MorseCode

I'll check the golf course!

2006-10-10T19:38:00.000-05:00

Dennis Hastert must be getting advice and council on handling the Foley scandal from OJ Simpson. He's out to find the real killers (or cover-up-ers, as it were), and he won't rest until they've been brought to justice (or at least scapegoated).

See: Washington Post.

The New(ish) Fall TV Season

2006-10-10T19:02:00.000-05:00

So pretty much everything starting on TV this fall has premiered, and it's been decent but unspectacular.

Veronica Mars first ep was very good, and much more surefooted than it's second season premiere. Oh, and WHY AREN'T YOU WATCHING IT!? End of public service message.

Lost felt it's tension jacked up, a nice change of pace from much of it's sophomore season.

Battlestar Galactica opened with a particularly strong 2-hour chunk that adequately pays off their "one year later" gambit.

Of the news shows that I've sampled, I've probably stuck the most with Studio 60, even though it seems deeply flawed. I've always been bugged by elements of Aaron Sorkin's writing, and Studio 60 is no exception to that trend. That said, it's engaging when it works, and Matthew Perry is surprisingly good as Sorkin's fiction-suited doppleganger.

I tried Kidnapped and found it ok, but it's quick cancellation notice made me hesitant to follow through to the end, even with the news that it's plots will be wrapped up. I'm just too busy to invest time in a show that's already been given the death sentence.

Heroes plays like a decent idea written for pretentious 4 year olds. I've only watched the pilot but was kinda irritated with the pedantic narration constantly trying to make sure that the viewer knows that "this is important, and it has no capes..." I've got a few more episodes queued up on the trusty Tivo which I'll probably get to shortly, but I'm not terribly optimisted...this has decent potential as a serial but really needs to find the right tone.

More thoughts on this stuff in the next week or so, and probably a post on The Wire once I catch up in a few days...

Entirely Too Much Reading...

2005-11-06T19:01:00.000-05:00

Haven't been posting much since the velocity of the news has often been outstripping my ability too coment on it. I have been reading entirely too many books over the past two weeks or so...here's what's been keeping me busy on the subway each weeknight:

Chain of Command by Seymour Hersh
Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
The Plot Against America by Philip Roth

and up next...
Tales of the Dying Earth by Jack Vance
The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays by Albert Camus
A Gentleman's Game by Greg Rucka

Political Compartmentalization & Foreign Policy

2005-10-19T23:46:00.000-05:00

It occured to me, while watching the ongoing civil war among Bush administration alumni over Iraq and foreign policy in general, that a great factor in what's transpired over the last few years is the overall lack of real political conflict on foreign policy.

Note that when I say "political conflict" I don't mean conflict among politicians, I mean actual dialogue involving multiple viewpoints and engaged citizens. To a decent extent that is now, finally, happening, probably because of the high costs, in lives and money, of the pandora's box we've opened in Iraq. But why didn't we have a more open discussion of the options in our political process before?

Besides the mendacious nature of the Bush Administration, the Democratic party has been a non-factor in international relations over the last few decades. The Democrats, after suffering from the blunders of JFK/Johnson & Carter, failed to develop coherent, strong, loud foreign policy initiatives. The Clinton years weren't disasters on that front, although there were substantial problems, but in the overall narative of the last few decades, they appeared to do little in the short term to create a base of Democratic foreign policy specialists who would wield continuing influence and power on the national scene.

Instead, we've been faced with a foreign policy establishment that is dominated by a tendency to identify with the Republican party. The problem this has created is that it has taken foreign policy, on almost every level, and made it almost exclusively a backroom issue. There are general political identifications on foreign policy (Republican=strong, war; Democratic=weak, diplomacy), but mostly the political dimension of almost any foreign policy debate in a partisan campaign is strictly adversarial. One person opposes the position of their opponent and comes up with a reason as justification primarily to draw contrast.

We can see this in countless conflicts where, over the last 15 years, the parties have continually flip flopped over intervention or disengagement with various conflict sites around the world. Some Republicans, for instance, would oppose a Clinton intervention tooth and nail, but back a Bush intervention in similar circumstances, regardless of the wisdom of each mission.

This is one reason why a moderate electorate managed to elect a group of leaders which shifted the nation's foreign policy dangerously to the right. Debates over the nature and wisdom of major foreign policy issues were argued over behind closed doors and then presented, somewhat disengenously, as fait accompli to the public, even though internal dissention on the matters was high in both civilian and military circles.

While reading Seymour Hersh's Chain of Command, a major pattern that stuck out to me was the number of sources who were willing to speak to Hersh about their problems, but could never step outside of their own existence as a cog in the Political Foreign Policy aparatus. Many of them could be career diplomats, espionage operatives, military officers, etc., but they felt they could not provide more vocal dissent once decisions were made.

As things have played out in Iraq, we've seen how there should have been a more open political debate, and how there should have been more skepticism towards the claims made by the Bush Administration to justify their intentions to invade Iraq. Yet it was all subsumed because there was no real external political dialogue of substantial volume going on. There was no "opposition" base for skeptics of the war to move to and vocally express problems with the policies.

Part of this problem lies in the media for not allowing the dialogue to occur in public, but alot of it seems to be related to the concept of the foreign policy establishment as a one-party system. The Realists and the Neocons debate behind closed doors, and decide what we'll do, but who were we electing in 2000, and in 2004? Our two-party political system may be stiffling public discourse on major decisions like war due to this. If our representative democracy is going to actually function, this has got to change.

CYA Time

2005-10-19T23:19:00.000-05:00

The Washington Post has a new article up on the Plame leak investigation. There doesn't appear to be a tremendous amount of new material in it, as it mostly summarizes what those following the case have been aware of, but it opens with some slightly new details about Rove's apparent testimony.

The main new nugget of info is that Rove appears to have testified that Scooter Libby mentioned Plame to him before her identity was made public. Rove apparently did stick to his "I heard about her first from some reporter... but don't remember exactly who," line.

