Looks like this Tebow kid can play some football

Denver Broncos QB Tim Tebow mic'd up on NFL Sound FX

Rookie QB Tim Tebow is wired for sound during Denver's come-from-behind win over the Texans



Some will focus so much on the negatives -- his mechanics, footwork, etc. and miss the obvious positives. I wonder why.

This kid is a leader and a winner. No doubt about it.

Bubbling Crude...more from the Bears....Noah's Ark wisdom

A recent missive from Dan Norcini who writes his thoughts on the markets for Jim Sinclair's MineSet blog.

http://jsmineset.com/

I think he does a great job of taking the Fed to task for what they are doing for the people of this country. And the homeowners who were expecting long-term interest rates to fall so they could maybe refinance their homes and save a few bucks can just go pound salt. It ain't going to happen as long-term rates have skyrocketed since ol' Bennie cranked up his printing press to bail out the banks come more.

That would have been a great form of economic stimulus that would have come at no cost to the taxpayers. But it would have reduced the profits of the banks. So it's not going to happen on any type of scale in this country. People with 700+ plus FICO scores are getting turned down for re-fi's nationwide either because of banker apathy or appraisals that come in at a level were it is not feasible for anyone to underwrite the loan. Hmmmmmmm..........

http://jsmineset.com/2010/12/22/trader-dan-comments-on-todays-commodity-market-action/

Posted: Dec 22 2010 By: Dan Norcini Post Edited: December 22, 2010 at 5:47 pm

Filed under: Trader Dan Norcini

Dear Friends,

Observing the price action in the commodity markets today has given me great reason for concern for that which I feared seems to have occurred, namely, the crude oil market has broken out to the upside. I suppose it was just a matter of time based on the orgy of fund buying across the commodity sector but I was secretly hoping that we might avoid such a close mainly to prevent what now seems to be a certain price rise for the cost of energy. Heretofore, the soaring CCI (Continuous Commodity Index) has been moving higher mainly based on food and metal costs. Now we have the trifecta where the three main segments of that index are moving higher in tandem.

Actually, given the extent of the price run in the food and metals sector, the energy sector has a lot of ground to make up.

Yesterday crude put in its best close in 26 months. Today it has closed above what has become both technical and psychological chart resistance at the $90 level. Should it end this trading week above $90, holiday trading conditions or no holiday trading conditions, it will put in its best weekly close since October 2008. Moving forward into the New Year, it looks most probable that it is going to make a run at $100.

My fear mentioned above is that in addition to consumers soon to get walloped with sticker shock at the grocery stores within the space of a few months as the price rise works its way through the distribution channels, they were also going to get hit with rising gasoline and energy costs, a double whammy for their pocketbooks at the time that many can ill afford it. There are so many struggling families dealing with lost incomes and underemployment for those fortunate enough to have found work, that any further price pressures on the energy front would act to take some of them over the edge financially. Many are having to cut expenses drastically in an attempt to stay in their homes. How soaring food and energy costs are supposed to benefit the economy escapes me.

The ivory tower types of the monetary realm are completely disconnected from the havoc and harm that they have caused so many with their incredibly short-sighted and foolhardy monetary policies. The Federal Reserve is presiding over the deliberate and planned unleashing of the inflation genie without the least bit of concern as to how that is going to affect the average middle class American. Words cannot express the contempt and disdain I have for this group of elitists. Keep in mind how this entire debacle began and the “medicine” that has been brought forth to supposedly cure it. If this is the cure, they are only succeeding in slowly killing the patient.

There does not seem to be any end in sight to the continued money creation efforts of the Fed so all that we can do is attempt to protect ourselves and our loved ones from their depredations upon our life savings. The bond market, while currently being artificially propped up by these snake oil salesmen, looks heavy, even in spite of the massive buys it is seeing as the Fed makes the purchases that are part of its QE (money printing) program. Once that market breaks down in earnest, it will not take much to see a cascade of selling erupt as bond holders head to the exits. I suspect that the Chinese are more than seriously concerned about their national wealth, a large part of which still remains trapped in these worthless IOU’s called Treasury Debt.
Long term rates could then rise quite rapidly as bondholders experience a selling panic and feverishly attempt to avoid being the last man standing in what might well become a sort of perverse game of musical chairs. Their actions will create a cycle in which selling intensifies.

The resulting rise in longer term interest rates will work to continue depress the Real estate sector not to mention hit thousands of homeowners trapped in adjustable rate mortgages which will then reset to a rate that may force even more of them out of their homes. Quite frankly, I see nothing on the horizon preventing this from occurring at this point because the Fed cannot create enough money to buy up all the outstanding Treasury debt that is going to be unloaded. Oh they conceivably could I suppose but at what cost to the Dollar!

Jim has said it more than once over the last few years that these derivative creators and vile peddlers have destroyed us all in their greed. Many of you have not understood what he has been saying or perhaps felt that it was an overreaction. Rest assured, the fallout from this sordid mess is now rapidly descending upon us.

The Fed created this travesty under the tenure of Mr. Greenspan who never saw a potential problem on the horizon without throwing money at it. For that, he was stupidly hailed as “The Maestro”. His madness, of lowering interest rates to ridiculously low levels, gave rise to the hedge fund industry and its attempts to then find yield in any sector that it could. The wave of speculative frenzy unleashed then crashed into one sector after another only abating when the derivative market blew all to hell which was inevitable. Enter Mr. Bernanke, who then revitalized the beast of speculative frenzy by one upping his predecessor. Much like Beowolf’s golden horn raised the dragon, Bernanke’s QE idiocy fan the fires of leveraged insanity as he practically begged the hedge funds to buy commodities to induce inflation and ward of his ridiculous fear of deflation. The results are now obvious. Nice going guys – you can sit in your ivory tower and quietly study the effects of your brain child while Middle America slowly dies of price asphyxiation. A pox on your entire house.

If Schiller and Schiff are correct about the direction housing prices are heading in 2011 (down another 10-20%) I suggest the torch and pitchfork crowd stays warmed up in the bullpen.

“Suckers Rally:
Pimp Bernanke and the Psychopathic Super-Whores of CNBC”
by Greg Hunter

http://coyoteprime-runningcauseicantfly.blogspot.com/2010/12/suckers-rally-pimp-bernanke-and.html

Suckers rally: Pimp Bernanke and the Psychopathic Super-Whores of CNBC




The United States of Debt

Hat tip to The Automatic Earth blog
http://theautomaticearth.blogspot.com/



All I Really Need To Know I Learned From Noah's Ark

Always live a righteous life - even if you're the only one; it will be noticed.

Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the ark.

Stay fit. When you're 600 years old, someone might ask you to do something REALLY big.

Don't listen to critics - do what has to be done.

Listen to what God tells you - your life depends on it.

Put action to your faith. Noah could have believed God, yet still drowned if he hadn't built the ark.

Finish what you start.

Two heads are better than one.

Speed isn't always an advantage. The cheetahs were on board, but so were the snails.

Don't forget that we're all in the same boat.

Remember that the ark was built by amateurs and the Titanic by professionals.

Remember that the woodpeckers INSIDE can be a bigger threat than the storm outside.

