifty years ago, when the USSR sent Sputnik up and thus launched the Space Age, the global perception of mankind's role in the universe was forever altered. I propose that an Al Gore presidency would be such an occasion, another, much-needed, point of no return.

For that I say: Run, Al, Run.

Our own Pinochet?

2007-06-07T12:45:00.000-04:00

Yes, the Disaster in Chief is pretty much done as a relevant political force. I think Tuesday night's Republican debate, in which virtually every one of the 36 Republican candidates for president distanced his white, wrinkled self from W, was the final nail in the coffin. Every single major and minor domestic effort he has recently made in Congress has died on the vine (immigration now, too). His popularity is at rock bottom. He's even losing some of his base. Certainly he has zero chance at attaining a level of popularity that might in any way give him even the smallest amount of political capital. So, point is, he's not even a lame duck, he's a dead duck.

That said, he's still got his somewhere between 28 and 35 % support out there. They're not going away. To stand with this guy now, after everything he's done, you have to really really love him, deify him even, see him as some sort of savior, or at least, noble defender of some core belief or principal. If Bush went on TV tomorrow and declared HIMSELF the Worst President in History, these people would still love him.

Hold that thought a second, and consider something. Today, a grouping of the world's most important and effective human rights organizations have used the media to call for the end to the secret detentions of 39 people. Among these are several children. Yes, we have reached the point where the United States is disappearing people, pulling them from their homes and jobs and whisking them away, destination unknown.

This might seem like a strange and terrible new trend, but it is not new to many countries. Among them, Chile suffered from this practice for decades under Pinochet. I have a particular knowledge of what happened in Chile, as I studied there and have read and written extensively about it. The family with whom I lived there was exiled shortly after Pinochet's coup; they were lucky to get out in time, lest they too become disappeareds (a fate which tragically befell many of their friends). They lost contact with so many people when they left, and upon their return, found that many people had figured they (the family) were themselves disappeared.

The loss of a loved one is a tough thing for anyone to deal with. But what happens when a loved one is disappeared is far worse: he or she is brutally kidnapped at the hands of government thugs, often in front of children. No cause for detention is given. No information on whereabouts is provided. The family and friends of the disappeared go weeks, then months, then years without knowing anything. It is like death, but without the closure that death provides. It is in itself a horrific form of torture.

Pinochet's henchmen did this in the name of "saving democracy" and the Chilean people, ostensibly from the looming Marxist threat supposedly presented by the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende. Bush's henchmen do this in the name of "saving democracy" and "freedom" from the looming terrorist threat supposedly presented by these men and women whose language they do not speak and whose culture they do not understand. I do not dispute that the US government might have good reasons to think these people are involved in terrorism against the United States; what I do dispute, wholeheartedly, is the need to defy the very ideals our nation was founded upon in the process of detaining, questioning, and holding them.

Now returning to those unwavering Bush supporters: clearly, this news will not sway them, will not turn them against our near-authoritarian president. They believe in him, and trust everything he does. As I consider them, try to understand them, and our role in our society, I cannot help but see so many parallels with what I saw in Chile. There, during the 1973 Pinochet coup, the same arguments were made. Slowly, many people realized how horribly Pinochet had led the country astray. When "democracy" began the process of reestablishing itself, in the late 1980s and early 90s, many citizens utilized the (semi) free press and the (semi) independent judiciary to spread the truth about the past and to seek justice. The truth did indeed begin to sway even some who had supported Pinochet. But, just as many ignored it, or continued to try to discredit the truthspeakers. They continued to stand by Pinochet.

Over time, this amount of people dropped to somewhere between 20 and 30% of the population (though another 20% called Pinochet a bad man but sought no justice). But those supporters continued to deify him, hold them up as a savior, a model Chilean. They fought every single effort to undo his policies and to correct the historical record. They were what Dick Cheney might call "dead-enders". To this very day, with Pinochet dead, with a largely strong and free government in place, and with the true whereabouts of many of the disappeared finally discovered, they continue to praise him.

So where will Bush's own dead-enders wind up? Now, I realize that Bush has not disappeared American citizens (at least to our knowledge) and that we do not have American families dealing with grief on the level of what hundreds of thousands of Chileans had to. However, the Bush apologists are just as bad as those of Pinochet. Even as we as a country try to move forward, beginning in 2009 with our Democratic president, these dead-enders will still be a vocal force in our society. They will fight efforts to examine the truth about 9/11, the Iraq Debacle, Abu Ghraib, and our own policy of disappearing people. Our nation will continue to deal with the consequences of all of these things as well (as many often point out, our policies have become a better terrorist factory than anything Osama could have hoped to himself build).

What will be our own process of national reconciliation? Chileans have largely been unable to fully reconcile their past, and it continues to haunt them today. I fear that much the same will happen here. That 30% will do whatever it takes to falsify the legacy of our own Pinochet.

moment of zen

2007-04-27T12:30:00.000-04:00

For that moment, that one, solitary moment, he could forget. Forget about the war. The lies. The inept Attorney General and the quite-possibly-Devil-incarnate Veep. The 30% approval rating and clearing brush on the ranch. He could feel the rhythm, lose himself in the chants. And he could, for that one moment, live.

What can we do?

2007-04-20T08:30:00.000-04:00

In response to the two previous entries (and ensuing comments) Anonymous said (bolding is mine):

Dearest Cicero,
While I completely agree with your point (and it is one that Rosie O’Donnell makes several times a week on The View), I have to present the other side as I see it. Yes, the media makes money with the art of distraction. However, Americans in general, have so many venues to choose from to receive their news: newspapers, magazines and tv programs that span the entire political spectrum, npr, endless websites, your blog. And while all of these are skewed, we have the basic option to choose what we want to read and when. And sometimes we just like to be distracted with Anna Nicole’s baby daddy because there is nothing we can do about the 4 year mess in Iraq. It’s not pleasant feeling so defeated all the time. I do admire your belief in achieving something better though, and if you have suggestions as to how the everyday citizen can help tackle mountains, please tell us.

J-lo responded:

I'd like to quickly comment on what anonymous had posted regarding the unpleasantness of feeling defeated. It is true that most of us may indeed feel defeated after the precarious situation our beloved president has entered us in, however, as Americans we can do something. There is a great quote by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr that states "The Greatest sin of our time is not the few who have destroyed, but the majority who have sat idly by." This is the case in point for most Americans who prefer to watch the next episode of twisted shows like 24 than take to the streets, join groups like MoveOn.org, send a heated letter to their representative, or simply vote. As Americans we've forgotten the power of voice and action. It's necessary that we demand action on the part of those politicians who claim they represent the public. Educate and speak your mind - teach your neighbor about the realities of Iraq and that 233 people dead in a single day is not a sign of success, but rather pandemonium - hell on Earth. Every little thing we do as activists, voters, citizens, does have an impact whether we believe it or not. We need to quit feeling defeated by a government that thrives on their ability to curb our civil liberties!

I understand where Anonymous is coming from. Sometimes it all becomes overwhelming. Many times, in fact, I can't even blog about things because I'm so frustrated and feel like I'm shouting into a black hole. But, as he or she mentions, there are plenty of media outlets for us to choose from - so how can it be a problem?

It is a problem because a singular media narrative seems to penetrate all of those different options. Take, for example, the lead up to the Iraq war. In the shadow of 9/11, the media just embraced Bush, his concept of an Axis of Evil, and the totally fabricated notion of Iraq posing some sort of imminent, Al Qaeda-linked threat to the United States. Over 80% of the American public bought this, because every single media outlet was selling it, and there was very little dissent. All of those scary graphics showing radical Islamist fighters running through obstacle courses and Saddam Hussein firing off a rifle made for good ratings, after all.

The point is then: what is variety when there is no diversity contained within it? This, in turn, brings me to J-lo's point, and his reference to MLK Jr. We cannot sit on our hands here and just say, "Oh well, it's the only thing on TV, so I'm gonna watch it." We have to be proactive. Action is as simple as speaking up, loudly and clearly, within your own group of friends. Action is going door to door as part of an organized voter education campaign (if you've never tried it, you'd be surprised at how easy and fun it is, and how many interesting people you'll meet along the way). Action is also being aware of the economics of media: don't be afraid to contact advertisers and let them know what you think about them associating themselves with certain networks or shows.

Above and beyond everything else, don't be afraid. Don't be afraid that you might step on someone's toes, or get yourself into a debate that might lead to some heated moments. It's your country too, and no matter the forum, you have a voice.

The Sun never sets on tragedy

2007-04-18T21:52:00.000-04:00

While Americans (and our loving media) continue to allow the killer to play out his fantasy by endlessly obsessing over him and his massacre, the rest of the world falls father from our radar. The obsession is no surprise of course; the killer himself anticipated it in developing his fantasy and in executing his plan. In fact, he cared so much about the media exposure that he paused his killing spree to head to the Post Office so that he himself could mail his own personal media kit to NBC. Death is news, after all, and damned if he wasn't gonna cut out the middleman.

32 people killed anywhere at anytime is certainly a tragedy. Luckily for Americans it is a tragedy that does not befall us with any great frequency. Can you imagine if such a massacre were to occur every day for years and years? Resulting in thousands, then tens of thousands, and maybe even hundreds of thousands of innocent people killed while undertaking innocent pursuits like shopping, working, and even studying? In a country like that, a boy like Cho wouldn't be news at all. Lucky for Cho, then, that he wasn't from Iraq.

Yes, as America went about developing its latest tragic obsession today, more Iraqis died. 233, as a matter of fact. 183 in Baghdad alone, a city in which we have been told we need invest only a bit more blood in order to surge our way to victory. There, 32 is nothing. And our own troops? Our own young men and woman who did not happen to find themselves in a college classroom, but instead on the dusty streets of a city whose residents they did not know? They are dying, too:

From October 2006 through last month, 532 American soldiers were killed, the most during any six-month period of the war. March also marked the first time that the U.S. military suffered four straight months of 80 or more fatalities. April, with at least 58 service members killed through Monday, is on pace to be one of the deadliest months for American forces.

While the media continues to throw THE GREATEST MASSACRE IN AMERICAN HISTORY up on it's blinking flashing scrolling headline bars (making plenty of ad dollars in the process), we should be sad. We should be outraged that such a killing spree was able to happen, that so many innocents died. Outraged that so many students will never be able to realize their dreams, and outraged that even more students will never be able to learn from the several brilliant professors who were also slaughtered. However, we should not forget. We should not lose perspective. Death in Iraq may be far less surprising than death in Virginia, but it does not mean that it should be any less subject to our outrage nor to our demands that it must stop.

On Virginia, and blame

2007-04-18T08:51:00.000-04:00

Longtime Cicero Jones reader, frequent comment, and sometimes contributor Chosun has been kind enough to provide us with some thoughts on the tragic crimes against humanity committed on the Virginia Tech campus. As a Korean-American (like the killer), Chosun offers a unique perspective.

From Chosun:

We’ve all heard about the killings in Virginia Tech by now, which is undoubtedly a horrible and horrific incident. Interestingly enough, Cicero sent me an article which had a comment that I found to be very disturbing. The subheading states, “THIS is the face of the girl who may have sparked the worst school shooting in US history” and has a picture of the first victim of the shooting—eighteen-year-old Emily Jane Hilscher. Disgusted by this subheading, I immediately posted a comment about how ridiculous and thoughtless this subtitle is. Apparently, I wasn’t alone in feeling this way—there are currently 379 comments slamming the article for this as well.

Oddly enough, only about 10 minutes before reading this article, I had been contacted by a Korean friend of mine (I am Korean) in NYC who warned me that a Korean Association in NYC had been contacted by the Korean Consulate’s office warning that Koreans (and Asians in general) should be careful in case of retaliations. I took it as a big joke and nothing to worry about, and Cicero and I even joked about how stupid people would have to be to try to “retaliate” against Koreans. It was right around this point when Cicero said something that made me consider this a little more seriously—he said something like, “wait until Fox News has a headline like, ‘South Korea: the source of the crazed gunman.’” I’m wondering if a headline like this would cause retaliations from people (especially in VA) against Koreans. Likewise, is it possible that Emily Jane Hilscher’s family will suffer from attacks from the families of the other victims/friends as a result of this article?

These thoughts have made me want to pose a question to my fellow Cicero Jones readers: What safeguards are there that some media outlets wouldn’t be so attention-starved and/or careless to say something completely ridiculous as “THIS is the face of the girl who may have sparked the worst school shooting in US history”? Should journalists, reporters, and/or companies be held personally liable for crimes committed as a result of careless/sensational reporting tactics?

On a side note, two plays written by Cho Seung Hui can be found here and here. They show how disturbed he actually was.

Bagel to Go

2007-04-05T21:21:00.000-04:00

by: J-lo
Honestly can you think of a better way to reuse a cd container than this:

I encourage you all to utilize that aging cd container next time you contemplate bringing a toasted bagel and pastrami sandwich to work. Who knows, maybe you'll see Starbucks start a new hip movement with old garbage!

Furthermore, for those concerned about toxic plastics - no worries since cd spindles are made from the same plastic used in food containers meaning no vinyl or other toxins!

Coffee as pretext

2007-04-05T11:54:00.000-04:00

Buried in this Slate article, about the explosion of the green tea phenomenon, is this gem:

The unappreciated business genius of Starbucks is not charging $4 for a latte but rather giving adults permission to drink milkshakes, on the pretext that they are merely tea or coffee.

Amen.

Respek!

2007-04-05T00:05:00.000-04:00

To The Nancies Pelosi!

Courtesy of Phoenix Woman over at Daily Kos. Her text in it's entirety follows:

Four things Bush doesn't want you to know about Nancy Pelosi's Syria visit:

The Israelis are GLAD she’s there.

Far from her trying to hurt Israel or the US (as Bush implies), The Israelis think so much of her that they are using her as a trusted go-between from Israel to Syria.

There are three Republican Congressmen in Syria meeting with Assad RIGHT NOW.

The three Republican Congressmen, including Joe Pitts (R-PA) are in Syria ON BUSH’S ORDERS (or least with his OK).

Please spread the word. Thanks.

Where there's fire...