With every new trickle of information, we get a picture of the involved parties desperately trying to keep their story straight, while Fitzgerald appears to have cast a wide enough net to forceably punch some holes in their forgetfulness. Since the possibilities appear to have come down to indictments or nothing, I'm hopeing we'll see some indictments, if only so that we can see some of the evidence and testimony that have occured over the last year.

Good News...?

2005-10-19T23:08:00.000-05:00

It's been a pretty bad year to be an Orioles fan, but it looks like something good is finally about to happen.

The Sun, along with several other sources, is reporting that Leo Mazzone is basically set to be the Orioles new pitching coach. This is a real coup, given his unparalleled history of success, assuming nothing goes horribly wrong before this is finalized.

Now, to just add a frontline pitcher or two...

I'm Back...

2005-10-18T20:35:00.000-05:00

Alright everyone. This time I'm really back, and ready to post regularly. Life has calmed down just enough to allow a regular dose of words to spill forth onto these virtual pages, so prepare for a regular, continuing dose of... well, something...

If You Build It

2004-12-20T20:52:00.000-05:00

This Washington Post article makes it sound like the possibility of a last minute deal being worked out between Mayor Anthony Williams and City Council Chairman Linda Cropp is increasing.

This is a good thing, and I hope it happens. I'm not a DC taxpayer (except for sales tax on way too many lunches), so I understand my thoughts on the matter are relegated into the "please shut up" bin of most DC residents and officials, but I hope they go ahead and approve a stadium deal. I also hope they manage to put together a decent amount of private funding for it...but a baseball team would help the District. In economic terms, it's probably a minor long term profit for the city over a few decades, but in the fuzzier psychological sense, it would be a real boost for the city.

There's something to be said about the pride of having a sports franchise to rally around. While the Washington Redskins have struggled for the last decade, the rehiring of Coach Joe Gibbs sent a wave of positive feeling unlike anything I've seen through the city and the metro area as a whole. Important victories and championships have that same effect, bringing together diverse residents into something resembling an actual community.

If DC manages to get some acceptable form of the stadium deal passed, it'll at least create something tangible for the city as a benefit. There is a chasm of fuzzy opportunities for any state to spend money, often in practical ways with laudible goals, but results are relatively difficult to measure. Building a stadium will mean DC has a baseball team, which will provide approximately 162 days of public entertainment, and provide a continuing stream of revenue from local fans (like me) who'll trek into or within the city to catch NL baseball.

The other thing that opponents of the stadium should keep in mind is that the Washington Nationals situation is unique among sports francishes, in that they aren't part of a larger state. A DC-based baseball team is acting in competition with other entertainment interests in the suburbs. It can produce a genuine net-gain for District of Columbia interests. If your city is going to be overun with commuters and other outsiders every day, why not squeeze them for every last possible dollar of the discretionary income, because it's unlikely you'll ever get a commuter tax. That's not a tremendous factor in decisions in, say, Miami or Denver, but in DC that's a major issue in the economics of things, and stadium opponents should consider that before sighting certain economic impact studies which don't take that into account.

Hopefully, the City Council works things out in the end and approves something that can work for baseball to return to the nations capital. If not, this Orioles fan will just have to be content with 1-2 weekend games up at Camden Yards in '05.

For Those Who Didn't Notice

2004-12-20T20:29:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago I split my blog in two.

MorseCode will continue to be the repository of posts on most subjects related to news, politics, sports, and random thoughts on a variety of subjects. It's not really meant as a journal so much as a place for me to think out loud and share things I think are either important or at least of interest...

MorseCodePop is the "other" blog, where I'll be posting thoughts and occasional news on film, books, comics, music, and other cultural stuff...it's basically where my inner geek will run wild. If you haven't visited it yet, please pop on by (no pun intended). I'll be posting a review of House of Flying Daggers sometime later this week if you're interested, so stop on by when you get the chance...

Actual Good News...

2004-12-20T20:17:00.000-05:00

...If you're an Orioles Fan.

They've signed Steve Kline, a very good left handed relief pitcher last with the St. Louis Cardinals.

I'm very happy with this move, as upgrading the bullpen was an important but cheap goal for this offseason and Kline was one of, if not the, best relievers on the free agent market. This certainly leaves the Orioles with the option of trading talented-but-inconsistent closer Jorge Julio, perhaps in a package to add some starting pitching depth. B.J. Ryan could slide into the closer role relatively comfortably, with Kline the set-up man.

However the O's front office handles the addition of Kline, this is a good move and hopefully a harbinger of other smart additions this offseason.

Audacity

2004-12-12T16:58:00.000-05:00

I can't be the only one disturbed by the kinds of stories I'm reading in the paper today.

First we've got the verdict on just what happened to Ukrainian presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko. He was poisoned with dioxin, and he's been pretty clear he thinks he knows who did it: his own political opponents...

Then we've got the wonderful stories of Bush Administration espionage incompetence. They've been spying on Mohamed ElBaradei's phone conversations, specifically trying to implicate him in some kind of corruption in his dealings with Iran. As usual, they've found nothing, but they're talking rather casually about this...

Many may wonder why the Bush adminstration is held in such low regard by many not just in the US but abroad, and this is a pretty good example. While this type of spying goes on all the time, they've basically taken a posture of open warfare against...well, pretty much everybody, domestic or foreign, who doesn't say what they want to hear.

These stories are disturbing largely cause they seem to confirm that we've regressed into a slightly more brutish phase around the world, where there's little pretense of anything but the naked exercise of power, in any form.

I don't want to sound naive about these things, because I'm not. I can handle the fact that the world is a nasty place and people do stuff that ranges anywhere from unethical to outright evil. It's the fact that it's SO out in the open recently. Things like the prison torture scandal play into this as well, as it just seems like the world has spiraled into a moral black hole, where power and audacity are the only values.

Power and Audacity in a moral vacuum is not a winning combination for us, any of us, in the long term.

2004-11-22T20:45:00.000-05:00

Guitar Chords of Mass Destruction
A Brief Review of U2's How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb

U2's new record hits stores next week, and the hype machine is, well, kinda loud right now. How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb is U2's first studio album in a few years (not counting the Best of 1990-2000 release), so the first question that comes up is are they washed up yet?