Don't miss the boat.

Have patience! The ark wasn't built in a year, and the flood wasn't finished in 40 days and 40 nights.

If God is with you; no matter how bleak it looks, there's always a rainbow at the end.

When God has brought you safely through the storm, don't forget to praise and thank Him.

FLOOD WAS REAL!

Just when you thought you have seen everything.....

Idaho State's Kamil Gawrzydek shoots one of the oddest free throws ever!




More news of the weird:

From a recent Financial Times blurb titled Weapon of Choice:

On Monday, Moskovsky Komsomolets, a Moscow newspaper, published a statistic on its front page: sales of aluminum baseball bats had risen sharply - but sales of baseballs had not. Four bats are bought for every ball in Moscow, a city not known for its love of America's pastime. Instead, the aluminum bat is a rapidly proliferating weapon in a new war - the armament of choice for football hooligans and skinhead gangs.

Words of Wisdom:

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood. Keep away from the people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you can become great.” - Mark Twain.

“The price pattern reminds you that every movement of importance is but a repetition of similar price movements, that just as soon as you can familiarize yourself with the actions of the past, you will be able to anticipate and act correctly and profitably upon forthcoming movements.” - Jesse Livermore

"Nothing in the world is more dangerous than a sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity"
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

"The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism - ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power." - Franklin D. Roosevelt

The Giants are full of QUIT!!!

That's about as honest an appraisal as I can give about this team. Strahan danced around the issue in the pre-game -- before this debacle -- when he said that an Andy Reid coached team (the Eagles) would never quit. That assessment rang true as the Eagles blew the doors off the Giants 1) in the second half 2) in their own yard 3) in a game that was as near a must-win for both teams as you can get and maintain control of your own destiny.

Given a second chance in Green Bay, this is what you get out of the G(for girls)-men:

“We came out,” Tuck said. “And we played like we didn’t have anything to play for.”

These are the same pack of losers that complained (Antrel Rolle) when the faithful booed them as they tried to quit in a game against Jacksonville a few weeks back. Looks like the fans know a lying dog when they see one, now don't they, Antrel? The team has proven themselves to be so unworthy of fans criticism since that time, right?

They called Strahan a traitor when he dared speak the truth about this team as well. Truth hurts, I guess.

Unfortunately for the Giants, any team that is incapable of scoring on their own, the Giants MAYBE have a chance against. If the team has a modicum of offensive skill, this swiss-cheese defense can't stop it. The G's lead the league in turnovers. They are undisciplined and not very talented.

The last two games, blown out in the second half by Philly 35-7 and now GB 24-3. That's a 59-10 blowout in the last two second-halves. That is pitiful. That spells quit. They've quit when they were ahead, they've quit when they are behind in the score. An all-purpose QUIT-team. The Giants simply are full of QUIT.

This team needs to look in the mirror, or find a coach willing to reflect their image back to them. They are what their recent record says they are. A borderline .500 team, that can't dominate a relatively weak division and GETS dominated consistently by Philadelphia. Maybe in reality a 6-10 or 7-9 team disguised by the magic of a weak schedule.

The fans will stop booing when this team stops quitting. Maybe at the end of the year, instead of firing coach Coughlin, they should just let him quit. That would suit this team just fine.

Merry Christmas - two wonderful stories for the season

WOW!!

One of the great pleasures of being involved in coaching sports is being exposed to and sharing some of the awesome stories of hope and change that are at the core of teaching and coaching. I read this one from the blog Hoop Thoughts by LSU Lady Tigers basketball coach Bob Starkey. Starkey relates the story shared with him by former LSU mens basketball coach Dale Brown, titled "The Last Day of School" by Roy Exum.

It's quite an awesome Christmas story and a pleasure for me to pass along. The second one, from the same author, Roy Exum, documents some of the years top stories of what I refer to as "The Banality of Heroism".

Merry Christmas to all. Enjoy and God Bless.

Roy Exum: My Most Famous Story
by Roy Exum
posted December 18, 2010

http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_190785.asp

Roy Exum
If you’ll bang out the two words, “roy exum” on the website Google’s search line, it will show that there are over 63,300 items now available. That doesn’t mean I am famous - not by any stretch, but only that I’ve been around a long time. And the most prominent of all the stories I’ve ever written that pops up on Google, or any of the other search engines, is one entitled, “The Last Day of School.”

Every Christmas I have people from all around the country write to me and ask about the story. I explain all I did was write down a story, as best I could remember and in my own words, that I once heard the noted psychologist, Tony Campolo, tell at a breakfast meeting.

Actually, the story first appeared about 30 years ago in the old Chattanooga News-Free Press, if that tells you how long it’s been afloat.

Since then, it has been included in text books, church sermons, educational seminars and “Soup for the Soul.” One website posted it with another person’s byline and pirated my version almost verbatim, but I didn’t care.

I will always believe it is one of the greatest Christmas stories ever told, not written, and law, I’ve seen it appear all over the world in all sorts of strange languages. (When I see it in Japanese and Chinese symbols, it is kind of a kick.)

So today, in something that has become a Holiday tradition for an old guy, please bear with me as I once again present...The Last Day of School.

* * *

When Tony Campolo was in Chattanooga last week to speak at the annual "Gathering of Men" breakfast, the noted sociologist told a story that begs to be repeated, especially on this day. It seems that there was a lady named Jean Thompson, and when she stood in front of her fifth-grade class on the very first day of school in the fall, she told the children a lie.

Like most teachers, she looked at her pupils and said that she loved them all the same, that she would treat them all alike. And that was impossible because there in front of her, slumped in his seat on the third row, was a boy named Teddy Stoddard.

Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed he didn't play well with the other children, that his clothes were unkempt and that he constantly needed a bath. Add to it the fact Teddy was unpleasant.

It got to the point during the first few months that she would actually take delight in marking his papers with a broad red pen, making bold X's and then marking the "F" at the top of the paper biggest of all.

Because Teddy was a sullen little boy, nobody else seemed to enjoy him either. Now at the school where Mrs. Thompson taught, she was required to review each child's records, and because of things, put Teddy's off until the last. But, when she opened his file, she was in for a surprise.

His first grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is a bright, inquisitive child with a ready laugh. He does work neatly and has good manners...he is a joy to be around."

His second-grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is an excellent student and is well-liked by his classmates - but he is troubled because his mother has a terminal illness and life at home must be a struggle."

His third grade teacher wrote, "Teddy continues to work hard, but his mother's death has been hard on him. He tries to do his best, but his father doesn't show much interest and his home life will soon affect him if some steps aren't taken."

Teddy's fourth grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is withdrawn and doesn't show much interest in school. He doesn't have many friends and sometimes sleeps in class. He is tardy and could become a problem."

By now Mrs. Thompson realized the problem, but Christmas was coming fast. It was all she could do, with the school play and all, until the day before the holidays began and she was suddenly forced to focus on Teddy Stoddard on that last day before the vacation would begin.