2007-04-03T07:30:00.000-04:00

Where were you on September 7, 2006? I can't recall exactly where I was, though I assume I went to work and then watched the Mets beat the Dodgers 7-0. One thing I CAN say with absolute certainty that I was NOT involved in a firefight with Iranian troops somewhere on the Iran-Iraq border. Not all Americans can say the same:

The soldiers who were there still talk about the September 7 firefight on the Iran-Iraq border in whispers. At Forward Operating Base Warhorse, the main U.S. military outpost in Iraq's eastern Diyala Province bordering Iran, U.S. troops recount events reluctantly, offering details only on condition that they remain nameless. Everyone seems to sense the possible consequences of revealing that a clash between U.S. and Iranian forces had turned deadly. And although the Pentagon has acknowledged that a firefight took place, it says it cannot say anything more.
(Time.com)

The article goes on to give a few details around a largely hush-hush firefight that was, in all probability, not provoked by either side. U.S. and Iraqi troops, operating in tandem, might have crossed into Iranian territory. Iranians might have crossed into Iraqi territory. People from any or all three of the nations involved might have died, and might have done so on either side of the border. The Pentagon does not wish to discuss this. The Iranians have not mentioned it. The only reports, sketchy ones at that, come from the few people who were involved. So, who cares?

Despite the uncertainty surrounding the facts, we simply cannot ignore the fact that American and Iranian troops exchanged fire along the Iraqi border. This is hugely significant. Iran has been, for several years, on that flame-broiled rotisserie grill that is the BushCo. Axis of Evil. Several well-documented intelligence battles have been fought between Iran and the U.S. in the past year, with the kidnapping of the 15 U.K. troops being only the latest in a series of strikes from both sides. A chain of escalation has been established and it shows no signs of abating.

As noted in the Time.com article linked to above, the past several months have seen American troops pulled off of the Iranian border in order to provide more "security" for Iraqi cities, primarily Baghdad. Though we cannot be certain as to the Disaster in Chief's next step in his brilliant Iraq strategy, we ought to assume that someday in the near future American troops will return, with whatever Iraqi soldiers they have access to, to the Iranian border. What will happen then?

Over two years ago, in this post, I suggested that a primary American goal of the occupation of Iraq was to create a proxy army (that being Iraq's) with which to fight Iran.

But, does anyone really believe that anytime in the next 30 years an Iraqi government will be able to stand up to the United States (and the thousands of U.S. troops based there)? The Iraqi leaders in power will most likely have received significant U.S. help to get into power in the first place. They might even possibly see a war with Iran as a way to stoke "Iraqi" nationalism and, in doing so, create some semblance of unity among the Shia, Sunni, and Kurds who have been cursed by the boundaries of colonialism into sharing a nation-state.

Unfortunately, I still see this as becoming a reality. It makes too much sense. Anyone who has studied even a bit of world history knows one of the most common ways to unify a divided country is to create a common enemy. Just look at Yugoslavia, a conglomerate of multiple religions and ethnicities. Tito gave his people a dual enemy - the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. - and painted over centuries of ethnic bloodshed to form a new nation-state. As that common enemy melted away, so too did the bonds that held the state together.

As a nation, Iraq's greatest struggle has been against Iran. The two countries share a massive border, and the divisions internally among the Shia seem to make any sense of a greater "Shia Alliance" between Iraqi Shia and the Iranians impossible. That doesn't mean that there won't be people in the Iraqi government who are pro-Iran. However, the combination of the Sunni and Kurds (firmly anti-Iranian) with Iraqi nationalist Shia and other anti-Iran Shia could easily help this reach critical mass. Further factor in the behind the scenes work of the Americans (clashing with Iran on all fronts, building the Iraqi military in an American model, stepping up border patrols against Iran) and you have the perfect recipe for a regional conflagration.

Obviously, the Iraqi state is not currently in a position to fight a war with another state. However, the calls from both Republicans and Democrats for the Iraqis to begin doing more seem to further us down this path. Stoking Iraqi nationalism may be the only way to create any sort of multi-ethnic consensus (and real government) in that country, and Iran is the natural target (not to mention one that is fully sanctioned by Disaster in Chief). Adding American troops to the mix just fuels the fire. A chain of escalation has already been established. Where will it end?

Save the Seahorse '08

2007-04-01T23:22:00.000-04:00

by: J-lo

In addition to having raised over $26 million, Hillary Clinton has declared that a major focus for her presidential campaign is the seahorse. Clinton states that she was deeply moved by a personal experience she shared with one of 35 endangered species of seahorses.

Typically, I would avoid forming an opinion in line with Clinton's, however, I cannot agree more with her and the fact the United States, and the world alike need to take urgent action to protect the world's delicate and majestic seahorses.

Seahorses are also threatened by over-fishing, Dr Koldewey said. They are being targeted for use in traditional Asian medicine, as live pets, and for the souvenir trade.

An estimated 30 million seahorses are traded every year, by between 70 and 80 countries - which makes this the largest wildlife trade issue, in terms of numbers.

I hope readers can understand the urgency of this issue and the fact that we are contributing to the extinct of a mysterious creature that ignores the norms of biology, and practices both strict monogamy and the most extreme form of male prenatal care (the male seahorse, rather than female, becomes pregnant). Act now and save the seahorse, and maybe our species can learn a thing or two from them about relationships or even parenting.

RIP Tonic

2007-03-30T09:33:00.000-04:00

It is with heavy heart that I pass on some sad news to those New York-based readers out there: Tonic is closing. Yes, the same Tonic that Kevo and I named our "Best of 2006" in this post:

Sometimes there are 5 people in the place 20 minutes into the show, with musicians marching on to the different drummer of their own sound, which might or might not involve eastern chants, household appliances, and a brass section. Other times, you've got new-age flamenco-funk moving the ceiling and walls with a house that's been packed since 11. Music is and should be experimentation. It should be new. The old and battered Tonic always is.

Brooklyn Vegan posted on this yesterday, and when I read the news my heart sank. Tonic is closing because the real estate value of it's Lower East Side location has skyrocketed (keep in mind that this area was pretty much considered a slum not even a decade ago) and it has essentially been priced out of the neighborhood. New luxury condos are going up next door.

I don't know if there is anything out there that can takes its place; Tonic has pushed the envelope continually but not many other clubs have followed suit. How many more of these places can NYC lose?

Starbucks update

2007-03-30T09:18:00.000-04:00

I know, you're probably all waiting for the big roll out of the Starbucks branding on this site. Well, I regret to inform you all that it will not happen. The reasons why are complex and not particularly interesting, but they do involve Radiohead. As you might or might not know, Radiohead was rumored this week to be signing to the Starbucks music label. However, Thom Yorke set everyone straight:

"Radiohead are currently in the studio working on their next record," singer Thom Yorke said in a statement. "They are not negotiating a new record deal with anyone, and will not even consider how to release their new music until the album is finished. The rumor that they are about to sign with Starbucks is totally untrue."

I am here to also declare that the rumors of Cicero Jones signing on with Starbucks are also "totally untrue." Yes, I do admit that I was also the central figure perpetrating those rumors. However, they were just that: rumors. I will not even consider how to release my blogged content until it is totally finished.

In other Starbucks news, BusinessWeek has a must-read: "Saving Starbucks' Soul." Remember my 8 am dessert hypothesis? I think this supports it:

On Apr. 3, Starbucks launches a pair of confections called Dulce de Leche Latte and Dulce de Leche Frappuccino. A 16-oz. Grande latte has a robust 440 calories (about the same as two packages of M&M's) and costs about $4.50 in New York City—or about three times as much as McDonald's (MCD ) most expensive premium coffee. Starbucks Corp. (SBUX ) describes its latest concoctions, which took 18 months to perfect, this way: "Topped with whipped cream and a dusting of toffee sprinkles, Starbucks' version of this traditional delicacy is a luxurious tasty treat."

The article goes on to discuss the process of turning Starbucks from a coffee mecca into morning-time ice cream shop, and the CEO's desire to bring it back to its roots. Good luck, buddy.

And on a different tip, here is probably the funniest, most amazing piece of comedy ever involving Starbucks: Improv Everywhere's "The Moebius":

On Saturday, March 22, 2003 Improv Everywhere agents created a living moebius strip in the Astor Place Starbucks. Seven undercover agents meticulously repeated a five-minute slice of time for twelve consecutive repetitions. Starbucks employees and patrons were frightened, confused, and ultimately entertained as they found themselves stuck, without escape, in the middle of a time loop.

Go check it out, and imagine what you would do if this happened at your local Starbucks.

Saharan Style Golf

2007-03-27T19:52:00.000-04:00

by J-lo

Normally I wouldn't share special days (no it's not Cicero's b-day) with reader, however, I felt that here on Cicero Jones we should acknowledge an event that occurred on March 22. Today, though I have yet to receive approval from the editors, we are celebrating post World Water Day (March 22), or better known as Saharan Style Golf.

Understandably water is the very under appreciated (who has their 8 glasses of water a day?)and undervalued resource in the world. Rarely, as we are singing in the shower and producing an abundance of suds do we consider the importance of water and its scarcity for most people. Honestly, if Gallup were to conduct a poll today asking people what is more important - water or oil, I can gander that more than 60% would respond oil.

Besides the usual importance of H2O I quickly wanted to share something that makes me perspire a little and wonder what Tiger Woods would say. Though not a golfer (I'd prefer to utilize my senior years playing a good game of bocce), I couldn't help but see these numbers as staggering (please read).

San Antonio’s 56 golf courses alone suck up 6.4 billion gallons of water per year. To put that figure in perspective, consider that in Africa, average daily human consumption is 47 liters, or about 12.5 gallons. That means the San Antonio golf courses’ annual water consumption equals about that of 1.5 million Africans.

As an act of protest I demand that all golf courses halt their watering for the course of Summer '07 and send an open invitation to individuals and families from water deprived nations to enjoy the exclusivity of US country clubs. The US can easily mend diplomatic relations with countries through an act such as free access to golf course - just imagine a plethora of Sudanese, Bolivians, and Uzbeks picnicking and playing 18 holes on a plush American golf course!

UPDATE (by Cicero): I think J-lo did a real nice job here, don't you? However, I would caution against the golf course idea above. For all those who have seen Borat: J-lo, why would you advocate letting "Uzbeki assholes" into this country. Borat would not like.

Starbucks Annual Meeting: Calm Down, Mr. Investor

2007-03-20T09:20:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow Starbucks' Chairman Howard Schultz will go before shareholders at the company's annual meeting. Starbucks shares have lost 20% since last November and there is some unease about the company's direction. This, of course, puts me in a bit of a weird position. Though I am on their payroll, and thus would like them to continue to operate with soaring profits, I cannot help but get a bit of satisfaction knowing that I am at least partially responsible for this decline in share prices. Clearly, some of the things that I've pointed out on this blog have snowballed into large-scale concerns shared by industry analysts. I have not been asked to address the shareholders tomorrow, but be assured that Cicero Jones will have a full response right here.

In a related note, the Starbucks branding will be applied to this website within the next two weeks - the contract is still being finalized and I don't want to do anything until it's all set in stone.

Also one final note: the article I linked to above says that McDonald's coffee beat Starbucks in a recent taste test. This is no surprise. McDonald's has good coffee, you should try it. You might think I am being sarcastic, but I am not; it's amazing what a little animal fat can do for the taste of your joe.

500,000 Strong

2007-03-20T08:41:00.000-04:00

Al Gore will testify in Congress tomorrow regarding global warming, as previously discussed on this blog. Click this link to add your name to his message (quick and easy). He's at somewhere over 400,000 strong now, and needs you to get him to half a million.

In a related note, the Politico asks: Can Gore Let it Rip? The conclusions is, essentially, that Gore should run, and probably will, barring a definite tilt of the race toward either Obama or Clinton. As long as they are pretty much neck and neck, there is room for Gore.

Fox News Reports Critical Threats

2007-03-14T21:37:00.000-04:00

by: J-lo
Almost certainly we all know by now that global warming is not a pressing issue, at least not like it is in other countries!

I can understand why global warming is not a center piece of American politics, particularly considering our continued success in Iraq, the recent capture of Osama, and political honesty; however, on the bright side we did come ahead of the Ukraine when asked if global warming is an immediate threat. According to the survey , about 46% of those Americans question regarded global warming as a critical threat, whereas only 33% in the Ukraine agreed.

What caught my eye as the diamond in the rough was that similar to other developing countries, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and 61% of Iranians surveyed had strong opinions of global warming and viewed it as something urgent. Though not disclosed in the article, the survey also found that over 86% of Iranians considered global warming more of ominous than the threats of President Bush and Co. I wonder how the President is receiving that?

Maybe some teamwork will help, and force us to be a little more concerned about global warming than the Iranians or Aussies! At the least we can pretend on Earth Day.

UPDATE:
I would like to respond to a brief comment that was posted regarding the above survey. The reader stated:

uh, we also came ahead of most of the countries on that chart, including israel, not just the ukraine. plus there's no EU representation on your chart so I don't get the point.

Clearly the US did come ahead of some countries, however, my point and the point of the survey was to address those who viewed global warming as a critical issue or threat. If we examine the portion of the graph that is in blue then we see that most of the countries surveyed do feel global warming is a critical threat rather than just another fly on the wall. As for the Ukraine, I think they are still concerned more about contamination and birth defects due to Chernobyl than global warming - and trust me I don't blame them!

As for the E.U. comment, I have no ability of addressing that since I was not called in as a consultant to conduct the survey. According to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs though, the survey was originally conducted in the US, India and China, and as a result several organizations in the remaining countries expressed an interest in participating. End result - the 17 countries involved and no E.U. Though disappointing that the E.U. cared not to participate I think it is important to note that the 17 countries listed represent over 55% of the world population and are some of the leaders in greenhouse gas production. For those interested in numbers I suggest looking here.

Furthermore if we look at the chart below, one can conclude that the E.U. has been taking measures to curb greenhouse gas production since 1990, whereas for the US and China there has been a jump.

Of course I do not want to blame the American people for such, as we are not at fault. What is necessary is that our government quit giving out royalties to nasty polluters and begin taxing them heavily for the amount of CO2 produced. Though unlikely, President Bush needs to provide more incentives to companies to go green and further investigate the option of capturing and storing CO2 emissions.

All Starbucks, all the time

2007-03-14T08:54:00.000-04:00

The (kind of) non-stop Cicero Jones Starbucks coverage has been a resounding success. Unprecedented amounts of comments, several emails, and lots of interesting discussion. So, I am quite happy to announce Cicero Jones will now be going All Starbucks, all the time!

I spoke yesterday with Starbucks' Senior Vice President of Blogger Outreach, Juan P. Valdez (they co-opted him several years back) and the company has graciously agreed to sponsor this blog. What does it mean? Well, some badly needed cash for me. And also, within the coming weeks this blog will be reincarnated as the STARBUCKS cicero jones VENTI BLOG. We will be hosted on the Starbucks servers and will also be offering a two for one coupon (limited time only) for a double macchiato caramel latte spectacular explosion of flavor (as it's known in Japan). I should also note that this does not mean I will stop being critical of their brand - apparently, my criticizing them is actually good for their business, and they would like me to continue. Their only request is that I blog about them after having had a large (ok I know that's not the right word, but I'm a maverick, what can I say) Starbucks coffee.