No.

This is probably their best record since Achtung Baby. I'm unusually fond of Pop, one of their least popular records, but this record is more consistent than that late 1990's album, and has more punch than the moving but front-loaded All That You Can't Leave Behind.

The Edge has covered this record with HUGE guitar riffs, in a variety of styles that all sound like...The Edge. Mullen & Clayton continue their climb from weird sounding rhythm and bass combo to very talented weird sounding rhythm and bass guys. Bono is slighly less didactic than on their previous record, which is a good thing.

Their are a few tracks which stand out, but nothing on the album is particularly bad. Most of U2's records have a tendency to burn out after their "A-side", but HTDAAB manages to stay consistently engaging throughout it's eleven tracks. The opening single, "Vertigo", also opens the album, and is probably the most radio-friendly of the album's tracks. "Miracle Drug" plays the role of thoughtful heart-tugger, and largely works, even if it sometimes yields to moments of the aforementioned "didactic Bono" songwriting.

"Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own" might be the most effective song on the album. It's a lovely pop ballad, clearly about Bono and his recently deceased father, that nicely melds BeeGees style falsettos in it's chorus with a slow emotional grandeur that builds in the song. The song probably has the best "U2 Moment" on the record, where Bono manages to take his own pain and yearning and fill an arena with it...and that's just the studio recording.

The Eno & Lanois produced "Love & Peace or Else" is a strong track, mixing blues with a dash of industrial fuzz that works well. "All Because of You" brings a slightly more casual rock, but it's a fun tribute to Stones style rock and roll. Two of the later songs on the album, "Crumbs From Your Table" and "One Step Closer", offer a respite from the harder material of other songs, and work better than much of the late album filler of All That You Can't Leave Behind.

Of the album's other tracks, only "A Man and a Woman" is a dissapointment. "Original of the Species" is surprisingly lively, and "Yahweh" is an appropriate album closer.

2004-11-18T21:34:00.000-05:00

Shell Game

The White House is floating the usual trial balloons in the Washington Post today discussing possible tax reform proposals. As expected, the proposals suck.

Actually, the proposals are completely unworkable in a political sense. Even with a Republican majority in both houses of Congress, it's unlikely they'd be able to ignite popular support for some key changes, including:

1. Removing the deduction for state and local taxes.

2. Removing the deduction for employers providing health insurance to their employees.

Those ideas are supposed to keep the overall package revenue neutral, so that they can eliminate Capital Gains, Interest, and Dividend taxes. Yup, the Republican battle to make the poor and middle class suffer for their immoral non-richness continues.

The idiocy of these proposals isn't really the point of this exercise. The strategy behind them is. Putting these poison pills into any proposal formally introduced will just give a different target for Democrats to attack, which Republicans will end up conceding as long as Democrats give them their nice little tax cuts on investment income. Republicans then frame Dems as "pro-tax" and pin the blame for larger defecits on Democratic resistance to shifting the burden of government further onto the backs of the working class.

Democrats need to make sure their opposition to this is framed by them and not the Republicans, and they have to be the party of responsible government. This is about not bankrupting the government, and not screwing over an increasing marginalized middle-class. They shouldn't let themselves, or the public, be distracted by the repeated slight of hand of the Right. The whole agenda is rotten to the core, and that's the best way to approach this.

Up Next: Tom DeLay has some "Rolax" watches he'd like to sell you...

2004-11-15T21:02:00.000-05:00

Firefox

Anyone out there using Mozilla Firefox yet? I've been using it today and like it so far, although it's frustrating to find IE only sites on occasion. I like the built in RSS functions, and using multiple tabs in one browser window really makes research easier.

2004-11-15T20:59:00.000-05:00

Comments

I've finally added comments to the site (via blogger) so if you're one of the six or so people who read this blog, feel free to post snarky responses to my blathering.

2004-11-04T21:20:00.000-05:00

Post Election Music

I'm not feeling nearly as funereal as I was on Wednesday, so I figured I'd put together a list of post election music that worked as a nice soundtrack to the last day or two.

"Badlands", Bruce Springsteen
"Like a Rolling Stone", Bob Dylan
"Vertigo", U2
Armed Forces, Elvis Costello & The Attractions (the whole album)
What's Going On, Marvin Gaye (the whole album)

2004-11-04T20:41:00.000-05:00

The Election: Some Rambling Thoughts.

That didn't go as I'd hoped.

November 2nd went from a day that looked pretty good to a day that looked kinda weak.

November 3rd was a very rude day.

George Bush's victory was both narrow (in its popular vote and electoral numbers) and large (in the growth of the Bush base and the tide of extremist Southern Republicans joining the Senate). Given the Republicans behavior after 2000, even having a narrow popular majority in this election should yield a wild rightward shift in the agenda of the federal state.

On the naval gazing side, it seems impossible to resist asking the question "what went wrong?" In the days leading up to the election, Kerry had solidified his standing with independents and moderates and seemed to be getting the subtle swing in the polls to close the election. The early exists certainly echoed this on election day. But then something changed, and all of a sudden the results from the south and other rural states trickled in , and Kerry and the Democrats were getting solidly beaten where they were looking competitive.

The strengths Kerry showed in the political middle ground vanished under a title wave of votes cast by social conservatives (largely of a religious background). Add in the slightly heightened state of fear some right leaning voters had due to terrorism with the usual suburban economic shortsightedness and you had a perfect storm of voters willing to vote for (really) narrow self-interest without regard to the incompetence of the candidate they were supporting.

I'm inclined to agree with the chorus that seems to be rising that the Democrats need to start engaging the south and winning back some working class voters who are marching with socially conservative evangelical groups. Certainly working to marry progressive stances with Christian rhetoric can help, but it can't be done in a haphazard way. It'll take time to wear down the right wing frames that some fundamentalists use to talk about the world. (I'll probably write a more detailed post on this topic this weekend, but I want to cover some other issues regarding the election for now.)

