Calipari to Kentucky

Big news of the day besides the Final Four is reports that former UMass coach John Calipari will leave Memphis and for the University of Kentucky. Talk about everything coming full circle, he is about to take the job at the school that derailed one of his national championship runs. Keep in mind that there has always been talk that Rick Pitino, the former Kentucky coach that one that championship, would eventually coach at UMass, his alma mater. Wouldn't it be ironic if those two met in an NCAA Tournament game in the future. Then again, I don't think the media, which he included in his "fellowship of the miserable" would ever welcome him warmly back to New England. As we know he won't have Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish waiting for him in the gym on the first day of practice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICdXAmd1TWA

Auto industry restructuring

Today the Obama administration announced they are going to work with the auto manufacturers to restructure their companies so that they do not go completely belly up. First, they requested that the CEO of GM Rick Wagoner resign as part of their restructuring. He does not get severance pay for this (hallelujah) but does get his $20 million dollar retirement package. Although that might sound outrageous, retirement usually is not contingent upon performance and not giving him what he is entitled to this way could pose legal challenges from Wagoner and that is not a headache that the administration or the company wants to deal with.

There is also outrage (from the left) that the Obama administration is stepping in to help the auto industry put their house in order in terms of management, budget, staffing, etc. However, they are not doing this to the financial services area. The auto industry, compared to financial services, is much more centralized as opposed to finance which can include retail banking, investment banking, insurance, loans, mortgages and lines of credit and is therefore very broad. There are also many more financial service firms than auto manufacturers for them to work with. Moreover, working in finance requires a totally different skill set and mindset than government or even product manufacturing. Therefore at this point it is difficult for them to "takeover" the financial services side. However, the door is still open to request that financial service executives resign as many of the largest banks have just as a pivotal role as the auto manufacturers.

He's baaack....

Tiger Woods wins his sixth Bay Hill title today. He overcame a six shot deficit to beat Sean O'Hair by one stroke and did it with a birdie on the 72nd hole. Woods and O'Hair were playing together in the final group. Like with everyone else, his Tigerness made a few big shots on the front nine, O'Hair got rattled and made a few mistakes down the stretch and then Tiger "came in for the prey." You can almost write the scenario before they start playing! If anyone has looked at the calendar the Masters is almost two weeks away. Right now the only question is if President Obama comes down to congratulate Mr. Woods and offer him a position in the administration (many of which have yet to be filled).

NCAA Tournament weekend wrapup

The Final Four is all set in the NCAA Tournament with Michigan State, Connecticut, Villanova, and North Carolina all set to play for the championship in Detroit next weekend. I had three out of four picks correct in my bracket. I cannot get over what a thrilling game on Saturday night between Pitt and Villanova. It was one of the best tournament games ever played and everyone knew it was going to come down to the last show no matter what. What makes it even more exciting was that it was played at the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston so to add to the city's exciting sports lore. My boss is a Pitt alumnus so he will be even less thrilled with the outcome than I was costing myself a Final Four pick.

Scope it out 5K

I had a great time today running the Scope it Out 5K along Pennsylvania Ave in downtown Washington and set a personal best by just four seconds. I did not think the net time would adjust generously enough to give it to me but today was my lucky day. The weather was cloudy and misty and the sun did not come out until later. This was not the worst as the cooler weather was better for running. After the race we went to brunch at a new restaurant called Founding Farmers-a place owned by local farmers and all food is brought in from local farms. The breakfast was very good but none of us were thrilled with the service. It is near the George Washington campus so they hopefully will get their act together in time for all the parents coming during May's commencement.

