The cost of a ticket to history

by the squid

What do the Presidential Election, Belmont Stakes and the nightly news have in common?

Hype.

The horse racing scene gets but a few days a year where it is fashionable to be at the stables and looking over betting sheets, when novice betters get to try their hand at a sport that normally only consumes the thoughts and dollars of a select few.

If you have ever gone the a race track on “non-event” days, you know what I mean. The environment is seedy, stale and depressing.

However, during these few times when it is acceptable to get on your Sunday best for a Saturday event that mixes the rich with the poor, all have the expectation of witnessing history. This year, the media, sports-minded sportsmen, trainers and laymen were all assured a blowout.

When the weak act strong…

by the squid

Congratulations to Senator Obama on sealing the Democratic nomination, he can finally exhale. However, he now needs to make the most important decision of his entire campaign - selecting a Vice President.

Sun Tzu implored strategists: When you are weak, act strong, when you are strong, act weak.

Senator Obama is now strong, but he has a very, very soft underbelly: experience. This is not said to undermine his historic win, as Obama has just beaten his most difficult rival.

However, it is important to remember what happened when Obama ran for his Senate seat in Illinois.

New York State is just silly…

by the squid

Today New York State signed into law legislation which would require pedophiles to register their screen names and e-mail addresses that so they can not be used when trolling for children on the social networking sites. I am not a fan of pedophiles, they are the lowest of the low. However, I am a fan of human nature.

My spidy-sense makes me think that those who are trolling on social websites posing as teenagers looking to “score” with the under-age are not the “follow-the-rules” type of people. The new law demands that the CONVICTED sex offender notify the proper authorities within ten days of changing or adding a new screen-name or e-mail address.

“Under the new law, registered sex offenders must also disclose all their user names and e-mail accounts for the purposes of chat, instant messaging, or social networking. If they create any new online profiles, they must notify the state within 10 days or face prosecution for a new felony. “

That is just silly.

New York Football Giants and The Democrats

by the squid

I am a New York Giants fan. I am more Democrat than Republican, but I do want a Democrat to win the White House. However, I am definitely a Giants fans.

All the Giants fans I know were happy, thrilled in fact, to see the Giants get to this years Super Bowl. We all gathered together, wore our jerseys and settled in for a nice Rocky vs. The Russian battle. But as Giants fans, we have gotten pretty used to having a talented football team find novel ways to blow leads or execute plays poorly and finally lose games which should have been won.

We saw it with the Panthers a few years ago; and lets not forget Junkin, the long snapper who flubbed two long snaps in a row in a tie game with no time left; that game ended with a wayward field goal attempt. As a Giants fans, one does not celebrate until the score is in our favor and the clock reads “0:00.”

This year, the Patriots with their golden boy quarterback Tom Brady and an undefeated season looked to smack around the Giants and waltz into the history books. We Giants fans thought the same and only hoped the loss would be admirable and tolerable. We were prepared, as Giants fans always are, for a new and novel defeat. As the loss comes, we always lean back and say, “Well, that was interesting. How will we lose next week.”

I feel the same about the Democrats. Somehow, someway, they always find a way to lose and I feel by having both Hillary and Barack running they will do just that; Lose a White House bid to more of the same Republican propaganda. The media loves that both Hillary and Barack are running. It makes for GREAT television, and it makes for great conversation. Hillary and Barack are breaths of fresh air in a stagnant room, but the reality is that people - voters - are NOT rational.

No Justice, No Peace…

by the squid

I watched the morning news today. There was a segment about the group of girls viscously beating up another girl to make a YouTube video.

Amongst the interviewers, someone posed the question: Why would you record yourself committing a crime and then post it on the internet for all to see?

A rational thought, if The Squid says so himself.

However, I have to think that in this land of instant celebrity, lack of personal responsibility, lack of respect for laws, as well as unbalanced penalties within the justice system, teens and young adults simply have no thought, or clue, of penalty or prosecution.

Case in point, two blondes walk into a bank….and rob it of $11,000 and go on a shopping spree. Once caught and convicted, one is sentenced to ten years probation, the other two years in jail and eight years probation.

Last I checked, robbing a bank was a federal offense worthy of some serious jail time.

The Squid Returns…

by the squid

Many have not heard of the Humboldt squid, or “red devil” as known by divers and fishermen. However those who know, have lived in fear of this red flashing animal, with tentacles, an anti-social attitude, and attacks without provocation. It travels in packs, much like the politicos in Albany NY, once led by Govenor Eliot Spitzer.

A mysterious sea creature up to 7 feet long, with 10 arms, a sharp beak and a ravenous appetite, has invaded ocean waters off Northern California. Packs of fierce Humboldt Squid attack nearly everything they see, from fish to scuba divers. Marine biologists are working to discover why they’ve headed north from their traditional homes off South America.

Video: http://www.kqed.org/quest/television/view/774

The Humboldt squid is small, ugly, and ruthless. It attacks for no other reason than to attack. It is fun. It is in its blood. It is what it does. And it does so, because it knows it can. Much like those in power, the elite among us, who abuse their status because they can.

Made in France - False Statements

by the squid

So finally, some poor graduate students were asked to over all the rhetoric leading up the the Iraq war. They found 935 false statements.

“The study counted 935 false statements in the two-year period. It found that in speeches, briefings, interviews and other venues, Bush and administration officials stated unequivocally on at least 532 occasions that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction or was trying to produce or obtain them or had links to al-Qaida or both.”