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This Friday from 9-12 a.m. Mountain time, live from the Breckenridge Brewery on Blake Street, you can hear me on Mile High Sports Radio, AM 1510.
You can also hear it on the web at the Mile High Sports Empire webpage.
It's the home opener for the Rockies, and we'll be talking a lot of baseball. My co-host will be former professional baseball player Tad Powers of The Sandlot Radio Network.
Check it out.
The best place for alumni groups to get together and watch sports. The management always does a great job of taking care of us and accomodating us in regards to viewing space, sound and food/drink specials. The chicken wings are among the best in the Denver Metro Area.
The Denver Carolina Club has been meeting there for over six years and we would not consider going anywhere else.
http://www.smallbusin...
Met Jim Noon, Andy Anderson, Christine Burtt and Marie Rossmiller of the CRBC. They were receptive to me being there as a Libertarian.
I submitted an application to join with this note: "I attended the lunch today at Dave & Busters. I was very impressed with the group and with Sen. Mitchell. In the interests of full disclosure, I am a registered Libertarian and I am on the Libertarian Party of Colorado's Board of Directors. I am the Legislative Director, and as such, among other things, I am a volunteer lobbyist. I am looking to cultivate relationships with politicians and groups that have beliefs that overlap with the LP. I believe yours do. There is nothing on your website that couldn't be found on an LP site. So, I hope you'll accept my membership. I have no nefarious plans and I am not infiltrating your organization. I believe we can work together for a common good. Thanks, Dave Williams"
Met Lin Zinser of FIRM, Freedom and Invidual Rights in Medicine. Her group appears to be very Libertarian in nature. http://www.westandfir... Her website even quotes Leonard Piekoff right on the front page
Shawn Mitchell, State Senator, District 23, was the guest speaker. He is a good speaker and pro-business/anti-regs. He was speaking to his audience, but seems like he might be a good resource in the future. I will follow up with him. He sponsored a bill that made it more difficult for government to condemn property under "eminent domain."
http://www.mitchellfo...
http://www.state.co.u...
George Carruthers was there and spoke briefly. He is running for HD 42, the same district where Jim Frye is running. He mentioned that he is a "friend of small business," he favors "free markets and capitalism" and is pro-God. I didnt' talk to George. Wasn't sure what to say or if it was my place. I mean, what was I going to say, "Good luck, but I hope you lose and why didn't you decide this earlier, Fatboy?"
As an aside, several speakers wished the crowd a "Happy Easter," even though one guy in the audience was wearing a yarmulke. Hey, if it wasn't for his people, we would have no Easter, so I guess it makes sense. (As I re-read this, I see how someone might think that was a crucificion joke. It isn't. It's just a reference that Jesus was Jewish. Hell, if you have to explain it, it's just not funny. Too late.)
Nick Clevenstein (sp?) is running for a HD seat out of Broomfield. He claims it is a swing seat.
Keith Priolla (sp?) is running for HD 30, out of Brighton. Not a good speaker.
Heather Miller is running for SD 25. She made my eyebrows raise when she said she was concerned about growing fascism in this country and having "our liberties taken away." I agree with her, but she was speaking to a Republican group. Nevertheless, she was not booed.
Overall, the group is very courteous, although perhaps not that humorous. I lafughed a few times at obvious jokes made by Senator Mitchell, and was usually in the minority. I was like Ed McMahon to Johnny Carson. Hi-Hooooooo!
Many more women come to Republican meetings than we have at Libertarian meetings. I nominate myself to assist in recruiting more women. I will begin my search by looking in the back of magazines where they sell Russian brides. Hey, Ayn Rand was Russian.
Also, the Republicans dress far better than Libertarians. I'm just sayin'. I'm glad I wore a sportcoat with my jeans.
Several of the candidates asked for money. I think the candidate should never ask for money. The candidate should have a lackey do that for him. It is undignified to ask for money. The candidate should stay above it. Now, the lackey can beg, grovel and plead. I believe it's more effective.