Mitch McConnell confident

Sen. Mich McConnell of Kentucky said that without having to deal with the deadweight of the unpopularity of President Bush the Republicans have a better chance to fight their way back to the majority in the Senate and the House.
I agree that Bush and a lot of the unpopular policies of his administration had something to do with the downfall of Congress and ultimately the White House for the Republicans. However, unless they sign on to legislation that does help to fix the economy or, more importantly, introduce their own legislation to do this, there is no way they will get back to power in any branch of government.
While the Republicans might be just as happy as the Democrats that Bush is out of office (even though McCain did not get elected) that is not a remedy to solving all of the problems that our nation is having. The American people still expect both sides to work together to deal with all of these issues and the expectations are higher now that the Congress does not have to deal with Bush's failed policies.

NFL Player kept from seeing dying mother in law

Houston Texans running back Ryan Moats was pulled over for running a red light in Dallas and was kept in a hospital parking lot while his mother-in-law was dying of breast cancer and he did not get to see her until after she passed. The officer used extremely overzealous behavior and even pulled out a gun and almost had them arrested and showed no emphathy when Moat tried to tell him his mother-in-law was dying. The traffic stop took over 13 minutes until they were finally let go. Moats did not identify himself as an NFL player.

This is obviously an example of racial profiling. While you cannot be prepared for every situation in law enforcement you would think that the officer would show some discretion but some police feel the need to take power into their own hands in situations like these.

Pool updates

Picking a lot of favorites has done me well so far in the March Madness pool. I am currently holding second place by myself. As former Massachusetts governor and presidential candidate Mitt Romney would say, I am in a position to get "another silver". Come on, unless you are Mitt Romney who wants another silver -especially in the APPA office pool. The tournament resumes tonight.

Flooding in Fargo

My thoughts and prayers are with the people of Fargo, ND as they battle the flood waters in the Red River of the North. Often times these types of floods happen in the summer but in this case they happen in the winter and they have to deal with cold and snowy weather. A major factor is the ice that is blocking the river. It will be critical to get that broken but once they do it should help in the effort to ease the flooding. MSNBC.com had a good article about the North Dakota State men's basketball team and how they were in the NCAA Tournament last week and this week they are trying to save their city. What a difference a week makes for them.

Correction: There was so much flooding the ice blockage was affecting the Missouri River near Bismarck, ND. The cause of the flooding on the Red River of the North is rapid melting of snow and ice.

Obama's press conference

I did not see President Obama's press conference this past evening but the recap of it said that he was comfortable with taking a lot of tough questions and discussing complex issues. It is good to see him putting himself out there and reaching out to the people as that is what the president is supposed to do. Critics are going to say that they are tired of hearing him say that it is going to take time to fix the economy but with the problems that we are facing that is the truth-it is a multifaceted issue that requires not just one policy initiative but several of these. He is balancing that by reassuring people that it will succeed and doing it in a presidential manner such as that of FDR and even JFK. Not to mention he has to deal with foreign policy and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well- just as long as he avoids late night comedy and does not keep updating people on how his March Madness bracket is going. In the meantime, the Republicans were having a $6 million dollar fundraiser with heavy appetizers instead of watching the press conference-not the best way to react to policies you probably will want to challenge.

Farewell Curt Schilling

Yesterday Curt Schilling announced his retirement from Major League Baseball. Curt was one of the top five postseason pitchers of all time and his heroics in the 2004 World Series with the bloody sock was stuff of legend. The championships were truly a team effort but it was Schilling's iron will and determination to "break an 86 year old curse" that will make him one of the biggest heroes in Boston sports. I look forward to listening to him continue to speak his mind on the issues of the day-maybe he will have his own talk show at some point! He even delivered an extremely wholehearted congratulations to Barack Obama on his blog after the 2008 election particularly since he was always a staunch Republican and McCain supporter which I appreciated.

March madness thoughts

We are down to the sweet sixteen. Everything has mainly gone to form. While there have been some close calls, the top 4 seeds in the East and South regions have advanced. In the West the top 3 seeds and the 5 seed are still alive. The only double digit seed is Arizona and since they are a program that has won a national championship and been to 4 Final Fours they aren't going to get anyone buzzing with Cinderella excitement even if they do in fact go all the way.