Her children brought her presents, all in gay ribbon and bright paper, except for Teddy's, which was clumsily wrapped in the heavy, brown paper of a scissored grocery bag. Mrs. Thompson took pains to open it in the middle of the other presents and some of the children started to laugh when she found a rhinestone bracelet, with some of the stones missing, and a bottle that was one-quarter full of cologne. She stifled the laughter when she exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was, putting it on, and she dabbed some of the perfume behind the other wrist.

At the end of the day, as the other children joyously raced from the room, Teddy Stoddard stayed behind, just long enough to say, "Mrs. Thompson, today you smelled just like my mom used to."

As soon as Teddy left, Mrs. Thompson knelt at her desk and there, after the last day of school before Christmas, she cried for at least an hour. On that very day, she quit teaching reading and writing and speaking. Instead, she began to teach children. And Jean Thompson paid particular attention to one they all called Teddy.

As she worked with him, his mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he responded, and, on days that there would be an important test, Mrs. Thompson would remember that cologne. By the end of the year he had become one of the smartest children in the class, and well, he had also become the "pet" of the teacher who had once vowed to love all of her children exactly the same.

A year later she found a note under her door, from Teddy, telling her that of all the teachers he'd had in elementary school, she was his favorite.

Six years went by before she got another note from Teddy. And then he wrote that he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still his favorite teacher of all time.

Four years after that, she got another letter, saying that while things had been tough at times, that he'd stayed in school, had stuck with it, and would graduate from college with the highest of honors. He assured Mrs. Thompson she was still his favorite teacher.

Then four more years passed and yet another letter came. This time he explained that after he got his bachelor's degree, he decided to go a little further. The letter explained that she was still his favorite teacher, but that now his name was a little longer. And the letter was signed, "Theodore F. Stoddard, M.D."

The story doesn't end there. You see, there was yet another letter that spring. Teddy said that, well, he'd met this girl and was to be married. He explained that his father had died a couple of years ago and he was wondering, well, if Mrs. Thompson might agree to sit in the pew usually reserved for the mother of the groom.

You'll have to decide yourself whether or not she wore that bracelet, the one with several rhinestones missing. But I bet on that special day, Jean Thompson smelled just like, well, just like she smelled many years before on the last day of school before the Christmas Holidays began.

...and the second story.

Roy Exum: They Walk Among Us
by Roy Exum
posted December 23, 2010


http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_191030.asp

Quick! Bang the Christmas drum and shake the tinsel from our brass horns. The Carnegie Hero Fund
Commission has just announced the names of 21 more people who walk among us who have been lauded for "extraordinary acts of civilian heroism."

This latest announcement brings into focus a total of 85 brave souls who, just this year, have been saluted by the fund established in 1904 by the famed steel baron Andrew Carnegie, whose ears were first perked when he heard inspiring rescue stories from a mine disaster that killed 181 people.

Are you ready for this? Carnegie was something of a hero himself because since the Hero Commission's inception, $32.9 million has been awarded to 9,412 people in the form of grants, scholarship aid and, sadly in some case, death benefits.

But it's like "The Duke," John Wayne once said,

"Courage is being scared to death...and saddling up anyway."

The Carnegie Awards are about common folk who immediately responded, ignoring loss of life and limb, in order to save another's life.

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. - John 15:13

Giants shine in Arizona Fall League

Some good reviews for future Giants in the prestigious Arizona Fall League.

Charlie Culberson played mostly 2B for the Scottsdale Scorpions and did well hitting .366/.394/.591 (AVG/OBA/SPCT), He was sixth in the league in batting and tied for the league lead in doubles. This will help his stock.

Conor Gillaspie tied for the league lead with five HR's. He batted .306/.350/.597 across the board, but the 5 HR's in 72 AB's is a huge development. If this continues, it won't be long before we see Gillaspie at the major league level. The lack of power was the remaining question mark and led to debate as to whether the Giants should move him from 3B, where he is maybe average defensively, over to 2B.

Brandon Belt continued to play to rave reviews in the AFL. He was fourth in the league in hitting with a .372/..427/.616 line. Scouts were impressed with his makeup and hitting approach. He has displayed good gap power and appears to be an extra-base hitting machine in the making. May be the Giants 1B of the future.

Among the pitchers, Jason Stoffel pitched well. I believe Stoffel, Jose Casilla and Seth Rosin will advance quickly, perhaps sooner than some other higher touted prospects within the system.

Ryan Verdugo, a ninth rounder in 2008 out of LSU, pitched well. Ryan is a 6-0, 185 LHP who clearly was not over matched among the highly touted hitting prospects this league attracts. He may be added to watch lists as we speak.

As Central banks squabble, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer....

Wealth is being transferred from savers to investors / speculators.

The zero interest rate policy (ZIRP) the Fed has been pursuing for years has in effect taxed savers at 100%. There is no incentive to save, there is a conscious effort on the part of the Fed towards more consumption, more debt accumulation - a "hair of the dog that bit you" strategy. Doesn't work well for curing alcoholism, does it?

The unfortunate bottom line is this:
The rich can handle the inflation manufactured by Bernanke better than the poor.

What this will do is an ongoing case study for why there is such a considerable wealth disparity in the country. Blame capitalism all you want, the central planners at the Fed should be "on the hook" for their out-sized (IMO) share of the blame.

Recent comments regarding the deficit, the debt and QEII:

"What we see is politicians cutting taxes with borrowed money, and spending on new programs, new projects with borrowed money. But the debt is increasing at a rate of over a trillion dollars a year. And because interest rates are low, being in a weak economy, it is very easy for the government to sell as many bonds as it wants. I think there’s a complacency rising at this stage. Interest rates are down for a number of technical reasons. But, assuredly they’re not going to stay here...We don't know at this stage why or how the markets respond to this sort of -- this type of massive budget deficit. And I think we’re taking a very high risk. This is not a tradeoff between good and bad. In fact, I sometimes put it between terrible and catastrophic." - Alan Greenspan September 24th

“we should be clear in our minds that the fiscal situation in the United States is much worse than in Europe. When the European debt situation stabilizes, attention of financial markets will definitely shift to the United States. At that time, U.S. Treasury bonds and the U.S. dollar will experience considerable declines.” - Li Daokui, adviser to China's Central bank

----

Then this in the Battle of the Central Bankers:

On November 13th, China’s FX chief, Jin Zhongxia, criticized the Fed’s QE-2 scheme. Jin warned that China doesn’t support the monetary easing that causes capital inflows to increase the risk of asset bubbles. Major countries that excessively print money to get out of their own economic difficulties, pose a policy dilemma for emerging economies. That will impose greater pressure on capital inflows, bigger bubbles in asset markets and inflationary pressure.

But Bernanke shot back on December 5th,

Keeping the Chinese currency too low is bad for the American economy, because it hurts our trade. It’s bad for other emerging market economies. If they fix their currency to the dollar, then they’ll have the same monetary policy, essentially, that the United States has. China is growing very quickly. They’re risking inflation by importing U.S. monetary policy. And that’s a problem for them.

Thus, QE-2 is also aimed at China.

------
From the Pragmatic Capitalism:

http://pragcap.com/dont-fight-the-fed

DON’T FIGHT THE FED?