The struggles of the south are amplified for Democrats because they have to win everywhere else to win the presidency. Losing the South and it's brethren in the mid-west locks democrats into a place where they're either a minority or very narrow majority, while Republicans can dominate the federal system. There is virtually no margin of error if a Democrat wants to run without some of the south, which is why it was so disheartening early in the campaign to hear Kerry simply dismiss the south.

While the sweep of the south and the high turnout of evangelicals appears to be the dominant story of the election, it's not the only significant one. Democrats need to do a better job of hitting home on the price that the middle and upper-middle class pay for the reckless tax cuts that Bush & Co. peddle so regularly. During the primaries Dean did a good job linking the tax cuts with the decimation of state and local government budgets, rising tuition costs, rising property taxes, etc.

Taking this one step further, "The-Not-Republicans" need to start reclaiming their rightful hold on themes such as empowerment, opportunity, and entrepreneurship. The need to show a clear difference between the opportunity a $300 tax cut gives you and the opportunity an affordable education, good health care, and a strong, stable, growing economy give you. Essentially, the tax cut helps you tread water, but that's only because the republicans keep digging the pool deeper and asking you to hold your breath longer.

Finally, Democrats and the Left need to focus both locally and nationally. The benefits of this strategy became obvious this year, where the Republicans managed to use the confluence of years of local political engineering and a national, compete-and-GOTV everywhere strategy (at least on the presidential side) to get a popular vote win which probably doesn't reflect the actual mood of the country. They simply turned out voters in places where they didn't even need it, but it aided in their ability to create a positive environment for all of it's national candidates to win.

I'll probably be posting more on these topics over the next week, so check back regularly.

2004-10-08T22:10:00.000-05:00

Kerry vs. Bush, Round 2

Well, that was interesting.

Initial reaction: Kerry won the debate pretty handily on substance, and wasn't bad stylistically. I have a feeling it'll shake out that he did better with undecideds, in general.

Bush was agressive, but came off as loud and snarling in the first part of the debate. He seemed to calm down a little bit later which helped him, and it was probably a mild improvement from the embarrasment of the first debate, but still not exactly quality presidential material.

Probably a similar result to what happened in the VP debate overall, with the center reacting a little better to Kerry but little overall ripple in the polls.

I think the biggest challenge Kerry faces is simply the sheer volume of distortions and such from the Bush campaign. It's difficult to stay on message and refute lies at the same time in a debate. They've been decent at using spin to make sure these things are fixed after the fact, though, so I'm not tremendously worried.

Note: As I write this, I'm relatively "Spin-Free" as I only heard a few seconds of blithering on CNN and MSNBC where the initial pro-Bush instincts were taking over. I'm willing to give this a day since I think low expectations are helping Bush here, but they won't forever.

2004-09-13T20:00:00.000-05:00

Last Week's Comics

Stopped by the comics store today and caught up on a few books from last week, as well as a few I'd missed over the last few months. Here's some reviews of the more interesting ones...

Chosen #2-3: I missed #2 when it came out and couldn't find it until today, so I finally got to read the rest of the series. There seemed to be alot of negative reaction to the end of the series, but I'm not sure why. Given that it was a 3 issue series it seemed the most likely twist that we would get in a story so brief. Mark Millar's script amps up in volume in the concluding issue, which may alienate some, but it fits the pacing of the series well. The art by Peter Gross is top notch and tells the story well. The Tradepaperback should be out soon, and this miniseries is defintely recommended. A-

Gotham Central #23: Greg Rucka climbs back aboard for a new story arc this issue. I normally give a slight edge to Ed Brubaker's stories in this book, but Rucka's off to a great start with this issue, which VERY loosely ties into the gang war going on in the Batman family books. Allen and Montoya are involved in a shootout, and get wrapped up in the bureaucratic repurcussions. Sounds boring, but reads like a really good police drama. A

Powers Vol. 2 #4: Walker searches for Pilgrim, who went missing while he was dealing with the "new" Retro Girl. Powers is a weird read, as I don't find it entirely satisfying in monthly doses, but there's always enough to keep me coming back each month. It really does read better in extended doses (such as the Trade Paperbacks.) Regardless, this is a good issue, with some evocative art by Oeming and a relatively tight script by Bendis. B+

Punisher #11: "Kitchen Irish" continues with the way to many parties to count slaughtering each other. Read monthly, this arc isn't nearly is strong as the prior arc, although it may hang together better in one sitting. You need a score card to follow all the different factions involved here. This issue's more fulfilling than prior issues, however, as we begin to get some resolution and Ennis spends more time writing about ideas than setting up different characters. Leandro Fernandez provides some nice art to fill the book out. B

District X #5: "Mr. M" continues, and the plot keeps taking big lurches each issue. It's not particularly fluid, but it's a really interesting read. By issues end we've got a situation that could go one of two ways, and I'm honestly curious how this will pan out... A-

The Pulse #5: The first story arc concludes and a major change in the Green Goblin's status quo is enacted (although one presumably spoiled by Norman's appearance in Millar's MK Spider-Man months ago.) This issue is focused mostly on Jessica and Luke's reaction to the fallout of the Goblin's attack. It's well done, and the completed arc acts well as a strong setup for this ongoing. A trade will surely be out sometime soon from Marvel, so if you're not reading this, get it... A

Marvel Knights Spider-Man #6: Pay no attention to the cover. Only Rachel Grey is actually featured guest staring in this book. Cyclops, Kitty Pryde, Wolverine, and Emma Frost only walk by a window in the background of a scene. Sneaky. But if it gets people to try this book out it's a good thing, since Mark Millar's telling several intersting stories here. Peter keeps searching for answers about May's dissapearance, and stumbles upon info on Venom's auction. Millar's handling of Venom and his motivations is darkly amusing, and gives me hope for the character's future. He also does a good job developing things between Peter and MJ in a way that makes alot of sense. Terry and Rachel Dodson provide the very, very nice art. B+

