More Kazakhstan

About five days later than promised. So after the US praised Nazarbayev for his moves to "strengthen democracy in Kazakhstan," which included making himself President for life, he issues a warrant for his son-in-law's arrest. Who happens to be a political rival. I'm happy that this story is getting covered in outlets as large as Time, but distressed at the number of headlines that reference Borat. Way to go, world. Don't take this seriously.

Why do we latch onto news items and add them to our policy agenda once it's too late? Darfur is completely out of control, largely because the West allowed a civil war to be fought in Sudan for the last 30 years. I was not even alive when things started to go down in 1976. And this is not an assualt on a political party or any specific politician. it might just be time to step up and realize that some countries in the world need our help. Pronto. Somalia is a good example. Times good in Somalia right now? No, they are indeed not.

We're very proud of our nation. Yet we refuse to use it for good. We have a large group of people trying to remove another group that is quickly becoming the backbone of our economy. We're convinced that no military evil could ever happen on our soil, yet we spend billions on homeland security. This list could go on and on. Are we teetering on the edge of something really bad here?

On Memorial Day

Another Memorial weekend has come and gone. We left the house about three times. This is too bad, because THERE IS NO TRAFFIC on Memorial Day weekend. The DC area is like a college campus a lot of the time. This is especially noticeable on holiday weekends and in the months of July and August. I think there were 2 other people at the grocery store when I was there last night. I'm serious about that. It was eerily quiet. I think that must be what grocery shopping is like when you're a celebrity.

It was a big weekend. It centered totally around the youth, which surprisingly, is not always the case. I put together his SuperYard (massive playpen) today, put up a baby gate in the upstairs hallway Saturday (which involved adding studs to a wall), and today we went to the pool for the first time. He had a blast. There was much splashing involved and a lot of worship of the "big kids." For those of you with no children, there is a lot of love for all kids over the age of 3 when you're a baby. He was particularly impressed with their swimming races.

I'm going to abort this now. There will be another post about Kazakhstan tomorrow. Sleep tight, America.

Follow the fallout as it happens...

All your Red Wings postseason mourning/griping/throwing under the bus here. Enjoy.

So Maybe Jimmy Carter Was Right?

Almost as if on cue, the Bush Administration made baffling foreign policy statements yesterday regarding Kazakhstan's constitutional reforms. Since the world had the first half of the week to pummel President Carter's statement calling Dubya the "worst in history" in foreign relations, I guess Dubya thought he should fight back by... validating the statement.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Kazakhstan beyond what Borat brought you, let's get friendly. Here's the wiki entry for starters. The Kazakh president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, is basically Stalin Lite. He's more a dictator than a president, and the new reforms would allow him to be president for life. To be fair, the reforms give the parliament more power... on paper, at least. Nazarbayev is the president in a system which allows the president to be nearly authoritarian. Human rights violations are rampant in Kazakhstan, the Soviet-laid infrastructure is crumbling (let's all gasp in unison), and the country is believed to be the home of much of the USSR's "missing" nuclear fuel and weapons that was lost was the country dissolved in 1991. Relations between Russia and Kazakhstan can be tense, not particularly good since Russia uses a site in southern Kazakhstan to launch its rockets, which we also rely heavily on to keep the good ol' International Space Station operational.

Kazakhstan also produces oil, natural gas, and a lot of metals. Let's hear it for development based on extractive industries! Benin, Zambia, Upper Volta/Burkina Faso, how'd that go for you guys? Wait, you're all tapped out and didn't really see any economic gain from the decades of your land being destroyed? Bummer.

What the United States needs to do is look at a case like Kazakhstan and help. In 1991, it had a decent infrastructure, a relatively well-educated populace, and the chance to start a government from scratch. And they did it largely on their own and did it the Russian way, that is, a very small portion of the population is now wildly successful, while your average Kazakh brings home about $500/month. Kazakhstan could have been a great democratic success story for the United States. Instead we let it fester, allowed a dictator to run the show, and are now forced to repay him for the use of his land in the war, and for the fossil fuels he provides us.

It is disgusting to see the current Administration laud these reforms when our troops are fighting a war started so we could depose a dictator. But will Americans ever know this?

How Over Is It?