As far as my bracket I did not pick too many upsets and thought it would get busted up because of that. As mentioned there have been very few upsets and I am still very much alive. If your final four picks make it into the Sweet 16 you are always doing well. In the first round I went picked 25 out of 32 games correctly and the second I picked 13 out of 16 games so I should be near the lead if not on top with the early office pool results. I am probably jinxing myself but many people are out of contention at this point with their grids. Then again the more points are at stake the closer we get to the championship game.

Bad week for Obama

This was not a good week for President Obama. After the whole AIG mess, he went on Jay Leno and while they were talking about the bowling alley at the White House, he said that he could bowl about as good as a Special Olympian. This immediately prompted a statement from Press Secretary Gibbs saying good things about the Special Olympics...the whole nine yards kind of thing. I still defend him for going on the show as a way to open up to the American people but after that faux pas he needs to realize he is the president and the only time he should be part of late night comedy shows is during the monologue. I also think it was okay for him to fill out a bracket as another way to open up. Instead of sitting in his ivory tower he did something that most Americans look forward to doing and showed that he is the First Fan. It is not like he spent the whole day putting together the tournament field like the tournament selection committee.

More thoughts on AIG

Senator Dodd admitted that the provision that would restrict bonuses as a result of federal aid was taken away at the request of the administration yesterday-particularly the treasury department. This would have been applied retroactively to any financial companies that received federal aid. I am shocked and disappointed that the administration would do this. It sure seems like a long way since election night. Things are on thin ice with some of the stuff they are doing. At least Obama came out and said that he was taking full responsibility for what happened. Also, there is a bill that was passed in the House that heavily taxes these bonuses. The bill is partly a "mea culpa" on government's part but it also answers to the voice of the people who are outraged that AIG executives could get bonuses for screwing up the company.

Obama is also going to be on Jay Leno tonight-an unprecedented move by a sitting president. It is part of his agenda for openness and reaching out to the people. If there is any president that would be up for a late night talk show it is him. The atmosphere in the studio should be interesting.

March Madness is underway

The games have tipped off today. The afternoon set went okay for me but there is still plenty of time to go. I know some years when the first round went to form and then the weekend games on the second round came and my bracket got busted up. The big scare today was Memphis just surviving against Cal State Northridge. UConn and North Carolina moved on easily as well.

Frustration

MSN Hotmail has been down all day. There better be a very good reason for this and I hope there isn't anything important in my inbox. With my luck there probably is.

AIG

Today in the soap opera of insurance bust AIG we found out that they are using bailout money in order to pay bonuses to the management that screwed the company up. As I have said in previous posts, most good working class Americans (such as myself) know that if you screw up royally at your job on a regular basis, you get a cardboard box and are asked to leave. Not only are they letting these people keep their jobs, they get bonuses that would make more Americans financially secure for the foreseeable future. They said they need to do this to "retain and recruit the best talent." If this is their idea of the best and the brightest, I cannot imagine the standards they set for the lousy talent!

I was concerned about an interview that Rep. Barney Frank did this evening on MSNBC. He said that the government was a "majority owner" of AIG given the bailout they were given and should go into the company and let them know that they should not be giving these bonuses out. While I know that the Treasury Department is working on trying to get some of the money back
from them, Frank using language like "majority owner" when talking about the government is very strong language and will turn a lot of people off from the administration's agenda and signal the possibility of socialism. I still they there need to be three strong sectors that work together to resolve public problems. Those that are in the center or even the right will think it is a strong move towards communism. The reality is we are only responsible for giving them the money to fix their mess and they needed to get themselves up for using it to manage themselves out of it. Also a staff shakeup might actually be okay for this!

Kings

I got to see the new NBC show "Kings" last night. The plot of the show was based on the story of David and Goliath (and then David's subsequent rise to the throne) from the Bible but the kingdom is in the 21st century and has elements of American culture and society.

The show begins with the king dedicating a new capital city and his people celebrating this dedication while the army is off fighting a distant war at the border. David (an soldier in the kingdom's army) rescues the king's son who was taken hostage and is considered a hero by the King's court and is transferred to work in the palace. That is where the real drama starts!