Spectacular Spider-Man #19: Nice Scheduling. 3 Spider-Man books in one week. I know it's a cash cow, but can they spread these out a little. Anyway, Paul Jenkins continues this Avengers Disassembled tie-in, where not much happens that's not indicated on the cover. Spidey mutates a little more, while Captain America tells Nick Fury about where Soria's bomb comes from. Jenkins writes Cap a little wierd, as his matter-of-factness about coverups and such seems more like "Ultimate Cap", but I'm flexible enough not to really care that much. The story's well told, and Paco Medina's art is ok, I just wish it was moving slightly quicker. C+

Captain America #31: Robert Kirkman continues to channel the ghost of Mark Gruenwald. Cap Fights the Serpent Society with Diamondback, and all those pesky subplots of doom keep grinding along in the background. This run on the book feels like a fun afterthought, a quick dodge to fill a few months with a tour of characters that we never get to see anymore. For what it is, its fun, but I'll be really glad when Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting take over in November. C+

Ultimate X-Men #51: Well, it's better than #50. Rogue and Gambit talk about her situation and meet her captor, who has an unusual offer. Brian K. Vaughn uses Gambit and Rogue pretty well in this issue, and it's amusing to see more villains get "Ultimate" versions. The book feels like it's regressing slightly into soapiness, as it's lost much of the "big stuff" that made the early run on the book by Millar fun. Still, Kubert's art is nice and there really isn't anything wrong with Vaughn's story. It just feels like the book needs to kick into something big soon... B

2004-09-12T19:01:00.000-05:00

A Good Football Weekend

I can live with two-for-two:

Maryland 45, Temple 22

Now the real fun begins next week at West Virginia...

Washington Redskins 16, Tampa Bay Buccanneers 10

Good Defense, and a few VERY nice runs by Clinton Portis. This could be a fun year for Redskins fans...

2004-09-12T18:45:00.000-05:00

We're Winning! (Please Sing in the Key of Irony)

More bad news from Iraq, courtesy of WashingtonPost.com.

More and more, it feels like the US has decided to make a massive strategic mistake and get us into what could be a permanent occupation sidetracking us from the "War on Terror" . What's infuriating about that is that we're not here because of some no win situation, but we're here because of the arrogance of many folks in power.

Trying to bring some reasonable resolution in Iraq that doesn't leave us worse off then we were before is going to be real hard, if not impossible, and I frankly don't have much confidence that the people who got us into this mess can even come close to accomplishing that goal.

2004-09-12T18:21:00.000-05:00

The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

Just got a chance to watch this for the first time this weekend, and wanted to note how great it was. I viewed the "Extended Edition" which runs about 3 hours long, but it flew by quickly. Eli Wallach in particular was quite good as Tuco. Leone's direction is nearly remarkable, as the film effectively vascilates between pulp fiction and serious drama, with a good dose of humor mixed in...Highly Recommended if you haven't seen it before. Now I just have to find the time for Once Upon A Time In The West & Once Upon A Time in America.

2004-06-03T21:30:00.000-05:00

A Question for Conservatives...

American conservatives often have a severe antipathy towards other actors on the international stage, be they states or multinational organizations like the UN. If outright nationalism is a large factor in their politics than that's understandable. But many conservatives try to frame it as an "old world" vs. "new world" argument, where everyone else is just a washed up old power and the United States is the force for a newer, better world.

The American exceptionalism inherent in this argument seems to be an expendable commodity, however, and the international perception of the US today is that we're behaving exactly as the "old world" powers did in the past. How do you reconcile the fact that the perception of exceptionalism abroad is destroyed by the US supposedly acting out how exceptional it actually is?

2004-06-03T21:28:00.000-05:00

OK. I Lied.

I said last week I'd be posting more frequently, and hopefully daily. Hasn't really happened, but I'm slowly ramping up, so check the site regularly and I'll have at least a little something up on most days.

2004-05-28T23:39:00.000-05:00

Woodward at War

Just caught Bob Woodward on Letterman's Late Show promoting "Plan of Attack." I continue to be amazed at the bizarre line Woodward walks in trying to appear noncommittal while trying to imply that, yes, Dubya is kinda scary.

2004-05-27T20:59:00.000-05:00

I'm Back

I'm officially returning to regularly posting on here, so count on daily posts from here on out...

2004-02-06T22:07:00.000-05:00

The Primaries

I'm really beginning to wish we simply had a two man race for the democratic nomination right now. Maybe it's just my general preference of several others over John Kerry, but I'd be happier if things narrowed down to Kerry vs. one other person.

My main reason for this is that it seems like Kerry is still coasting through alot of these elections, and I'd like to see anyone who's got a shot at the nomination go through some fire as a frontrunner before the primaries are over. If Kerry coasts to the nomination than I have the bad feeling it'll only go down from there.

That being said, I'm supporting Kerry wholeheartedly if he gets the nomination. It's just frustrating to see the other three candidates tripping over each other trying to present an alternative but beating each other up in the process.

2004-02-06T21:55:00.000-05:00

This Week's Comics

It was a modest week comics wise, with nothing really extraordinary out, but here's what was in my weekly pile...

Coup D'Etat: Sleeper #1
This Wildstorm "Eye of the Storm" line crossover kicks off with Ed Brubaker & Jim Lee helming the first issue, and it's pretty good stuff. Brubaker does a good job introducing new readers to Carver, Miss Misery, Tao, and the usual cast of the book, even if it feels like they're here for an extended cameo in an Authority tale. The Authority dominate the book once they arrive, but that's ok, as Brubaker's take on the team works. Lee's art is rougher and darker than his more mainstream work on Batman recently, but it works well, especially on the first part of the book focusing on the Sleeper cast. A-

Hard Time #1
The first of the DC Focus books launches, with Steve Gerber writing and Brian Hurtt providing art. It's an engaging read, but it feels like it's stretching a bit at the beginning. Gerber does a decent job building a little sympathy for Ethan, even though he's involved in the terrible incident that begins the book. The satire of everyone's reaction to the Columbine like event isn't particularly refined, but it doesn't dwell on that for too long. It's hard to get a sense of the series at the moment since it only gets to it's presumably permanent setting at issue's end, but it was a compelling enough read to give a look next month. B+