On that note, here is your daily Starbucks news round up:

Starbucks Launches Record Label (!!)

I kid you not folks, they have actually launched a record label, called Hear Music (click the link of you don't believe me). I did a quick look through the site to see their new releases: it appears all of their artists are quite old, and I am concerned that if they were to drink this coffee the caffeine might kill each and every one of them. Which, come to think of it, would probably just help record sales. You gotta love those guys, always thinking of the next big thing. Oh, and their first real "target" to actually sign to the label: none other than the hippest man in music, Paul McCartney.

Starbucks wanted OUT of Forbidden City

Back in 2000, when a Starbucks opened up in Beijing's apparently significant Forbidden City, people thought it was the end of the world. In fact, they were right: George Bush was (s)elected President of the USA, the Kyoto Treaty was torn to shreds, several wars were started, and American Idol was born. Now some member of the Chinese parliament has submitted a bill to revoke their license to operate there. That's nice, but last time I checked, Starbucks had better access to the Chinese premier than the parliament did.

And the BIG BIG news: FREE STARBUCKS THIS THURSDAY FROM 10 AM to 12 NOON!!!!!

Go to the site, where it even tells you how to set up a text message reminder to get your fix on! Of course, this does not apply to any of the dessert drinks - which are 99% of the menu. No, this means you get a free 12 oz. cup of Starbucks "premium drip" coffee. Personally, I think this is a brilliant marketing strategy. Why? Because people will still go tomorrow morning, and get their normal $5 dessert drink at 8 am. Then they'll go back for the free cup at 10, realize this "premium drip" coffee tastes like absolute shit, and buy another $5 dessert drink. Score another one for the mermaid.

More on Gore, Iraq

2007-03-13T08:27:00.000-04:00

I don't have time for links but wanted to give a quick update on my perceptions regarding Al Gore entering the presidential race. I still think he will; however, some of his critics have raised what I'll admit is a relevant point: Al Gore's view on Iraq. Yes, back in 2002, when it was certainly not "cool" and at times labeled "treasonous," Al Gore spoke out against the BushCo plan for invading Iraq. His primary objection to the invasion was not one along the lines of the Dennis Kucinich "Let's build a Department of Peace Instead" approach. Gore framed his own objections in a national security context: Afghanistan is far from a finished job and we simply can't abandon that endeavor. Furthermore, Gore pointed out that Bush would go into Iraq, take out Saddam, and then leave a huge mess behind that would cause even more problems. Prescient, certainly, but what else would you expect from a man who had served several terms in the Senate and 8 years as Vice President (during which he probably made more national security decisions for the country than his boss did).

The point here is that Gore in 2002 was already worrying about the consequences of making war in Iraq and then abandoning its people. Which brings us to the question at hand: what would Al Gore do in Iraq now? For a man who has had years and years of White House war room realism welded onto an idealistic soul, it would be a torturous issue. Certainly he does not want the United States to be in Iraq, something that now the vast majority of the American public agrees with him on. I think it's also likely that he does not want to abandon the Iraqi government, in what many might see as a "throwing them to the wolves" scenario. And for a man with a cause (global warming) and, above that, a new found popular relevance (not to mention, lots of new money), would seeking the White House and inheriting all of these problems really be a desirable mission?

His critics see someone who will probably back down from this challenge. I, on the other hand, do not. I believe Gore has already established himself as one of the greatest patriots our modern country has known. His tireless dedication to public service cannot be questioned. His ability to see "further down the road" than his peers has been consistently noted (for all the jokes about inventing the internet, without a doubt Gore did more to make it a reality than any other public servant). His diplomatic skill is second to none and would be essential for getting the entire region together for action on Iraq. Domestically, Gore would have to deal with negotiating a course that would be both acceptable to the anti-war majority and those who raise rightful concerns about leaving behind a terrorist hotbed. I have no idea how I would approach such a political minefield myself, but then again, I'm not the guy who single-handedly tackled global warming.

Spring cleaning

2007-03-09T12:21:00.000-05:00

I can't say I blame them:

GUATEMALA CITY --Mayan priests will purify a sacred archaeological site to eliminate "bad spirits" after President Bush visits next week, an official with close ties to the group said Thursday.
"That a person like (Bush), with the persecution of our migrant brothers in the United States, with the wars he has provoked, is going to walk in our sacred lands, is an offense for the Mayan people and their culture," Juan Tiney, the director of a Mayan nongovernmental organization with close ties to Mayan religious and political leaders, said Thursday.

I think that the Democratic party needs to get in touch with these guys. We will need them to perform a similar ritual on the White House in early 2009.

Fresh language

2007-03-07T22:49:00.000-05:00

The Morning News has announced the winner of their Contest for Total Idioms. The idea of the contest was to come up with some handy new idioms that could potentially be useful for reinvigorating the English language.

I liked this one:

Throw Down Some Flowers
Casual act of buying a floral bouquet to appease a girlfriend out of obligation, not desire. E.g., “Yeah, she was angry at me for getting drunk at her parents’ place on Thanksgiving, but I threw down some flowers and she forgave me pretty quickly.”—Daiv Whaley

And the winner was:

If a Bird Can’t Fly, It Walks

Used to suggest someone should stop making excuses why they can’t do something.—Kevin Cornell

They have a request: "So please, help us invigorate the world. Use this phrase in your daily conversation, include it in your Harper’s essays; if you know Tony Snow, try and get him to say it on TV. " I highly suggest you click through to check out the bumper sticker they are selling.

And I am happy to be leaving you with one of my personal favorites, from long-time reader and commenter, DG:

Lay Down the Water

The act of pre-arranging events and scenery to be called upon at a future time. Derived from filling up a fish tank and assembling the gravel. - DG

DG has been using that one for a long time and it's really come in handy.

Mr. Gore goes back to Washington

2007-03-06T11:15:00.000-05:00

On March 21, Al Gore will go to Washington to testify before Congress on global warming. This will be a media bonanza, and in that way, extremely important to further raise awareness on an issue that is already approaching the tipping point. As an introduction to his testimony, Gore is planning to hand deliver postcards to individual representatives from the constituents, demanding action global warming. Fill out your own postcard for Gore to deliver here (it's fast).

The Ethanol Revolution

2007-03-05T20:50:00.000-05:00

by J-lo

With President Bush traveling to Brazil this Thursday to discuss with Brazilian President Lula the opportunities of an international market for ethanol, we are left to wonder when the ethanol revolution will make its appearance before citizens of the US and furthermore, will it truly make an environmental difference.

For over a quarter of a century, Brazil has been processing sugar cane to produce ethanol, a viable alternative to petroleum, that in recent years has nearly equaled petroleum as a source of automobile fuel for Brazilian commuters. Yet, if the United States were to import and produce sufficient ethanol to compensate 20% of our petroleum consumption like Bush is proposing, will countries like Brazil, and farmers like Old MacDonald be able to keep stride? According to studies the US currently consumes over 250 BILLION gallons of fuel in transit alone. How is it that something like corn or sugar cane can even approach that number when current corn ethanol production is a meager 5.58 billion gallons per year or 2.6 billion bushels?

I'm not arguing that ethanol is not a viable alternative to petroleum since it's been proven to produce less CO2 than current petroleum emissions, and offers struggling campesinos and local US farmers the opportunity to access a new and growing market. Ethanol may provide the answer to how countries in Central and South America can further develop and expand there economies, and lastly can assure some energy security and permit the U.S.A to slowly break ties with OPEC while strengthening relationships with several Latin American nations.

Yet does driving a flex-fuel automobile make one more environmentally friendly or more American? We've all heard about the wonders of biofuels, but have we ignored the fact that 20% of current petroleum consumption would require the equivalent of 50 billion gallons of corn or cane ethanol (how many acres of monoculture farming would that require)? Considering current agricultural techniques there is no possible way a farmer could sustainably cultivate a monoculture farm of solely corn and be heavily dependent on petroleum derived fertilizers and hazardous pesticides. Something has to give. Turning our attention to Brazil, we can already witness the impact of ethanol based crops in the destruction of virgin forests and contamination of watersheds solely to meet national demand for ethanol (please note Brazil is currently unable to export ethanol due to extraordinary high US tariffs).

"Some of the cane plantations are the size of European states, these vast monocultures have replaced important eco-systems," he said. "If you see the size of the plantations in the state of Sao Paolo they are oceans of sugar cane. In order to harvest you must burn the plantations which creates a serious air pollution problem in the city."

The debate over ethanol as a sustainable U.S. energy supply can continue for months by bringing into question the food versus fuel debate and "the tortilla crisis" that subsequently sparked protests in Mexico City. In summary ethanol is good but not good enough to save the Earth and the atmosphere. I agree with Bush and Lula that an international market for ethanol is necessary; however, it must be done sustainably and in a manner that will not destroy necessary food systems, and social and ecological environments. Ethanol, perhaps, is only a temporary solution to our present predicament of oil dependency and global warming and not as some would state the future of automotive fuel. The President and Congress must continue pushing for more research and development into alternative renewable sources such as hydrogen fuel cell and electric and discuss opportunities for designing cheaper versions of the sporty $100k Tesla!

"I think hating Starbucks is almost as cliche as loving it"

2007-03-05T20:00:00.000-05:00

Such was the comment received on this post, in which J-lo and I discussed Starbucks and its intent to destroy the world as we know it.

First of all, yeah, I agree. For those of you who watched the video included in that post, Bryant Simon, the Temple professor who is writing a book on Starbucks, talked about this. Essentially Starbucks has come to symbolize what a lot of people think is wrong with America. Back in the Mythical Old Days, people used to buy their cup of coffee from a local coffeeshop, a place where: a) they enjoyed good conversation and community; b) knew their money was going to support a local establishment; and c) the coffee actually tasted good, was not superloaded with caffeine, and did not eat a hole through their stomach lining.

We all know this transition away from the local and to the global has various causes. It has plenty of negatives, many of them very serious. It also has a wide array of benefits (you like having weird Brazilian fruits in your smoothies? me too). Of all of these various causes and effects, very few are directly related to the Starbucks brand itself.

You know, there's a new joke that is kicking around in my head that I think would apply here. It is this: Two Americans are walking around in Red Square, in Moscow. They see an enormous line of Muscovites, several hundred meters in length. One says to the other, "This is terrible, look at all of these people waiting in line, what is this for, just to see the embalmed Lenin? Surely communism is on the rise again and we are all doomed." The other, slightly more aware, says, "Friend, don't worry, communism is deader than ever. Capitalism is thriving. How do I know? They're actually all in line for their morning latte from Starbucks."

In that, you can see the generalization: the spread of Starbucks is instantly associated with the liberalization of markets and with old ways fading away, for good. So, in saying, "I hate Starbucks, I don't drink Starbucks, Starbucks is evil," we are actually saying, "I reject the future, with all of its robotic tastes and globalized identity."

I do not feel as strongly as some may on this issue. I do not drink Starbucks, except in situations in which there is no realistic alternative. But my principal objection to Starbucks is not, in fact, something very "macro" or global. Instead, it is as local as possible. Their coffee absolutely sucks.

Very few Starbucks fans that I know actually go in there and say, "One cuppa coffee please." Really what they are doing is going in and ordering desserts. Desserts that are socially acceptable to have at 8 am. As I suggested to my pro-Starbucks friend recently, his ordering habits are more akin to stopping by the ice cream shop for a sundae than they are sipping a nice homebrew joe on a Sunday morning. In fact, Prof. Simon makes the argument that Starbucks itself serves as a sort of reward ritual, whereby people get in rhythms of "treating themselves" on a daily basis.

So, going back to the comment that spurred this post: yes, love it or hate it, Starbucks has grown to exist not only on every block in your city, but also in the rich land of metaphor.

Sunday Funnies

2007-03-04T08:56:00.000-05:00

Oh, there are some good ones in here. Especially W talking about his lawyer:

A war we can win

2007-02-28T20:31:00.000-05:00

Some of you might remember this past summer when a hot topic here on Cicero Jones was the War Against Manliness. Floyd Landis, American Hero, was subjected to vicious attacks from primarily French antagonists, upset that a Frenchman had still not won the Tour de France since the time of Napoleon (when the Emperor himself won it during every year of his reign, despite not actually competing). They accused him of having too much testosterone in his blood, compared to the standard levels found in the modern French male.

My defense of Landis, at the time, seemed to fall on deaf ears. But, to everyone's surprise but my own, it turns out I was right. The charges against Landis remain unsubstantiated. And now, according to Outside magazine, the tests of Landis' A and B samples were conducted by the same lab technicians - a big no no in the world of drug testing, as this gives the technicians the power to validate their own work.

Floyd also received the support of Phil Ligget, the "Voice of the Tour" and, apparently, a very well-respected dude in the cycling world:

"I ran into Floyd and we had a very quiet one-on-one around the dinner table," said Phil Liggett, a sports journalist who covers the Tour de France for Versus (formerly OLN) and CBS Sports. "He's so angry. During the week he announced his defense policies. There have been mistakes made on the testing and I believe he will win his appeal."

Also of note is the Floyd Fairness Fund, whose mission is:

To support Floyd Landis against unsubstantiated doping allegations
To provide the means to attain fairness for Floyd
To bring justice to those responsible for misconduct in the case

So, it seems to me that our counterattack in the War Against Manliness is proceeding nicely. Soon, the Anti Man forces will be vanquished, Floyd will return to his rightful throne, and everyone can have a cold, 'merican beer to celebrate.

A Coffee Conundrum

2007-02-27T10:09:00.000-05:00

by: J-lo

Although Cicero nor I are advocates of Starbucks and the coffee they produce, I felt I should share this piece from another blog that discusses Howard Schultz's, chairman of Starbucks, own personal conundrum. When Schultz began Starbucks back in '87 he had a vision of a coffee shop similar to those found in Italy and meant to broaden social experiences and the feeling of community. Unfortunately, as most of us are aware, that is no longer the case for Starbucks.

In a February 14 internal corporate memo,“The Commoditization of the Starbucks Experience,” Schultz laments how the company’s fierce expansion and efficiency measures “have lead to the watering down of the Starbucks experience, and, what some might call the commoditization of our brand.”

Interesting how a vision to strengthen community and share the experience of coffee with customers has become a parable of the tragedy of the commons. My simple suggestion for poor Mr. Schultz is that he spends an hour in one of his metropolitan stores, "experiences" the coffee, and lastly judges for himself if the environment and the customers are truly "communal". Maybe then he will realize his vision is a failure and his coffee cannot even compare to something offered in Italy.