I am finding they are making a difficult marriage of elements (ancient kingdom with 21st century American culture) and the focus of the show will be more character development and interpersonal relationships then the bigger plot, particularly as many viewers will not be able to grasp the concept of an transplanting an ancient kingdom to modern society. This is to be expected as people are more interested in seeing dramatic themes and issues as opposed to historical narrative when they tune into a network Sunday night show.

Cramer vs. John Stewart

My apologies for being a few days behind on this but I wanted to react to the whole Jim Cramer vs. John Stewart controversy.

The Jim Cramer side-I think it is okay to be a little entertaining, that is the style that he wants to present his information in and everyone has their own style. It is impossible to predict how the stock market is going to react all the time (just like with sports predictions and political pundits) but if you make a mistake of the magnitude that he did. CYA and admit your mistake and apologize for making it. That way, criticism (especially from places you would not expect it such as comedians) is a less vocal.

John Stewart-He is a comedian, not a commentator. If it is a major event where there are a number of players involved (such as Katrina or 9-11) there is plenty of leverage there. Those of us that like Jay Leno or Dave Letterman may remember their first shows after 9-11 were a very serious and emotional commentary on the tragic events. However, he is going way beyond his job description to be personally attacking and grilling news makers in that fashion. That really should be left to the the commentators. If you have a grudge with someone, it is best not to do it on the air.

Final Four Picks

This year is a tough one. I am going to go out on a limb and go with Connecticut, North Carolina, Michigan State and Pittsburgh. I think North Carolina will finally win the championship after a heartbreaking loss in 2007 and losing in last year's Final Four. I have had two good pools in a row and a third will be a tall order but I won't know until I fill mine out and watch it all unfold.

Cheney speaks

In an interview today with former Vice President Cheney, he defended Bush's economic plan and said that Obama's policies increase our chances for the risk for terror attacks. He said that not having the interrogation methods that have been used during the Bush administration and closing Gitmo will increase our chances of terror attacks. Although terror suspects are more dangerous than your regular POWs they are still enemy combatants and they need to be treated as such and held with due process. Not doing so will provoke terror attacks by those that are not detained and will continue to give us a bad impression around the world.

6 overtimes last night

I guess March Madness is officially underway. What an amazing Big East tournament game between Syracuse and UConn. The game went for 6 overtimes and lasted almost 4 hours. While it is never great to lose, given UConn's situation there was really no shame in losing it as they are going to get a number one seed no matter what happened in the Big East tournament and of these two teams they will have the maximum rest time for the Big Dance. As soon as selection Sunday picks are announced I will be sure to announce my Final Four picks.

Conference championship week

This is conference championship week in basketball. Sometimes I feel this week is a little overrated as the big tournament is where everything is on the line. However, it can give a preview as to what teams are hot and those that may make an early exit. The week may make a difference as to what teams do get in and those that don't. It can also determine seedings as well but as I said in a previous post, seedings are overrated as well. Interestingly enough some conferences don't allow all of their teams to even compete in the conference tournament. Personally I think that for a conference tournament, which is a promotion and marketing event for the conference should be sure to include all of the schools so as to give each an opportunity to promote themselves. Also, every team should have the opportunity to be a part of March Madness. After all, a team that won 3 or 4 games all season making a run through their conference tournament and possibly landing in the big dance is what fans want to see.

However, the best part about championship week is the smaller conference tournaments, they have the championship games in the college gymnasiums. 90 percent of the time the home team wins and the fans storm the court. While the team might make a quick exit the team, fans and university community always have the memory of competing on college basketball's biggest stage and for small schools that do not get that much attention that is a big deal (and profitable too.). I got to enjoy that at Brandeis when the women's team won the conference tournament everyone did just that.