Superman: Birthright #7
Luthor & Clark's relationship is explored. The series is pretty explicitly trying to build a past for Superman that's at least somewhat compatible with what viewers of "Smallville" are familiar with, as well as taking some inspiration from the old Superboy stories featuring young Lex. But it works. Waid provides a nice common link between Luthor and Superman, essentially having them both be somewhat alientated but reacting to their situation in opposite ways. Yu's artwork continues to be dynamic, but it comes across as a little more distorted than it was at the beginning of this series. Not tremendously satisfying as an individual issue, but another interesting chapter in a very good series. B+

Uncanny X-Men #439
It seems like every Chuck Austen X-Men story has a tipping point where it goes from possibly engaging to pretty damned ridiculous. This is that issue of "She Lies with Angels". The idea of a mutant Romeo & Juliet story is a reasonable idea for a book as occasionally focused on metaphors of adolescent angst as X-Men...but do you really nead HICKS in GIANT ROBOT COMBAT ARMOR! This would probably be funny if Garth Ennis was writing it, but if we're supposed to be taking this seriously...ouch. At least the art's nice...but...this was painful. D

X-Men Unlimited #1
The NEW Marvel Try-Out book (at least for writers.) This book has the unusual premise of teaming up new writers with established artists for short (read 11 page) stories focusing on individual X-Men. And both stories in this debut issue are thoroughly fine, if unspectacular. Tony Lee and Ben & Rai Lai provide a nice story giving some background on Sage, and J.T. Krul and Tom Mandrake tell a story of one of the Xavier Institutes young students on Halloween. The art is uniformly good, and the stories tend to hit all the right notes, but even with fairly compressed story telling, there's not much you can do in 11 pages. C+

X-Treme X-Men #41
Part 2 of "Prisoner of Fire". I'm slightly lost as to who this Elias Bogan creature is, but that's par for the course with jumping onto a Claremont written title 40 issues in. Still, Claremont does a nice job with these characters, since he's had relatively free reign to develop them as he wanted. It's reminiscent of those late first Claremont era x-men books (post Mutant Massacre) but that's still better most of what we got in the nineties. B-

2004-01-19T23:22:00.000-05:00

Iowa

Well, looks like the Zogby poll numbers from last week were showing real trends...

John Kerry's victory this evening certainly presents a startling turnaround for a campaign that just looked dead a few weeks ago. The last few weeks seem to have gone very well in Iowa for Kerry, and showed some of the strengths that hadn't been apparent before are coming to the forefront again.

From a marketing standpoint, Kerry did a good job in presenting himself over the last month as a likeable person and a solid human being. His past as a veteran certainly helped that, and his skill at "one-on-one" campaigning helped as well. Having footage of Kerry engaged in snowball fights and flying helicopters, along with is own personal narrative of military heroism helped voters considering electability as a factor.

Edwards performance may be even more remarkable than Kerry's, considering he didn't really have most of the "possible front runner" traits that Kerry had coming into the election season last year. While his numbers may have been padded slightly be second-choice support from Gephardt and Kucinich, Iowa places him right back into the thick of things. Many, including myself, have been puzzled why he hadn't caught on with more voters yet, given his strong campaign skills. It looks like he's finally turned the corner, and the race is more interesting for it.

Gephardt being out is a good thing, as it never really seemed like he had any kind of workable strategy even with a Win in Iowa.

Dean's performance is doubtless a disappointment, but he's still got the largest amount of funds to run everywhere, and will be difficult for any one candidate to challenge head on, though if New Hampshire falls apart it will be a very, very difficult race for Dean, regardless of money. Dean needs to play the next few weeks well or else he'll be the guy who energized the base but didn't get the nomination.

2003-12-15T22:19:00.000-05:00

On Good News...

Well, as everyone's undoubtedly heard by now, we finally found Saddam Hussein. This is great news, as he was one of the world's most ruthless dictator's and deserves to be brought to justice. His capture, in many ways, may prove to be a pivot point in how the occupation of Iraq goes.

On one level, it hopefully provides an opportunity for the US to improve its image among many iraqis and get the ball rolling on getting something resembling a pluralistic republic there. The up side of Saddam's capture could be two-fold...it could take at least a little wind out of any resistance coming from Baathists, and it could ease the almost subconscious fears of some Iraqis that Saddam would somehow return to power.

The flipside of this, however, could make this a relatively low-impact issue in terms of our future with Iraq. Most observers seem to think that Saddam wasn't particularly key at this point to any operating resistance throughout Iraq to the US occupation, so his capture may yield minimal impact in the long term in quelling attacks on both our military and civillians in the region. Juan Cole brings up another not-so-good possibility that the lack of Hussein as an ever-present hidden threat may embolden some frustrated Iraqis (particularly Shiites) to actually air there disagreements with the US more freely (and quickly).

Even if the negative aspects of this are possible, the US needs to work quickly to try and capitalize on Hussein's capture and build some good will in Iraq and internationally. Trying to avoid the frequent (and idiotic) mistakes that have been prevalent since the planning stages of this mission. If Iraq slides into a theocratic or authoritarian regime, both Iraqis and Americans will be worse off, and less secure. Given our track record so far in Afghanistan, I can only hope we'll be improving...

2003-12-15T22:13:00.000-05:00

Busy Month!

Wow. Sorry I didn't post for so long, to any of the 3 or 4 folks who read this blog. November/Early December was really strange, so I didn't have a lot of free time. Anyway, lots more posts from here on out...

2003-11-15T23:58:00.000-05:00

What's in the CD Player?

North, Elvis Costello
The Love Below, Outkast
Poses, Rufus Wainwright
Bringing It All Back Home, Bob Dylan
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band Live 1975-85

2003-11-15T23:40:00.000-05:00

TV Stuff (11/9-11/15)

I'm not watching much TV right now, as the only two dramas that still have me watching on at the moment are Angel & 24. Warning: Spoilers follow if you're timeshifting these shows on Tape or Tivo.