And one more thing: There is a reason Republicans are good fund raisers. The lunch was a salad and sandwich buffet. Nothing fancy. It cost $20. $17 for members.
With the NCAA basketball tournament underway, I have heard multiple commentators mention how the University of South Alabama got a break by getting to play their first round game in Birmingham, Alabama.
These people have never spent any time in Alabama. Yes, the University of South Alabama plays in Alabama. Mobile, to be precise. As one might guess from the name of the university, Mobile is in the south part of the state. Birmingam is in the north part of the state.
The two cities are 258 miles apart. As a former resident of Mobile, I know that no one in Birmingham gives a rat's behind about Mobile.
Do Cincinnati residents pull for Cleveland teams? No. Neither does Birmingham care about Mobile.
It is just lazy to suggest that South Alabam got a break because they get to play in Birmingham.
They could have played in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Tallahassee, Florida; Columbus, Georgia or Jackson, Mississippi and have been closer to Mobile than they are in Birmingham.
I'm just sayin'.
According to the Rocky Mountain News' reporter Alan Gaithright, the Colorado House passed a bill legalizing Sunday alcohol sales by a 42-20.
The lone vocal opposition came from Rep. Ken Summers, R-Lakewood, and a minister.
Summers said that the House did not sufficiently consider the downside to Sunday liquor sales.
"Incidents of drunk driving will potentially increase along with domestic violence and child abuse. But dont' let that bother you, unnless you believe you have a responsiblity to safeguard the innocent from the guilty."
So, since bad things might "potentially increase," he wants to stop all responsible people from enjoying a freedom.
The Reverend seeks to prohibit behavior (buying alcohol on Sunday) that might "potentially increase" crime. There are no "innocents" nor any "guilty" until a crime has been committed.
Drinking is not a crime.
Drunk driving is a crime. Assault is a crime. The Rev fails to make that distinction. Logical people do not.
In other words, according to The Reverend, if allowing a freedom might be abused, that freedom should not be allowed. The Reverend does not trust us little people. He knows what is best. Trust him.
From a Rocky Mountain News article on a dog that was given a reprieve from a death sentence for biting a neighbor:
Rolo the German shepherd was so happy to finally get home Tuesday that he peed on his new 6-foot cedar fence.
I think dogs do that irrespective of their mood. But, hey, I'm no dog whisperer or nothin'. If they only do that when they are happy, I've never met a sad dog in my life.
Every day, it seems, some government official comes up with another way for the state to abuse its power. These guys are really creative.
Some British cops think, in order to protect security, that it is necesssary to target young kids that might turn into adult criminals, get some DNA from the future-punks, and let the government create a database for future reference.
You can't make this stuff up.
From the London newspaper The Guardian:
Gary Pugh, director of forensic sciences at Scotland Yard and the new DNA spokesman for the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), said a debate was needed on how far Britain should go in identifying potential offenders, given that some experts believe it is possible to identify future offending traits in children as young as five.
'If we have a primary means of identifying people before they offend, then in the long-term the benefits of targeting younger people are extremely large,' said Pugh. 'You could argue the younger the better. Criminologists say some people will grow out of crime; others won't. We have to find who are possibly going to be the biggest threat to society.'
Why don't we just lock up these little hooligans BEFORE they get into trouble? It would save us all a lot of hassle. And make the world a safer place.
Right?
I'm not generally much of a Rex Reed fan, but the opening line of his review of the movie "Funny Games" is classic. Reed says,
"You know what garbage is, but until you see Funny Games, a bucket of swill by Austrian wacko Michael Haneke, you have no idea how bad it can smell."
I don't think he liked it.
Nor did Village Voice critic J. Hoberman. Hoberman wrote
"''I want the spectator to think,' [director Michael Haneke has] been quoted as saying—although with regard to Funny Games, his hope seems as touchingly utopian as the notion that an illiterate might teach people to read."
Ouch. And clever.
Apparently really bad movies bring out the best in critics.