For those of you who are Red Wings fans, you know the drill. For those of you who are not, it's time to get yourself acquainted with an annual tradition. When the Wings don't win the Stanley Cup (and keep in mind they've won 3 since 1997 and are widely considered the best team in the NHL over the last 2 decades), it's assumed that somebody has to go, that they're a problem and are holding the team back from reaching "the next level." Jimmy Carson. Tim Cheveldae. Bryan Murray. Chris Osgood. Paul Coffey. Ray Sheppard. Curtis Joseph. Dave Lewis. Manny Legace. I could go on. All casualties of not making it to "the next level." It's like a turkey farm on the third weekend of November. Somebody's going, because they couldn't make it to "the next level" of turkeydom.

So what happens next? Will next year be the dreaded rebuilding year? It's too early for that, I think. There are lots of things to worry about between now and then. The Pistons. The Tigers. Michigan football. DC United (my favorite local team). The start of the NFL season, I guess?

Front and center is the issue of what to do about my cable subscription. I got the following response from Cox Communications yesterday to my 15th (I think) email regarding this situation:

Dear Valued Cox Customer:

Thank you for contacting our Cox Northern Virginia Online Customer Care
Team.

We are currently working to add ESPNU. While we do not have a timetable
we can say we are in talks to add this channel with in the year.

If you need additional information on other Cox products or services,
please visit our web site at http://www.cox.com/fairfax
We hope that we have been able to provide you with the information you
requested.  If we have not, or if we can be of any additional service to
you, please do not hesitate to contact us again.

My name is Margaret
Thank you for choosing Cox Communications, Your Friend in the Digital
Age!

Sincerely,
The Cox Northern Virginia Online Customer Care Team

Comments: Hi,
I'm wondering if there is any timetable to add ESPNU and/or CSTV to your
channel lineup.  Cox customers in other parts of the country have these
channels, why not Fairfax?
Thanks.
IAmOver13: yes
submit:   Submit

Progress! But no response to the CSTV question. College hockey. I need college hockey. So as I shop for the new TV for upstairs, I can look forward to this.

However, today, I was disturbed by this. Not cool. Big Ten Network will get second choice for the football game of the week? I missed ONE Michigan football game last year with only a basic cable subscription. I was anticipating a similar situation this year. Not if some stupid "regional" network steals it away! I'm guessing Cox won't add Big Ten Network in Fairfax County, VA?

Southeast Michigan Holds Its Collective Breath

With the economy in Michigan in horrid shape and no signs of a comeback imminent, sports have taken on a larger role in a state that was already crazy about its teams. So understandably, there is much fretting taking place on the state of the NBA and NHL playoffs. Let's start with the Pistons, shall we?

Here's Mitch Albom's column from this morning's Free Press. Basic gist: the Pistons were one Donyell Marshall shot away from a loss. And LeBron James didn't play that well. And furthermore, LeBron is pretty much the team. Zydrunas Ilgauskas (who is apparently only 32?!? Maybe I'm getting him confused with Sabonis?) is a rickety mess. Donyell Marshall is a stereotypical Timberwolves first round pick. Look at that list for a minute. Felton Spencer? Laettner? J.R. Rider? Paul Grant? William Avery? Ndudi Ebi? And Garnett just sticks out. It's crazy. But the Cavs. Does anyone other than LeBron have the talent of the top 8 in the Pistons rotation? They should be winning these games by 15-30 points.

What I like about this is that everyone's freaking out about LeBron's decision to pass to Marshall with 10 seconds left. Please, national news media, continue to ignore the Pistons and the fact that they are nearly blowing games to teams that are in danger of demotion to the NBDL.

And now, your Detroit Red Wings. The team that apparently could outshoot the 90-91 Québec
Nordiques 75-12 and lose because Ron Tugnutt made some amazing saves. Every year. "Well, they just ran into a hot goalie." Every year. When will a Wings goalie be "hot"? Why weren't these excuses made for Glen Hanlon? Or Cheveldae? Or Vernon or Osgood or Hasek the first time? We know Giguere is great. But you can't get 2 out of 50 shots past him and Hasek can't face more than 20 without giving up 3? Here's the plan, guys: SCORE. Get Hasek 3 goals. 3. And you'll win.

Wings in 7. Pistons in 5. The Tigers better keep chuggin.' I'm predicting 98 wins and a division title there.