24 ratcheted up the tension this week, and threw us the first big surprise of the season with Tony getting shot. I think this episode probably resolves a lot of complaints some had about the first two episodes of the show being a bit slow and predictable.

As always, I'm concerned with any time wasted on Kim Bauer unless it involves her causing great frustration for other characters on the show. I guess her relationship with "Jack's Partner" (whose name I can't remember at the moment) is meeting that criteria, but as usual it's pretty forced.

Angel "Lineage" was great. The focus on Wes, by far the most compelling supporting character on the show, was welcome. The episode gave us a little bit of everything without it feeling forced, a welcome change of pace. We have character development (Wes dealing with this bottled resentment and his feelings for Fred) and some macro plot issues (Spike & Eve, the robots) giving us some longterm meat to chew on.

The stuff with Wesley, which was basically 90% of the episode, was really well done. Alexis Denisof has done a wonderful job letting the writers change his character from preening incompetent into a engaging character struggling to walk a line between what's right and what's necessary. The sequence where he shoots and kills his ersatz father was shocking, both for illustrating just how much he cares for Fred, and for the suddenness and violence of the act itself, not just firing a clean shot, but unloading a clip into RoboDad.

It should also be noted that this episode was pretty damned funny. Spike got to basically just make snarky comments all episode, which is fine with me.

The only comedy that I'm currently watching is Fox's new Arrested Development. It's second episode aired this past Sunday, and it was pretty funny, if a tad predictable plot wise. This is definitely worth checking out if you're looking for a comedy to watch on Sunday night.

2003-11-14T01:25:00.000-05:00

The Dean Dilemma

There has been a lot of argument over the issue of Democratic Frontrunner Howard Dean's electability over the last few months. Many folks, on both the Right and Left, have compared Dean's campaign to McGovern's from 1972, predicting serious electability problems. The main reasons cited tend to be:

1. Dean staked out an initial position to the left of the "mainstream" candidates on a few key issues to gain a base, including the Iraq War and Gay Rights.

2. The "establishment" candidates are struggling to keep up in the polls and are mostly floundering, having trouble dealing with the insurgent candidate in the primaries.

3. The Dean campaign is driven largely by strong management, and has effectively garnered large amounts of grassroots support, but it's coming from a fairly narrow demographic group.

4. Dean is willing to open his mouth before he's really thought through what he's saying, or at least occasionally articulate something both forcefully and clumsily at the same time, which can be a dangerous combination.

While these are, at least superficially, legitimate concerns, I think in this election year he's nowhere near as weak a candidate in the general election as some are writing him off to be.

The two easiest to dismiss are the 2nd and 3rd issues listed above. The problems of the other presidential campaigns in dealing with Dean's unexpected rise is due to a variety of factors, but I think trying to insinuate that the collection of candidates faced by McGovern & Dean was a direct factor of the electability (past or theoretical) of each candidate is misguided. Dean's insurgency seems based mostly on the fact that his campaign was able to capitalize on his direct opposition to the experiment that Dubya and crew pulled in Iraq. Most of the mainstream candidates couldn't or wouldn't stand up the adminstration on the issue, and it's cost them as the situation has deteriorated.

That alone wouldn't have been enough to put the Dean campaign where they are.

They've generally been quick enough and clever enough to adapt the campaign, slowly but surely, into a more expansive one where Dean can stake out territory in the immediately surrounding the same places the other candidates are issue-wise, but make a claim that his stance is unique or stronger. At times that's something of an illusion, as Dean's stances on most issues are fairly mainstream, and even more centrist than most of the other candidates, but it does have a practical political impact that's crucial.

The issue of Dean being "too liberal" could've been a problem, except he's really not. Basically, his leftist street cred only comes from having opposed the Iraq War from the start and supported Civil Unions in Vermont. Health Insurance reform could go towards that as well, but that's a fairly centrist goal at this point. Dean's stances on most other issues, as mentioned before, are probably slightly to the right of the Democratic mainstream, since he's a pretty staunch fiscal conservative, and even has an unusually tolerant attitude towards guns ("state's rights.") I just doesn't seem like it would be fairly easy for Bush to paint Dean into the "commie liberal" corner when his record isn't anything like that. I may be giving the press too much credit, but we'll see...

Finally, I think the Fourth and final issue mentioned above is potentially the only one that really will be a problem for a Dean run against Bush. His fairly impulsive sounding "straight talk" approach is likely to occasionally backfire when he speaks before he thinks. Over the course of a campaign even the most carefully controlled candidate usually says something kind of off, and typically has to play defense occasionally, but if Dean makes a substantial slip late in the campaign he'll face a nastier storm of media than anything he's seen. Just ask Al Gore, who tended to get roasted even for things he didn't really say.

We'll see how things play out over the next few months, but if Dean gets the nomination, I think his effective campaign organization and grass roots support, as well as his fundraising prowess, will be pluses that outweigh the possible problems of the occasional hasty remark.

2003-11-14T00:22:00.000-05:00

Another Salvo...

Krugman's newest column at the NY Times is up, and it provides another illustration of what seems to be the overriding Republican strategy...Sugar coating attacks on popular programs to press through regressive long term policy changes. Medicare is the example here, but this tactic has been used constantly by both the Bush Administration and Congressional Republicans to launch what can really on be regarded as an attack on the middle class.

What's so galling about this strategy is that you've got people like Grover Norquist running around singing from the hills about the real drive behind these policies, but it just goes largely unnoticed.

2003-11-12T20:33:00.000-05:00

I Don't Get It...

I'm fairly confused today. There's a bunch of things I just don't understand.

I don't get why Senate Republicans are so hypocritical about how they handle judicial nominees.

I don't get why so many Bush Administration policy makers are so arrogant and gullible.

And I don't get why people seem to hate The Matrix: Revolutions SO MUCH.

Hopefully, my confusion will be short lived...

But I kinda doubt it.