Other thoughts on the movie:
"...as the film progresses, it becomes painfully clear there’s no real point to the story..."
- Derek Elley, Variety
" ... It's thought-provoking material but I suspect the audience is small that won't be repulsed by what's on screen..." and "... The bleak, nihilistic style is what makes Funny Games so difficult to endure..." and also "...Funny Games is not entertainment but it is an experience."
- James Berardinelli, ReelViews.net (and this guy LIKED the movie)
"... Haneke's technique is so quirky, so different, that it demands attention and, yes, praise. If you can make yourself sit through it."
- Bill Goodykoontz (I didn't make up that name), The Arizona Republic (this guy liked it, too)
"Before the film is over, you will feel dirty in a way you never have..."
- Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com (and yet, he gave it Five Stars. Out of Five.)
"...Haneke confirms he is a Eurotrash art fraud..." and "...The only ambiguity in Funny Games lies in who’s most abused here, the characters or the audience?"
Armand White, New York Press (Armand did not like it much.)
"...Don’t see the film if you have a shred of humanity..."
- Kyle Smith, KyleSmithOnline
I will be filling in Thursday and Friday morning this week for Tim Neverett in "The Press Box" on Mile High Sports Radio from 6-9 a.m.
Chad Andrus, formerly of The Fan and now the play-by-play voice of the NBA-D League Colorado 14ers will be my co-host.
You can hear us in the Denver metro area on AM 1510 and in Northern Colorado on AM 1570. You can hear us on the web everywhere else right here. Just click on the "Listen Now" button.
The studio line is 303-297-1510. Give us a call.
Drew Carey:
"You should never depend on the government for your retirement, your financial security, for anything. If you do, you're screwed."
According to the Associated Press,
Former President Clinton highlighted his wife's support for reforming national flood insurance and for rebuilding wetlands in a town nearly wiped off the map by Hurricane Katrina as he campaigned ahead of next week's Democratic presidential primary in Mississippi.
I have a better idea. Do not build in wetlands in any area where hurricanes routinely hit.
And if you do, do not act shocked when you get flooded. And especially do not expect people that were smart enough to build on higher ground to pay for your flood damage.
A New Jersey woman (not surprisingly, a lawyer) has sued several Atlantic City casinos for not stopping her from gambling. She lost lots of money at the tables, then defrauded her clients then got disbarred.
She claims that the casinos "had a duty of care to me." Even if they did, which is doubtful, their duty to her is miniscule in comparison to the duty she had for herself.
It is called personal responsibility. And we do not demand enough of it.
In his Friday, February 29 column, Bernie laments the possibility that the Chicago Cubs might sell the naming the rights to Wrigley Field.
Bernie thinks “the name evokes a gentle warmth and a sense of connection, to another time, to a vanished innocence, to a simpler age.”
Vanished innocence? Simpler age?
The innocence of an age where racism and segregation ruled the big leagues? The innocence of an age where Cubs fans and other Chicago residents worked in the meat packing industry described by Upton Sinclair in “The Jungle?” The innocence of an age where dead people voted and political machines made democracy a joke? The innocence of an age where Al Capone and other gangsters shot each other down in the streets while cops and judges looked the other way?
Bernie is delusional. There never was any innocence to vanish, and if the age were simpler, it was simpler in the wrong ways.
His nonsense continues when he writes that “beyond the money, beyond the profit is the simple violation of affection, the detached indifference to loyalty and devotion, the disregard for Cub fans’ perpetual forgiveness.” If naming rights help the Cubs sign a dominant pitcher and win the World Series, Cubs’ fans’ affection, loyalty and devotion will be rewarded and there will be no reason for forgiveness.
Bernie misremembers history when he glamorizes Tinkers to Evers to Chance and claims that Babe Ruth called his shot in Wrigley. Tinkers, Evers and Chance are remembered because of a poem, not because they were great players. Ruth’s “Called Shot” is as real as Paul Bunyan and his Big Blue Ox: Legendary, but fictional.
Come to think of it, Bernie’s column is fictional, too.