APPA E&O

Next week APPA's Engineering and Operations Conference (E&O) begins next week in Austin, Texas. This particular conference focuses on operating and constructing a power system and what goes into this. The conference includes discussions on several aspects of public power operation as well as a vendor expo that focuses on vendors that are interested in selling operation supplies to our member utilities. The week includes a unique event, called a Lineworkers Rodeo, which is a competition for lineworkers on basic skills and functions for their job. This conference tends to attract the blue collar area of the public power industry, particularly with the rodeo, so it is usually a lively and fun event. I have been busy getting ready for this event the past few days. I tend to do well when working under pressure and deadlines so it gave me a rush of adrenaline.

Deadly day

As we remember the 3-11 train bombing today in Madrid, the world saw two more horrific incidents of bloodshed. In Alabama, a man went on a rampage and killed 10 people saying that "he had a score to settle" with people that he shot, including family members, sending a normally quiet area of rural Alabama into complete shock, sadness and disbelief. Two of the victims were a wife and daughter of a sheriff's deputy.
In a small town in Germany, a seventeen year old boy went into his high school and killed 15 people, most of them were female. This tragedy has sent shock waves around the entire nation.
Whenever something like this happens we always ask what the warning signs were and why were they ignored? Whenever we also say, "this can't happen here," that is exactly what happens, it happens there. We said that about Columbine, Virginia Tech, foreign countries, small towns, and large towns. It is an issue with parenting, education, of upbringing a combination of both or something else that we cannot really grasp that drives people to this behavior?

March 11

I want to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the victims of the Madrid train bombing on March 11, 2004. Tomorrow will be the fifth anniversary. While 9-11 touched all of us, this one especially touched me as I studied in Spain during my junior year. For someone to commit such as brutal act of terror in what was a truly special place for me was heartbreaking. Now I know why there is so much emotion of the suicide bombers and terror attacks in Israel. Israel is part of the Holy Land, and for me Spain was my "holy land." It is a country of diverse towns, castles, palaces, and cathedrals that history has left unchanged. I made many great friends and came home with a lifetime of memories and hope to go back someday. Let us take a moment tomorrow to remember the victims of this and other terror attacks and hope for and end to this and all types of brutality and conflict.

Too many issues at one time?

President Obama is getting criticism because people feel that he should only be focused on the economy and working on other issues. These are probably the same people that criticized John McCain during the election last fall for suspending his campaign and coming back to Washington to vote on the bailout. You have to realize that there are many problems that need attention given the expectations that people have of Obama they expect him to work on some aspect of issues of high importance. He is doing this while we see what aspects of the stimulus bill will work and what needs to be tweaked. Just at my job today I was going back and forth from one high priority project to another high priority one. The only exception for this would be a national or worldwide military or security crisis and usually people will allow a president to put aside most issues so that he can focus on resolving that issue.

Americans becoming less Christian

CNN.com ran a story today saying how America is becoming a less Christian nation. While some of this has to do with the fact other religions are coming into the national picture, many people are rejecting the idea of religion altogether. This really shows the seismic shift in American political views and overall thought and psyche. Just four years ago, America reelected George W. Bush because he brought what people thought were morals and values, especially in a time of uncertainty after 9-11. It was something people could turn to now that we needed something to keep our spirits up.
In this day in age, the issues with the economy are affecting people as this directly affects the majority of the population. They feel that they don't want to be governed by the rules or obligations that religion brings. Additionally, they don't feel that religion and God are the answer and when it involves livelihood and income, they need to do something about it themselves. Some also try to find Christian faith without attending church or celebrating holidays and we should not exclude those people either.

stem cell reversal

President Obama will be reversing the limits on stem cell research that the Bush administration created. It is good that he did this early in the administration as stem cell research is key to finding cures for many diseases. Unlike other issues, I have yet to hear a convincing argument against stem cell research. Republicans such as Eric Cantor are saying that it is a distraction from the economy, but having more opportunities and funding for this type of research will create more jobs. In this case, it would be professional jobs for those with advanced degrees in the sciences so this would assist with job creation in yet another professional field.