7 DECEMBER 2010 BY TPC

This famous Wall Street slogan has become popular again in recent months as more and more investors believe in the Fed’s ability to generate economic recovery through the wonders of QE. But the facts from the last few years don’t exactly corroborate the “don’t fight the Fed theory (via David Rosenberg at Glulskin Sheff):

Since the first cut in the Fed funds rate on September 18, 2007 …

- The S&P 500 has gone from 1,520 to 1,223.
- The unemployment rate has gone from 4.7% to 9.8%.
- Industry capacity utilization rates have gone from 81.5% to below 75%.
- The 10-year note yield has gone from 4.5% to below 3%.
- Housing starts have gone from 1.183 million units to 0.519 million.
- Median real estate values have gone from $210,500 to $170,500.
- Core inflation has gone from 2.1% to 0.6%.

Well done!

When asked about rising inequality in the United States, Mr. Bernanke offered a response that was likely to be embraced by liberals.

“It’s a very bad development,” he said. “It’s creating two societies. And it’s based very much, I think, on educational differences. The unemployment rate we’ve been talking about. If you’re a college graduate, unemployment is 5 percent. If you’re a high school graduate, it’s 10 percent or more. It’s a very big difference.”

Mr. Bernanke added: “It leads to an unequal society, and a society which doesn’t have the cohesion that we’d like to see.”

How extreme is this inequality? It's higher than it has ever been since the peak of the roaring 1920s.

The graphs in this article and the portrait it paints about our country at this time is very troubling. We simply have to do better than this.


15 Mind-Blowing Facts About Wealth And Inequality In America

http://www.businessinsider.com/facts-about-inequality-in-america-2011-11#

The gap between the top 0.01% and everyone else hasn't been this big since the Roaring Twenties

Half of America owns 2.5% of country's wealth. The top 1% owns a third of it.

Source: Institute for Policy Studies.


Real average earnings have not increased in 50 years. That's HALF A CENTURY!

And savings rates have sunk, as Americans borrow money to keep up (though they're rising now).

Despite the myth of social mobility, poor Americans have a SLIM CHANCE of rising to the upper middle class

Source: NBER


Republican tax cuts significantly increased the wealth gap

America redistributes its wealth FAR LESS than other developed countries (via government transfers)

America's income spread is nearly twice the OECD average

Source: Economist


The income gap is NOT growing in other countries, like France.

Income Inequality is worst around Wall Street and Oil States.

Normalized to 1979, the top 1% have seen their share of America's income more than double. The bottom 90% have seen their portion shrink.

Source: Afferent Input


Read more:
http://www.businessinsider.com/facts-about-inequality-in-america-2011-11#if-you-arent-in-the-top-1-of-americas-earners-youre-pretty-much-screwed-15#ixzz17SLlprCh

---

The right thing to do never requires any subterfuge,
it is always simple and direct. - Calvin Coolidge

Sportsmanship gone wild - Follow-up

http://cnn.com/video/?/video/us/2010/12/16/dnt.teen.referee.attack.wink

I was happy to see the kid take SOME accountability and responsibility for his actions. Certainly some will nit-pick (and I would normally be among the first) and say he did not TOTALLY own the incident by saying "That's not me". Who was it then? Your evil twin?

I understand in part where he's going with that, but the self-deception and deflection of blame displayed here is a bit of a negative. The focus on his own loss or damage ("the game I worked at so hard is taken away from me") demonstrates a bit of the self-centered / entitlement mind-set that permeates youth sports and leads to incidents like this, IMO.

The most shocking quote was when the young man said "It just happened...to me it was part of the game." WOW!!!

That mind-set simply has to change, does it not?

Participation at this level is more of a privilege than a right. Although, I'm sure there will be some constitutional scholar, professor or activist judge somewhere in the country who will disagree with that statement.

But it's a decent start for the kid and personally, I thought the initial reaction might be in the other direction. We'll hope for the best for all parties.

Story from winknews.com
http://www.winknews.com/Local-Florida/2010-12-15/Desoto-County-High-basketball-player-apologizes-

DESOTO COUNTY, Fla--He was the player shown attacking a referee during a high school basketball game Now, he wants to apologize to his coach, his teammates, and most importantly the referee.

18 year old Mason Holland's sidelined from his favorite sport indefinitely because of the unsportsman-like choice he made on the basketball court.

"I worked at it harder than anything in my life and having it taken away from me is a hard feeling," said Holland describing how he felt after he was kicked off the Desoto County High School basketball team.

During a game, Holland received a technical foul. Then he pushed another player. The referee kicked Holland out of the game. Holland reacted by "clotheslining" the referee taking the 51 year old man completely to the ground.

The video was posted to YouTube.

"When I saw it I thought wow that's not me. It's shocking," said Holland describing seeing the video of his actions, "I didn't know at the time on the court. I didn't feel I knew what I was going to do. It just happened. I couldn't control it."

"You realize you could have really hurt this gentleman?" asked chief investigator Melissa Yeager.

"Right, right. Hopefully..I hope he's ok. I think he just needed ice for his wrist but my intention was not to hurt him," replied Holland, "I didn't do it to impress nobody. It just happened...to me it was part of the game."

Holland says he knows his game time decision hurt a lot of people.

"I feel like I let the team down and I let my coach down and the community down," said Holland.

Holland also wants to apologize to the referee.

"What happened on the court wasn't acceptable. Wasnt' me and I just want to apologize to everyone," said Holland.

Holland could also face criminal charges. The sheriff's department has turned the case over to the state attorney's office for review.

Renteria feels "disrespected"!!

File this under one of those "Are you serious!!!" quotes that athletes are famous for uttering.

Where was his concern for "respect" and who was being "disrespected" when he was over-paid and under-performing his 2-yr-$18.5M deal for the 2009-10 seasons? He was getting >$9M in salary then and giving <$1M results. That seems awfully disrespectful. C'mon Man!!!

From ESPN Deportes:

"That offer from the Giants was a lack of respect. A total disrespect. To play for a million dollars, I'd rather stay with my private business and share more time with my family. Thank God I'm well off financially and my money is well invested."

Don't you find it slightly ironic that the reason you are financially well off and therefore able to take time off is at least partly because you were considerably overpaid for the last two years?

Sorry Chief, one series or one swing of the bat doesn't out-weigh a season or two of futility.

BTW, Pat Burrell didn't seem to be "disrespected" when he accepted a similar offer. I guess it beats sitting on the couch collecting zero. We still have the albatross contracts of Zito and Rowand working their way through the organization, so I would be happy if the Giants do not let World Series sentiment and euphoria get in the way of sound business practice.

Sportsmanship gone wild

This was posted on YouTube by SWFLHoops and is getting some national play as an example of the breakdown of sportsmanship and what it leads to.

Ref Gets Tossed by Desoto player

The game ended in forfeit after the player from Desoto High School in Arcadia, FL attacked the referee after being issued a technical foul and was ejected from the game. The player has been banned from all extracurricular school activites according to the coach, suspended till January 10th as of now, and a police report has been filed. However, the official involved chose not to press charges at this time.