2003-11-12T20:06:00.000-05:00

A Bad Investment

Caps Owner Ted Leonsis has lost $100 Million on the team since purchasing them in 1999.

Ouch.

2003-10-24T22:31:00.000-05:00

Some Gaming Stuff...

Christmas is approaching, which means way too many videogames are currently being released. Here's what's been spinning in my consoles recently...

Soul Calibur II: I was a bit of a Soul Calibur junkie when we had our dreamcast hooked up a couple of years ago, so I was happy the current consoles finally have the sequel available. It plays just as well as the prior game, and it's accessible and deep at the same time. It is a little too friendly to button-mashing at times...but that's not too much of a problem. The single player Weapons Master mode adds some long term value to the game, and is an improvement over the "story mode" or whatever it was called in the prior game in the series...

Viewtiful Joe: This is really fun if you grew up with games in the eighties. It's an old fashioned side scrolling beat 'em up with a few new twists. The cell shaded graphics give a lot of charm and character to the game, and the fighting allows you to really have fun with how you win, and not just getting the job done. There's nothing like slowing down time and punching bullets and missiles back at attacking helicopters while fighting off spinning robots. I don't know if this will sell well here in the US (although I recall hearing that it didn't really even sell well in Japan either) but I hope it's successful since, so far, its one of the best games I've played this year.

The Simpsons: Hit & Run: Wow, it's a licensed game that doesn't stink. When I first heard about this title, a Grand Theft Auto clone w/ the Simpsons, I thought it would be awful. It's not, it quite fun. Solid writing and production help, as the really nail the humor and outlook of the show. Only downside, already evident fairly early in the game, is a lack of variety in missions. There's really just races, destroy another car missions, and collecting missions (with a few platforming tasks thrown in.) Still, it's real fun for any Simpsons fan, which can't be said about most prior games featuring the famous family.

2003-10-24T22:03:00.000-05:00

Divine Intervention?

OK. All I can say to this is...Jesus!

2003-10-12T21:23:00.000-05:00

Another Dem Debate...

Well, we were graced with another Democratic Presidential Candidates debate last Thursday. The format was terrible, with half the time spent on a chaotic roundtable and half with "Town Hall" questions. With nine candidates (about half of whom have no chance at getting the nomination), there were lots of attacks without rebuttals and little substantively said. Not unusual for a debate but it seemed to be exacerbated by the format, and the moderator (Woodruff was awful.)

In terms of candidates, I didn't think anyone was particularly bad except people who didn't matter (Kucinich & CMB). Kerry was more lively than he's been before, but still had a tendency to be unbearably dull. He did get the best line of the night with "there are two ways for you to have lower prescription drug costs. One is you could hire Rush Limbaugh's housekeeper... or you can elect me president of the United States." It may not be true, but it was funny.

Clark and Dean bore the brunt of the attacks since they're seen as either the frontrunners or at least as the most dangerous candidates. Clark didn't have a great debate but at least didn't' get TOO flustered over the attacks. Dean almost lost it when he got ambushed by Judy Woodruff with the Kerry "document" about his record with prescription drug plans. Dean's response covered it well, but I wish he had maybe mentioned the difference between being an executive and being a legislator and thrown it back at Kerry.

Edwards did fine, I just wonder if he'll ever collect more supporters or if he's in this for the VP nom or a later run. His rhetoric, aside from a little too much emphasis on his modest upbringing, is right where the Dems can just nail the Republicans in 2004, but it's not catching on among Democratic voters...Maybe he just looks too young.

Lieberman didn't really hurt himself this time, since he didn't declare victory for not being booed, although his "I'm a social conservative" speech seemed out of place.

Overall, I don't think this yielded any substantial revelations, but we should still have an interesting campaign season coming up.

2003-10-09T21:42:00.000-05:00

Thoughts on Angel s5x02 Just Rewards:

Well, Spike's finally here. And from the early ratings for the first two episodes it seems to be helping on that side, but is his presence helping the show creatively? It's probably to early to tell, but here are some thoughts on "Just Rewards."

On a positive note, Marsters seems to work well with the Angel cast. The interaction between Angel and Spike was generally engaging, although the "I'm an irritating ghost" dynamic runs the risk of being overplayed if it goes on to long.

While the villain of the episode comes off as a very "one and done" kind of threat, the actor portraying the necromancer brought a wonderful look/voice/feel to the part.

On a negative note, there didn't seem to be a lot of dramatic tension to the episode. While lots of reasonably interesting long term problems were hovering around, the show's new setting seems a little bit stagnant. It's probably due to the fact that, aside from Gunn's infusion of LawyerPower, we haven't gotten much new with any of the other characters, just LOTS of Angel and, with this ep, lots of Spike too. Even some of the earliest episodes of Season 1 seemed to have more than this ep did. However, last season started somewhat slowly as well, so I'm willing to give the writers the benefit of the doubt.

Overall, a decent episode, hopefully setting up some more interesting things in the long run...

2003-10-08T18:46:00.000-05:00

Well, we've moved one step too close to the world of "Demolition Man" for my tastes. Arnold Schwarzenegger has been elected Governor of California, and I can't help but think...What the hell does this mean!?

For starters, it means that various State Democratic Parties in traditionally liberal states need to wake up and realize that having your state institutions run as pay-for-play, semi-corrupt institutions doesn't cut it. Regardless of whether the state leans left or not, they won't keep voting for the types of people who give the words "Career Politician" their bad rep. For examples of this: Parris Glendenning & Gray Davis.

I don't know what it means for California specifically, except for the fact that I'm suspicious of Schwarzenegger since he seems to be surrounding himself with some of the seedier California Republican operatives (at least in his campaign.) Also, while some people are trying to read this as a Republican takeover of the state, I don't think that's the case. The November 2004 election should be the test of that, and I have serious doubts that George W. Bush is capable of even coming close to winning California next year.

2003-10-06T20:40:00.000-05:00

Hi! Welcome to MorseCode. This blog is basically going to be a venue where I can write about anything that comes to mind. Expect frequent posts on subjects as diverse as Sports, Politics, Arts & Entertainment and more.