T.O. to Bills

ESPN reported this weekend that Terrell Owens will be going to sign with the Buffalo Bills after the Cowboys cut him. Although there is never a dull moment in Boston sports, it is a sure thing that twice a year when the Pats play them there will be some drama for the Globe and Herald writers to sink their teeth into (not to mention the WEEI announcers). That is okay just as long as he doesn't break our hearts and find a way to shred the Patriots defense.

Nice weekend

We had a great weekend of weather in Washington. I got out to run both days and knocked on doors for the campaign as well. I also went to an interesting presentation by former Boston Globe reporter Eileen McNamara about Obama and his relationship with the media. It was for Brandeis alumni. Got a busy week coming up at work so trying to milk the freedom as long as possible.

On the subject of running, I will be participating in the Scope it Out 5k to benefit Colon Cancer Awareness on March 29 as part of team from one of my meetup groups. I am not soliciting donations but I just wanted to let my readers know about my participation in that event. The new year's goal is to do a 10k at some point this year. Not sure where or when but it will happen!

Manny signs with Dodgers

Manny signed a 2 year $45 million dollar contract with the Dodgers today so at least he finally has a home for next year. Many in Boston were having nightmares about him winding up in New York. You can also say some were having nightmares about him winding up back in Boston. However I am certain that the brass on Yawkey Way didn't want to have any more of his antics around Fenway, especially for a team that came within one game of last year's World Series. He can also get away with the Manny being Manny attitude in Southern California as they are a little bit more laid back about their lifestyle.

Bill Ayers is coming to Brandeis

Sixties radical Bill Ayers will be coming to Brandeis to speak at the end of this month. I can already see Sarah Palin gushing at the thought of some student "not of right mind" giving him Obama campaign paraphernalia and then she will say "I told you so, Bill Ayers pals around with Obama supporters." It will be interesting to see what types of questions he winds up getting but knowing Brandeis, they will really try to downplay any relationship between Ayers and Obama. It is not like they would make any effort to be objective, would they really?

housing crisis bailout

President Obama unveiled his plan to bail out those that are struggling with their mortgages. I am happy that part of the plan includes lowering the percentage of your total income that lenders can ask you for your monthly payments. However, it is important to have a component of the plan be for payments to be spread out over many years as home ownership is usually a long term investment. However, this needs to be a step by step process and right now the priority is the short term plan so that people can stay in their houses. There are also will be many that will call for a forbearance plan for those that are out of work at this time (just like with student loans) but opponents may not like this as it does not inject much needed cash flow back into Fannie, Freddie, and other private mortgage brokers.

March Madness

It is that time of year again where all the talk is about basketball, pools, upsets, bubble teams and seeds. There are some aspects of the over analyzing that is okay, but some that is not a big deal. The analysis of bubble teams is critical because any team that gets into the tournament has an equal chance of winning as any other. That contradicts the argument about seeding, if you are whining about getting a particular seed, just go out and win and prove yourself by beating said higher seed. Granted the higher the seed, the easier the path to the Final Four but with the nature of the NCAA Tournament you can throw the seeds out the window for all I care, it is win or go home for anybody whether it is Davidson or North Carolina.

Cold case cracked

It looks like they are able to charge the alleged killer of Chandra Levy, a judge served a warrant for Ingmar Guandique, a Salvadoran who is already serving a prison term for assault in California. I can only imagine the conspiracy theories involving Gary Condit that are going to come up with this. Of course the right thing for Condit to do would be for him to call for the maximum sentence for this guy. However, because of his alleged affair with Levy he is seen as the instigator of the crime in the court of public opinion. At least this brings closure for the family in a case where it was looking like there was going to be none.

NFL moves

The first big one that sparks my interest is the trade of Matt Cassell and Mike Vrabel to Kansas City. The Patriots better be sure that Tom Brady is ready to go at the beginning of the season to pull a move like this. I mean at this point Cassell can always be the guy that is capable of coming in and winning games and you run a risk by just sending him away. Mike Vrabel also opens up a big hole on defense so the Pats front office needs to find a way to fill his hole with the same type of impact player.
In other transaction news, Jason Taylor was released by the Redskins. I think the Pats really need to go after him-what a way to stick it to the locals if that happened!