Please do not let the actions of one teenager generalize the future potential actions of other individuals. This individual obviously made a bad decision. However, there has not been any other on the court incidents by other team members that we have knowledge of, and this player just transferred into the school this season. Therefore please do not unfairly associate his actions with the other players on the team. We posted the video because it is newsworthy but not with the intentions of it branding a team, coaches, school, country or area in the same light. We feel that the school, coaches, and anyone involved handled this very well, as it could have escalated even further but did not.

I was happy to see that the officials declared the contest a forfeit. This is an underutilized tool because when it is used the onus is often turned back on the officials rather than on the behavior that precipitated the forfeit. Cries of "your punishing the other kids" rain down when in reality it seems as if the officials who choose this tool are using the last option available to provide a safe environment for everyone, officials included.

When all else fails and players still display no intention of controlling their behavior then the environment is polluted so much that in reality nobody is safe and all the participants need to take a step back and re-examine what they are doing and why they are out there on the court in the first place. A healthy dose of perspective is needed. A little soul-searching. Situations like this do not happen by accident.

Will Brandon Belt be the 2011 version of Buster Posey?

In praise of Brandon Belt, who may be the Giants next premiere prospect. He rises to the top of my list, ahead of the seemingly forgotten man, Conor Gilaspie.

from espn.com

Jason Grey is a scout for ESPN, and said this about Belt: "Having… [seen Belt] for the first couple of weeks of the AFL. There’s no doubt in my mind Belt is legit and a potential middle–of-the-order threat in a big league lineup capable of hitting for average and power." He went on to say "I’ve liked Belt’s Approach, the quality of his at-bats, his ability to generate power without over swinging and his ability to go to the opposite field with some juice. He’s played good defense at first base and has showed good athleticism, enough that I’ve changed my mind to think he might not look out of place should the Giants choose to play him in left field, where he dabbled a little bit in the minors this year."

and this analysis from Project Prospect by Adam Foster:
http://projectprospect.com/article/2010/08/14/first-look-scouting-brandon-belt

Brandon Belt first caught my eye during the 2009 College World Series. But it was largely because he had been one of the University of Texas' best hitters. Despite a 6-foot-5, 205-pound frame, the lefty was more of a gap-to-gap threat than a slugger.

...I see an athletic hitter with little head movement who does a good job staying back with his upper body then explodes his hips through the ball. Belt does all this while maintaining a level swing path and keeping his barrel in the zone for a good amount of time. What's more, he displays an impressive amount of wrist strength, accelerating his hands through the ball as he makes contact.

Good stuff.

Doug Mapson, the Giants Coordinator of Amateur Scouting, gave a glowing report on Belt to John Klima of Baseball Beginnings. The 29-year scout who is best known for signing an amateur named Greg Maddux called Belt an "emerging young hitter" last summer.

"Here’s a guy who is 6-5, 220, who is a good athlete and a good fielder, has a good arm, he’s just learning to hit and he’s had moderate success," Mapson said. "I think all the upside is in front of this guy."

"We’ll see what kind of offensive player he becomes, but anyone who thinks they can solve hitting in just a few years of amateur ball is sorely mistaken," Mapson continued.

So far, so good.
- Good athlete
- good base runner
- selective hitter who works the count
- advance hitting approach
- gap to gap hitter with power potential down the road

Sound like the early reviews that came in on Buster Posey. The only question mark seems to be how well does he hit at the AAA level and where does he play once he gets to SF? It seems like 1B and LF are the possible options. The 1B Belt - LF Huff option seems most likely, but it all depends on how the returning vets perform as well.

There's likely not as much of a push within the organization to elevate Belt as rapidly as Posey given the respective bonus payments invested in each player. Posey was a mega-bonus, top of the first-rounder versus Belt drafted as a fifth-rounder. Given the success that Posey enjoyed, there is a natural inclination to get giddy and hope that lightning strikes twice. It will be better for Belt and the organization if they can afford to be patient in Belt's development, but the comparisons -- both what the eyes and the statistics tell us -- are striking.

Stat.......Posey....Belt
K/PA.......0.089....0.159
BB/PA......0.178....0.150
OPS........1.058....1.116
K/BB.......0.500....1.061

Posey's numbers were top of the line in all four categories, generally a solid indicator of future success. Belt's progress seems to indicate that perhaps lightning can strike twice for the Giant. Perhaps sometime around the middle of the season, Belt can move up and contribute a sorely needed left-handed bat to the Giants lineup.

Scanning the farm system and the development of the pitching prospects, it may be a lean year in 2011. Looking further down the line there are some RHP prospects that bear watching. Jose Casilla, Seth Rosin and Jason Stoffel seem as if they could appear on the MLB roster towards the end of 2011 ready to contribute. Rosin and Stoffel are solid, if unspectacular, prospects with Casilla displaying perhaps the highest ceiling. Zack Wheeler may be two or three years away and the early returns were not gaudy, but he has done nothing to downgrade the opinion that he will be a top of the rotation starter down the road.

More Words of Wisdom from the trenches

NIGHTLINE - The Talent Factories

Innate or in-born talent versus good coaching, practice and good old-fashioned hard work. Talent is not born, it is made. Practice, practice, practice is the key, just as the old joke about "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?

Practice makes perfect, but not just any practice, deep practice. Developing myelin in the brain, the old concept of reinforcement. Muscle memory, yes. But remembering the fundamentally correct mechanics to perform. So not as much 'practice makes perfect' but instead 'perfect practice' that leads to talent development and therefore, success.

Great coaching. Who the teacher is, is very important. A knowledgable, patient teacher that demands the correct fundamentals repeated in the proper sequence leads to success. A watchful eye, making small but important corrections under deep practice conditions.

Total concentration. Finding and fixing small technical mistakes. Making corrections leads to better skill development. Getting in the proverbial "zone" in practice. Resilience and perseverance lead to Talent.




THE TALENT CODE - Daniel Coyle

A trailer for Daniel Coyle's book, The Talent Code, which explains how talent grows in the brain, and how you can grow more of it. Included are a discussion of tiny, wildly successful talent hotbeds in sports, art, music, and academics; their distinctive patterns of practice, motivation, and coaching; and a bit of neurology (after all, every skill is located in the brain). The clip also includes the author's performance of a Tiger Woods golf trick--a trick with an extremely unplanned ending.

How parents and kids can develop Olympic-style mental toughness - from Jim Murphy

Olympic athletes and parents can use the same tools to train themselves and their kids. Jim Murphy, author of the new book by McGraw-Hill, Inner Excellence: Achieve Extraordinary Business Success Through Mental Toughness, explains how to use the mental skills of Olympic champions.

1. Focus on values. If you want your kid to have more confidence in their sport, encourage them when they show compassion, teamwork, and discipline. When you focus on values, you give them the freedom to fail, which allows them to win more often. [Top Olympians lead with their heart and connect with what they value most.]

2. Detach from the outcome. If you're like most parents, you're happy when your kid succeeds in sports, and disappointed when they don't. It's natural. But it also connects your love to their success. Don't get too excited about the outcome (win or lose); it sends a subconscious message that ties their performance to your love for them. Go to their games, cheer for them, and love them for who they're becoming, not how they performed. [Top Olympians focus on how they want to feel and let the outcome take care of itself.]