Unfortunately for his company, Starbucks is doomed to become a disgraced coffee empire (40,000 stores) that colonizes even those countries where coffee is produced - but then again I could be wrong considering the growing number of Starbucks loyalists. In my opinion though, it is truly a tragedy.

UPDATE (from Cicero): For those who are interested in this, I have some good YouTube viewing. Bryant Simon, a professor of history at Temple University, has spent several years visiting Starbucks all over the world and studying how they draw people back for more and more. You can read more about his work in The Guardian. This is his presentation to the recent Taste3 Conference in San Francisco:

Pro portions

2007-02-26T21:25:00.000-05:00

How many calories do you think you average per course when you go out to eat a chain restaurant? Everyone knows it is "a lot'" - but what does that really mean? This:

A 2,000-calorie appetizer, a 2,000-calorie main course, another 1,700 calories for dessert - those aren't typos. It's more like par for the course at Ruby Tuesday, On the Border, the Cheesecake Factory and countless other top table-service chain restaurants.

But since those chains make almost zero nutrition information available on menus, their customers don't have a clue they might be getting a whole day's worth of calories in a single dish, or even several days worth in the whole meal.

The article also contains one of my favorite new phrases in journalism (bolded):

Uno Chicago Grill's "Pizza Skins." "We start with our famous deep dish crust, add mozzarella and red bliss mashed potatoes, and top it off with crispy bacon, cheddar and sour cream," says the menu. The menu doesn't disclose that this fusion of pizza and potato skins - which is meant to precede a meal of pizza - packs 2,050 calories, 48 grams of saturated fat and 3,140 milligrams of sodium - more than a day's worth.

Wow, I don't even know what to say. One thing I would ask is that this be something we keep in America and really don't try to export. Because if I'm abroad someday and encounter an American chain restaurant pushing this dish on the previously unaware culture I am visiting, I will spontaneously combust.

“Paper or Plastic, Mr. Gore?”

2007-02-26T17:12:00.000-05:00

by J-lo

My recent journey to Whole Foods may have shed some light on that age-old dispute between the Gozdilla and Mothra of the grocery industry, Paper and Plastic. Typically, when at the cash register you expect the timeless question of “Paper or Plastic?” However, it seems Whole Foods - and possibly more supermarkets - are doing away with the paper and only supplying the plastic. But, why? Is plastic, a derivative of petroleum, honestly more sustainable, greener and more granola than paper?

A simple side-by-side comparison and one would anticipate paper the champion of grocery bags (of course I am excluding from this test canvas, which is the true champion of greens). Think for a second about the history of each, the lives of Plastic and Paper. Paper’s dates back to its birth on a monoculture tree plantation, most likely in the Northwest region of the U.S.A or possibly B.C., Canada. Plastic, on the other hand, was born in a factory and created by the virtues of petroleum. As their lives dwindle, Paper typically sees its role reutilized, whereas Plastic finds itself as a decoration of sorts around the neck of a seagull or leatherback turtle.

For years, I have personally chosen Paper as the more earth-friendly option; however, after my Whole Foods experience and recent investigation I have discovered Plastic as the true winner. According to a life-cycle energy analysis conducted by Franklin and Associations, Ltd, Plastic outmaneuvers Paper two to one. In order to achieve the results, Franklin and Associations analyzed total energy used to manufacture a bag, and the amount of pollutants produced. The results of the the analysis stated:

A single paper bag uses the energy equivalent of 550 kJ of wood as feedstock. It also uses 500 kJ of petroleum and 350 kJ of coal for process energy. The total amount of energy used by a single paper bag is 1,680 kJ…Two plastic bags use 990 kJ of natural gas, 240 kJ of petroleum, and 160 kJ of coal. The energy used for two plastic bags is 1,470 kJ. Two plastic bags use 87% the amount of energy used by one paper.

Now for the all-important question we must all ask ourselves next time we are at the check out counter of the local grocers:

“What would Al Gore do?”

Clearly, there is one simple answer: refuse both paper and plastic and bring along your favorite canvas bag. I'm a canvas-user but I must admit that there are moments when I am on my way home from work and have an itch to pick up some groceries yet never thought to bring along the Canvas. On the other hand, the grocery bag industry could take it upon them self and manufacture biodegradable bags made from starches. Yet once again, we face obstacles that may result in individuals becoming too litter friendly, or witness more energy utilized for the creation of a “biodegradable bag.”

Being sustainable is difficult; however, each of us must attempt to do our part and at a minimum utilize Canvas and save our Plastic and Paper. However if one truly wants to be an eco-warrior the only solution is growing your own veggies and knitting yourself a sustainable hemp bag. In short B.Y.O.B. – bring your own bag, bake your own bread!

[ed. note (Cicero): that's not the fun kind of byob, man]

How do you score this one?

2007-02-24T18:42:00.000-05:00

Just watch:
Just watch:

Obamania

2007-02-24T18:09:00.000-05:00

Barack Obama drew 20,000 people to hear him speak in Austin yesterday. Howard Dean drew 3,000 people in Austin at this point in the '04 campaign and that was considered off the charts. To put it mildly, this guy is doing something right. Oh yeah: it was raining the whole time.

Word:

Obama, speaking at a massive outdoor rally in Austin, Texas, said British Prime Minister Tony Blair's decision this week to withdraw 1,600 troops is a recognition that Iraq's problems can't be solved militarily.

"Now if Tony Blair can understand that, then why can't George Bush and Dick Cheney understand that?" Obama asked thousands of supporters who gathered in the rain to hear him. "In fact, Dick Cheney said this is all part of the plan (and) it was a good thing that Tony Blair was withdrawing, even as the administration is preparing to put 20,000 more of our young men and women in.

"Now, keep in mind, this is the same guy that said we'd be greeted as liberators, the same guy that said that we're in the last throes. I'm sure he forecast sun today," Obama said to laughter from supporters holding campaign signs over their heads to keep dry. "When Dick Cheney says it's a good thing, you know that you've probably got some big problems."

How many will he get in Cleveland on Monday?

[photo credit: mr. wright, who says obama wore this hat for only 10 seconds]

Hillary/Obama, 2008, and what it all means

2007-02-23T10:40:00.000-05:00

So, what's the deal with the whole David Geffen-slams-Hillary-who-slams-Obama thing? Everyone is weighing in. Some people think Hillary "won" because she got Obama to look a little less like the new Messiah. Some think Obama did because he is showing that his campaign is not afraid to attack the "dirty" elements of the Clintonian past. Others say that the Democrats lost because it just reinforces the whole Democrats in Hollywood meme.

If any of the above, I have to go with Obama being the one to gain something from this - and I definitely don't think it did any damage to the Democrats in general. Let me explain.

My problem in general with the Democratic primary field is that NO ONE is really taking on Clinton head on. I don't get it, because there is a HUGE part of the Democratic electorate that is looking for such a candidate. As I often make clear, I am a very partisan Democrat. I believe the Democratic party is the single best vehicle for changing American society for the better. Hillary has done many good things in the past, both for the party, and for affecting positive social change. However, on the Single Biggest Issue of the day, and what some might call the Only Issue, she is wrong wrong wrong.

She thought she could embrace a new identity once she got into the Senate - Hillary the Hawk. Talk tough on terror, go after Saddam, etc. Well, that hasn't gotten us anywhere. A lot of people screwed up back in 2002 - screwed up very badly, with terrible consequences. Of course, the Disaster in Chief is #1 on this list, and no one else can come close to his level of culpability. However, that doesn't mean there aren't many, many more names on that list. Lieberman might be #2, but Hillary the Hawk is certainly in the top 10. And, like the two men I just mentioned, she is obstinate in her refusal to admit she screwed up. Which is bad, very bad, and could kill us in the general election (keep in mind the electorate is now approaching 70% anti-war).

My nightmare scenario for the Dems is Hillary vs. Mitt Romney. Unlike McCain and Giuliani, Romney is not really identified in voters' minds as a super Pro Iraqi War guy. Yeah he talks the talk, but he doesn't have too much blood on his hands. Hillary does. As 2008 rolls around, and American troops continue to die there, we'll eventually hit the general election matchup. In debate after debate, press release after press release, ad after ad, Iraq will be the central issue. And if we have Hillary in our corner, and they have Romney in theirs, how is the Democratic party going to look? Like the War Party, I guess, with our nominee still refusing to apologize, to admit a mistake. Such a matchup would effectively neutralize the Only Issue. Which is not only bad for the Democrats, but absolutely terrible for the American people.

Turning back to the original focus of this post: thank you Obama! For at least taking some shots at this woman, this enabler of war. I am not so enthusiastic about Obama, but at least he did not back down when her camp demanded he publicly rebuke David Geffen. I really hope the next step is for him to start hitting her harder on the war (and hey, Obama, there's a market for this!). I'm not really sure that Obama is offering much effective leadership on the issue, but I do feel that he knows what's up, and wants us to get the hell out of there. I also think he'd be the most able to devise a sensible, multilateral approach to the situation the would result from an American withdrawal (because, let's be honest, Iraq is in rough rough shape no matter what).

One last point: I don't buy for a second the worries about the Democrats being too Hollywood-friendly. Yes, it certainly mattered in 2000 when we had just had 8 years of Democratic governance and were facing a "folksy" (hah!) "straight-shootin'" (double hah!!) Texan who based his campaign on making the Democrats look disconnected from the American heartland. But that is so so far from the situation we face now, that the Hollywood worries should be left in the past. It is the Republicans who seem totally detached from reality, and the Democrats who just swept into Congressional power on a very real wave of popular discontent. Why the bigwig political analysts can't grasp this, I don't know. But I guess that's why we have the blogs now, right?

Style

2007-02-15T21:59:00.000-05:00

Has anyone been paying attention to this Iranian president? You know his name, it's right on the tip of your tongue...yeah that's it: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. One thing about this guy - even if you don't like his politics, you gotta admire his style. Seriously, they try and make this guy out to be a bad guy (and, sure, he kinda is) but still, in this media-driven world we live in, it's kinda hard, because he actually looks more "in style" than our own Disaster in Chief, as well as most Euro leaders. I'm not joking about this either. Take a look:

Ok, this guy is giving a speech to the United Nations (!) and he decides to forgo the tie, yet still rock the blazer in a show of respect for the dress code. And should he get done with his speech and have a few hours that might be best killed in a downtown bar, well, he's already wearing the right clothes!

And let's be honest, check out this picture of him chilling with Chavez below. My gut feeling looking at this picture: we should be worried more about Venezuela right now instead of all this Iran garbage:

Astute readers will not the image of Simon Bolivar proudly displayed in the background. Yes, the same Bolivar whom Chavez has named his "revolution" after. Chavez loves to cheaply exploit Bolivar's image, so why not throw the stylish Iranian guy in the picture too - however you can bolster your dictatorship, right?

Anyway, I guess this is an ad hoc foreign policy plea: let's worry more about Chavez, and start talking to the stylish Iranian dude to see if we can't just work something out after all.

The Real McCain

2007-02-14T16:58:00.000-05:00

You gotta love what the YouTube era is doing for accountability in politics:

John McCain is an idiot

2007-02-13T10:24:00.000-05:00

He lost the "straight talk" and maverick reputation a long time ago. Earlier this week, when the Washington Post revealed that McCain was seeking out the same $$$ he had once so stridently opposed with his campaign finance reform legislation, he lost perhaps the last thread of credibility he had. However, where McCain has most greatly failed his country is in the realm of Iraq. As John Madden would say, "now here's a guy who looks lost out there." In the midst of one of the worst blunders in American foreign policy history, McCain has actually out-Bushed Bush! Yes, he was calling for an escalation before Bush had even taken off his flight suit.

So now, Presidential-wannabe McCain makes the following statement about his concerns for Iraq:

"By the way, a lot of us are also very concerned about the possibility of a, quote, 'Tet Offensive.' You know, some large-scale tact that could then switch American public opinion the way that the Tet Offensive did," the Arizona senator said.

Yeah, you read that right. McCain is worried that a series of large, coordinated insurgent attacks will "switch American public opinion" against the war. Guess his presidential campaign is cutting into his time to talk with real Americans, because he doesn't seem to have a clue what they are thinking.

Reality check: over 2/3 of Americans are against the war. 70 percent oppose adding more troops.

John McCain, you are an idiot, you have no credibility, and you can count on 2/3 of Americans voting against you and your war.

J-lo Op-ed: Hasta Luego Chacaltaya

2007-02-06T10:11:00.000-05:00

J-lo brings us the first in what I hope are a series of op-eds dealing with Global Warming.

While some Americans may be glorifying in the rich powder of Aspen or Vail, certain Bolivians are appreciating the last days of dying giant – Chacaltaya. Situated in the majestic peaks above the sprawling slums of La Paz, scientists and ski aficionados are beginning to consider Chacaltaya as the next victim of global climate change.

Bolivia, unlike its neighboring superstar Chile, is not a country most skiers would consider when planning their next ski trip; however, it is home to the highest ski resort (17,388 ft) in the world. Regrettably, what was the vision of dreamer is becoming a mountain of arid land via rampant glacial melting.

Scientists say that glaciers are increasingly receding throughout the Andes, but that Chacaltaya’s melting has been especially quick. More than 80 percent of the glacier has been lost in 20 years, said Jaime Argollo Bautista, director of the Institute of Geological Investigation at the University of San Andrés, in La Paz.

“I would give Chacaltaya three more years,” said Mr. Argollo, adding that the relatively small size of the glacier and the abundance of rocks under its ice, which easily absorb heat, have quickened its retreat.

Once again, humanity’s relentless war on nature is taking yet another victim that threatens the unique world of Chacaltaya. Though not a skier myself, I feel the decline of such a majestic place where winter sports enthusiasts can sip coca tea and view Lake Titicaca, is a frightening message to us all…we need Al Gore as our next president and begin to revolutionize our way of thought.

Outrageous claims from Texas

2007-02-06T09:18:00.000-05:00

I was shocked this morning to receive an email from a friend containing a link to an outrageous news story: "Texas, Connecticut Battle over Birthplace of Burger." "What is there to battle over?" I thought. Everyone knows that, in addition to being my birthplace (primary claim to fame), New Haven is home to Louis' Lunch, the birthplace of the Hamburger.

I will leave it to fellow blogger (and one of my childhood heroes, as he is CT's top weatherman and frequent predictor of school cancellations) Geoff Fox to give the lowdown on Louis':

The action at Louis' takes place behind the counter, where burgers are broiled vertically, over an open flame, in three cast iron grills. The grills themselves are ancient - actually dating from the 1890's!
You can have onions, cheese and tomato, but no ketchup! No French Fries either. At Louis' it's their way or no way, and that includes toast, not a bun.