Polar Dancing

Hmmmm. The Governor of Missouri went to BIO 2007 earlier this month to promote Missouri as a "hub" for life science, yet the Missouri Life Sciences Research Trust Fund, a sizeable chunk of funds designated for spending on, guess what, the life sciences, is held up in the State Assembly because state legislators aren't comfortable with 9 percent of the funds being used for stem cell research. This is holding the state of Missouri back economically and tempting comparisons with the state of Kansas, which has for several periods of time during the last 10 years, attempted to teach intelligent design AS SCIENCE in K-12 science classes statewide.

Real quick here, as points of interest,
1. I do not believe that all principles, moral or social, should take a backseat in the name of scientific progress.
2. I am a fairly devout Christian who believes that the creation story detailed in the Bible is metaphoric and symbolic.

Now this post is not about what I think of what Missouri's doing or what Kansas has done. That was context for a far greater problem, polarity. For some reason, Americans believe that everything has a clear-cut answer. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that we're seemingly always less than 20 feet away from an Internet connection, which with the click clack of a few keys, provides us with any information we're looking for. Can't remember who won the 1975 World Series? It's right here. How many seasons of Family Matters aired on ABC vs CBS? Find that here.

Presidential candidates in both the 2004 and 2007/8 (what year are we actually going to be voting in anyway?) have strived to disprove their opponents as flip-floppers, one of the more ridiculous developments on this whole front. The latest accusation comes from John McCain and is directed at Mitt Romney over his stance on illegal immigration. There are some great quotes on this one, but in the spirit of not making things easy to find and therefore clearly defined, I'll let you, my intrepid readers, find those. Bush's whole campaign tactic (yep, there was only one) in 2004 was that John Kerry was a dreaded flip-flopper! Meanwhile, the man who was elected President in that election seems to have executed some solid flip-flops in his life on issues such as whether cocaine is OK or not, whether we were justified in going to war in Iraq, and so on.

I would urge everyone, and this is as a resident of the Washington, DC metropolitan area (where politics is essentially the hand that feeds me), to not buy into all this political hype. I know it's hard. Every single media outlet is shoving campaign coverage down our throats at all times. But there are gray areas.

So in closing, what about stem cells and evolution? Please make an educated decision as to how you feel about each. Science and religion can coexist in our society. They have for thousands of years. Without ranting, there are museums here, in Washington, DC, where you can view pottery from what is today China that is over 7000 years old. And don't give me the "argon/carbon dating isn't accurate argument." It's accurate. The stuff was made prior to 5000 B.C. However, there are no labels on the pottery saying "If you believe this is really old, then you must denounce your faith." Just because no one first-hand witness can explain in detail how humans evolved doesn't make evolution untrue. Same goes for stem cells. Stem cell research doesn't have to conflict with your religious beliefs.

Maybe this went in circles. I hope not, and I sincerely hope that you will take something from this. Sorry for all the seriousness so early in the week.

Coxrox.com

The title is the official website of 2008 Republican Presidential candidate John Cox. He has won my heart as the most interesting story of the week, courtesy of this link I saw on Fishbowl DC this morning. Why does this stuff happen here, in the "most democratic nation on Earth?" I guess you could argue that this wouldn't even be possible in most other countries without a jail term. But at the same time, these debates are so worthless, why not let the guy in?

Which brings me to my next point: the debate. For those of you scattered across the U.S. and A., please be assured that those of us "in Washington" are not enjoying this garbage any more than you. We have lives outside of politics. I can admit to watching C-SPAN at home sometimes, but that's mostly the call-in shows on Saturday and Sunday mornings so I have some inkling of what the 295 million people who don't live here are thinking about. You know what I'm watching on TV tonight? The Pistons game. And then I'm switching over to the Red Wings game at 9 when it starts. Debate? Please. The only debate that matters today is whether the Wings can play better in their own zone. If any current (or even former, just relay this message to them - Brad McCrimmon and John Chabot, this means you) Red Wings are reading this, PLEASE STOP TURNING THE PUCK OVER AT THE BLUE LINE.

It is disturbing beyond all belief that Fox News Channel will not allow C-SPAN to carry the debate at any point, live or taped. C-SPAN is available to any American with cable TV, and to many who don't have cable TV. It is a public service. I have yet to meet the individual who would refer to FNC as such. When the media can control who's in the debate and who sees it, there may be some issues with your country's political system. To quote the illustrious Larry the Cable Guy, "What the hell is this, Russia?" I tried to find a .wav file for that one. I really did. "You can find anything on the Internet." Except Larry the Cable Guy .wav files, apparently.