3. Write 3-5 goals everyday as if they were already true. For example, if your kid wants to be the starting shortstop on the baseball team, you may have him write: I love playing baseball and being the starting shortstop. Have some school ones too. For example: I am focused and confident every day at school as I achieve a B average. [Top Olympians affirm their goals every day as if they were already true.]

4. Remember the great moments. Spend five minutes every day with your kid visualizing great performances from the past. Remind him or her of a great performance and ask about that moment and how it felt. Then tell your child to "re-live" that moment and get the feeling again. This can be a powerful time you spend with your kids every day. [Top Olympians are continually re-visiting great memories of past performances].

5. Weed out the negative thoughts. Every day you and your kids will have negative thoughts. This is perhaps the biggest obstacle either of you will ever face. Here's four ways to deal with them:

a. Wear a rubber band and snap it each time you have a negative thought.
b. Replace the negative thought with the complete opposite. (I'm going to fail becomes I'm going to succeed.)
c. Yell "stop!" in your mind and picture an oversize STOP sign.
d. Tell yourself, "It's only a negative thought" and go back to what you're doing.

Negative thoughts only have power over you by what you give them, and you give them power when you let them linger in your mind.

[Top Olympians develop keen self-awareness of their thoughts and feelings and continually direct them towards their goals and dreams.]

The essence of "The Cody Ross Experience". Explained by Cody Ross

"Every time I went to the plate, I knew I was going to do something, do some damage. When you feel like that, you've got to ride it as long as you can, because you rarely feel like that."
—Cody Ross, a month after the World Series, looking back at his fabulous postseason.

Ex scientia pecuniae libertas. - "Out of knowledge of money comes freedom."

Did the Giants make a Rule 5 error?

GIANTS - CLAYTON TANNER

Far be it from me to question the organization so soon after delivering the long-awaited championship, HOWEVER!!!. What on earth were the brass thinking by protecting Clayton Tanner from the Rule 5 and exposing -- and losing Joe Paterson?

This isn't so much second guessing as the head-scratching begins when you send Patterson to the elite Arizona Fall League, only to lose him as a prospect. In effect, they end up aiding in the development of a serviceable prospect who will now help a divisional rival.

From a statistical (or results) glance, the side by side seems to favor Paterson.

Tanner 6-2, 185 LHP (3rd round pick, 2006)

WHIP 1.35
H/9 9.06
HR/9 0.56
BB/9 3.13
K/9 6.56
K/BB 2.1

For a finesse (low K-rate) pitcher Tanner's control seems to be below average (3.13 BB/9). (BAD SIGN)

Conversely, Patterson for a power-type (high K-rate) pitcher seems to have a low walk rate. (GOOD SIGN)

Paterson 6-1, 210 LHP (10th round, 2007)

WHIP 1.18
H/9 7.35
HR/9 0.33
BB/9 3.30
K/9 9.58
K/BB 2.9

Unless the fact that Tanner was a higher round draft pick (higher perceived ceiling) with more dollars invested versus Patterson being perceived as a bit of a WYSIWIG (What you see is what you get).

Tanner may have more of a chance to develop into a starter long-term than Paterson who, due to his arm-slot (low, low) may be limited to late-inning specialist versus lefties. HOWEVER!!! if indeed Paterson is pigeon-holed as a situational southpaw or LOOGY (lefty one-out guy), his stats indicate that he has been largely effective in that role. And it is a valuable role.

Time will tell which prospect delivers more goods. I still question sending Paterson to the AFL if there was no intent to protect him as a prospect.

FORMER GIANT - JOE PATERSON

Giants lose Paterson in Rule 5 Draft, pick three later

The Giants lost LHP Joe Paterson in the first round as expected. Baseball America described Paterson as "Crafty lefty specialists gets by with curveball and guts." Hate to lose him and expect to see him at the major league level in the near future.

RHP Daniel Turpen is listed as being selected from the Giants by the Yankees, but Turpen was traded to the Red Sox in the Rodriguez deal.

The Giants drafted LHP Justin Dowdy from the Rays in the first round of the minor league phase and RHP Matthew Sartor from the Dodgers organization in the third round. Sandwiched between those two picks, the Giants selected C Dashenko Ricardo from the Orioles. John Manuel of Baseball America reports that the Giants will try Ricardo as a pitcher.

Dowdy is a smallish (6-1, 160) LHP who perhaps balances out the loss of Patterson. He is 27 years old so he will provide depth insurance.

Sartor is a 6-6, 250 AA RHP who throws hard but appears to have command issues. Sartor and Ricardo would appear to be projects, but somebody in the organization must have seen something they like.

Dowdy could make a contribution out of the bullpen in the future.

---
Joseph Paterson 6-1 210 24 LHP Oregon State
WHIP 1.100
H/9 6.7
HR/9 0.4
BB/9 3.2
K/9 9.9
K/BB 3.10

Good power #'s (K's vs. BB's) who doesn't get hit much and keeps the ball in the park.

Maybe could have gambled and exposed LHP Clayton Tanner, but he likely would have been snapped up as well. Patterson might be the closest to being productive pitcher within the organization other than Jose Casilla who is maybe two years away.


Giants selections from the Triple A phase:
1. Giants LHP Justin Dowdy Rays
2. Giants C Dashenko Ricardo Orioles
3. Giants RHP Matthew Sartor Dodgers

Capsules from baseballcube.com

Justin Dowdy 2001-2010 AAA

Full Name: Justin Seth Dowdy
Born: Aug 13, 1983
Place: San Diego, California
Ht: 6-1 Wt: 160 Bats: L Throws: L
High School: Rancho Bernardo (San Diego,CA)
College: None

Drafted: Selected by Chicago White Sox in 18th Round (553rd overall) of 2001 amateur entry
draft (June-Reg)

---

Matthew Sartor 2006-2010 AA

Full Name: Matthew Wayne Sartor
Born: Aug 18, 1984
Place: Irving, Texas
Ht: 6-6 Wt: 250 Bats: R Throws: R
High School: Irving (Irving,TX)
College: University of Texas-Arlington

Drafted: Not drafted
Signed by: Calvin Jones

---

Dashenko Ricardo 2008-2010 A

Full Name: Dashenko Adriano Ricardo
Born: Mar 1, 1990
Place: Willemstad, Curacao
Ht: 6-0 Wt: 163 Bats: R Throws: R
College: None

Drafted: Not drafted
Signed by: Carlos Bernhardt

Giants 2010 Season winds down

Giants Transactions:

Date Player Position Transaction
Dec 3 Pat Burrell LF Signed as free agent by San Francisco (one-year contract)
Dec 2 Mike Fontenot 2B/3B/SS Signed by San Francisco (avodis arbitration)
Dec 2 Eugenio Velez LF/2B/CF/RF Not offered contract / free agent (non-tendered)
Dec 2 Chris Ray RP Not offered contract / free agent (non-tendered)

The Fontenot signing was a bit of a surprise and flew under th radar a little bit. He is a solid, versatile player. A good fit for this team.