There are two reasons Louis' is still around. First, it's the burger, of course. It is unbelievably tasty. Second, and more important, Louis' is an anachronism. In this Wal-Mart, McDonald's, Amazon.com world, Louis' operates without consultants and accountants and p.r. flacks. There aren't rounding errors or spoilage. Each individual burger counts.

Now, New Haven has been around since the 1600s, and by the late 1800s was significantly more developed than Texas. I doubt that, among the dusty, dirty nothingness that was Texas during this time, Texans were in a position to be thinking about making ground beef patties and serving them on bread.

I am sure this is all just an attempt to knock down what Geoff Fox points out is a great American landmark, an institution that has held its ground against the tide of Walmartization. The Texans are down, and they're desperately flailing for some sort of positive recognition. Well, they're not gonna find it here.

I call on the Connecticut congressional delegation to step in and preserve the place of Louis' at the center of the hamburger universe. (Yes, I know what will probably happen - all of the CT politicians will jump on board and then at the last minute, Lieberman will defect and claim that it is in the nation's best interest to name Texas as the originator of the burger, in the name of national security).

The more I think about it, maybe the hamburger has something in common with our great President Bush. What could that possibly be? Well, like Bush, the hamburger seems like it wants to pretend it was born in Texas, when really it was born in New Haven.

Oh, by the way, did you hear that Tex Mex cuisine originated in Hartford?

Cicero Jones RSS Feed / Firefox

2007-02-06T08:34:00.000-05:00

I feel that I need to bring this up again:

For those wishing to subscribe to this page via an RSS feed, this is the link:

http://cicerojones.blogspot.com/atom.xml

RSS is, simply put: a way to monitor different websites and other news sources via individual feeds. A "push" source that gives you information when the information is there and fits within parameters you've previously defined, as opposed to a "pull" source ( e.g. you looking through washingtonpost.com for interesting stories).

Since I first created this feed back in 2004, a major revolution has taken place: Firefox. I HIGHLY SUGGEST you download Firefox (click the link) and then refer to this page to learn how to integrate RSS feeds into your Firefox browsing experience.

Just like there is no excuse not to be using Gmail as your primary personal email account, there is no excuse to not be using Firefox as your primary browser. How do you think I find out about all of these articles and stay on top of the news in general? Easy: RSS feeds via Firefox.

Is Obama the Messiah?

2007-01-31T09:14:00.000-05:00

We have all witnessed the worshipful media coverage Barack Obama has been getting the last few months. The stories are endless: Obama saves baby from drowning, Obama teaches Man to fish, Obama saves Earth from giant asteroid. Well, now Timothy Noah at slate has started "The Obama Messiah Watch" during which he will chronicle the Media's proclamations of Obama Redeemer and Savior. Stay tuned, I am sure there is plenty of messianic fawning to last for months.

Some thoughts on erosion of empire

2007-01-29T20:28:00.000-05:00

Juan Cole:

Hillary Rodham Clinton made the reasonable point that George W. Bush has a responsibility to get the US back out of Iraq and end the quagmire by January 2009, instead of bequeathing this disaster to his successor.

Unfortunately, Cheney, who really decides these things, thinks the US will be there for decades. Of course in the 1940s Winston Churchill thought Britain would be in India for decades. Dreams of empire die hard; empire, that goes away quickly.

Having failed so consistently and tragically as Bush already has, how bad of a mess will he actually leave for the next administration?

If a Republican wins in 2008 (which, on paper, is not likely) how will he or she deal with the wreckage left by Bush? Will it be in a transparent and intelligent manner? Or will the Cycle of Denial spiral on?

If a Democrat wins in 2008, how easily can American standing in the world be restored to where it was under Clinton? (this question is only directed at a Democrat, because I believe electing ANY Republican would do only negative things for global perceptions of the U S of A) Will truly progressive ideas (universal health care, in-sourcing IT jobs to rural areas, fair trade) finally triumph over old liberalism (bloated welfare, Big Farm subsidies, high tariffs)?

One thing I know is absolutely certain. Joe Lieberman, a senator who thinks himself better than organized parties and their institutions, will cease to have any voice. This is because the Democrats, defending only 12 seats in the Senate, will be able to go for an absolute kill versus the 20+ seats Republicans will be defending. Barring a major change in the national political climate, the Democrats will have a solid majority in the Senate, and Joe Lieberman's vote will not even be worth the electricity used to cast it. And the Democrats will have no need for him, and will strip him of seniority on all committees. (And by the way Joe, don't think we've forgotten about you. We haven't and we will have the last laugh, I promise.)

Great moments in presidential speeches

2007-01-27T19:06:00.000-05:00

Courtesy of David Letterman:

Notes

2007-01-25T22:42:00.000-05:00

I am sorry that I have not had more to write lately. I have not had too much of a chance; things have been busy. But beyond that, I have been dealing with a bizarre form of writers block, that which results from having so much you want to say, time only to say some of it, and having to select what it is you will use your time to say.

I want to write something about global warming, or rather, Global Warming: a new, fully conclusive study on the subject; Gore getting nominated for 2 Oscars for An Inconvenient Truth; the near-certainty that it will be a key issue in the 2008 campaign.

I also want to comment on the kamikaze mission of George W Bush. How, having just read an amazing book on the mentality and psychology of Japanese tokko (kamikaze) pilots at the end of WWII, I cannot help but think of the similarities between that senseless quest for honor and this new one.

And then, there is the Negro Bowl. Actually, I don't need to write anything about that. Deadspin said it best:

The hype around two African-American head coaches going to the Super Bowl has been impressive and appropriately reverent. I bet the first two white guys who coached in plain-jane Super Bowl I (no Caucasian research-links during Negro Bowl) are wishing their people endured three hundred years of ostensible and institutionalized oppression so they could bask in this multicultural media afterglow. Now this is what racism is supposed to be about! Good people of good character doing good things; plus they're black!

Also, for those in NYC, get ready to get your brrrr on.

So, anyway, be on the lookout for that Global Warming thing. And, also, I will leave you with something scary, more frightening that even the worst nightmare of nightmares. It is Dick Cheney's Delusion (courtesy CNN and their ace newsman, Wolf Blitzer):

'Nuff said

2007-01-17T20:28:00.000-05:00

Staggering:

All costs are annual. Read the whole article. (NY Times)

Don't believe the (lack of) hype

2007-01-15T21:12:00.000-05:00

According to Political Wire, Al Gore today told a Japanese group he addressed on climate change that he will not be running for president. He is waging a "different kind of campaign" to raise awareness of global warming.

That's all fine and good, but I still don't believe it. The Democratic field increasingly looks limited to the trifecta of Clinton, Obama, and Edwards. For various reasons, these three could easily split the primary voting quite evenly.

Today I will go on the record as predicting Al Gore will be the Democratic nominee for the Presidency in 2006 - and will only enter the race as a "consensus" candidate that all Dems can rally around after a divisive three-way battle between the aforementioned group. This will occur after most of the primaries and just before the Denver 2008 Convention.

To all Gore fans: do not despair, do not read too far into that quote from Tokyo. Gore is on the way.

A new award

2007-01-15T08:29:00.000-05:00

Ladainian Tomlinison, running back for the San Diego Chargers (as well as this year's league MVP) was quite disappointed that his team went down to the Patriots in yesterday's AFC divisional playoff game. The Chargers had the league's best record, after all, and many speak of Tomlinson as the best running back ever, so surely they could win a home game versus the not-as-good Patriots and advance to the conference finals, right?

Well, of course not. The Patriots (Tom Brady especially) are simply masterful in the playoffs. They have been doing this for years now and no one should be surprised. However, Mr. Tomlinson seemed quite shell-shocked in his post-game media appearance. He was mad that the Patriots had celebrated their win on his home field; he was also mad that the most competition he'll see between now and September involves a small white ball and a metal club. I was struck by his post-game comments: the doublespeak, the inability to grasp reality, the poor sport mentality of it all...it was deja vu all over again. Of course! L.T. sounded like George Bush.

Now, at the risk of comparing something extremely serious (namely, war) and not serious (sport), I am hereby giving L.T. a trophy that he does not want: The George Bush Award for Doublespeak in the Face of Defeat and Failure. I do not know how many of these awards I will give out, but rest assured, anyone who says anything like this will get one. Ladies and Gentlemen, the victory speak from Mr. Tomlinson:

“We kind of wanted to stay balanced. They really didn’t stop anything we did. It wasn’t a factor I think in anything they did. They didn’t stop us. We moved the ball up and down the field. They did a good job in the red zone at times, and even when we got good field position, they buckled down in certain situations to stop us. I think their whole mindset was in certain situations to come up with a stop. They did that.”

So, what's up man? Did they stop you?

The David Beckham Show (feat. Donovan)

2007-01-14T15:27:00.000-05:00

As everyone now knows, the David Beckham show is coming to America. In addition to many other extracurricular activities, Beckham plans to play for the LA Galaxy. Bloggers and journalists have weighed in: this is a big deal, and Beckham will be just as big in the US as Pele was in the 70s.

I could sit here and write a lot about what all this will do (and won't do) for American soccer. However, I'm going to take a more micro view. As you may know, the Golden Child of American Soccer is Landon Donovan (Adu doesn't count, yet). Landon Donovan, until several days ago, was far and away the biggest star on the LA Galaxy. While most of his peers from the US National Team are playing in top-flight leagues in Europe, Landon has chosen to stay home in California, so that he can hang out on the beach and be close to his now-wife, the extremely hot (and intelligent, I'm sure) Bianca Kajlich.

After coming onto the global soccer radar with his brilliant 2002 World Cup performance, Donovan stunk it up in the 06 Cup. Where he was supposed to be a leader, he was a timid crybaby. It appeared his time in MLS had not done much to prepare him to lead the US to success in the Cup. Many figured the only way Donovan would ever truly learn to play at the top level would be to go to Europe and learn from the best. What no one anticipated is that the best might come to him.

Yes, David Beckham is past his prime. He will never again be a dominant force on the English National Team, nor will he play for one of the world's premier clubs. However, he is still an extremely skilled footballer with immense amounts of leadership experience.

The way I see it, this is the best thing that could have ever happened to Landon Donovan. Beckham immediately removes the spotlight from Donovan's face. Simultaneously, he will give Donovan the benefit of playing with one of the game's best set-up men. He will show Donovan how to be a leader on the field. He will show him that, even if your wife is very hot, you still have to play harder than everyone else if you want to win. He will show him that, even if many silly pictures exist of you doing stupid stuff with a soccer ball, you still have to score goals and win games if you want to be remembered. And lastly, seeing the greatness that is Beckham, perhaps Donovan will realize that, like it or not, such greatness can only be achieved by playing your football in Europe.

So, cheers, Becks. We all should be happy that you're here, none more than our own precious Golden Child.

A link and some thoughts (I watched his whole speech)

2007-01-10T22:27:00.000-05:00

I was going to write something about Bush's speech. Then I saw Keith Olbermann on MSNBC, and he said what I wanted to say, but (possibly) better. Below, find links from Crooks and Liars to view Olbermann's short and to the point takedown of Bush (windows media format).

Download (1456) | Play (1000)

Now that's fair and accurate.

I actually watched some pregame for the speech. CNN. Not my favorite network but hey, that Wolf Blitzer, he's just so...exciting! Anyway, they had Jack Cafferty on, taking emails, and doing his usual grumpy old New Yorker act. These emails were reader responses to different questions such as, "What was the point of the Iraq Study Group if the President is doing the opposite of what it recommended?" and "Will Iraq be Bush's legacy?" The emails - every single one of them - eviscerated Bush. It was as if CNN was posting a live stream of the diaries over at Daily Kos. And then I realized. Everyone hates Bush now. But he is still moving ahead with his destructive agenda. He has truly created the Imperial Presidency.

Also during the pregame coverage on CNN they interviewed a CNN reporter who had been embedded with the troops who fought that day-long battle with insurgents in downtown Baghdad yesterday. She was asked a question along the lines of, do you have anything good to report. The answer was something to the effect of, "Well, yes, it is clear that the Iraqi troops are learning from the U.S. troops. The U.S. commanders have been trying very hard to get the Iraqis to learn and adopt sound tactics. During yesterday's fighting, for example, the Americans were able to teach the Iraqis, during the fight for Haifa Street, about the importance of the high ground when engaging in a firefight. So American units occupied the high-rise buildings along the street. This gave them better range of fire."

Upon hearing that, I was flabbergasted. Why? A combination of:
-What the hell is this CNN reporter trying to sell and why is she treating us like idiots?
-How absolutely pitiful is the state of the Iraqi Army that a sign of progress is it learning about the importance of taking the high ground in a firefight?
-Isn't it sort of Orwellian that we are talking about something like that and deciding it is worth feeling happy about?

So anyway, 21,000 more Americans are on their way into the fog-of-war dungeon that is Baghdad. They will not have any true sense of who the enemy is, why they are there, and if they are going to make it home. They will be serving in the uniform of a country whose populace is decidedly against their presence there. This place is something that I fear we as Americans are only getting to know. We have, I guess, our own word for it and it is Iraq and that word - Iraq - is and will continue to be so many things. Many painful things. But a previous generation had a word for that too and it was similar, most now admit, in so many ways. And it was - Vietnam.

Au revoir, Tiki

2007-01-09T21:27:00.000-05:00

New York Magazine on Tiki Barber's retirement:

It’s a funny thing, the psychology of ambition: how even the most outsize dreams have a way of losing their potency the moment they’re attained. Stranger still is how a decrease in passion often brings about an increase in focus and skill. A graph charting Barber’s incredible rate of mid-career improvement and another showing his growing disenchantment with the game would reveal something curious: The rates of incidence are identical. “It’s true, isn’t it?” Barber acknowledges, flashing the halogen-bright smile he’s hoping will make him the rare athlete to have a broadcasting career that transcends sports reporting. For several months, he has been in negotiations with ABC, Fox, and NBC; it’s something he’s been itching to do since last year, when he was invited to Israel by former prime minister Shimon Peres, a trip that piqued his interest in hard news. “I became fascinated,” he says, “with history and how people think and what motivates people.

So, apparently Tiki Barber is going to be cohosting the news with Katie Couric soon (he has satisfied the prerequisite by hosting a local NYC morning show on Tuesdays). I can't say I blame him; the New York Giants locker room seems to be the most toxic in football, and who wouldn't want to escape. He is just hitting that wall that everyone hits from time to time, and his just happens to be that wall between being a famous football player and a famous newsman.
Rough life. Read the article, it contains great, almost creepy, descriptions of the cult of celebrity that is the Barber household. (Not that there's anything wrong with that).