In garden news, it's darn hot today. 80 degrees right now, probably on the way to 87-90. I plan on grilling ribs, drinking copious quantities of MGD and watering the plants tonight in the stale summer air that is moving in as we speak. Last night, I heard crickets and frogs for the first time this year. It's go time for summer. The new mosquito repeller will also be tested this evening. That $24.95 purchase is the key to the youth's ability to play in the backyard this year, so it best be working. I'm sure there's some text on the box somewhere that says it won't work if the humidity is above 85 percent. Let's hope not, together.

On goodbyes

My boss' last day is today. The implications of this are great around here. Management has announced plans to list the position at a level far above that of the candidates who would be interested. Couple that with the fact that my boss has been here 8 years (through a lot of changes), and she's been a great asset to this place, and people are upset.

Goodbyes are hard. I haven't even worked here a year, and I feel like things are going to be a lot different. It's that awful series finale feeling. There are going to be hugs and freeze frames and maybe someone from the past involved who left the show because they weren't being paid enough, but came back because they still had enough goodwill left for the final episode.

I've had two of these moments in my relatively short career. Usually they involve me. This has me wondering what's in my future.

Marking Ears

This morning, i sat in a half-full (optimism, eh?) auditorium to listen to Dr Jack Marburger, Science
Adviser to the President. He slammed the Congressional earmark process, which is easy enough to do that callers to Washington Journal can do it with some force. The Bush Administration has made it very clear that they don't approve of earmarks, and they remove all of them from their budget request every February. This is standard. It's NOT standard to reject them publicly while overrunning the spending limits you endorsed.

The big problem with picking on earmarks and those who rely on them to direct funding is that most Members of Congress are elected because of what they promise to bring to their district/state in terms of jobs or money. I'd like to meet the person who would fight against the appropriation of an extra $250,000 for their local zoo and say, "No thanks, let's tale that money and use it for something more important, even if that thing is 2500 miles away." Country's greatest need, this would be called.

Think about the way you made your decision on which candidate(s) to vote for last November. Many people choose based on party alone, but after that, people want to vote for someone who will deliver financially to their town. Your local university/junior college/community college may have an entire department or institute funded by an earmark. The park down the street from your house may have been created by an earmark. So before you blast earmarks or Members of Congress for appropriating them, take a look around and see what your town would be like without them.

M'aider

Ah, yes. May Day. The day when my ancestors danced around that Maypole in the town square. I just became aware now in looking for that link that May Day is a big socialist party now in Germany and Scandinavia. How sweet is that? The immigrant community is having marches here today, I think. But I'm not sure. I am very torn about this. The immigration fascination that swept the country in 2005 and 2006 seems to be dying out. It might be a good idea for people to just stay home today and quit drawing attention to themselves. But the very nature of a demonstration does not lend itself to chillin.'

To abruptly change the topic, I stayed up again to watch the Wings lose. Times are not good for them. If Holmstrom can come back and be close to 100 percent, things may change. Nobody's going after rebounds. Not that Nabokov leaves a lot of them, but come on, guys. Crash the net. Hasek needs 3 goals to win. Please shoot for that total. That said, what is Hasek's problem? He's a whole 3 years younger than my dad (though I will concede he is in FAR better shape), so maybe he shouldn't be flopping around like that. This team is lucky last night wasn't embarrassing. Could have been 4 or 5 to 1.

My Wings rant for the day is about the goalie position. I'm concerned about the Wings's apparent inability to develop a goalie. Osgood is really it for the last 15-20 years. Legace is OK, but he's 34 and the Wings didn't really develop him. Other than Osgood, who's the best product who spent their formative years in Detroit? Tim Cheveldae? Yeah, I went there. And I might be right. I was looking at their draft history yesterday on hockeydb.com and they just don't take goalies. Even UM or MSU products. Or Lake Superior State products. Take a local guy every now and then, please. Steve Shields could have been a huge star in Detroit. Or Marty Turco. For all the position players they develop well, you'd think a goalie would slip through now and then. But it hasn't happened since Osgood, and people ran him out of town once already.

I'm disappointed in my lack of serious posts lately. Maybe one will follow this... or maybe not. You just never know.