The San Francisco Giants have tendered contract offers to:
Cody Ross, Andres Torres, Jonathan Sanchez, Ramon Ramirez, Santiago Casilla and Javier Lopez.

Future Giants:
OF Gary Brown, the Giants 2010 1st round draft pick, was rated the 3rd fastest runner, 2nd best defensive player and 5th best athlete in the 2010 draft.

7th rounder Chuckie Jones was rated 3rd best pro debut amongst HS players.

RHP Heath Hembree, a 5th rounder, showed a FB that sits 94-97 and tops at 99MPH. At 6-4, 195 he has a clean arm and ideal pitchers build according to BA.

LHP Mike Kickham, a 6th rounder suns his FB up to 94 with a plus breaking ball.

RHP Stephen Harrold, a 12th rounder showed a plus slider and a 90-92 FB with good command since signing.

The Giants sent Brandon Belt, Conor Gilaspie and Charlie Culberson to the Arizona Fall League along with pitchers Joe Patterson, Jason Stoffel and Ryan Verdugo. I can't say I recall too many instances where a team sent a player to the AFL and then lost him in the Rule 5 Draft, so maybe good news regarding Joe Patterson, who I like. In the early going Culberson came out of the gate just mashing the ball. Both Culberson and Belt were selected to the leagues Rising Stars game.

Former major league LHP's Dontrelle Willis and Andy Sisco are minor league free-agents.

I was sorry to see Jayson Werth not go to the Giants, but given the high price tag, not by as much as I thought I would. I think the Nationals may have overpaid after losing Adam Dunn.

A belated RIP to "Sparky" Anderson, who as manager brought World Series titles and pride and joy to fans of  both the Reds and and the Tigers. And today, of course, to "Dandy" Don Meredith who provided some much needed levity and perspective to the MNF booth. Both will be missed.

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "Press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race. - Calvin Coolidge

Start, develop, finish - Buy the Dip and Don't touch my junk

A funny story from a referee site called START DEVELOP FINISH

I'm not sure if the story is true or some part truth / urban legend but it makes sense if you are an umpire or a basketball referee. A patient whistle or call is the best. Let the play start, develop and finish, then make the call. It's all about timing.

In basketball, they say anticipate the play, not the call. In baseball, there's a tendency to make the call too quickly. I've done that behind the plate and you make a call, ball or strike, and the kid late-swings and fouls it off, or the catcher interferes with the bat. Or on the bases, on a close play, I've made a safe call in the past where the runner was already turning and heading back to the dugout. Sometimes there are late clues to be picked up on in the final stages of a play. Those are signs that you are making the call too quickly. If you make the call as the play is still in the developing stage, but before it finishes, the potential for a blown call arises.

Nice to see there is a corporate version of the same phenomena.

from www.startdevelopfinish.com

This story has nothing to do with sports but everything to do with officiating. it is funny too. THIS REALLY IS PRICELESS. If you've ever worked for a boss who reacts before getting the facts and thinking things through, you will love this! Arcelor-Mittal Steel, feeling it was time for a shakeup, hired a new CEO. The new boss was determined to rid the company of all slackers. On a tour of the facilities, the CEO noticed a guy leaning against a wall. The room was full of workers and he wanted to let them know that he meant business. He asked the guy, "How much money do you make a week?" A little surprised, the young man looked at him and said, "I make $400 a week. Why?" The CEO said, "Wait right here." He walked back to his office, came back in two minutes, and handed the guy $1,600 in cash and said, "Here's four weeks' pay. Now GET OUT and don't come back." Feeling pretty good about himself, the CEO looked around the room and asked, "Does anyone want to tell me what that goof-ball did here?" From across the room a voice said, "Pizza delivery guy from Domino's." See the whole play, before you make that call, it can save you a lot o embarassment later.

----

More from Xtranormal

If you can get past the F - bombs (there are a few) and one G-D, this is hilarious.

I hope at the next Humphrey-Hawkins hearing everyone, and I mean everyone, addresses him as either "Ben Bernank" or "the Ben Bernank"

from zerohedge.com:
Just because a cartoon can explain QE and POMO better than the mainstream media and blogosphere combined, here is all you needed to know about making money. In short: "Buy the f*@#%ing dip." And, h.m.m.m., this is not PG-13.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jllJ-HeErjU&feature=player_embedded



-------

THE CATCH PHRASE OF THE YEAR

from publiusforum.com
http://www.publiusforum.com/2010/12/01/surrender-our-liberty-for-a-little-security/#more-17981

Surrender our Liberty for a Little Security?

December 1, 2010 - By Don Boys, Ph.D.

Now I know where all the perverts go after a short stint in prison or with ACORN: they work for the Federal Government, specifically for TSA. All sane people agree that safety must be a major concern in this day of Muslim terrorism, but the fools, fanatics, and fascists have taken control at various levels of government. A virus seems to have infected people in power: it results in a loss of common sense, self-respect, modesty, and gratitude for the privilege of working for the American people.

Just the thought of a stranger, even one with a badge, gun, and in uniform running his or her hands up a ladies’ dress (“until resistance is reached”) or grabbing a man’s genitals is indicative of the spiritual, mental, and political condition of the American public. Moreover, it is staggering that any sane person would defend such molestation of anyone especially helpless children.

Janet Napolitano (who has her job because of her support for Obama) says that we must put up with this “inconvenience” for the sake of safety, but that is outrageous. Moreover, it is not an inconvenience but a power grab by the U.S. Government. For a TSA supervisor to say that we have a choice not to fly is appalling, arrogant, and asinine. Americans have a right to travel (not a privilege) without being harassed, hassled, or humiliated by Federal thugs. Federal thugs need to be reminded that we pay their salaries, and they are not being paid to irritate, intimidate, and insult innocent people. That does not go with the badge, gun, and uniform.

I know we laugh and dismiss the fears as over-the-top and irrational at times but this is where stuff like the scam-eras and TSA searches in the name of security and safety lead too.

The camels nose is already too far under the tent. This is the "boiled frog" phenomena in action. And who wants to be like a boiled frog. It seems like the over-reactionary, scalded frog ends up better situated in the end.

The boiled frog phenomena for those that don't know:

If you take a frog and put it in a pot of extremely hot water, it’s obvious that frog will jump and try to get out of the water. However, if you put that same frog in a pot of water that is tepid, and turn the heat on very low, that frog will lay there very quietly; and as the water gradually heats up the frog will calmly fall in a state of unconsciousness; and eventually allow itself to be boiled to death.

Read the following news article from BlacklistedNews.com.

http://blacklistednews.com/article/WikiLeaks%3A-Saudi-King%3A-Use-Force-to-Surgically-Implant-Microchips-in-Guantanamo-Detainees/11695.html

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia told a senior White House official to consider surgically implanting homing devices under Guantanamo Bay detainees’ skin. That’s one of the many potentially embarrassing comments from diplomatic back rooms now being made public by WikiLeaks.

During a March 2009 meeting with John Brennan, President Obama’s closest counterterrorism adviser, Abdullah proposed shooting electronic chips into the residual Guantanamo population, “allowing their movements to be tracked with Bluetooth.” Abdullah appears to have come up with the idea on the fly during their meeting — “I’ve just thought of something,” the cable quotes him saying — and considered forced subcutaneous chip implantation uncontroversial, since it’s already “done with horses and falcons.”