What's so bad about this global warming thing

2007-01-07T21:14:00.000-05:00

New York hit 72 degrees yesterday. Yesterday was the 6th day of January. This is what it looked like when I was in Central Park:

Seriously, could Al Gore have scripted this any better? What he should've done was come out to Central Park, gotten a bit of a stage thing together, a megaphone, whatever, and been like, "I'm running for President of the United States...and this is proof that global warming really is happening. Now who wants to have a beach party?" Coulda, shoulda, woulda, I guess.

Thoughts on the New Year (Iraq)

2007-01-07T20:23:00.000-05:00

I know 2007 is a week old and there has been little (blogged) comment from me. Don't worry, I am still here.

So, Bush has decided the best way to put out a raging five-alarm fire is to throw more gas on it. Joe Lieberman is happily there beside him, and it seems that even despite widespread Congressional resistance, Bush will probably have his way. More Americans will be sent into Iraq to reaffirm our commitment to ineptitude. In that sense, 2007 is the same year as 2006, which was the same as 2005 and so on. Bush's only New Year's resolution was to be more resolute. I wish I could use the new year as an occasion to inject a bit of optimism into my view of the Iraq Debacle, but there is no cause for hope.

I was speaking with a war supporter the other day, and it was clear that she clung to the idea that the media is painting a bleaker picture of Iraq than is the reality on the ground. I do not particularly understand this way of thinking. I do not deny that schools being painted, flowers being planted, and other such things are indeed good things, important for Iraq. But part of the problem is that the current Iraqi civil war prevents them from mattering.

How do you report on the news: 40 bodies found tied and bound, executed in a Baghdad back alley. New math books arrive at grammar school in Basra. Insurgents in Iraqi Army uniforms attack and slaughter scores of new Iraqi police officers. 4 American Marines die in Al-Anbar Province.

It doesn't work. Iraqi society itself seems to be nearly totally nonexistent, in that it is really Shiite society, Sunni society, and Kurdish society. In the midst of these divisions, Bush believes he can pour a billion dollars (yes, a billion) to "create jobs" something which, of course, he is not good at doing. What jobs will they be? Painting schools, of course (I'm not kidding). And to add further irony to all of this? There were thousands of jobs back in 2003, jobs that Iraqis who were then somewhat open to the concept of making a new nation hand in hand with the United States, might have happily accepted. Not only would this have kept them from joining the insurgency, but it also would have probably done more to hold that society together too. But what happened with those jobs? Dick Cheney's friends at Halliburton were given hundreds of millions of dollars to bring thousands of men from other impoverished countries to work them.

So, we continue on in 2007. The media would love to be able to report something more positive - at this point, people everywhere are clamoring for good news. But there is little hope that any such good news will be there to report. And in this way 2007 will be 2008, will be 2009. I hope I'm wrong.

Saddam, Iraqi Death Squad meet YouTube

2007-01-01T16:48:00.000-05:00

The now infamous camera phone version of Saddam's execution:

Best of 2006: Camila Segura

2006-12-22T08:48:00.000-05:00

Back from an extended break (caused by the day job, no less), Cicero Jones returns. We resume with Camila Segura's Best of 2006. Be sure to visit her great blog Vuelta por el universo, which contains a lot of her original photography. Camila's "Best of" post focuses on the website PostSecret, which "is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard." Take it away, Camila:

These are some of my favorites secret postcards (beautiful and terrible at the same time, some might say sublime).

j

Here is the link for one of my best discoveries this year: Nouvelle Vague
I could also add One Ring Zero to the list.

Eisbar from Nouvelle Vague:

Pause

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

Because of the hustle and bustle of work in the pre-holiday runup, things have been slow around here. Please bear with us for a few more days. We have some new, interesting, insightful, and entirely free content on the way.

In the meantime, I urge you to check out some of the archives (under "the wisdom lives") or the links (particularly McSweeney's) over in the right-hand column.

And if you are looking for a perfect stocking stuffer, check these out: Mint Tea Tree Toothpicks. They get me through the day. In fact, they have inspired me to write this haiku:

the tingle of tea
with menthol and noontime smile
make for work relief

--

The damned dictator (updated)

2006-12-10T15:12:00.000-05:00

"ya va a caer, y va a caer, la dictadura va a caer"

Augusto Pinochet is dead. The brutality and hate he unleashed upon Chile, and in fact much of South America, will never be forgotten. Maybe he never did pay fully for his crimes (if it is even possible), but he has certainly died a disgraced man.

Consider that since Pinochet fell from power in 1988 and democratic government was restored fully in 1990, a center-left coalition has governed the country. Though authoritarian-conservatives are still a presence in Chilean society, they have been largely marginalized by a government that has instituted far-reaching environmental reforms, outlawed the death penalty, given universal, state-funded access to birth control, been a leading voice in the U.N against the Iraq War and been a regional leader in responding to the humanitarian crisis in Haiti.

Last year, Michelle Bachelet was elected president. Not only the first democratically elected woman to lead a South American country, she is also a survivor of a Pinochet torture center. Her own father was killed by Pinochet shortly after the 1973 coup. She is an agnostic single mother with a background in healthcare. Rumor has it Pinochet rolled over in his grave even though he wasn't dead.

Pinochet and his family have given a variety of half-apologies over the years. The judicial branch has not done a good job of prosecuting Pinochet and his regime for the human rights abuses that everyone knows they are guilty of, but they do have a few high-profile convictions under their collective belt. Last year, the head of the military even issued a very public and conciliatory admission of guilt and apology on behalf of all of the armed forces to the people of Chile. Last year also saw the discovery of a vast series of secret (and deep) bank accounts tied to the Pinochet clan, further destroying any remainder of credibility he might have had.

The point is, the man is now dead, but the name and history will live on, in infamy.

The Santiago Times has more on the ensuing chaos:

CHAOS ERUPTS IN CHILE AFTER PINOCHET DEATH

The Santiago Times reports that large demonstrations have erupted outside of the hospital where Gen. Augusto Pinochet died earlier in the day.

Several journalists were attacked by Pinochet supporters.

The Chilean government has not yet made a statement on Pinochet's death.

Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet died Sunday after suffering a severe heart attack a week earlier.

The 91-year-old general's death has generated mixed reactions in Chile, scores of people clapped and cheered outside the military hospital, while others cried.

Update:

By 6pm, thousands of people were marching towards the La Moneda Presidential Palace, many drinking champagne in the streets, causing all champagne in every liquor store in Santiago to sell out.

At 7:30pm, police cleared the streets with tear-gas, sending both protestors and Santiago Times journalists running for cover. The use of water-cannons and tear gas by police is not uncommon, and is frequently used to clear protesting crowds.

Denied a state funeral:

President Michelle Bachelet has remained silent on the issue, although she was informed of Pinochet’s death by her advisers early in the day. Government spokesperson Ricardo Lagos Webber said that Pinochet would not be given a state funeral, but that he would receive honors from the Chilean Armed Forces as a former military leader, a decision that has riled many conservative Chilean politicians.

seasonal haiku

2006-12-09T19:00:00.000-05:00

leaves are subzero
on the pavement on sunday
christmas stay away

photo via fuzzyb

Respira

2006-12-09T18:55:00.000-05:00

Breathing Earth: an impressive realtime mapping of global carbon monoxide emissions, birth rates, and death rates.

(via Vuelta por el universo)

Email address

2006-12-08T06:58:00.000-05:00

I mistakenly listed my email address on some earlier posts as cicerojonesblog@blogspot.com. That is wrong. It is cicerojonesblog@gmail.com . Sorry for the confusion.

ZoeWo Op-ed: Outlaw the outlaws

2006-12-07T22:58:00.000-05:00

From reader ZoeWo, thoughts on the ethics of celebrity:

Apparently we now live in a time when it has officially become appropriate and acceptable to award people for breaking laws and endangering the lives of others. Paris Hilton was awarded "Biggest Outlaw of 06" at VH1's "Big in 06" awards. In the running against Hilton for the title were: of course, actor Mel Gibson for his drunk driving and verbal antics; Willie Nelson, for getting busted with weed; and political figure, Dick Cheney, for accidentally shooting his friend on a hunting trip. Ultimately, Paris was named Biggest Outlaw for getting arrested for DUI. The ultimate absurdity of it all was that when Paris accepted the award, and made her thank-you speech, even SHE seemed a little confused about the merit of the award! "I'm getting this award for drunk driving... That's hot, I guess..." Paris said somewhat reticently. When Miss Hilton starts beginning to question the ethics of something, it's pure insanity for it to not seriously cross our minds.

Readers who are interested in contributing an op-ed should contact me via email.

scattered links

2006-12-07T19:36:00.000-05:00

The blog has been a bit slow lately, I know. So here are some links to keep you occupied:

Today is Pearl Harbor Day. Awesome coverage from the NY Times, which has a special section, Pearl Harbor Revisited. The focus is on some previously unpublished material that details the reconstruction of the Pacific Fleet after the Japanese attack (good to read if you think your job is hard)

A photoessay that follows the path of a diamond from the mines of Africa to the Western jewelry store. "In Angola, Sierra Leone, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, miners work for food but receive no wages" and "last year, grooms spent nearly $4.5 billion on engagement rings". See also the interview with Edward Zwick, director of Blood Diamond. "By putting your credit card down, you're essentially endorsing the practices that are involved in getting a resource. This place and that place are, in fact, interconnected."

Ever wondered how they create illustrations of extinct animals? Good read here.

McSweeney's: A WEB LOGOR "BLOG" STARTEDIN AN ATTEMPT FOR ME, GARY KIMBALL, TO GET CLOSER TO MY 15-YEAR- OLD SON, MARCUS, WHO'S LIVING WITH HIS MOM AND HER NEW HUSBAND,
RICK

Best of 2006: J-Lo

2006-12-07T19:35:00.000-05:00

Book - This is a tie between Gaviotas: A Village to Reinvent the World, and Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates. If you are an idealist awaiting something on the scale of utopia then I recommend Gaviotas and for those who are fans of Tom Robbins - there is no better choice then Fierce Invalids.

Album - Annuals and Black Angels. The Annuals took diversity and experimentation to the next level in their odyssey through creativity, on the other hand the Black Angels take us back a few decades to the days of drone and psych-rock - a perfect blend of the Velvet Underground and Jim Morrison.

Movie - Little Miss Sunshine. A brilliant screenplay and an actor playing a self proclaimed Nietzsche adoring mute

Food/Drink - Since coming down to Tejas I would recommend a cold glass of Shiner Blonde.

Geographical Location - Atop the magical dwarf forests of Honduras with Kevo or under the clear blue waves of Utila.

Event - The collapse of the GOP and the Democratic take over of the House and Senate. Beautiful!

Best of 2006: Midnight Shows at Tonic

2006-12-06T22:22:00.000-05:00

by Cicero Jones and Kevo, fans

tonic nyc

It is upon entering the world of the show that many our age find freedom from all else. They feel the power of the music, move in ways not normally comfortable when in less forgiving space, and find peace in their souls. Sometimes it's just good music; other times, the confluence of friends beats and time of day creates something else entirely. What we're trying to say - it's not always about the music. Sometimes it's about the place, other times it's the people. Sometimes it's the memory of a place that once was, can, should, or will be. Music for the atheist is his connection to the spiritual world that doesn't exist otherwise. All can agree that music is a language that can bring people of disparate experience together. The combination of different musical experiences has become the norm, and at Tonic they move it to the next step.

The midnight Tonic show is the Cicero Jones choice for Best of 2006.

Why? It starts: You see the listing for 'x' band playing 'Esoteric Urban Noise.' Or you read: 'instrumental saxophone-guitar-bass-drums power rock,' and you say 'What the fuck does that mean?' and think about it. Then, 'Do the band members even know what that means?' As your compatriot responds honestly, 'probably not' you find yourself gravitating towards the Lower East Side through the pizzabeer haze around 11:55 or so (rarely does the midnight show keep its word, so tardiness is seldom an issue). You're not so sure what you're going to see, but then again, it doesn't matter all that much. You're on your way to Tonic, for the midnight show, and it's always a good time. Room to dance if you want, bar to buy a beer (redstripe rules for some, bass ale others). Chances are that, standing there, in the truly barren landscape that is its interior, you won't have the deepest philosophical conversation of your life. Such discussion comes later, after the show. The journey of the music is a mental exercise. The midnight show is not the best because it always has the hottest, newest acts. It's the best because it reaches. Sometimes there are 5 people in the place 20 minutes into the show, with musicians marching on to the different drummer of their own sound, which might or might not involve eastern chants, household appliances, and a brass section. Other times, you've got new-age flamenco-funk moving the ceiling and walls with a house that's been packed since 11. Music is and should be experimentation. It should be new. The old and battered Tonic always is.

Best of 2006: Chosun

2006-12-05T21:58:00.000-05:00

Chosun is the first go in Cicero Jones' Best of 2006:

Book: The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy - I forgot just how funny and completely ridiculous this book is.

Album: Either Black Sheep's new album "8WM/Novakane" or CL Smooth's new album, "American Me". It's kind of a tie between the two as I just picked up a copy of both of them and have been really getting into both of them.

Movie: Inside the Actor's Studio feat. Dave Chappelle (tv show on DVD). If that doesn't count, then I would say Harold and Kumar go to White Castle--that movie is totally hilarious.

Food/Drink: Pizza/Dos Equis - Now that I'm trying to get back into shape, it's kind of like the forbidden fruit.

Event: I would say that the New York-Tokyo Music Festival which I helped organize opened my eyes to some amazing artists, and I met so many amazing people.

ez.

-Chosun

J-lo Op-ed: Operation Luna-Libre

2006-12-05T21:50:00.000-05:00

Courtesy long-time reader and commenter, J-lo, an update on Bush in Space:

In recent months, we have seen Bush’s presidency steadily decline from bad to atrocious, his future legacy labeled as Hoover-like, and the war in Iraq transition into something far worse than a civil war. In the hopes of truly “conquering” a foreign land and exploiting its resources, however, Bush and NASA have turned their attention to the moon.

The moon settlement would ultimately be a way station for space travelers headed onward, and would provide not only safe haven but also hydrogen and oxygen mined from the lunar surface to make water and rocket fuel.

It looks like the U.S. government will continue its pursuit on spending resources and taxpayers money on sci-fi ideas like creating lunar outposts and exploiting the moon for helium-3. I speculate with Iraq lost, Bush needs to flex his muscles somewhere and that somewhere being a distant land where the possibility of an insurgent uprising is nil! On the other hand, maybe Bin Laden escaped Tora Bora and burrowed into the craters of the Lunar Poles.