Quiet day at work

Today there was a significant snow storm in the Washington, DC area. I was hoping for a day off but they would only do that in rare circumstances as we follow the federal government schedule and the government "still has to function" regardless of the severity of the weather. Still many of my coworkers took the liberty of taking "unscheduled leave" which made for a less than hectic day in the office. Being only a five to six minute walk from the Metro station I don't have too much difficulty to get to the office (and I don't have the option of working from home). The best part of the day-I got to leave early and get my taxes done!

NFL Players missing

My thoughts and prayers are with the families of the two NFL players that are missing off the coast of Florida. I have always been amazed with the psychology of the media and the general public when someone famous in harmed it gains more media attention (Kate Hudson, JFK Jr. plane crash are examples).

More canvassing

I did some more canvassing for the Miles Grant for Delegate campaign yesterday. We are already getting noticed with our early door knocking efforts. He has an advantage as a member the Arlington Young Democrats, a lot of his supporters are willing and able to get out and "pound the pavement" to get his message out. This is vital for a local election as I have said in previous posts.

CPAC

This past week the Conservative Political Action Conference was held in Washington, DC. They obviously need something to rally the troops after the beating they took in the election. However, it seemed like the speaker set was a bunch of loud and angry Republicans who still have no idea how to get their ship back on course. Rush Limbaugh is, as usual, lowering himself to new levels coming out with nothing but animosity towards the new president. Very few people, particularly independents, believe that is appropriate especially from a guy that just has a radio show. It reinforces the fact that some believe the media plays way to much of a role deciding who should run our government and how it should be done. I remember when the news was just reporting the facts. Now when you put it on, it is sensational graphics, opinionated and biased commentators, and non-stop talking which can easily play with people's minds.

RIP Paul Harvey

I would often listen to the Paul Harvey report on WBZ AM 1030 in Boston growing up. He had a very down to earth no-nonsense style that I always enjoyed. His day end feature "The Rest of the Story" was very creative as well. As a history major, I appreciate his ability to research and develop a story about a famous person or even an event that not too many people know the background on. Nevertheless, he was a true American icon that will be missed.

"Get some facts and come back and see me"

I know this is somewhat old but I haven't had a chance to post on this. Last week UConn coach Jim Calhoun had a garden variety press conference meltdown. For those of you who haven't seen it here is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xokthY5zuPU

My thoughts on this: The reporter's name that got the tongue lashing from Calhoun was Ken Krayeske. This guy isn't a sports reporter but does stuff on politics and societal issues. He was questioning Coach Calhoun on how much money he makes vis-a-vis the budget shortfall that the state of Connecticut is having. With the economy the way it is, this is definitely a serious issue. However, questioning coach at a post game press conference on a big issue like this probably isn't the best place to do it. The reporters there want to hear about the game. I also looked into this guy's background and he was arrested for disrupting Gov. Jody Rell's inaugural parade a few years ago.

However, as far as Coach Calhoun is concerned, he can't sit up there and and act like he is God. Granted, he is one of the best coaches in the history of college basketball. However, someone of his stature is subject to fair questioning and criticism of all aspects of his job. Hey, maybe he can use his stature to help elected officials develop and facilitate programs to stimulate the economy in Connecticut. Given his notoriety I don't think it is out of the realm of possibilities.

Late winter snow

It looks like Washington should be getting about 5 inches of snow tonight. This could be the biggest storm I have had since I moved here. I am wondering what the status of work will be tomorrow? Will we get a delay or day off or will it be liberal leave, which means it is okay to take an unscheduled day off if it is too difficult for you to get in (which is not the case since I am a five minute walk from the Metro.) I still get a kick out of the hysteria in DC when there is just a little snow.