Brennan appears to have gingerly waved him off: “[H]orses don’t have good lawyers,” he replied, “but agreed that keeping track of detainees was an extremely important issue that he would review with appropriate officials when he returned to the United States.”

-----
Words of Wisdom from a famous ex-President:

“There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism. When I refer to hyphenated Americans, I do not refer to naturalized Americans. Some of the very best Americans I have ever known were naturalized Americans, Americans born abroad. But a hyphenated American is not an American at all… The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities, an intricate knot of German-Americans, Irish-Americans, English-Americans, French-Americans, Scandinavian-Americans or Italian-Americans, each preserving its separate nationality, each at heart feeling more sympathy with Europeans of that nationality, than with the other citizens of the American Republic… There is no such thing as a hyphenated American who is a good American. The only man who is a good American is the man who is an American and nothing else.” - Theodore Roosevelt

Sad News for Cubs fans....Ron Santo died today at age 70

Lately he was the guy in the booth who personified Cubs angst. He was the measuring stick of Cubs fans emotional state at any given moment during a game or season.

At times he was one of the poster boys for the convoluted debate as to what level of greatness a player must attain to enter the hallowed baseball hall of fame.

He was good enough for most fans but obviously not good enough for a large enough contingent of baseball writers or the veterans committee, both of whom denied Santo entry.

Santo was remembered by Mets fans for clicking his heels after a Cubs victory over the Mets which may or may not have served to motivate the team during their miracle run in 1969.

It is sad that a player and broadcaster, who was such a great ambassador for the game with his obvious passion could not have been paid back by the game he loved so much. Santo suffered with each vote that he was denied, and has in the past said that he was not interested in any posthumous award.

IMO it is the continuing great shame of baseball the way some of these guys who have given so much of their heart and soul to the game are not properly recognized. It simply drives me nuts.

It is a sad day for not only Cubs fans but for baseball fans nationwide. RIP Ronnie.

Burrell is back with Giants

Aubrey Huff gets his wish! The Giants will bring back "The Bat" for 1 year / $1M plus incentives reportedly. Not bad if he repeats his .266-18-51 line. When Burrell is hot, it seems like he can carry the middle of the order for a month. When he's cold, well the results in the playoffs speak for themselves. I'm still glad the old gang returns mostly intact.

Reports are coming out that Juan Uribe was offered a matching deal by the Giants, but he was "impressed" that the Dodgers pursued him early and often once the season ended and the free-agent festivities began. Here's a news flash for Mr. Uribe and his agent -- the reason the Dodgers front office had a lot of free time on their hands is as a result of not making the playoffs -- they had more free time in October-early November  to plan out their FA strategy. The Giants staff had other concerns -- like planning a World Series parade -- and might have been a bit justified in taking a little bit of a post-season breather to decompress before jumping back to work on next season's roster. Apparently, Juan got his nose a little out of joint over the lack of attention. Greeeaaaatttt.

The Giants will turn their attention to the arbitration cases left on the roster. Reports indicate Johnathan Sanchez, Ramon Martinez, Javier Lopez, Santiago Casilla, Andres Torres and Cody Ross will be pursued. Reliever Chris Ray and utility IF Mike Fontenot may not be re-signed.

Giants may still be looking into acquiring SS's Jason Bartlett or J.J Hardy if the Twins do not tender an offer his way.

The Madness of a Lost Society

The Madness of a Lost Society




About a two and a half minutes or so in, the moderator says "this is going to hurt so many decent people who do not see this tidal wave coming."

That's why it's important. Consider yourself notified.

I can't help but think of the Chinese proverb (curse) "May you live in interesting times". I fear that we may. All that is transpiring the last couple of years and looking forward has an ominous, eerie "Through the Looking Glass" feel to it.

As always, I hope this ends well. I fear that it will not.

A gripping, in-depth SILVER interview with Writer & Economist Jeff Nielson of Bullionbullscanada.com

CONVERSATIONS 6.0 : Silver, Comex Default & QE2 - Part ONE




CONVERSATIONS 6.0 : Silver, Comex Default & QE2 - Part TWO



What to do, what to do? Put the power back in the people's hands, not the politicians. The politicians are bought and paid for by the banks and the Federal Reserve.

Do what the Dodd - Frank bill didn't do, make these guys play by the rules or pay a price.

They had their chance to do it their way and fix the problem.
They didn't do it.
It's our turn now.

Fight Back. Move your Money.

http://moveyourmoney.info/

Crash JP Morgan, Buy Silver.

Crash JP Morgan Buy Silver – Growing Economic Guerrilla War to Crash Bank With Silver Bullets
By Andrew Zarowny

http://www.rightpundits.com/?p=7681

Why do so many people want to crash J.P. Morgan-Chase Bank? Well, much of the angst stems from the office of JPM’s head of global commodities, Blythe Masters. She rose to power by pushing the creation of those nasty Credit Default Swaps. Remember them? Those CDS contracts that were used by banks like JPM and Goldman Sachs to make billions off of mortgage-back securities that were essentially worthless? They had a great deal to do with the economic Crash of 2008 and all of the misery that has since followed.


Who is behind this effort to crash J.P. Morgan-Chase? A whole lot of ‘little people’, as the head of BP would say. While not an official leader of the movement, my favorite financial guru, Max Keiser, is certainly among those advocating for this plan of assault. For years now, especially the past two, Max has been accusing the banking elite, such as JPM and Goldman Sachs, of ‘financial terrorism’. Indeed, the sudden collapse of Greece appears to be directly related to manipulation by Goldman Sachs. California, and other U.S. states, were largely enabled by banks like J.P. Morgan-Chase to run up massive deficits and become hostages, supported by the thinnest of financial threads.

Why use silver to crash J.P. Morgan? For years, JPM has been very active in manipulating commodities markets. Testimony by financial whistler-blower Andrew MacGuire points a finger directly at JPM for manipulating the silver market on the COMEX. The problem that JPM has is that they are vulnerable, as they have issued more contracts for silver futures than they have physical holdings. So, buy millions of ordinary people purchasing even small amounts of physical silver, which is in short supply, JPM will be unable to cover their positions.

While the Tea Party movement was successful in stopping the Progressives in Congress, and the White House, with their huge victories two weeks ago during the mid-term elections, there has been little done to reign-in the mega-banks of Wall Street. Obama’s financial reform bill only reinforces the bail-out system and handed more oversight authority to the Federal Reserve, another huge mistake.

Could the ‘Crash JP Morgan – Buy Silver’ movement succeed? Can a popular uprising of millions of ordinary people buying silver coins and bullion bars break one of the largest banks in the world? As world leaders wrapped up their G20 Summit and APEC meetings in Seoul and Yokohama, one thing is clear, they are not going to do much, if anything, to stop the ongoing financial chaos. Of anything, they’ll continue to fuel it. So, folks, it looks like it may be up to us to once again to roll up our sleeves and do the job ourselves. Stayed tuned as more developments follow.