Readers who are interested in contributing an op-ed should contact me via email.

Well, at least the reconstruction is going wel...err...

2006-12-04T12:49:00.000-05:00

The "second" insurgency, as termed by the U.S. government office charged with oversight of Iraqi expenditures, is the rampant corruption and mismanagement of funds. Check it:

A recent audit by his inspectors found that more than 14,000 guns paid for out of US reconstruction funds for Iraqi government use could not be accounted for. Many could be in the hands of insurgents or sectarian death squads, but it will be almost impossible to prove because when the US military handed out the guns it noted the serial numbers of only about 10,000 out of a total of 370,000 US-funded weapons, contrary to defence department regulations.

[snip]

A culture of waste, incompetence and fraud may be one legacy the occupiers have passed on to Iraq's new rulers more or less intact. Mr Bowen's office found that nearly $9bn in Iraqi oil revenues could not be accounted for. The cash was flown into the country in shrink-wrapped bundles on military transport planes and handed over by the ton to Iraqi ministries by the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) run by Paul Bremer, a veteran diplomat. The money was meant to demonstrate the invaders' good intentions and boost the Iraqi economy, which Mr Bremer later insisted had been "dead in the water". But it also fuelled a cycle of corruption left over from Saddam Hussein's rule.

So, next time you see that paycheck, and all of the taxes withheld, you can at least smile and know the money is really going to the right place.

Google Talk

2006-12-04T12:48:00.000-05:00

Like the little Google "chat" feature in your email, but sick of having to keep your email window open to remain online? Be like me and download Google Talk. Very clean, minimal interface and it sets up with your existing gmail account nicely.

More Obama Buzz

2006-12-04T12:17:00.000-05:00

And Hillary Clinton's stock is slipping (thank god):

For all of Sen. Clinton's poll and money advantages, the fact remains that Obama is the candidate party insiders are excited about. It's the campaign everyone wants a part of. Nobody is saying the same for Clinton -- her campaign is looking like the most corporate, oldest and blandest since Mondale in '84. Great campaign team? Sure ... for the 1992 Presidential race. There are plenty of generals, but who wants to be a footsoldier for HRC? And speaking of wars, the longer the U.S. remains in Iraq, the better for Obama, who was aganst it from the start and has a plan to get us out.
Can another candidate break through in this environment? I think it's unlikely. Bayh couldn't even outshine Edwards, never mind Obama. Clark's best shot was having the Clinton's on his side in '04. Gore is too happy hanging out with Leo and Will Ferrell to get in now. Kerry is the walking dead. Edwards seems even more lightweight today than he did four years ago. Within six months, it will become clear that Clinton vs. Obama is the only game in town ... and who wants to be on the side of the safe, corporate, vaguely pro war candidate in this party?

Obama is definitely in now. I am not sure I buy the arguemnt above though - there is more than enough time for more strong candidates to emerge. Chances are there that "surprise" candidate is still lurking out there.

One thing though: how could would a Gore-Obama ticket be?

Farecast

2006-12-04T11:16:00.000-05:00

A while back, I wrote about a new website that was planning to forecast airline fares for specific routes in advance - thus letting the consumer in on whether to buy now or wait, etc. Well, several months ago that website finally went live. It's now up and running very well. It's called Farecast.com and I highly recommend it. It has now become my "first stop" in searching for tickets online.

Anyone have any other travel-related sites to suggest?

Reader comment: On Buffett, taxes, and more

2006-12-04T08:16:00.000-05:00

Last week, I wrote this post, regarding this article, which dealt with Warren Buffett's self-imposed tax policy of paying what he owes the IRS and not using any tax planning. Buffett surveyed his employees and found he was paying a far smaller percentage of his overall income in taxes than they were in theirs, a fact by which he is troubled greatly.

One reader responded:

"Cicero:
this post is authored by one who may be among the oldest of your readers, and you can tell by this note. I have seen references by you not only to Buffett, but also to the huge and growing wealth gap between Americans. Recently, someone wrote an article on that growing gap and cited Buffett's charitable contributions as evidence of the "problem". The author was concerned that someone like Buffett could accumulate so much wealth while others go homeless, and did not seem to give Buffett any credit for his altruism.

Your post on his thoughts on taxes supports that he thinks like a real good citizen, concerned for the welfare of many.

I do not have much of a point, but want to mention a few personal thoughts. I have been extremely fortunate in life , with a great family and good health. I have been extremely lucky in a career that has paid me much more than I am worth in a great society, and am a living example that "life is not fair",perhaps balancing out your friend who was a near volunteer in TFA. I make a lot of money, more than i can spend and much more than I need. I give some to charities and a lot to the US Treasury, paying over 40% of my total income( not only taxable, but all of my income because I pay in several states). And the net paid in a single year is a big number, probably more than my father earned in his lifetime.

I am ok with that ...because my generation is eating up much of the future, not only environmentally, but in social security, tax breaks for the rich, white elephants for many congressman, and unaffordable defined benefit plans to many civil employees. Your generation will rarely or never see true pension plans, and social security will not be what we think it is today. You can hardly afford housing and many of you carry debt from college( which I and almost all of my friends did not) , but we have trained you to be good consumers and you have generated huge debt by buying perishable goods, most of which have already perished.
If it makes your readers feel any better, I will tell them I have concern and some guilt about what we are leaving your generation. of course I forgot to mention that I never served my country, as I had a student deferment because my parents saved for me to go to college while my disadvantaged contempararies served, died or were wounded in Viet Nam.

So I will continue to look for good causes to which I can contribute, write big checks to the Treasury . If you and your readers have any good ideas, such as how I and my other overpaid exec friends can donate my future social security checks to those men and women who have had parts of their lives ripped away by the on going atrocities in the Middle east, please let me know."

Thanks for the comment.

Back when it was now

2006-11-30T20:44:00.000-05:00

NY Times:

The cost of treating children infected with H.I.V. and AIDS is poised to plummet next year, under a deal announced today between two Indian drugmakers and former President Bill Clinton’s foundation.

[...]

“Whatever else happens,” Mr. Clinton said by telephone this evening from Chennai, where he flew after announcing the program in New Delhi, “we’re going to be able to save hundreds of thousands — and, in the next few years, millions — of lives of young people, because there’s a funding source to get them medicine, there’s an affordable price, and the medicine itself is a 3-in-1 pill that will be far easier to take and stay on.

Reading that caused me to do a double take. The sad thing is, our current president hasn't announced any good news to the country since...when?

Wovel-y

2006-11-30T19:17:00.000-05:00

Tired of backbreaking labor required to shovel snow? Buy a wovel (click the link, it's worth it).

And the winner is...

2006-11-30T17:56:00.000-05:00

Kos weighs in on 2008, and presents an interesting idea for Gore:

Finally, there's Al Gore. No one knows if he's going to run. All indications say "no", though he's got a bunch of his supporters going around trying to drum up interest. It looks like an ego play -- get a reluctant Gore to enter the race to satisfy public clamoring for it. His entrance would be dramatic and welcome. And what better place to announce than when he accepts his Oscar for Best Documentary? Now that would be exciting.

And well-crafted for today's media landscape.

Webb-y or not

2006-11-30T15:34:00.000-05:00

Writing over at Political Insider, Dan Conley has an interesting suggestion as to who might be the 2008 presidential election's "surprise" candidate:

So who will it be in 2008? My guess is Jim Webb. Webb is not well suited to the manners of the U.S. Senate. And as his incident with Bush this week demonstrates, he's deadly serious about ending this war and if others aren't willing to stick out their neck on Iraq, he could feel compelled to do it himself. Plus, Mark Warner's exit from the race creates a vacuum for another Southern candidate to compete with John Edwards.

An interesting suggestion. As you know, I want Gore to run. Other than Gore though, I'm not too excited about anyone. Webb's entry to the race would definitely change that. His national security credentials are impeccable (former Secretary of the Navy) yet he recognizes the greatest problem facing the country right now is the wealth gap.

It's worth pointing out, however, that Webb hates campaigning and is certainly not a natural candidate.

Warren Buffet, on taxes

2006-11-29T22:41:00.000-05:00

Buffet did a survey of his employees:

Mr. Buffett compiled a data sheet of the men and women who work in his office. He had each of them make a fraction; the numerator was how much they paid in federal income tax and in payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare, and the denominator was their taxable income. The people in his office were mostly secretaries and clerks, though not all.
It turned out that Mr. Buffett, with immense income from dividends and capital gains, paid far, far less as a fraction of his income than the secretaries or the clerks or anyone else in his office. Further, in conversation it came up that Mr. Buffett doesn’t use any tax planning at all. He just pays as the Internal Revenue Code requires. “How can this be fair?” he asked of how little he pays relative to his employees. “How can this be right?”

Certainly a solid individual:

Today, regarding Iraq

2006-11-29T22:08:00.000-05:00

No links in this post. Just a comment. Today seemed like a pivotal day in Iraq. No major headlines, though three things struck me:

1. Jim Webb shooting down Bush re: Webb's son's service in Iraq. Bush apparently asked Webb, "How's your boy?" To which Webb responded something along the lines of wanting him home soon and it otherwise not being any of Bush's business. Basically, the President just got shot down by a senator-elect and it was widely reported in the media.

2. Leaked elements of the Iraq Study Group's report indicated that the Group will recommend engaging Syria and Iran in regional talks to bring some order to the region. The Iraq Study Group until very recently included Robert Gates, who resigned his seat when nominated to be Secretary of Defense. The administration, which Gates now will become a part of, is totally against engaging Iran and Syria (still living in neocon fantasy world). Essentially, Bush's nominee for a cabinet post is tied to a position openly challenging the administration he is about to be joining. In fact, in nominating him, Bush heaped loads of credit upon the Study Group, so in opposing its recommendations, Bush is circuitously contradicting himself. Man, this must confuse the hell out of him.

3. Iraqi PM Maliki postponed a major summit with Bush. The summit had been hyped by the White House all week. On the eve of the summit, a memo from Mr. Hadley came out bashing Maliki, while Maliki came under heavy domestic political fire from the Shiite bloc in parliament (who threatened to walk out just because he was gonna talk to Bush). Bush was left standing there with his thumb in the pie.

Common theme? Bush's credibility on Iraq has officially eroded to zero. Even scarier? Barring impeachment, this man is still Commander in Chief of our military for 2 more years.

Best of 2006

2006-11-29T21:13:00.000-05:00

Over the course of the next several weeks, I will be doing a series on different people's "best of" lists for 2006. The lists will focus on things like books, movies, music, food/drink, and events. The idea is not to pick the best of these things that were new in 2006. It's more about the things that you grew to appreciate this year. If you'd like to contribute, email me.

For example, this is one of my favorite images of 2006:

Links

2006-11-28T14:15:00.000-05:00

Ronald Reagan's Map of the World

Crime and Class in Caracas (look at the upcoming Venezuelan elections)

Mike Watt guest stars on Kelly Clarkson's new album. F'real.

Fish caught in the wild may not be organic?

What did Landon Donovan learn in 2006?

Time Magazine's interview with the main man, Al Gore.

Got any other good reads/links? Leave them in the comments.

Chosun Birthday Bash

2006-11-28T10:37:00.000-05:00

I promised long-time reader Chosun a bit of publicity for his birthday party (though he will deny that it is indeed a birthday party). It's actually a promotional event (remember his last one?) for his hip hop label, MicWreck Records. The event, Wreck Sessions Live, will take place this Saturday, December 2 in NYC. If you're in the area and would like to attend, click here and here for more info. Sugar Hill Gang (Rapper's Delight, anyone?) and Black Sheep will be performing.

Also, I am told there will be fireworks at midnight.

(MicWreck myspace)

Home fronts

2006-11-28T10:35:00.000-05:00

Ken Burns, famous for his documentaries on things like the Civil War and Baseball, is putting the finishing touches on a new piece, The War. It will air on PBS in September of 2007. Apparently, Burns focuses on the everyday people and their tales of living through the war - both on the home front and in combat. He does not spend much time on Hitler, Stalin, FDR, et. al. I found the following comments from Burns interesting, and in line with what I have been saying since 9/11:

Asked about the contrast between today's home front and World War II, Burns called the latter, "the greatest collective effort in the history of our country."
Common sacrifice is lacking today, he said.
"We now have a military class in this country that suffers apart and alone, whereas there wasn't a family on any street in America that wasn't in some way touched by the war," he said.
"When 9/11 happened what were you asked to do? Nothing. Go shopping. That's what we were told," Burns said. "Go shopping. It's ridiculous. Nobody said, 'This is a war born of oil, turn your thermostats down five degrees.' "

No matter what you feel about this war, or war in general, it is absolutely true that the sacrifice you have been asked, or not asked, to make depends entirely upon your socioeconomic standing. And that is just wrong.

He said, who said

2006-11-27T17:13:00.000-05:00

Which scathing critic of the Iraq Debacle said the following?

"The time for more U.S. troops in Iraq has passed. We do not have more troops to send and, even if we did, they would not bring a resolution to Iraq. Militaries are built to fight and win wars, not bind together failing nations. We are once again learning a very hard lesson in foreign affairs: America cannot impose a democracy on any nation -- regardless of our noble purpose."

"America finds itself in a dangerous and isolated position in the world. We are perceived as a nation at war with Muslims. Unfortunately, that perception is gaining credibility in the Muslim world and for many years will complicate America's global credibility, purpose and leadership. This debilitating and dangerous perception must be reversed as the world seeks a new geopolitical, trade and economic center that will accommodate the interests of billions of people over the next 25 years. The world will continue to require realistic, clear-headed American leadership -- not an American divine mission."

Go ahead, take a guess. Dennis Kucinich? Ralph Nader? Howard Dean? Michael J Fox? Nope, none of the above. Answer: Chuck Hagel. The REPUBLICAN senator from Nebraska.

Hagel is running for president 2008, and he has clearly staked out his claim as "most anti-Bush" Republican. The thing that pains me is, of all the 2008 candidates from both parties, he is the only one who has truly told it like it is. You hear that, Obama?

Fotos

2006-11-27T12:45:00.000-05:00

Check out TMN's Mexico, a series of beautiful photographs by Martin Parr.

It's official (and obvious)

2006-11-27T11:20:00.000-05:00

Hotline:

NBC's Lauer noted on the "Today" show this a.m.: "For months now the White House has rejected claims that the situation in Iraq has deteriorated into a civil war. And, for the most part, news organizations like NBC have hesitated to characterize it as such. But after careful consideration, NBC News has decided a change in terminology is warranted -- that the situation in Iraq with armed militarized factions fighting for their own political agendas -- can now be characterized as a civil war" (11/27).

It shows how truly absurd our national media conglomerate is that it took this long for them to start reporting the truth. "Sectarian strife" be damned, this thing has been a civil war for over a year. The sheer absurdity is surpassed only by our own government, which continues to burrow its head further into the sand.

Criminals

2006-11-25T18:49:00.000-05:00

In this photo: The two people most responsible for the state of affairs in the middle east. Coincidentally, both of them made their fortunes in oil. Both of them blurred, or in fact erased, the lines between business and government in their home countries. And they seek each other out in their common time of need.

Gonna pull another fast one, Dick? Are you starting to realize that until we cut these guys off, their oil profits will continue to fund Al Qaeda and various other hostile groups? When you secretly wrote the energy bill that handed over greater profits to American oil firms for their Saudi drilling and refining operations, did you think about that?

NY Times Bashes the PS3

2006-11-21T19:35:00.000-05:00

According to Seth Schiesel's review in the NY Times, the Sony PlayStation 3 basically sucks. And Microsoft's Xbox 360, which came out a whole year earlier, is much better. Schiesel's sees Sony's downfall:

And so it is a bit of a shock to realize that on the video game front Microsoft and Sony are moving in exactly the opposite directions one might expect given their roots. Microsoft, the prototypical PC company, has made the Xbox 360 into a powerful but intuitive, welcoming, people-friendly system. Sony's PlayStation 3, on the other hand, often feels like a brawny but somewhat recalcitrant specialized computer. (Sony is even telling users to wait for future software patches to fix some of the PS3's deficiencies.) The thing is, if people want to use a computer, they'll use a computer.

Through the decades of the Walkman and the Trinitron television, Sony was renowned as the global master of easy-to-use, seamlessly powerful consumer electronics. But recently Sony seems to have lost its way, first in digital music players, in which it ceded the ergonomic high ground to Apple's iPod, and now in home-game consoles. For now Sony's technologists seem to have won out over the people who study fun.

Olbermann takes Bush to school

2006-11-21T16:16:00.000-05:00

Specifically, history class, where the lesson is Vietnam:

Spam, origins of

2006-11-21T10:30:00.000-05:00

Ever wonder what would happen if you replied to a spam message? Read this:

I knew the origin of the call because I answered the spam with a special name I'd borrowed by one of my childhood baseball heroes, and entered a rarely used spare phone line as the call-back number. The caller rang this spare line, and asked for my hero.
The telemarketer could barely speak English. But when I expressed even the slightest interest in talking, he transferred me to a supervisor, after explaining that he was "new on the job."
When quizzed, the supervisor said she worked for a marketing association in the outskirts of Los Angeles. My caller ID showed the call originating in northern Virginia. But neither of those was accurate. The call actually came from Mumbai, India, I would later discover.

I can't imagine what it would be like to be a call-center worker in Mumbai chasing leads half a world away, generated by spam. I have to imagine there would be weeks without ever getting a real live caller on the other line. Kinda makes you appreciate the day job.

A more progressive Iraq

2006-11-21T09:28:00.000-05:00

Wow, I was shocked when I read the news this morning: gay marriage legalized in Iraq. I guess freedom really is on the march:

Historically bad

2006-11-20T13:28:00.000-05:00

Juan Cole:

AP says that Secretary of State Condi Rice asserted Saturday that Iraqis only have a future if they stay within a single state. She pointed to Vietnam's success in reforming its economy and making up with the United States and held it out as a model to Iraq.

Whaaat?

Rice surely knows that the way in which Vietnam achieved national unity was . . . for the radical forces to drive out the Americans, overthrow pro-American elements, and conquer the whole country. They only went in for this capitalism thing fairly recently. Rice, a Ph.D. and former Provost of Stanford University, shouldn't be saying silly things like that Iraq should emulate Vietnam. I guess if you hang around with W. long enough, you catch whatever it is that he has.

But, should we really be suprised? As I pointed out last week, BushCo can't even grasp the most basic lessons of recent American history. Further reinforcing the point is Bush's stay in Vietnam, during which he engaged in zero tourist/get-to-know-the-country type activities. Yep, zero. Compare that to Bill Clinton's trip 6 years ago:

In 2000, tens of thousands of Hanoi's residents poured into the streets to witness the visit of the first American head of state since the end of the Vietnam War. Mr. Clinton toured the thousand-year-old Temple of Literature, grabbed lunch at a noodle shop, argued with Communist Party leaders about American imperialism and sifted the earth for the remains of a missing airman.

Who gives the BushCo response? None other than my personal favorite, Mr. Hadley:

On Saturday, Mr. Bush's national security adviser, Stephen J. Hadley, conceded that the president had not come into direct contact with ordinary Vietnamese, but said that they connected anyway.
"If you'd been part of the president's motorcade as we've shuttled back and forth," he said, reporters would have seen that "the president has been doing a lot of waving and getting a lot of waving and smiles."

"Getting a lot of waving" indeed: apparently, in Vietnam it is the custom to wave using only one's middle finger.

Kevo is back!

2006-11-20T12:55:00.000-05:00

Kevo has returned. After giving up on his promising career as a public school teacher in Brooklyn, Kevo persued the greener pastures of Philly, where he picks up his story :

I'm currently working part time as a basic skilz teacher at a mental health services agency in Philly. It's a place that inspires, teaches, and confuses me. One story explains how- Jim's story. [...]
I teach 3 classes and spend time at the agency three times a week. I arrive, and Jim is standing outside. We talk for a few minutes – his mood can be negative, middle-of-the-road, or some combination of both. He smiles sometimes. I don't mind talking, having a short conversation. That conversation always centers around him, and usually has to do with the number of people who asked: "How's program going today." He counts everything; the number of handshakes he's gotten, the number of times he's been blessed after sneezing, and the number of introductions he's been given are all important aspects of each day.

Keep the pressure up on Kevo to blog more consistently.

Rubber band balls and the TSA

2006-11-16T14:02:00.000-05:00

This is totally weird. I suggest you read the whole story, but here's an excerpt:

The cop started in on me, and I finally said, "look, I'll give you the ball. I just want to get on my flight." The TSA guy ignored me, and kept asking me what was in the center of the ball. I kept telling him it was nothing but rubber bands. The TSA took it away again and x-rayed it again and said there was something metallic in the center. I kept denying it and denying any wrong doing. [...]

This had gone on for about 1/2 an hour and I knew the flight was leaving soon. I repeated, "you can have the rubber band ball. I just need to get home, so I need to get going." The LEO said, "you're not going anywhere." At that point, I knew I was in trouble.

Why the hell are they showing (game x)?

2006-11-16T12:06:00.000-05:00

If Sundays at your house are anything like mine, they usually involve some viewing of football (that of the North American incarnation). Here in New York, Giants and Jets games reign supreme on the airwaves. But usually, one of the two networks will show a second game, which often seems chosen at random. As a New England Patriots fan, I often hope the "random" game will be the good 'ol Pats. But it often isn't. I've often wondered, is there any rhyme or reason to this? Well, I don't have an answer, but check out these NFL TV distribution maps, which give a timeslot by timeslot breakdown of what games are seen where. Very cool.

Oh, and it looks like the New York area will again miss out on the Pats this weekend.

Level-headed

2006-11-16T09:46:00.000-05:00

New Rule: There's just something about a crew cut that says, "You can trust me." This is Montana's new senator, Jon Tester. I don't know much about him. And I don't need to. His hair says it all. "I'm friendly, I'm dependable, I'm literally level-headed." If hair could smile, it would look like this. And most importantly, it's hair that says, "You will never ever, ever, ever find me snorting meth with a gay hooker."
---Bill Maher

Iraq v. Vietnam

2006-11-15T22:49:00.000-05:00

Bush is going to Vietnam. So, Iraq is the next Vietnam talk will be heard in the coming days. I actually think it's a pretty valid comparison. But there's more:

Stephen Hadley, the president's national security adviser, said a key difference is that the stakes are higher with Iraq.
"I remember a debate about what would happen if the United States left Vietnam and there were discussions about dominos, some which fell, some which didn't fall," he said of the view by some that other Southeast Asian states would fall, one by one, to communism if Vietnam was lost.
"But nobody, I think, felt that it would result in a clear and present danger to the territory of the United States," Hadley continued. "And I think one of the things that's different is I think most men and women in America believe that it is important that we not fail in Iraq, that the consequences of an Iraq that descended into chaos would be an Iraq that would be a safe haven for terrorists."

What most pisses me off about Hadley's comment is the idea that the United States cannot let any state fall into that level of disorder that it might be called a "safe haven for terrorists." He then alludes that the territories of the United States were not threatened directly during the time of Vietnam, but that the stakes in Iraq are greater because this time, defeat could mean attacks on the Homeland. He is wrong on all of this.

First of all, yes, Iraq could become this "safe haven." It already is one. There are plenty of regions of the world that, for better or worse, the collective World has let slip into that "failed state" status. See: Somalia, Sudan. In most cases, we have done nothing about it. So why now, with Iraq, do we suddenly deem it necessary to spend our blood and treasure at (truly) insane rates?

According to Mr. Hadley, it's because of what would happen in this failed state of Iraq: a spawning of Terrorist Laboritories, all filled with mad scientists working day and night to plan and execute Terror Attacks against the Homeland. Surely, Mr. Hadley believes, the Attacks would be relentless. Which, unlike Vietnam, of course (thinks Mr. Hadley), when no such threat on the Homeland existed. September 11, 2001 was a psychological blow against the United States - it made us think, "It could end for me. Any moment. Any time." No such psychological blow had struck the nation several years before the initiation of American involvement in Vietnam. Oh. Wait. Mr. Hadley, what about a little something called THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS. Think that that played into the minds of any Americans as they saw their soldiers battling those damn commies that had attacked in Korea and (almost) in Cuba. But what happened? Eventually, more and more people started realizing the whole thing was bullshit, that there was no way American involvement was helping anything get resolved. And they got mad. Eventually, they held people accountable. And they threw some of the bums out. They didn't get them all the first time, but they kept going. And they continued on until every single one of them was no longer in power.

dedicated to Mr. Hadley and Joseph Lieberman (CFL-CT)

Those Nutty Republicans!

2006-11-15T11:21:00.000-05:00

Man, those Republicans just can't help themselves! Remember back in 2001, when then Senate Majority Leader (#1 position in the Senate) Trent Lott said the following about Segregationist Strom Thurmond?

I want to say this about my state: When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years, either.

There was a national outcry and Lott was forced to resign. Even W bashed him.

So what's he up to now? Today, he was elected by his fellow Republican senators to become Senate Minority Whip, their #2 position. They have apparently decided that they need to play to their Segregationist base again. To clarify: I am not joking. Here's more.

So, what's next? Secession?

You are Richie Rich (relatively speaking, of course)

2006-11-14T15:03:00.000-05:00

Check out the global rich list to get some perspective on where your income ranks against the rest of the world. Seriously, this is really cool. And if you're reading this blog, chances are you are pretty high up there.

Famous Bowls to Remain Trans-Fatty

2006-11-13T17:09:00.000-05:00

In two previous posts, (1 and 2) I have discussed the KFC Famous Bowl and KFC's pledge to eliminate trans fats from its menu. I wondered if the pledge to eliminate the trans fats would spell the demise of the Famous Bowl. But, no! The Famous Bowl will live on :

But KFC said some products -- among them chicken pot pie, biscuits, mashed potatoes with gravy and "Famous Bowls" -- will continue to contain trans fat.
"KFC is committed to continuing to improve the nutritional quality of these items," the company's news release said, without explaining why those foods won't be trans fat-free.

To Famous Bowl fans out there, this is a tremendous victory. But does it represent true support for the Famous Bowl, or instead a repudiation of KFC's trans fat elimination policy? Surely the pundits will spend a lot of hot air on this until the new Congress convenes. Oh wait. Wrong story. Sorry.

Related: A review of the Famous Bowl at The Impulsive Buy

Boy Moron

2006-11-13T16:57:00.000-05:00

Political Wire:

The most surprising thing about last week's elections was that the conventional wisdom -- as set by the polls and political analysts -- was right on target. Even the exit polls were accurate. However, Karl Rove really thought the pollsters had it wrong.

"Two weeks before the elections, Rove showed Newsweek his magic numbers: a series of graphs and bar charts that tallied early voting and voter outreach. Both were running far higher than in 2004. In fact, Rove thought the polls were obsolete because they relied on home telephones in an age of do-not-call lists and cell phones. Based on his models, he forecast a loss of 12 to 14 seats in the House -- enough to hang on to the majority. Rove placed so much faith in his figures that, after the elections, he planned to convene a panel of Republican political scientists -- to study just how wrong the polls were."

Hah, what a moron. So much for Karl Rove creating a Republican majority that would last for decades. Try 6 years.

The Week in Review

2006-11-11T18:12:00.000-05:00

"Twenty-three years ago two men shook hands [on screen: an '83 photo of Donald Rumsfeld shaking hands with Saddam Hussein]. No one then could have guessed how closely their fates would be intertwined, or that this week would be kind of a crappy week for both of them. Just days after Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death, Donald Rumsfeld was dealt an even crueler punishment -- irrelevance." --Jon Stewart

Irony always strikes when you least expect it, of course. A week ago, the conventional wisdom was that Saddam's conviction would bolster the Bush administration, and their boy Donnie, in the run up to the elections. Today, we see it for what it is, something whose primary effect has been to further radicalize the Sunni minority in Iraq. And the once mighty Rumsfeld has had his metaphorical throat slit, Bush's sacrifice to the deity that is the Democratic takeover of Congress.

"And don't think you're off the hook, voters, you're the ones who made this bed. Now you're the ones who are going to have to move over so a gay couple can sleep in it. Tomorrow you're all going to wake up in a brave new world, a world where the Constitution gets trampled by an army of terrorist clones, created in a stem-cell research lab run by homosexual doctors who sterilize their instruments over burning American flags. Where tax-and-spend Democrats take all your hard-earned money and use it to buy electric cars for National Public Radio, and teach evolution to illegal immigrants. Oh, and everybody's high! You know what, I've had it! You people don't deserve a Republican majority. I quit." --Stephen Colbert

I appreciate Colbert setting the bar unrealistically high for us Democrats. If we do not acheive what he has outlined above, how will we be viewed by the rest of America? Only time will tell.

This Morning, The Girl

2006-11-10T21:19:00.000-05:00

For those of you craving a change of pace from all of the politics this week, I present to you something totally apolitical: a short story/multimedia piece by a friend of mine, ZoeWo. Think of it as a children's book for artistic-minded adults, currently viewable via a series of images on Flickr. Click on the first image below to begin your reading of This Morning, The Girl:

Thanks to ZoeWo.